Gray Tree in Fog
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: Living in Shades of #Gray

The end of January in the dead of winter is, well, just that…dead. Here in the Central Valley where Sacramento is situated between the snowy Sierra Nevada Mountain range to the East and the Coast range to the West, gray seems to be the predominant color.

Most everything is colored in shades of gray and white. I could take a photo and wouldn’t have to edit it to black and white! Even this flower is gray!

white and gray flower

Descent into Foggy Light

After enjoying almost three weeks of southwest desert colors, we were immediately greeted with the inevitable gray fingers of low fog as we entered the Central Valley from the Tehachapi Pass.

Gray Fog Descends
Fog Descends into the Central Valley
Gray Tree in Fog
Foggy Fingers, even the tree is gray

Light from the Past and Some Color Infused into Gray Days

Just because I was on a bit of a break from Sunday Stills while Hugh graciously co-hosted, doesn’t mean that I don’t have a few photos to share for “round” and “old” (although I have been feeling round and old lately 😊).

Both photographs are from our day trip into Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park.

These petroglyphs span over 1,500 years.

Ancient Anasazi Petroglyphs
Ancient Petroglyphs tell amazing stories

Originally occupied by the Basket Maker people and Anasazi Pueblo farmers from around 300 BC to 1150 AD, the Valley of Fire rock formations offered protection from the weather as well as a primitive form of lodging.

https://blog.maverickhelicopter.com/the-history-of-petroglyphs-at-the-valley-of-fire/

These formations were exposed where older rocks of Cambrian age (about 500 million years old) were pushed sideways on a thrust fault over younger rocks (Jurassic, about 160 million years old) of the Aztec Sandstone. The sandstone was originally laid down in a colossal, long-lived sandy desert much like today’s Sahara.

https://www.thoughtco.com/valley-of-fire-state-park-nevada-4123246

Of course, hubby and I had to pose in the rounded rocks near the visitor’s center.

Fun at the Valley of Fire State Park
Round and Old?

I can’t live for very long in a gray world. I was blessed to be able to travel south for our winter road trip to enjoy the vibrant colors of the Arizona and Nevada deserts. What can you do with gray? Here are some examples to help you!

  • Foggy-Winter-Sunrise
    Winter Sunlight Lake Tahoe
  • Lines of granite and rope for climber
    Gray Granite
  • Sac State student deftly walks the high ropes course at the Challenge Center.
    Student deftly walks the high ropes course at the Challenge Center.
  • A wandering seagull
    Gray marine layer fog in San Diego
  • A closer view of Sunrise Bridge
    Gray skies turn the American River gray

Maybe a gray sunset?

Gray sunset

It was so wonderful seeing so many visitors to last week’s Sunday Stills post after my absence! I can’t wait to see what you all come up with for this week’s challenge, gray. You have all week to link your post to this one. Remember, I share your posts when I can!

For February’s themes, please visit my Sunday Stills page.

This post was also inspired in part by Becky B’s January Lights Photo Challenge which ends this Friday!

Enjoy your week and I hope you have sunny skies peeking through the gray!

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100 comments

  7. Terri, Although I am not a photographer, I really enjoyed your post. The pictures are amazing. More importantly, your musings on gray reminded me that life is like that. Sometimes we are blessed with vibrant experiences. Other times we are in a more gray times. Yet, regardless of the time, there is beauty to be gleaned. We need all the colors. We should appreciate all the experiences. The all shape and form us.

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  8. Sadly Terri, grey is one of the best colors in my wardrobe. They can be so drab but we can liven them up as nature does with a spot of color here or there. Also they can be quite soothing sometimes, especially fog as you’ve shown in your beautiful image (my fav this week). Nice to go south in the winter tho isn’t it?!

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  16. It has been very grey here in England.I am looking forward to Spring. I love your foggy photos and I join you in feeling round and grey after Christmas.

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  23. I love your take on gray and old and round Terri! A great combination and those petroglyphs look amazing. I saw something similar in the Flinders ranges in South Australia a few years ago with Aboriginal art on rocks dating back millions of years. I have shared a post for Sunday Stills but took the liberty of changing your ‘gray’ to our spelling of the word ‘grey’ – hope that’s OK!! Thanks again for the prompt. Here’s mine https://debs-world.com/2020/01/26/its-enough-to-turn-us-all-grey/

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  27. I love how you brilliantly captured ‘gray’. I was sure that someone was going to share a photo of their undied roots…that would have been my contribution. Probably I good thing that I did not join in! 😀
    I need to mention this again — you are a wonderful photographer, Terri!

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  29. Great theme for this time of year…
    And I like that one of you and the hubs posing – added warmth to the post to see smiles and love –
    And the photos were beautiful with so many variants of gray

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  30. I – too – like that photo of you and Hans in the “hole” in the rocks. We’ve noticed that Northern Florida is quite gray in winter as well. We were spoiled with sunny skies in the desert during previous winters but we enjoy the warmth here. Whenever it is present. 🙂

    Another negative about gray skies (for us) is that we can’t charge our camper batteries with our solar panels, when being in the same spot for a little while… 😦

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  32. I love those opening shots where the fog is descending into the valley, Terri. That is such a beautiful sight! We are extremely lucky in that we don’t have many grey days here in the Algarve, but I do know how they can sap energy. It’s part of why we’re here. 🙂 🙂

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  34. Round and old? No way, Terri. I’d say bright and enjoying life to the full.

    I’m intrigued by the colour grey because I see it as the centre point of black and white. A little like the ‘Twilight Zone’ or what some of us refer to as ‘grey matter.’ Grey can also be dramatic, wake us up, and see exactly what’s there. I also like that even though we spell it differently to how you do on the other side of the pond, it still means the same thing. Now, there’s a thought.

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  37. Even your grays are bright and cheerful. You never fail me with your floral shots and your descent into the fog is very inviting. I am delighted to know that you and Hans were able to enjoy three weeks on the road. How I would love to see those vivid petroglyphs in Fire State Park. The colors are amazing, I roared with laughter when I got to the caption of you and Hans at the rounded rocks near the visitors center. I too am feeling a bit ‘round and old’ these days. The composition in the last image is inspiring. Ahoy from Tula, Mexico!

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  42. I enjoyed attempting this week’s challenge. We have had a very grey month here in Bristol England. My first ever photos were taken with black and white film and a Kodak box brownie. In these days if Instagram you forget how powerful a black and white image can be. Here is my attempt and thanks for helping to rekindle my interest in photography. https://www.theplatinumline.blog/january-was-a-grey-month/

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  46. January is so very grey in my neck of the woods, but you’ve managed to make it enjoyable, with your lovely photos, Terri. 🙂 Your Nevada images are fabulous (neither round or old!), and I love the history lesson, especially. Thank you!

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  50. I’ve never heard of foggy fingers but I like it. That’s quite brilliant and a bit scary. Actually how about a fog man? Like a guy who’s made of fog and creeps around the forest? I mean, I don’t know what else he does. Maybe he just kinda hangs out with the squirrels. Ha. Great post!

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