Skywatch Friday - New Year's Edition

2021 is about to close and at least here in Oklahoma we are finally getting some cold weather. Our family made it through the year mainly unscathed and blessed and we are looking forward to 2022. I wish everybody in the Skywatch Friday community a blessed New Years.

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Skywatch Friday - Christmas 2021 Edition

It's Christmas again!! Despite all the gloom and doom in the news I still look forward to this time of hope and joy. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Please be safe in your gatherings.

Inlinkz is mysteriously back up and running again after their hiatus last week. Be sure and have a back link to this meme in your post.

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Skywatch Friday - 16 December 2021 Edition

Welcome to another edition of Skywatch Friday. Here in Oklahoma it is like early Fall again. Temperatures were over 80 degrees F yesterday but boy was the wind blowing, and blowing, and blowing. Nothing like it was further west though. My sister in Colorado posted on fb about winds over a 100 miles per hour in Colorado causing all sorts of havoc. I'm not really into that.

I am sorry but I am going back to the linkytools today because inlinkz appears to be down. I apologize for that. Good thing I have both accounts I guess.

Skywatch Friday - 9 December 2021

Here in Tulsa we finally got some cold weather but then it warmed right up. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 80F. Not very Christmassy and we would like some more rain. I'm not one to worry about the weather though. Everybody stay safe and enjoy the weekend!!

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Skywatch Friday - 2 December 2021 Edition

Hello again to Skywatch Friday. Here in Oklahoma it is warm, very warm, too warm! My wife and I were putting up our outside Christmas lights yesterday, I was dressed too warm and was dying. It will be cold before we know it.

I'm hearing comments that some bloggers can't link up with the SWF. I emailed the linky service on Sunday and got no response. I emailed them today as well. A problem that I have been having is that it won't let me download a photo directly from my blog. So I have been downloading to my laptop and then uploading. An annoyance.

So for today I am using the InLinkz tool for linking. Let me know if you have any issues or preferences. I apologize for any inconvenience.

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Skywatch Friday - USA Thanksgiving Edition

Today is the United States Thanksgiving Day celebration. Hopefully we'll be enjoying the day with friends and family, eating too much, and maybe watching some football and counting our blessings. I wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Skywatch Friday - 18 November 2021 Edition

Tulsa's Woodward Park on 16 November 2021

It's the week before Thanksgiving and the weather is still pretty decent. Many of the leaves are still on trees showing off but the Oklahoma winds are doing their best to knock them down to the ground. I hope that everybody is staying safe and spending time outside taking skywatch photos!!

Skywatch Friday - Fall is Falling Edition

Here in Oklahoma we are just now getting Fall Color and I am loving it. Couple that with cool 40 degree nights and warm 70 degree sunny days and we are in heaven. Thanks for participating everybody. I don't take it for granted. I love the world of photobloggers. Such a beautiful, gentle part of the interwebs that we dwell in.

Skywatch Friday - 4 November 2021 Edition

The skies of North Dakota, taken by my friend Josh.

Skywatch Friday - Halloween 2021 Edition

Lets hear it for Halloween! A much better holiday than Thanksgiving or Christmas. The weather is better, you don't have to buy anybody anything. You get to give away candy and nobody every feels sorry for you if you can't make it home for the holiday. So that is my choice of holidays.

Skywatch Friday - 21 October 2021

Still enjoying the cool nights and warm days of an Oklahoma autumn. Wishing everybody a great, safe week.

Skywatch Friday - 14 October 2021 Edition

The Arkansas River in Bixby near where Washington Irving camped during his tour in 1832 of what is now Oklahoma.

Skywatch Friday - 7 October 2021

Have I told you that I love October. Cool nights, warm dry days. Sign me up!! Northeast Oklahoma has a very long, very nice Autumn that sometimes goes into early December. Sign me up!!

Skywatch Friday - 30 September 2021 Edition

As you can tell I am still in a vacation mode even though we've been back a couple weeks. Nothing like hanging out on the beach. I hope everybody is doing well and staying healthy.

Skywatch Friday - 23 September 2021 Edition

Autumn is here!!! (Spring is here! in the other half of the world) The photo is not your typcial Fall photo. It is from a late vacation my wife and I had to the Gulf Coast. We are empty nesters now and our off season vacation was a dream. No crowds, nice weather, no traffic! Sign me up for some more.

Everybody stay safe out there. Lots of misinformation about Covid out there. Some of it is infecting our gentle world of photoblogs.

Skywatch Friday - 16 September 2021 Edition

A drone shot of the sky in my neighborhood.

Skywatch Friday - 9 September 2021 Edition

Cows on a ranch in Western Oklahoma. I hope everybody is doing well.

Skywatch Friday - 2 September 2021 Edition

Thinking about the victims of Hurricane Ida today. It cut quite a swath from Lousiana and Mississippi to the east coast. Storm surges, torrential rain, destructive winds, and many tornadoes. Hundreds of thousands of people displaced. It's going to take some time to get people back in their homes and utilities restored.

Skywatch Friday - 26 August 2021 Edition

“Storms visit the quietest and the most peaceful places to calm themselves down and to have their nervousness cured!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

Skywatch Friday - 19 August 2021 Edition

“Thunderstorms are as much our friends as the sunshine.” ― Criss Jami, Killosophy

I'm on vacation much of this week. The above photo was right before a storm that caused visibility to go zero. I was on the freeway in a car and that was bad enough. A motorcyclist was caught up in it and he was riding on the shoulder very slowly looking for shelter.

Everybody please stay safe!!

Skywatch Friday - 12 August 2021 Edition

“Make your heart like a lake with a calm, still surface and great depths of kindness.” -Lao Tzu

Skywatch Friday - A Bridge to Fall Edition

“Bridges symbolize change and flexibility! They show us this simple philosophy: When you are on one side, you can easily move to the other side!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

“If a little kid ever asks you just why the sky is blue, you look him or her right in the eye and say, "It's because of quantum effects involving Rayleigh scattering combined with a lack of violet photon receptors in our retinae.” ― Philip C. Plait, Bad Astronomy

I always think of August as the bridge to Fall. Schools start, football games start, vacations get wound up. All the summer sports are ending, the resorts start slowing down. Kind of sad in a way but Autumn is my absolute favorite season. In Oklahoma it lasts a really long time, clear up past Thanksgiving really. The air is drier, the snakes and bugs start going away so trailrunning, hiking, and geocaching get easier.

Skywatch Friday - 29 July 2021 Edition

“The sky is the part of creation in which nature has done for the sake of pleasing man.” – John Ruskin

Skywatch Friday - 22 July 2021 Edition

The smoke from all the forest fires out west finally showed up in Tulsa this week. I'm sure hoping that they get some rain out there to help put those fires out. My late father worked for the US Forest Service his whole his career and helped fight big fires all over the country. It's hard to make any progress without rain. Ironically it was years of fire suppression on all blazes, big and small, that is making the present situtation worse.

Skywatch Friday - Mid July 2021 Edition

Wow, it's mid July already!! Who'd of thought so soon. Here in Oklahoma it's hot and humid. I am kind of used to it and don't mind it so much. Better than freezing is what I say. I found a quote that I love about July.

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawnmower is broken.” – James Dent

Personally I don't mind the grass getting a little tall. What about you? Do you let the grass grow a little bit more in July.

I really enjoy reading the posts from Australia and New Zealand this time of year. I love hearing about how cool things are. That gives me a little relief all by itself.

I wish everybody a great upcoming weekend. Please stay safe.

Skywatch Friday - 8 July 2021 Edition

“There was a skyness to the sky and a nowness to the world that he had never seen or felt or realized before.” ― Neil Gaiman, Stardust

Skywatch Friday - 1 July 2021

Osage County, Oklahoma

“Aren’t the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton… I could just lie here all day, and watch them drift by… If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations.” – Charles M Schulz

I still think of what it would be like to a cloud drifting over the land. The things I would see...

Skywatch Friday - 24 June 2021 - First Skywatch of Summer 2021!

“Everything good, everything magical, happens between the months of June and August.” from Jenny Han, "The Summer I turned Pretty"

“Sunsets, like childhood, are viewed with wonder not just because they are beautiful but because they are fleeting.” ― Richard Paul Evans, The Gift

Skywatch Friday - 10 June 2021 Edition

The Arkansas River as it flows through Tulsa

The heat of late spring finally showed up in Tulsa. It is not that much warmer but the humidity is out the roof is supposed to stay that way for a while. This is the time of year where I really appreciate the posts of out Australian and New Zealand bloggers.

Skywatch Friday - 3 June 2021 Edition

Well we got through Memorial Day here in the states. Not really a day to celebrate, but a day to honor those who are gone. Now we have a long summer ahead of us. Enjoy it!!

Skywatch Friday - 27 May 2021 Edition

A drone shot from south Tulsa pointing northwest. Rainy weather is making my wife's flowers grow fast and provides for great skies at sunset.

I hope everybody has a great holiday weekend (in the USA it is Memorial Day on Monday.)

Skywatch Friday - 20 May 2021

It's getting kind of swampy here in northeast Oklahoma. Temperatures are still cool but we are getting lots of rain. The good kind of soft rain not the hard unrelenting rain that causes floods. The mosquitoes love it. I don't hate it. I launch my drone up in between rains and capture the cloudy skies. I am not worried. It will be hot here soon enough.

I hope that everybody is staying safe.

Skywatch Friday - 13 May 2021 Edition

Here in Oklahoma the weather is grand. I went on a bike ride in Osage County on a rail to trail route and it was wonderful. The weather was cool and sunny. It was just me, the trail, lots of birds, squirrels, old oil wells and cattle. It doesn't get much better than that.
I am hoping that everybody gets outside and enjoys the weather this week.

Skywatch Friday - 6 May 2021 Edition

Here in Mid-America the temperatures are still a little low and we have had lots of rain. So much so that even though we activated our sprinkler system at the house we haven't had to water the yard yet. We get this cycle of rain followed by intense sunshine and it looks as though the grass is just throwing itself up into the air. And then the mosquitoes come out. You let the grass go without mowing too long and you'll need to hire a hay mower to come out and harvest a crop of hay. I have to tell you that I earned money during high school and college by yard work, mowing and gardening. I kind of halfway enjoy mowing but I had my fill of gardening and get no pleasure from it. I do like the results though. I know lots of people do though and I salute them!!.

Skywatch Friday - Get your Kicks on Route 66 Edition

It's late April and the weather is warm and so it is time to put on your shorts and tshirts and get out and do things and see the sights. At least for us here in the northern hemisphere. You folks down south it's time to get your cold weather gear ready. But no matter what you are doing take your camera along!! Here in Tulsa, I am spending a lot of time relooking at the Route 66 sights as it passes through town. Route 66 nostalgia seems to be greater than ever. Above is a new neon sign park with replicas of signs from motels that no longer exist. People are looking back for a simpler time.

Skywatch Friday - 22 April 2021 Edition

April in Oklahoma can be nice or it can be cold. This week it has been both. Sunday afternoon though, when I took this photo, it was perfect. Warm, sunny, just a little bit of a breeze. It was kind of perfect. I hope you are having a perfect week no matter where you are.

I hope that everybody is having a great week. Last week my wife and I ventured down to southwestern Oklahoma to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. We were treated to dark skies at night, one night we tracked the International Space Station as it flew by. We saw some great skies also. Above was a view from our cabin. It was really nice to get away for a little bit. We had the refuge to ourselves as we hiked and drove around looking at the Bision and Longhorn Cattle that call the place home.

Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate everybody's participation and support. I hope you all have a great week.

Skywatch Friday - 8 April 2021 Edition

I am really enjoying Spring here in Oklahoma. The temperatures are milder, the trees and shrubs are greening up, The tulips are going crazy. As much as I enjoy the other seasons the rebirth seen in the Spring is my favorite.

Skywatch Friday - April Fools Edition

Happy April Fools Day everybody. I don't have an April Fools prank to play on everybody. Spring is here though and things are warming up (for he most part except for our friends in the southern hemisphere.) I love all the seasons but the only downside to Spring is allergies and mowing grass.

Skywatch Friday - 25 March 2021 Edition

It's been raining, and then the winds come and dry everything out and we have grass fires, then it rains again. Yep, it is springtime in Oklahoma. Until we get some green grass we'll have the cycles. And it is strangely cool. Things are all messed up.

I hope everybody is having a great week.

Skywatch Friday 18 March 2020 Edition

Welcome to another week of Skywatch Friday. Here in the USA we had two events that made us bleery eyed this week. Daylight Savings Time started early Sunday morning and Saint Patrick's Day was yesterday. I hope everybody survived those things. I am still not used to the change in time. I do all my Saint Patrick's Day celebrating at home these days. And there is another thing in US, it is Spring Break time. I drove to western Oklahoma and picked up son yesterday from college. That sky above is from that trip. It turned kind of stormy later on but hey we made it.

And as an aside, now the kid is here and he has a Zoom class coming up. Which is taking in his pajamas and is hair is all over the place. I got grumped at when I said something, hah. Kids haven't changed much over the years.

Thanks for participating and I hope everybody has a great week!

Skywatch Friday - 11 March 2021 Edition

We are getting deeper into early Spring here in Oklahoma. We have nice, sunny, warm days, then some rain, then hot dry winds where it gets so dry that grass fires start. In fact, the family of Oklahoma's most famous blogger, Ree Drummond, of the Pioneer Woman blog, has a tragedy recently. Her husband and nephew had a head on collision driving fire trucks battling a grass fire on their ranch. Her husband refused treatment but the nephew is in a hospital with severe injuries. We send our thoughts and prayers to the family.

Be safe everybody!! Thank you for participating.

Skywatch Friday - Spring is Coming Edition

Cattle Ranch in Western Oklahoma, Photo by my wife's cousin

Welcome to another week of Skywatch Friday. Here in Oklahoma, Spring is hinting at coming. Temperatures in the 70's, big blue skies. I'm enjoying it while I can because March can break your heart. In like a Lion, out like a Lamb is what March so we'll have some cold weather, but I will enjoy today!!

Skywatch Friday: 25 February 2021 Edition

 

(Mysterious Sculpture at The Oklahoma History Center)

Welcome to another week of Skywatch Friday. The weather pulled a big whipsaw on us the past week. We went from a minus 13F low last Tuesday to a plus 70 somethjing for the high that past Tuesday. Sorry but my body cannot keep up!! Hey at least the skies are blue!!

Skywatch Friday - Snowy Edition

It seems like the whole world has changed in the last week here in the USA. We had a huge cold spell and snow storm. We had rotating blackouts in Oklahoma because the utility companies were staggering under the demand. Texas was really suffering as they have no interconnects with other states and their whole power system collapsed down around their ears. The culprit was the loss of natural gas due to freezing conditions. Hopefully they will climb out of the hole they are in be better prepared next time.

This whole time I had a couple friends who were vacationing in the Florida Keys area and they were posting on facebook about the nice weather.  Who needs friends like that I ask you!! All in fun!

I hope Blogger behaves itself this week. I received queries from people who were having problems. Skywatch Friday is my only exposure to Blogger as I left it for Wordpress years ago. I wasn't much help to people and I feel sorry about that.

Skywatch Friday - 11 February 2021 Edition

It's been cold, overcast and freezing across much of the USA lately. Here's a shot from nine years ago in Swan Valley, Idaho of a sudden thunderstorm than came roaring over the mountains, doused everybody, and moved on. I hope everybody is staying warm, except you folks in the southern Hemisphere, keep that sunscreen applied!!

Skywatch Friday - 4 February 2021 Edition

Another week of Skywatch Friday. Exciting times, I read posts from our friends in Australia and they are dying from the heat and in northern Europe they are finally getting some snow. The thing is, this time of year in the US, the days are getting longer and I'm feeling the pull of Springtime but March is a cruel month. In Oklahoma they say March is "In like a lion, out like a lamb." The first part is generally cold and it softens up considerably by the end. In the meantime lets enjoy February.

Skywatch Friday - 28 January 2021 Edition

Here we are, the last Skywatch of January 2021. What a month it has been!! I won't miss it though; I am glad to be moving on. Spring is going to be here before we know it.

Skywatch Friday - 21 January 2021 Edition

Welcome to a new edition of Skywatch Friday. Big news for us here in the USA, and I guess elsewhere. We have a new President and of course that will make about half the people glad and the other half mad but we bloggers we will just keep clicking away and posting great photos of the sky.

And is it just me or has blogger reverted to the look and feel of the old blogger? I stay confused half the time around here. It still insists that I live on the west coast of Australia, which I wouldn't mind too much this month.