The Return of RPP

I just dumped a bunch of photos from my phone onto my computer, so I can put up more random phone pics.

Lake Superior back in November, pre-snow and ice

Sesame Chicken and Brocolli

Thanksgiving Arts and Crafts

Crochet project in progress

The kids (in this case, Remy) like to use my phone to take pictures of their toys

Sunrise, February 24

There was heavy cloud cover over the lake when the sun rose at 6:55 a.m.  It was 23 degrees.

The clouds were clearing to the north

It still looks and feels like winter, but I saw the first early sign of spring:  the seagulls return in February, and a flock of them was circling around the island pictured below.

Another tire was on the beach, different from the one I saw buried the previous week.

As I walked to another beach, two deer ran into these trees.  They were too quick for me to get a photo.

When I got to Black Beach (named for the dark sand there), I found huge chunks of snow and ice.

These layers were about chest high

I like the contrast of the bright white snow on the dark brown rock:

Random chunk of ice

As I headed back, I had to check out the ice-covered trees on top of an outcropping of rock.

There's a tree under all those icicles!

Wolf track

Knee deep drifts of snow

I'm not sure how these branches became covered in ice, but it sure is pretty

We had some fierce winds last week that must have helped form these icicles

Someone wrote "Abby" in the sand; it made me think of my sister Abby

Interesting texture on this ice

Sunrise, February 17

For the first time this winter, I saw ice covering Lake Superior.  When I checked the weather Sunday morning before I went out, the temperature was -20 degrees.  I think that must have been inland, or closer to 6 a.m. than 7 a.m. because it didn't feel so frigid.  When I drove back through town to get my Sunday paper, the bank clock said -4.  The sun rose at 7:07 a.m., 12 minutes earlier than the previous week.

The lake was completely calm and quiet; the only noise was the creaking of the ice as water moved underneath.  The horizon glowed pink as I approached the lake.

Puffs of snow were scattered across the ice

I love the color of this photo

Shards of ice gather along the shore

Here comes the sun!

This tire was almost completely buried in the sand

 

Back on January 6, the tire was on top of the sand

Random chunk of snow left

One of my favorites from the morning

 

Sunrise, February 10

The sun rose at 7:19 a.m., but I didn't see it.  The sky was completely overcast, and it was 25 degrees outside.

Since I couldn't take photos of the sunrise, I looked around for interesting ice formations.  I also watched a bald eagle fly back and forth during the time I was there.

Remember how thick the ice was the previous week?

I haven't been walking on the rock beach much since we've had snow.  The rocks are around basketball-sized, and are slippery to walk on.  When they're covered in snow, it's hard to tell what is rock and what is snow.  But this time, I took it slow and made my way across to the big rock.

The waves must have been big to wash up on the shore and melt snow up to 20 feet or so

 

Looks like the frozen tundra

This leaf/plant is entirely encased in ice

Iced pebbles

Layers of iced pebbles