Raindrops and Flowers

Just a few pictures of some flowers from my mom's garden after a rain we had. Enjoy!

Happy 4th!!

Just a few shots from the "hometown" parade that I usually attend with my family. Although it was cool and rainy today, there was still the usual large crowd. Enjoy!!

Northern Wildflowers

Here are a few shots of some of the wildflowers that grow along the North Shore.

Wild Roses

Bluebells

Wild Iris

Sea Smoke

There is an interesting weather condition that occasionally occurs at the Lake. Depending on which way the wind is blowing, fog will gather on the lake, and then blow on the shoreline just around the edges of the lake. Technically, it is not "fog" as it isn't made by clouds, but rather is called sea smoke as it is created by water vapor being blown across the lake. The smoke doesn't usually drift too far inland. These are a few pictures I have of the sea smoke.

Here you can see the smoke gathering on the lake, and drifting south toward the shoreline.

Here the smoke has gathered not on the water, but in the tree line along the shore.

Misc. Superior Shots

Here are some miscellaneous shots from my trip north.

This is a piece of driftwood, with the typical lake rocks inside.

These are the rocks that you find near the shoreline, but these are just under the water.

Some exposed twisted tree branches, with sunlight dappling the ground.

Sights to See

This is Lady Slipper Lodge located in Gooseberry Park. It was built back in the late 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). We went there one evening to listen to a talk about the "CCC Boys." I love history, and it was very interesting to hear about. The building itself is very rustic, but beautiful, built with stones and logs that were cut from the surrounding area.


This is Split Rock Lighthouse. It is quite an interesting place to visit. Now, of course, you can drive up to the light house on a road. Initially, when the lighthouse was first built, and for several of its first years of operation, there were no roads near it, so supplies and other building materials were sent out on boats that would anchor near the cliff, and things were either wenched up to the light house, or were carried up a VERY long and steep flight of stairs. Lighthouse keepers and their families lived in homes near the lighthouse year round.



And finally, a shot of the waters of Lake Superior splashing on some of its rocky shoreline.

Pillars

These are some old pillars left from either a bridge or a dock or something. Sometimes you can't see them as they are covered up by the rocks along the shore that wash up in big storms.

On this day, there was lots of sea smoke drifting off of the lake, and covering the ground near the pillars, but I thought they looked so interesting.

Lupines

These flowers are called Lupines, and they grow wild all around the area of the North Shore that I was visiting. They are quite prolific in the ditches along the road, and while I think they are beautiful, most people do not purposefully grow them as part of a flower garden in Northern MN. Their colors vary from purple to deep blue, and pink to a soft white color. Most often you see the deep blue or purple flowers.

Gooseberry Falls

Some more vacation trip shots. I was playing with the shutter speed on my camera to get that smooth/fuzzy white water look on the falls. I accomplished what I wanted with that, but had problems getting the right lighting. I will keep practicing to get it right, but thought that these shots didn't turn out too bad.

These are Gooseberry Falls, located in Gooseberry State Park in Northern MN. They are actually a three tier fall, and my shots are all of the middle section, as you can't get a shot of all three together due to height and angles. Hope you enjoy.

Sunrise over Superior

I have been vacationing the last few days on the North Shore of Lake Superior with my family. So, I haven't been able to update my blog recently, due to a slow internet connection up there. However, I was able to get lots of gorgeous shots to share.

These first few are from the sunrise over Lake Superior (taken around 4:45 AM!!!) I will be posting more shots soon of some of the other places I visited.

A few more shots of beautiful flowers.

Mom's Flowers

Here are some photos of my mom's flowers out at our family farm.

Happy Pictures

These pictures make me smile. Enjoy.

The Heron

There is a Heron that visits the pond near my home on early spring and summer mornings.
I often think he looks so grand, and delicate with his long neck and legs. Most times, I only get a glimpse of him, as he will fly away when my dogs and I walk by.

On this morning, however, he stuck around for a while, and I was able to go back inside and get my camera. I only got these two shots before he got scared and flew away.

Mushrooms

Here are a couple of pictures of some coral mushrooms taken last week at the farmer's market.

Downtown Farmer's Market

I spent a lovely couple of hours (except for maybe the 30 minutes when trying to get out of the parking garage!) at the Downtown Farmer's Market on Saturday morning.
It was nice and warm, and partly sunny.
We have a great market in Des Moines, with fruits, veggies, meats, crafts, food vendors, live music, and more. If you live near here, or visit during the summer months, this would be a good thing to visit.