Sunday, October 30, 2011

Grim and Bear It

Look what Mother Nature is handing out in our neighbourhood for Hallowe'en treats this year


Close-up of a frosted lollipop?  Not quite. 
Sherbet?  Not so tasty. 
Nope, snow crystals, gloopy icy, big fat snow blobs snorted onto my bedroom window this afternoon.
Now is that any way for a grande old dame like Mother Nature to behave?



At least it provided me with the opportunity to play with some images in Photoshop today because there was no way I was going out for a walk in such nasty weather. 




Rather like myself, the windows got a bit steamed up over the situation.
Did you like to draw on the fogged-up car windows when you were a kid?




Looking out through rain-streaked windows reveals a distorted, fluid sort of alternate world

This threat, this pointed hint of things to come makes me want to wrap up autumn in a big sheet of cling-wrap to preserve the warmth of its colours.


The condensation on the window applies a natural texture to the image beyond.
Life imitating the art of Photoshop this time.




Mother Nature signs each piece of her artwork with an original symbol, just as each snowflake is unique.



The world is still full of colour.  The sun will come back tomorrow. 
This was just Mother Nature kicking up her heels and having a bit of fun.

But appropriately enough for Hallowe'en, she certainly did spook me!

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x2/thesmittenimage/POTW%20icons/potwpurple.jpg

Hey, look what I got while I wasn't looking!
for the "Just Plain Good" award this week

38 comments:

  1. Beautiful images.. I especially like the last.
    You took the not so great (the snow) and made it pretty great!

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  2. wonderful !

    long for alike weather. lemons turn yellow in our garden during this week. miss snow and autumn.

    please have a good new week.

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  3. Wow ! Are you sure that crafty old dame Mother Nature didn't slip a drop or two of something on the sugar cubes that went "plunk" in your tea cup today ? Or were maybe your eyes just a little bleary after a bit of a mid-afternoon snooze ?

    So, that storm made it all the way up your way ??? I know Philadelphia got a good dollop of icy stuff, New Jersey had 15 inches of snow... Since when does it snow in October for Frosty's sake ?

    Well, stay warm, and thanks for the concerto in foggy snowflake minor. Looks like there were some gorgeous colors out there. Hope they'll survive the icy greetings from above.

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  4. What do you mean - when I was a kid? I still draw on the car windows.

    Thank you for softening the first blow of the season.

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  5. I love what you've done with the weather! Truly a wonderful perspective as the two seasons briefly collide - an artistic, Impressionist approach. Interestingly, "word verification" thought so too. It was "monat" .. a combination of Monet and Seurat. ;)

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  6. I like your use of the term "snorted." It is apt.

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  7. Laura,
    Thanks! I was trying to see the beautiful through the disturbing. Glad to know it worked.

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  8. Robert,
    And I wouldn't mind trading some snow for a few of those tree-ripening lemons! The grass is always greener...or whiter...on the other side of the world, no?

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  9. Owen,
    15 inches of snow delivered in October sounds pretty much like a bad acid trip to me! We didn't get much accumulation here, but the snow ploughs were roaring up and down the highway with great enthusiasm (we suspect driver trainees).
    Amazingly, there are still leaves on the trees today so the world is still playing its multi-toned concerto rather than grey's monotone.

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  10. DCW,
    Remember, don't draw and drive!

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  11. Hilary,
    Instead of a music mash-up, an artist mash-up: Monat! I love it! Sometimes I have to wonder if that WV is a spy in the house of blog.
    I had to find some cheer in the nasty "blow" Mother Nature levelled at us yesterday. Your description of the two seasons colliding is perfect.

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  12. c,
    Yes. You know whereof I speak.

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  13. You somehow have managed to eliminate the dread of winter with your artfulness! Wonderful! And yes, I did (do) enjoy drawing on windows, though I am not nearly as creative as you, I am afraid. Happy Haloween Louciao,

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  14. coming back to it, mesmerized... i know you won't agree, but i'd say: if only mother nature could repeat this trick, so that you may continue to delight us like this... (don't hate me :-)

    dreamy and subtle, impossibly soft and tender, i am lost...

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  15. they are lovely autumnal shades indeed - but I am glad it is still a sunny and mild 20 degrees here...no pics of frost on the Riviera......

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  16. Audrey,
    Yes, eliminating the dread of winter, exactly! And it did work while I was happily snapping pix and then toying with them a bit in Photoshop. Quite took my mind off the reality of the very nastiness of the weather. I'm delighted to hear you still enjoy drawing on steamy windows! Halloween is very quiet at our end of the village. We've even given up buying treats as we just add on the pounds having to eat them all ourselves. How about you?

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  17. Roxana,
    hahaha, yes, you can bet that I don't agree with you! One blast like that from Mother Nature before October is even out is quite enough. But I appreciate the sentiment you express, and am flattered beyond reason that you would delight in my imagery; that it even made you dream a little as you wandered across your bridge into my world is almost enough to make me look forward to another wintry trick from La Grande Dame with which I might play. Almost.
    ;-)

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  18. Catherine,
    You are very wicked! But I like you anyway and am happy that you're warming up to your new home. Lucky duck.

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  19. I live in a condo building so we do not have the good fortune of having little ones coming to the door in search of a fix for their sugar addictions! While I love living in a condo, I must admit that at Halloween I feel as though I miss out as I don't get to experience the excitement of the children. One of the compromises one makes when deciding on the best overall housing situation.

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  20. Fabulous story and entICING images!!! This is like a fairytale for adults! I'm so glad Mother Nature snorted at you because you turned her nastiness into magic.... Brava.

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  21. Lovely! Is it unusual to have snow at this time of year? well I suppose it must be. Someone in New York reported they'd had snow too.

    Last year we had a lot of early snow in England, I seem to recall. I don't know if it was as early as Halloween but actually here we can go through whole winters with no snow at all!

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  22. you made a dreary day into art. congrats on your POTW!

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  23. i totally love how you captured the foggy and rainy mood of this day. GREAT!

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  24. I hope it was NZ tea that you were quaffing?
    Loving these photos, isn't Madam Nature a fox...here she is gadding about and chiling things down for you while over here her wooden wand is procuring magnificent buds, blooms and colour galore!! I do believe I will drink to that.

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  25. Audrey,
    At least DCW provided some wee sweets for those of us deprived of such on his blog this Halloween.

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  26. jann,
    your comments make me feel much better about the day and the scenario. A fairy tale for adults...hmmm...there must be a big bad wolf lurking in those bushes. Or at least a mangy coyote or two. Maybe it wasn't the wind I hear howling after all!

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  27. Jenny Woolf,
    Here in Atlantic Canada it is quite usual to get a smattering of snow on Nov. 11, Rememberance Day; but before Halloween on Oct.31 is pushing it. Personally, I'd like to push it all right off the edge of the continent and into the sea, not being a winter enthusiast. It is very rare that we don't have a snowy winter; and if there's no snow you can bet your fleece-lined boots that it will be a painfully cold one.

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  28. TexWis Girl,
    Well thank you so much for your sweet comment and for letting me know about the POTW award. Nice to see you here. I hope you wore a warm jacket.

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  29. johanna,
    Foggy and rainy, yes...but don't forget SNOWY! That's what really got me running to the window with my camera. Thankfully, the snow didn't stick else everything would have been white instead of those brilliant colours (only slightly enhanced by Photoshop)
    :-)

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  30. Saj,
    And what might you be toasting with? A spot of that delicious New Zealand tea? Of course that's what I was inhaling on such a cold day! It did much to revive my enthusiasm and energy. Lovely stuff. The tea, not the snow.

    Looking forward to seeing some of those colours and blossoms that you're boasting about, once you get around to posting about them.

    I hope your troubled brow has been smoothed by sunny weather, happy faces, flying teddy bears, timely tipples, cozy digs, and a relatively stable earth beneath your beach as you lie prone, soaking up the rays (and the alcohol).
    xo

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  31. I love crappy weather. That's what comes of living in a place that is sunny and mild year round and one drives to the snow rather than lives in it. Photography so often means taking what is at hand and going for it. You have done just that, and encountered some amazing results!

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  32. Nice, nice, nice!

    Congrats on POTW!
    xoxoxo, cd

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  33. Great photos... an interesting look, with autumn/winter at the same time. We got snow here on the 30th, but only a couple of inches. I didn't realize 'til the next morning how much some folks got.

    Wierd weather, anyway... we had heat right up to cold. I used the ac more in Sept than Aug, and no autumn to speak of. The leaves are just turning brown and falling. Most trees here are still green. And yeah... the snow. Wth?

    Congratulations on your potw.

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  34. What wonderfully artistic shots! Snow is good for photos!

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  35. Stickup,
    That's so funny that you say you love crappy weather! Personally, I think the best,if not the only, way to experience snow is to drive to it (which I would never do). That's why I miss Vancouver: the snow stays on the mountains there (usually), which is where it shold be. Also, my hometown is pretty good at doing crappy weather, in terms of lots of grey and wet. In my "adopted" home, there are 4 very distinct seasons, but winter takes up about 5 months and that's waaaaay too much snow.
    Poor you, with all that nice weather to cope with.
    ;-)

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  36. Clare,
    Thanks, thanks thanks! Lovely to make your acquaintance.

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  37. Cricket,
    Weather, eh? Can't live with it and can't live without it. Here in Atlantic Canada we pretty much didn't get summer at all this year. Lots of rain. Gardens didn't do well. Early autumn, as with you, was a bit better. However, snow at any time now, is inevitable. Last year it started Nov. 5 and didn't let up till mid-April.

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  38. ladyfi,
    It's good that snow is good for something!

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