Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving is when the Christmas rush begins. Shopping kicks into high gear and the Malls and Big Box stores have their big sales. Parking is at a premium and in some cases, take a lot of patience just to find a spot to leave your car.

So why do they call it Black Friday? My wife had a suggestion... it's the day the retailers get out of the red and back in the black.

What does this mean?

You see this kind of stuff a lot on bridges and concrete walls. Graffiti has been with us for a long time and much of it is really trash... but some is obviously done by someone with some artistic talent and sense of design. But I never see a message or know what it means.

So I did some research and found out there is world-wide interest in the art form. There are many web pages devoted to this form of expression. That it is closely related to breaking (don't say breakdancing if you are cool!). And also sometimes associated with identifying gang turf.

This railroad overpass has several examples of the art form, and although many see the graffiti as vandalism or an eyesore, to me it adds a visual element to an otherwise drab structure.

Bird food

I am not sure what kind of tree this is, or what those berries are but it is late fall, the fruit is still on the branch and I bet these bright red orbs will provide sustenance to the birds during the cold winter season. Those birds that stay through the winter often have a hard time finding food, and trees like this must aid their survival.

Deep freeze

Last night it was in the 20's and we woke to see lots of frost. It almost looked like snow it was so white. On close inspection you can really see the tiny ice crystals (click the photo for an enlarged view). It will get up into the 50's today so the frost will not last long.

Drive in the dark

We are now loosing 2 - 3 minutes of daylight every 24 hours. It doesn't seem like much at first but then you think in 10 days that is about a half hour... in 20 days it is nearly a full hour. I now find my drive home from work a drive in the dark. And soon my drive in will be the same.

This presents new challenges because my photo opportunities are generally morning drive in, and drive home. Sure photos can be made without daylight but it does put limits on what is possible.

I look forward to returning to longer days, but that will not be for a while.

Empty branches

Not so many posts ago I wrote of the arrival of autumn, and now nearly all the trees have discarded their fall colors and have only empty branches. Those energy producing leaves are gone, and the tree is transitioned to a state of quiet until spring resolves to return.

Mystery photo take 2

So maybe this will become a regular feature. But then again, these are not too hard either. So what is this? Care to guess?