We Might Dodge a Bullet - A House, A Hubble and A Hoot

The snowstorm that has my city under Weather Watch seems to be tracking north of us now, and has almost passed. The next storm is west of us, back at Rapid City, South Dakota and if we're lucky, that one will scoot just south of us. I'm totally crossing my fingers that we might escape this storm track with just fingers of threat instead of shovels of wet, heavy snow. The weather person, however, is saying that we'll get an overnight snow of about four inches. If so, I'll have to shovel tomorrow *sigh*.

This pic of my father-by-marriage's house for sale was just after the first
little snow of last fall. The drifts and piles are as tall as that bush on the left
now. It's a cute little house that has a great main level. I'd be redoing the
upstairs and downstairs, but the main level is immediately usable. 

I had a house showing request for tonight from 8:45 pm until 9:45 pm. I turned it down. Really, I mean, REALLY? A showing ending at almost 10:00 pm? I realize that many of you are night owls and that this time frame wouldn't be unreasonable for you at all, and I also realize that work schedules could mandate that type of schedule, but we have to go over to the house after the Realtor has ended the showing and make sure that the doors are properly closed or opened and that everything is intact. I don't want to be going over there at 10:00 pm. So hopefully they will reschedule for a different day/time that will be more suited to my schedule.

This is one of the spotlighted photos celebrating Hubble Telescope's 24th
anniversary. Yes - our lives have been enriched and expanded by Hubble
for the past 24 years. This is a part of the Monkey Head Nebula in infrared.
So beautiful! 

We're so fortunate that we live in these times when the universe is brought into our homes in such fabulous pictures. Check out the latest Hubble picture, one of several released celebrating Hubble's 24th anniversary. While not as spectacular as the Eagle Nebula, this new picture of a part of the Monkey Head Nebula in infrared is stunning. I love the way the various Hubble photographs over the years have allowed my imagination to fly farther than ever before.

This lovely oil painting by Christopher Smith is entitled Morning Watch -
Barred Owl. It has a lovely and evocative feeling of a foggy morning that I felt
reflected our winter cold. Prints are available if you are interested, just follow the link. 

I had a lovely wake-up this morning - an owl hooting from a tree outside of my window for about 15 minutes earlier this morning (probably around 4:00 am or so). It was such a joy to listen to the hoots ringing out, and knowing that I have such a fabulous raptor living in my general area makes me very happy.

Here is a lovely photograph of a barred owl in a tree by Stephen L Tabone. 

Have a great Tuesday.