AstroGypsies

The cats went out into the alcove, looked out…looked at me, fix it human…I explained it was out of my powers, they asked to go back in! Not having ANY of this in November! Sigh….even the birds looked somewhat aghast! Plus I’ve been fighting the wicked cold going around, these colds seem to like me…argh! Maybe I dodged so many as a child in the tropics I just have to catch up! I’m over fighting the snot demons and the wicked cough but two weeks of little sleep will take more time to recover from! Mike, three days, fine…not fair;) Ha!

When it started snowing again…of course I had to go down to the canoe;) Playing with the F-stop to try to make the snowflakes stand out:) Now I am leaning over the edge of the dock here with camera held even lower to get an interesting angle, my feet and legs are wrapped around the top and between the arms of the swim ladder so I don’t fall in…hopefully I was thinking! The low lake level has made it a wee bit tougher! Long Lake is making me work for it! Ha! I’ll bring the camera strap next time;) I’m always working on different angles. I love the slightly blurred background but the canoe and dock are mostly in focus. Timing, experimenting, having fun. If at first I don’t succeed, or fall into the lake, I will try again;) All part of the learning process:) ISO 2000 F 2.8 24mm 1/5000 sec.

Tomorrow’s mission, if I care to accept it…bail out the canoe;) or would that be deslush it!

Then the aurora! Holy Toledo! As Corporal Klinger would say! We waited for darkness and the clouds to part, we were supposed to get an opening! We did to the West! Damn! I ordered no clouds and red and green streaks to the NE! I need to talk to the Aurora and Cloud Gods!

We had a bit of clearing looking towards Perth, the lights lit up the clouds but the colour was really happening looking West. Those oranges and reds! Subtle at first, then brighter…then more clouds…

It never ceases to take my breath away. The cold and my cough finally chased me in! I love those reflections in the lake!

At least hunting season is done…I can venture out on the road again without fear of getting shot;) Ha! Hopefully! 0_0! Ha! No deer sightings, lots of bangs, only one a-hole so all in all, not too bad! I sat bird watching a bit. Just not up to too much outside shenanigans!

With the snow I thought it might be ornament time…the jays were not impressed as usual with my free collection from the reuse center at the dump! They were too pretty and blue to pass up! Probably the only ornaments I’ll put up this year!

Our usual gang of feathered friends have been about. We had some kind of sparrow one morning, Chipping? Song? I couldn’t get a good look. I try to keep the feeders full when the weather takes a turn for the worst. The Chickadees keep me busy laughing!

We weren’t sure we’d make it out the road after the first snowfall. They were calling for up to 20cm-8″…0_0…yikes, but we only got about 4″ thankfully. NO snow tires yet but the Alfa was fine with all wheel drive! The road was beautiful…only deer and coyote tracks.

The otters had a party on the dock judging by the amount of fish scales and entrails they left for me;) I shoveled the dock off and especially the gangplank (? Ramp, nah, I like gangplank!) due to it’s steep angle right now (with the low water levels) when I heard the aurora might happen so I wouldn’t take a misstep in the dark wrestling the tripod and camera and end up swimming;) Turns out you didn’t even need a flashlight to see your way around the sky was so bright! It’s just something you have to experience, hard to describe those colours and shifting shapes.

In the meantime, I’ll be hanging out with the feathered inhabitants, looking for new arrivals.

We had a flock of Hooded Mergansers swimming about, they flew away when a juvenile eagle made a low pass, just caught a pair of them taking off. This morning, the Common Mergansers have been patrolling the lake! Females yesterday, males today. I’ll sneak down if we get some more sun tomorrow! Hopefully we’ll be back to normal November temperatures to clean up a few projects, and “NO MORE SNOW!” says the cats!

I’ll leave you with the beautiful reflections of the aurora. We’re still at solar maximum so we might get a few more shots of this magic in our direction! Hope so! Fingers crossed I’ll be up to photographing the donkeys and Dusty next trip to the barn cold free! Those fuzzy ears get me every time! Saludos amigos! Stay warm! Keep looking up!