Melt then Freeze

Flagstaff is one of those places where, in the winter, it can be very cold at night (around 10 degrees) and then very warm during the day (even in the 50s). And this makes for a lot of melting and refreezing of snow and ice. The grill on our deck is situated under the overhang of our roof and as the snow on the roof melts it flows down on top of the grill and then freezes in the evening, making some interesting icicle formations.

From the Mesa

The snow covered San Francisco Peaks as seen from McMillan Mesa after a recent snowstorm. My wife, Becky, gets credit for this photo. Unfortunately, I was at work during this beautifully clear day. Oh well.

Icicles on Icicles

These large icicles formed on our icicle Christmas lights outside our front door.

Overhang

About 4 feet of snow was hanging off the roof over our front door after a snowstorm last week. Even though it looked cool, it presented a bit of hazard for our mailman who delivers mail and packages to our front door from time to time, so I had to hang out the upstairs window and knock the snow off.

I hope everyone had a very happy and safe holiday season this year.

A Dusting 4777a

A Dusting 4777a, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

We received about 23 inches of snow over 3 days here in Flagstaff, last week. And now that we have just dug ourselves out, the weather channel says we are due for another 12". Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Lady, Are You Crazy?

We got at least 15" of new snow yesterday in Flagstaff. I had the pleasure of shoveling our driveway for the first time. Ah, the joys of home ownership. Although I took this photo before the bulk of the snow had come down, Curry still didn't want to leave the deck to do her "business" with just an inch or two on the ground. Can you blame her though?!

'Tis the Season

My wife is an avid baker, especially during the Holiday season. This is one of her first batches of the season, a delicious cookie called Caramel Cocoa Delights; they have a layer of caramel in the center of the cookie. Don't ask me how she got it in there, I just assume it's some kind of baking magic.

Squinty

Our Irish setter puppy, Curry, soaking up the morning sun; although from the look on her face and squinting of the eyes it may be a little too bright. :-)

Again, my wife, Becky, gets credit for this photo.

Cosmic

Another shot of the moon, Jupiter and Venus from last Monday night. A contrail from a jet can been seen in the upper right hand corner, reflecting the rays of the setting sun.

Watch Cat

Our cat, Imara, keeping an eye on our Irish setter puppy, Curry, while she takes a nap.

My wife took this photo.

Brefkist

A macro shot of the beginnings of my breakfast the other day: scrambled eggs with onion, green pepper, shredded cheddar cheese and green tomatillo salsa. Yummmmmm!!!!!

The Stars Align......kinda

On Monday night, a unique cosmic event occurred. Venus and Jupiter, two of the brightest planets seen from Earth, appeared very close to the crescent moon in the night sky. In this photo, taken just after sunset, Venus can be seen below and to the right of the moon. Jupiter is the slightly less bright star above and to the right of Venus. I took this from my backyard facing southwest.

Long Exposure Twins

Wow, it's been a while since I posted. Sorry for that. With the new puppy and the holidays coming, I haven't had a lot of extra time.

However, since it gets dark so early now, it has given me more time to experiment with long exposure photography. I took this photo a few days ago in our bedroom. For those shutterbugs out there, the EXIF info is as follows: exposure time=30 sec, aperture= 3.5, and ISO=400. I stood behind the chair for about 7 sec and sat in the chair for about 11 sec of the 30 sec exposure. I am working on reading about how to do startrail photography next, so if I get a good one I will share it. Enjoy the holidays!