Whew... made it to the end of the alphabet. I was about to abandon all hope at about U, but persevered. Yesterday was a real stumper. How to mate "Z" with a viewpoint. Zebras, Zippers and ZigZag, just seemed too predictable. As I drove around, I noticed (for the millionth time) this sign near us. I realized that it is the zenith statement on my viewpoint of life (most days, anyway) and also thought it was a nice way to wrap up the alphabet.

So even though it was -2F and my fingers froze as I snapped this one - and almost face-planted into a snow drift - say it with me "LIFE IS GOOD"

I went to the yarn store to do "Y" + viewpoint of yarn, but ho hum... hard to do a new look at yarn.
Driving home I noticed that springtime "yuk" that only those of us that live in the snow belt know; That combo of melting snow, salt, sand and carnage that lines the sidewalks and streets about now.

I decided to take a "new viewpoint" about this "yuk" and found some true beauty in the small sculptures, the colors and the phantom patterns left behind. Above,  I found a dancing person in the melting snow! Below a bit of life on a stick on the left and, on the right, the patterns and textures left from the salt and melting banks of snow. Enjoy, and more importantly, look for the beauty in this waning (hopefully!) winter yuk.

This was a desperate day! Not only was I on the "dreaded X" but also never left the house! So it seemed that if I mixed that with the theme of Viewpoint, maybe I should do an "x-treme selfie!"

So twirled the camera phone around, and "found the light" (Tyra would be proud) and clicked away... a little help from PicMonkey, and now on to "Y"!

I have taken many photos of the winter landscape this year, but decided to look at it from a more intimate viewpoint this time!  Up close and personal for this viewpoint challenge.

The lower photo is two viewpoints combined. It is a picture of the trail tunnel; shot so the entrance was totally blown out with light, then the snowmobile and trees were added in as a composite photo.
I must say, I am happy with how this turned out!

The challenge has changed again... and oddly enough it changed to Viewpoint on "V" day!

The one on the right, was taken at breakfast with our British friends, where we discussed our differing viewpoints on the proper spread for breakfast toast!

The lower photo is a portrait of my husband from the viewpoint of looking away from him, and seeing his reflection in the car window. (with the added benefit of the cow's unique viewpoint!)

This is the last day of the transport part of the challenge and the day for "U' in the alphabet challenge, and I am a bit short of ideas! It occurs to me that there are many "U"nits of measurement related to transportation. So this photos has MPHs, Gallons, Temperature, and GPS coordinates all represented. How is that?

I actually took two photos (one of the dashboard and one of out the window) and then merged and manipulated them in Gimp.

The combination of the transportation and alphabet challenges continue, and so today "S" is for the Seasonal Snow Sports and how one gets transported.
There are the skis and snowboards, for sure (and for more photos of those go to my blog page for today), but there are also the two modes of getting to the top of the hill.

This shot is of the skiers rope tow that is on the "bunny hill" This was a very patient man and a very scared little girl!

The lower picture is the chair lift. Not too busy today, but the steel skeleton made for a nice photo, with the couple of skiers in it.

While rocking horses may not go far, they can transport us everywhere! So "R" + transport = rocking horse!

This is Landon with his rocking horse (since used by both Finn and Liam)

Below is "Buttermilk" - made for me by my father. She and I rode the plains of the west together while watching Saturday AM shows like My Friend Flicka, Sky King, Roy Rogers, Lone Ranger, Cisco Kid.....

Trivia for you:
"Buttermilk" was the name of Dale Evans' horse, too.

Trying to find a "Q" to go with transport was a bit iffy... but then I remembered the "Quarter century" (+or-) toys in the basement! I am saving these to grace a Christmas tree some day, but thought I would break them out to share today.

I can not even guess how many hours these have been played with; some Landon, some Brian, some both! This is only part of the fleet... and then there are the Thomas trains (may make an appearance on "T" day). These first are my "official" two photos, but had to add the collage at the bottom, because this would not be complete without the Wiener Mobile and Bat Mobile being showcased!

Combining the alphabet and transport challenges is at times daunting, but not today! With these guys making almost daily appearances lately, it was a no-brainer to showcase snow "P"lows today!

These were at the County garage down the road from us. I had the added benefit of meeting two very nice sheriffs who were gassing up their vehicles while I was there. They were a bit curious about my attention to the plows - but very understanding!

The group changed the theme again -
this time to transport(ation).

I am not ready to give up the alphabet yet, so here they go for today. A"O"pen door at the car wash and a tire "O".

Went cruising the streets of Mount Horeb last night to find some "Night People". Got my first review (see the first picture) and got questioned by someone else... all and all, discovered people are far more paranoid about being photographed at night than during the day! (could have something to do with the flashing focus light on the camera!)

(Above) This guy was either commenting on my photography or checking for a sliver in his finger... I went inside to assure them I was not a detective or bounty hunter, and he and his two lady friends were very nice!

(Below) Sometimes it pays to be lucky. I didn't notice the headlight spotlighting the milk jug and the "dairy" sign until I downloaded this one.

Hot night at Micky Ds!

Continuing with my alphabet and people week... here is my friendly mail guy (taken with my phone) and the Costco meat guy (taken with my camera) Both edited in PicMonkey.

... Evidently also for "l"ong pictures! The electricity went out at Costco for a while, so the lines got long and slow! Meanwhile at Barnes and Nobles, people were lounging in the balcony...

Top take and cropped, bottom taken with panorama settings.

My "Alphabet people" today are from the knit shop in the next town over. Wonderful people meet there for camaraderie, coffee, advice - knitting and otherwise - and just to sit.

Thanks to these lovely people for letting me disturb them! 

The 365 group changed the theme for this week from "Alphabet" to "People". I am not ready to give up on the alphabet, so I decided to combine the two themes.

So here is an "Ice Fisherman" at Stewart park in Mt. Horeb, and an "Information Gatherer" at the library, and a variation on each (because I can't make decisions today!)

I took the hard way to get these (U-turn on the highway and down a private drive) but the easy way to shoot them (auto settings, sitting in my car!) It was very cold and very snowy, but they didn't seem to care!

Last fall I found one of the pots that had been taken in for the winter, had a survivor in it. A white shrively sprout was pushing through the dry cold soil in our basement corner. So I brought the pot out, started watering it, and it has rewarded me so! This geranium has become my studio partner and kept me company all winter.

These were taken yesterday in a brief moment of sunshine, with my Fujifilm S8200. The top is my "official" for the day, the rest just make me smile!

The sun finally made an appearance - just in time for me to catch this Titmouse eating his breakfast.

Below is my alternate shot of a close up of a feather.

For the letter "D" i decided to try my macro again,  this time on one of my grandmother's doilies, and to add some shadows to the effort.

Then I took my old dress form and used editing to enhance "oldness" of the photo and object.

Both taken with my Fujifilm S8200.

Yesterday I went to a Memorial Service at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. It is a grand old church. The service was in the modern chapel, but the main church was open, we were early, and luckily, I brought my camera!

This second photo (on left) is looking down a corridor. The colors were amazing; the blue daylight through the window, and the yellow light off in the distance.