Holladay Winter

 Location: Holladay, Utah.

Holladay Red and Green - nice play on words eh?

Waterfall & Pond in a Yard

Fall Leaves Cling - to trees. Snow had not fallen and caused the last of the leaves to fall. It makes for a great mix of seasons.

Classic Winter Foliage.

Last month I took some photos for a photo contest for the city of Holladay, Utah. After I had taken these photos I found out that I was supposed to provide my own frame along with printing and such. That is not bad really, but I found out that the grand prize would not even pay for the cost of printing and the frame. It was not worth my while to enter but it was fun to go out and take photos. It was a beautiful winter day that was lacking in snow.

Cottonwood Creek - 1

Tree on Blacktop.

Barn with Trees

Mount Olympus. Located just East of Holladay, UT

Barn Weathervane - Mount Olyimpus and clouds in background

White Winter Weed

Barn Roof Texture - I love the weathered look and the growth on the shingles.

 Cottonwood Creek passes through Holladay, Utah. It is from this creek that the Cottonwood Mall got its name. However, the mall is all but non-existent. The creek remains and in the spring gets extremely full and dangerous from the runoff in the nearby mountains. Here are some photos of a section that I enjoyed and that has easy access. It is located by I-215. In fact the shadow that you see in many of the photos is from the freeway just above where I was standing.

Cottonwood Creek - 2

Cottonwood Creek - 3

Cottonwood Creek Panorama - Upper Fall

Cottonwood Creek - 4

Cottonwood Creek  - 5

Weaving River-bottom Trees - In Creekside Park, Holladay, UT.

Tree by Creekside Park - Mount Olympus in background.

Cottonwood Creek Panorama

Southern Holladay looking South GIF.

Moon coming over Twin Peaks, UT

I took this photo by the Jordan River in the Salt Lake Valley of Twin Peaks. The moon was just coming over the mountain so I had to move quickly to get this photo. It is surprising how quickly the moon moves. 

I had to take multiple photos and combine them because the dynamic range of scene was extreme. While I was taking the images the moon was moving and it was noticeable in the photos. It took a little more work to get it to look right. The image is a beautiful winter moon and the lovely silhouette of Twin Peaks. I took the photos on January 9, 2012.

Moon coming over Twin Peaks January 9, 2012 - cropped

Moon coming over Twin Peaks January 9, 2012

When There Is No Snow For An Idaho Winter

 I took these photos back at the end of December in Idaho. There has been little snowfall this year in the western mountain United States. There has been some snowfall but in these photos almost all that white stuff you see is hoar frost... and it is beautiful. I won't write much here but enjoy the photos. Which ones do you like?

Versatile Tractor

Birdhouse

Russian Olive Tree... They look a little bit like sagebrush. Not my favorite kind of tree.

Frosted Chicken Wire

Wagon Wheel and Fence

The horses were very curious of me and my camera.

Hoar Frost Panorama - Idaho

 

Horses from Fuhriman Ranch. See more of the Fuhriman Ranch and photos from E. Fuhriman Photography on their blog. http://fuhrimanranch.blogspot.com/

A Sluggish Day & Van Damme Beach

Large slug at Agate Beach, CA

Have you ever had one of those days that never seems to end? I know many people that must be feeling that way today. Today is Thursday and people just want the weekend to be here already. However today is also February 2nd, Groundhog Day, and we are now being told that we are going to have six more weeks of winter. Will this winter never end?! In all honestly winter has not full arrived here so I guess this just means winter will arrive late.

Giant slug and my index finger. I have heard of bigger slugs but this one was huge. It was even bigger than it looked.

In any case here are some slugs! While we made the stop at Agate Beach near Mendocino, CA we saw some of the biggest slugs I have ever seen They were bigger than my fingers, and a lot more slimy. They were huddled in the dark, dampness of an opening in the rock near the water. There were so many of them as well. They were everywhere!

Though there were slugs we still enjoyed our time exploring what the waves had brought in. We saw the leftover lunches of many birds in the form of crab shells. I got the desire for crab with some butter, salt, and lemon. I must admit that the birds efficiently cleaned the crabs out so there was nothing left but empty shells.

Van Damme Beach with a stream that might be called Little River

I do love sea food... as long as it is cooked. On our way from Point Arena to Agate Beach we stopped while I took photos of Van Damme Beach. Van Dame Beach is located south of Mendocino  near Little River, CA. In fact I assume that this is where "Little River" drains into the ocean. It is a little river from the looks of it. But perhaps we just caught it on a "low" day. Even this "river" was a little sluggish thing that I hopped over to take my photos.

Large slug. This is its head. The slugs seem to have tiny little leg-feet like a centipede.