Category Archives: Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Winter Sunset

20180207-172358-2

So Wednesday evening after work I decided to go chase a geocache that was recently planted in Owen Park which is about a mile or so northwest of my office. It has been bitterly cold lately but the temps were up to the low 40’s and there was still lots of light so off I went.

20180207-172306-1

Owen Park may be the oldest park in Tulsa, in the oldest part of town. I love it because it has lots of old school rock walls and steps and other things that are way to dangerous to be built today. So it took me a little bit to find it climbing up and down and all around. Rocks like this really drive the GPSr devices we use crazy because of all the multipath noise.  But hey, I was having fun. I even got a call from my wife while I was looking at we chatted a little bit. While chatting I spotted a good place for the hide and after the call was over sure enough there it was. Number 1493.

20180207-172521-3

On the way back to the care I took this snap with my cell phone. No clouds or color in the sky but I loved the little skim of ice on part of the pond, and the reflections of the trees. So no filters or cropping or anything like that on this post.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – The Super Moon Lunar Eclipse

IMG_2206

An almost full moon. I took the photo on Tuesday night so this is actually waxing gibbous at 98%. But hey, it is full enough for me.

Lunar Eclipse (1 of 1)

Then this is the following morning. I got up and went out to get the paper at about 5:30 am and I had to run back in and get my camera and then I had to go across the street and stand in my neighbors yard to get away from the trees. Yes, that is part of the eclipse I didn’t hold my finger in front of the lens to fake it.

Lunar Eclipse (3 of 1)

And this is Wednesday night’s moon. Yes, I used a Topaz filter on it to jack it up a little. Jacking up is a technical term here in Oklahoma. Do you jack things up where you live?

Lunar Eclipse (2 of 1)

And this is my favorite Wednesday night moon. Yes, another Topaz filter. I love messing with photos.

_DSC0030

I’m taking a photography class and one of our assignments to get a photo of a flag in manual mode. Being the apple polisher that I am I got a bunch of flags flying in a good stiff Oklahoma breeze.

What about you? What have you been looking at?

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Weather Deliverance!!

20180120-103940-2

The weather finally broke and the sun came out and the sky was almost springlike. After our extended cold spell I never realized how warm 36 degrees could feel so warm.

20180116-172303-2

Before hand we had day after day of this, and this is at the end of the day!! Ever hear of Lake Effect Snow? One morning we had “Refinery Effect Snow” the condensation from the cooling towers caused snow on the west side of downtown.

FSCN9043

We are finally getting some clouds,  the days are getting longer. We are a long ways from Spring but I am getting hopeful.

What is going on where you live?

I am linking with Skywatch Friday.

Skywatch Friday – Scenes of Winter

AncientForestPairedTrees-Edit-1

I kind of collect trees. I don’t dig them up or anything like that but I do take pictures of them. These two are my latest acquistion. I can’t tell if they like each other but you can tell they have lived with other a long time.

AncientForestBlueSky-Edit-Edit-1

Here is a winter sky from a clearing not far away. I love winters. Yes it is kind of cold but it has its own kind of beauty.

20180113-155243-1

Photo courtesy of Cheri Lou Gastineau

We have had a spell of cold weather here in Oklahoma that is uncomfortably long. Ranchers have to go out and break the ice so their livestock can drink water.

Skywatch Friday – Winter

20180108-173407-2

View of the sky to the west from my office building at sunset.The river is the Arkansas River.

Well its January and it finally got cold in Tulsa and is pretty much staying cold. That’s okay, that drives the snakes and ticks away. Anything that does that, I am all for.

20180107-082138-2

It just makes me appreciate the warm weather that much more.

20171231-201710-1

I forgot to post the full moon last week. I love full moons.

20180107-124957-3

I have this new nerd app on my Iphone called Solocator. It takes photos with gps coordinates, elevation, direction, and other info. Isn’t it just the coolest. I’m showing how dreary the sky was in the greenbelt in my neighborhood. (Why do they call it a greenbelt? In the winter we should call it the brownbelt, but I am digressing)

So, sorry about the lack of a theme, but that is kind of my life these days.

Skywatch Friday

Merry Christmas Skywatch

DSCN2896

The weather has been terrible. We had a little bit of snow, not much. I am cheating with this December 2014 photo of the snow in our neighborhood.

20171225-145002-11

We had a pretty good Christmas with the world’s greatest MIL, Nana, and them I am to the left, then Heather, then Logan then my brother Bob on the right. I liked the way this photo turned out although my professional photographer friends are groaning. The white balance, the busyness, all the water bottles, blah blah blah. I like it is all I’m saying.

20171225-121202-3

Ginger, the always freezing dachsund spent a lot of time in her bed with a fleece throw. She is wants to move to Mexico, or Spain, or some place warm all year round.

20171226-064146-1

And the Lizzie the kitten during her Christmas afternoon nap. She goes either 100 miles or an hour or is sleeping, with stops for eating. I don’t think she is going to get very big but look at them huge jack rabbit legs. What is up with that? She is not a hold me kitty but I love how she is interested in everybody and anything. and never loses her cool. We adopted her from our Vet. She was thrown out of a car window at a Hobby Lobby here in Tulsa when she was very little.

20171225-115453-21

My favorite gift. Heather got me some skull socks. She knows that I love the Day of the Dead holiday. I love these almost as much as my Psychobunny socks. I have Psychobunny pajamas and a hat also. Don’t you judge me!!

I hope you had a great Christmas!!

Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Christmas is Coming

20171219-132336-9

Courtesy of Cheri Lou Gastineau

Here is a crowd scene in western Oklahoman. Tough looking but nothing like Tulsa shoppers on a shopping rampage.

20171217-162220-1

Courtesy of Cheri Lou Gastineau

And here’s security, a guard donkey keeping the bad guys at bay.

DSCN8471

Here is my happy spot. Not this Christmas but maybe future??

I’m linking at Skywatch Friday come join us.

December Skywatch 2017

IMG_2199

The Cold Moon from earlier this month amped up a little bit with a Flickr filter. I love seeing and taking shots of the moon. Some filters are more than a distraction, this one actually makes the moon look a little three dimensional.

December Sunrise

This is a file photo from a few years ago taken off my front yard at the sunset. I love a little color in the sky. This kind of color is short lived. I have found out that one has to act in a a minute or so or it all turns to gray.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday. Take a sky photo, post it on your blog and link it to Skywatch Friday. We never close.

Skywatch Friday – Pearl Harbor Day

_DSC0866

December 7 is a sacred day in America. That is the day that American fleet was attacked in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on that day in 1941. 3700 Americans were killed that day and the attack started World War II for America.

_DSC0878

There were many ships damaged and sunk that day but the USS Arizona and its monument atop it symbolize the place to many. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to visit Pearl Harbor and the memorial. It is a sacred place especially since many sailors were entombed in the ship and are still there. So I didn’t take that many photographs while in the Memorial. It didn’t seem right.

aa

_DSC0880

The flag still flies over the USS Arizona.

_DSC0871

The USS Missouri is anchored close by. The Japanese signed the terms of surrender during World War II on the deck of the ship. In the 1980’s it was brought out of mothballs during the Reagan buildup and recommissioned. My brother served proudly on the ship and I was fortunate enough to attend the recommissioning ceremony in San Francisco in May of 1986.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday