mourning dove

We’ve been having a bit of a drought around here. It’s not a worrisome drought yet, since we got an awful lot of rain this past winter to fill our reservoirs, but the plants have been generally unhappy. (Our entire lawn has turned a lovely shade of crunchy brown.)

This morning, however, it rained! The plants were ecstatic, and the mourning doves seemed to be enjoying themselves, too. (This afternoon, though, Monmouth County is back to its original state of hot, dry misery.) Speaking of mourning doves, by the way, I am NO NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER. These photos were all taken through a dirty rain-spattered window.

Don’t mourning doves usually travel in pairs, you ask?

Yup. They sure do!

Here are a couple more photos, ‘cos even though I try to bring an editing eye to this stuff, sometimes I really can’t narrow it down to less than four. (There were originally about 24 shots. Give me some credit for trying!)

 

azaleas

It’s been raining the past few days, so here’s a standard run-of-the-mill droplets-on-a-flower photo. The best thing about this photo, though, is that it means OUR AZALEAS AREN’T DEAD!

(This is neat because the azaleas have looked pretty unhealthy and on-the-verge-of-death for many years; this year, there are only small parts of the bush that are dead-looking. Most of it is in full bloom! Very exciting stuff.)

 

color shot

I like colorful umbrellas! It seems like everyone still uses drab black umbrellas on drab gray days. I mean, I understand trying to seem professional, but why does being professional have to be so depressing?

 

cry for me

This is similar to one of my top-ten year-end nominations, but today was kinda wet, and I still like this photo, so…

 

aftermath

Apparently, the promised Nor’easter was actually snowy and icy a little further north, but down here, we just got a boatload of rain.

And wind.

Right now, it’s very very windy.

 

bridge 3

It’s the first of the month; that means it’s City Daily Photo Theme Day!

In light of the “bridge” theme, I present to you a photo of the Ocean Avenue drawbridge between Belmar and Avon. (For those unfamiliar with Ocean Ave., it runs right along next to the boardwalk for much of the Monmouth County shoreline. Ocean Ave. is the “scenic route” of the shore area.)

Wanna see some bridges from all over the world? Then check out these links for other participants in today’s theme!

Boston (MA), USA – San Diego (CA), USA – Stayton (OR), USA – New York City (NY), USA – Portland (OR), USA – Montego Bay, Jamaica – Inverness (IL), USA – Singapore, Singapore – Stockholm, Sweden – Setúbal, Portugal – Brussels, Belgium – Phoenix (AZ), USA – Seattle (WA), USA – Hyde, UK – Manila, Philippines – Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA – London, England – Austin (TX), USA – Toulouse, France – Weston (FL), USA – Sesimbra, Portugal – Selma (AL), USA – Silver Spring (MD), USA – Saarbrücken, Germany – Cleveland (OH), USA – Crystal Lake (IL), USA – American Fork (UT), USA – Seoul, South Korea – Kyoto, Japan – Tokyo, Japan – Norwich (Norfolk), UK – North Bay (ON), Canada – Arradon, France – Paderborn, Germany – Durban, South Africa – Philadelphia (PA), USA – Cypress (TX), USA – Cottage Grove (MN), USA – Prague, Czech Republic – Portland (OR), USA – Greenville (SC), USA – Boston (MA), USA – Port Angeles (WA), USA – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Wichita (Ks), USA – Saint Paul (MN), USA – Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia – Grenoble, France – New York City (NY), USA – Nottingham, UK – Hobart (Tasmania), Australia – Arlington (VA), USA – Minneapolis (MN), USA – Miami (FL), USA – Cheltenham, UK – Albuquerque (NM), USA – Saratoga Spgs. (NY), USA – Las Vegas (NV), USA – Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina – Nashville (TN), USA – Toruń, Poland – New Orleans (LA), USA – Port Elizabeth, South Africa – Melbourne, Australia – Moscow, Russia – Trujillo, Peru – Château-Gontier, France – Quincy (MA), USA – Melbourne, Australia – Port Vila, Vanuatu – Joplin (MO), USA – Bellefonte (PA), USA – Brookville (OH), USA – Chateaubriant, France – Chandler (AZ), USA – Stavanger, Norway – Baziège, France – Auckland, New Zealand – Wellington, New Zealand – Ocean Township (NJ), USA – Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia – Detroit (MI), USA – Riga, Latvia – Nelson, New Zealand – Budapest, Hungary – Cape Town, South Africa – Sydney, Australia – Dunedin (FL), USA – Sofia, Bulgaria – Radonvilliers, France – Turin, Italy – Montpellier, France – Kansas City (MO), USA – Minneapolis (MN), USA – Haninge, Sweden – Wailea (HI), USA – Lubbock (TX), USA – Rabaul, Papua New Guinea – Terrell (TX), USA – Mexico City, Mexico – Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation – Budapest, Hungary – Montréal (QC), Canada – Sharon (CT), USA – Le Guilvinec, France – Jefferson City (MO), USA – Saigon, Vietnam – London, UK – Crepy-en-Valois, France – Orlando (FL), USA – Maple Ridge (BC), Canada – Paris, France – Mainz, Germany – Newcastle (NSW), Australia – Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands – Menton, France – Monte Carlo, Monaco – Darmstadt, Germany – Naples (FL), USA – Torino, Italy – Saint Louis (MO), USA

 

blobules

Rain on a car hood.

Yes, it’s raining again.

As an added bonus, we’ve got some fog.

 

underneath

Water dripping from some stairs of the 800 (art) building at Monmouth University.