Monday, January 10, 2011

Yep, it came

Click to enlarge any picture
The snow, I mean. I awoke yesterday morning, Sunday, and saw out my bedroom window that the snow was falling quite heavily. I grabbed my camera so I could take some pictures before the sun had even come up. The flash caused the snowflakes to stand out, but you can see on the upper tree branches that we had at least a couple of inches overnight. After deciding to forgo my usual trip to the Co-op for a latte and a paper to bring home, Smart Guy and I decided to take a walk to the beach to look at our transformed scenery.
Before we even left the front porch, I took this picture of our beautiful apple tree that carries white blossoms in the spring. It looks something like this, but in a way, this was even more ethereal, as well as more transient. Once the wind came up later in the day, all the snow was blown away. It looks like it could be a black-and-white picture except for the red car.
This picture shows the snow and the dock at Squalicum Beach in Bellingham Bay. I debated about lightening it up a little, as the overcast skies and the steel-grey water added little contrast to the white snow, but I decided it was more dramatic just like this. In iPhoto, I can mess with the pictures quite a lot, getting effects to help with the point-and-shoot limitations of my camera.
I used the "enhance" feature to lighten this picture of me taken by Smart Guy. You can see under the dock the beginnings of the clearing sky, and by mid-day it was completely blue. By then the wind had come up, however, and changed the magical look of the trees to their usual mundane bare winter branches. On the way back, our downstairs neighbor suggested I take a look at the circular clothesline in the back yard to capture the amazing effect of the snow:
It almost looks like the prow of a ship, to me. The clotheslines are there for the use of the residents, and some people take advantage of them during the summer, but there weren't any takers today. Except me, that is, who used it to nab a great shot!

Oh, and just for grins, I wonder how many of my readers have ever heard of the word "forwent." When I was getting ready to use the word "forgo" in the first paragraph, I wasn't sure whether there is an "e" after "for" so in looking it up, I discovered the following:

forgo |fôrˈgō| (also forego)
verb ( forgoes ; past forwent ; past part. forgone ) [ trans. ]
omit or decline to take (something pleasant or valuable); go without : she wanted to forgo the dessert and leave while they could.
refrain from : we forgo any comparison between the two men.
ORIGIN Old English forgān (see for- , go 1 ).

Well, you learn something every day! I have used the verb form AND the past participle, but I have never even heard of "forwent" before today.
:-)

22 comments:

  1. Hi DJan,
    Gosh, we forwent the snow and we're only a few miles north of you, just over the border. There, I used it in a sentence, lol. I'd never heard of it either, so thanks for broadening my horizons!
    Seriously, no snow here (yet)!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think you made a wise choice on the pictures you did post. I like all of them. If it is cloudy then I think you should allow that to be a part of the photo. I sometimes take pictures too early or too late and have to give them a boost they didn't get but don't even like to do that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You cannot stay inside where it's warm and safe can you? The world needs people like you to make pictures for this like me, terrified of the stuff. Really nice pictures, especially the clothes line.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the clothesline photo. We're due to get your snow this afternoon and overnight. It's mighty cold, though, so after it's over I might have to say I forwent the photos.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have never heard "forwent" either!!! Too funny!!! Love your snow pics...They are simply SPECTACULAR!!!! So glad I got the itch to get out and about today...and of course, I would never miss seeing you!!! And what a delight I found here!!! Just here to send my love~Janine xo

    ReplyDelete
  6. beautiful pics...ours is supposed to start any time now...but i am afraid we may get more ice than snow..ugh...

    ReplyDelete
  7. We forwent the snow here in SeaTac too; just got some light snow showeres when it was too warm to stick.
    I love the perspective of the dock shot against the dark gray sky!

    ReplyDelete
  8. OH, that's lovely, lovely, lovely...!!! We didn't get any snow here. Arggg... I think it forgot us...! :-(

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful snowy scenes, Jan. I love that photo which you opted not to lighten. It's perfect the way it is. And that clothesline is a piece of art.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I loved the photos. The clothsline is quite interesting. Also, thanks for the grammar lesson for the day!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am never to old to learn something..Thanks! You certainly got some of the white stuff..I really like your clothesline shot..very artsy fartsy! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great shots of the snow! I've just had my trip to the coast from your pictures.
    We learn something everyday but some things are bigger surprises!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love the way you snapped the snow pics and that you learned a new word.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow, you really got the snow !
    I love the way it covered every limb on the tree close to the beach, almost as if it had been painted on.
    Now we have black ice, not near as forgiving as snow to drive on.
    Hmmm, forwent is a new one to me, I always used forgone, Thank you for the lesson :)
    Awesome pictures.
    Jo
    x

    ReplyDelete
  15. There also is a difference in definition between forgo and forego.

    Nice pictures of the snow, DJan!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love that clothesline photo DJan, totally cool. Your area looks alot like ours (well except for the docks in the backgound).

    Forwent, nope haven't heard that word before. I noticed the dictionary passage didn't use it in a sentence either.

    Enjoy your snow, we have a "wintery mix" coming in tomorrow night.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Forego was the only way I knew it was spelled. I learned something new here. You always look great in your pics. The clothesline with snow is a great shot.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Fabulous photos! I love it when it snows. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Our area of Tennessee looks about the same D-Jan and the airport at Atlanta is closed for the rest of the week. I got here JUST IN TIME. Amazing! Snow, snow, snow. It is lovely to look at but terrible to walk on, once it has gone past the first crunchy stage.
    I love your picture of the washing pole and yes, it does look exactly like the prow of a ship.
    Now, I'm going to look for my boots. I hope they still fit me. I don't think I've worn them here since 2006!
    Star, in the deep (snowy) south of the U.S.A.

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a great idea to take a walk in the snow! I think my husband and I will do that the next time that it does snow. I'm not sure which of your pictures I like the best. They are all so good!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Your snow pictures are so pretty. Your post reminded me of my English classes in France – the first thing we had to learn were all the irregular verbs – and there are many. But here in the US they don’t use the irregular verbs as much as they do in England – it is easier to speak English here thankfully.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi there, Gigi sent me over to see your beautiful backdrop. It sure is gorgeous! I love when wet snow clings to everything. Wonderful photos!

    ReplyDelete

I really appreciate your comments! If you see a word verification box here, just ignore it. I don't use the darn thing and Blogger is trying to get us to use it, I guess. Ignore it and your comment will still appear.