Amber Haiku

January 21 Sunrise

County N Sunrise

When I left work this morning I didn’t feel like sitting at the park on Lake Antoine to wait to see the sunrise, so I just headed home and caught these pics on County N in Aurora Wi.  The first shot is looking back to the east.

South.

West.

Happiness Is…..

Hitting the trails again after being forced to take 3 days off due to ridiculously low temps and wind chills.

It was 3 degrees when we went out this morning, but very still and peaceful with light snow falling.  It was a little chilly, but I warmed up pretty fast.  It was great to get back out on the snowshoes again.

This is the dreaded Bull Thistle.  These are the nasty little buggers that I sometimes run into (in the summer) when I’m looking for other things to photograph and not paying attention to where I’m going.  When I saw this one all dried up and covered with snow, all I could think was “not so tough now, are you”.

The long road home.

I was about 1 mile back in the woods when I shot this.

When I first left the house, it was snowing lightly, then stopped for awhile.  When it started up again it was snowing a little harder, and it was so peaceful and still that I could almost hear the snow falling.  Once again I’m trying to convey through pictures the amazing sense of peace and tranquility I felt as I stood out there with the snow whispering around me, and once again, my pictures fall short.

Happy trails!!

-18 Sunrise

When I got out of work this morning it was 18 below zero, with a wind chill of about 35 below.   Not near as cold as it is in Minnesota, but cold enough.  I let the truck warm up for awhile, then drove into the park by Lake Antoine for these pics.  The high for the day was zero.  Needless to say, I didn’t go snowshoeing.  If there hadn’t been any wind, I would have gone, but not when the wind chill is -20.  It’s supposed to be about 15-20 below again tonight and a high of about 5 tomorrow, then a warm-up over the weekend.  They’re predicting a high of 14 on Sat. and 20 on Sunday.   I sure hope so, cuz I can’t wait to hit the trails again.

Peace

I know I’ve been posting alot of “trail” pictures lately.  It’s really become a habit with me, but when I’m out snowshoeing in the woods, I have such a strong sense of peace, and I try to convey that through my pictures.  I suppose you’d have to be there to really appreciate it.  There is something so healing, so therapeutic, about being out in the woods in any season, and if you take pictures while you’re out there, well that just makes it even better.  I took these pics Saturday afternoon.  I went out both Saturday and Sunday and both days were perfect, beautiful winter days.  Temps were in the teens and there was no wind.  It was so still and peaceful and all I could hear was the sound of my snowshoes crunching in the snow and when I stopped walking and listened all I could hear was pure……silence.   It’s hard to accurately describe just how deeply this affects me.  All I can say is, you really should try to spend time in the woods whenever possible.   And if you can’t, well, just stop by and visit the great outdoors through my blog.  I’m more than happy to share the beauty of my world with you.

Happy trails!!

Urban Sunrise

Yesterday morning when I left work, I could see that we were gonna have a pretty sunrise, but I had a few stops to make and I didn’t have time to sit at the park at Lake Antoine and wait to take pics, so I headed to Wal-mart, because I knew I could get good shots from the Wells-Fargo bank parking lot.  So I stopped, got my pics, gassed up the truck at the Wal-mart gas station, and went on my merry way.  These shots would be so much better without the urban skyline, but I was just happy to see a sunrise this pretty.

The moon over Dickinson County Memorial Hospital.

Saturday In Pictures

Saturday morning sunrise.

I took this shot when I went out to get the mail.  People laugh when I tell them that I won’t even walk to my mailbox without a camera.  They don’t realize that I’m serious.

I took this shot and the next one when I went out snowshoeing.

I checked the sky at sunset and there wasn’t anything going on in the west, but the east and south were beautiful.   This shot is of the full moon rising up through the clouds.

Facing East.

Facing south.

Random Saturday

I was playing with my Corel software the other day, and I was trying a few things with one of the snowy pics from Dec. 28.    The first pic is the original, but I can’t remember what I did to the other three.

Lake Antoine Sunrise

It’s been such a long time since we’ve had a pretty sunrise, so I was very pleased to see color in the sky when I left work this morning.  I drove into a little park on the west side of Lake Antoine to take these shots.