One Word Sunday…celebrity

Not one, but two celebrities, unbeknownst to them, were captured in this shot:  Half Dome on the left and Bridal Veil Falls on the right, two of the stars of Yosemite National Park.

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God’s handwriting

Six-Word Saturday…with faint overtones of Ansel Adams

This is my very humble attempt at an Ansel Adams look in one of the most beautiful national parks in the world.  This is for Day 2 of the B&W Challenge issued by Su and, finally, an entry in Six Word Saturday.  🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unusual…shrouded

What?  Wednesday again?  I’m two and a half weeks into Tour de France watching and exhausted having just watched today’s mountain stage. What will I do with my morning’s after Sunday’s last stage?  Ahh, well, on to today’s challenge, the Weekly Photo Challenge.  Finding an apt photo can be as challenging as winning a Tour stage (well, maybe not) and today I’m searching for one that meets the challenge of “Unusual” posed to us by an excellent photographer, Lignum Draco.

I was blessed to be able to spend just a very, very short time in Yosemite in March.  During that stay, I had this unusual view of the park.  I also had an unusually hard time trying to get this photo ready to upload.  🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wanderlust…Yosemite with a helping of clouds

Welcome to Wednesday AKA Over-the-hump Day.  I hope your week’s off to a great start.  We’ve had lovely weather, but that’s due to change today, with rain and much cooler temperatures in the forecast.  However, it was a lovely weekend and I got a walk in this morning, so I’m not complaining.  😉

This week’s Photo Challenge Theme is “Wanderlust.”  I know it because I have it.  🙂  When the tea shop where I was working went entirely online, I decided that I wouldn’t start a new job until September and in the interim (February-August), I’d do as much traveling as possible. Unfortunately, my husband can’t come because of lack of vacation days, but fortunately he doesn’t mind me going.  What a guy!

My most recent trip was to Southern California with a side helping of Yosemite.  I’ve shared many of the Yosemite photos on my blog since then.  The morning we left, the clouds created a most magical show, creating dazzling looks at scenery already stunning.  Here’s one of the last shots I took on the way out. To see what it looked like without the fog, just click here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth..Yosemite with clouds

Happy Wednesday!  Spring has arrived in northern Illinois, bringing me much joy (and a fair bit of rain as well.)  Flowers, both wild and domestic, are blooming, trees are budding, birds are Tweeting…or maybe tweeting.

The Weekly Photo Challenge theme this week is “Earth“, in celebration of Earth Day. My recent trip to Yosemite National Park with our older daughter showed us some unbelievable views of one glorious section of earth. I shared this photo on my blog during my posts about Yosemite, but it’s the perfect vehicle to convey the stunning beauty of one tiny area of earth, so I hope those of you who have already seen it will enjoy it again.

It may be easy to think that we need to preserve areas such as these, but in truth, every bit of earth has the potential to be beautiful, whether through scenery, use, or both.  Let us each find the corners we can preserve and improve and work towards those ends.

Saying good-bye to Yosemite

Our plan was to take a last-morning, long hike.  But with about 12+ hours of pouring rain, the conditions, although sunny, were less than stellar.  On the trail, any non-mucky surface would be slick rock and every tree or bush a dosing of water waiting to happy.  oI’ve been horseback riding in those conditions and a heavy-duty slicker is a must if you don’t want to send up soaked and shivering.  We didn’t have slickers, so after a leisurely early morning, we packed up and started to leave.

I say “started” because the beauty we saw that morning made me say/yell “Pull over whenever you can” at almost every turnout.  The clouds were hanging low, new snow dusted peaks, and the air was crisp.  What a farewell to a most gorgeous place!