SKYWATCH--before the fireworks

While setting up my camera to get ready for the fireworks (finally managed to make some decent shots, thank you, cable release and tripod), I spotted this sky over the Olympic Mountains. Nice little moon, too.

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SKYWATCH FRIDAY--Friday Harbor, Washington

Pretty dark... I took this photo before going to bed in a little trailer on my friends' property in Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island, Washington. It's pretty dark when you turn the lights out. Visible is their little house.

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SKYWATCH--Moon over the arena

A sliver of a moon over the Belgrade Sports Arena, soon to be the site of another Davis Cup.

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SKYWATCH--The Silver Sliver

A 'fingernail moon' is what I called this tiny silver sliver last March. Same moon, not aligned the same way!

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SKYWATCH--Moon and moon cakes

Last Wednesday, according to my new friend Lixiu, (LEE-hyoo) who will soon be leaving Belgrade after her three-week business trip, was the Moon Festival in China. I had bought moon cakes at the Chinese Market when I visited it with her the other week, and so we walked along the river to look at that big, bright moon and then returned to her company's apartment to eat moon cakes. I found that moon cakes very much resemble Fig Newton cookies in taste and texture, and although I thought the Chinese characters might have meant something like "Peace," "Prosperity," or "Health," she told me these simply indicate the cake's filling, which in this case is... "pear."

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SKYWATCH--the big orange moon

This big orange moon hung over Belgrade a little over a week ago...

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SKYWATCH--Fingernail Moon

A hand-held shot, hence the blur. When the moon is like this, just a sliver, I call it a 'fingernail' moon, and wonder if anyone else does.

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SKYWATCH FRIDAY =My moon and...?

Well, when I uploaded this photo, it came as a surprise to me. First of all, the moon was photographed with my new 70-300mm VR lens that I was trying out. It is a hand-held shot, obviously taken at night. Instead of making minor adjustments with Photoshop on my big computer, I was using my little ASUS computer using GIMP, an image manipulation that my Linux-operating ASUS uses. All this while watching a bit of TV. I hardly ever use GIMP, so I think what happened is that when I adjusted one of the filters for light or dark, somehow that mysterious 'spaceship' light got thrown in. I must have inadvertently clicked on something else, too. I only saw it when I uploaded the photo to my blog, but I left it, since I kind of like it, even if it isn't natural....unless it really IS a spaceship.

See if anyone else has accidentally goofed their post for SKYWATCH FRIDAY.