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.