Bracing for the Storm

...that never happened...HYPE

Batten down the hatches and bring in your lawn decor!  http://tinyurl.com/z72nwgy

Pearl King

One of my favorite places, located in Madison County, OH

Today on the edge of a storm front.

Rainy Monday

It's been raining off and on for awhile. The pups needed a walk. Good thing they have rain gear that they don't mind wearing.

Meanwhile in Ohio...

Meanwhile in Ohio: pansies blooming, still wearing winter coat, neighbor mowing lawn, other neighbor having lawn treated, heater on in my office, students in shorts, snow falling in April...

Mother Nature Paints the Sky

Last night the sunset was stunning. Probably one of the best I have ever seen. The sky was purple, pink, orange and all kinds of shades in between. The show lasted almost an hour.  Here are some photos:

Ice Against Different Colors

It finally warmed up a bit and the sun was out so after work I took a few photos of the icicles hanging from our roof.

Fun in the Snow

The snow on this boy weighs more than he does. We got about 6 inches of the white stuff this morning/afternoon and of course we had to go play in it.

Do something Silly Today

The first post I saw on Facebook said do something silly today. Luckily Mother Nature provided us with some substance with which to accomplish that task.

Winter Sky

We get THE BEST sunsets in central Ohio during the winter months.

Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area

Andrew and his colleague Barry spent last week in Minnesota departing from Seagull Canoe Outfitters in Grand Marais.  

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Drummond Island 2014

Last year I wrote about my long lost friend that I reconnected with via Facebook.  We met in Michigan when our families were on vacation at the same resort in 1981. We've lived within 8 miles of each other for the past 32 years.  You can read the story here. For the past year we have all spent time together, mostly going out to dinner and found that we have a lot of the same outdoor interests.

This summer Andrew and I and my long lost friend Tracy and his wife Robin all went on vacation together back to the place where he and I met all those years ago. We had an amazing week of fishing, and sightseeing and just relaxing.  I felt like I was in a time warp.  We all agreed that we couldn't have been more compatible ...and we've already booked our cabins for next year.

Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.  Anais Nin

Ride Like the Wind

Ring Around the Moon

The forecast for today in Central Ohio:

"Rain, snow, and sleet, becoming all snow after 3pm. Some thunder is also possible. Temperature falling to around 20 by 5pm. Windy, with a north wind 15 to 20 mph increasing to 25 to 30 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 44 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible". NOAA Weather

Last night at 9 pm I took puppy out to potty and looked up and saw that the moon was gorgeous and the sky was filled with cloud cover that was swiftly passing across the sky. There were four rings around the moon, which I knew were a sign of an impending weather change. I went inside and got my camera and it took me a few minutes but I finally got a decent exposure.  Wow the things that most people miss while watching television....

It started pouring down rain sometime between 2 and 4 am.  Right now it is sprinkling- probably gearing up to drop a raft of crap on us later this afternoon.

This is what the Farmer's Almanac website has to say about the moon.

"While stargazing, have you ever noticed a large circular band of light surrounding the moon? If so, you have seen a lunar halo.

A lunar halo is caused by the refraction, reflection, and dispersion of light through ice particles suspended within thin, wispy, high altitude cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. As light passes through these hexagon-shaped ice crystals, it is bent at a 22 degree angle, creating a halo 22 degrees in radius (or 44 degrees in diameter). A double halo, sometimes with spokes, may be seen on rare occasions when light reflects off water or ice.

The prism effect of light passing through these six-sided ice crystals separates the light into its various colors, resulting in a halo tinged with very pale rainbow colors with red on the inside and blue on the outside. The phenomenon of a lunar halo is similar to a rainbow produced by sunlight and rain falling between your eye and the sun.

Weather lore says a lunar halo is the precursor of impending unsettled weather, especially during the winter months. This is often proved true, as cirrus and cirrostratus clouds generally precede rain and storm systems.

Lunar halos are, in fact, actually fairly common. So watch the night sky – and keep the umbrella handy".

Snow-rollers

The formations you see are called snow rollers. They are created when the temperature rises enough to make the snow packable and then strong winds blow the snow into rolls. The largest ones are about 12-24 inches in diameter. Not sure if we have had these in Ohio in my life time but on Sunday evening they formed all over parts of Ohio in open areas.  These photos were taken by me at Otterbein University and by Andrew at the high school near our house.

Click here for more about the Snow roller invasion

Sunrise

Not sure what words to use to describe this scene. Magnificent, stunning, breath-taking, etc. all come to mind.  Andrew took this photograph at Schrock Lake in one of our local Metro Parks yesterday morning.  There is just a skim of ice on the lake and the last of the autumn leaves are frozen in it. Of course most of us have heard the old saying "red sky in the morning; sailor take warning".  By noon the weather had whipped up into a fuss and it was pouring down rain for the rest of the day.

Edited to add. On my screen this looks rather pink. It is actually red.  The color has not been altered.