Winter Solstice

 

Yesterday marked the beginning of the winter solstice.  It's a happy time for me because I look forward to more daylight each day.  I took the photo above about a week ago when there was a bit of snow on the ground, but all the snow has disappeared now.  It has been gray and dreary with absolutely no sunlight for days on end.  I've lost track of the cloudy days.  My guess is we've had about ten days of no sun and it's expected to stay this way.  Rain is in the forecast for Christmas Eve.  Not exactly the white Christmas that I'd hoped for.  But, we'll make the most of it, turning on the festive decorations and lighting the candles, creating our own holiday cheer.

 

I remember living in Key West and wishing for a cloudy day.  I tell my friends that I got more than I wished for when I moved to this little corner of the northeast.  But, soon the snow will arrive.  It's almost inevitable and then my little world will be transformed.  Can't wait! 

 

Yeah, I'm one of the crazy people who  loves winter and gets excited about snowstorms.  It's a forced retreat that I cherish.  In a big storm, the world  around us often comes to a complete halt.  Kind of special.  And, peaceful.  But, not for the faint of heart.  I often think that my sailing days prepared me for the serious snowstorms and sometimes bitter cold.  It's another adventure.

No big storms yet this year, so I'll post some winter photos from the past couple years.

 

The barn across the street. Why would I want to go south??

 

Delaware River - looking south from Basket Bridge.

 

Winter on Swago Pond.



 

A sunny shot of the barn.
 

 

Snow falling in the backyard, magical.






 





Winter Storm Warning

Emergency Broadcast System was going off  like crazy on some of the radio stations today.  Winter Storm Warning begins tomorrow morning at 4 a.m.  Forecast looks like a wintry mix, my least favorite and the most scary time to be out on the roads.  I long for the white powdery snow, when I can strap on my snowshoes or cross country skis.  This wintry mix stuff is when one starts hunting for ice treads to put on your shoes and the snow loses a bit of its magic.    However, I'm looking forward to the forced retreat.  My day job has been insanely busy and I typically don't drive in snow and ice.  I just might have two days off.  Yay!!  Batten down the hatches and get the wood fire roaring!

Meanwhile, we've mostly been living in a black and white world here.   Which is fine.  I'm finding myself wanting to shoot more photos in black and white.  Suddenly my dismal world becomes slightly brighter as I capture some interesting  black and white photos.

 

 

 

 

These are the nights I have swimming and sailing dreams.  My sea/country world collides and this Herman Melville quote runs through my head.  Not from Moby Dick, but a time when Melville lived in the Berkshires.

 





"I have a sort of sea-feeling here in the country now that the ground is covered in snow, I look out my window in the morning when I rise as I would out of a port-hole of a ship in the Atlantic. My room seems a ship's cabin; & at nights when I wake up & hear the wind shrieking, I almost fancy there is too much sail on the house, & I had better go on the roof & rig in the chimney."          
~Herman Melville

 

Saturday night and freezing rain

It's Saturday night and I cancelled my plans based on a winter weather advisory for freezing rain.  Yeah, my AWD Subaru has studded snows, but not everyone else  on the road is as well prepared.  I decided to stay home, snug in my house with the wood stove going.  And, Charley the cat.
The outside world can be a bit dreary this time of year.  The landscape is stark and trees look terribly bare without their leaves.  Reminds me of that Joni Mitchell song, "Urge For Going," made famous by Tom Russell.  Love these lines:



I awoke today and found the frost perched on the town
It hovered in a frozen sky, then it gobbled summer down
When the sun turns traitor cold
And shivering trees are standing in a naked row
I get the urge for going but I never seem to go
    ~Joni Mitchell

This is the time of year when photo opportunities don't pop up as frequently.  But, if you look closely, it's really quite beautiful.  I noticed today that small sections of the river were beginning to freeze and there were icicles on the rocks by the river.  It has been  very cold here.  A bit too early in the season for me.
I spend lots of time looking at the sky these days, which appears to be constantly changing.  In fact, almost rear ended the car in front of me the other day when the sky looked like this:

 

Inspired by Joni Mitchell -  "shivering trees are standing in a naked row" 

   

All has not been totally bleak.  We did have a light dusting of snow last week.  Yay!  Grabbed my camera and got a few shots of the barn/field across the street in the early morning.

 

Sometimes I love capturing the world in black and white rather than color.  Love the shadows in this barn shot.



Fog and Art In Sixes

Yesterday was my first show where I presented my photographs: Art in Sixes, a small works show at the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance in Narrowsburg, NY.  I was pretty excited and a little nervous.  Not sure why I was nervous, but I was.  Turned out to be great fun!  Huge crowd, wine was flowing, lots of interesting people.  At one point it was wall-to-wall people (literally!) and I never did see the entire show.  Will go back one day soon when I'm alone and can take in everything by myself.  Many terrific artists in the show and I was proud to be a small part of it. 

Big surprise of the day for me was that I sold two photographs!  Wow.  I'll post them here, even though I posted one before in a previous blog.  One photo is a foggy morning in Mystic, CT .  Always loved that photo and was thrilled that someone else did.   A friend asked me about some of my fog pictures and how I take them. Obviously, there is a sense of knowing your camera, but it also involves patience.  One must wait for the fog to lift.  It's always best for me to get out early in the morning. Then, I watch carefully until things slowly begin to appear in the dense fog.  I love the waiting part and sensing that 'right' moment to take the photo.   Good thing I'm a morning person.  By the way, a good cup of coffee is also an important piece in getting the fog pics just right.

 

I used to do lots of sailing when I was younger and found fog incredibly scary.  All one had to rely on were lights and horns.  When I'm on land, I love fog.  However, last year crossing over to Block Island on the ferry we were in thick fog and I didn't mind.  That's because the Block Island ferry is a big boat and I was always on small sailboats, feeling rather vulnerable.  That fog horn on the ferry blew almost constantly for the entire trip.  I felt very safe even though I couldn't see a thing - nothing.  Next time in the fog I will take a pictures of the 'nothingness.' 

 

One of the other photos in the show that sold was a house on Block Island.  It's a house that I photograph frequently, a house that always stays in my mind.  I return every year to photograph that house and still don't think I've gotten it quite right.  But, someone bought it.  That felt great! This year I will find out who lives there.  Guess I used to think it was an empty house because of its location, but not so sure anymore.  It appears to sit on the edge of the sea and I never noticed a road.  Will have to do some exploring.  Ok, here are the photos:

 

Autumnal Sky

 

Not Fade Away

Fall is upon us, but fading fast.  The ground is turning into a blanket of leaves, but the  trees are still holding onto bits of color.   Definitely a fantastic time to be driving around the country.

"Autumn...is the year's last, loveliest smile."
               -William Cullen Bryant






The Delaware River with subtle fall colors.





 



Picnic benches by an ice cream stand, closed for the season.

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Fog - Mystic, CT







 

 

 

This was about a month ago.  I was on my way to Newport, RI and stopped in Mystic CT, mostly to shoot photos in the early morning.  Oh yeah, I got to swim in the ocean the day before.  I was happy.  Anyway, I set my alarm at my motel and got up early to catch the fog.  It was foggy!!  Almost too much fog.  I had to wait until it lifted a bit before anything was visible.  I was the only one around in most places.  Great to have these tourist spots practically all to myself. 

 

 

 

 



 



 

 



Fog - Catskills

 

 



Morning is my favorite time of day.  Even as a young child, I'd always be up in those early morning hours ready to start my day, usually before anyone else.  Morning is a great time for capturing fog and mist.   It changes minute to minute and one has to be standing by vigilant with the camera.  Often, I jump out of my car on my morning commute when the fog seems just right in a particular spot.  Love these foggy shots.