two of the reasons I simply must live on the ridge

When we fell in love with the driftless area several years ago, we began to explore for a few days at a time. We discovered the perfect place to stay overnights, a bed and breakfast called Peachtree Farm Bed and Breakfast. This lovely old place is nestled in what we learned is called a coulee. Surrounded by ridges on nearly all sides, the sun, though visible on the tops of trees, is not "in your eyes" until it clears the summits, and shadows fall early in the day.
"Around the corner" from this sweet retreat is a shop/studio called Avalanche Looms. I had a conversation with Susan, the owner, regarding ridgetop vs valley property. Susan said you were either a ridge person or a valley person, and you had to know which in order to be happy on your land. She was a valley person. Her best friend a ridge gal. Susan shared that her daughter was 4 before she saw her first sunset. Imagine.
Well there was no question for me. It had to be ridgetop. Don't get me wrong. The valleys here are extraordinary in their beauty. We did look at several properties down in the valleys. If you want creeks or natural springs it's nearly a requirement to live in a low spot. I recognize the pull moving water has for me, however.....

The Old Moon or Wolf Moon, are names given to the full moon of January. Fortunately the sky was clear at moonrise this month. In December we missed the full moon and the eclipse because of cloud cover. I envy you if you were able to experience that! I usually have my eyes and camera on the western skyline in the late afternoon. Wednesday after a quiet and lovely sunset I set the timer on the stove to remind me to look east, knowing if I sat down to read before dinner the rising full moon could have been high in the sky before I realized it. Time moves quickly when you're into a good book.  So when the timer sounded I was startled at first. Then I looked out and what I saw took me outside onto the porch in a heartbeat.
I have a simple Canon 10X 10 megapixel digital camera. Zooming onto that Old Moon this is what I saw.

Then yesterday the sky, full of snow showers coming from quickly moving waves of clouds, produced this view outside the windows of our living room.

 

These simple gifts are mine daily. And I treasure them.