First Day of Winter

 The first day of official Winter brought us about 3 inches of snow.  The snowstick shows 4 inches of snow. 

I shoveled the walk and the patio.  Twas fun. I just live to have snow blow back in my face and make me look like a big old snowball until it starts to melt and then refreezes...yup u betcha extra good fun in the snow.

We met Jen and Andy and exchanged Christmas packages in a parking lot up North.  We will Zoom with them on Christmas Day. We visited through open car windows...a little chilly but worth it. We met at a DQ ...had a Blizzard...perfect snowy day treat....Andy went through the drive thru for us.

Minnesota social distancing

We got home...my other baby brother had been by and cleared the rest of the snow out of our yard...I shoveled by the garage a bit. 

A blizzard is forecast for mid week...and not the DQ kind.  

I was a helpful prep cook for Far Guy while  he made Impossible Italian Sausage Pie for supper. I had a nap and woke up just in time to drive out to the corner to see the Conjunction. 

Here is my best photograph...I did not get out my tripod...it is what it is. 

Hope you can see the bright spot in the sky.  I thought it would be more impressive all the hype there was about it.  The red lights are a Cell Phone Tower. 

Anyways today the days start to get longer!!  30 seconds  or so...

Far Side

Moon

Well our Supermoon was obscured by clouds.

We went by Steve and Jos to wait out the clouds.

By that time it was dark and more clouds moved in so we went home.

Back at home I sat outside and finally got a shot or two during the eclipse.

Not perfect photos but it was fun to try. It was very quiet out, the crickets were making their nightly noises and Bailey barked at me a few times.  I could hear people talking down at the lake. I saw a few shooting stars….and it sure was dark out there during totality.  It was a beautiful night to be outside…no bugs and about 65 F or 18 C eh!

Snow flurries and a Full Moon

Yes, we had snow flurries several times yesterday.  It didn’t stay on the ground but the white crap was in the air.  It was cold and the wind  blew and blew…it was just bitter outside.

After dark I wandered out in the yard looking at the full moon.  The camera settings should be good if I am still awake for the blood moon that is supposed to appear in the middle of the night.

Hopefully I will get a photo to show you what the Blood Moon looked like here in Minnesnowda.

If not here is the snow headed our way. What looks like fog or smoke in the air is snow. 

I thought about putting my parka away.  I did manage to put my good snow boots away…no use in getting them all muddy/wet…I have an old pair with a patched toe to wear for everyday and of course my old standby crocs with socks!  Someday when that look goes down the Paris Runway I will be in fashion.

Saw Lorri (a friend) yesterday she was rushing the season with capris and flip flops.  I am always amazed at the women who can walk and sometimes even run in flip flops.  I am certain if I tried that I would end up in the home with something broken.

My best shot of the Blood Moon.  What a night…froze my butt off and fingers too.  There were some high clouds that flitted in and out, forgot my flashlight at the house, came in to warm up twice.  It was interesting to watch…I was outside from 2:30 to 4AM.  This was taken closer to 4AM as it was starting to go back to normal.  I am off to sleep now…good thing I have another chance in the fall for a better photograph.

Perseids

Every August the Perseids are visible.  They are left overs from a comet..the pieces that race across the sky are the size of a grain of sand  sometimes getting as large as a marble.  The earth crosses this path of comet leftovers once a year.  They light up the sky in August every year, if the skies are clear.

Sunday night we all discussed the Perseids..Noah, Andy, Jen and I.  Noah said he would go out if he was awake.  Andy said he wasn’t going, Jen said she might wake up and go out and have a look. I told Jen to wake me up. 

I checked them out from our yard about 3 AM.  Then I let the dogs out to do a little business.  I woke Noah up and asked him if he wanted to go to the cemetery with me?  “No Grandma.”  A few minutes later Jen came downstairs and we took off.

The local cemetery is a great place to watch the night sky.  I brought some blankets, Jen brought her camera.  I left mine at home.  It was chilly..but we were entertained by the Perseids.  It is a guess exactly when and where they will appear.  We saw quite a few.  It was too chilly for bugs, they must have all been sleeping to stay warm.

At one point we thought we heard dogs barking, Jen said “Sounds like our dogs.”  We heard an Owl and the nearby irrigator made funny noises as it worked it’s way around the field.  The cemetery itself was silent…three cars came by on the highway.

Back at home, Chance decided that I had left forever and started to howl, which in turn set off Little Elvis and Miney.  A dog chorus!  Far Guy had no idea where I went or for what.  He was worried, as soon as we got home he said “Where have you been in your jammies?”  “Well at the cemetery looking at Perseids with Jen.”  Apparently he missed the conversation we had earlier in the evening.

This is a photo Jen took of the night sky as dawn approached.

The light on the ground on the left is a solar light on a grave.  The light at tree level on the right is an irrigator light.

I love to watch the night sky.  How about you?  :)

Let There Be Light!

The Christmas Tree that is fake but Made in the USA found it's way out of the box yesterday! It even has some lights on it, blue ones, Far Guy's favorite! Maybe in a few days it will actually have some decorations on it. I am really getting into the Christmas Spirit this year.

Do you know how hard it is to get an acceptable night photo of Christmas Tree lights? First you have to plunge the entire house into darkness..not real hard these days anytime after 4:30 works fine. Then you have to turn off the TV. No one wants to look at a photograph of CNN. The camera must be held perfectly still. Three seconds is a long time. Far Guy thought my twenty minute photo session was too long. "Are you done yet?" " How is it coming?" Now I understand he dislikes cooking by flashlight but I just needed a few more minutes. Reminder to self : Self buy Far Guy a Miners hat with a light.

A Tripod! That's what I need. I have tried about everything else. Books stacked up, a few books and an upside down bowl, a chair, you name it and I tried it. The log stairs worked the best! If the camera is not held still for those three seconds of exposure your Christmas lights look all squiggly. Kinda like little birds with wings. I had a whole bunch of those shots..now deleted. A few looked really artsy fartsy so I kept them. Controlling light and motion seem to be a key to good photography.

Now if I could just stop the sun from setting so early on the days that it actually shows up for work:)