Winter Wonderland West Ohio Style

The latest round of snow began New Year's Day as I headed off to LaOtto, Indiana, and my friend Rick's Place....after about a foot of Snow, over a 3 day period, the frigid conditions set in...the coldest weather in 20 or more years they say{although I do remember a spell in the Winter of 95-96 being something like this}.  This winter is beginning to remind me of the winters we spent on the farm on Coldwater Creek Road, back in the early and mid 1980s....this weekend however looks warmer, with some rain...here are some photos of the past week from LaOtto and Celina:

Top Rick's Woods....then Rick, Me, and Clint standing On Frozen Pond on Rick's 17 acre farm and hobby estate.  Followed by Rick long snow covered drive which would get only more so.

Then shots from my backyard ....more to come later:

Full Moon Trails and Tales, The Hawk Feeds....

Full Moon{or close to it} over Celina last night....worked on some photos enhanced to show the Jet Trails....and our resident Hawk returned this morning to feed on a wayward Pigeon that got in his way....all photos mine, use is open to the public, with proper credit given.

Self Serving Stuff...

5 or so inches of Snow is expected in the area for late tonight and tomorrow....maybe I'll get some winter snow blowing scenes....in the meantime, I did some self portrait photography earlier this week: First Photo is me, with a hand rolled cigar and a good glass of stout, digging out the driveway~the rest checking out my old Childhood Summer stomping ground at Windy Point Park earlier this week, on Grand Lake St. Marys, near Montezuma.

Winter Sets in Western Ohio

Here we are over a week away from the official start of Winter, and yet we have had a solid 3 weeks, since before Thanksgiving Day of well below cold temperatures, with a bit of ice and snow mixed in....and the back yard Yellow Finches of Summer have been replaced by the Annual Visit of our resident Hawk, who arrives just about everyday to see if he{she?} can grab onto a marauding unlucky Sparrow....the Sunflowers are long gone, but their seeds remain in my garage, for next springs plantings....

Snow Daze

Our second West Central Ohio snow fell overnight....once again, not much to show for it....however it will usher in a spell of bitter, early season, cold over the next week or so....shot photos out of my upstairs bedroom window:  The second another from the Sunset at Windy Point on Grand Lake's southside this past weekend:

One More From Windy Point...

One of my Facebook Friends, from Georgia no less, took a look at the dozen or so, of the 40, photos I took yesterday afternoon at my old haunt of Windy Point....located on the southwest shore of Grand Lake, near Montezuma, Ohio.  I spent many hours on that beach and gravel drive with friends and young ladies, 40 and more years ago.....she said this was the best of those photos I shared....Me?  Well I'm not so sure, it's a bit dark...but maybe I can mess with it in the near future and see what shakes out...but for now, here it tis, enjoy: (and yes that is Ice, not waves in the foreground}

Windy Point, south side, Grand Lake, Montezuma, Ohio

I lived in Montezuma, Ohio, on the south side of Grand Lake from 1963 until I entered the Air Force in the Summer of 1968....being a "Lake Rat" was a good life, once I got a job and my driver's license, and a 1962 Ford Falcon...a brief, but meaningful time of my teen years.  Windy Point, just across the small town from our place near the Lakeview Airport was a beach/state park area where I spent many hours doing what 16, 17, and 18 year olds do....wife and I drove out there this afternoon in the late fall/early winter-like weather, and I snapped some photos of the setting sun, along the ice covered shore line: