SKYWATCH FRIDAY – Sun, Ice, Water, Fog (Lake Erie)

The day had been dull and fog-obscured from morning until late afternoon, when the sun broke through behind the veil of gray, silhouetted the ice peaks out on the lake, and turned everything the color of a Jovian storm. To further the metaphor, rivulets and pools of bright water along the top of the ice looked ancient as the surface of a Galilean moon.
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WINTER ALONG THE NORTH SHORE, and a SUMMER MEMORY

The photo of the bearded warning sign (more “spraycicles”) was taken at Mersea Beach, after that big storm blew itself out. It blew so hard icicles couldn't even hang straight down. I don’t think anyone would risk scrambling over the groyne rocks on that ice! Yesterday was bright and sunny, and the temperature rose a few welcome degrees. Then last night a chilly winter rain moved in. I stuck my head and camera out the patio door this morning to catch the “kwins” (another word I made up, for those pattering raindrop circles) dancing on the table.


The big river stone on the edge of the picture is also from Alberta. It’s one of the few rocks I brought with me that don’t have holes in them. A dear friend of mine gave it to me from her garden when she had to move. She spent so many hours creating the most amazing rock garden, full of interesting plants and stones and homemade hangings and chimes – all delightfully and artfully designed. We each took a souvenir with us to remind us of all the good times we’d had sitting in the sun there, laughing and solving the problems of the world. I took this rock, which had always been a favorite of mine. I call it the Jupiter Rock, because of it’s color and patterns.

I’m sure that neat old house and lovingly tended garden are part of a string of condos by now, and the Jupiter Rock is currently anchoring the patio table against the winter gales; I haven't quite found the perfect summer spot for it here yet, but looking at it this morning in the low winter daylight, I could almost feel the heat of the sun again.

SKYWATCH FRIDAY - Calling the Moon (the north shore, Lake Erie)

I took this on September 9th in front of my house, looking towards the neighbors. Around here the nights are, as the old saying goes, “blacker than the inside of a cow.” There are no streetlights on my road; it’s just a two-lane with no sidewalks, and cottages on both sides. Behind these in the photo is the lake; the other side is bound by farmers’ fields. The road follows the shore until it ends at the tip of Point Pelee, a spit of sand that is the southernmost point of Canada, extending just south of the 42nd parallel (equal to the southern border of Oregon). There’s a slight bit of camera movement in this shot; I was holding my breath because I didn’t have a tripod.




Standing out by the road in the almost perfect darkness, trying to capture the moon and Jupiter in my camera reminded me of the song, Calling the Moon.

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