No Photos Of This Snow...

I did get out with the girls yesterday and while I was walking them (and trying to stay on my feet) I was looking for photo ops. I don't know if I was just being too picky or being truly objective but other than seeing a woodpecker on a tree I didn't see anything I wanted to waste my pixels on... In fact, I think this is just a very frigid, very dry and very uninspiring snow. The snow was so dry and the wind so high that it bared the limbs of the trees and the snow even failed to stick in the beautiful whorls of bark that I had dreamed would be enhanced by the white crystals nestling in the crevices... a dream that was simply just that, a dream.

So I decided to post some photos of former snow storms just because I don't like to disappoint anyone and since I said I was going to hunt for photos to share I'll do just that. Except I'll hunt and find them in my old photos.










This tree was in the backyard of our next door neighbor in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

















Ice hanging on the eaves of our home in Bartlesville.















A Christmas deer taken during one of our deeper snows in Bartlesville.



















Out in the pasture of our home in the country out from Noble, Oklahoma.















A decorative cabbage photo taken in Ft. Worth during one Christmas visit.
























A palm that I took photos of the same Christmas I took the cabbage photo.

The palm didn't survive through this unusually cold winter.











A decorative garden ball that has moved with us so I could have taken it either in Bartlesville or in the country outside Noble.












And probably my favorite photo, a river birch in our backyard in Bartlesville. Give you an idea of why I was staking out trees with good bark to photograph.

















I did get out in the truck today. I needed to go pick up a prescription for Carol and dog food for the girls and a prescription for myself. I consider myself a pretty good driver and a very patient driver in snow. I don't get in a hurry and rarely have a problem unless there is something unseen that moves me out of the ruts, especially when it has been as cold as it is now and the snow isn't melting... but I did manage to get stuck in the WalMart parking lot. How freakin' embarrassing is that to admit?!!! Fortunately a couple of young men in a big pickup saw my dilemma and pulled me out. I did have to tell off on myself when I got back home.

Just keeping it real, y'all. Stay warm and try to keep it on the road and out of drifts!

What Happened?

Chloe knew I was going to be gone for more than the afternoon when I got out my luggage to pack…

Suess knew, too…

You’d think that I was gonna be gone forever.  I told them I’d be back in just a few days but they don’t understand about birthdays.I came south to Fort Worth to visit with my family and do an early birthday celebration since my baby brother that shares my birthday has to work on Saturday.  I got up this morning and it was like deja vu all over again…

That’s my little pickup…  at 12:30 a.m.   I looked outside and it was so light and beautiful I grabbed my camera and went out in my jeans and a tee shirt to get “just a few” pictures.

I saw the street light shining on the snowy trees and I had to get my camera and see if I could capture the look of it to share with you all.  Then I would look and see something else…

And then look over here…

And how about over there?

The mail box and then with my hand in the shot for comparison…

Well, Bennett decided he couldn’t stand it for me to be out taking pictures without him getting in on the fun.

(photo by B. T. Gardner) Gotta give credit where credit is due.

We took pictures in the front, then the back…

The bird feeders…

The chiminea and the patio peach tree…

How about gathering around the patio table for a visit?

There are also lounge chairs around the pool…

And the bird bath that earlier in the day was being used by a morning dove to get a drink.  I didn’t have my camera at hand when my s.i.l. Diane yelled at Ben and me to come look… you’d see the dove looking around, then it would put it’s head down for a drink and you could barely see it’s back.

Snow on the back fence… note the tiki torch on the left side of the picture.  When we decided to go back out front I grabbed my coat and put it on and out we went and what did we find but an elephant frog…

This yard art frog that my middle Bro and I got for Ben for a birthday… there was so much snow that Diane and I decided that it looked like a green elephant. 

Ben got out his tripod to set up some timed pictures because there was no wind to deal with and the lightness of the night was too beautiful to pass up…

This was about a 20 second exposure.  I stood as still as I could.  This tree in their front yard is absolutely beautiful and we are praying that the limbs don’t break under the weight of the snow.  (photo by B.T. Gardner)

Another timed shot, about 30 seconds.  (photo by B.T. Gardner) This was taken about 12:45 a.m.

This is another one 30 second picture of the trees and the street light taken from up towards the front of the front yard…

              (courtesy again, B.T.Gardner)

Ben setting up for a timed photo… note the flannel lounge pants and an overcoat.  We know how to dress for the weather…

Another of Ben that I shot.  He would set up his shot and then hold his hands over his camera to try to protect it a bit from the snow.

For the really big finish to this extra long post… one more that Ben took with me on a timed shot…  I’m still 64 in this photo.

On Saturday I won’t be able to claim 64 any more but that’s okay since I don’t feel it or most times don’t act like it… and, like I told my baby brother, what a gift we were given to be able to share this night a day before our birthday. (Photo courtesy of B.T. Gardner)

Amen.

Church Is Cancelled Tomorrow…

And when the Southern  Baptists cancel a church service you know the roads are not so good.  I decided that I’d take a walk and get some images to post for your visual enjoyment and perusal of awesome beauty.  It’s been gray the last couple of days but the trade-off has been beauty that stops me in my tracks and I have to be thankful for the things I am fortunate enough to see and appreciate.

That being said… here are some images from my world today.

 

 

Back at the house now.  Are you all getting a little chilly just looking at these photos?  I’ve got some more but I’ll save them for another day.  I hope you all are staying warm this weekend and enjoying your world as much as I’ve been enjoying mine.

When Were We Annexed By Vermont?

 

This was the color of my world today…

 

 

These photos have not been retouched or worked over or made to look like black and whites.  This was the color of my world today.

  This is in the front yard, a flower bed with grasses, beige from the fall dying back and this was taken in the same stroll as the above photos.

As was this woodpile.  So there was some color outdoors.

This is the branches of a mimosa tree off the back porch. I like the icicles straightness and yet the ice on the branches twists and turns and caught my eye… It’s like my brain on some days, orderly as all get out and then I’m off on a tangent that twists and turns with various threads of thoughts that sometimes brings me back to the orderliness and sometimes I don’t get back to the orderly place at all for a day or two…

Yes, I am that twisted with curiosity about my world.  But I still haven’t figured out when we were annexed by Vermont.  How about it Bonzer… have you heard anything about us being annexed?  ‘Cause if you think that’s what happened I’m going to have to learn how to ski.