Dec 30, 2010

On A Colder Note



Sunday morning we rose early to leave our Christmas family in Bayside and head out to the North Fork.  The weather folks warned us of a winter snow bearing up on us, as it was approaching from the south, and we thought it better to outrun the storm rather than get mired in it.  There was almost no traffic on the roads due to the day, the hour and the warnings so the drive was very pleasant as we recalled the events and conversations of the day before, but it was dark and eerie.  As we arrived a very fine snow began, then became suddenly thicker and the winds picked up and up gusting at 50 mph. sometimes higher.  There didn't seem to be much risk of physical danger as long as one used his brains and stayed off the treacherous roads.


So we got in the jeep to see what we could see.  Not much as it turned out.  With such low visibility I doubted that any photos I took would be usable and the chance that a fast moving highway department snowplow could open up our vehicle like a can of sardines sent us back to the nest.


The snow ceased Monday morning around 11 am after accumulating to nearly a foot overall.  It left many deep drifts closing roads.  High tide stacked up by wind flooded many low land areas.  But now we could see for some distance though the wind was still high and so decided to go out again.  Our travels took us from the Peconic Bay in Cutchogue, to the Bay in New Suffolk, on to the Long Island Sound at the Mattituck Inlet and across farmland to the Village of Southold where we stopped at Founder's Tavern for soup and burgers next to a warming fire before heading home.  These are some of the scenes we photographed. 




Click on photos to enlarge.


Peconic Bay at New Suffolk



Mattituck Airport



Green Bouy at the Mattituck Inlet



Wind Over Farmland and a Copse of Trees



Soil Eroded by Wind Mixed With Snow
on Potato Harvesting Trucks



Wind on Low Road






Drifts After the Winds Calmed












For My World Photos click here.




For more Sky Watch photos from Around the Globe
click here.



Dec 24, 2010

"From The North Fork" Visits The Keys

We went south to celebrate an 80th birthday, reune with family and get a little fly fishing in over the Thanksgiving holidays.  The Florida Keys have become a second home for us as we have gone there for a few weeks every year for over 35 years, Big Pine Key especially.  One day waiting for the tide to change out in the "back country" flats going into the Gulf of Mexico, I put down my rod and took out the camera.  The 2 PM sun was playing the shallow waters like a prism, color dancing in my eyes.  As we drifted I took nearly 100 photos of the bottom not knowing what to expect as the water and my platform, a shallow draft skiff, was in constant motion.  I was pleased when some of them looked nice, some clear, some more impressionistic...  you just never know.

Click on photos to enlarge, it's more fun.





































HAVE A JOYFUL, PEACEFUL, MERRY HOLIDAY!


For Sky Watch photos from around the globe click here.



For My World Tuesday click here.