Good Morning ! Before the Storm...

The sky was dark, and the wind was blowing hard, but thunder and lightning and rain had not yet arrived when Sarah and I got out for our morning constitutional. Later on, my, my! But my camera battery needed recharging by then.

Frosty Morning in the Mountains

When the temperature is 13 degrees Fahrenheit in Willcox (yesterday morning), what is it up in Dos Cabezas, 900 feet higher in elevation? Luckily, there was no wind when the morning sun lured me outdoors with Sarah into a thoroughly frost-kissed mountain world.

Snowy Ride Into Town

Hwy 186 from Dos Cabezas toward Willcox

The cashier at the feed store, where we went to buy dog food yesterday, learning that we are from Michigan, apologized for the snow. A neighbor assured us that this week's forecast for nighttime temperatures in the 'teens is unusual, even for winter. We're handling it fine. We don't have to shovel or plow, and the mountains are beautiful in the snow.

Big Cloud Over Us

It was a literal, not a metaphorical cloud. Our spirits were high, and we had a lovely evening with neighbors.

Play of Sunlight and Cloud Shadows on Mountains and Rangeland

I had an entire series, but the photos don't to upload. This is as we drive east on A-186 from Willcox to Dos Cabezas. I kept imagining people in Dust Bowl times, looking up at clouds in the sky and yearning for the clouds to release rain and send it down. Rain needed here, now! Maybe on Wednesday?

Winter Weekend in Leelanau

Friday in Northport

Drive home Friday afternoon

Back to town Saturday morning

Yellow Rose of Michigan

Roses are not rare in Michigan, but the date of this image is December 17, and the graceful, generous bloom not in a greenhouse but out on a Leelanau County hill, overlooking chilly Lake Michigan.

First Snow of the Season

Yes, it's really snow, not raindrops, on the windshield. Can you feel the cold?

Snow shows up better on the ground, in the shots below. Somehow, though, it looks colder to me when it's streaking down.

Storm Coming Over Garthe Pond

Morning sky in the east was cloud-dappled with sun coming through.

A while later, north of Northport on Kitchen Road, something different was brewing over Garthe Pond.

I took time to shoot a brief video and then ran with Sarah to the car. We made it all the way to the bookstore before the downpour.

Between the Rains, Sunshine

Most of Sunday was a dreary, dispiriting day – chilly and drizzly, with leaden grey skies. Then in the evening the rain stopped, and the sun struggled through fog and mist to bring the day to a glorious close. Never have the garden flowers and wildflowers looked lovelier. 

Never have the neighboring farmlands shown off to greater advantage. And has this handsome horse’s coat ever caught the late evening light in quite this way?

We stopped by a friend’s house to catch sunset from his deck high over Lake Michigan. He opened a bottle of good red wine.  It was one of those glorious Up North hours!

Always, the Big, Beautiful Sky!

Dust Storm -- Overland From the Playa

In the Midwest, the weather news has been snow, ice, and cold. Here in the Southwest, it's been wind.

We could see the dust in the distance from about 20 miles away. As we drove closer, the storm naturally appeared larger. 

We were in the clear in Willcox, but driving from there to Dos Cabezas we were heading right into the storm. We could not even see our mountains in any direction.

And then, happily, before Dos Cabezas, we came out the other side.