Since the Carl Sandburg poem “The Fog” is one of my all-time favorites, my reappropriation of the line of this title for frost is an intentional homage and not a misquote. The frost which blanketed the Bismarck-Mandan area this morning was a result of the fog rolling in anyway. I saw the thick haze in the air Sunday night and knew Monday morning would be a treat.
I had an early meeting which prevented me from running around with my cameras in the morning, but I took a long lunch to grab a variety of frosty photos. Here are two of my favorites, but I have many, many more to share over the next few days.
Oh, and those little cat feet have sauntered into town again tonight, meaning we’ve got more of the same for Tuesday…
I ventured out to Double Ditch tonight for a number of reasons, but one of them was to see if it was still blocked off for construction purposes. Thankfully one can now drive in on the north road, although the walking path heading south to the stone hut is still marked as closed due to construction.
The ice was melted in spots, and definitely had its share of dirt blown into it. In fact, it was pretty breezy tonight, too. But I got some cool shots, satisfied my curiosity, and headed home to thaw my fingers.
Oh yeah – one of the other reasons I was out there was to check on my favorite post. It’s still hanging in there, I’m glad to report, despite the continuous bank erosion. I remember being able to walk around this post on the left side, although the land to the north of the fence is posted. That part of the bank has been down below for a long time. That’s some sturdy barbed wire holding this thing in place!
One thing I didn’t notice in the first photo is the developing clouds on the horizon. For a better view of those you’ll have to check out the header on my blog’s Facebook page.
There was one perfectly foggy morning this summer where I was roaming northeast of Bismarck and got plenty of really cool shots. As the sun came up and began to burn of the fog, this was one spot where it was still clinging to anything that could be loosely construed as a valley.
Still more fall colors. I’m actually astonished at how many nice autumn photos I have…in fact, this is my best year ever!
The river valley has been breathtaking this year. I have had friends comment that the cottonwoods haven’t given this kind of color in years, perhaps due to fungus or other issues, possibly even going back to the flood.
Fall in North Dakota is always a gamble; some years we get an early frost and the leaves drop while still green. Other years we get nice fall colors…for a day. This year, despite a couple of days of punishing wind, things have held on and provided lots of enjoyment.
An instructor once told me, while demonstrating part of the parachute rig on the standard issue Army F-4 pilot flight suit, that “if you eject and land in a tree in North Dakota, you deserve to die.” We don’t have the expansive forests some states enjoy, but the trees we do have sure put on a show this year. The skies helped, too.
Am I done with fall photos? I think I still have a few. I’ll share them here, and then I’ll work backwards. I’m pleased to report that, in addition to a plentiful autumn photo harvest, this has been a very fruitful summer for me in that regard as well! I’ve spent my time taking them, and will have all winter this year to steadily post new ones as I find time to process them.
I had to run several errands today, and being out in the smoke from wildfires in Canada, Montana, and other points west caused me to begin developing a headache pretty quickly. I decided to knock off a little early and lie down at home to ditch my discomfort, but on the way I drove to the capitol for a few minutes to grab some shots for posterity’s sake. For the title of this post I couldn’t help but take you back to 1977 and a little Sanford & Townsend. Here are the resulting images:
Let’s start off with a shot straight south over the mall. The horizon fades off pretty quickly.
Looking west over the DOT building, same deal. I can’t see past the east hill of Bismarck.
Looking north is pretty much the same. The big tower next to Dakota Carrier Network is obscured.
Looking out over the legislative wing, even “Harvard on the Hill” (my affectionate name for Bismarck Junior State College) is fading away in the haze of smoke.
For a while the sun seemed to blaze, so it may have emerged from behind a cloud up above all the smoke below. So these shots have a far different tone to them. Here’s looking northwest toward MDU’s corporate campus.
Normally you’d be able to see Bismarck Airport looking southeast like this. Not today.
See the Missouri River? Just barely, past the cathedral. This view got more obscured as time passed.
Looking over toward the no longer functional water tower near Tower Avenue. It isn’t actually on Tower Avenue; it’s on the south side of that block, technically on Avenue F.
The Energy Center of Excellence building, one of Bismarck’s finest, is the last thing you’ll see before the horizon goes white.
Just a fleeting glimpse of the river as we zoom in past the water tower. The smoke really seemed to pack in between the trees.
Looking south, one could barely make out Kirkwood Plaza, Kirkwood Mall, whatever you prefer. Even the Kirkwood Tower was only slightly visible.
Hopefully the people fighting these fires, and who have been fighting them for a long time, get victory with a little help from some precipitation in the next few days. We’ll be beneficiaries as well – this smoke is a health hazard as well as an eyesore. No, really, it does make your eyes sore. Here’s the song reference for the post title:
Here are a couple more shots from Friday, when I didn’t let the haze of smoke from fires in Montana, Canada, et cetera get in the way of a great photo day. I’m actually starting to like the drab background it provides, without any cloud distractions and the change to the color cast of the light in the foreground.
Take this shot, for example. I was going to post it later on its own with something about “leaning” in the title, but it is actually a great example of the diffused light provided by the haze. And, just like a previous photo, the color of the otherwise drab building stands out against the gray background better than a brilliant September blue.
More to come! I went out thinking the light was giong to kill any chance of good photos but came home with a whole pack of candidates.
Oh yeah…the post title comes from this dreamy song by Walls… a wonderful little instrumental track just perfect for roaming the North Dakota countryside.
This was actually my first photo of the morning last Sunday when I went out before church to chase the dense fog. I’d been watching the data and was certain that we’d have a thick blanket of fog in the morning, and I was right. It was fantastic!
I suppose you could attribute inspiration for the post title to a song if you prefer. My iPod has been serving up some wild 80s stuff lately, such as the Bats, Stranglers, Daysleepers, Severed Heads, and the like, so why not a little Robert Scott?
As the old poem goes, the fog comes on little cat feet. The hail on June 9th, 2001, however…well, that came in its own indescribable fashion. The most noteworthy memory of this is the two underpasses on 7th and 9th Streets filling up with ice and water. I was at a friend’s house that evening and remember walking to Thayer Avenue just east of St. Alexius to watch the city clearing chest-high piles of hail stones with a payloader and grader!
In the process of going through old motorcycle racing video tapes last week I found the footage of this event, footage I had presumed lost. This was before I was into photography or videography, so even though I had a digital camcorder at the time I did not have a steady hand. But shaky amateur footage is better than none, right? Have a look:
Click on the YouTube logo to view in a larger window
it was over ninety degrees out that evening, so once all the hail fell it began to melt and give off steam. That’s why it seems so dark and foggy, it was a sauna outside. My camera gave multiple high humidity warnings before actually shutting down to protect itself. 12th Street was half river, half avalanche for the duration of this storm. It was unbelievable. The hail piled up in a low spot at 12th Street and Thayer Avenue, forcing the city to bring in heavy equipment and dig/plow it out. . The clouds were incredible. And the underpasses needed to be dug out and cleared by that same sort of heavy machinery.
A couple of nights ago I saw these really wild clouds east of town, and had to snap a photo once I got home. They remind me of jellyfish in a way…tendrils hanging down and all that. Or perhaps something from a science fiction feature?
These reminded me of birds, perhaps blue jays. I got home just in time to catch some golden light reflecting off the clouds, so they looked even more dramatic.
Work and stuff is so chaotic right now that I haven’t had much time to chase any sunrises or sunsets, so to catch these clouds at such an opportune time was a really nice break!
Since the Carl Sandburg poem “The Fog” is one of my all-time favorites, my reappropriation of the line of this title for frost is an intentional homage and not a misquote. The frost which blanketed the Bismarck-Mandan area this morning was a result of the fog rolling in anyway. I saw the thick haze in the air Sunday night and knew Monday morning would be a treat.
I had an early meeting which prevented me from running around with my cameras in the morning, but I took a long lunch to grab a variety of frosty photos. Here are two of my favorites, but I have many, many more to share over the next few days.
