It hasn’t stopped snowing all day
We’re at about 4 inches of the white stuff now. Absolutely gorgeous out it is, but not good for cameras…
Why, Lord Atticus, only you would be so bold. There’ll be a more minimal version in tomorrow’s advent window.
Snow patrol
May I direct your attention to the weather box in the left sidebar, it’s presently:
Temperature: -3°C, Conditions: Light Snow, Wind Chill: -10°C
It’s been a strange old week, in the good way of course. Lewis & Clark was open when it snowed, closed when it wasn’t, things were cancelled, meetings postponed and I got out and took a fair few photos. Yesterday it seemed like the ‘inclement weather’ was over and we took a friend to the airport and on the way home decided to drop into the DMV to get our Oregon licenses.
This involved presenting various bits of paperwork that I didn’t have on me and taking the computerised theory test. It was a touch-screen multiple choice affair and would have been quite challenging were it not for the “Skip this question” option on each question. The theory is that your skipped questions return at the end of the test, however the vast majority didn’t come back at all (we knew this would probably happen thanks to sage advice from Abraham). So I didn’t have to know driving trivia like “What is the maximum speed of vehicles with a ‘Slow Vehicle’ sign on them? 15mph, 20mph, 25mph or 30mph.” Anyroad, I got 93% which is a pass. Same as Dr.Sita.
Another question I should have got right but didn’t was along these lines: You’re driving along and feeling very tired, what should you do?
a) Open the windows and turn the AC on
b) Put on loud music
c) Find a safe area to park the car and take a nap
d) Drink something caffeinated
I reckoned they all sounded good. Only one of them is right.
Another was a question about why there are more accidents in the evening rush hour. a) because of the dark b) people are tired and irritable c) there’s more traffic d) I forget. I got the feeling there was a book we probably should have read beforehand. And it’s amazing how conditioned we are now by Who Wants to be a Millionaire; for nearly every question I was looking for the 50-50 button, or Phone-a-friend.
Strange questions… Anyroad, we’re now the proud owners of temporary Oregon licenses which, when presented in Washington state, for example, mean we don’t have to pay any sales tax. Good times.
I’m considering sledging today. I’m looking round for suitable snow vehicles. I’ve already ruled out Nanny’s scrabble board lazy-susan rotator thing… dustbin lids? Photos as and when. Stay warm, folks.
Siberia, 1963
Or Portland, 2008 through a Kodak Duaflex II from 1963(ish)…
Looks like the temperatures have risen and from today on there’ll no snow at the metro level. It were good while it lasted.
The Fugitive
Taken surreptitiously as I wandered through a very pretty golf course that was 100% free of golfers for a change. Hope they don’t mind the size 11 foot prints across their well-tended putting greens…
A turn for the cold
I reckon I walked about 8 miles altogether today over treacherous roads and pavements. I nearly fell about a dozen times. When I came back I found that yesterday’s picture of the train had got to #10 on Flickr Explore, which means it made fleeting appearances on the front page and has got favourited to within an inch of its life. I’m well chuffed…
Anyroad, this one is from West Moreland Park (I think). It was deserted because if you had moist hands you’d probably stick to the metal. I spun the roundabout a bit, went for a tiny aperture, user the polariser filter and managed to hold it steady enough an eighth of a second exposure or so to get the varying degrees of blur.
I’m happy how it turned out.
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Antarctica
I woke up at 7.30, ran to the window to see if it had snowed yet, saw it hadn’t and went back to bed feeling thoroughly crestfallen. An hour later I put the coffee on and saw that flakes of snow the size of old pennies were coming thick and fast and there was at least an inch covering the garden. I waited for DrSita to surface so she could share the sight of Atticus’ first encounter with the elements and then played around for 10 minutes in the garden. La Doctora shot a fair few photos of us which I made into a collage… I chucked a snowball and he pretty much swallowed it whole then started trying to munch through the rest of the garden. Hope he didn’t bury his bone from yesterday too deep ‘cos he’s going to need a pickaxe/ pneumatic drill to get through the earth again.
It was still snowing an hour or so later so I thought, sod it and headed out on me own with me camera, two pairs of socks, pajama bottoms and trousers and two jackets and still got cold. But it was more than worth it, lots of people were out with dogs/ sledges/ kids/ combinations thereof and then I chanced upon a steam train pulling into the station and got a few nice shots. I took a LOT of photos today and don’t want to flood Flickr just yet so I’ll upload them in drips and drabs over the next few days.
We took Atticus out for a walk and let him off the lead in a park which is usually full of squirrels and has cars driving past, today it was perfect because there was nothing whatsoever to chase so he just ran around investigating where the other dogs had been. We fancied another coffee so we dropped ‘Cus back at the house and nipped off to Twin Paradox, the physics-themed coffee shop near our house.
I had to return a couple of DVDs (Man on Wire & Wanted) so I made another trek outside and it’s bloody freezing. Really freezing. Montreal freezing. The news says with the windchill it’s zero F at the moment. Which is… hang on I’ll google it… -17°C (¿¡?!) . Well that would explain why I couldn’t feel my fingers when I got home. I really should have bought gloves… It’s worth it though. I loves the snow see.
Righty, time to do tomorrow’s Atticalendar…
The Polar Express
This shot was a happy accident. I was walking along the railway track and saw a light in the distance coming out of the blizzard, gradually it became obvious it was the train I saw stationed there t’other day and it was belching out steam and making a fair old racket. As it went past, Santa (the American Father Christmas) leaned out and all in all it was a pretty special moment.
I am extremely happy about all the snow that arrived today…
Johnson Creek, SE Portland
A trail following an old railway track that cuts through the South East of Portland.
Sellwood Sunset
I just happened to have the right camera, the right lens and a sufficiently tired dog to take some photos of the spectacular sunset yesterday. Rain today…
Escarcha
There was frost in the garden, and probably if I’d been inclined to go further afield, it was elsewhere too. Couldn’t resist a few pictures… Here’s one 😀
In other news, I’m starting to make navigating this phlog a bit easier. Phase one is an archives page which will display 77 day’s worth of thumbnails for your viewing pleasure.
Oaks Park
At least I think that’s the name of it… Sellwood, between the river and the railway… can’t miss it. This is another zoom-while-you’re-shooting, small aperture shot. Less pronounced than the last one I took in Tryon Park.
Moon rise
This was taken at 800 ISO, aperture 8.0 for about 10 seconds on RAW for a change and had a huge amount of ‘noise’ on it. And not the good kind, so it’s been through a bit of processing. I’m including it here because although it’s not amongst my best, what it lacks in technical accomplishment I think it makes up for in atmosphere.
Practice, practice, practice
I went on a walk round the Hawthorne area on Saturday afternoon and about 30 kids were shooting hoops. With varying degrees of success.
Autumn turns to winter
I bought the domain name www.vintageviewfinders.com today. A bargain at 99cents for a year and I’ve set it up to forward to this category. Wish I’d thought of it before I got my business cards printed, but hey ho.
Mexican Colours
Oregonian temperatures… I liked the way the shadow cast itself across the decidedly Mexican looking paintwork. It’s a photo from my ‘thanksgiving’ stroll yesterday morning.
Here’s a photo from Guadalajara to contrast with…
Looking across the Willamette
Nothing much to say about this one, but what do you reckon to the google map? Worth persevering with?
Local Nutz $2.49/lb
Not sure what that is in metric, but it seems like a bargain. Let’s do the maths… 2.2lbs in a kilo so… $2.49 x 2.2= $5.48/kilo and today that’s £3.67 in pounds sterling for a kilogram of walnuts and hazelnuts. Is that a good deal?
I’ve not had a comment on this photoblog for weeks so I’m trying to invite interaction…
Cusp of Winter
This is from wandering round Portland’s Arboretum, where they have a fine selection of trees with their Latin names emblazoned on plaques. Though this here photo could really be from anywhere…