When I saw this week’s prompt I knew immediately the sunset I wanted to show you.
Fire to the south of me.
I was in northern Michigan in December of 2015 when one evening the sky just exploded. To the south it was burning in orange and reds, and to the north the sky was sighing in shades of pink and purple.
Cotton candy to the north of me.
The air was pinkish gold. I couldn’t shoot fast enough, and I never felt the cold.
The waves were tipped in light.
Though I usually limit myself to one photo for a photo challenge, this time I just couldn’t decide. So since the sunset itself was divided between fire and sweet I decided to go with full disclosure.
The islands out at the horizon were crowned by gold and purple.
Picture me turning from south to north and back again, trying not to miss any detail.
It just kept getting better.
It was amazing and I’m so glad to be able to relive it through these shots.
I’ve been watching this barn as I come and go. Today there were horses so I had to stop.
Katie and I like to go exploring, mostly looking for good places to take a walk, but sometimes just to see what’s there. And along the way there have been a few barns.
You know me and barns.
I’ve driven by some of them because there was nowhere safe to park. That always breaks my heart. I imagine pulling in a driveway and asking whoever was there if it is OK to take a picture of their barn. “Why?” I imagine them asking me and I realize I have no real reason to need an image of their barn. I just want it. So I don’t stop unless I can do it anonymously and from a safe distance.
I could spend all day wandering country roads looking for barns.
This red barn was sitting right in front of me while I was stopped in construction traffic last week.
Can’t resist a red barn.
I shot it through my dirty windshield, just as traffic was beginning to move. At the time I thought maybe I’d drive back out that way to see if there was somewhere to park so that I could take a more studied shot. But tonight I decided that the through the windshield image wasn’t that bad.
And you’ve seen this last one before. A couple weeks ago I saw it, and turned around, parked on a side road and walked a country block to shoot it. Along the way a huge dog in someone’s back yard snarled and barked and I realized that probably walking along any country road was a stupid idea. Because down here hardly any dog is contained, and I was lucky this one couldn’t get over the fence.
Ann, over at her blog The Year(s) of Living Non-Judmentally, posted recently about noticing the things around us. I used to do that, notice little things, when I was a runner. I don’t run anymore, but on a good day I can still notice pretty or interesting things.
Yesterday was a good day, and I thought I’d show you a few of the things I noticed. They made me smile, I hope you smile too.
I thought this sign was pretty. Plus it helps me remember how to spell Cherokee.
Early yesterday mama was complaining that it was cold. Really really cold. I checked and it was a balmy 36F (2.22C) when we went out to explore the yard around 4 a.m. I don’t know what she was complaining about, it was perfect if you ask me, but she never asks me. At 4 a.m. she mostly grunts.
Anyway, she was messaging with a friend later in the morning and mentioning how cold it was and then it hit her. Cold. Sheltie. Hiking in Alabama. She figured out she shouldn’t waste such a good opportunity to take me somewhere fun. And, because she’s a good mama, she hopped right off her comfy sofa and bundled me up in the car and away we went!
Her friend Jamie told her last week about this cool trail called the Cherokee Alpine Trail not too far from where we’re staying. So she looked it up and decided we’d explore it!
Turquoise waters on a sunny day.
My goodness, what a beautiful place! Though I had to ask mama why we drove for like 20 minutes so that we could have a view of the lake when we have a view of the lake from home? Mama said to hush. But it was really really windy and cold up there, so we headed to the woods as fast as we could.
Hurry up mama, let’s get to the hiking part of this adventure!
The whole Alpine Trail is 4 miles and mama says even though it was refreshingly cool four miles would be too much for us, so we decided we’d just go part of the way and see how it went. Mostly it went downhill.
This is the last time I’m posing mama!
Mama was kinda worried that we’d have a long climb to get back to the car, but I told her what did she think it would be, seeing as we were on top of the mountain at the parking lot? Nowhere to go but down!
Watch your step mama! I’ll wait for you!
She was trying to hold my leash and hang on to her camera and not slip down the pine straw covered path. Eventually she just let go of my leash and let me trot down at sheltie speed while she bumbled her way down behind me. I had to wait for her a bunch, but I didn’t complain. You have to be patient when you’re hiking with a senior citizen.
Isn’t this the best fun mama?
We got down to the bottom of the mountain and I got to play on the lake shore at a pretty little beach. I just loved it!
Worth coming all the way down here, right mama?
I ran and ran, back and forth, barking at the waves and grinning the whole time. Mama told me they were just teeny tiny waves but I wanted to show them who was boss so I told them off. Mama did a lot of eye rolling.
I got the zoomies on the beach!
Then she said we had to head back up the mountain. It felt like we had already walked a gazillion miles and she was worried I’d get tired. I didn’t want to go back the way we came and pointed out that the sign said the parking lot was the other way anyway, and only .6 miles away!
Ahem…mama…I think we should go this way.
Good thing I can read. Mama would have taken the long way back!
The trail went up and down and all around through the woods. Sometimes it was just stuck on the side of the mountain and you had to watch where you were going. Mama let me walk it without her hanging on to me. That works best for us. That way I’m not dragging her along too fast.
This is a good spot to rest while I’m waiting for my mama.
Mama said I was a mountain goat. I think that’s a compliment.
When we finally got back to the car mama checked the map again cause it felt like we walked all four miles, but darn it, it really was just a little over one mile. I think miles should count double if they are straight up or straight down, don’t you?
Back on top of the mountain again!
On our drive home we got sorta lost. The GPS said to turn left but some guys were paving the road so we went straight and eventually the GPS took us on a little road that just got smaller and smaller.
Go ahead and take the long way home, mama, I’ll be resting my eyes in the back.
Mama was starting to say bad words and she didn’t even breath when we had to go over a rickety one lane bridge. But she got to see a barn so that made her feel lots better even though it took us twice as long to get home as it did to get to the park.
Obligatory barn photo.
When I got home I took a really long drink and then wiped my face on mama’s bed. And then I took a nap.
What you lookin at?
What a great day! I think the temperature in Alabama should never go above 43 degrees. I’m sure everyone would agree that it’s better to be cool than hot. Am I right?
Maybe I should try to get that on the next ballot. It would probably be the least controversial issue there!
Not exactly a sunset. Still it’s striking in it’s own way.
There’s something about water and sky that fascinates me. Whether I’m on the shore of a Great Lake or standing on a bluff overlooking the ocean, it’s the constant movement and change that keeps me engaged.
Sometimes the view is obscured with fog. But that’s pretty too.
These past weeks I’ve been on the shore of a small arm of a very big lake. I worry that you’ve all seen the view from here and it might become boring, might feel repetitive.
But, for me, it never is.
Mama, you’re not taking ANOTHER picture of the lake are you?
Each day is different, the light slants off the side of a neighbor’s pontoon or against the house across the water. Sometimes the water is so still that, standing on the dock, I have moments of dizzy confusion, unsure where the sky ends and water starts, not sure that I couldn’t just step off the dock and stand on the clouds reflected below my feet.
What’s up is down.
When a weather change moves in the sky becomes unpredictable. I can’t look away and Katie and I make numerous trips down to the dock to experience it all.
Can’t you just cut and paste me into these photos mama?
And while we’re always looking for that spectacular sunset we’re never disappointed, even when it just fades to pink.
Change Is Hard 