Go away, Old Man Winter!

Maybe it is because the older I get, the less I like cold weather, but Old Man Winter has over stayed his welcome this year for me. The pups enjoy a good romp in the snow, but after a day or so they are over it. It just becomes a mess and is too crunchy. It is hard on their pads of their feet. After a day of the white fluffy stuff, I am ready for it to all melt. Last year, we had snow in March, late March, which was a first that I could remember ever getting snow that late. We just had another snow storm last Monday. I was fortunate enough to not have to go to work, thanks to our office closing. The roads were a slick mess. The storm started with rain, then sleet and then eventually changed over to snow. I should mention that just the day before, we saw temperatures in the 60’s!! I read on FB that Virginia is a place where you can experience all four seasons in 2 days. I would have to agree. Our weather is bizarre and seems to get more bizarre as the years pass. Quiet frankly, Mitch and I are ready to make our final move to somewhere much warmer. A place where we will still experience our seasons, but without snow and ice. We look forward to sunshine and palm trees. That is our idea of paradise! We are working hard to make that happen, hopefully within the next three years. 🙂

Okay, I am done with my little rant now. I feel better. 🙂 The snow did allow me to get a few decent action shots. I learned a valuable lesson too. The first time I let Ziva out to play, I thought I had everything set correctly on Manual mode to get some really great pics. Ziva was frisky and wanted to play, so it was a perfect opportunity. Alas, I forgot to change the setting from MF to AF. Needless to say none of my photos were in focus (one example below). I kept clicking and did not realize the camera was out of focus the whole time until I downloaded the photos. 😦 Major bummer!

Later in the day, I tried again. This time I made sure the camera was set on Auto Focus. I am not thrilled with the shots I was able to get and have a lots to improve on, but with every mistake, I am learning more and more. 🙂

Below are the ones I thought were decent action shots. I would like to get a whole lot better in this area. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. I still have not tackled editing so these are “raw” in every since of the word.