On our last trip up to Flagstaff, we experienced two seasons in less than 24 hours! This is the morning after the huge snowstorm/thunderstorm which kept waking us up during the night. The snow was still lightly falling when I took this photo.
A view of the tree across the street through the snowstorm
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.
It is a very snowy day. Understatement.
Usually I would delight in this beautiful winter day and not care that our hilly street isn’t plowed, because I could take photos or stay inside with my genealogy or a good book- BUT… we have appointments for our Covid vaccinations later today. Currently appointments are delayed for two hours, so we may have to be rescheduled. Trying to keep a positive attitude- like this flicker who is guarding the feeder (behind ) so no one else can get the frozen block of food.
#2021problems
It snowed yesterday- and it was beautiful!
We had snow Tuesday night which gave us maybe an inch yesterday morning. I was out with my camera as soon as I got up, because I knew it wouldn’t last- and it didn’t. Here’s a view of the path leading from Watson Lake to Watson Woods, a pretty scene.
I couldn’t resist- here’s another image from our visit to Mammoth Hot Springs. . .
It has been a week and a half since our snowstorms- and I find myself marveling every day at the slowly disappearing expanses of snow that remain in my yard, not to mention around town. I took my Velvet 56 outside to capture a few bits of weeds and leaves peeking up here and there through the snow.
The snow of a few days ago turned into a drizzle, which created reflections of the Christmas lights at Courthouse Square last night.
After leaving the plains of Kansas, we drove to Colorado, spending the night at Limon. We decided to get up early-ish (early for us, late for landscape photographers) the next morning to drive to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs before heading to Santa Fe. We woke up to overcast skies and got to the park around 9:00 or 9:30. Garden of the Gods is a public park with paved walkways among gorgeous red rock formations. It was relatively uncrowded, probably because it appeared that it would rain at any moment. We were both eager to see the iconic view of Pike’s Peak through the red rocks, but of course, you couldn’t see the mountains because of the clouds. I love the combination of gray clouds and red rocks, but I was really hoping to see Pike’s Peak!
After walking through the park for awhile and monitoring the skies in case we had to make a dash to the car, we finally decided a drive around the park might give us a glimpse of the mountains. We drove around, but all we saw were clouds and red rocks- and more clouds. But as we got out of the car to look at the Balancing Rock, we noticed that the skies were beginning to clear a bit.
We ate a quick snack at the Visitors Center, and then drove back into the park to see what we could see- and VOILA!
The above shot is of the same rocks and walkway (from a different angle) as the first one a couple hours earlier.
Persistence pays off!
I caught this glimpse of Spring with my iPhone as snowflakes were falling last week.
We don’t have snow all winter long in Prescott- at least not since we’ve lived here- so each snowy day is like a gift. Of course, people who have lived here for awhile tell me to be careful what I wish for and then relate tales of the winter of _____ (supply your own year). I have no desire to experience winter like most of North America has had this year; I just would like a bit more of the pretty white stuff.
Yesterday, a snowstorm was predicted above 5500 feet (our house is at 5470), and we were predicted to get a “wintry mix”- rain and snow. It had rained steadily during the night, and about 8:00am, it turned to snow. LOTS of it!
I was without my Nikon for yesterday’s snowstorm, so I had to make do with my iPhone and my husband’s Canon Powershot SX50. The photos below were taken with the Canon. I’m trying to learn this nifty little camera and managed to take the still shots with aperture priority and the birds with shutter priority (at least I THINK so. . .).
It was a whiteout for most of the morning.
The birds didn’t seem to mind.
The sun came out in the middle of the afternoon, and by sunset, half of the snow was gone. 😦
Happy Fourth of July, everyone!
I have quite a few flag photos I’ve taken this week, but I think my favorite is this one I snapped with my phone last night as we drove home from the store just before sunset. Storm clouds were building, and I loved the flag set against the gray clouds. I added a texture with the Mextures app in my phone.
Here’s one from last month’s rodeo in Montana. The young boy on the horse raced around and around the ring while the national anthem played and everyone stood at attention- hats off. A beautiful sight!
After we got home from the store last night, we sat on the porch as the sky darkened, the wind picked up, thunder crashed in the distance, and the sky lit up with a a lightning display that went on for hours. At first I tried to take photos, but it was so windy that it was impossible to keep the camera still- so I sat down and just enjoyed the show. If we had any rain it came during the night and wasn’t enough to make puddles. It’s dry out there now. But the monsoon season has begun- bring on the rain!
melinda anderson photography 