Every year as the seasons change this tree puts on a different face. I’m guessing I have taken 100′s of photos of this one particular tree, and every shot looks different. Today we had a fog-bank cloud descend over the property making visibility a few hundred feet or so giving me this shot. The weather this year just seems freaky, like having 75*F and fog on December 6th, but in a few days it’s supposed to be below freezing. Oh well, that’s the weather in the south.
I know I post random photos on here from time to time but each individual photo I pull out of a shoot is part of a bigger set, and next year, I am actually going to do something I have wanted to do for the better part of 15+ years, and that’s Project 365 as it is so called now. Project 365 is something I will post about more later, but basically that is a project that refers to taking and posting one photo a day for 365 days. I know, sounds simple. Ever tried it? Maybe 2012 will be the year.
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That cold-ish time of year has come again, even down here in the south. On Wednesday it was almost 80*F, and now it looks like all that warm air is gone for now. One of the things we love about our house in the winter is our Lopi wood burning stove, but it takes a lot of wood too. Normally we cut and split wood all throughout the year, but the past year or two we haven’t really been able to catch up with the wood work so to speak. With all the trees down from the storm on Wednesday it’s too bad we couldn’t have just driven around Auburn and picked up all the wood, but instead I just cut my own up for today’s Friday Feet via my cell phone.
It was a little surreal driving around Auburn today in the sunshine seeing huge holes in people’s roofs, and massive trees down all over the place. I know there are still a lot of people in Auburn that are dealing with huge trees down on their property, and many with a lot of damage to their homes. Hopefully this will be the end of any more tornados for Alabama this year, this state has seen enough for 2011.
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Photo of the day today comes from my walk around the property yesterday. The sun is out, sky is blue, and it is so beautiful outside right now but Spring just isn’t quite here yet. I love these tall long needle pines. They don’t care what the season is, no matter if it’s freezing cold or 100*F in August, they stretch out their limbs dressed in green all year long.
Can’t wait to start seeing some leaves on the trees around here, Spring is one of the most beautiful times of the year in Auburn where the streets are lined with flowers. Both of these shots were taken with my iPhone and basically taken right off the phone with a little crop.
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This is not a true time lapse as we might think about today, but, a sequence of shots, taken over time, of the same subject. We have this great tree back behind our house and I usually take photos of it as the seasons change and I have been wanting to write one single post with all of the photos together to see how one single spot can change over time. Below is where I sit in the summer and read, contemplate life, and view from the house in the winter and rain. I love the warm open feeling it gives in Spring or Summer and the uninviting look of winter. As the days count down for our departure to Virginia, this is one spot I am going to miss while we are gone.
The original posts that came from this photos can be found here:
- Fog on a never end cycle of rain in the south – December 14, 2009
- Temperature and Dew Point Converge – March 6, 2009
- Crazy Weather, 70 Degrees with Snow? – February 28, 2009
- Beautiful December Day, Valkyrie // Friday Feet – December 27, 2008
- Star Trails, the North Star, and a Cold Night with the Tree Swing – November 26th, 2008
- Another Beautiful and Very Colorful Fall Day in Alabama – November 9, 2008
- Fall Has Finally Arrived in Alabama, and My Swing Loves It – November 5, 2008
- View of Our House from a Tree Swing // Friday Feet – October 17, 2008
- Do You Have a Quiet and Peaceful Place to Hide? – June 22, 2008
- A Foggy Summer Morning in Auburn Alabama and a Tree Swing – July 7, 2008
Below is are some of the photos from the posts above.
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It usually gets to be about this time of year when I start dreaming about being some place warmer where the days are not 50-60* and gloomy (yes I know if you live anywhere farther north than the deep south 50 is not cold, but it is to us). One of our favorite spots to go this time of year is the Florida Keys. We have made more than a dozen trips down there over the years but a few years ago we did something different and road our motorcycles from Auburn Alabama to Key West Florida.
You may be saying big deal, who cares, but if you have never ridden a bike, or haven’t ridden more than about 50 miles at a time on a bike, it was a pretty big deal to us. It is about 850 miles from here to there, and by car, usually takes us two days if we stop in Orlando. That means long driving time in short light, and cold. It was a great trip, and goal achieved, but one of the best and most memorable trips we have taken down to the keys (other than this one). We didn’t make it all the way to Orlando the first night, and we only made it to Islamorada the second night, so it was a whole lot of very sore riding by the time we made it to Key West, but a memory I wouldn’t trade for anything.
So there are a few shots done with a point-n-shoot a few years ago, one while I was riding next to Deb while she was on her Honda Shadow VLX 600. I was riding a Honda Nighthawk 750 at the time and loved to take pics of Deb while she was riding (of course). We took many trips on these two motorcycles but this one trip to the Florida Keys was one of our favorite, and in one of our favorite spots in the country.
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I started off today with a beautiful creation by our Creator that I am not all that thrilled to see when I get up. 20* Frost.
I took this photo this morning when I went out to get in my truck. We live in the deep south and I like to think that our winter days are mild, but not lately. It is currently 30* outside and it is almost 11am, not a pleasant thing for those of us who have a wardrobe that consists of t-shirts and one or two long sleeve shirts that we never like to wear but do so when we can’t bear it any longer.
The first image is actually the sunrise looking through my truck window on the driver’s side, into the truck, then back out the other side. The sun still hadn’t warmed things up enough to melt away the unique snowflake like frost that had formed all over everything last night. There was just enough humidity last night at 20* to make for a beautiful close up of the snowflake crystals on the window (although handheld due to my tripod being in use at the time).
The second shot above is a further close up (beyond the macro 1:1 ratio for those photo techies) of the first shot above. It took less than a minute sitting in the car for all of this beauty to melt away. My next blog post is going to be where we should be this time of year, but for now, it is cold down here. I don’t care if it is -10* up north and 20* isn’t cold to some, it is cold down here, time for Spring.
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I would like to say that every day is filled with a bike ride and a walk on the beach, but at least, today, it was. We use to spend quite a bit of time in Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and Perdido Key, but haven’t made it down here in the last 6 months. This is our absolutely favorite time of year to be down here. The beaches and parks are usually empty, the temperature is still pretty nice.
After getting some work done at home we drove down to a bike trail in Orange Beach that is easy to find but not on many maps or searches. The Hugh S Branyon Backcountry Trail, which starts and runs through Gulf State Park, is a paved trail that have several different 1-2 mile sections that runs through the sand dunes and some beautiful nature areas. We have driven by several times in the past but never stopped to ride the tail.
Of course no day would be complete down here without a walk on the beach. We made it over to the sand just in time to see the sun set. I walked a few miles down the beach and then we had dinner at a restraunt there on the beach, The Hangout.
I am always amazed at the beauty of the beach and the ocean. I have seen it so many times, in many different states and countries and it still has some magical, almost mystic quality. A place that for one reason or another allows you to remove the routine of life and the busy world around you and leaves you with sand and water… but a lot of sand, and an unreal amount of water.
I think people are attracted to the beach because it represents life. Water that is living, breathing, and a constantly changing yet every time you go to the same beach, it looks relatively the same. Taking a walk a few miles down a nice white sand beach (especially in January) is a spiritual thing, and I will take a walk any chance I get. Here are some photos from the day.
