Happy New Year!

A very Happy New Year to all my readers and followers - best wishes for a great 2012. You're the reason I keep writing this blog - I love knowing that people are enjoying my photography.

The photo was taken last July 4th, but seemed right to put up today.

Bellevue's Ferns

For my last Scenic Sunday entry of the year, here are some photos of ferns taken in Bellevue's Mercer-Slough Park back in May.

I loved the vibrant green of the ferns (not something we see in the dry climate where I live), and the sunlight in the second shot (not something we saw much of when we visited the Seattle and Vancouver area).

Crackling Lightning

It's been a while since I put up a really good lightning shot, so here's one of my favorites from last July.

As is common in my lightning photos, the streaks of light at the bottom of the photo are cars. And of course, it's my Skywatch Friday entry for the week.

Venetian Hotel

For this week's Our World Tuesday entry, here are a few photos in and around the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. Notice the construction in the first photo, as there was a lot of building going on when we were there.

And finally a photo from the tram that connects the Mirage to Treasure Island - the photo doesn't really belong in this post but I don't want it to be forgotten.

Merry Christmas

Here are wishes for a very Merry Christmas to all my readers!

The photos are of our Christmas tree, taken yesterday evening.

Fox Run Park Lakes

This week's Scenic Sunday post finds us very close to home, in Fox Run Park, where I regularly walk my dog Socks. It's a series taken back in May around the lakes.

And from the same walk, one of my favorite views of Pikes Peak. You'd hardly believe you're in the middle of Colorado's most populated county!

I will never tire of taking Socks to this park, although with the recent heavy snow it may be several weeks before we go again.

First Day of Winter

I believe this is the first official day of winter. It certainly looks like it outside - here are some photos I took just a few minutes ago. The first is looking out of our front door.

And this is our driveway - notice the almost covered lights. I measured from 6 inches (15cm) to 12 inches (30cm) of snow over the driveway, depending on where I was.

And it's supposed to snow for several more hours! I'm linking this to the "Snow Parade" on Tina's PicStory blog - what a great idea for a one-time themed meme, so visit it to see more snow-themed photos!

Sky Through Trees

From a recent walk in Fox Run Park near sunset, I tried this shot through the trees towards the sun filtered through light, high clouds. I'm not sure it's successful but here it is anyway - one of my experiments!

Visit Skywatch Friday to see more sunny and cloudy skies.

Dog Contrast

This week's theme on Tina's PicStory is contrast, so I took a photo of my black dog Socks against white snow. The only good way I've found to photography him is against a light background, preferably with a shallow depth of field, as I did here.

And he's important part of my family's world, so I'm linking this to Our World Tuesday too!

Calvi, Corsica

My next set of Sunday Scans will be from a 1974 family to the beautiful island of Corsica in the Mediterranean. Here is a view of the city of Calvi.

Mercer Slough Plants

With all the plants where I live dormant for the next several months, I'm revisiting our late-spring visit to Bellevue to post some lovely green plants and wildflowers found in the Mercer Slough park. I've posted several shots from here before, all taken on a mostly cloudy visit.

Visit Scenic Sunday for more beautiful vistas from around the world.

One Summer Evening

I'm going back to July 22 for this week's Skywatch Friday entry, posting a series of photos taken that evening.

The line in the sky in that last shot is a plane, and the light reflecting off the clouds is from distant Denver.

Rocky Mountain Memorial Grove

Hiking near where I live in the Monument area I ran across the United States Forest Service's Rocky Mountain region memorial grove.

It was established in 1920 to honor those employees who died in World War I. It has now been expanded to honor all employees and former employees who have passed away. Plaques are mounted on the bronze sculpture to recognize them. And that's my Our World Tuesday post for the week.

Rudesheim

For this week's Sunday Scans, here's a photo that I think was taken in the beautiful German town of Rudesheim, way back in 1974 when I was a kid, although it may be from another town since my records aren't perfect going back almost 40 years.

That's all from this Germany trip, but I have photos from other trips to Germany that I need to sort through. Next week we're off to the Mediterranean!

Vancouver Hotel Views

I thought some photos I took from our hotel room in Vancouver back in May would qualify quite nicely for this week's Scenic Sunday post.

I was very pleased with the views from our room, but even more pleased with what we saw when we left the room, some of which I've posted already.

Blue Sky & Trees

Again I've learned more about one of my photos thanks to my knowledgeable commenters - this time Lesley and snowwhite both recognized Siegfried and Roy, and one of their lions, as the subjects in Monday's statue - thanks for the information. I should have known that myself, especially considering the statue's location!

Here's a photo I took on a recent late-autumn hike for both the Skywatch Friday meme, as well as for Tina's PicStory, whose theme this week is trees. It shows scrub oak in the foreground (more a bush than a tree), which has long-since shed its leaves, as well as some of our common pine trees, and our typical mostly-blue skies.

I was almost lying on the ground to get this angle, I'm sure my little dog Socks wondered what I was doing!

Las Vegas Statue

For Our World Tuesday this week, here are two photos of a statue on the Strip in Las Vegas. The first is taken during the daytime, the second using the illumination at night (no flash).

I don't have any more details on the statue, but I do have a handful of photos still to post from our April visit to Vegas.

Rudesheim & Grapevines

In my last Sunday Scans photo we saw a view of the German town of Rudesheim back in 1974. For the first December entry we move a little closer to the town, showing off some of the vineyards for which the town is famous.

Join me next week when we'll visit the town!

Portland's Hawthorne Bridge

For both the Scenic Sunday and Sunday Bridges memes this week, here are a few photos of the Hawthorne Bridge that crosses the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.

 The span I'm standing on in this photo lifts to let ships pass.

 It doesn't show very well in this photo, but the counterweights that help lift the bridge are huge! (And these are some of the few blue skies we saw in our week in the Pacific Northwest.)

I like bridges, and can't resist photographing them when I'm nearby.

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.