storms
Next Entries »Storm clouds
Friday, April 18th, 2008
Here are some beautiful but ominous clouds in front of a major storm that just hit Mineral Wells, west of Fort Worth, with baseball-sized hail.
North Carolina
Monday, October 1st, 2007
Alain and I flew to North Carolina for three days ( a little business trip and I tagged along—he threatened to take my camera with him and I was sure I could not manage without it!) We drove around the eastern countryside between Raleigh and Washington (NC) through old, old towns (it takes a looong time for wooden doors to shred, and a looong time for conditions to be just right for vines to sprout then twirl round and round, entwined and squished between panes of glass!) …old, old farms: tobacco, cotton, peanuts.. and an interesting gas station.
There is a lot of history in NC – fossil, human/settlers and Civil War history. We stayed at Kitty Hawk (first flight – Wright bros.) and walked the shores at various places along the narrow coast of the Outer Banks. We watched the sun rise and dolphins feed – too far away for good photos, even with the telephoto. As soon as the sun rose they swam away.
Along Cape Hatteras, groups of Grackles ate ripe grass seeds, bouncing up and down on the stems, their bodies too heavy for the tall grasses.
On Pony Island a large sand crab tried to buff up and look tough, but it was quite vulnerable there out in the open; all the other crabs scurried into holes but this one stayed, trying to hide in footprints, which offered no protection if we had been birds looking for a hearty meal.
Great fun to watch the behavior for a while. It’s clearly outlined crab-shaped shadow following it everywhere, creating a few graphic photos that are perfect resource material for drawings and paintings but do not stand alone as good photography because it was moving so fast.
Just off the 2 1/2 hr. long ferry at Swan Quarter, and sunset with a short, wide rainbow after a storm that we managed to escape and watch from the better side.
NO OLF – we were curious about this sign in many people’s yards. The following website shows a video describing how the U.S. Navy has purchased over 30,000 acres of land near the eastern North Carolina coast, planning to move their pilot training program from Virginia.
Part of the huge controversy is that over 75 families would be forced to leave their homes, many of them farming that land for generations. The human issues are enough, but the cause and effect on the wildlife and ecology would be drastic and irreparable. Thousands of ducks and large flocks of snow geese that feed in the area annually would no longer have sanctuary. The large birds would also be a danger to the jets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XDmC1LD1Kc
Summer Storms
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007
Evening storm clouds accumulating at about 5:30 p.pm. mid July in Stony Plain, Alberta
Sky appears to be falling, Airdrie Alberta, July 2007
Train and storm, Montana in July
So how was your Flight?
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007
Flying is not the thrill it used to be, and not necessarily because of unpredictable weather. Above, barely noticeable amidst the wide, beautiful, stormy cloud cover, is a plane, upper right.
I would much rather drive anywhere than fly, partly because of the extra time it takes crossing through customs since 9/11 and some of the ridiculous restrictions. Crossing the border into the U.S. at Calgary Alberta, Customs officers took away my dangerous tube of toothpaste. Lighters OK, but toothpaste?
Travel
Monday, July 30th, 2007
Morrill, Nebraska
Driving up through Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, then Montana to Alberta. Awesome, awesome. Back to Dallas August 8th.
Lisco, Nebraska – The Lazy U Motel
Southeastern Montana, sunset
Southeastern Montana
