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Weekly Photo Challenge: Convergence II

When functions Converge: When your rain gauge also becomes your thermometer.

(Typical Arkansas fall weather – 15 degrees F two weeks ago, mid-70s today.)

Rain gauge filled with ice.

BRRRRRRRrrrrrr!

More convergences we liked:

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Converge

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge cue is “converge.” The top convergence was most unfortunate. The tree is 70 feet high – give or take a foot or two – so rescue of this remote-controlled plane is unlikely. The bottom shot shows the moon, Mars and Antares somewhat close to converging on a single line back in September.

RC plane in tree.
OUCH – Large remote-controlled plane hangs upside down in a pine tree.
Moon, Mars and Antares line up.
STELLAR/LUNAR — The moon, Mars and Antares line up back in September.
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Autumn subtleties

The Ouachitas’ big autumn show is winding down and the forest is wearing a decidedly more subtle palette these days.

Red dogwood berries beckon birds.
LOOKING UP — The last of the canopy colors at the top of the oaks.
Persimmons are all that’s left on bare branches.
French mulberries stand out against fading hickory leaves.
UNDERSTORY — As fall wore on, the understory color stood out.
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Fall gallery

Gadzooks! We’ve been off WordPress for a month? Here’s a gallery for a little catching up on some of October’s sights.

MAGENTA SKY — Oct. 23, 2014, sunrise was just stunning. No filters, just letting nature speak for herself.
RED. REALLY RED — Sumac backlit on a sunny afternoon. Oct. 25, 2014.
ASTERS — These purple asters were the last to bloom this fall.
ECLIPSE – The lunar eclipse as seen from central Arkansas on Oct. 8, 2014.
BUSY AS A … — Carpenter bee visits a goldenrod spike during a sunny fall day.
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Flights of geese

The Arkansas Delta is part of the Mississippi Flyway, that great highway for migrating fowl. Yesterday, driving through the Delta around sunrise, traffic on the highway was heavy —  filled with huge chevrons of geese winging their way to warmer climes. Arkansas’ rice and sorghum fields and the grain that falls from harvest equipment, are very attractive to the millions of hungry geese and ducks that make Arkansas home for the winter.

Hundreds of geese in flight.
IN FLIGHT — Hundreds of geese stretch across the sky in formation, part of the annual migration southward in the Mississippi Flyway. taken Nov. 15, 2014.
Geese in rice field.
BY THE HUNDREDS — Geese resting in a harvested rice field on U.S. 49 in the Arkansas Delta.
Chevrons of geese against a blue sky.
CONTAILS — Geese against a background of contrails.
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Autumn morning, Arkansas style

We’d wondered over the last few weeks if autumn’s tremendous show would ever come to town and lamented that the color change seemed to be later than in previous years. Some years you can see the trees begin to change as early as August. However, fall finally came through and here’s what we saw before going to work last Thursday. (Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version.)

Fall foliage at sunrise.
COAT OF MANY COLORS — Fall spreads its colors over the Arkansas Ouachitas. Taken Nov. 13, 2014. (pano was stitched from multiple photos)