A Balmy Christmas Eve – Part 5

 

Last one from our Christmas Eve adventure.  House on fire!

A Balmy Christmas Eve – Part 4

Another from our Christmas Eve light tour.  

A Balmy Christmas Eve – Part 3

Another from our Christmas Eve light tour.  I love this Nativity scene.

A Balmy Christmas Eve – Part 2

Another from our Christmas Eve light tour.  Not many lights in this yard, but the rain-slicked driveway really brightens things up. 

More pictures from Christmas Eve to come.

A Balmy Christmas Eve – Part 1

Christmas Eve, we drove around the Twin Cities looking at Christmas lights.  We had a record-breaking high of 55ºF and it had been steadily raining all day and night.  It was still 51ºF and raining during our adventure.  I was taking pictures without wearing a coat - just jeans and a T-shirt, and I wasn't cold.  In Minnesota, we don't normally still have patches of green grass in December!  

The wet roads added something special to the festive lights.  

More images from Christmas Eve to come.

Blizzardy

Around 2am this morning, it looked like a snow globe outside.

Specialty

When the dog creates their own snow art.  

Woozy

He looks a little hungover. 

Medievally

Saw this home while out last Sunday.  I've always liked houses with towers.  It makes them look like mini castles.  

Rangy

It was a gorgeous afternoon yesterday.  Very warm, which meant that lots of people were out on Lake Minnetonka; but not in boats.  Every bay had clusters of people fishing, snowmobiling, and walking their dogs.

Chary

We went for a drive around the bays of Lake Minnetonka this afternoon.  We got out briefly and walked a short way out onto the ice of one of the bays, where our pupper is currently standing in this image.  My husband offered to drive us across the lake, like many others were doing today, but I wanted no part of that.  I prefer terra firma.  

It was a beautiful afternoon.  Highs in the 40ºF range.  Pupper seemed happy too.  Although, she seemed as uneasy on the frozen body of water as I did.  

Creativity

 Fun times!  That's a snazzy-looking snowman.

Pathetically

This photo made me laugh. Two more forlorn pups have never been seen.  As seen in February 2019. 

Frigidly

Another from our field trip on Saturday.  In the Bold North, the brutal windchill doesn't keep bicyclists at bay.

Techie Corner

Like I said yesterday, the soft edges, inherent with my cheap fisheye lens, don't necessarily detract from the subject.  In this case, the soft edges can even give the feeling of motion.

Modernly

Another one from our short field trip yesterday.  The Weisman always looks so pretty in the sun.  A cold, crisp, winter day. 

Techie Corner

I used the cheap fisheye for this shot also.  It does get pretty soft around the edges, but that's fine, as long as the center is sharp.  In fact, that softness actually comes in handy for tomorrow's image.

Acclivity

A while back, I bought a cheap fisheye lens for my camera.  Today the husband and I went out for a bit and I tried it out.  Temp wasn't bad outside, a balmy 16ºF, but the wind was BRUTAL. 

Apparently, Minnehaha Falls was the place to be today, brutal wind or not.

Mysteriously

In the middle of December, we had a really large temperature swing.  The beautiful fog is a side effect of that swing.

Rapturously

 "I. Am. Speed."  Romeo loved running around the yard.  Especially if there was a red dot to chase.

Levity

 I love this funny picture of my dad's oldest sister and her husband.  They used it as a Christmas card photo one year.  

Peaceably

One of my BFFs returned to town recently and I was showing her the remaining devastation from the riots that took place last year after George Floyd's death.  We drove through the parking lot for Hi Lake Shopping Center, which is under construction to repair the riot damage, and drove up the side street by the cemetery to get back to Lake St.  

As we were driving by the cemetery, I was surprised to see a deer walking around.  I immediately stopped and went to get pictures and video with my phone.  (Brief video below, as this deer was a creature of few words.) 

I found out after getting home that one or more deer have been living in this cemetery for several years now.  Some people call this deer "Fern."  It can leave any time it wants, but why would it when people feed it.  The Mississippi is only about a mile away.  I saw numerous pictures online of two deer that were living there last year.  It's quite amazing, considering the epicenter of the riots, the burning of the 3rd Precinct, is only 1400 feet away from this cemetery.

It warms my heart that even though our city is still recovering from the riots, beauty remains.