Sunday Sunsets

This was taken on September 8, 2015.  The sunset lasted about twenty minutes, the clouds and light constantly changing.  I was at the Red Rock Wall turnout on Highway 18 and, incredibly, there were only three other photographers there! 

Red Tailed Hawk

A Red Tailed Hawk perching in a dead tree on the mountain side.  This seems to be a favorite spot for hawks to survey the area; I've been photographing various hawks in this spot for over forty years.  

This one flew away in a rush, intent on dinner I suppose.  I never stay to see that part, even though I wish them good hunting...I know everything has to eat, but I don't have the heart to watch or photograph the kill.

Linking with Saturday's Critters 

Skywatch Friday

Looking east and north from a turnout on Highway 18.  Big Bear has been getting a few sprinkles over the past couple of days, but Lake Arrowhead and Crestline have gotten nothing.  It's just been horribly, horribly hot.  Our high today was 95.  So, of course, the air conditioner conks out!  Because I have MS I have a really hard time dealing with temperatures over 80 degrees.  The repair man will be here tomorrow, thank goodness!  I hope it's more pleasant where you are...

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Every Little Girl...

...in this country can now say, with hope grounded in reality, "I want to be President of the United States when I grow up." 

FINALLY.  I wish my mother and sister could have lived to see this happy, historic day.

The Grandmother Tree

The Grandmother Tree is just my name for her...I don't know if anyone else calls her by that name.

I don't know what made her trunk so gnarled and twisty.

So fantastical... 

...and so beautiful.

Fertile ground for an imagination like mine.

When I look at her, I am reminded of Tolkien's Ents, a race of trees that could walk and talk.  I've never seen her walk, but I've heard her talk...on quiet summer afternoons, on bright autumn days, in rain storms and snow storms, on days filled with the hopefulness of spring.

I took these photos in 2007, with a little Olympus camera.  The Grandmother Tree is still there, and she still looks much the same. 

Linking with Through My Lens

                    Image-in-Ing

A Sunday Quote

A house without a cat, and a well-fed, well-petted, and properly revered cat, may be a perfect house, perhaps, but how can it prove its title? ~~  Mark Twain 

Photo is of Lucy at five months old; she's two now, still just as cute...

Green

I'm joining Our Beautiful World for this post.  The word prompt is "green."  These photos were taken in early June, when there's lots of green around in the San Bernardino mountains where I live.

Linking with: Our Beautiful World

Skywatch Friday

The skies in Southern California have been boring lately...blue with a bit of a haze.  I'm looking forward to monsoon season...hopefully, we'll get some rain!  This photo wasn't taken in the mountains, but in Summit Valley, down in the high desert.

Linking with: Skywatch Friday

Nap Interrupted

A young raccoon was taking a nap on the roof of the cat's play yard...

She spotted me in the window right away and came over for a closer look...

But, she soon figured out it was just a human with a camera, and stepped up onto the roof of the house where she could nap in peace without interruptions by pesky humans and their cameras.  (I apologize for the blurriness of the last two photos; there were spots on the window because I don't wash it often enough).


Linking with:
Saturday's Critters

Boating at Lake Arrowhead

These photos were taken at Lake Arrowhead, California, in June of 2009.  Due to the drought, the water level is about 15 feet further out than what the level is here.

Linking with: Through My Lens
             and  image-in-ing

Skywatch Friday

Just a quick photo shot from the market's parking lot...

Linking with:  Skywatch Friday