February 2021 Photo Competition: "Close to home"

Question

The theme for the February photo competition is "Close to home". This covers any subject that is located within a ~50-kilometer (~30-mile) radius of where you're currently residing (or have previously resided) on a permanent or temporary (non-travel) basis. (The threshold is not exact, but a guideline.)

You may make your submission as an answer to this post. The standard rules for photo contests apply:

• Only one photo per answer.
• You can make up to three posts (attempts).
• Do not delete posts if you don't get votes: you posted it, stand by it. (You have two more attempts if your first one doesn't work out.)
• All submissions should have a line with when and where the photo was taken.
• The photo has to be taken by the person who posted it, or by a travel partner (needs to be named).
• Keep it nice, non-offensive, and non-NSFW.
• If you disagree with a photo, please consider leaving a comment on it or bringing it up in chat. For the purposes of judging, only upvotes will be considered; downvotes will not affect the score of the photo.
• The photo may have been taken any time.
• The photo competition will begin February 1, 2021, 0:00 UTC, and continue until the end of the month (again in UTC). If there is no tie for the highest number of upvotes at the end of the month, the winner will be announced then; if there is, the voting period may extend beyond the month.

If you'd like to suggest a theme for a future photo competition, please add it to the list of possible photo competition topics. Also, you can join us in chat to help us make the decision on which topic to choose.

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Results

Madhu Bhat received the highest number of votes, with their photo of a flower dangling from a window. The photo was previously tied with another, but after an extended voting period, it came out on top.

jcklopp's photo of a snail on their driveway in Hawaii wins the virtual prize, per a suggestion from users in chat.

Answer 1

This snail was looking for trouble in my driveway.

2021-01-27 on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

Answer 2

There was this small flower dangling by a thread of spider silk in front of my home. Photo shot on July 18, 2020 on my OnePlus 5T.

Answer 3

The background picture of my iPad. It's close enough to home to be part of my regular running tracks. It's a picture I took four years ago, November 2016, admittedly while traveling to work:

It was taken here while trying to avoid the traffic jam on the A28, which is visible to you look close enough. Those were the times ...

Answer 4

On Friday I read the topic of the photo competition of the month so, on Saturday morning, I took this pic from one of my favourite spots in city center in my hometown.

This urban road is via Indipendenza, seen from the terrace at Parco della Montagnola, almost the north edge of the historic center of Bologna, Italy.

Photo shot with my Samsung A50 phone on 30/01/2021. Pointless to say, five minutes before it was sunny too...

Answer 5

Banks Peninsula and Lyttleton Harbour, from Cass Peak Trail looking east, near Christchurch, New Zealand. 15 Aug 2020.

HUAWEI HMA-L29
ƒ/1.81/33784.75 mmISO50

Answer 6

My Japanese motorcycle, manufactured in an American plant, sold to me by an American Marine Corps veteran, in front of the Marine Corps memorial depicting a gruesome battle against the Japanese, which some Japanese tourists (to the right) are taking pictures before, on a hill overlooking the American capital.

I remember that making me hopeful for the world. May 2015

Answer 7

Sydney Harbour Bridge. I lived in Sydney, Australia from 2014 to 2019.

This was taken on August 14, 2017.

Huawei Nexus 6P
ƒ/21/2824.67 mmISO60

Answer 8

Seaplanes in Vancouver, Canada, when I lived there for 11 months a few years ago. Taken 3 July 2015.

Answer 9

Photo taken 30 January 2021. Just on the south side of Spaarndam, the Netherlands.

Having passed through Spaarndam, on my way to Haarlem I looked back to take this photo. Very much traditional the Netherlands. A dike, a ditch, pollarded willows and a small(ish) road to a small village. On the other side of the road was a narrower ditch, also full of water, and fields behind that. This is Polder, usually translated as reclaimed land but it can be any land that has a dike around it and has its water level regulated by pumping out (or in.)

Answer 10

Photo of the University of Texas at Austin campus, with the Tower in view. Taken at the top level of a parking garage sometime in early 2019, on Kodak Ultramax 400 film; the grain of the film is completely visible in the sky.

(At the time, I was living in that area, so this photo was "close to home" for me.)

Answer 11

Niederwalddenkmal over Rüdesheim.

August 9, 2018

Answer 12

Blacklight mini golf course in Mainz.

January 20, 2017

Answer 13

Photo taken on 30 January 2021, Haarlem, standing across the road from the Spaarne river, near the railway bridge over that river. That is in the Netherlands, the city Harlem in NYC was named for.

It is almost as far south as I have been since before COVID 19 limited my traveling. I have been to the south of the center of this city, 12.5 km (about 7.5 mile) from home.

Answer 14

The city of Rotterdam as seen from an Amsterdam to Zurich flight. On the left, we see the river Nieuwe Maas passing through the city. The picture was taken in 2018.

Answer 15

Spotted whilst walking around my neighbourhood in Melbourne Australia on 21 May 2020.

It might be considered travel related, but not in any way I would recommend ;)

Answer 16

My wife and I had a "getaway" to Playas de Rosarito, Mexico, for our 20th anniversary. Same town, different view.

Photo taken on Dec 1, 2020, on an iPhone.

Answer 17

Our kids had an appointment, so wife and I took a stroll down Playa La Mision, between Rosarito and Ensenada, Mexico. Photo taken on Dec 21, 2020, on an iphone. It's sad to see the beaches so empty here - it was a glorious warm sunny day despite being the first day of winter!

Answer 18

Biking around my local neighborhood in San Diego, I rode past a school that had one of those electronic signs to warn cars to slow down when there are children present, which display the car's speed.

I was a bit amazed when that sign could recognize me even though I was riding a bicycle, and also at a speed significantly lower than the limit for cars:

Taken March 22, 2020 on Fujifilm Superia 400 film. (This was just one week after the school in the photo was closed due to the pandemic.)

Answer 19

SnowWorld Amsterdam, which is in Spaarnwoude a big, for the country, park area west from Amsterdam, so in the Netherlands. Photo taken 30 January 2021.

This is our artificial ski slope. Everthing about this slope is man made, including the hill it is on. It is a refuse heap, what the English call 'landfill' but as this was flat land without holes the waste got stacked up, then covered and now holds a slope.
Being indoors the snow can not be natural but the area has about 3 days in the year with snow, so not fit for a natural slope. According to their own site and Wikipedia they make 'natural snow'.
Do not let the 'Amsterdam' in the name confuse you, the address is Velsen Zuid and that is the closest town, 3 km (1.8 mile) to the west from this location. Haarlem is to the south 10 km (6.2 mile), Amsterdam to the east 25 km (14 mile).

Answer 20

Theodor Heuss Bridge between Mainz and Wiesbaden.

June 26, 2016