Where do you live & what's happening there

[robichon]

Hi to all my forum friends. I thought it would be fun to add a new discussion NOT about art - but as a way to get to know each other better. Adding photos is encouraged. Many members live around the world, and I’m interested in hearing more about that. So let me start to show you what I’m thinking:

I live in the United States in west-central Minnesota. Yesterday was Friday, March 14, 2025 and the day started very early for me. At 2:00am I was sitting in the middle of the driveway, camera on a tripod and taking photos of the Blood Moon / Lunar Eclipse. It had been cloudy all day but cleared up just before the big event. Temperatures were in the mid 30’s (Fahrenheit).

Later that day, in the afternoon it was 71 degrees and my husband and I were sitting on the deck having a drink. The lake where I live is still ice covered but there is no snow anywhere.

On the evening of March 14 to 15th it poured all night. The rain is much needed because of our unusually mild winter.

When I woke up on Saturday morning the temperature had dropped 48 degrees from the previous afternoon. It was now 23 degrees. The ground is snow covered once again and there are blizzard warnings in the neighboring areas.

This week was the first time this year that the Robin, a very common bird in our area, showed up wondering what the heck is happening. After all, March 20th is supposed to be the first day of spring.

I sure hope others share what it is like where you live, and stop back here from time to time to let us know what is going on in your part of the world. And it is even possible that photos that are shared here might be great references for future artwork.

Terri (with 2 R’s) Robichon

[Meme5]

Terri w2r,

This is a perfect way to share daily things we might all enjoy or have in common.
For starters, your pictures are beautiful. I will definitely take you on using some of those as a reference.
These are a couple of my own pictures taken with my iphone.

[robichon]

Hi Sonia @Meme5

I gotta say I love the green grass and purple bench. Thanks for playing along.

Terri with 2Rs

[Meme5]

Limited photographic skills bu sharing random pictures of my small town

[Meme5]

Same place, different day……

@robichon

(post deleted by author)

[robichon]

Hi Sonia

Simply beautiful. I thrive in rural environments.

Terri w2Rs

[lenetg137]

Hello all,

Interesting topic Terri. So down in Texas (Crandall, which is 25 miles southeast of Dallas), we just experienced some showers amidst dust storms the last few days. Now everyone’s cars look like this and obviously the car wash places are currently overly crowded. Thankfully, the sun is now out and 68 degrees here. If it was not obvious both vehicles were black. Not necessarily a future artwork piece, but thought I’d share.

Lenet

[robichon]

Thanks @lenetg137

My car looks like that all the time because I live on a gravel road. I don’t even try to keep my car clean, but it used to drive my dad crazy.

Terri

[Meme5]

Lenet @lenetg137

No wander we can see a tan colored haze to the west of us! I live at the farthermost east of Dallas bordering Louisiana. I could see the dust from here, I guess. It didn’t quite reach here, but the pollen is about to make our cars look just like that or worse except it will be pollen

Sonia Alonzo

[lenetg137]

Hello Sonia @Meme5 , no sense in cleaning it because we are supposed to get more over next couple of days, along with more 60 mph wind gusts. By the way, where are you located in Texas? Are you as far out as Marshall or Wascom, or farther north or south? Just curious.

Lenet

[Meme5]

Lenet @lenetg137

I live in Marshall

Sonia Alonzo

[lenetg137]

Sonia @Meme5, we will be passing through there on Friday, headed to Shreveport. My oldest daughter asked us to come by to be with them as she is getting her notification of where she will be doing her medical residency for the next few years. We will honk and wave as we pass through, lol .

Lenet

[robichon]

I think this will be a good subject. Finding common ground that we wouldn’t normally know about.

Terri with 2Rs

[Meme5]

Lenet @lenetg137

Well, there you go! I’ll send back a congratulatory honk for you and your daughter as your family screams in amazement!!

Sonia Alonzo

[Meme5]

Terri w2r @robichon

We seem to share dusty AKA dirty cars haha

Sonia

[TLP]

Hello everyone,

This is fun! I live in Asheville NC USA. We are still reeling from the effects of Helene which came through in September. Still buying water for everything. so somewhat exhausted.

We have had some beautiful sunny days in the 60’s and 70’s F; in the day time and in the 30’s at night.

Where I live we are nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains and just a few minutes to drive down the parkway. There are still areas around Asheville that it is difficult moving around but roads are slowly being restored. The bridges, around 80, are still damaged.

Asheville has become very diverse and at times is called the east coast San Francisco. Having worked for a few years in SF, CA I can see why people say that. Both are very diverse.

Asheville leans toward the arts of all types. This is one of the areas that completed destroyed but people are helping to clean up and hopeful find artwork that can be salvaged. In a past life I would be downtown helping as I can but now due to Lyme Disease Complex I can watch from a distance.

I would upload pictures of recent pictures of this area but I can not upload from my phone at this time. I guess my phone isn’t as smart as promoted - lol!

I do have a couple older pictures of the area near where I live.

Also I don’t receive notices anymore so miss out on threads but will try to be more attentive.

Terri (with 2r’s), thank you for starting this thread. I hope that more people will jump in for the journey around the world.

This is artwork from a picture I took when driving through downtown Asheville last year. I liked how the light bounced off the glass reflecting the trees.

This is a picture from my bedroom window.

Clouds near the apartments I live in. I am practicing clouds because I find them quite difficult.

This is the apartment building where I live.

Terri, your picture of the lunar eclipse/blood moon is really nice, the robin too! It seems like your weather goes up and down like ours does here, just on a colder scale.

Sonia, I enjoy seeing pictures of western Texas. I lived in El Paso a while before going to Central America. Were you affect by the dust storms too? I hope not.

Lenet, I was thinking of all our TX friends when I saw images of semis and buses flipping over in the dusty winds. I am glad that you are okay. Have the other storms moved through yet? Stay safe!

Teri (with 1r)

[Meme5]

Hello Teri w1r!,

It’s good to heat from you, so glad you’re doing well considering the Asheville circumstances even if improving to a degree.
Although I am originally from Farthermost West Texas, El paso, I now live (for 30 something years) in farthermost East Texas in Marshall. My family is dealing with the sand storms, even though sand and wind storms are a normal occurrence during this months of the year, seems like this year the sandblasting is really hurting lol. Not so funny, but I sure remember the painful sting of the sand!
I also love clouds, which is my favorite picture of yours!

Sonia

[robichon]

Hi Teri with 1r @TLP

I was so hoping you would respond to this topic. I’m sad that the struggle for something as basic as access to clean water has not yet been resolved. I think about you and this situation often.

The pictures you provided are wonderful and show me a part of your world that I haven’t seen before. I really love the artwork based on the beautiful building in Asheville. It’s my favorite, even though I like all of them.

Stay strong and let W know I’m grateful for all he does for you.

Terri w2Rs

[aranck1234]

The dust got carried up to Virginia too. We couldn’t figure out why our cars were suddenly so dusty after a rain shower, and then someone said it was from the dust storms in Texas!

[1kidneyJD]

The view from the backyard.
James from Covina Ca