Winter evening on the pond

Greene County, Virginia 

Sunday afternoon I spent a couple of hours out and about with the camera. I was on my way home in the last of the afternoon light when I spotted these Canada geese on a pond with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background. It was a peaceful scene, touched by the setting winter sun.

Taking flight

Greene County, Virginia 

Dove down

"What's that patch of gray under the cedar tree?" my wife asked me one morning last week.

We were standing on the deck in the cold December air. This fall and winter has been very wet and I thought perhaps the gray might be some kind of fungus, but later I knelt beneath the cedar and found the remains of a dove. There was nothing left but the feathers.

The dove may have been taken by an owl. We have seen a screech owl around the neighborhood, and the modus operandi suggests an owl predator. Owls eat birds bones and all, leaving only the feathers.

I felt a little sad for the dove who met an untimely death under my cedar tree. But the owl has to eat too, and I was glad for the owl's supper on a cold night. The feathers will be gone soon, scattered by the wind. Perhaps a thrifty wren will line her nest with dove down. Life goes on.

Coupe DeVille's Restaurant

Charlottesville, Virginia 

Winter fog 2

Greene County, Virginia 

The Pigeon Hole

Charlottesville, Virginia 

On New Year's Eve my wife and I drove into Charlottesville for a visit to a couple of used bookstores located on "the corner" just off the campus of the University of Virginia. While my wife was looking, I walked down the street to get a cup of coffee and took a picture of this bright blue house, which now houses a restaurant.

Winter fog

Greene County, Virginia 

Happy New Year and thanks for reading Photography In Place. I hope you will visit often in 2012. We publish a new post at 7 a.m. each day Monday through Friday with an occasional post on the weekend.

The holidays have been quiet here in central Virginia, with mild weather and lots of rain. The photo above was taken on a rainy and foggy day last week just before dark. Fog moved in late in the afternoon and by twilight visibility was down to a couple of hundred yards. Winter will be around for a while.

Have a happy and safe 2012.