Where analytic and creative thought collide and all kinds of weird stuff can happen.

Another week has gone by and I didn’t get out on any good photo expeditions. Sigh…

The theme for this week’s You Capture is COLORFUL.

I could have just walked around my house and taken pictures of stuff. Like the big bag of plain, dark-chocolate M&Ms. Before I ate them. Or crayons. If I had some crayons.

But I didn’t. That would just be boring.

One day soon I’ll be able to share pics of my colorful new office. But that’s another blog post…

I did capture a couple of cool images worthy of sharing in this week’s challenge. Both actually feature store windows here in town. I added some texture to both images because I just felt like being different.

That first image captures a large painting in one of several of Warrenton’s cool art galleries. Some people may have tried to capture the shot without the reflections. But I like the reflections. I think they frame the image nicely. Especially the tree in the upper left-hand corner.

The love shot, which is certainly colorful, is from the window of the ceramics store.

Our love affair with this town continues…

To see what other folks captured this week, pop on over to Beth’s blog to peruse the work of the many good photographers who participated.

I woke up ungodly early this morning. Really. It was 5:15. I thought about rolling over and going back to sleep. I mean, the dogs were even still all sleeping. But I had to pee. Plus, I knew if I did go back to sleep, I probably wouldn’t wake back up until about 8:00 and then most of the morning would be GONE.

Isn’t it odd how the older you get, the more you hate to waste your mornings in bed?

Anyway, I got up.

First thing I noticed was that our thermometer appeared to be broken. It had been registering the same temperature since yesterday afternoon. Or so it seemed. Every time I looked at it, the darn thing said 31. Until I told Hubby about it. He looked and, of course, the thing said 32. Of course. It’s Monday. A rainy Monday at that.

At least I had some good coffee.

It wasn’t Maui Grown Coffee. That just happened to be my mug of choice this morning.

With my coffee, I had some yummy strawberries.

How is it that the strawberries I have purchased in December and January taste better than the strawberries purchased during the summer? That’s just wrong. They’re from California, too. I think. (I’ll check the label later and if I am wrong, I’ll let you know.)

That’s a very unflattering picture of Meg. It looks like something you’d see on some crazy paranormal show. Although, she was pissed. Either because I wouldn’t give her a bite of strawberry or because K was hogging my lap.

Whatever…

On another note, Amy, our middle child, thinks she found me the perfect frog.

Click on the image and you’ll get views from different angles. She’s even wearing assless leather chaps.

I have to admit, that’s pretty funny. But I have ditched the assless leather chaps for real riding gear. So she won’t work. But thanks for thinking of me, Amy!

And now, since it’s Monday, I have to get to work.

Ugh.

Mother Nature has been teasing us. All winter. If you can call it winter. We’ve hardly had any really cold days, much less measurable frozen precipitation. Of course, those two things are pretty closely related.

Friday night into Saturday, we had a winter weather event. First it snowed. Not much, unfortunately. Then it rained. And it was cold enough that the rain became freezing rain. Which left a densely compacted layer of ice.

Yes, ice.

Yuck.

Snow, I love. Ice? It’s no fun. Just ask my dogs who missed out on both of their walks yesterday and one walk already today. Things are just too slippery.

They’d be fine, of course. It’s me I’m worried about.

Here are some shots of our world, which I took yesterday morning.

The Front Porch

Icy Bush

Our Sidewalk

Another Icy Bush

Clean Street, Icy Sidewalks

Cold Man

Cold, Surprised Lion

This shot is my favorite. I love the expression on the lion’s face. It looks to me like he is saying, “Help! I’m frozen and I can’t get up!”

Warrenton Courthouse

Now THAT Looks Cold

Icy Sidewalk

Accumulated Ice

Icebergs?

Look at the roof of that car to get a better idea of the thickness of the ice.

Frozen Greens

South Sixth Street

Our Driveway

It’s a good thing the streets got plowed. Otherwise, they would have looked like our driveway and I wouldn’t have gone anywhere yesterday.

It’s still cold today, so not much has melted. Tomorrow, it’s supposed to warm up. They say February will be our month for snow. Will we have another Birthday Blizzard maybe? That would be awesome. NOTE: If you follow the Birthday Blizzard link, you should watch the video. It’s one of my all-time favorites.

Then, if you are really bored, you can look at my large collection of pictures from that snow event.