-25C and Dreaming of Sunrises in Japan

I woke up this morning not looking forward to the cold.  And yet, it just isn’t that bad. No, I don’t like –25C and the snow but this year has been quite manageable so far.  The closer we get to March (about 4 weeks away), the better I feel.  Yes, I know we can still get clobbered with a snow storm in March and I’ve lived through several of them, but I feel better about it because the days are longer and I believe that whatever snow comes, it won’t stay long.  That’s just better.

The last fearful storm in my memory was December 2009.  We got smacked pretty badly and I had to fly out to Japan just after it hit.  I hated that.  I didn’t want to leave my family to deal with the storm.  In fact, I hated it so much, I bought a Jeep last summer in case we got another bad winter.  The Jeep was winterized and has a remote starter, better wheels, heated seats and of course, 4 wheel drive. During that hated December storm, I committed to buying a 4WD SUV to deal with winter driving. Is that too strong of a reaction?  I don’t know.  But that winter storm really bothered me – so much so that it was even a topic in my 2010 job performance appraisal. My boss commented about my “dedication” in the face of adversity.  He knew I had a great deal of difficulty leaving on that trip and commended me for it.  I never took that as the compliment it was intended to be.

This morning as I was driving my daughter to the University (right beside where I work), I was telling her that even this cold snap is not so bad and I know it gets a lot better quickly.  I told her that once we get through February, whatever comes by way of bad weather will be short lived.

The dark hours and restless sleep of the very early morning today brought back that poignant memory of December 2009 and I have been thinking about it all morning.  I’m pretty sure I know why.  It’s because I am flying over seas again this week but this time I am feeling relieved that the storm has passed.  That’s definitely something to be thankful for.

Below is a photograph from that time in Japan.  It was taken through the window of my hotel room as the sun was rising over the Pacific ocean.

Abraham Lincoln

While in Washington DC earlier this week, my friend Rick took Greg and I to see the Washington Monuments.  One of the most impressive is the Lincoln Memorial. I do not have the words to describe just how impressive it is.  I will try to do so in the next 5 pictures (and then I still won’t get it right).  The trip that night was spontaneous and the weather was cold.  The spontaneous nature of the trip meant that I didn’t have my tripod (essential for night photography) or my wide angle lens (essential for taking pictures of building and statues).  Still, you go with what you have and make the best of it.  The plus side? It was cold and very few people were there.  This gave me the opportunity to record my experience in a way not normally possible at such a popular attraction.

Abraham Lincoln was a great man.  He may have had some rough edges and odd quirks but then don’t we all?  Here is one statement from Wikipedia that gives a sense of the difficult times in which he served: “He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserved the Union, and ended slavery.” And we think we live in tough times…

On to the photos!  Descriptions are below each picture.

This is the Lincoln Memorial.  This gigantic building is breath taking! Normally it is crowded but not this night - there were less than 10 people around.

The pillars surround the building on all four sides.  I was happy to get this shot because there were no people around to create a distraction.

 
The Secret View.  Well, not so secret but Rick dragged me around to this side of the building to show me this “best view”.  It really was amazing. You are surrounded by incredibly tall walls on one side, 44 foot tall marble pillars on the other side and you are standing there looking at the Washington Monument, the Reflecting Pool and the Capital building.  Wow.

This is a tribute the man himself.  It is an imposing statue with Abe looking right down at you. I looked right back at him and snapped this photo.  But I didn’t say smile. No point.

The Impossible Shot (click on it for a larger view).  This is actually an HDR photo put together as best I can.  You need a tripod to do HDR on a sunny day with lots of light and it is absolutely required for night shots.  I didn’t have a tripod.  So I laid down on the cold pavement (in a sports jacket and long coat) in front of the reflecting pool and put one hand between the pavement and the camera so that I could point the lens upward.  At that point, I shot 3 frames with the longest exposure being several seconds.  I should not have been able to get this photo – no way.  Sometimes you just get lucky …

The Best Gym

Due to travel and my work schedule, it has been difficult to get to the gym this last two weeks. I got there this morning and was reminded again about how nice this facility is. It is super clean, quiet, well lit, close to home, economical and has friendly staff. Not at all like the "zoo" of the bigger gyms. It's a treat when I can go there guilt-free (meaning I am not weighed down by the things I should or need to be doing instead of exercising).



It really is a Great Gym!



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Boston Heart Throb

Dinner at Boston Pizza with a beautiful wife, Smokey Mountain Meatballs and spaghetti and a new heart on the wall. We laugh. It's just so appropriate. And there are hardly any pink hearts!



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Be SMART

I took this picture on the way into work this morning.  It’s a sign on the building where I work and it was brightly lit against the early morning dark.  When I read the word “SMART”, the following quote popped into my head :

"Be Grateful, Be Smart, Be Clean, Be True, Be Humble, Be Prayerful."
Gordon B. Hinckley (Way to Be! : 9 Rules For Living the Good Life)

Good words…

Leaving on a Jet Plane

My Delta flight was delayed today by 4 hours and so I would miss my connection in Minneapolis.  Travel is like that.  However, a terrific lady at the Delta counter arranged for a transfer to Air Canada flights through Toronto. Lady, who ever you are, thank you!  The picture below was taken from the Observation deck at the Minneapolis airport two days ago.

Red City Bikes

Here is a neat concept I've seen in Europe but not so much in North America - and definitely not in Calgary! These are city bike stations where you rent a bike and drop it off at another station somewhere else. It's inexpensive (30 minutes free and the something like $6 a day) and provides for close-in transportation. These bikes were introduced to Washington DC about 6 months ago.



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A Capital Idea

Well, I’m on the road again for a day or so.  I went out tonight with two friends (Rick and Greg) and had a terrific Italian Dinner.  After dinner we went for a walk and then ultimately a drive to see some familiar sites.  Can you recognize any of these photos I took just an hour ago?  Oh yeah, they were all shot at night (of course) and hand held.  Other than freezing my fingers off, I know how to use a camera well enough to take these types of pictures without a tripod.  Just as well too because setting up a tripod to take the shots would have meant more time in the cold.

This is the center of the district where we went to eat.  If you haven’t tried linguini and lobster in a garlic tomato sauce, I would highly recommend it.

 

The interesting thing about it being so cold is that we had the place to ourselves.  I’ve been here in the summer and you could never get a shot like this because it would be too crowded.  Of course there would be leaves on the trees…

 

Yes, this is what you think it is. It’s a white house, um, I mean The White House.

 

This is called a “drive by shooting” :-)  You can’t actually stop around here and the Police see to that, so you have to shoot from the window of a moving car.  Tough to do but it worked just the same. 

Washington DC is a very cool (and cold) town

FAMILY

That is what it's all about this Sunday afternoon :-)



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On the Road to Babb Montana

My brother Rick and I took a drive down to Babb Montana on Saturday morning to pick up the mail. The Views were spectacular!

Oh yeah, the Post Office in Babb is pretty cool too.

The water was frozen over.

The sky was incredibly blue.

The sun hitting the snow-capped mountains was breathtaking!