January weather

This was what it looked like outside my front door yesterday morning. During the night, we had rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow and when I took this picture it was freezing rain again.

Clearly, no one had the strength to shovel and scrape down to the pavement!

The garage in winter

A more mundane photo there may not be.

All the stuff cram-jammed into the garage for winter hibernation. Actually, it's more like a migration than anything else. The winter stuff gets moved forward, near the door and the summer stuff moves toward the back. In the spring, the dance steps reverse.

We call the orange machine a snow blower, although I think it's technically a snow thrower. This particular one is made by Ariens, and they call it a Sno-Thro. No matter what one calls it, it beats shoveling by hand. Said implement also visible in the photo. It turns out the Sno-Thro isn't particularly good at clearing snow off of stairs, if you can believe that!

Our National Weather Service tells me that the average snowfall for this area is 63 inches (160cm) per year. What they don't say is how many times a season we get 10 or more inches ( 25cm) in a given storm. It's not too bad shoveling a few inches of snow by hand, but when it gets to be more than about 8 inches (20cm) it can be a real back breaker. When I shoveled by hand I would get up several times a night so I didn't have to try to move the whole storm all in one go.

People in the hill towns just west or south of me are going to laugh reading this. They get over 80 inches a year (203cm) on average and think us sissies!

Snowy Kawasaki

After seeing Babooshka's post today, I was reminded of the mess I made of my motorcycle. During the last big snow fall, the weather was cold, resulting in light and fluffy accumulation. Being frozen, the flake didn't stick to each other like they do when it's warmer.

Anyway, I opened the garage to get the snow blower out, proceeded to clear the driveway and discovered the machine had blown a lot of that fluffy snow onto my motorcycle! Arrrgh.

I cleared a lot of it out, but obviously not all of it. The bizarre thing is that I rode it two weeks ago when the temperature rose above freezing and the roads were dry and free of salt. I'm not sure when I'll be riding again.

Sedum in snow

Yet another view of the infamous sedum in the front. This time, taken from indoors in the afternoon. The shadow seemed so mournful all alone like that.

I left the snow under-exposed on purpose. I found that if I kept it 'white' the contrast was lost. I guess this is why people use Photoshop!

Frost macro

I can't believe how supportive CDP people are! I'm overwhelmed beyond words.

Here then, is the best (a very relative term if ever there was one!) of the macro shots I took of the frost. When it gets above freezing, I'm going to go clean that window! On second thought, maybe it's the dirt that got the crystal growth started?!

Frost

It was cold yesterday, about 0F. The windows on the front porch got a bit frosted up, with those icy crystals that are so fragile-looking. In the morning, the sun shines on those windows, making it something of a challenge to deal with the intense back lighting. I took several photos, and I think this is the best one. I'm too embarrassed to show the macro photo - the window is absolutely filthy!

Theme day: 'Best photo of 2008'

Every month, the City Daily Photo bloggers get together (virtually!) and post a photo on one common theme. This month, it's Our best photo of 2008. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

It's open to interpretation, which is a good thing. I had no idea how to approach the theme. My camera (Nikon Coolpix 950) is particularly good with macros, and I discovered I'd taken quite a few that I posted as well as many more I didn't.

After looking through the year's photos, I decided to post one that seems to sum up best for me personally. My oldest is a sailor in the US Navy, and I was privileged to ride on his vessel. It was the ride of a lifetime! I didn't post any photos before because I feel a bit funny posting photos of a Navy ship like this. I've been assured I'm not putting the nation at risk, but I still have that Loose Lips Sink Ships fear in the back of my mind.

I'm rambling. The voyage was the dream of a lifetime - the closest I'll ever get to being an astronaut. The sailors - officers and enlisted men - were the ne plus ultra of consideration and professionalism. Even now, it brings tears to my eyes to remember how kind they were to someone who only took up room.

This photo is from the bridge, and I was thrilled to be up there. The photograph isn't much to look at for anyone else, but it rates as the best for me in 2008. Thanks to every man for going to sea in the service of his country. And thank you to Eric at Paris Daily Photo whose wonderful blog got me started. And thanks to Babooshka over at Ramsey Daily Photo for her encouragement and examples.

I can't wait to find out how everyone else interpreted the theme!