This is from a couple weeks ago when there was still snow at Willow Lake. It snowed again last night, but it was only an inch or so on my side of town- and I didn’t see significant snow at Willow when we drove by this morning. I love the contrast of the white snow against the warm tones of the rocks.
As I write this, I haven’t been able to get out yet to take photos- fingers crossed that the snow plow guy will come later today. The photo below was taken a few weeks ago with just a dusting of snow on Prescott’s iconic Thumb Butte.
THEN:
The photo below was taken a couple weeks ago when we drove around town chasing photo ops on the third snow day of the year. As you can see, it was just a light dusting, but it still created a pretty scene. As we turned to to drive over to Granite Basin Lake, I spotted this perfect little tree ahead, and I shouted “Stop the car- NOW!”. Since no one was out and about that morning, we were able to stop, and I got this shot.
NOW:
Yesterday was our Covid shot appointment. An announcement was made that the clinic in Prescott Valley would be delayed by 2 hours due to heavy snow, which meant that our 2:30 appointment would be at 4:30 and it would mean coming back through the storm in the dark. Appointments would be postponed until the next week if we didn’t show up. What to do, what to do? Then a friend contacted me that they were accepting people in BEFORE their scheduled time (lots of people weren’t able to get there at all), so, long story short, we got there and got our shots! BUT coming home, the storm worsened and we weren’t able to get all the way up the hill to our driveway- so our car is parked down the street where it will likely remain all week. We have 1-2 feet of snow on our driveway and our yard has drifts of 3-4 feet. And snow will continue all week!
Wet hair, wet clothes, but happy and vaccinated!
View out the front door this morning…
Our winter is coming in dibs and dabs this year. This was taken at Granite Basin Lake after our end of the year mini-snowstorm.
Another view of the same egret posing on the rocks.
On Christmas Day, we went for a leisurely walk at Willow Lake and watched a heron and egret fishing for an hour. We are used to seeing the heron slowly wade through the shallows looking for fish- an example of patience and perseverance. The egrets are normally farther away, but this day we were lucky to be able to watch one close to where we were walking. It was less patient (maybe more hungry) than the heron and was constantly moving along the shore, eventually ending up in a little area by the rocks. This photo was taken as he spotted a fish, which he caught a moment later.
The Christmas lights at our downtown square this year look just as beautiful as ever, despite it being 2020. We took a quick walk around, trying to avoid bumping into unmasked people in the dark- and then headed home. A quick nod to Christmas in this strange year. . .
A peaceful scene at Watson Lake . . .
Notice the water lines on the tree!
Leaves are falling; though the sun is shining, winter is on its way.
Even in 2020 this beautiful neighborhood creates the most amazing Halloween displays for Prescott and the many, many visitors who come to experience the Halloween wonderfulness. Happy Halloween, everyone! Stay safe and WEAR A MASK!
Isn’t this a happy scene? This photo pretty much just took itself.
We drove over to Granite Basin Lake a tiny lake at the base of Granite Mountain here in Prescott and walked around for awhile, enjoying the scenery and taking a few photos. We spotted some dragonflies and dozens of butterflies, but only one single bird, a hummingbird. We are talking about going over again and bringing our lunch.
Yes, we took another drive!
The old depot was moved away from the tracks and now houses the local museum.
Stop the presses! We got out of Prescott! The drive was only 17 miles or so, but we did get out of town. The impetus was that my photo group is meeting tomorrow on zoom- and the topic is “How Far Have You Gone”- meaning how far have you travelled during the pandemic. Until this weekend, my answer would have been all the way to the doctor’s office. I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only one in the group who is staying home most of the time- but I just didn’t feel like bringing a still life or flower photo (although I will later on).
So we drove through Skull Valley and Kirkland, and I found three photo ops along the way. Today’s photo is one I took on the way home- I’ll post the one I am using for class later on.
I always admire the streetside planting along one particular sidewalk near downtown. Every summer there is a wonderful collection of flowers blooming- and this year I took some photos.
melinda anderson photography 