Category Archives: Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – The Super Moon Lunar Eclipse

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.

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.

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?

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

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!!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

Skywatch Friday – Oxley TreeScape

I went hiking the other day and found this tree with all the branches on one side. It looks a little ghostly to me actually. And of course I liked the blue sky.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Christmas is Coming

Courtesy of Cheri Lou Gastineau

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

Courtesy of Cheri Lou Gastineau

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

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

I’m linking at Skywatch Friday come join us.

December Skywatch 2017

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.

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

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.

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.

The flag still flies over the USS Arizona.

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

Skywatch Friday – Another Arkansas River Sunset

I am such a lazy skywatcher. Every work day this time of year at about 5:15 I get from my cubicle with my iphone and walk down to the west end of the building and check out the sunset. Sometimes if it is too cloudy or no clouds there is not much to see. I shoot through the glass and I have found a spot behind a pillar next to the window where I shoot through the glass at an angle, and that cuts the back reflection back tremendously. It is still there but you have to look hard to find it.

This is a bull from the ranch in western Oklahoma. The photo was taken by my wife’s cousin’s wife who sent it to me and I edited it a little bit. I love the scenery and people of Western Oklahoma. You can tell this bull has a little attitude. Life as a bull is a balance. You need to get the job done with the heifers and a little attitude is tolerated. Too much and off you go, never to be seen again except maybe at your local butcher shop.

A little closer to home is a family walk on Turkey Mountain the day after Thanksgiving. We had a nice Thanksgiving and we all (including my brother not pictured) went a little walk. I am pretty gimpy right now and I got real gimpy during the walk. I bit off a little more than I should have with my running. In the course of a month I ran three fairly long distance races, a 15K road race, a 25K trail race, and a half marathon on the road. So my knee is kind of sore. So I am working to strengthen my quads, and loosen my hamstrings, and try to maintain some sort of fitness with non running exercises all while loading up on ibuprofen, and icing my knee when I can. So far my it is getting better. I don’t think I will be running until January.

Anyways, thanks for visiting. Check out the fun folks at Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Town and Country Skies

This is the view from my office building on day last week. Sunset looking over the Arkansas River as it winds its way down from Kansas through northeast Oklahoma.

A cattle herd in western Oklahoma, taken by my wife’s cousin’s wife Cheri Lou at her family ranch in Washita County, Oklahoma. Cheri Lou takes pics, I edit them and post them on Instagram. We make a great team. I love the donkey in the middle of the cows. The purpose of the donkeys, besides providing comic relief, is to protect the herd from coyotes. I give the cows names that Cheri Lou doesn’t appreciate. Names like Little Brisket, Rib Eye, McDonald, Wendy, Burger King, and Chuck (roast). It’s all in fun, don’t report me to PETA okay. Honestly, do people think these cows are going to die of old age.

Be that as it may, I am linking with Skywatch Friday

YogisDen.us

Welcome to my world