These are the petunias that mom planted in the back yard planter when my parents visited. There are other little plants in there with tiny flower buds, and I suspected that they may have been intentional from previous year's plantings, so left them - but for all I know they're weeds. 

The Storm, She's-a-Coming!

Yesterday we had an interesting storm roll in. I was on my way to Lowe's (heading North) to buy a new window unit a/c, so I could at least have some working a/c in the house (central unit's out too). While in the store, I literally started to speedwalk to get my shopping done so I could get into the truck before the downpour. It looked imminent. This storm was unlike some of the exciting spring storms we've received - granted, it was forewarned with lots of weather alerts for hail and high winds, but it was completely still and silent in its approach. Looking at the clouds from underneath, the sky was almost black, and it was like watching water boil from the underside of a glass pot. I have since learned that those were mantiss (sp?) clouds, more evident in later shots. Turns out, as threatening as the appearance of these clouds were, I had plenty of time to get to the truck, get home, take the purchases inside, grab the tripod and camera, and head into the yard to grab some sky shots. And, I was not the only one doing so. All along my drive there were lots of people outside, watching the sky. Which was reassuring - it meant that the awe I experienced watching this one roll in was not reserved strictly for newcomers.

Storm is moving in. 

Boiling cloud cover. 

This is looking directly at the place in the sky where the sun should be. 

The rolling movement of the clouds would occasionally allow some light through. 

Continued cloud churning. The cloud movements were rapid - this entire photo session lasted only a few minutes. 

Storm clouds - this was just as it was beginning to sprinkle. Still no thunder or lightning - a silent approach. The storm turned out to be not as violent as the weather alerts promised - no severe winds or hail damage locally. 

Finally, this was the eerie post storm glow at around 9:45 pm. Oddly, the glow was from the Northwest - the storm was still in the West blocking the sun proper, so this was just escaping sunset glory. It bathed the neighborhood first in that pre-tornado greenish-yellow glow before turning pink. 

Oooh, Goody! My first shameless self promotion plug!

I stumbled on a blog post, as a result of finally checking out the Sitemeter log, and was surprised to see a complimentary cross-post to my blog. Amazing! So I'm returning the favor. For photography and wickedly interesting commentary, check out this blog.

Wyoming photos added!

Finally, I've gone through the photos and uploaded a number of them. I've decided to group them into four categories - this first section is Mountain Scenery, followed by Drive-By Shooting, Other Scenery (trailside shots, etc.), and lastly, Animals. Hope you enjoy! Already planning the next trip.......

An interesting horizon of cloud pattern and mountain scenery. 

Interesting cloud patterns over the Tetons. 

I call this interesting view "cloud striping", like pinstripes on an auto, I think these humid, low-lying cloud whisps in the foreground of the Tetons just fantastic. The only other place in the world that I've seen this occur is in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. 

Cloudstriping over the Tetons.