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While driving Newfound Gap Road through the Smokies from Cherokee, North Carolina, to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Betsy and I stopped at an overlook in North Carolina to admire the mountains. I noticed the sun rays streaming through the clouds in the background and snapped this picture.

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This picture was taken in December, 2010. Betsy and I had gone to Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina to enjoy the beach and get some good seafood. An advantage to our December beach trip was that we could enjoy the sunset from our room at the inn.

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I captured this wonderful sight on an early November morning last year at Hazel Mountain Overlook on the Skyline Drive in Virginia. The day started very foggy and cloudy, but as the sun came up it started to break through the fog and clouds. We came upon this sight a few minutes later.

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In winter on the Plateau there are no leaves on the trees, no flowers, and what grass there is is often brown. Fortunately we often have this beautiful blue sky to add color to our days.

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I snapped this picture of the full moon several months ago and promptly forgot about it. I came across it last night and decided to post it. I like the the craters that can be seen across the top of the moon.

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Although this picture was taken several years ago when we lived in Hendersonville, Tennessee, I think it is a wonderful winter scene with the icy trees and blue skies. I also like the sun peeking around the branches of the tree.

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We were driving up the Blue Ridge Parkway early one morning last month through patches of fog and mist. The fog had lifted around us when we came upon the Headforemost Mountain (I have no idea how the mountain got that name) Overlook. From our vantage point we could look across at the mountain, which seemed to be floating above the clouds.

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I usually don't have much success trying to get photos of the moon, but I got this shot a couple of weeks and thought it came out pretty well.

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Sometimes we get rewarded for getting up before dawn. Betsy and I got up early one day last month to drive to the Smokies so we could see the autumn colors in the morning light. It was a cloudy day, but we were treated to this sight at an overlook on the Gatlinburg Bypass.

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On a clear autumn day it seems possible to see forever from some places here in the Glade. This picture was taken at an overlook on the fourteenth hole of the Druid Hills Golf Course. It's one of our favorite spots in the Glade.

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When Betsy and I visited my daughter and her husband in Buffalo last month, Kelly took us to Squaw Island, a park in the Niagara River near Black Rock, New York. While walking along the river I captured this picture of the clouds above a railroad trestle connecting Canada and the U. S.

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Evenings in the mountains can be sublime. I got this picture of the sky after sunset near Franklin, North Carolina. God is a marvelous artist with light and color.

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When we lasted visited Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina, the sky put on quite a display. When we drove to the parking area near the summit, we were literally in the clouds -- visibility was definitely limited. We hiked up to the observation deck anyway, and after a while the clouds lifted and we saw some blue sky. That didn't last long, and soon white clouds, followed by dark clouds, moved back in. I got this picture as the sky was changing.

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I was taking pictures of the water lilies and flowers in Biltmore's Italian Garden when I noticed the clouds reflected in the waters of a pool. I thought they looked pretty neat.

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This is another picture I snapped one evening as we were traveling across Oklahoma. The light streaming through the hole in the clouds seemed to be showing us the way.

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I went to my archives for this picture of a sunset sky in the western North Carolina Mountains. The picture was taken from friends' cabin near Otto, North Carolina.

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While driving west through Oklahoma on our trip I stopped to get some pictures of the setting sun. I then looked behind me to the east and saw these clouds -- dark at the base, but still lit by sunlight above.

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As Betsy and I traveled west through Oklahoma for the first time, we were impressed by the flat landscape, the wide open spaces and a gorgeous sunset. The sun rays were so beautiful that I had to pull over on the interstate to snap this picture of June 11.

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In May the sun sets over the mainland from Ocean Isle Beach. But one evening I captured these colors in the sky moments after the sun dropped below the horizon.

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We've had rain and storms for the past several days, but the other night I came across this picture I shot of a wispy cloud on a beautiful October day last year. The sky was a stunning blue and that was one of the most unusual clouds I've seen.