Sun Dogs Extraordinaire

The above average fall temperatures are history now.  With the winter solstice came  winter weather and the onset of snow, wind and cold temperatures.  We have had a few inches of snow the last few days and last night we were supposed to get hit with a full scale blizzard.  Fortunately for us we only got two of the 3 criteria for a blizzard.  Wind and cold. -40 with the wind chill tonight.  Doesn't matter how you measure -40.  Fahrenheit or Celsius, its the same thing.  Dammm Cold.  The snow for the most part missed us so at least the drifts are only a few feet deep although the wind has hardened it to the consistency of concrete.  As I was walking Charli I passed a number of unfortunate soles out trying to shovel the stuff so they could get out to work in the morning.      

We were blessed with a rare sunset tonight.  At least rare for me.  I don't think I have ever seen twin sun dogs in such dramatic fashion.  I got a text from a friend of mine telling me to get outside with my camera.  Thanks Debbie.  Here are a few different interpretations of the event.  

Left this one in the oven a little too long.  A little overdone but I do like my colours. 

This one is a little more realistic.  Pretty spectacular.

A black and white version however I couldn't resist adding back just a touch of colour. 

Its not often you get to see this in Manitoba.  

May be my last blog before Christmas so if I don't talk to you before both Lori and I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year. 

 #Manitoba Sunset

#Sun Dogs

A Trip to Falcon Lake

 Well it has been awhile but with lockdowns back in vogue, other than a few day hikes to some local parks to walk Charli and take a few pictures, there has not been much to report.  I did break down and give Apple more of my business.  I ordered another laptop through the Refurbished section on the Apple store.  Saved about $900. and it looks and works like new with full warranty plus Apple Care.  Got it in 6 days.  Was promised it in 3 but with Covid all deliveries are somewhat protracted.  Fed Ex delivery this time and handled much better than UPS.  I have slowly been setting it up, transferring data and loading programs.  Will take me awhile to get fully operational but its functional and I kept my old iMac so the data is all in there somewhere.  In fact I'm going to use the 21.5" iMac as a second screen for the MacBook Pro and I'm just waiting for delivery of some cables so I can hook it all up.  

Lori got an Apple Watch for an Anniversary present and I got a set of AirPods Pro for my birthday so Apple had a good revenue month just in our household.  Lori likes the Apple Watch although I still think its a bit gimmicky but the AirPods Pro are great.  I turn on the noise cancellation and listen to Youtube videos and can't hear the TV.  Just soft muffled background noise.  Of course I also can't hear Lori talking to me.  Really allows me to focus in on the important stuff.

Black Friday provided some great deals on Photo editing software and now that the new Mac is up and running I am experimenting with the new Luminar AI and some Topaz products.  Other than the installation of some baseboards in the basement my winter will be spent in front of the computer, daily walks with Charli and the ongoing struggle to get my fat old body downstairs to do some exercises.  Let me tell you those exercises are a lot harder at 65 than they were at 60.  Progress is slow and the scale only seems to know how to go in one direction but fortunately, or unfortunately depending how you look at it, I have the whole winter to work at it.

I have a ton of pictures to edit so lets get started with a little road trip we took a few weeks ago to Falcon Lake.  Falcon is in Whiteshell Provincial Park and about a 2 hour drive.  We thought it would be a nice break from our daily walks around town or our weekly outing to Birds Hill Park (BHP) just down the road.  You will see lots of BHP before the winter is over as I think I will have photographed every tree by spring.      

Perhaps some of the best pictures I took on this day was on the drive out.  The highway is lined with trees and the ditch is filled with bull rushes and reeds.  Combined with the remnants of some hoar frost I just had to stop and take a walk through the ditch.  Pulled over on the divided highway, put on the flashers, left Lori and Charli in the comfort of the heated car and I wandered into the ditch.  

The forecast was for a sunny day with some cloud.  Turned out to be more of an overcast day but with enough colour in the sky that it actually turned out to be a pretty good shooting day.  The hoar frost really helped. 

The warm tones of the long grasses really helped offset the cooler tones of the rest of the scene.  I liked the contrast it provided.  Otherwise it could have been a little drab. 

I think this is my favourite shot (below) from this location.  The frost covered spruce framed by green branches of the trees set back in the bush with those framed by the frost covered branches of the surrounding deciduous trees.  All capped off with the warm tones of the grasses in the foreground.  

Looks like a Christmas card.   Hmmmmmm! 

Proved to be a bit of an adventure getting the shot below.  I needed to get in the right position so I could use those two fallen trees as leading lines down the small creek bed, between the spruce trees to the long grasses.  I just had to get down into the dry snow covered creek bed.  

As I was positioning myself the ice started to crack.  

I stopped.  So, not a dry creek bed then.  

It stopped cracking.

I slowly knelt down took my shot and slowly made my way to the side of the creek.

No boots got wet in this adventure.

Tomorrow I'll start working on the pictures from the trail.

Till then.