December's Best

December's first significant snow falls on Phillips Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls.

Here are my twelve favorite photos from a cold and snowy December of 2013.  Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in.  Happy 2014!

Sunset skies near Hartford, SD in early December.

Steamy breath and jingle bells adorned this hard working horse pulling sleighs at Fort Sisseton State Park's Frontier Christmas in mid-December.

Sunset over Willow Creek Lutheran Church in rural Minnehaha County.

The last light of the sun reflected off distant clouds adds a unique color to this old thistle weed.

Winter Solstice sunset in rural Miner County.

Subzero temps collided with open water below the Oahe Dam to great wonderful hoarfrost creations on December 23rd.

Grazing horses on distant hills artistically colored by late sunlight and snow in rural Stanley County.

A negative seventeen sunset along the Sansarc road in Stanley County.

An abandoned schoolhouse in rural Stanley County.

Pre-sunrise skies with the Korb windmill in the foreground just south and east of Isabel, SD in Dewey County.

Abandoned Our Savior Lutheran Church in rural Dewey County just before sunrise in late December.  This church and cemetery is located a few miles northeast of Firesteel, SD.

November's Best

A weak geomagnetic storm caused faint northern lights in early November.  Taken in McCook County.

Here are my favorite 12 photos from the month of November.  Just one more month on this little pet project of mine.  It will be interesting (and hard) to try to pick favorites from each month for the overall top 12.  Regardless, it has been a fun endeavor!  As always, click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for stopping by!

Sunset and prairie windmill in southern McCook County.

A church made from the stones found along the James River south of Menno, SD.

A Bighorn Ram at sunset in Badlands National Park in late November.

Pre-dawn clouds over Badlands National Park.

The first light of dawn strikes the Badlands.

A rather large Ferruginous Hawk perched above a prairie dog town.

A coyote howls along a road overlooking a prairie dog town at Wind Cave National Park.

A white-tail buck in Custer State Park.

Morning breaks over Custer State Park.

A white tail buck a few miles south of Isabel, SD in Dewey County.

An abandoned farmstead in Dewey County, SD