Photo 365 Project - Reflections Two

Given the view in this photo is facing North, What's wrong with this picture? That isn't a sun rising on the horizon, its a reflection off a couple buildings appropriately named "Reflections". They are an interesting pair of buildings; their LEED certification (translation: environmentally friendly construction and energy efficient) may explain the highly reflective nature of the curtain-glass walls. I walked into my office at just the right time to catch the sun rising and reflecting at an angle towards me.

Photo 365 Project - New Road

Time to walk back to the former carriage hills golf course and see how things are going. There are well defined roads now, this one goes through the former club house site. It's being built with what I call the Suburban Curve. I think there is a rule that suburban roads cannot be straight, it distinguishes the 'suburbs' from the 'city'. Or something like that.

Photo 365 Project - Ground Fog

Another sign of the changing seasons - Ground Fog! It's hard to get a good picture on the fly. Sure you could stake out the perfect spot (maybe a picturesque golf course), arrive before sunrise and wait for the light to be just right. Or you could be just waiting to turn onto a street after picking up some coffee and snap a picture through the windshield of your car.

Photo 365 Project - Tree Shedding Leaves

We've had an odd fall anomaly in my neighborhood, all the trees were changing colors at once. Usually a few will go early, then the die-hards will follow suit. Not so much this year, but that seems to have passed. The green faded and the tree's true color stood out for a while, now that has faded too and the dry leaves are falling. Without a strong wind you get scenes like this one, a lone tree with its leaves piled underneath and green grass everywhere else. The grass will be the next to go; the green will fade to brown then turn blazing white as it gets buried in snow. Stay tuned for those pictures, perhaps far too soon.

Photo 365 Project - Frosty Leaf

It's getting colder in the North Country. This little leaf caught some frost overnight in the lawn.

Photo 365 Project - Golden Trees

Not quite a yellow brick road, more a golden tree drive (with an amazon man shadow in the street, at this time of year near sunset my shadow is 27 feet long).

Photo 365 Project - Ditto Lawn

If this photo were taken a couple months from now, Ditto Dog would be on a field of white snow.

Photo 365 Project - New Street View

Looking closely between the bulldozer and dump truck you can see a line of sticks with pink flags and fire hydrants. That, my friends, is a future road through what used to be a golf course.

Photo 365 Project - Crops Are In

In June I took a picture of this area as a freshly planted field. I was thinking I'd get back during growing season, taking pictures as the field grew. Summer was busy, including a trip to a farmers market where these kinds of crops get sold. Here we are in the fall, some of the crops have been harvested but there's still more coming in.

Photo 365 Project - Renaissance Fair

It was time for the annual Renaissance Fair picture. Each year I take one outside the main entrance. This particular Reni Fair is outside the Twin Cities. It was started in 1971, making it one of the oldest and largest in the United States. But what does Wikipedia know? What I know is its big. Permanent buildings and performance spaces make for a well attended six-weekend event where people party like its 1499.

Photo 365 Project - What $11 billion buys

Just in case you were wondering what could be done with a little over $11 billion dollars, I give you City Center, Las Vegas. It covers 76 acres, and was originally estimated to cost $4 billion (whoops, I thought my estimates were sometimes off). Multiple towers are connected by walkways inside and out, bringing the 2,400 condo units, 4,800 hotel rooms, unknown number of stores, resturants, and theaters into a "cohesive" complex that is more like a city unto itself than simply a construction project. Bisected by a tram system, the whole thing is a marvel. If you're into engineering and architecture, it is a must see. FYI, the Veer tower on the right in the photo above (actually a pair of towers, only one is visible in the picture above) appear to be leaning not because of sloppy camera work...they actually are leaning.

Photo 365 Project - A Desert Scene?

Yes, this picture was taken in the desert. Tera formed, manipulated, energized, paved, air conditioned, and altered in every way imaginable- desert. At the south end of the Las Vegas Strip sits Mandalay Bay, and at the East entrance to the resort is this little bit of "take me away from it all". Nicely done, I hardly believed I was where my GPS claimed me to be.

Photo 365 Project - Starbucks Wall

While on a couple days off from work to attend a wedding in Las Vegas this wall painting caught my eye. I was grabbing some coffee at a Starbucks between the Monte Carlo and City Center to get the day started. The quote, very appropriate for a vacation destination (and hard to read the top line in the photo) says:

"Vacation Days, fall leaves, playing hooky, the first page of a book, writing all about it, a moment alone, a gathering of friends, a cup, a sip a sigh."

Photo 365 Project - Bellagio Conservatory

A few hours after a getting off a flight to Las Vegas, I saw this scene in the Bellagio. Interestingly enough, this exhibit at the conservatory was being removed a few nights later as I walked back through the same area. The summer theme with giant butterflies, water cans, and ants had reached the end of it's run.

I know, it is wholly inadequate in terms of a picture of the day given the events of 9/11 in 2001. A couple days later I walked by the memorial outside of the New York, New York resort and noticed a brass plaque with the following quote, a little more appropriate for the day.

"Tomorrow New York is going to be here and we're going to rebuild, and we're going to be stronger than we were before...I want the people of New York to be an example to the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, that terrorism can't stop us."

-- Rudolph Giuliani

Photo 365 Project - State Fair Steichen's

Tucked away in a back alley at the State Fair is a small convenience store. Steichen's has been at the fair for a long time (zoom in on the picture and note the sign above the door proclaiming "over 75 years at the fair"), and I'm sure most of the 1.7 million people that visited the fair this year have no idea where it is. Their loss, this bit of Americana is classic.

Photo 365 Project - State Fair Bike Air

This was the 10th year The 3rd Lair has had a bike/board demo at the State Fair.

Photo 365 Project - Ditto Face 2.0

The cat has been in several picture of the day posts, it is time the dog got some more face time.

Photo 365 Project - Street Light

As we slip into the end of summer the sun is setting earlier. Walking the dog after work I noticed a sight I haven't seen for quite a while; street lights coming on early. It was tough to get a picture with my phone, this one was as good as it got and it still looks like a picture of the sun shining through a tree.

Photo 365 Project - Traffic Jam

Time for our annual company golf event. The post-golf dinner happened to be south of the office and timed to coincide with people leaving the city. It was a very nice day.

Photo 365 Project - Apple Crop

It's been a good growing season for apples; plenty of rain and sunshine. It was tough getting a picture of a tree full of apples, a rough shot for picture of the day.