Sharknado

Every which way but here

I took these pictures within a minute of each other yesterday. 

It was raining to the east.

It was raining to the south.

Over to the west...more rain.

And to the north, even more rain.

Overhead, blue skies and a few wispy clouds.

Some day it will be our turn.

I prefer productive over pretty

 Yes, the clouds are pretty,

but I wish they'd organize themselves and produce more than .01" of rain at a time.

It's getting crispy out here.

A tenth-of-an-inch miracle

I hadn't intended to take the week off from posting pictures, 

but I can't post them if I don't take them.

My camera has sat on the shelf for days because

the relentless heat and dryness has left me uninspired.

Then a tenth-of-an-inch miracle occured last evening...

...and all was right with the world, or at least my little patch of it anyway.

I could see a double rainbow from end to end across the eastern sky,

but no matter how far into the pasture I ran, I couldn't fit it all into one frame.

So hold the picture above in your mind, then scroll down 

and imagine you're looking left to right.

How nice of the ravens to join us.

George's ass is no pot of gold, but it'll do.

Looking for the herd at sunset

My wild blue yonder

Another WTF moment at the 7MSN

It was Tuesday evening around 7:00. The rain had stopped, the air was still,

and there were pictures that had to be taken. 

Even in the land of amazing skies, I don't remember ever seeing one like this.

The feral beast accompanied me down the path to the back 40,

and we stopped often to watch the clouds and the sunbeams.

And then it started...a noise, a rumble, a sound of unknown origin.

It was coming from the west, on the other side of those mountains, 

but far far away, like Arizona-far.

The longer we stood there, the louder it got, 

and the more perplexed I got. Aliens? Tanks? 

North Korea is off in that direction...an intercontinental ballistic missile?

The feral beast couldn't figure it out either.

 

I followed his lead and ran toward home, feeling immensely guilty

that I was abandoning my herd in the back 40 to the likes of Kim Jong-un.

But then the noise was on top of us and the wind went from 0 to 60 in a split second.

Who knew weather fronts could make that kind of noise? Not me.

Lesson learned. Though I'll still be on the lookout for aliens, tanks and ICBMs.

The feral beast pauses to watch nature's display

A sunset picture isn't complete until there's a cat in it

Great big cloud at daybreak

Saturday encore ~ It never gets old

This post was published orginally on September 21, 2015. 

 I've lived here going on 3,638 sunsets.

They never get old.

When I see a particularly spectacular one developing,

 I grab the camera and run outside.

 Then I grab the nearest prop and ask him to pose,

 but he ignores my directions and walks off into the sunset.

Smokin' hot

 There are several wildfires burning to the west and north of the ranch...

 ...far enough away that we're not in danger...

 ...but close enough to fill our skies with smoke.

 Nothin' like a smokey haze to add a little drama to a sunset.

 Excuse me, George? I'm trying to work here.

We're keeping a close eye on the "Dog Head" fire.

It's moving northeast, which is a good thing for me

but a nightmare for the folks and animals in its path.

We'll be working on our rain dance until it's contained.

A little smoke and a little snake

There's a wildfire burning about 70 miles southwest of here, 

and the smoke from it has been settling over the 7MSN.

 Except for the occasional panic attack when I smell it and think my pasture is on fire,

it's not bothersome... 

 ...and the photo ops have been spectacular as the sun slowly sets in the smoky sky.

Today's post is being brought to you by the letter S, as if you couldn't tell.

A November morning

This view made me jump out of bed and run outside with the camera yesterday morning.

I watched in awe until the sound of clanging metal disrupted my quiet contemplation.

It was Lucy, scratching her neck against the barn,
oblivious to the natural wonders surrounding her.

At least Hank had the decency to stand with me while I admired the view a little while longer.