The full moon on January 29, 2010 was reported to be the largest and brightest full moon of the year. The size of the moon itself hadn’t changed, of course. The moon’s non-circular orbit put it at its closest to the earth for 2010. (It will actually reach the closest perigee for 2010 at 4:04 a.m. ET Saturday.) Despite the fact that temperatures were nearing the single digits, we went out into the yard to take a few pictures in the very bright moonlight, a sort of companion to the photos of the full moon and Mars that I took earlier in the day.Combined with the snow, it made for a very bright scene.
January's full moon is also called the wolf moon, from Native Americans who associated the January full moon with wolves howling in the cold. What was odd is that while we were outside taking pictures, we heard many dogs barking and howling in the distance.
Mars was also nearby in the sky, and despite the fact that some high clouds were moving in, the planet made a brief appearance in one of the photographs. It's that tiny dot of light off to the left of the first photograph, near the tree top. (Click on any photo for a larger size.)
It got into the single digits during the night, and there were some clouds. But, with the full Moon, and with Mars lurking nearby, it was hard to resist going out at 5:30 AM to try to catch a picture. The bright Moon gave the clouds a strange colored glow, almost a faint, pastel rainbow effect. Here are a few pictures; in one of them, you can see the faint dot of Mars in the upper portion of the picture in the gap in the clouds.
November and December gave us only scant snowfall totals as a few big snowstorms and the normal Lake Erie snow machine had missed our area of northeast Ohio. But so far this January, it seems the lake has turned on the switch full throttle. Those of us living in the primary “snow belt,” which is known for its heavy snowfalls, are finally making up this week for what we missed this season.
It’s hard to take a photo in the snow without it looking like a black and white photo, so when I took my snowy walk around the yard, I tried to capture even the slightest bit of color I could find. There wasn’t much. I did manage to catch a large fox squirrel mid-leap as it was running for cover, although the heavy snowfall at the time makes him look a little blurry.
We are on the western edge of the large snowstorm that is coming up the east coast, and all we are seeing right now is a light, but very wet, snow. Here is a photo of a female northern cardinal that decided to come out and brave the snow.
In our city, I swear there are as many fox squirrels as there are people. We have several squirrels that are frequent visitors to our backyard. While we have a squirrel-proof bird feeder, it doesn’t stop the squirrels from coming around to get the seed which drops onto the ground.
I had just started to fill the feeder when a squirrel came up and sat on a branch right above me, I swear it was smiling at me, seemingly hoping that I would drop the entire cup of feed right onto the ground. He/she was kind enough to pose for a photo, sporting that same grin. How could I not “accidentally” drop some feed after that?
With blizzard conditions literally knocking on northeast Ohio’s doorstep, I decided to make a trip to Mentor Headlands. As the temps climbed to the low 50s, the rain stopped temporarily, and there was a slight break in the clouds, it made for a rather pleasant walk. Well, except for the wind, which really didn’t die down much, and is only expected to increase in strength as this massive winter weather system approaches. Since I live in the “snow belt,” we can only wonder how much snow the dreaded “lake effect” will drop on our doorstep. The amount of snow can vary, based on wind direction over the open lake, and the wind speed. The higher the wind, the less time it has to pick up moisture as it crosses the lake, so the weather forecasters tell us. And weather forecasting is sometimes dicey when it comes to factoring in lake effect. To paraphrase long time Cleveland meteorologist Dick Goddard, there is nothing quite like waking up to “six inches of partly cloudy” in your yard.
Here are a few photos from my trip to Mentor Headlands this morning. (Click on any image for a larger view.) The dark clouds, mixed with splashes of sun, made for some very interesting colors in the sky and on the lake.
Things have been a little slow on my other blogs so I decided to create this time lapse video of Cleveland’s I-90 Innerbelt Bridge, showing all the traffic on the bridge and the activity around it. It is a compilation of many video segments taken over a 24 hour period on December 3-4, 2009. The bridge crosses the Cuyahoga River and is a major connector to I-77 and I-71. This view is from the northeast end, looking towards the southwest. (The city skyline can’t be seen as it is behind the camera.)
Some things to watch for: the Lorain-Carnegie (AKA Hope Memorial) Bridge is on the right side at the center; at about 1:11 a brightly glowing mystery vehicle drives under the bridge and stops on the left; just before the two-minute mark, a barge on the Cuyahoga River enters at the center right, and can barely be seen exiting in the same area at about 2:50; the Cuyahoga River is more visible when the sun causes the water to sparkle at about 2:40. Also, the pyramid-looking objects are piles of crushed stone, and at times, an optical illusion makes it appear that the cars are moving backwards at high speed. Various trains can also be seen moving in an out of the left center.
Concerns about the deteriorating bridge structure has barred truck traffic from the bridge, and some lanes and ramps had been closed to all traffic. The bridge recently had those lanes and ramps re-opened to car traffic. Plans to replace this span are in progress.
So, for your enjoyment, is my video of the “day in the life” of this major Cleveland artery.
