Seasons of the Google Earth Community

Washi, I can never compete with your annual cherry blossom and temple photos, but here are some comparatively barren spring shots near Newell, California. These buttes are called The Peninsula and they're on the northern edge of Lava Beds National Monument.  



Looking up at one of the buttes.



A raptor nest was near the top.


Buttes near Newell.kmz (755 B)

This is not Japan







It's lovely though, a Japanese garden in Hasselt, Belgium: Japanse Tuin.

Attachments:

hasselt.kmz (923 B)

In the past few weeks, before the rainy season and the really nasty humid Japanese summer begins, I have taken a number of longish bicycle rides, trying to shed some of the kilograms I picked up after I put down my beloved pipes. Today I decided to revisit Tsudō Shiro Yama Kofun, the oldest monumental size kofun (ancient tomb mound) in Osaka Prefecture. In my post Kinki Area Kofun - Size and Date I mentioned that this kofun is of an appropriate size and date and matches the location given in the ancient chronicles to be the tomb of Yamoto Takeru no Mikoto, a figure perhaps real but certainly also mythological in his outsized dimensions. I spent a half an hour at a small community center there that houses restrooms, historical posters, and a few artifact reproductions. The whole time I was at the kofun a heron stood stationary among the water lilies, no doubt hoping to catch the movement of a frog or small fish.








On my way home I stopped at a small park near the Yasunaka Plantation Headquarters. Although the rainy season is still a few days away, the ajisai (hydrangeas) along the Nagase River were already in bloom. I sat at a shaded table, drinking the last of my water bottle, and three men, one at a time, sat and joined me. The first was Japanese, and born like me in 1942. The second guy (in the black shirt) was from Pusan in South Korea, and although his Japanese was excellent, he was a bit hard for me to understand. The third guy (without the hat) said he was Vietnamese. They said they were there for "kokusaiodori," which if I understood them correctly, means "international dance." They didn't look much like dancers to me, but we had a good chinwag for 15 or 20 minutes, finding at least that we were in solid agreement about American politics and at least some of the politicians.





The attached file shows the route of today's bicycle ride.

Attachments:

Bike Ride 5-27-16.kmz (3.23 KB)

sorry, not my photo(s), only thought could find photolocation.
something is wrong however.. the gate and pavement on the summer strip is okay but the small trees? one explanation is that the image is mirrored.
nice one anyhow!

Photograph by Fatih Ozay (ig: @afatihozay)

In this four-photo composite by Fatih Ozay, we see the different seasons throughout the year as experienced on one street in Newark, New Jersey near Branch Brook Park in Newark’s North Ward (between the neighborhoods of Forest Hill and Roseville).

source and more credit: TwistedSifter

1street 4seasons.kmz (886 B)

Yesterday morning I mounted my bicycle and (with a hearty grunt of "Gettum-up, Scout") I peddled for the first (and last) time up the perilous Route 2, all the way to Tsurumi Ryokuchi park. This thread is usually about seasonal views of a place, but this offering is about what the summer sounds like where I live, at least anywhere near a tree.

And for the really bored, another GOOGLE EARTH TOUR.

Eee-gads, washi! Is it really that loud? That's shocking. 

Is it really that loud?

Yes, I'm afraid it is, although I cut the volume down by half in the middle part of the video, and my camera recorder doesn't register some of the higher pitched sound. But now you know what PIT was talking about when he described being trapped in a cockpit with one.

A few days ago when I was riding through Osaka Castle Park, I actually started to feel a bit queasy. Fortunately, most of the time the brain can filter the sound down a couple of notches, much like an unpleasant odor.

Hi, Diane,



This is a rehash of something I posted on Facebook yesterday. I decided to post it here for a couple of reasons. In my visit on 7 / 27, where I was astonished to find a multitude of young people eagerly staring at the smart phones in the pre-dawn darkness, I was also struck by the lack of cicada noise at that hour. (That irritation was replaced by the equally unpleasant calling a the crows). The following two visits, the crows were quiet, but the cicadas were back on full-time daytime duty. I'm posting here for you Diane, because I just noticed in the shot of the castle I took the branch of the tree in the foreground has a cicada exoskeleton clinging to it.



"My morning bicycle rides have taken me to Osaka Castle 3 times in the past week or so. One time I arrived about 4:45. It was still too dark to take pictures, but the park was filled with dozens of young people, some on foot, some on bicycles, but all holding smart phones. I managed to get one shot of the castle as I was leaving.



"On Sunday I rode from Kadoma on the Yodo River levy to the Castle. (I hadn't intended to go so far north, but in the darkness I left the north side of Tsurumi Park, and ended up taking a very roundabout route to the river.) This spliced panorama was taken near where I INTENDED to arrive at the river.



"[Yesterday] morning I rode into the castle, and was surprise to find well over a hundred people there at 6:30, all doing the same exercises. I did, however, have enough light to get a few pictures."

Attachments:

Osaka Castle Visits this week.kmz (13.55 KB)

it were minus 16 celsius cold on a mid-january afternoon, but lights and colours made me feel comfortable by the porch of the outhouse just right after sunset

we had some nice foggy days around here.



this was the moment I have felt myself inside a tube of mist.
photo cannot give it back, only shows well uplifting fog-cover and lights-experience.

as hungarian folklore says well: after it have rained on the 8th of june (day of Medard), it is rainy weather for 40 days.
these short but heavy rains multiply probabilities to see a rainbow as I did few days ago, not long before sunset: 
also note silos in the background, this guy should do some with...(:


and another related from the recent past: "cloud shadows vs. contrail shadows":


cumulus has just broke through upper, thin cloud layer and casts shadow on it; also contrail shadow (very) slightly is visible.

some stormy weather today. luckily could escape from the open fields.

11:43 AM, around Székkutas, Hungary:


some minutes later, on the way back to office (heavy rain with dense ice for some 5 minutes):

photo does not give it back, but there were so bad sight conditions, that cars have stopped along by the road.

Two after-sunsets from the start of August 2018., Balatonvilágos, Hungary. (GMaps.SV.link for approx orientation of photos)

Aug.1.:


Aug.3.:

Sorry, I post from the same location and in the same season, but lake Balaton was ever been a summer destination for me and Balatonvilágos is a rather good location to take nice photos. 

At least I did another try this day afternoon:



(photo edit: atmospheric water vapor filter on)


Note: plastic bottle on the water surface is not a drifting piece of waste, but a home-made buoy.

Apr 3, 2016 13:00:56 GMT washi said:

This tour will be better if and when 3D Buildings comes to Nara, but that's apt to happen when it's too late for me to post this tour, so I'm doing it now. 

As it turned out, the 3D imagery tended to get in the way of the interesting bits, so I spent a little time rewriting this tour. As usual, getting the music to come out even is the toughest part.

Attachments:

Koriyama Castle Festival.kmz (3.61 MB)

Last month we had severe storms around here. This image was taken on June 11., position near Kistelek, as per this GMapsSV.



As I have already mentioned, in Hungarian folklore the day of Medard (8th of June) is an important date. The tradition keeps that if it rains on Medard's day, then it will rain everyday for 40 days. 

As usually this turns out to be correct(!), we have also many great rainbows throughout this rainy season. ...pity, my rainbow photos are not that great by no means...(:

This one is a double rainbow from late afternoon of the 22nd of June: 

Now you know why does this settlement called Balatonvilágos. (világos ~ clear, bright, light,..)



28.07.2020


29.07.2020

(some more shots of this trip here on board)

***

Ending, not to make it a Balaton Sunsets Thread here you are an Hódmezővásárhely Sunrise (:


7:20 AM, 31.07.2020. - bypass road, Rárós junction - looking to... (;

Syzygy, your photos are beautiful. These are in California, just a couple of miles south of the Oregon border on a hot summer day.

New hay and a random truck in June.



Sage brush and hay fields near Dorris, California.






Rural architecure.




Dorris.kmz (739 B)

Aug 4, 2020 3:23:44 GMT diane9247 said:

Syzygy, your photos are beautiful. ...

I have to confess, these are somewhat modified images - I use atmospheric mist remover, however it's much more closer to the experience of reality this way. Balatonvilágos is a really unique scenic spot around Lake Balaton for watching beautiful evening skies.

Aug 4, 2020 3:23:44 GMT diane9247 said:

...These are in California, just a couple of miles south of the Oregon border on a hot summer day. New hay and a random truck in June.

I always been fond of such "common photo threads". Rather interesting for me to see, how's things around my old forum-friends at the same time. Thank you Diane to keep posting your great "spot-reports" from "Spacious North America"!

 A cloudy sunset in Dorris, California. Dorris is only a couple of miles from the Oregon border and 30 miles from where I live (Klamath Falls, Oregon). Within 35 minutes I can be where I really want to be - California! 

This is dry, dusty territory, but good for growing alfalfa and potatoes.



Hay farms Dorris.kmz (721 B)

Sept 22, 2020 10:56:03 GMT diane9247 said:

 A cloudy sunset in Dorris, California...

And how's things with west-coast fires? Are there visible effects from where you live? - Dim, pinkish colors on your photo might be caused by high level of particles (dust, smoke). (?)

This week, as the sun was really shining for the first time this year, I had some exploration around.




Some automatic saturation gets involved






An old house, highly integrated with the nature, typically short-time lived by emigrants from the Balkans and/or around the Black Sea, reminding sad memories dating late Ottoman period and early years of the Republic:





A big family is ready for the new season:





For all friends quest for fresh food is a chase-and-grab:





Old days of nature can still be recovered. The gentle sound of the stream is still hypnotizing:









Under husband watch-out:








Nice to remember we live between blue above and green below:

This is probably my best loved thread.  I started it in 2008 on oGEC.  Steve brought it to NGEC and linked to original.  I've just looked through and felt quite sad for the loss of the old and the broken images of the new.  So, I have just started to replace my broken images with what would have been the originals.  

Wherever you are, it's a season and I'd love to see it.

Here are 3, one damson tree blossom and 2 of the wild primroses in our hedges.

Glad this has been resurrected! Looking back at the first page of this thread I see I posted some very similar images a few years back. But hey, it's that time of year again. 

Tulips from Floralia at Grand Bigard/Groot Bijgaarden in Belgium.









Blossom in the Boitsfort area of Brussels.







And attached, a kmz I did for the old forum about this area. The images are still there, but they've now got a watermark slapped on them.

boitsfort_garden_cities.kmz (3.11 KB)

Apr 26, 2021 13:30:20 GMT Noisette said:

Glad this has been resurrected! Looking back at the first page of this thread I see I posted some very similar images a few years back. But hey, it's that time of year again. 

Tulips from Floralia at Grand Bigard/Groot Bijgaarden in Belgium.

Isn't spring beautiful.  Thank you for posting the tulips - you just can't have too many. 

Well personally I think you can't have too many flowers  .  So here are some bluebells from today.








Hallerbos.kmz (188.48 KB)

This morning's walk in local woods to see the bluebells.  Misty blue as far as you could see.  











first2.kmz (699 B)  Last3.kmz (699 B)   

Both sets of woodland are part of the Merevale and Blythe Estate  Estate website

Apr 28, 2021 13:00:24 GMT lockhopper said:

This morning's walk in local woods to see the bluebells.  Misty blue as far as you could see....

Would you please attach a placemark for these?

As if I would have seen a burial mound amongst the trees...! ( :

Afternoon shots from the backyard:

Bright june noon in town.
(The Old Church and the town's hall tower of Hódmezővásárhely)

The noon bell was just ringing as I took the photo. 



(The brown brick building in the background is my beloved Alma-Mater - the Bethlen Gábor Grammar School, in the mid-foreground statue of Szántó Kovács János. (I think this is a very good sculpture. - GM SV link))

...