My Favorite Part Of Town

I've featured this area quite often. It's a personal favorite location in the Twin Cities of mine. You have the Mississippi River, the road is Sheppard Road, the bridge in the distance is called the High Bridge [it was also my the same bridge myself and Kate [Visual St Paul] posted for the bridge theme day]. On the left is Harriot Island with a couple of, decorated in lights, paddle fords that have stuck around for the frozen winter months.

My Daily Photo Favorites: Washington, DC | Naples, Florida | Buenos Aires, Argentina

When Pucks Fly

Watch for flying pucks? I didn't know pucks could fly....hahaha! Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week.

A little bit different type of photo today. I took this one while sitting at a Park of Cottage Grove Wolfpack hockey game versus Mounds View. From my seat, I kept looking at the warning, but saw the flag in the background. While looking at it through my cameras viewfinder, I really liked the looks of the shot.

My Daily Photo Favorites: Bellefonte, Pennsylvania | Malé, Maldives | Las Vegas, Nevada | Mckinney, Texas | Wroclaw, Poland | Denver, Colorado | Saint, Louis, Missouri | New York, New York

One More From The Historic Library

This is from the same location as yesterday's photo of the downtown St Paul Public Library. I wanted to show the front area of the entry way into the library and all of the work that went into the design.

My Daily Photo Favorites: Terrell, Texas | Vienna, Austria | Mazatlan, Mexico | Monte Carlo, Monaco | Greenville, South Carolina

James J Hill Library

Named after successful business man, James J Hill, the downtown St Paul library has been around since 1921. An early settler in St Paul, James J Hill is well known for his success in the railroad industry. The library is located at 80 West 4th Street.

The view of the library is on the north east corner of the building.

There Are Good Things About Winter

Despite my latest trend in posting for the past couple of days, wishing for the Spring season to start, winter does have it's good points.

No Yard Work - Working in the yard is not an option. I cannot mow the lawn, water flowers, pull weeds, working on landscaping projects, trim the trees, rake leaves, and many more. It just can't be done. The frozen ground plus a lack of seeing the ground while it is covered in a layer of snow prevents this fabulous chore.

Fireplace - Only in the cold winter months do I light up my fireplace. We have a wood burning fireplace that keeps the family room oh so warm and toasty on the frigid and blustery winter nights. While the summer heat is enjoyable to me, staying warm via the fireplace is a delight in itself.

Family Time - In this fast paced world we live in, the cold weather forces us to stay indoors more this time of the year and enjoy each others company. Playing board games, watching a movie, getting to know each other.

Snow Days - Who doesn't enjoy calling in to work because the snow and/or ice is making it impossible to get yourself to work. I enjoyed them as a child, I still enjoy them as an adult.

Winter Beauty - While taking photos in the winter can be quite a challenge, you can also get some outstanding captures that can only be taking this time of the year. Not dressing warm enough is the major factor. The winter elements can give you one of those outstanding photos to an area that you're familiar with, yet it looks entirely different in a winter scene.

I'm Ready For Spring

Reading the comments from yesterday's photo, J. Andrew Lockhart from Van Buren, Arkansas said it best "Oh, I'm ready for spring!!". Honestly, I couldn't have said it better myself. On a positive note, today temperatures was 32 F degrees! The sun was shining and I found myself and my father agreeing that today was a warm day out. Which makes me laugh when 32 degrees above zero is considered a "warm" day. Keep in mind, we've had temperatures around -15F degrees. That's 47 degrees warmer this afternoon than -15F from a few weeks ago. Sadly, spring is still a couple months away....

My Daily Photo Favorites: Susanville, California | Nashville, Tennessee | Riga, Latvia | Barton, Vermont | Portland, Oregon | Sharon, Connecticut | Joplin, Missouri | Katonah, New York | Guelph, Canada

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful

Oh the weather outside is frightful, But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

It doesn't show signs of Pauseping, And I've bought some corn for popping,
The lights are turned way down low, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

When we finally kiss goodnight, How I'll hate going out in the storm!
But if you'll really hold me tight, All the way home I'll be warm.

The fire is slowly dying, And, my dear, we're still good-bying,
But as long as you love me so, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Give Me A "T"

When I took this shot, I thought it was a unique view of one of the arches on the Robert Street Bridge in St Paul. Now all I can see is a great big letter "T". The view still is unique and it's a decent minimalist photo.

My Daily Photo Favorites: Seguin, Texas | Van Buren, Arkansas | Athens, Greece | Mettman, Germany

Interesting Links Of The Day: How the US Tax system works

Total Lunar Eclipse Of The Heart

[Title Note: Someone at my work was adding words to the old 80's hit by Bonnie Tyler, "Total Eclipse Of the Heart", if you could have only heard them sing it]

Here is my photo attempt of the lunar eclipse that has come and gone. I read for best results on taking lunar eclipse photos it's best to have a clear sky [duh], away from lights [I was not], have a 3X lens for your camera [I did not have]. Well, I stood about five feet outside my front door, shot across a street light and used only the zoom on my camera. My results are okay, but not fantastic.

Did I mention the temperature was -3 F at the time of photo taking, I was wearing my sweatshirt, jeans and my slippers! The one thing in my favor was the lack of wind, there wasn't any, thus I got my shots taken in under five minutes of being in the cool temperatures. Honestly, with the lack of wind, it wasn't that bad for the few minutes I was outside. Throw in some wind, I would have taken one shot and called it a night, it took about a dozen in all.

The bottom left corner dot is the planet Saturn. The top, almost directly above the moon is Regulus, the brightest star in the Leo constellation. It is also about 77.5 light years from our solar system.

 
More Daily Photo Lunar Eclipse Photos: Detroit, Michigan | Port Elizabeth, South Africa | Port Angeles, Washington | Weston, Florida | Chicago, Illinois | Minneapolis, Minnesota | River Falls, Wisconsin | Forks, Washington | Larchmont, New York | Washington DC | Regina, Canada | San Diego, California | Stayton, Oregon | Maple Ridge, Canada

Minnesota Wild

This is my third season as a Minnesota Wild season ticket owner. I split a pair of seats with a co-worker of mine. I've sat in the same seats in section 103 game after game. Well, I didn't have tickets for tonights match up versus the Vancouver Canucks, but I wanted to attend. At the last minute, I decided to head down to the ticket office and see if I could get one seat to the contest. With a bit of luck, I found myself in the Club Level seats, in one of the stadiums corners. A much higher perspective on the game, but I was able to see the plays develop at this level. I found myself watching all of the players intertwine, but would constantly miss the big check into the boards. From the lower level, I could anticipate what was going to happen during the game, but find it much tougher to see the plays develop. I guess there is a trade off at what level you watch the game from.

Unfortunately for the Wild, they didn't play so well at times. Had the lead for most of the game and should have won, but Vancouver earned a tie, then ultimately won the game in overtime. I'll take the point.

  
My Daily Photo Favorites: Larchmont, New York | Oslo, Norway | Chicago, Illinois | Seoul, South Korea

Interesting Links Of The Day: Total Lunar Eclipse today starting at 7:45 CMT | Find out if you'll see the eclipse today