Three Very Different Sunrises

SUNRISE on February 14, 2013

As most of you know,  George and I visit  Mt. Nebo State Park in Arkansas at least once a year,  sometimes twice.  We stay in a little cabin on the top of the mountain with a view of the valley below.  One thing we love to do when we are there is to get up early and drive to Sunrise Point and watch the sun come up!!!!!

Today,  I will show you THREE different sunrises on three very different mornings.  One morning,  we experienced some clouds.  Another morning was fog in the valley below, and on another morning,  it was as clear and extremely colorful!!!!   Hope you enjoy seeing our sunrises taken at the same place ---but all very different,  one from the other.   Be sure to click on all photos to see enlargements.

I.  First,  comes the  FOGGY morning  (February 14, 2013)...  There is a bench at Sunrise Point where we can sit and just take in all of that beauty.  The picture above shows the bench ---and also shows the fog in the valley below... It looks like marshmallow cream down there!!!  Anyone got any hot chocolate????  (Hot Chocolate would have tasted good since it was a cold morning.)

Here's a close-up of the FOG below us.  Beautiful,  isn't it?

George took this picture of me sitting on the bench --waiting for that sun to pop up!!!  Except for being COLD (afterall,  it's February),   I loved sitting there gazing at the sky and valley below.

OH MY---Here comes Mr. Sunshine!!!  See it?    Oh Wow!

And here is Mr. Sun--showing all of his glory and majesty...  Anyone who doesn't believe in God has never experienced a sunrise!!!!!!   Awesome!

SUNRISE on February 15, 2013

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II.  Here is another morning that week (February 15, 2013)---with very different --but quite interesting results...  Here comes a morning with lots of CLOUDS around.   See how different it looks????

Clouds do make for a very interesting sky,  don't they?????  Like I said,  it's quite different---but beautiful in its own way.

When we finally got a hole in the clouds,   George got this picture of Mr. Sun ---peering at us through the clouds... Not a typical sunrise --but pretty, nevertheless!!!

SUNRISE on February 12, 2013

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III.  This was the best day for beautiful colors in the sky.   This sunrise was one of the most gorgeous ones I have EVER seen.  Hope you enjoy the photos.  The picture above was what it looked like when we first got there... The town below (Dardanelle, Arkansas) was beginning to wake up!

The sky just got more vivid ---and you can see the reflections on the water below.

Look at all of the colors in the sky...  (And this is not photo-shopped.  It is straight out of the camera!!! All of my photos are, since I seldom touch anything up.)   Amazing,  isn't it!  Thanks be to God for our beautiful world.  If we humans would only learn to take care of it!

Here she comes!!!!!  "You are my sunshine --my only sunshine."  (Don't know why sometimes I think of the sun as being a 'he' and sometimes a 'she'..... ha ha )

Finally,   that glorious sunshine appears and we can begin another day!!!!! WOW!!!

I am so blessed to get to sit on that bench and see those beautiful sunrises.   Our home here in Tennessee is between mountain ranges --so it's hard to ever catch a nice sunrise or sunset from here.   SO---as much as I don't like to get up REALLY EARLY,  seeing a sunrise like this makes it all worthwhile.  Thanks be to God for all of the beauty that surrounds us.

Hope you enjoyed all three mornings of sunrises.   We also saw sunsets (from our cabin) --so that post will come at a later time.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend --and don't forget to get out in nature and do some walking!!!  It's good for all of us!

BLOG BREAK:  We're going to take a couple of weeks off from blogging...  Lots of 'stuff' going on here.  Hope you are enjoying your summer so far.  We should start blogging again on July 1st.  I will be checking email and Facebook --so you can keep up with me that way if you want to.

Hugs,

Emoticons

A March Hike in Alabama

I  have so many blog posts that I haven't posted... Here's one of them.  The weekend (March 8-10, 2013) we celebrated George's birthday (click HERE for that post),  we visited Fort Payne, Alabama.  While there we visited the Little River Canyon area and De Soto State Park.

Today's post is from March 10 , the day after George's birthday.  We had our hardest hike of the weekend on this day --mainly because we got lost once and because the trail was not in good shape.  However,  we made it ----and got some great pictures along the bank of the West Fork of the Little River.

Hope you enjoy seeing another of our winter hikes.   Seems strange to see the trees there without leaves.  Bet they look different now!!!!  The picture above shows a tribute in Fort Payne to hometown group,  ALABAMA.  I have always enjoyed their music.  Have you???  Be sure to click on the photos for enlargements.

We made it down that mountain range to the river... Here's a picture of the birthday boy standing on some rocks next to the water.   I think he managed to make it through the birthday in good shape,  don't you?

The water was roaring by us... I captured this neat photo at one spot.   As you know,  George and I love taking water photos ---and today was no different!!!!! ha

Now it was time for the REAL photographer in the family to get to work (using his special lens/tripod, etc.)   He found a good spot up on a rock while I ...

...sat and RELAXED and enjoyed the sounds of that water all around me... It was a beautiful day in Alabama on March 10.

I did take another good picture of the Glistening Water that day ---but my Hero took the best water shots!!!!

Here's my favorite shot that he took that day I think (although I love them all).  Doesn't that water just look like silk?  And --it is so clear!

Here's another photo which George took of me while he was getting some fabulous photos... I just love seeing him in action..  He has such a passion for this.   Love it!!!!

And here is one more photo which George took of the West Fork of the Little River.

I mentioned that we got lost... The trail sorta stopped along the river ---so we had to turn around and backtrack a bit...  Here's a picture of some of the trail we were on that day... It was obviously not the best trail we have hiked! ha

But---we made it and had a great time.... Here's one more photo which George took with his tripod while we were down at the river. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing more from DeSoto State Park. If you ever get to Fort Payne, Alabama,  be sure and check out this great park.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.  Click HERE to see a pretty photo on my Photo Blog today.

Hugs,

Emoticons

Roses in our Yard- June 2013

Last week,  I showed you 12 of our blooming Hybrid Tea and Grandiflora Roses in our yard--after a rain... If you missed that post,  click HERE.   Today I will show you 12 more  of our 57 different varieties in our yard.

We have had alot of rain this spring and it was a cool spring --making things bloom late.  BUT--once the roses started blooming,   many of them bloomed.   Hope you enjoy seeing the next 12 in our collection.  You need to click on them to see enlargements.

A Cappela (taken on 6/4/13)

About Face (taken on 6/1/13)

This is also About Face --as it ages (taken on 6/5/13).  Still pretty,  isn't it?

Double Delight (taken on 6/1/13)

Glowing Peace (taken on 6/4/13)

 

Fragrant Cloud (taken on 6/5/13)

Gemini (taken on 5/31/13)

Ingrid Bergman (taken on 6/4/13)

Lemon Spice (taken on 6/3/13)

Love and Peace (taken on 6/1/13)

Sheer Magic (taken on 6/1/13)

Pink Peace (taken on 6/6/13)

Hope you enjoyed seeing more of our beautiful roses.  As I've said many times,  I enjoy the roses probably more than any of our flowers.  This is George's baby --since he is truly the 'father' of these beauties.  He brings a rose inside and puts it in a vase almost every day --just for me.  LOVE IT!!!!   AND--I enjoy walking the yard twice a day to check out the new blooms..  It's also nice to sit on the bench and just smell the roses and gaze at them... Life is good on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee.

Have a wonderful Monday.

ADDED at 8 p.m. on 6/10/13
I stopped by today and did an "About Face" when I saw "Ingrid Bergman." I tell you it was "Sheer Magic" and I felt as if I was walking on a "Fragrant Cloud" experiencing "Pink Peace" that continued to cause my "Glowing Peace" after seeing this beautiful star. I offered her a cup of "Lemon Spice" tea, and drinking tea with her was a "Double Delight." Soon "Gemini" appeared, and she left with words of "Love and Peace." I am left to sing her praises "A Cappella."

Thanks to my friend, Sally,  for posting this wonderful comment on my blog today.  I loved it --so I wanted to share it with everyone.  Check out Sally's blog HERE.  Thanks, Sally.... I LOVED it!!!!

Hugs,

Emoticons