There's beauty everywhere . . .

Yeah, it sounds corny, but I do believe there's beauty everywhere. Even in an icy day.

Maybe especially in an icy day. I don't remember who it was, but another photographer who belongs to one of the photo sharing groups I belong to documented his cross-country move a few years ago with random images shot from the window of his moving car. Inspired by this, and by the views I was seeing Sunday as I rolled south out of Iowa and in to Missouri, I decided to follow a little bit in his footsteps.

That's what I love about photography. I get to preserve fleeting moments of time, extending them and sharing them with the people around me.

This image was typical of the travel conditions as I drove I-35 through southern Iowa. Don't worry, though. The road itself is just wet, despite the amount of ice in the trees. It was interesting, trying to balance driving and pointing my Canon G9 camera out the window to make the images.

It wasn't until I was through Kansas City that I drove out of the ice. And here I was, complaining Saturday about being trapped in the motel in Newton. I'm glad I didn't try to leave. I'd have been caught in the middle of this stuff before I got too far.

I don't normally enjoy driving interstates. I prefer back roads. On interstates, if you see something interesting, it's tougher to stop, go back and photograph it. On state highways, you can backtrack much easier. But what you gain in photographic opportunities, you lose in time. So I guess it's a trade-off.

But, I made the trip safely, arrived in the Austin, Texas, area. Now I sit, in another motel, trying to talk myself into the shower to get ready for the next leg of my trip, back to Kansas. And it's supposed to be another nice day, another good day to be driving.

This time, I don't have anyplace to be in a hurry. We'll see what I encounter on my road back north. Who knows, maybe you'll see it here in a day or so. Hopefully, though, it doesn't glisten in the sunlight.