Happy Earth Day

It's Earth Day, foo's. Stop tossing rubbish on the ground. Stop tossing things that can very evidently be recycled into the garbage when the recycling bin is six inches away.

To right is my most creative Skywatch to date. Straight out of the camera. We've not had sky like that for eons.

Yesterday I was lounging about on the grass, enjoying for once not having to do anything. Several friends were bouncing about, excitedly babbling about being late for something. I ask them where they're going.

"Flash mob!"

I manage a "wh-" before they vanish. So, camera in hand, I dash off on their heels. There isn't much of a mob, though there's a small knot of people gathered on one side of the square.

"Go!"

It turns out to be a tree-hugging event, the awesomeness of which makes up for everything.

Skywatch No. 37

I was going to run up to the observatory to shoot last night, but didn't make it. Then I installed some HDR software and ran off to shoot meh sum' HDR, but then concluded I needed a lot of practice first.

So this week, I'll just be posting what I actually can and know how to do. I think I just saved you some visual trauma. You're welcome.

Sorry that the sky's not much of a focal point. But it's in there, which is what counts. One day, I'll be back shooting sunsets and thunderclouds. 

Skywatch No. 36

First are the flowers, emerging impatiently from the loam when their shoots are barely out. Trees, bursting into flower overnight like bouquets being whipped out from behind one's back. The clouds' smooth facade finally breaking into wispy streaks and the occasional towering blot that lends itself to the rare rumble of thunder.

Both were taken last weekend, during which I ventured over to the Arboretum and attempted to do schoolwork but instead ended up trekking about in the woods with the camera out.

Did Someone Say Spring?

Here 'tis.

?? under a beech to left, magnolia to right.

We're experiencing an unusually warm spell at the moment, complete with sun and everything. (Back to rain next week.) Leaves aren't in yet, but the flowers are blooming. Enjoy.

Here Comes the Sun

The weather is beautiful today. Sunlight, fifty-seven degree high, melted snow, the finally-visible greens of conifers and hardy mosses, the whole deal. Even the insects, birds, and squirrels are out. This is the only "nice" day, per say, for the time being. Spring, we must continue to tell ourselves, begins this month. 

Daylight savings time also begins this weekend. I find it unfair how it always occurs just when it's starting to get a little light in the morning. For those of us who are forced to rise at six, it's often a relief to be able to recognize mornings as being mornings (as opposed to the middle of the night) when looking out the window. 

Also, I am not a fan of post-daylight savings time beginning-Monday mornings. Just thought I'd share.

Remember to adjust your clocks.

Heat Wave

We're currently sitting in the middle of a nice mass of warm air. The temperature topped 50°F yesterday, and that qualifies as a heat wave. An unseasonably warm day in February, for us non-equatorial norther-hemisphere dwellers, feels exceedingly pleasant. Most of the snow has melted; the massive plowed mountains, the kind built up in parking lots, are now small car-sized piles. Grass is once again visible. It's trampled, yellowish grass, but grass nontheless. There's mud everywhere, and the sound of running water. Even the river has started to thaw a little near the middle. This morning, an opaque fog shrouded everything. It's like spring come several months early. 

All this is very well, but it's also slightly worrying. The number of unseasonably warm days has been increasing recently, as well as record high temperatures and more extreme weather- this past winter has been harsher and had come earlier. It's frustrating to see that a number of people don't realize what even small seasonal shifts mean. Human biological patterns may not be directly or noticeably affected, but many other species are. If one population collapses, it leads to others- its competitors, its predators or prey- undergoing other, often unfavourable changes. That's not too good for us either.