Not all frost is the same

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While I’m posting a bunch of frost photos, let me hearken back to 2009, when the frost took on a decidedly different form.  These long spikes grew along a fence a few miles east of Bismarck.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I like the thick hoarfrost we had last Monday and Tuesday, but this stuff is unreal.  Of course, the weather conditions were different, and it takes quite a unique set of conditions for frost like this to occur.

 

Since it’s never exactly the same twice, I’ll never run out of opportunities to chase the weather with my cameras!

Wired

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Continuing the frost theme for this week – over the lunch hour Monday I was able to find a nice frosty fence to photograph.

 

The barbed wire collected a thick coat of chunky hoarfrost Sunday night, and it was a welcome sight.  This is one of the more photogenic winter phenomena.

 

Fuzzy like a caterpillar.  This was some really thick stuff!  It’s hard to even spot the barbs.

 

Twistin’.  The patterns of the frost are really keen (I was looking for a way to use that word).

 

There are some of those barbs I was talking about.  I had to be careful not to lean against any of them when I tried to get some of the other shots.

 

Cool, huh?  The pattern inside the corner of this post is almost organic looking.

 

Bonus: Here’s the post from a stop sign near our property.  One set of holes ringed with frost, another set completely plugged.

In case you think I’ve exhausted my Monday frost photos, you’re mistaken.  Oh, and there was another batch of hoarfrost on Tuesday as well, but with beautiful, sunny blue skies as a backdrop!  I’ve got an entire lunch hour full of those coming as well.

Critters of a sort

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I didn’t get a chance to see these in their most frosty glory, as I was taking lunchtime photos out of town.  I did, however, come up just before sundown to grab some shots.  That actually worked out well; I was able to use some fill flash to separate these wrought-iron beasts from their darkening and blueing backgrounds.

 

Roll, Bison!  Well, maybe not this guy.  Funny story behind this one.  My kids dubbed it Steve.  When we’d be out driving in my truck we’d make a point to drive by and stop.  Even though we wouldn’t get out, the kids would yell, “Hi, Steve!  Bye, Steve!”  And on we’d roll.  Well, Steve got his picture took Monday night.

Wednesday night sunset

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I used to do a LOT of sunsets before becoming a dad.  Now I get the opportunity to run around with my cameras a bit more sparingly, as I prefer to be a loving husband and father.  But tonight I had the opportunity to bolt after leaving my studio, and I caught this wonderful sunset.

 

Lately the skies haven’t really been great for sunsets…either no clouds at all, or too many for the sun to peek out much.  That, or a long, thick row of clouds along the horizon to choke off any chance the sun had at illuminating the sky.  Well, that wasn’t tonight.

Oh, by the way…I also got out over lunch and got even more frost photos.  Tune in tomorrow…

Three for Tuesday

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Last night was foggy again, so I was hoping that Tuesday morning would bring a repeat of Monday’s awesome frost.  Sadly, the sun came out (how often do I say that?) and burned off all the frost.  But that’s okay – I got plenty of shots Monday to share.

 

I got plenty of close-up shots, but was really looking for something more like this.  Ah, I feel relaxed just looking at this tree out in the hazy field.

 

Who says winter isn’t photogenic?  And I got all this on my lunch hour!  Well, I went in early and was able to take a ninety minute lunch, but you get the point.  More to come…

The frost comes on little cat feet

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Since the Carl Sandburg poem “The Fog” is one of my all-time favorites, my reappropriation of the line of this title for frost is an intentional homage and not a misquote.  The frost which blanketed the Bismarck-Mandan area this morning was a result of the fog rolling in anyway.  I saw the thick haze in the air Sunday night and knew Monday morning would be a treat.

 

I had an early meeting which prevented me from running around with my cameras in the morning, but I took a long lunch to grab a variety of frosty photos.  Here are two of my favorites, but I have many, many more to share over the next few days.

Oh, and those little cat feet have sauntered into town again tonight, meaning we’ve got more of the same for Tuesday…

Why any submarines in Bismarck-Mandan were nervous Friday

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I walked out of a lunch appointment on Friday and immediately noticed a jet on a very unusual trajectory over Bismarck, far out of position compared to the track usually taken on approach to Runway 13.  It was a short leg, and they were still banking south of Main Avenue.  Even better, it was a touch-and-go.  Well, being the curious type, I had to see what was up.  That’s when I snapped this shot and realized it was a Navy plane, not some wayward bus driver or something.

 

Just doing laps, as you can see.  A few down the Runway 13 way, followed by a few down Runway 31.  Cruising Main, almost.  My flight app did give an ADS-B entry for this aircraft, but being a military plane that was all I got.  The desktop app, however, was blank. No worries, it doesn’t take long with “the Google” to narrow down that this is a P-8A Poseidon.  There’s a good chance it’s from Whidbey Island, home to those F-18s which stopped in for A&B Pizza about this time last year. AirSOC has an article about the P-8A at Whidbey Island, which you can read here.

 

This is a particularly cool aircraft (Wikipedia), even though it isn’t as exciting as a fighter jet. It’s a sub-hunter, and apparently a pretty modern one.  Just like those F-18s last year, which are actually two-seater Super Hornets loaded with all kinds of electronic warfare equipment, this plane is chock full o’ goodies.  First off, look at all the antennae on the top.  The 737-800 this is based on doesn’t have those.  It’s also capable of deploying anti-submarine weapons once it detects ’em.  Sweet.  Want to know more about some of the toys?  Click on this link.

A few more laps, and they were out of here.  I listened to a little bit of the CTAF banter on my handheld transceiver, then went on with my day.  I had put in a long week, and it was time to knock off early and play photographer for a while.

Cold ones in the fridge

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My weekend travels brought me to this little farmstead, where I spent a few pleasant moments with a piece of old farm equipment with the morning sun’s rays streaming from the clouds in the background to the east. Satisfied with our moment together, I turned my attention to the nearby house.

I have a policy of not entering or otherwise tampering with old buildings, but to merely appreciate them from outside. Well, I found myself drawn to the front steps for a quick photo. That’s when I noticed something amusing therein.

The refrigerator in the entry was a happy find. No, I didn’t go in for a closer look, I was happy right here. But given the temperature early Saturday morning, the idea of there being some “cold ones” inside brought a grin to my face.

And as for that old piece of farm equipment? We’ll get to that another time.

Got plenty more where this came from

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2018 is an exciting time…plenty of new photo gear to try out. So I took a little time Friday afternoon to visit a church nearby that I hadn’t stopped to investigate before: the Glencoe Sloan church, southeast of Bismarck-Mandan on Highway 1804.

I had a good photography year last year, and one thing I did (but didn’t post on the ol’ Blog) was to chase down many old prairie churches. Some were abandoned, some were almost wreckage, but all were beautiful in their own way.

I hope to work on a calendar or some other project featuring these churches, but I still have a few I’d like to add. On my travel budget, that might have to wait for a bit. But you’ll see them, I can assure you.

Double Ditch Ice

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I ventured out to Double Ditch tonight for a number of reasons, but one of them was to see if it was still blocked off for construction purposes.  Thankfully one can now drive in on the north road, although the walking path heading south to the stone hut is still marked as closed due to construction.

The ice was melted in spots, and definitely had its share of dirt blown into it.  In fact, it was pretty breezy tonight, too.  But I got some cool shots, satisfied my curiosity, and headed home to thaw my fingers.

 

Oh yeah – one of the other reasons I was out there was to check on my favorite post.  It’s still hanging in there, I’m glad to report, despite the continuous bank erosion.  I remember being able to walk around this post on the left side, although the land to the north of the fence is posted.  That part of the bank has been down below for a long time.  That’s some sturdy barbed wire holding this thing in place!

One thing I didn’t notice in the first photo is the developing clouds on the horizon.  For a better view of those you’ll have to check out the header on my blog’s Facebook page.