Earth Rock
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: Out of This #World

So you haven’t been into space lately? Who has?

This week’s Sunday Stills theme is “out of this world” which can be described as something extraordinary looking, food that tastes super-delicious, or things that might look otherworldly. My examples show images depicting things that are odd, cosmic, celestial, or a bit alien. Many are from my archives and have been shared before.

Just before Christmas in 2017, we gawked in disbelief as SpaceX soared “over” my mother’s home in San Diego!

SpaceX Launch
SpaceX Launched 10 satellites into space from Southern California

But sometimes we can capture images that look “out of this world,” whether an interesting abstract…

Alien Spacecraft Descend on Unsuspecting Lake Tahoe Casino Guests

a photo gone bad… (My two-headed hummer)

SQ 2 headed hummer

or perhaps a macro or close-up image that looks otherworldly. The glowing green rocks and trees are from a close-up of a fire ring at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe Resort and Casino.

Aliens leave behind Giant Boulders of Kryptonite
Close-Up of Night Art in Lake Tahoe

How about showing us some night sky shots? Or moons, eclipses, sun-flares, or other cosmic phenomena that look strange to the naked eye? Did anyone get a good shot of Jupiter and Venus lined up?

Perhaps you can show us something “out of this world” like a strange encounter caught by your lens or an unusual vacation spot.

The sky’s the limit…or IS it?

“Look…Up in the Sky…!”

Here is a gallery of varying moon shots taken over the last few years. If you are looking for peace and quiet, an evening spent viewing the night sky can be a peaceful experience.

Moon shot
My first moon capture in 2018
Blue Sky Half Moon
Daytime Moon

“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” 1 Corinthians 14:33. “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.” Psalm 147:4

Pink moon in lunar eclipse
Pink Ecliptic Moon
November 2022 Lunar Eclipse
November 2022 Pink Lunar Eclipse

Back Here On Planet Earth, Peace and Order

“If you don’t know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he’s just like you. He has the same dreams, the same hopes and fears. It’s one world, pal. We’re all neighbors.” —Frank Sinatra

ORdering Up peace on a baja beach

My first trip to Mexico in 2010 was kind of an out-of-this-world experience for me. I travelled internationally for the first time and alone. Overall the flight to Guadalajara was nervewracking and the connecting flight on a small hopper plane to La Paz felt disorderly, but I mananed to take a short nap. Once Hans met me at the airport and we drove into La Ventana (Baja peninsula on the Sea of Cortez) for two weeks of windsurfing, there was plenty of peace to be had.

Baja Sunrise
Early Baja Sunrise
Windsurfing in Baja
Me sailing on the Sea of Cortez
Beach-Chair-View
My beach chair view after a long windsurf session, in Baja, Mexico.

a spacey structure in downtown spokane

Downtown Spokane’s Pavilion was erected for the 1974 World’s Fair. It is a large, very recognizable landmark in Riverfront Park even today.

Spokane's Pavilion
Spokane’s Pavilion created for the 1974 World’s Fair.
CLoudy day Downtown Spokane
View of downtown Spokane and Pavilion (on right)

“Life, just like the stars, the planets and the galaxies, is just a temporary structure on the long road from order to disorder.” – Brian Cox

planets in the park

Last year, I was a substitute teacher for a 5th-grade class that was studying the solar system. Their amazing teacher put a long-term project together that involved gathering large rocks and painting them like the sun and its corresponding planets. Then the painted rocks were placed along the park’s walking trail as planets in relation to the sun.

Earth Rock
Mars Rocks
Mars Rocks
Jupiter Rocks
Jupiter Rocks
Sun-painted Rock

Needless to say, the Pluto rock was half a mile away. I recently visited this trail late last Fall and am happy to report the planets are still aligned.

which u.s. national parks are out-of-this-world?

“There are few places where reality exceeds the imagination. Yosemite is one of those places.” ~Shelton Johnson

Yosemite has been a happy place for me and my entire family over the generations.

Yosemite Valley
Early Spring in Yosemite Valley

2023 is shaping up to be a year of exploring new-to-me national parks in April and again this summer and fall. Stay tuned for images from Bryce Canyon, Glacier and (fingers-crossed) Yellowstone National Parks.

Out of this World Weather

For those living in a very cold and still snowy northern hemisphere, Spring arrived—well not really in the traditional vernal equinox sense, but Meteorological Spring arrived on March 1.

NOAA graphic
Image courtesy of NOAA

“On the bright side, Meteorological spring officially started today. For us meteorologists it marks the 3 month stretch in which temperatures warm the most! By May, our average highs are at about 70 degrees.” -KREM 2 Chief Meteorologist Jeremy LaGoo

As a new-ish resident of Eastern Washington state, last Tuesday’s five inches of NEW snow would beg me to differ that it is spring, like this image I’m sharing for “Last on the Card.”

More snow February
Out-of-this-World Winter snow

In the March 1st forecast, local Chief Meteorologist LaGoo said the La Nina winter is over as temperatures rise to normal in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Our high temps will gain 5 degrees Fahrenheit every two weeks with late May temps in the low 70sF, yes!! But … we have to get through a few more snowy days.

“Your time has come, now hasten little snowflakes. To vanish quite away; The spring-tide hours are sounding gentle warnings, forbidding you to stay.” ― M.E. Hathaway

Final thoughts: On one end of the continuum for those seeking a spiritual, celestial moment, this quote sounds good…

“To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.”
~ Stephen Hawking

On the other hand…

“I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It’s just been too intelligent to come here.
~ Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey

Perhaps this apple pie moonshine can launch you into another universe? 😊This was a gift given to my brother one year.

Got moonshine?

Inspiring Photo Challenges This Week

Each week I am inspired by my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I enjoy incorporating these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

Pingbacks seem to be working again (heavy sigh of relief). Thank you to all who participated last week and took the extra time to leave your link in the comments!

This Week’s Featured Bloggers

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared their OUT OF THIS WORLD photos. I add these all week as new links are posted.

**Please note I am traveling on Monday and Tuesday and will add your links to the round-up upon my return. The Jetpack app now lets me view and comment on posts now, so I can keep up with my reading while on the road.**

Please join me next week as we explore the monthly color challenge GREEN in all its wonderful shades!

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100 comments

  8. Your hike reminds me of a park in a city about an hour from where we live. They also have a scale model of the solar system with rocks appropriately placed. They are much bigger rocks than what the ones in your photos appear to be. It would take a skid steer loader to move any of them out of place. 🙂

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  9. Wow, that’s so cool that you saw and captured a photo of SpaceX! I’m always impressed by your moon photos. I’ve yet to get a ‘good’ one. I saw it glowing outside my window this morning as I worked on my post. I loved the variety you shared today and the quotes and photos went so well together. Happy Spring – Happy March and let’s both tell Mother Nature to hold the snow for now, we’re done with it!! 🤣

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    • Thank you, Shelley! The evening I caught SpaceX, we had just piles into my daughter’s car and her fiance said “what is that” and lo and behold–we hopped out of the car and gawked–it “flew” by pretty quickly. I immediately called my other daughter who is an aerospace engineer and she knew exactly what it was–of course! We had a “warm” sunny day yesterday–as we walked our dogs, many of the neighbors were outside enjoying the so-called spring sun.

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  11. This is a busy post, Terri. I’m into space–thank you, Elon Musk, for bringing that excitement back–so loved much of what I just read. Didn’t know about Meteorological spring and that it marks the 3 month stretch in which temperatures warm the most. Good to have that to look forward to!

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  18. So much wonder Terri. Love the kids project and that it is still in place. Could you hear the rocket as well as get a fab photo?
    Love your Last Photo, so topical (not tropical) from so many US bloggers. I am not sure I could live in a snowy place. Thanks for joining in Last on the Card 🙂 🙂

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  19. Hi, Terri – Once again, your challenge photos have been very diverse and incredibly clever. Our weather certainly has been ‘out of the world’ for this time of year. Today it rained, snowed, hailed and had burst of sunshine. Good grief!

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    • Thank you so much Donna, you always leave such uplifting comments for me! I think the weather casters are calling it weather whiplash–just as you described. Yesterday the temps were in the upper 40Fs (8C for you), warm sunny day, everyone outside…then today cold wind and two hours of snow. C’mon spring, you can do it!

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  23. Fabulous images and inspiring topic, Terri! What an otherworldly sighting you had in San Diego! Did you know it was a SpaceX happening at the time? And I love your image of the abstract lighting, or are they mushrooms? 😉 I hope to come back later with some photos ‘out of this world!’

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  31. Amazing photos, Terri, some otherworldy alien and all otherworldly beautiful. And this is the last week of cold weather (according to Dale – our local hardware store weather guru) so say goodbye to the snow, hopefully. Have a great week!

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    • Thank you, Diana! Interesting the photos I’ve collected over the years. Our weather predictions for the rest of March are still showing lots of snow, so I’m not holding my breath.
      I’m driving a neighbor today to Hood River area to pick up a puppy she bought. There is a winter advisory to the south of us, no snow here which is weird, and by the time leave from here it will be gone. Whiplash much?

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  34. You went over the moon with all these examples, my friend. Wow! You got right out of the box and maybe even a little spaced out – or maybe I’m the one who is spaced out over all these great shots and examples. The moon shots were fabulous! I have several thoughts – maybe even some green ones! Or maybe you’ll just turn green when you see them. What ever we find it should be a fun ride, right?!

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  37. These are great examples of things being out of this world Terri. That spaceship is amazing and I love the painted rocks 🙂 I wasn’t sure what to post about until I thought of how impressive two recent festivals have been, so decided to share. I’m a bit late to the out of this world party but I’m sure you don’t mind! I’m up in Brisbane with my youngest daughter for the week so I’m all out of kilter plus it’s soooo hot and humid up here!
    Anyway just wanted to say that I loved your creativity as always and here’s my link

    Why local festivals are Out of this World #SundayStills

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  38. Terri, I’m so pleased to hear those Planet rocks are still there. What a great way to teach students about our solar system and how far each planet is from the sun and our world.

    Another 6 inches of snow sounds troubling but good to hear Spring is starting or is due to make her appearance. Our spring-flowering bulbs are now in full swing in our garden. Who’d have thought that the shortest night is only three months away while snow still lies on the ground?

    My entry will be part of my Wordless Wednesday post tomorrow.
    Enjoy the rest of the week.

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    • Thanks, Hugh! That school project kept those kids busy, as they also had to use both sides of their brain, to calculate the ratio of the planets’ distances and create artwork! I’m in Northern Oregon as I reply and spring is slow here too! Hope to see pics of your flowers when they bloom.

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  51. I’ve never seen a photo of SpaceX – what an extraordinary sight to see. I’d be gawking it as well Terri. I know that a fellow blogger who enjoys taking photos of the night sky has said she sees the Starlink satellite traveling overhead and describes it as very cool. Your two-headed hummer … 🙂 I have lots of bloopers and I will tell you I take many photos of squirrels and most of them are not just missing tails or snouts as they run so fast, but I often come home with just a tail. I just used the “tail” recently in a post. That’s unique for teaching the solar system with the painted rocks. That was such a big craze here – I would include pics of rocks if I happened to see them in my rocks, but leave them for the kids to find. Snowing again here – hopefully it only lands on the grass.

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      • I enjoyed it Terri. The critters run or fly out of the frame!! Winter has reached the wearisome level here in SE Michigan, a level you probably reached a long time ago, given the fact your snow began in November! I’m all for warmer weather!

        Liked by 1 person

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