Triple Lightning

First, thanks to the commenters on my last post, pointing out that the glass sculpture is by Dale Chihuly - I'm sure they're correct. Dina was the first to notice it, and Sylvia, Sonia, Lesley, Snap, Marilyn also figured it out; it's great what you can learn online.

Now it's time for another Skywatch Friday entry. This time it's a triple-lighting strike from back in July, captured in a 34.5-second exposure looking north from my front yard. The streaks of light in the lower-right are the cars on a state highway.

I do love capturing lightning! With the exception of a couple of thunder-snowstorms, I'll probably have to wait until late in the springtime before we see more thunderstorms, but I've got several shots still to post.

Glass Sculpture

As I was trying to find a photo to use for this week's theme of "glass" on Tina's PicStory, I realized that this one was perfect, and it's also a very cool part of Our World!

This astounding glass sculpture is suspended above a shopping area, in a building which also houses Microsoft, in Bellevue, Washington. The photo doesn't show the amazing scale of the glass. I wish I could find more information about this sculpture but I'm not having any luck.

USFS Trail 715

On Monday I posted about the United States Forest Service memorial grove. I found it near this trail, simply called USFS Trail 715. It was overcast most of the hike, as shown by this very ordinary photo.

 I tried to find things that might be interesting in the very flat light, such as this long-dead tree.

 I imagine a bike rider was very unhappy when he lost his chain!

 And finally, some sunshine brightened everything up.

It's not the most beautiful hike in the area, but it's nearby and sometimes that's a good thing. And it's my Scenic Sunday entry for the week.

Reeds

We have a little water on our property, enough that reeds grow in places (this isn't common where we live). For this week's Skywatch Friday post, here is a lovely Colorado blue sky taken through these reeds, back in the summer.

River of Aspen

For this week's Tina's PicStory theme of "leafs" as well as my weekly Our World Tuesday post, here's a photo from the middle of October showing a river of bright yellow aspen leaves, taken on a hike above the Palmer Lake Reservoirs.

Of course, these bright colors are long-gone.

Rudesheim, Germany (View)

For Sunday Scans, here's another old photo from Germany in 1974. This time we're moving to the town of Rüdesheim, on the Rhine. Here's a view from above the town; we'll get closer to the town over the next couple of weeks.

Portland Convention Center

For this week's Scenic Sunday, here are a couple of photos of Portland's Convention Center, possibly the city's most recognizable building.

Although we spent less than one day there, I thought Portland was an attractive city.

Special Sunrise

On Friday we had one of those incredible sunrises.

I was putting the laptop in the car to head to work, but I just had to fetch my camera and wait to take some photos of the spectacular skies - I'm lucky that I don't have to be at work at a specific time. I'm sure you'll find some more beautiful sunrises if you head over to Skywatch Friday.

Fashion Center

The people have spoken, and I'll leave the format of the blog alone! And on that note, here's a new post with a couple of photos. Right on the main Las Vegas strip is a fancy shopping area called the Fashion Center. It looks like something from out of this world.

And that's a small part of Our World this week!

Heidelberg

From a driving vacation to Germany back in 1974 (I was a kid living in Holland back then), here's a photo of Heidelberg.

And that's my second Sunday Scans entry for the month.

Palmer Reservoirs Trail

Leading up from the town of Palmer Lake is a trail that leads past a couple of reservoirs. I've posted photos from here before, but earlier this summer I tried to find another trail that leads around a mountain between the reservoirs, instead of staying on the wide, crowded main trail. This side trail leads up just to the left of this rocky gully.

There's a real trail, but it isn't always great and has some trees down across it.

Eventually it crosses the stream. I didn't go too much further than this before turning around, so I didn't find my way to the second reservoir. But later in the summer I approached the trail from the other side, and was able to find the whole way around.

Of course, I'll post more photos from that other hike later. In the meantime, visit Scenic Sunday for more scenic shots from around the world.

Daily Photo Blog?

I'm considering changing my blog from its current format, where I post several related photos in each post, usually three or four times a week, to a daily-photo format, where I'd post one photo every day, probably posting the related photos over the course of several days in a row. But I'd like some feedback from my readers first - do you like the current format, or would you prefer a single, short post every day? If you have a preference, please vote in the poll on the right.

In either case, I'd still post older photos frequently because I don't have time to get out and get photos every day.

Summer Sunset Clouds

I'm going back to July for this set of Skywatch Friday photos, of some clouds that caught my eye at sunset. These are all taken from my yard - it's nice living almost a mile and a half above sea level, as the clouds seem different up here! (That's over 2 km above sea level for most of the world that uses metric.)

I'll never tire of the unending drama in the skies.

Paris Casino

The last Las Vegas photo I posted was a nighttime shot of the Paris Casino's replica Eiffel Tower at night. For Our World Tuesday, here are some more photos of that same place, during the daytime.

There is a nice cafe inside where we had a couple of very enjoyable meals. I didn't move anything to set this next shot up, I just liked the way the menu was laid on the table so shot it with a very wide aperture.

Even though I don't gamble, I still enjoy spending an occasional couple of days in Vegas as it's such a unique environment.

Bruges, Belgium (2)

For November's first Sunday Scans entry, here's another photo from the city of Bruges, Belgium, from the early 1970s.

I wish I could do more to clean up these old prints but I don't have the time or skills to improve them very much. But hopefully you can enjoy them for what they are, a snapshot into the past! I plan to publish them more often from now on, and I've got several from Germany ready to post next.

Mercer Slough Bridge & Canal

This week's Scenic Sunday post also includes a bridge specially for Sunday Bridges. It's at the Mercer Slough Park in Bellevue, Washington, where a footbridge crosses the canal.

 Despite the generally flat skies, the view of the canal was still very pretty.

I still have some more shots of this great park, so if you're enjoying these stay tuned! These shots (including the previous post's) were all taken back in May, so that's why everything's so green. I'm so far behind on posting my summer photos it could still take me months to catch up! But I have to save some for the winter, when I don't get as many good shots.

Mercer Slough Skies

For this week's Skywatch Friday entry, here are some more shots from Bellevue's Mercer Slough Park that I introduced on Monday. The foliage here was so lush and beautiful, but the skies were rather dull when I was there.

I've still got lots more photos to come from this park.