I'm back. Did you miss me? Well. That Polar Vortex of a winter we had just about did me in. I do believe all my cognitive function was frozen, rendering me into a state of hibernation. I mean, unless you are a Polar Bear, one can only take so much of the cold…ice…snow…bleak...grey winter. This Texan has had enough. And then, day by passing day, there would be little hints of spring: It's not going to snow today-hooray! It didn't get into the single digits last night…yippee! Hey-- I actually left the house without needing to wear a coat…joy! You start to notice the sun setting later and later with each passing day. You recognize the cheerful chorus of birds singing from the trees above. Along with that lovely musical chorus comes the daily deposit of bird poop on your windshield…but hey, I'll gladly take that over snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Suddenly you notice lush new green grass springing up through the deadness of winter. Plants and trees are all slowly awakening to make their colorful spring debut. And I will tell you that I have never seen such a welcome sight in my life. Hallelujah!
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| Spring... |
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| Has... |
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| Sprung!!! |
Gorgeous yellow Dandelions are sprouting up everywhere. And driving around town you see the Cherry Blossoms and Plum Blossoms in all their glory--beautiful white flowers and various shades of vivid pink-gorgeous!
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| A colorful Forsythia bush springs to life |
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| Nothing says spring like lovely, fragrant Hyacinth blooms…and the Easter Bunny, of course! |
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| Vivid bursts of spring color every where |
We've had such great weather lately with temperatures in the 60's and 70's
and sunny clear blue skies that everyone just wants to be outside to soak it all in.
I ventured to the Capitol recently to get some shots.
So there I am strolling along when I hear the roar of a plane flying overhead. I gaze up to the sky and lo and behold, there flies a C-130….pretty cool!
The grounds of the Capitol are budding with white, pink and purple blooms and pops of colorful flowers, but a lot of the Walnut and Beech trees are just starting to bud with new growth.
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| Gorgeous spring blossoms |
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| A dramatic shot of Ol' Abe with Capitol dome in the background |
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I don't know the name of this one, but it's pretty
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And then as I was getting ready to leave, I decided to take a few shots of the Capitol dome with my 55-300 mm lens. As you can see, it makes for an eye catching subject against the backdrop of the blue sky. This 293 foot gold dome is actually 5 feet higher than the dome of the U.S. Capitol. The entire dome is gilded in 23 1/2 karat gold leaf applied to the copper and lead roof in tiny 3 3/8 inch squares.
Beautiful detail!
So there you have it. Some cheerful "spring-y" photos to brighten your day and a few Capitol facts.
Happy Spring, Y'all!!!
