Black and Blue

"As the crow flies" is a phrase I've heard all my life and from my childhood understood it to mean the shortest possible distance between two points, and not necessarily the distance one must really travel to get there.  I never thought much about what it really meant or where it came from until much later in life as I watched the crows around here actually fly.  They do seem to almost always be going somewhere with a great purpose, nose down and flying quickly in a straight line.  Seldom do I see one take a short jaunt (unless he's eating road kill and just moves to get out of the way of my car).  Seems they always go somewhere a half mile or more away.  Sometimes it's like if they wanted to go fifty yards south, they would first fly a mile north, turn around, caw a few times, and fly a mile and fifty yards south, straight as an arrow both ways.

2 Things Challenge: Numbers/Peak

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Numbers/Peak.

I posted this photo a long time ago, but it was very appropriate for the challenge this week.  The little terrestrial bump near my home goes by several names (Columbiana Mountain, Mount Dixie, Cates Mountain), but I think the USGS calls it Columbiana Mountain.  At the peak is a USGS marker, and my GPS gives the coordinate numbers for the exact peak.  

The Trouble . . .

 . .with outdoor winter photography in the South is seldom a beautiful snow scene.  Except for pine trees and Christmas lights, everything is pretty much various shades of gray and brown.

But sometimes those grays and browns arrange themselves in a particularly nice manner.

2 Things Challenge: Town/Illusion

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Town/Illusion.

 

This is the little town of Columbiana during the holidays a few years ago, and there's the illusion of a car streaking through the intersection.  That was interesting, but not the shot I was hoping for at the time.

I Want That One

Tina made orange cupcakes, and they were good.

Meoooow

While I was making some photos of grandkids using my infamous black velvet backdrop, the cat just had to check things out.

2 Things Challenge: Step/Double

The 2 Things Challenge this week is Step/Double.

The one thing about a sack race is that every step is a double one.

Irony

I think this is the perfect definition of "irony". Plus it's made of an irony substance.

Night Clouds

 Last night the moon and clouds were putting on a particularly interesting show.  I missed the part where the moon had just gone behind the edge of the cloud bank, but it peaked through occasionally.

But most impressive to me was the well lit clouds as they swept by.  I had to up the ISO to avoid them being just a blur, so my old Sony got pretty grainy, but I still liked it, especially the stars peaking through.

2 Things Challenge: Forsaken/Empty

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Forsaken/Empty.  This is both, and it's been that way for a while.

A Snail's Pace II

A few days ago I lamented the fate of a poor snail (here) which had tried to cross our driveway on a cold night and did not make it.  Yesterday I spotted what I thought was that same snail about 15 feet away from his previous predicament, and lo, he had a fresh slime trail.  Closer examination convinces me it's his twin brother, and not the original snail, however.

I flipped this one over temporarily to have a look inside, and he looks all fresh and ready to go on a rollicking two foot venture the next night.  Perhaps my lament for the first one was premature.  I guess they have to be able to take the weather around here, or they wouldn't be around here.