Signs

In my area of the country (upper Midwest), I frequently see signs on state highways signalling the presence of roadside rests ahead. Since childhood, I have wondered why the sign maker chose to draw the pine tree in the sign leaning over the top of the picnic table.

After stopping at a roadside rest yesterday afternoon, I now know the answer to my  question:

Wildlife

A hawk perches outside my home office window on a gray March afternoon.

Old

I'm not really sure how old this structure is, but it calls to mind the 1800s. In the summer, the wheel is in motion and on a calm day, the building is cast in perfect reflection into the foreground pond. This is the sight that welcomes visitors to our museum center, a living-history museum which has many late 1800 and early 1900 era homes and businesses on display. A trip here really makes a visitor feel as though he has stepped back in history.

Blue

A deep blue winter sky and a low sun cast blue shadows across the snow. I made a pass through Photoshop with this to correct the white balance but didn't care for the results, so except for resizing, this is SOOC.

On the road

One of Jon's hopes for our early-in-the-year Florida trip was to see a Roseate Spoonbill. We saw a few, far in the distance, in the Everglades, but none near enough to photograph. On the drive across Alligator Alley (Highway 41) to Naples, we saw a pink blur fly along the canal the road follows. Jon pulled the car over and sure enough, it was a Spoonbill, pausing to rest in a tree. We had to climb up on the bumper of the car to get a good look. Funny what you see on the road!

Barren

Barren trees frame a leaf-strewn frozen creek in Starved Rock State Park.

Shadows

I love to photograph shadows, and a late afternoon hike up Camelback Mountain in early January gave plenty of opportunities to for interesting shots.

Here's something odd - I set the width of the top photo to 750 px (it autofit to 500 px high) and the width of the lower photo to 750 px (it autofit to 1125 px high) but they are not the same width here. Hmmm.....