The Moon Through The Trees

It's time once again for a nighttime adventure, especially since I kind of like going out at night right now. I haven't been taking Isabella for many nighttime walks ever since those orbs showed up. No, it's not that I was frightened away. It's because she likes being out there on her chain, and I have gotten lazy.

But this time when I let her out on the chain I saw something very interesting peeking at me through the trees. It may look like the biggest brightest mysterious orb you've ever seen, but it's really the Moon, and it really was crescent shaped.

I know it doesn't look exactly crescent shaped in these pictures, but that's because the focus is on the tree. I tried to get some good Mooon pictures a little while later, but for some reason the manual settings that I normally use for that didn't work at all this time. And then the clouds came to hide the moon for the rest of the night. I hate when that happens!

You should be able to see a smaller dot below the Moon in these next two pictures. I'm pretty sure it's the planet Venus. I've tried to get planets and stars on camera before, but this is the first time I've had much success. Hooray!

The whole time I was doing this I was also trying to lure Isabell back into the house. It's not that she had been out there for a long time, but she was watching something in the darkness much too intensely.

The other reason I was trying to get her to come in was because of a struggle of wills between us. Isabella still has a strong habit of not coming when she is called. She does this completely on purpose. I know, I've checked. I've been teaching her to be a proper dog, but it's taking time. She's big and she's smart, and she thinks she's too big and too smart.

And here we are approaching the end of this post. The same Moon shines, and the same wind blows. And I'm still out here trying to get this dog to come to me. It works only if I yell at her, but I don't want to do that. I'll let her stay out for a little while longer. I'll take more pictures ofthe night sky.

And my thoughts wander...

So, did you get a chance to go over to Nature Center Magazine and take a look at our Latest News feed? It's really good. We update it several times a day with the very best nature news from around the web. This is very interesting stuff. You already missed a story detailing why your yummy, buttery popcorn smells like a bearcat's butt, and a more serious story telling about a recent near miss the Earth had with an asteroid. Kind of scary. Go take a look. It's free. It's short. And it's very interesting.

And back to this post...

I finally came back into the house to look at my new Moon pictures. Soon there was a scratching at the door. It was Isabella wanting back in. I let her wait for a few minutes. If she wouldn't come when I called her then she was going to have to learn. I eventually got up and let her back in, and now she is lying behind me fast asleep. Good dog, Isabella.


Nature Center Magazine - Your starting place for nature!

A New Day

I got up this morning with the sunrise. My intention was to be outside when the birds were around. I heard them as soon as I opened my front door. But did I see them? That was the number one question. The answer was not good. The birds were all hiding in the pine trees around here, and they only came out to dart to the next tree.

The hiding birds only slowed me down a little bit though, because nature isn't just about birds or any other animal. Nature is everything. Everything we see all around us is part of nature. Mostly we think of the things outside as nature, so I set out to find some other aspects of nature.

I didn't know what would turn up, but then I looked to the east. It was the rising Sun! I hesitated to point the camera right at the Sun, but I never have taken a picture of the sunrise so I took a chance. These pictures are what I got out of it. Maybe not quite as spectacular as some of the sunsets I've gotten recently, but these are pretty good for my first sunrise pictures.

I have some Nature Center Magazine news to share with you. We made a few changes to make the site even better. We have added a Latest News section on the sidebar where we bring you the best current nature headlines from around the internet all in one place. This is usually updated several times a day, so if you like to read the best nature articles you'll want to take a look. There are a few other additions as well, with even more to come.

I guess I should also mention my new story over at Rat Tales. This may be my best story ever. It is done from the point of view of a person who is dying. Death may not seem like it can have a happy ending, but this story has one. Read this one so you can say you were one of the first when the movie comes out.

So it really is a new day on all three of my sites today. Every new day is a progression on our journey. I hope each day has something new and special for us all to discover. 


Nature Center Magazine - What happens when one person teases an African bullfrog with a cellphone? You'll have to watch our Cool Nature Video to find out!