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There have been so many awesome pictures of moons on Skywatch.  Every time I’ve attempted capturing a moon shot, I’ve been miserably disappointed.  But because of my slight OCD tendencies I keep trying.  Even though in my head I kept repeating "Idiots are those who keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."  I kept doing it.

1) spotting a cool moon

2) running in for my camera

3) pointing and shooting

4) pointing and shooting

5) pointing and shooting

6) repeat steps #3-5 four or more times.

I mean – if I could have a penny for all of my failed/deleted moon shots, I might be able to help out with the national economic crisis in a significant way. 

This past week (or maybe 10 days), I have stumbled upon shareable shots.  I’m amazed.  And that whole "idiot theory" just got shot down.  Because it’s the same nut, loose, behind the same camera, pushing the same button, with the same shaky hands.  And here’s what I got.. . .

This is from outside my front door.  I know you can’t see the cool color of the leaves, but who cares!?  Do you see that white thing?  That’s a MOON, thank you very much!  And if you were to ask me to ignore the moon and focus on the trees so you could see their color. . . ?  Ummm.  You might need to check with a different chik.  This one hasn’t a clue.  (And luckily my OCD hasn’t latched on to that little task.)

But guess what!?  We went to see Elk again (one of my brothers and his family came to visit, so we took another little outing).  Check this out:

My hands weren’t shaking!!  And that isn’t a figment of my (or your) imagination!  And you can trust me on this:  I did NOT put the moon there with the aid of paint shop, or iPhoto editing, or . . . (here I show pure ignorance) that other fancy photo-editing software you all play with to add or change effects.  This moon is the real deal.

Please allow this digression:  The next picture appears to not be clear.  But let me preface your viewing with a detail.  There was a significant halo around this moon – so it even seemed sort of blurry when I was looking at it in real life.  Really!  It was the coolest thing.  My daughter suggested I take this shot for my skywatch post.

And, umm. . .  You can see the fall colors in this shot (which is good, because it would otherwise be quite a boring photo).  This is taken from the side of our house. 

On the far right of the picture you can see the beginnings of a rock face.  There are actually cliffs there where some people repel and do other dangerous and stupid extreme things.  I’ve hiked up there.  Twice maybe.  A  LONG time ago.  I think it was before I married Prince Farming.  Probably in an attempt to show him how tough I was.  I am totally resenting that little endeavor, even from this far in the future.  I should have made him carry me up there if he wanted me to be there.  Then he would have known that I’m really not made of all the stuff farm people are made of.  That picking up and stacking 16′ lengths of 6 x 6 lumber (in the dark) after a day of crazy shopping in the big city while planning a barn party is really out of my league.  Even on the days when I don’t have a sick and throwing-up stomach.  I really MUST have a talk with my daughter about her choices of activities.  Doing Herculean feats while courting will NOT render her desired results.  Her herculean activities will only redouble in her aging years and bite her in her butt.  Which is no small thing (I’m talking about the activities that aren’t small – no comment on the butt, people!)

Good grief.  Isn’t this a skywatch post?  I’m so sorry for taking you down that path.  Something must have snapped in me. I will refrain from dragging this out for any longer than I already have.  I know you have things to do and blogs to visit.  Thanks for stopping by mine.  You can see other amazing sky pictures (and STUNNING moon shots) every week by visiting this site.

Oh – you’re still here?  I know what you’re missing.  Alright already.  Here you go:

Aren’t the colors pretty?  Can’t wait till the reds start peaking – should be this weekend.  We’re supposed to have a bit of a cold spell, which should help out the color variety in a big way.

Happy Skywatch Friday!

This shot was taken just a couple of days ago.  It’s amazing when you look outside at just the right moment and recognize a photo-worthy sky.  Very cool.  And very new to me.  Of course being somewhat limited in my photography skill and equipment, I’m sure that a hundred others would have taken a totally WOW photo of this same moment.  If someone can explain (in very slow, simple language) how to improve this shot using a PHD camera (Push Here Dummy) I’d be most grateful. (btw – I knew to turn the flash off.  thank you.)  The shots I took of just the sky (without the pond) didn’t show the color as intensely as the reflection in the pond did.  And truly, the colors were equally brilliant.  I guess the creative thing to do would have been to crop the sky out of the shot and just do the pond reflection thing.  Ah – yes.  This is why I blog.  

This same photo could be placed under a new heading brewing in my mind.  Something along the lines of "Things I See at the Pond"  or maybe "Gazing out my Kitchen Window".  C O R N Y.  Anyway – I really do enjoy my kitchen window.  And I am thoroughly loving the things I see in, around, or near the pond.  I do have a collection of photos started.  But the collection will be appreciated more fully when people other than myself will be able to identify the tiny dots on the picture (ie I need to find the other lens).  So you can anticipate more Pond Watch photos in the future.

There are many topics that flow through my head each day that I could easily address here.  But it seems that Louise has this very cool tradition started where she takes pictures of the sky.  Specifically on Friday.  I was paging through my iPhoto library, and obviously my children are way more creative than I am.  This is what I found in the latest download.  I’m wondering if it qualifies for SkyWatch Friday.  What do you think?

But then I was like no – probably not quite.  Scrolling down further I found this one.  
I’m wondering – what the heck were they really trying to capture?  And where were they?

But really, I know.  This isn’t fully what SkyWatch is all about.  I have NOTHING that compares to the amazing pictures I’ve seen scrolling through some of the talented contributers around the world.  I’m not a photographer.  But seeing the pictures has made me pay closer attention to the sky around me.  I’ll try to capture some of the very amazing sunsets to share.  But in the mean time, one of my kids took this one.  It is definitely the sky.  I’m fairly certain this is more of what "ya’ll" are after.

This can go down as my first "Sky Watch Friday"  It might also be my last – who knows?  In the mean time I have to totally figure out WHAT I’m going to stamp to take with me to convention.  AAaahhh.  The stress.  Or not.  If I figure out something cool and simple to make, I’ll take it on the plane with me.  Otherwise, I’ll use my camera.  No stress.  Although I’d like to make something fun to give to my cool room mates and a few others.  I’ll share what I create as soon as I figure what it is.  I feel an insomniac moment coming on (why is it that creativity thrives in sleep deprivation?)