How Blue Is The Sky?

The Sky Turns Every Shade of Blue

Dying Cottonwood Tree at Larry Moore Park, © B. Radisavljevic

City Daily Photo Bloggers are answering the challenge this month to show what the color blue represents to them. The first thing that comes to mind for me is the sky. It's always above me, I see it every day, and it's been every shade of blue I can imagine. For any regular reader of this blog, it's no secret I'm a sky watcher. The sky is what I photograph most often.

In the photo above we see a light blue transitioning into a darker blue. It provides a contrasting background to show off the dying cottonwood tree at Larry Moore Park in Paso Robles.

A Deeper Blue

Blue Sky Over My Rose Garden, © B. Radisavljevic

I often photograph the sky in from my own yard -- especially as sundown approaches. I took this shot from the rose garden in my backyard. I'm guessing I took it in late afternoon. I liked the way the clouds were making a horseshoe around that patch of sky.

The photo below was taken before a rainstorm. I also took this one in my backyard. It was taken after our late afternoon meal on a November day. The blues are lighter with tinges of gray in places. I consider clouds part of the sky.

Sky Just Before a Rainstorm, © B. Radisavljevic

I took this next shot while walking the Charolais Corridor Trail at Dusk. Together the clouds and sky provide many shades of blue.

Charolais Corridor Trail at Dusk in May, © B. Radisavljevic

Blue Sky in My Zazzle Wall Art

 Morro Rock, Fishing Boats and the Embarcadero Canvas Print Poster: Tree against cloudy blue sky. Poster

Birds Love the Sky

I find it hard to catch birds in flight. They are usually too quick for me. Here's one I did catch in a very blue sky.

Bird in Sky Over Paso Robles Wine Country, © B. Radisavljevic

Here's a crow I caught in flight.

See the full story behind this photo. © B. Radisavljevic

Usually I can catch birds high in a tree or on a wire. The shade of blue is a bit lighter in this photo of the bird at the top of this oak tree.

Bird at Top of Oak Tree, © B. Radisavljevic

This one is on a high wire.

Bird on High Wire, © B. Radisavljevic

Kites Also Belong in the Sky

The sky was very blue when we found this family flying a stunt kite at Moonstone Beach. I'd never seen a dual-string kite before and loved watching this.





I hope you've enjoyed our sky trek. There are more views of the blue sky in these related posts. Enjoy!

See how other City Daily Photo bloggers posted to this theme. 


Related Posts

Sky Journal with Day of Sporadic Showers: This past post shows everything from deep blues to grayish blues in the sky.

Down by the Station and Welcome Sunshine: This shows how the sky changed from late morning until sundown in several spaced shots on the day after a rainstorm. Lots of deep blue in these shots.

Old Wives' Tale Disproved: Have you bought into this folklore?

Photo Journal of an Atypical Day of Art, Nature, Dogs, and an Accident Scene

An Accident at Kennedy Fitness Paso Adventure

I'd been feeling guilty about not using my gym membership much this month, so I decided to go today. I had two other reasons for going, too. First, I wanted an excuse to finish a book I was reading, and I could do that riding the stationary bike. Second, I knew two of my favorite photographers had their work on display and I wanted photos to share with you.

As I drove into the parking lot, I saw the scene above. I found a place to park, and then went in, hoping no one had had a stroke or heart attack. Lots of us senior citizens exercise here.

When I got inside I learned that a woman had fallen from the rock climbing wall. I saw her on a gurney just under the wall and the paramedics were moving her leg. I hope she is not too badly hurt, and will heal without too much pain or permanent damage. I have never dared to take up rock climbing. I'll stick to riding that bike and walking. 

The Photo Exhibit

The photographers with work currently on display on the walls at Kennedy Club are Dean Crawford Jr. and Deb Hofstetter, both of whom I saw in their studio Saturday night at Art after Dark. These photos and paintings are all part of the display.

Picture on lower left is by Deb Hofstetter. The others are by Dean Crawford, Jr. 

The picture on the left left is by Deb Hofstetter. I believe the one on the right is by Dean Crawford, Jr. 

I'll let you guess who did each of these. If you belong to the Kennedy Club, come in to see if you guessed correctly. 

A Walk at Larry Moore Park

The Dogs

I wanted to get some sunset photos again tonight, so I set off for the park as the time drew near. I was not too thrilled when these two dogs who should have been on leashes almost knocked me down multiple times. Their owners had no reason to give why they were loose, but it didn't seem to bother them to be violating the law as long as no one was there to enforce it.

These dogs should have been on leashes. 

The Trees

On the way to the park I passed the lemon tree I had seen packed with fruit in December. I wish now I'd been brave enough to knock on the door of its owner and ask if he wanted to sell any of the beautiful lemons. It looks as though the frost got them instead.

Lemons Bitten by Jack Frost

As I walked by this Bradford pear tree, I could see it was budding already. I expect to see it bloom within a week or two in this warm weather.

Bradford Pear Tree Budding

As I passed this pepper tree with its dried fruits, I could not help but notice the contrast with the bright colors the peppers trees had displayed in autumn.  Winter in the park is drab in comparison.

Pepper Tree Fruits Dry on Bare Trees in February

The Sky

When I started my walk the sun had just disappeared below the hills, but it was still golden.

After a few minutes it became more pink.

Pink turned toward orange a few minutes later.

In no time the contrails had combined and turned bright orange.

Although life seems pretty routine most days, this one stands out as unique this week. Maybe I should get out of the house more often.

If you enjoyed this post, why not pin this photo to a Pinterest board?

Has anything unusual happened to you lately?

The Weatherman Predicts Rain and So Does this Sky

Rain Tonight?

As I saw the sky getting grayer and darker out the front window in the late afternoon, I thought it looked like rain was coming. As I cleaned up after dinner, I saw the view to the east still had some blue. But even this sky still appeared to predict rain.

Sky Predicts Rain, © B. Radisavljevic

So I checked Yahoo's Weather Page. I discovered I was right. Even Yahoo thinks it will be raining from about seven until nine in the evening. I will know about an hour after I post this if the prediction will hold. Meanwhile, better finish raking any leaves left in your yard, since it will be harder after the rain. Sycamore Leaves and Other Leaves Are Everywhere. 

Man Raking Leaves into Pile, © B. Radisavljevic

Looking Forward to Rain

The Salinas River wants to look like this again. The grass is tired of being brown. The trees are thirsty. And I want a good excuse to curl up with a good book and drink cocoa and eat popcorn.



Funny Prescription Hot Chocolate Mug


Get yourself a special hot chocolate mug for those bad weather days. Here are some of my favorites. And don't forget the popcorn. I prefer non-GMO popcorn. 

& 

Hot Chocolate Is Like A Hug From Inside Coffee MugHot Chocolate MugChocolate Understands! Great mug for warm moments

And if you need a good book, head on over to my book review site, Bookworm Buffet, for some suggestions.

Whatever you do, stay warm and content inside when the weather is cold and wet outside.

What do you like to do on rainy days?

*****

An Unexpected Daring Exhibition

You Never Know What You'll See When You Take a Walk

Tonight I went out to Larry Moore Park to chase the sunset. It appeared the sky would be beautiful. I left as the sun was just beginning to set. There was just enough left to wink at me from the sky behind the clouds.

As I walked, the sky grew more magnificent by the minute. As I stood at the entrance to the Charolais Corridor Trail across from the park, I saw an eye of blue in the middle of the gray and I wanted to chase it. But as I started toward it, I saw this. Of course, I stopped to watch.

I haven't seen anything like this since I was a kid and we used to walk from yard to yard on the tops of block fences. But this young man is walking only on the tops of supports that have nothing in between them. We didn't do that as kids. Did you? Let's watch this in video, which the young man gave me permission to record and publish.




By the  time my camera started to record he was almost across, but you get the idea. Here's a larger view of the balancing act. It's the perfect size to share on Pinerest if you would like others to see this.

When is the last time you did anything like this?

As for the patch of blue I'd been chasing before I stopped to watch this daring feat, here it is. 

Enjoy your day. May it bring you pleasant surprises. 


******

The World Beyond My Office

My Reality Has to Go Beyond What I Can See on my Computer Screen

Sometimes when I have a lot of writing to get done, it's hard to remember a world beyond my office. Yes, my husband interrupts to ask me to find things or do computer tasks for him. The phone rings and sometimes I have to answer it. But when I'm alone in the house and no one enters my office door but me, it's easy to forget there is a world outside the house when I'm working inside.

Most of the day I'm happy to have the time for productive work. But when late afternoon rolls around, I get antsy. I look outside my office window and see the tree above. Something happens inside me that almost catapults me out the door. Maybe it's the knowledge that a gorgeous sunset is on the way and I need to photograph it.

Maybe it's hearing the train whistle and knowing it will soon be roaring on the other side of the river overlooking the park. Of course I need to take a picture.

Sometimes I take to the garden and pull a few weeds, prune, or deadhead a few flowers just to get out into the world beyond my walls. Sometimes I even discover something new that God planted, like these seedlings nestled among the weeds, behind the Lamb's Ears. I believe they are either borage or mullein, but I won't know for a while. They may even be clary sage. They all resemble each other at this stage. When I know for sure I'll know what to do with them. What I do know is that they aren't weeds.

I can do most of these activities without leaving my yard. All of them help me ground myself and connect to my Creator and the world around me.

When I'm Especially Restless I Need to Go Farther 

That usually means I take a photo walk in Larry Moore Park like I did Saturday. I usually take these walks in late afternoon or early evening before dark. That's when I feel like I will jump out of my skin if I don't go somewhere outside.

This is a scene from my Saturday walk. Unfortunately, it was too dark to capture a photo of the bunny ahead of me on the trail. I came home from that walk better able to relax and get a good night's sleep.

Another easy walk is the Charolais Corridor Trail. I get a new perspective every time I walk the trail, depending on the season, the time of day, and who else is on the trail. I've been walking this trail since it opened a few years ago. This photo of the east entrance was taken on January 30, 2013 when the trail was still almost new. The trail begins on South River Road and ends on the western side across from the entrance to Larry Moore Park and the Salinas River Trail.

 Sometimes it's the practical matters that make me leave my office -- those pesky doctor appointments, labs tests, or errands. I often choose the early evening to shop. That's what I did tonight to get out. These appointments and errands aren't as much fun as photo walks, but I can still find nature in the landscaping, and the sky is always above as I walk to and from my car and wherever I'm going.

A Dose of Nature Usually Settles My Restlessness

Those sunsets I see between my trees every night help a lot. The sky always helps me remember how big my universe it and how powerful the One who controls it. I feel much less confined after a healthy dose of sky. And I can see sky anywhere I go outside.

Where do you go when you get cabin fever and need to get out of the house?

Peace After a Stressful Day

"All's Well That Ends Well," as the Bard Said

My day began with stress but ended in peace. I find that when I'm stressed, nature soothes me. Sometimes just walking the two blocks to my mailbox at dusk will calm me down. Sometimes just looking at a sunset works. Or seeing a gorgeous sky framed by trees.

So what stressed me out today?

For the two days before today my cable connection that controls the television, the landline and the internet was faulty. My connection would drop while I was trying to send an email, comment on a post, or save a post in progress. You know how annoying that can be, especially during a blogging challenge when I need to get so much done online quickly. Although I don't watch much TV, for the little time I did the sound and picture became distorted every few seconds.

When I went to call Charter to report the problem, my phone (Charter powered, of course) wouldn't work properly.  The person that answered couldn't hear me. I had to pull out my rarely used cell phone to get through. That was Tuesday. The earliest a technician could come out was today between 1 and 2 pm. They said they would call to confirm and cancel if no one answered. So I kept my cell phone on and took it to my bedroom last night. I usually keep it in my purse, turned off.

Also last night before bed I discovered my primary website was offline. It's never been offline before.  I couldn't get it up and I couldn't get into my administrative panel. I didn't want to try calling tech support on my little mobile flip phone because I don't know how to put it on speaker phone -- a must for tech support calls. I couldn't rely on the landline to work. I hadn't been able to post my blog last night, either.

Even my little brother suffered phone frustration.
From family photo collection

Last night Charter called my cell phone and the landline simultaneously and I confirmed the appointment. Today at the proper time both phones rang at the same time again. I answered the cell and the person on the other end's voice was so distorted I couldn't understand a word and he couldn't seem to hear me. Then the line went dead. My husband answered the landline and talked to the human to confirm the appointment time. 2:00 came and went. At 2:30 I got really tense.

I called Charter again, but their call volume was too high and they weren't taking anymore calls for a while. The connection had appeared to be working better, so I went to their website and waited half an hour for a chat rep to come on line. He told me first that the appointment had been canceled because it hadn't been confirmed. Not true. Then he said he no longer detected a problem with the connection. I thought maybe they had resolved it since I hadn't had problems in the morning or afternoon. I was still quite unhappy that no one notified me of the cancellation or of the fact they thought the problem was resolved. I expressed my dissatisfaction in the handy survey I had to fill out after the chat session ended.

Resolving My Website Issue

Fortunately, I was able to get my website issue solved quickly. After bracing myself for a long tech support session and fortifying myself with pizza to quell my hunger pains, I call my wonderful web host at Siteground. They had my site back up in seconds. They told me the problem was a faulty update for the Heartbeat plug-in, they changed the file name, and the website came up immediately. I love their tech support people.

So What Now?

My website is back up, and that was the biggest issue for my business. After I began writing this post, though, I noticed my internet connection cutting in and out again. I tried to watch TV while I ate my pizza, and the people on the screen turned into monsters every few seconds and their voices sounded like they had a bad cell phone connection. Since my internet and phone had worked earlier, I thought maybe our ancient television was telling us to replace it. But then when the internet went haywire again, I knew maybe Charter hadn't solved my problem after all or I had a new problem. I'm not looking forward to getting back to them tomorrow. Meanwhile, I lost my connection several times while writing this post.

The trees in the photo above have seen their share of stress and though gravely wounded have so far survived. I'm thankful my three-day physical headache had vanished by the time I woke up this morning. It left me better able to face this  stressful day without breaking. Perhaps when I wake up tomorrow, my Charter headache will have disappeared. But I'm not counting on it. I'll take it one day at a time.

Has anything stressed you out lately?

This post is for Day 6 in the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

Sky Journal of Day with Sporadic Showers

Morning Sky

The weather forecast gave the impression I'd stay dry if I finished my shopping by mid-afternoon. I got in my car, and although the sky was cloudy, it wasn't raining. That was at 10:55 AM.

Sky View 2-18-17, Paso Robles, 10:55 AM, ©  B. Radisavljevic 

I drove to Atascadero, parked on Traffic Way and took a few photos. This is one that shows how green the hills are now. As you can see, the sky was blue looking northeast. 

Sky View from Traffic Way in Atascadero about 11:30 AM, ©  B. Radisavljevic

I walked around and took more pictures in the almost deserted Sunken Gardens.  It was windy, and you can see how the wind and earlier rain had combined to make the fountain spill over onto the surrounding area. 

Fountain at Sunken Gardens in  Atascadero about 11-45 AM, ©  B. Radisavljevic

After leaving the park I made my way to Smart and Final to shop. I was there by noon. By 1 PM I was back in my car, and there was still no rain. I headed to Trader Joe's in Templeton. I had planned to stop at Von's but it had started to rain hard by the time I drove the short distance there and the parking lot was full. I only needed one thing there and opted to skip it and go straight to Trader Joe's. It rained on and off all the way to Templeton. Fortunately when I got to Trader Joe's the rain had stopped and the sky was blue again. I left my hat in the car. 

Afternoon

That turned out to be a mistake. As I left Trader Joe's I could see the rain coming down as I reached the exit. My hat was in the car, so I tried to keep my glasses dry. As luck would have it, the rain became just a drizzle as I walked to my car. When I got home the rain had pretty much died down. I was able to unload the car without getting wet. At 4:30 I went to my front yard to take a picture, and this is how the sky looked then. 

Sky View 2-18-17, Paso Robles, 4:30  PM, ©  B. Radisavljevic 

As the Sun Went Down

These photos were taken at 5:25 PM

Sky View 2-18-17, Paso Robles, 5:25  PM, ©  B. Radisavljevic 

Sunset

These photos were taken from different angles at sunset. I show them in order. 

Sky View 2-18-17, Paso Robles, 5:48  PM, ©  B. Radisavljevic 

Sky View 2-18-17, Paso Robles, 5:48  PM, ©  B. Radisavljevic 

Sky View 2-18-17, Paso Robles, 5:48  PM, ©  B. Radisavljevic 

It was eerie to drive in and out of showers as I passed under storm clouds on my way home.  I'm grateful we've gotten more rain, but not enough to do much damage. Our friends in Northern and Southern California have had much more damage. 

I"m seriously thinking of getting one of these rain barrels to collect and save some of this water for the summer. 

Good Ideas RW50-KHA Rain Wizard Rain Barrel 50-Gallon, KhakiGood Ideas RWURN-LIG Rain Wizard Rain Barrel Urn 65-Gallon, Light Granite

How has your weather been this week? How has it affected you personally or those you know?

***