The end of a day SKYWATCH Friday Nov 14 2008

After our first mountain snowfall this past weekend, I went out in the late afternoon and saw this whispy cloud over the mountains to the south, where I board my horses. To see other incredible photos, please visit SKYWATCH at

http://skyley.blogspot.com/.

Watery Wednesday Nov 12 2008

I took this photo at my local park this weekend, as the clouds were gathering for our weekend storm. I woke up at 5:30 and I got to the park just as the sun was rising. It was very peaceful there and only a few people were out walking their dogs. The ducks were out on land sunning themselves and a flock of pigeons was flying around the park.

More stormy weather

This is another view of the coming storm from the weekend November 9 and 10. Notice how the pass fills up with clouds? That's because on one side there is a 10,000 foot mountain and on the other side, there is an 11,000 foot mountain. That tends to bottleneck the clouds, as you can see from the photo! We truly are a desert because the pass blocks the clouds and they seldom get over the mountains to our southwest. Sometimes they do, however, especially during our rainy season, from October through May. During the summer, we get the monsoons up from Mexico during July and August. NO mountains to block those, especially if they come up from the Gulf of California.

The gathering storm and first snowfall Nov. 10, 2008

When I awoke yesterday morning, I knew a snow storm was coming. First, it was chilly. Second, when the clouds hang on the mountains like they were doing, it only means that more are piled up behind them and they would eventually "spill over" into the Coachella Valley. I took the bottom pics early that morning. I watched the clouds and by the time I went to urgent care, at 9:00 a.m., the pass was FULL of clouds and I could see a rainbow. Clouds were moving down the pass, OVER the top of the mountains, and the temperature on the valley floor was falling. YUP. First snowfall! When I go out to the dentist later, I'll stop and get some pics of our first snowfall of the season.

Scenic Sunday November 9, 2008

I've lived in Palm Desert now for over 30 years and I have very few photos of my town! I think it is because I don't work here. My school is 25 miles away. But that's still no excuse! So, on this bright, crisp, and cool morning, I drove down to the city park and took some photos. Our park here is very beautiful. There is an ampitheater for concerts in the park and during the summers there are weekly concerts and movie nights. The Marine Corps band plays there as well as the middle school and high school bands. There is modern equipment for the kids to play on and soft shavings beneath them in case of "hard landings". The park is kept absolutely IMMACULATE by the city crews who start as soon as the sun rises EVERY morning (Sundays included!). There were very few people at the park at 6:30 a.m. this morning, mostly a few early birds, like me, and they were out walking their dogs. When I was able to walk, I did walk around the park in the mornings and that took me about 35 minutes. Hopefully, I'll be able to do that again once my back heals. I took this photo at the park early this morning.

Mountain trees 110908

After we drove into Idyllwild last weekend, I stopped in Garner Valley to take this photo. While our mountains don't have aspen, they do have birch and cottonwoods. Both are pretty right now. We don't always have time to drive into Idyllwild, so I am thankful that we did so last weekend. Enjoy!

Skywatch for Friday, November 7, 2008

When I walked out to get the newspaper one morning this week, I started to see the beginning of a beautiful, pastel, then vivid sunrise. I ran inside and grabbed my camera and took this photo looking down my street. I love the palm trees. Aren't they pretty? For other beautiful SKYWATCH pics, go to: http://skyley.blogspot.com/