Winter Wonderland...

Earlier this week, I took the train over the mountains for a very quick and short visit with my son's family, and to see two of my grandchildren perform in their school holiday 'Gala." (Needless to say, they were the hits of the evening for me!)

The train ride over the Rockies is a spectacular ride, at any time of year, but I especially love the scenery in the winter. I had my new camera with me, and I was not very familiar with the differences between it and my 'old' beloved camera. So I spent a bit of train time trying to become somewhat acquainted with it. I barely caught the eagle lunching on his giant fish as we went past, so that photo is a bit blurry, as we were in motion. I saw the same eagle sitting on the same spot of the river on the return trip (I knew it was the same spot, because the snow was still blood red there, even though he was not eating the second time.)

 

I like this photo because it shows how colorful the mountains can be, even in winter. To me, the photo already looks like a painting.

 

I took this shot on the way home, as the sun began to go down. I love the naples yellow effect the sun has on the clouds. I shot a series of photos about this time, and I am itching to paint one of them!

This was a spectacular thing! As we rounded the mountains and saw the city lights of Denver below us, the full Orange moon came up over the horizon. The young girl across the aisle and I saw it at the same time, and we both gasped out loud. She came over to my side of the train to see it better, and was soon on her cell phone, excitedly trying to describe how gorgeous the moon was to someone. I was just trying to capture it in my camera. I finally got this shot, by tracking the moon, and just ignoring the fact that the city lights are blurred. There is also a smaller reflection of the moon on the train window to the right, but I guess I can live with the imperfections, as the shot brings back the memory of that spectacular orange moon, hanging in the sky above Denver. (The moon was actually much more orange than this photo shows; it was a pumpkin orange, probably due to moisture and pollution in the city air. As it rose, it got smaller and less orange.) It also brought to mind another time I caught a glimpse of an over-sized orange moon; that time was as friends and I were driving into Maine for the first time. Of course, I know the moon is talking to me; telling me to go back to the moon that is on my loom. I am listening! The holiday events will be over soon, and I will be back in my studio, where I belong, and long to be. Until then, I am delighted that these long dark winter days are giving me inspiration and wonder along my way.

I still have a December tapestry to design and weave after the "November' one on the loom is completed. I am beginning to have a vision of it as a landscape....  but time will tell me more.