Christmas Morning 2020 sure brought a beautiful view. The temp was about 10 below zero but I'm glad we decided to head out for sunrise. While we never did see the sun directly because of the cloud cover, those same clouds lit up nicely as the sun was lurking just below the horizon.
Yesterday was very stormy and incredibly windy (I heard reports of winds up to 70 MPH), so today it was nice to get out for a drive and take some pictures. The sky was crazy beautiful this afternoon. I made this photo overlooking Lake Superior from Highway 61 in Grand Portage, MN. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve!
Boy, the sky conditions sure have been unfavorable for night photography for quite a while now. Day after day it seems we have nothing but heavy cloud cover. There has been a night here and there that's been good but we sure haven't been seeing much of the sun or stars lately. This photo was taken back in October not long after the last of the maple leaves fell. I love the maple forest after the leaves fall. The trees make a nice foreground against the night sky!
While out for a hike last weekend we caught the sun going down behind this awesome birch tree. It was a bitterly cold day but so beautiful. It's actually pretty amazing that it's still alive. The tree has a major lean and most of its roots have pulled up from the ground but they are still connected to the soil.
A ruffed grouse has been using the trunk as a drumming log near the base of the tree... he left a pretty good pile of waste there. I'll have to come back here in the spring to see if he's drumming on it again.
From last month's waning full moon. Taken at sunset on November 27th. I really liked the clouds surrounding the moon and the subtle colors in the eastern sky.
On our way to Grand Marais yesterday we got lucky and happened to spot the tip of the bow of the ore carrier Presque Isle out beyond Red Rock Point. Knowing we would only have a few minutes before the ship completely passed the point, I quickly turned around so we could grab some photos. The ship seemed a lot closer to shore than they usually travel. The lake wasn't that rough yesterday so I don't know why it was so close. No matter how many times you spot one of these out in the lake its always exciting to see them again the next time!
The beach in front of the house has been changing lately. The sand has been building back up a little bit and some new pebbles have been washing up on the sand. I like looking at all the variations in colors and patterns within each stone. These are all pretty small. Each one is roughly the size of a quarter or smaller.