Final Skywatch Friday of 2020 - Happy New Year

Thank you my fellow Skywatchers for providing a respite from the miserable year that we are now concluding. Your weekly posts and generous spirit shined through and helped make 2020 bearable. I'm very thankful for the nice, friendly, corner of the internet that us photobloggers occupy. Not just Skywatch Friday but numerous other memes that give us an outlet for our creations and allow us to glimpse other people's lives all over the world.

I am wishing you all a very happy, prosperous, productive, and healthy New Year!!

Skywatch Friday - Christmas 2020 Edition

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate the Holiday. Thank you for participating. I wish everyone a very prosperous and healthy 2021.

Skywatch Friday - 17 December 2020 Edition

Another week for Skywatch. We had some snow here in Tulsa and it is still on the ground which is unusual for here. That's okay by me, slowly melting gets in the ground better than a fast melt with big runoff. Thank you for participating and we'll see you next week!!

Skywatch Friday - 10 December 2020 Edition

Welcome to another week of Skywatch Friday. Here in Oklahoma it is almost like summer right now with 71F temperatures forecasted. A great time to get outside and take some photos!

Skywatch Friday - 3 December 2020 Edition

Welcome to another edition of Skywatch Friday and thank you for participating. The weather here in Oklahoma is getting a little frosty. I have a friend who is in Florida and he tells me to get on down there, it's 78 degrees. I am spending a lot of time outside now. My gym closed temporarily because of Covid-19 and at first I was going to go to another gym but decided I am going to hunker down just a little more rather than increase my risks. So no gym, so I bundle up and go for more walks outside. I hope everybody is staying safe.

Skywatch Friday - 2020 Thanksgiving Day Edition

It's Thanksgiving Day in the USA. We've had a wild ride this year with the pandemic sweeping across the country (and the world). Horrendous fires out west, and a wild and rambunctious election season. We have lots to be thankful for also. Our Democratic principles are working, there are several vaccines on the way, and maybe things will be better sometime next year.

I am thankful for all of you who continue to post great and interesting photos of the world around you. I am pray that all of you are blessed in the coming year.

Skywatch Friday - 19 November 2020 Edition

This is from my old work building in 2017. I really miss those views since I retired. I hope everybody is happy, staying healthy, and getting out and making great photographs.

Skywatch Friday - 12 November 2020 Edition

Welcome back to another round of Skywatch Friday. I'm really enjoying the Autumn weather we are having. Nice and cool and the lowered sun is making for some great light and shadows to work with. Tulsa is fortunate in that we have a very long very mild Fall. Warm days, cool nights, sign me up!! Blogger insists though that I am actually in Australia so I have to manually bring me back to Tulsa every week. What's up with Blogger folks?

Skywatch Friday - Special Election Edition

Here in the US we have a presidential election going on that is dragging on because of all the mail-in votes cast because of the pandemic. So we have all sorts of national angst and anxiety going on. My advice is, breathe in, breathe out, and move on. Regardless of who wins, things are going to be okay. My second advice is to grab your camera and go outside and check out what is happening with nature. Nature doesn't care who is president.

Skywatch Friday - 29 October 2020 Edition

Welcome back to Skywatch Friday. I was going to make this the Halloween Edition but I don't think we are going to have much of a Halloween this year. Certainly not going to parties and we are turning out our lights on Halloween night. Oh well. Strange year but we have to keep ourselves and others safe. I tell you what's safe is getting off by yourself with a camera and taking pictures. No calories!!
Thank you for participating! Have a great weekend!

Skywatch Friday - 22 October 2020 Edition

Welcome to another edition of Skywatch Friday. I appreciate everybody's participation and support. This is a rough year and the internet is meaner than ever except for photoblog meme world such as Skywatch Friday and others where we post great photos that we have taken. It's like a refuge and I don't take it for granted. I am amazed every week by the creativity and skill, of those who participate and the kindness and support shown to each other. I love it. Lets keep it going folks.

Skywatch Friday - 15 October 2020

Autumn just keeps rolling on and here in Oklahoma it still seems a lot like summer. Sure the mornings are a little cool in the 50's but the afternoons heat up to the mid 80's and belong. What's the deal? Plus can the US election season get any crazier? Sure I can go vote and make snarky comments on social media but it's better to just go outside and soak up the sun and be grateful for what iwe have. Somehow we are going to survive this.

Everybody, just be safe and check in on your loved ones and take it easy, its going to be okay. For those outside the USA, have a little patience with us.

Skywatch Friday - 8 October 2020 Edition

Another week of Skywatch Friday is upon us and just in time. Here in the USA we got an election season going on along with pandemic and everybody is wound up pretty tight. If you get wound up just go outside and look at the sky. The sky doesn't care about the pandemic and it doesn't who is president either. It just does its thing. Contemplate the sky is what I say.

Skywatch Friday - 1 October 2020 Edition

October 1 is here. To me that is the time for pumpkin spice this or that and I start drinking the Marzen style beers. So we roll into Fall finally (I know Fall officially starts earlier). I post the kayak photo as kind of a lingering yearning for summer. Luckily, here in Oklahoma we generally have a long Fall season sometimes going to and past Thanksgiving. I am already seeing posts from other parts of the country further north and it is already getting cold. It'll be here soon enough.

Skywatch Friday - Fall is Here 2020 Edition

 

Autumn is here for us in the northern hemisphere. Cooler temperatures, less insects, autumn color, I am really looking forward to it. I really hate to hurry things but I cannot wait for 2020

 to be over. In the meantime I am going to enjoy this Fall in a safe, socially distant way, outdoors as much as possible by myself, with my camera. How about you?

Skywatch Friday - 17 September 2020 Edition

It's the week after Labor Day weekend here in the USA. The party is over (oh, there was a party most will say, I missed it) and time to get back to work and school. Except most people I know are doing that at home. Amazing though how many people are trying to get a sense of normalcy while still trying to be safe. I hope and  pray that all our Skywatch community stays healthy and safe. Get outside if you can do it safely. Take some pictures. Breathe deeply. I think we are in a marathon, not a sprint, so think how we are going to do this in the long term. 

Blogger still thinks I live in Australia, I change it back to Oklahoma every week. And either blogger or the linky has a weird sense of time. I set it post at 12:30 PM Tulsa time and it does what  it wants. Oh well, I appreciate your patience. 

Skywatch Friday - 10 September 2020 Edition

Days are getting shorter, temperatures are cooling down, Fall is right around the corner!! We're busy, busy, busy this week. Home construction, getting kid back to college, Anniversary time!! So I apologize if I not as active as I usually am. Take care!!

Skywatch Friday - 3 September 2020 Edition

I get a lot of Skywatch Pics just standing on my front porch. I thought this was rather dramatic. Is that lazy of me, or opportunistic? Skies are where you find them is my philosophy. We had a hot August but lots of fronts blew through bringing nice clouds, rain, and cooler temps. No local tornadoes though!! So that's a win so far. Blogger is still puzzling me. Every week it resets my location to eastern Australia. That's a great place but I'm still in Tulsa.

Skywatch Friday - 27 August 2020 Edition

Reverse Sunset in Tulsa

Welcome to the latest edition of Skywatch Friday. Hurricane Laura made landfall last night in western Louisiana and as I write this is deep in central Louisiana and is still a category two hurricane. I have no idea what that would be like. Years ago I lived in Conroe, Texas, 100 miles north of Galveston when a very weak Hurricane Alicia went through Galveston and Houston and came to my neighborhood, very much weakened. It was about as much fun as I could stand. Next time I vowed I would go to Nebraska. How about you, have you ever sheltered in place during a hurricane?

Skywatch Friday - 20 August 2020 Edition

Welcome back to Skywatch Friday. Had a great sunrise the other day in the neighborhood and I posted it on Instagram and Facebook. I thought it looked pretty good but most of  the comments were about the big dent in my neighbor's car.  It has been that way for so long that I didn't even notice it. And no, I don't know what happened except that he has two teenage drives so it might have been anything!!

I hope everybody has had a good week!! Lets see some sky posts!!

Skywatch Friday - 13 August 2020 Edition

Oklahoma continues to have a lot of weather lately, no tornadoes so far, but lots of rain. It almost reminds me of when I lived in Houston when in the summer it would cloud up and rain every afternoon. It's keeping everything nice and green here but not muddy. My yard loves it, I cut it and a few days later it needs cutting again. If I wait too long I risk having to get a hay crew in to cut and bale it. I'll take rainy weather any time. I lived too long in the west to take rain and the water it brings for granted. At least it is not the deluges we had last year that caused so much flooding.

Skywatch Friday - 6 August 2020 Edition

Welcome to a new edition of Skywatch Friday. It's the dog days of summer here. Here in Oklahoma some of the schools have started and there are lots of options virtual, real, hybrid. Parents have a lot of decisions to make.  At least being outside with our cameras is pretty safe, I would think, especially  especially if we keep our distance from others.

Skywatch Friday - Monsoon Edition

We've got kind of a monsoon thing going on in Oklahoma right now after a very dry June. It clouds up and rains almost every afternoon. If I don't get a dry day then I'm going to have to get somebody that cuts hay to come cut my grass. So the grass and mosquitoes are thick but we have some beautiful skies. I like blue skies as much as anybody but give me some big ole flat fluffy clouds any time.

Skywatch Friday - 23 July 2020 Edition

Welcome to another edition of Skywatch Friday where bloggers (and the occasional instagrammer) display their best sky photos from all over the world.

It is full blown hot muggy summertime right now in Oklahoma. If we have to do outside we do it early or late and we welcome the fronts with the dry weather behind them. I have major respect for construction, yard, roofing, and other people who work outside in the full sun. You know they are earning their pay this time of year.

Skywatch Friday - 16 July 2020 Edition

</ br> </ br> Welcome to another edition of Skywatch Friday. We are in the dog days of summer here in Oklahoma. It is hot and humid, every day. Not complaining because it was this way long before global warming was ever heard of by anybody. It is refreshing to read the posts from our friends in the southern hemisphere because they are having winter!! I am still trying to figure out how the flat earth crowd explains that. Everybody stay safe and have a great week. </ br> </ br>

Skywatch Friday - 9 July 2020 Edition

Welcome to Skywatch Friday and thank you for participating. You might have to bear with me a little bit here because blogger is not showing the "HTML" mode so I am not exactly sure how I am going to get the linky to work. You know how computers and software is right? When they work as intended, it is wonderful. When they don't work it is maddening. So I am going to do the usual things. Save this post. Shut everything down and reboot and see what happens.

Okay so I did all that and nothing changed but aha!! I reverted to "Legacy Blogger" mode and there I can get the HTML mode!! Maybe next week the new improved blogger html mode will be working. So for this week we are stepping back in time. In keeping with that I changed the photo from a current one to back to the mid 1990's. It's a geyser at Yellowstone National Park. Which one? I don't remember. Sorry. It probably doesn't look too much different today except you go these days you'll see lots of selfie sticks. Back then you didn't have selfies. Not that many people had cell phones. Those that did didn't take selfies with them. They talked on them, they didn't stare at them all day. Sounds like the good old days to me.

Skywatch Friday - 2020 Independence Day Edition

July 4th is Independence Day in the USA when we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Usually its a day of family get togethers, parades, speeches, music, and of course fireworks. This year will be a little different many of the community events, including most fireworks, are cancelled due to the pandemic. Personally our family will celebrate with just ourselves, the epidemiologists are expecting a spike in cases after the weekend. I hope everybody uses some common sense!!

Stay safe everybody!!

Skywatch Friday - Custer's Last Stand Edition

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Photo from Washita Battlefield National Historic Site near Cheyenne, Oklahoma.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn started on June 25, 1876. Where a group of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians defeated and killed the troops led by General George Custer. Custer was and is still a controversial figure in the Indian Wars. Years before his demise at Little Big Horn, then Lieutenant Colonel Custer attacked a large group of Cheyenne in western Oklahoma  at what is now the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site killing many of them and 650 of their horses. 

Skywatch Friday - 18 June 2020 Edition

Welcome to another edition of Skywatch Friday. It's getting hot here in Oklahoma and despite the hopes of many, the heat hasn't done a thing to slow down the Corona Virus. I hope everybody is staying safe while getting sky photographs!

Skywatch Friday - 11 June 2020 Edition

Welcome to another edition of Skywatch Friday. I hope everybody, and their family and friends, is staying healthy and keeping their attitude up during this worlwide upheaval. Kudos to New Zealand for their accomplishment of essientially eliminating the virus. I hope that they can keep that up in this interconnected world we live in.

Skywatch Friday - 4 June 2020 Edition

Welcome to another edition of Skywatch Friday. We are rapidly approaching the start of Summer here in Oklahoma, USA. After a relatively cool, rainy Spring things are heating up and getting more humid. We are having a crazy year so far with the Covid 19 Pandemic and then lately the protests after the killing of George Floyd. We have had several protests here in Tulsa, for the most part peaceful but with lots of energy, and some vandalism by people with their own agenda.

Skywatch Friday - 28 May 2020 Edition

I hope everybody had a good week. Here in Oklahoma it has been raining, and raining, and raining some more. Not like last year thankfully where we ended up with huge flooding on the Arkansas River but enough to make hiking muddy and soggy. It also messes up exercise plans. My gym is open but I am hesitant to go while the pandemic is still going on.

So here is to a great week for everybody!! Thank you for participating. 

Skywatch Friday - Spirit of Saint Louis Edition

On May 21, 1927 Charles Lindbergh landed his plane, the Spirit of Saint Louis at Le Bourget, France after taking off the day before from Long Island, New York. Thus completing the first transatlantic airplane flight.

 

I don't have a photo of the Spirit of Saint Louis, this is a similar plane, Woolaroc, financed by Oklahoma oilman, Frank Phillips, that flew from Oakland, California to Hawaii in a race in August of 2021. Eight planes took off and only two finished. Woolaroc was the winner. Phillips was promoting a new brand of aviation gasoline that weighed considerably less per gallon than competing brands.

Skywatch Friday 14 May 2020 Edition

Another week, another edition of Skywatch Friday. I hope everybody is staying safe and following the rules. I have been working from home now for two months and have only filled my car with gasoline twice.

Skywatch Friday - 7 May 2020 Edition

May already! I hope everybody is being safe and protecting themselves and others. Here in Oklahoma, restaurants and other places can open so many have with precautions, others are waiting. Many of my fellow Oklahomans are throwing caution to the wind and refuse to wear masks or maintain physical distancing so I am expecting a second wave of infections soon. Our family is still isolating and doing what we are asked to do. It is fatiguing but worth it I think.

Skywatch Friday - 30 April 2020 Edition

Maintenance workers getting a golf course ready to re-open on May 1. They had been closed and are re-opening with special rules. 

Welcome to another edition of Skywatch Friday. I hope everybody is staying safe. Here in Oklahoma, USA things are loosening up a bit. Some of us think it is a little soon but you know something has to give at some point right? The good news is that we can pretty much go outside whenever we want and UV rays from sunlight kill the Coronavirus. So I am planning on getting lots of sun while maintaining physical distancing.

Skywatch Friday - 23 April 2020 Edition

Welcome to another edition of Skywatch Friday. I hope everybody is safe and following the guidelines. And sneaking outside, or exploring their archives, for shots of the sky. Here in Oklahoma, USA, our Governor has decided to start opening businesses back up. So we are a little nervous right now. Our family will continue with isolation and distancing as we have family members who are at risk. Strange times we live in these days.

Skywatch Friday - 16 April 2020 Edition

I hope everybody is having a great week!!

Skywatch Friday - 9 April 2020 Edition

Welcome to Skywatch Friday. We still have the Pandemic going on as we will for some time. I hope everybody is sheltering in place if you can and being safe. A big thank you goes out to everybody who are risking exposure, first responders, the army of people who work in our hospitals and clinics and the also the many people who work in utilities keeping the water, electricity, natural gas and other things that we need to live. My heart goes out to the millions of people who are out of work and wondering how they are going to get by during this time. My heart also goes out to people who are separated from their loved ones. My brother for instance is in a long term care facility and the entire campus is on lockdown. Thankfully he has his cell phone and we are able to take daily but there is nothing like being there is what I say.

Skywatch Friday - 2 April 2020 Edition

How is everybody doing these days. Talk about a worldwide convulsion we are going through. We still have our skies though. Thank you to everybody that participates!!

Skywatch Friday - 26 March 2020 Edition

I hope that everybody in our Skywatch Community is staying safe and practicing social distancing and being careful. These are trying times for the entire world.

Skywatch Friday - 18 March 2020

Our World has changed quite a bit in the last week or so, at least for us in the USA. Our fellow world citizens in China, Italy, South Korea and other places have been dealing with it for some time now. Please follow the recommendations of the World Health Organization and your local authorities and stay safe.

Please check up on each other and be kind to our fellow citizens. And don't stop taking and posting photographs of your local skies. We are going to need beauty and interest even more for the foreseeable future.

Skywatch Friday - 12 March 2020 Edition

Lots going on these days, Spring is about to start, Saint Patrick's Day is next week, the flowers are blooming, at least where I live. Didn't seem like we had much of winter so I am dreading the ticks that are threatening to overrun us. Oh well, I'll take it.

Skywatch Friday - 5 March 2020 Edition

Welcome to yet another edition of Skywatch Friday. Spring is almost here and daylight savings time is about to start, and the weather is warming up. This winter was not that cold but it sure seemed long. I am looking forward to being outdoors more after work, how about you? In a couple months I will be retired so I guess I will be able to get outside whenever I want.

I love the change of seasons. I am looking forward to Spring but I also love winter with the crisp weather and the snakes and ticks taking a break.

Skywatch Friday - Cusp of Spring 2020 Edition

We are getting teased with Spring. The days are long, the sun is high, the skies are great but the temps are cold! Soon enough it will be hot. Except for our friends in the southern Hemisphere where they are looking for relief from high temps.

Skywatch Friday - 20 February 2020 Edition

Deep into Winter but we can tell Spring is coming. The days are longer, the sun is higher but Mother Nature can be cruel. Cold temperatures, howling winds, snow. It's going to be a while before it warms up. Oh well grab the camera and take what photos you can, or go back over the archives and see what was. We have to deal with the skies we have.

Skywatch Friday - Valentines Day 2020 Edition

Welcome to another edition of Skywatch Friday. This Friday is Valentines Day!! I hope everybody is prepared and doesn't get in trouble. I'm actually not to worried about Skywatchers, we always know the right thing to do right, and it almost always involves a camera and the sky.

Skywatch Friday - 6 February 2020 Edition

I hope everybody survived the last week. What a bunch of stuff going on! The Super Bowl, Groundhog Day, Impeachment Hearings and the Coronavirus! Fortunately, the sky is always there to take your mind off of things. Even cloudy skies have value. You are at the right place for skies, such an incredible variety of photos this group posts every week. Come join in if you haven't already.

Skywatch Friday - 30 January 2020 Edition

We almost done with the first month of the new decade. I don't think of myself as that old but my gosh, it has been over forty years since I graduated from college. Where did the time go? I don't feel old!! I sure look it though when I look in the mirror. The skies are always there though. They look pretty much the same. Lots cleaner though than forty years ago and smog regulations came in to effect. I hope we keep them looking cleaner.