Whatever Weds- The Stars have It

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Last week He-Man and I had a little get-away for our 43rd anniversary. We didn’t go too far just up to Sparks, NV.

We booked a balcony suite at Hampton Inn & Suites at the marina for the view of Helms Lake, and view of Reno’s skyline. This lake has an interesting beginning.

“The site was once a gravel pit owned by the Helms Construction Corp. (1968-1995) The pit is 100 feet deep. They found petroleum and solvent contamination seeping into the pit in 1987 so it was declared a Super Toxic Sight and clean up began. In 1996 it was declared free of petrochemicals and the site was turned over to the city of Sparks.

Millions of dollars of spill mitigation money was made available to the city, which they used to construct the park and make the pit a recreational pond. They had planned to fill the pit to 30 feet, but in January 1997 the Truckee River overflowed its banks and filled the Helms Pit creating what is now Richard Helms Lake or Sparks Marina Pond.” You can read a little more about how it stays filled at the link. https://www.ndow.org/waters/sparks-marina/

Now for our view-

Our day-time balcony view

It was pretty windy the day we were up there as you can see by the water.

Our Evening View

We both really enjoyed having this evening view when the lights in the city came on.

I had hoped our 4th floor balcony room would afford a great view of the sky so I could also try to photograph Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, but alas we had a storm rolling in and cloud cover.

Finally, Monday night April 1st…no joke! We had a clear night so I went out to my front yard and spied the Comet.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks with faint tail.
Green Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks cropped in.
Dialing in my focus I got Jupiter and her Moons too.

We had a lovely anniversary walking around the lake both days, and we found a new Indian place we liked a lot for dinner so, we’ll make the drive up for that again when we’re craving Indian food, and we’ll be staying there again when the weather is warmer and we’ll take our kayak up for a paddle around the lake.

I hope the stars have lined up a fantastic week for you.

Nikon D850| Nikkor 80-200mm| iPhone 14 Pro| PS CC 25.5.1

more to come…

Thurs. Doors- Red Door & Glass Doors

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Coventry Cross Episcopal Church is in my town, and I see this cross every time I drive through town using the main Hwy/Interstate 395. FYI the speed limit through this section of town is 25 MPH.

Wooden Cross

I’ve often wondered what the door(s) and front of the church look like so while I was in town running errands earlier this week I used the back streets to go just a couple of blocks from one place to another and finally saw the front doors.

As you can see it was gray, it was cold Tuesday morning, and there’s still snow on the ground from last week-end’s big snow storm.

Here’s a look at their glass doors and the whole building.

I didn’t bother taking out all the wires because I would have taken out the Cross on top of the bell tower too. My Photoshop skills aren’t good enough to put the cross back. What a shame to have all these wires going across it, but this is how it really looks. 😀

I did find a wee bit of history about this building on their site.

It says, ” Coventry Cross Episcopal Church, a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada. Serving the communities of Douglas County, Nevada , for over 55 years.

Coventry Cross Chapel was moved from its original site in Smith Valley, Nevada, to its present location in Minden, in October of 1954, to become the town’s first church. Before that, local Episcopalians worshipped in members’ homes and other buildings. While in Smith Valley, the Chapel was given the carved stone Tudor Cross which had stood on the porch of the Cathedral of St. Michael (Coventry Cathedral) at Coventry, England. Honoring the gift, the Chapel became “Coventry Cross Episcopal Church.” The rose quartz cross stands about three feet high and is carved with 28 Tudor roses with points terminating in a large blossom. It stands on the rood beam over the altar. At some point in its history it was stained brown to match the beam. The mantel of the fireplace (the original heat for the church) came from 14th century Malmesbury Abbey in England; the left corner stone of the fireplace is from a first century Roman wall at St. Alban’s; and the right corner stone is from 17th century St. Paul’s in London. The new parish hall modifies and expands the one built in 1958.”

Doesn’t that rose quartz cross and mantel sound lovely! I wish the chapel was open so I could have seen both. Maybe one day.

This post is part of the Thursday Doors group hosted by Dan Antion over at No Facilities which you can click on to see other doors from around the world- here

iPhone 14 Pro| PS CC 25.4

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Occultation of Antares

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

January 8th just at dawn I photographed my first celestial event of the year. The Occultation of the crescent moon and Antares the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius.

The tiny dot of light on the Earthshine side of the crescent moon is Antares right before it slipped behind the Moon. Venus the morning star shines brightly above and to the left of the Moon.

I give you three views, one with my star filter on my lens, one with my ultra wide angle lens, and one deeply cropped to show Antares slipping behind the Moon.

20mm view of the Crescent Moon, Venus, and Antares.

Crescent Moon, Antares, Venus dawn January 8, 2024

Venus above and left of the Crescent Moon, Antares a tiny dot of light on the Earthshine side of the Crescent Moon just before it disappeared behind the Moon.

I was in a bit of a rush putting on my star filter so it went on askew so some of the star lines aren’t clean, and worse it’s now stuck. It’s on too tight for me to unscrew it, and I broke my filter wrench some time ago removing a ND (neutral density) filter, and failed to replace it. DOH! I have ordered a new one…and not a plastic one this time. It should arrive today.

We had our first big snow drop that stuck on Sat/Sun. It required shoveling. My neighbor bought a new cordless snow-blower and did our driveway twice! I just shoveled the clean up and the road below our driveway. She’s a jewel! She said it took just 12 minutes to do the driveway. We’ve made a deal. She’ll do the snow-blower and I do the clean up shoveling on 3 driveways and sidewalks. I told her I’d spring for the Hot Cocoa with marshmallows!

We have another big storm coming this weekend which is going to mess up my plans to meet friends, and do some birding at one of our favorite California refuges. It’s going to snow here, and in the mountains I’d need to cross, and it’s got rain on the forecast for there. It’s always a risk in the winter though isn’t it. Looks like I’ll be cancelling my plans.

Hopefully, we can meetup in February.

That’s me all caught up. How’s it going for you? Were any of you up and notice the tiny reddish star right beside the moon Monday morning?

Nikon D810| Nikkor 24-120mm & Nikkor 20mmG| PS CC 25.3.1

more to come…

Sunday Stillness-Sliders & a Softshell

Copyright ©2023 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Red-eared Sliders & Spiny Softshell
Slide Mountain View from Prison Hill East

Nikon D810| Nikkor 24-120mm & iPhone 14 Pro

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Winter Sunrises

Copyright ©️ Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Please do not use my images without expressed written permission!

This past winter we had so many storms which really lent themselves to some pretty sunrises.

Here are just three.

February 2023 Morning after a Storm
March 2023 Pink is the color I choose
April 2023, Clouds at Sunrise

Nikon D810| Nikkor 105mm & 80-100mm | PS CC 24.5.0

more to come…

Thursday Doors-Rural Decay Doors

Copyright ©2023 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION!

Or barely seen and hanging on door and a bonus shutter door.

I’ve photographed this building several times since moving to No. NV.

Every time I go birding around this area this little cottage or storehouse calls me. I know nothing about it other than it’s an unused building on a ranch next to a place on my birding rotation.

iPhone 14 Pro

more to come…