Tonight is the peak of the Orionids and Thursday is the solar eclipse.
We’re in for clouds and rain instead.
Although I won’t complain. We’re very deep into a drought here, so the more rain, the better. Plus, it should make the late afternoon eclipse quite interesting.
Not to mention the rain gives an opportunity for a bit of play time.
Now it’s back to work.
Goddess sure is patient with me. Which is a good thing, otherwise I would really be in trouble.
Really.
Take this day, for example. We loaded up the car, then spent the next eight hours and 300 miles chasing clouds, views and photographs.
We were just over 30 minutes from home when I passed the entrance to the campground that gave this view. We had never stopped there before and I could already see the clouds over the tree tops. It’s a narrow road with very limited sight distance, so it took another half mile or so before I could turn around safely.
When I do maneuvers like this without saying a word, which is typical, Goddess knows I have an image in mind.
This image.
There were a few people on the lake side hoping to catch fish. A few gentlemen approached and asked if I saw the sunset the night before.
I had, but Goddess and I were walking home. It was glorious.
And I didn’t have a camera.
Needless to say, they let me know how much I had missed it at this specific spot.
No doubt.
Seeing the clearing in the distant west gave me an idea for a hopeful sunset shot from a different vantage.
And it is a good thing that Goddess is patient, since we didn’t get back to the house for another two hours.
Still keeping with the landscape theme, although this is more of a cityscape. But the shapes and textures appeal to me just as if it were a mountain range or fields.
Downtown Prague, Czech Republic; April 11, 2010.
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THREE DAYS LEFT!
Just a gentle reminder about the sale that I have going on.
It’s simple -> Enter “Summer14” when you check out and receive 15% off pre-shipping costs from now until July 7th, 2014.
I do appreciate your support.
Goddess and I moved here a bit over a year ago, initially so I could go to bike school. Then Goddess started her school and will finish in another month.
Our goal was to use this area as a springboard to look around the western US for a place to settle. At least as far as I can settle, having never lived anywhere longer than five years.
But the place sure has grown on us.
Especially when this is just 25 minutes from the house, a spot where I saw only two other people in three hours.
Yeah, I could get used to this.
Looking northwest from the edge of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument towards Ashland and Medford, along the length of the Rogue Valley.
Spring is here. Even though we didn’t have much of a winter.
It’s dry down low in the valleys, but enough moisture in the upper levels to give us some clouds, which at least helps make the photos interesting.
Luckily this day, there was enough moisture in the clouds that at least a few drops made it to the distant valley floor.
We do enjoy opening the front door and seeing this, just a small portion of the tulip blooms in the yard.
The colors are nice, but I find more joy in the shapes and lines.
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In case you missed it, I’m having a spring sale on my photos – 20% off of your pre-shipping costs. Just use code Spring14 at Bill Anders Photography. It’s that simple.
As always, I do appreciate your support.
One of the things that I love about Germans (and Europeans in general) is that they get out and do things.
Even if the weather is what some, if not many, would consider horrible.
Last winter I was out on a 20 mile run through the snow, on a day when the high reached only +8°F (-13°C), and the forest and trails were packed with people of all ages, out to get their walk in, or slide along on their cross-country skis.
But these two were out on a day when it was 34°F (+1°C), rain mixed with snow.
And she was looking quite bright. OK, at least her umbrella was.
BTW, this was Thanksgiving day. A gloomy, rainy Thursday.
A day that Goddess and I were thankful to share, exploring the Weinachtsmarkt and side alleys of Speyer.
Sharing glüwein, bratwurst and laughs.
Winter hasn’t even started and folks are already complaining, whether it be too cold, too dark (we get only 8 hours between sunrise and sunset here right now), or too depressing.
Honestly, it’s a viewpoint I have never understood. You can’t control it, so it’s better to adapt to it.
But that doesn’t mean that I can’t try to understand.
Goddess and I enjoyed a Weinachtsmarkt today. A wonderful classic German town called Bad Wimpfen, with history going back to the Neolithic times, although it’s been settled since the first century AD (yeah, I know about BCE. Get over it).
The temperature was hovering just above freezing, which is perfectly fine. That’s what they make clothes for. But just as we had completed the rounds of the entire market, we felt the first raindrops. Which increased in intensity.
So that’s the one weather situation that I will agree is the worst – just above freezing and raining. Because once you get wet in that situation, it’s pert near impossible to warm up. Luckily we were done, so we didn’t have to think hard about heading to the car.
On the way back to the car, we stopped in a small park which happened to be the old cemetery. The park overlooked the Neckar River and the river valley below. It would be a beautiful view, except it’s dominated by a very large industrial complex, complete with large steam stack.
With the snow on the ground, the rain falling, the bare trees and the factory in the background, I began to see. I may not agree, but I saw.
And understood.
And had to capture the mood with my camera.
Exactly as visualized.
Five second exposure, hand held.
Waiting.
(commiserating).
Sorry, but often a single word will get a song stuck in my head. Blasted Blink 182. But a fun karaoke song.
And now it’s stuck in your head too.
You’re welcome.
This is a full-service blog.
Anyway – watching. Goddess and I love to watch people. One of the greatest free activities to do anywhere that won’t get you arrested. Sometimes, if someone is around long enough, we may even make up a story about them and their current situation. It can be fun. It’s often funny. Probably rarely rooted in reality.
But then we also love to watch people watch people.
Like this guy:
What’s his story? Who knows. We didn’t bother hanging around long enough to think about it. But he was fun to watch watching people.
And he liked his ladies.
Goddess even pointed out a very lovely lady that walked right past us. I only caught a glimpse because I was too busy watching him swivel-neck to watch her.
That was four frames before this one.
Eight frames total shot watching this guy watching people, because memory is cheaper than film. All good, but this was my favorite. A lot of activity, but the balance of all of the elements really knocks my socks off.
Just try to keep yours eyes still.
Just try.
Then come up with your own story.
And share below.
It was rough to get out the door today. For some reason the stomach was feeling off early on. Then Goddess made a game of making it difficult. She’s good like that.
But I was on a tight schedule for the day and had to get it done.
The run.
Not Goddess.
That’s later.
It’s warm today, in the low 60’s. Too warm for my liking, especially with today’s workout, which was a long warmup followed by three miles at 10K pace plus for the tempo. Besides the temperature, the wind certainly wasn’t going to help. When I headed out the door, it was in my face at 20mph, gusting to 35mph. I took no time at all to warm up, since it was everything I could do to get to and maintain a 9-minute pace.
Then it was into the trees, where the wind was completely blocked and I was quickly on my way to overheating. But it was a nice stretch of road. And after the first three miles were done, it was time to get to business.
I planned on using the wind to my advantage and heading north, with the wind to my back. But for the first mile I was still in the trees, so I had to get back out into the open. And the only way to get into the open was to get out of the holler that I was in (yep, I said holler, although we aren’t between mountains). Here’s the profile:
Needless to say, the heart rate was appropriately through the roof at when I hit the 4-mile mark, so I had to throttle back a bit once the terrain flattened out. Then it was time to cruise with the wind to my back. The breathing was steady and the sweat was flying. Everywhere. I was constantly having to squeegee the sweat out of what little hair I have just to keep it out of my eyes.
At about 5.75 miles, I was impressed that I was flinging sweat behind me, against the wind, so far that it was making it down to splatter the backs of my legs. Then I realized that it wasn’t me. It was raining.
I’m good with that.
So the tempo ended at six miles, as planned. It coincided with a turn that now gave me a 30mph crosswind. And 1/4 mile down the road, another turn made it a 30mph headwind for the last mile home.
And that’s when it really started pouring. My forward motion, coupled with the wind, made for a driving, driving rain. It felt like I was getting shot everywhere with BB’s. But I was smiling. I LOVE IT!!!
I probably looked something like this guy:
Except I wasn’t wearing pants (shorts, silly) and I do not run with headphones. And I was grinning.
BTW, that pic was taken by someone who’s photos I enjoy daily. If you’d like, browse over to Daily Dose of Imagery and have a look at life in Toronto, Canada. Some beautiful shots there.
Hopefully your run, or other chosen activity today, was just as enjoyable.
Bill Anders' Rambling, Photos & Beating Feet 