Happy Thanksgiving

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Mini-Dew and I with some dear friends traveled down to Busch Gardens in Tampa and I found my new favorite ride, the SheiKra. The weather was perfect and we had a terrific time!
Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!
~Dewdrop

Exploring new horizons

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Happy Sky Watch Friday. I wish I could visit each of your blogs like I used to… but IT Nazis have seen an end to that. Internet browsing is heavily policed, and we are restricted from visiting the bible or blogs, but we can watch Youtube and hang on FB. Go figure… oh, and they missed the Temple of Elvis site as religious… so I can go there if my heart desires… P.S. It doesn’t. This is a picture I shot facing the water from the Cape San Blas lighthouse. I love the way the sun sparkles in the shot!!!My wonderful groom and I took a much needed mini-cation to the Apalachicola and Port St. Joe area for a relaxing exploration of the area. It is wonderful to explore an area, find local food delights and explore the nature that surrounds it, talk with shop owners, just sit back and see what all God has in store for us. We had such a wonderful time! We watched crabs and eagles and butterflies dance and saw a lighthouse and wandered through cute little shops, ate the local food… it was wonderful. It was great time to unwind with the love of my life. Here is a photographic summary…

I loved the surge markers placed around Apalachicola!!! SO COOL!

Have a brilliant day!!!
~Dewdrop

Finding peace through my lens

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

You know, with my IT Nazis limiting access to everything, it’s just not as fun to blog anymore. I used to really enjoy it. It was my “smoke break” of sorts, an emotional escape from the office blahs. Of course, being stranded here now, in my cement block cell, I think it’s time just to take a minute and find a picture that offers me peace. This is a nearby private lake, which offers splendid sunsets much of the year. It’s one of my favorite places to go and just take it in… In this shot, a random little girl was walking by looking at me, wondering why I had all that picture-taking equipment (I wish I had more!) facing the lake… I get a lot of strange looks exploring my photography hobby, but it’s so worth it to me. Photography is such a peaceful hobby, a way to truly see what God has placed out there for me to discover and share it with anyone who's interested.

Have a wonderful weekend. My wonderful groom and I have exciting plans this weekend. There will be pictures. Yes, there will be pics.... oh, and java chip frappuccino... ;)
~Dewdrop

Scrubbed... again.

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Monday, scrubbed – mechanical (gas leaks). Tuesday, scrubbed – electrical. Wednesday, scrubbed – residual electrical. Thursday, scrubbed – wet weather. Friday, most likely scrubbed – windy weather. Saturday… I can’t go!!! Sunday – window closes… So, then, I pull up my Yahoo! to check messages and you may or may not know, but the sign on screen usually has some big image, usually of some interesting geeky person. This time, with the people at Yahoo! no doubt, mocking me, this was their welcome screen:How rude! In all honesty, when the Wednesday launch (which was our 2nd best opportunity to experience it) was scrubbed, I knew that today’s weather would be a barrier, and even after NASA’s lengthy meeting yesterday, I knew that weather would prevent a launch today. One, they have 100% chance of showers and thunderstorms… Two, the clouds are there regardless. There’s no way they would launch that thing in those conditions. Problem is, it’s a cold front working its way in. That means on the other side of this much needed rain, we will see crisp, beautiful, blue skies… and wind. Wind played a role in the Challenger disaster (Beginning at about T+37, the shuttle experienced a series of wind shear events over the next 27 seconds that were the strongest recorded to date in the shuttle program. ~Wikipedia)… so they will not launch on Friday. 70% chance of a go, per this article, but NASA puts it at 60% - link. I just want to see a launch up close, is that so wrong???

Let us remember to pray for Haiti, as yet another natural disaster threatens to steal lives in that depressed country, as the potential Hurricane Tomas makes his way toward them. Earthquake, Cholera, now potential mudslide inducing rain... with Tomas. God be with them...

~Dewdrop

Seasonal Fog

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

The fog has been dense each morning, as we are entering into the fall season. I love the way the sunlight tries to pierce the fog, creating dramatic scenes on my way to the office. Don't be surprised if you pass me along the road from time to time with the camera hanging out the window capturing a breath-taking shot. Most people look at me like I have two heads. Nope... just revelling in God's creation. I do that a lot. This was the view I had the other morning, while I was leaving my neighborhood. What a great way to start the day!

Though I've been keeping an eye on Typhoon Megi over by China (I have a dear friend over there in Hong Kong - she is not worried.), my heart is usually in the Atlantic Basin with regard to tropical activity. As of the 11AM advisory, we have Tropical Storm Richard. Tropical Storm Richard is our 17th named storm of the season, and it is one that has a slight chance of hitting the U.S. The models are sort of all over the place with him, but the general consensus is that he will strengthen. Time will tell. Keep an eye on him if you live near water... how's that?

Have a bright sunshine-y day!
~Dewdrop

Blue skies...

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

My wonderful groom and I took a wonderful butterfly flight inspired adventure over the weekend. We had a great time just chasing life and laughter. We saw so much, but here are a couple of the skies from that trip that I want to share (in light of the monotonous blue skies we've been experiencing here-I wanted to get a little creative with what's in the sky.)There was also just some nice scenery and stuff to enjoy along the way. Here are a couple of my favorites.
I'd talk about weather, but I don't want to get people all riled up about nothing. The once strong little Hurricane Paula is now just a tropical storm over Cuba... no worries, Florida.

Have a brilliant day!
~Dewdrop

Going wild!

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

After a complete deluge from the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole, we have experienced nothing but strikingly blue skies and cooler temperatures, which has been nice for getting us into the fall mood. Having lived in the far south for a long time though, I know better than to get too accustomed to the cooler weather. I know that we will get another heat blast, it's just a matter of when. As the weather has been so delightful, my wonderful groom and I went to the local amusement park and had a great time exploring there.That's what inspired my sky watch shot this week. This is not me or anyone I know, but I loved capturing the shot, and I am anxious to catch Mini-Dew doing this... it's her favorite thing to do, my little dare-devil child. Speaking of... she is on the last car here.Then, of course, I went to play with the animals in the petting zoo. I don't know what it is, but I feel right at home there.Have a great day!!
~Dewdrop

P.S. We do have Subtropical Storm Otto... not expected to impact us, so I don't really feel like talking about him much... though, we did have tornadoes in Arizona yesterday... the annual average in one day! Rare!

Have a bright, SUNflowery day!

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

For Skywatch Friday, I want to post a few inspirational skies and one interesting sky. The first was just a powerful homecoming sky! What a beautiful way for the Lord to welcome me “home” after a dreary day. I snapped this shot driving into my neighborhood!
The next is just an amazing sky on fire shot, one summer evening. I love it when that happens!
The last one, I took Monday. We had some crazy weather with severe potential throughout the day, and I looked around to notice this eerie yellow/green sky after a hard rain. Of course, me and my optimism were seeking out some slight sign of rotation to no avail, but the sky was notable to the point where people talked about the eerie yellow/green sky all day, even kids.
What a tropical mess! Tropical Storm Nicole was such for a matter of hours, but between her and the non-tropical low over the east coast, rain has been and will be unrelenting. We had a line of storms trained over us for the ENTIRE day yesterday! It was some obscure little lost line of storms that literally started before work and didn’t stop until after I left. The low pressure system over the east coast was sucking all the moisture out of Nicole and just inundating everybody. We survived it. It was actually nice to have such rain after such a long spell without. My thoughts turn to the central coast though. They just had that frontal system pass through which offered up record rainfall 10+” in a day. Now, they are experiencing a steady stream of drenching rain… they are facing 20+” in 3-4 days time. That is deadly flooding potential. Incidentally, flooding is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S., with approximately 93 deaths per year (the 30 year average). It is so important that if you see water over a road, you do NOT attempt to drive in it. Turn Around, Don’t Drown™. I can assure you that some of the infrastructure of those areas cannot support that much rain, in that short of a time. This is a deadly recipe…

I know it’s totally off the subject, but I wanted to share with you that my wonderful groom surprised me with a beautiful (weather-related… SUNflowers) bouquet of flowers yesterday, in celebration of our 3-year Date-iversary. I am so blessed to have him to share my life with!! Definitely a heart smile...

Have a glorious day!
~Dewdrop

Could we have the beginnings of Matthew???

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Well, here we are facing the highly likely development of Matthew in the southeastern Caribbean. This is one that has piqued the interest of many, as many models have brought this disturbance into the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Depression Lisa is barely churning in the far eastern Atlantic. The remnants of Julia are trying to act organized, but it’s the low pressure in the Caribbean that has everyone in a tizzy. Tropical Depression 15 will likely take center stage as a US media hog by the end of the day.

Here is a sky shot for your soul…A sunset not too long ago...

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

A little pick-me-up...

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Sorry for the delay. I've been down and out with my recovery, but I want to post a cool sky from the other morning. It was my first morning on my own taking care of Mini-Dew in the morning after surgery, and God decided to offer me a little pick-me-up... not altered except resizing. This is how it actually looked (except better)...
Also, when my wonderful from and I worked on our garden, we put up a couple of hummingbird feeders, and much too my delight, they have already found them. We have 3 visiting that I know of. This is one of them that I caught in action. I hope to get some great shots along the way as they get more comfortable with me.







I am thrilled to have these whimsical guests to entertain me during recovery!

Have a glorious day!
~Dewdrop

P.S. The tropics are active, but nothing should directly impact the U.S. in the near future. Interests in Bermuda should have both eyes on Igor though!

Halo...

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Thanks to Dot and Tom, never forgotten founders of this great event. Come on, come fly with us!

Thanks to hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

I just wanted to take a break from all the hurricane chatter, so here you are... A brilliant solar halo!!!

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop