Whatever Weds. Lunar Eclipse and Flowers

Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Last week-end we went down to SoCal to visit Big Baby Boy and the Dark Haired Beauty for several days. It was lovely walking on the beach and in the canyon with them and just hanging out. We talked about their upcoming wedding a bunch, and how that’s going. It’s coming up so fast! Less than 8 weeks to go now! I’ve got my dress and hat and He-Man’s good to go suit wise too, So far everything is falling into place so, it should be beautiful.

I also passed a milestone last Thursday…I turned 65 years young. There are many days my body feels 65 but, not my spirit! I’m still a kid inside. 😀

There were lots of cultivated flowers in late stages of their bloom around Big Baby Boy’s, some I’ve missed because they just don’t grow where we live. Here are a few;

Hibiscus

Bird of Paradise

? I don’t know what this is called

Sunday we had heavy clouds predicted and strong winds and sure enough they rolled in all day just in time for the Lunar Eclipse. I hoped there would a pocket or two of clear sky in the Moon’s path so I could see and photograph just one frame. There was a nice pocket along the mountain tops so I quickly made a few images of the Moon as it crested the mountains. It was already in Totality by then as well. It was very different from last year’s May Lunar Eclipse when there was a clear sky.

Totality Lunar Eclipse May 15, 2022

It quickly rose into the clouds and I didn’t see it again that night.

We’re going to see Baby Girl and the boys later this week to celebrate her birthday, my birthday, and Mother’s Day. I’m looking forward to that.

The weather has definitely warmed up here. It was 81 degrees yesterday and just as warm today, so I put out the patio cushions and spent a lovely hour out back chatting with the neighbor. How’s the weather where you are? Ready for summer?

I hope you’re having a good week!

Nikon D810| Fuji X-T-3| PS CC 23.2.2

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Waning Moon Conjunction

Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I’ve been hoping for a clear sky before sunrise in order to see the Waning Moon and four early-dawn planets, but we’ve been having cloudy overcast mornings of late. On the 26th I got somewhat lucky even though it was cloudy. Here are 3 of the 4 early-dawn planets along with the Waning Crescent Moon over the Pine Nut Mountains. Following that line of planets up above Mars was Saturn, but it was already so light out I couldn’t see it.

Waning Crescent Moon under Mars, Venus with Jupiter close to Venus.

If you’re up an hour before sunrise your time this Saturday morning looking low in the southeast Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest objects in the sky after the Sun and Moon, are going to be spectacularly close at just a 1/2 degree apart!

Can you believe we’re just days away from May!? This month just flew by! I hope your week is going well and you have a lovely day.

Nikon D810| Nikkor 24-120mm| PS CC 23.2.2

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Sunset Colors & Swirly Clouds

Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

I’m home from a long week-end of camping and photography with friends old and new. I’m still culling images, but here’s one from Mono Lake taken shortly after sunset. I was set up to shoot west but looking around I saw this cloud developing to the northeast so I turned my camera around and waited for this to unfold. This cloud formation and color were wonderful and a beautiful end to a fun day.

Mono Lake, Clouds, and Tufas. Friday April, 8, 2022

Nikon D810| 24-120mm@24mm| f/10| ISO 100| PS CC 23.2.2

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Aerial View

Copyright ©Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Way back in 2016 a couple of good friends and I took a long week-end trip to Sedona, AZ and during that trip we went to the Grand Canyon and one of the things we did was taking a helicopter tour of the North Rim.

I was just telling someone recently that these images have been marinating on my hard-drive for a long, long time because I really didn’t like the images too much when I got home. My aerial photography “eye” needs a lot more practice. That got me thinking that I hadn’t even looked at these images in years so I dug into my archives to look at the images. With the passing of time I’m not as disappointed in them. Here’s one.

Grand Canyon, North Rim, Aerial View via a Helicopter

I’ll be working on more images from this trip so, you may see more in future posts.

I’ve been staying close to home these last two weeks because while visiting our Grandson’s we took them to the park and Littlest was afraid to go down the tube slide by himself so I went down with him. The second time we were going a bit fast so I tried to slow us down by putting my foot along the wall, but we didn’t slow down my body kept going something went crack and both my knee and ankle hurt. My knee is still tender and I haven’t made it as far as the mailbox and back yet. I may have to go see the doctor if this keeps up.

Did you happen to see the recent full moon? I did but, didn’t photograph it. I did go out to look at the moon close to its setting a couple of mornings later and made this image from my street.

I did go out for a little bit birding yesterday and saw some good birds. I’m still culling images, but will have a few to share in upcoming posts.

That’s all that’s new here. What’s going on with you? I do hope your week is going well!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 24-120mm| PS CC 23.2.2

more to come…

Thursday Doors- The Pumphouse +1

Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I’ve been wanting to photograph this pumphouse for a year and finally did. It’s a cute structure I think and it only holds the well water pump and water softener unit.

The Pumphouse

Not too far below this pumphouse is a lovely creek that I hiked through the bush to get down to in order to photograph some of it. Here’s one image from that adventure.

Go with the flow…

I did a fairly good job of avoiding the wild blackberry thorns, and poison oak ones too, but still had to pick off some stickers when back up on the road. 😀

This is part of Thursday Doors which is run by Dan Antion over at No Facilities blog. Click on the link to head on over there to see all the other doors that have been shared this week.

Badge by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Nikon D810| Nikkor 24-120mm| PS CC 23.0.0

more to come…

Thursday Doors- The Red Church

Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

In the Sierra foothill town of Sonora CA. there’s a beautiful little church called St James Episcopal. I’ve photographed it a couple of times but, as He-man and I were driving to Baby Girl’s house for Christmas I saw it lit up for Christmas for the first time and knew I had to go back and photograph it.

Here I’ll share 3 views from that photoshoot.

St James Episcopal Church

I did a little online search for the history and here’s what their website says,

“Saint James Episcopal Church was first established in 1859. The current building was completed in 1860. St. James was part of the Episcopal Church until 2007. A schism occurred over various theological issues and a number of the churches in the diocese dissolved their affiliation with The Episcopal Church. They accepted oversight by the Province of the Southern Cone, in South America.  A number of Episcopalians wished to remain with the Church. These faithful, with the assistance of the governing bodies of The Episcopal Church, reorganized the diocese. On March 29, 2008, a Special Convention was held, led by the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori. The Rt. Rev. Jerry Lamb became our first provisional bishop. 
On that day St. Mary in the Mountains, organized in January 2008 by The Rev. Martin Risard, and his wife Alice, was formally recognized. Our first home was in a small room in the Senior Center in Sonora. Fr. Martin retired in 2010 and the Rev. Stan Coppel became priest-in-charge of the congregation.
 In July 2011, after several weeks of backbreaking labor to get the building ready, we moved to our next location in Jamestown. Our first service coincided with the first visit of our new provisional bishop, the Rt. Rev. Chester Talton, who consecrated the building for use as our church. After much time, litigation, and negotiation, St. James, popularly known as “The Red Church” returned to the Episcopal Church. The first service held upon the return of the church was on July 7, 2013.
Currently, St. James Sonora, is part of Diocese of San Joaquin
.”~https://www.stjamessonora.org/the-red-church

St James Episcopal Church

The bell is casted in the late 1800’s.  It is rung announcing each service.    It is also rung to announce the beginning of Mother Lode Round-up Parade, and the Sonora Christmas Parade.~https://www.stjamessonora.org/the-red-church

St James Episcopal Church

The church has a Flentrop Pipe Organ made by Flentrop Orgelbouw in Holland. It was installed in 1973.

I really have to give a shout out to my grandkids, and Baby Girl who waited patiently with me for the lights to come on. We waited 30 minutes, I think it was worth it! Not sure they did, but there were ohh’s and ahhs when the lights finally came on. 😀

This post is part of Thursday Doors a weekly feature run by our host Dan Antion of No Facilities blog. Click here to be taken to his site to see all the other doors people are sharing from all over the world this week.

Nikon D810| Nikkor 24-120mm| PS CC 23.0.0

more to come…