Re: Tales of Home [8]

by Eldorion Sun Dec 18, 2016 9:00 pm

Thanks az! I wouldn't have gone out at all yesterday if it'd been up to me but by the afternoon it had cleared up a bit. I slipped a couple times but managed to catch myself fortunately.

Maryland is pretty centrally located in the States; most of the country north of us gets hit by much harder winters. The ice this time must have caught the state unprepared though since I don't think they salted the roads in preparation (or they were still in the process of it, at least).

by azriel Sun Dec 18, 2016 9:04 pm

I found this in answer to your post Malick Very Happy

I remember bloody cold snowy winters as a child but I think its been milder these years, In fact I remember Christmas days that are sunny & mild more than I remember wintery ones.

http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=winter-history;sess=

by azriel Sun Dec 18, 2016 9:08 pm

Glad to hear youre ok Eldo. Is the council or governing body good about gritting roads/pavements where you are ? Where I am in the UK its one of the things we constantly moan about, the lack of grit vans, & grit bins at the side of the road so you can help yourself. There is always an excuse as to why the roads are not gritted, why the kerbside bins are empty with our councils. Rolling Eyes

by Eldorion Sun Dec 18, 2016 9:11 pm

Usually the state is pretty good at keeping the larger roads salted when there's snow or ice here, yeah. Plowing (which is done at the county level) is fairly reliable too, although I live on a minor street at the bottom of a hill fairly deep into a housing development so we are - understandably - not a priority. Razz

by halfwise Sun Dec 18, 2016 9:23 pm

Eldorion wrote:We had freezing rain overnight here which covered everything with a thin layer of ice. i passed a car that had spun out on the way to work but fortunately there were relatively few people on the road up here. Got sent home from work early since there were so few customers. Elsewhere in the state things apparently got really hairy though, with the worst accident being a 55 car pileup on I-95 just south of the city in which a tanker truck flipped off the road and exploded. It feels extra freaky to me since I've driven that stretch of highway so many times.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/g00/news/weather/bs-md-icy-conditions-20161217-story.html

I've been in Baltimore Shock-Trauma mentioned in the article. It's one of the treasures of the USA medical system (if you can call what we have a 'system'). Very good people.

by azriel Sun Dec 18, 2016 9:30 pm

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 Harry_enfield_and_chums-_season_01_-_episode_01___57c745515efe4.mp4_zpsfkuedjhl

Aooooh, I remember when we cleaned out the fire place, got the ashes out of the grate & threw it down the path when it was icy Smile

by Mrs Figg Sun Dec 18, 2016 11:12 pm

we have the opposite problem. no winter, its relatively warm and roses are blooming. in the middle of December.

its not normal. mind you, 2016, probably the weirdest ever. pale

by Forest Shepherd Mon Dec 19, 2016 4:05 am

Not so here. Pretty darn cold tonight. It's dipping down below 30 degrees. Or, into the negatives for you Celsius types.

by Pettytyrant101 Wed Dec 21, 2016 1:37 am

{{You know in tales when you hear of windy nights and the half moon riding in the wrack of the cloudy sky? Where that's here about now Mad

}}

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 IMG_2475_zpsskybjx8z

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by Forest Shepherd Wed Dec 21, 2016 1:57 am

Oooh, mysterious! Did you take these from atop a dark horse while wearing a mask and awaiting a carriage-full of ignorant fat-cats?

by Pettytyrant101 Wed Dec 21, 2016 2:24 am

{{No from atop my buckie barrel in a xmas hat waiting for the pubs to reopen drunken

}}

by Forest Shepherd Wed Dec 21, 2016 2:30 am

Yeah that sounds more like it!

Winter Solstice tomorrow.

by azriel Wed Dec 21, 2016 1:21 pm

Yes Forest Smile

Happy Solstice !
Good camera you got there Petty ! I'm thinking of getting a decent camera in the new year, one I can use at night especially. Ive seen so many beautiful nights, Id love to keep them to look at.

by Pettytyrant101 Thu Dec 29, 2016 2:58 am

{{{A sky much like mood this xmas- melancholy}}

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 IMG_2492_zpstegqaxvy

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by azriel Thu Dec 29, 2016 12:45 pm

Well, today is glorious Smile

the sun is shinning, its an azure blue sky, Robins are singing, it smells of pine & damp bark, there's an optimism in the air that is practically palatable Smile

My garden is full of bulbs all pushing thru Smile

When I took Simi out I saw pretty little snowdrops in someones garden, just before Christmas Smile

Today is a good day Smile

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 DSC06927_zpsgj4lyz8p

by Lancebloke Thu Dec 29, 2016 2:33 pm

I have just taken Bentley out for a walk in the woods. Squirrels and Robins everywhere! Was nice.

by Pettytyrant101 Mon Jan 02, 2017 4:31 pm

{{{ A rather cool New Year crescent moon- cool because whatever the planet shining so brightly near it (from Scotland's perspective at least) is bright enough to light up the dark part of the moon on its own, creating a cool effect that sadly was hard to capture in the dark on camera- so Ive had to brighten these somewhat to try to show it- you me still need to increase your tv/monitor/screen brightness to get the effect}}

{{Moon and Planet}}

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 IMG_2555_zpsn9gdlbjc

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 IMG_2555_zpsn9gdlbjc

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{{Close up of moon with dark side lit by planet light}}

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 IMG_2564_zpsyilx0zyb

{{And the planet itself- anyone know which one it is?}}

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by David H Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:04 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:{{{

{{And the planet itself- anyone know which one it is?}}

The planet is Venus, and the view is the same over here. We've been having a break from the rain, with clear skies andfreezing weather, so last night I took a long walk in the dark night by that same beautiful crescent moon and Venus, just for the shear joy of not getting rained on....

by Pettytyrant101 Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:13 pm

{{{{{ I love that we are separated by the distance of the planet yet can share the same simple joy in the same sky.
I thought it was probably Venus just from how bright it was, but then when I saw the picture of it I thought, 'nah, no way my little camera could be getting that good a shot of Venus, must be something else!' }}

by David H Mon Jan 02, 2017 9:06 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:{{{{{ I love that we are separated by the distance of the planet yet can share the same simple joy in the same sky.
}}

Yeah, when we start looking up, the world suddenly seems a lot smaller!
Another bit of celestial trivia. Wednesday will be Perihelion Day, the day of the year when the earth is closest to the sun. sunny

Other than being a cool bit of trivia, this matters because it influences the tides. So next week's full moon, when the moon is on the opposite side of the earth from the sun (the two of them playing tug-o-war for our ocean) will be the highest tides of 2017. Very Happy

by Mrs Figg Fri Jan 06, 2017 2:21 am

took some Autumny photos a while back.

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 Dedc8fe8-7c55-4e7a-b38c-b47a7edf4664_zpsegzrxpei

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 94459516-8cd3-46e3-ab6b-30a87850f23a_zps1be6ahaj

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 99a50b1b-fd55-4e72-bae9-681240105286_zps99tgvvbo

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 Bf29dedf-864f-4baf-b7dd-2550d1281915_zpsd3uvhi2o

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 598b4f5c-9cbe-48e7-bdd8-1c5b967e34df_zpsosj0f5r2

Tales of Home [8] - Page 7 C651904a-0874-4381-8ea1-6210a692a163_zpsrkifrows

by halfwise Fri Jan 06, 2017 3:17 am

You have real hills within walking distance (in fact you seem to live on one). Jealous.

by Lancebloke Fri Jan 06, 2017 7:04 am

Petty - if you look up and left of Venus you should be able to see the much fainter, red dot of Mars.

Took me a while to picture how they could both be in the same direction yet one is closer to the sun than us and the other is further out.... but it does work out!

by halfwise Fri Jan 06, 2017 12:57 pm

Yep, will only work close to sunrise or sunset I believe.

by Pettytyrant101 Fri Jan 06, 2017 3:37 pm

{{Thanks Lance, I shall have to check that out next clear night we get, tat might be a while as right now its gone back to heavy thick cloud horizon to horizon Evil or Very Mad

Figg- lovely pictures! That fourth one in particular is much closer to how I see the surrounds of Minas Tirith than the film version Nod

}}}