I count myself blessed for living where I live. Our community is a beautiful place, and even though it’s in the middle of a city, surrounded by major roads, great care has been taken in its planning and maintenance over the years. It feels more like a park than a residential community, and the fact that we’re bordered by forests on either side helps a lot. We have an open view of the horizon that looks out toward Rock Creek Park, and as a result, I get to see a lot of beautiful skies. Here are a few recent photos taken right from our terrace.

I couldn’t believe how beautiful these clouds were. They look hand-painted, don’t they?

A recent dusk featured a gorgeous light show that painted the clouds in all sorts of hues.

We had a full moon last week, and I “captured” it.

These two buildings are quite far apart, yet the long focal range compresses the distance between them, making them look as if they’re superimposed.

Planes often fly above. We get plenty of supersonic jets and military aircraft, since we’re very close to Washington, DC. Sometimes we also get these planes. I think they’re doing aerial photography that later makes it onto Google Maps.

Lots of Canadian geese choose to winter in our area. I see them in the nearly frozen water, swimming along as if it’s summer. I don’t know how they do it. I guess it’s warmer than Canada, but still… These three geese (one of them is obscured by the tree) were flying in to bed for the night.

This is my week 4 submission for the 2008 Community Challenge.