Its Official

It is official indeed. Winter has arrived on the North Slope. Our first good dusting of snow is on the ground and temperatures are dropping. The kicker for the change in season was the large flock of Tundra Swans flying over at about 10:15 a.m. I have to admit that I just wasn't ready for the shot. My camera was tucked away in it's bag. The photo sucks because of the distance. When I realized that they were swans, it was just to late. Anyway, to those in North Carolina and Chesapeake Bay area, heads-up. They are on there way. You should see them in early November. The Swan is the last migrating bird to leave the slope. It is a struggle at times watching a handful of parent swans trying to encourage their young to reach goals set by mother nature. When the time comes, and the young for what ever reason has not met those goals, they are left behind as food for the hungry fox. That is what nature is all about.

Total Chaos

Thought this was a good way of expressing myself today. In the Northwest the spring just refuses to show itself. I still have to use the fireplace everyday to keep the chill off. Farmers cannot get the crops in the ground. Gas prices are out of this world and going higher. There is no question that weather patterns are changing but, global warming?

RJ

Invisible Artist

I took this photo October of 2006 in the window of the camp that I call home, while working on the North Slope in Alaska. I took the photo hoping to catch the orange glow in the frost from the setting sun, which during this time of year is not visible for very long. It was not until I downloaded the photos onto my laptop, that I discovered the images of two hummingbirds in the frost. The images appeared on the inside pane of a double pane window. Very strange indeed. I would love to receive some comments on this one.


Randy J. Cole