Winter's Handwriting

Last Colors of Fall

Exposed

Abandoned

Relic

This silo of heavy brick pavers, lined with concrete on the inside, was state-of-the-art grain storage.  Now, with it's roof fallen in, it's a testament to the hard work of farmers past and present.

I Wouldn't Dream Of It!

Not after seeing the security guard.

Up, Up, and . . .

over the Tetons.

Heavy Weather

If you're fortunate to stay long enough, a Wyoming storm is not to be missed!  (Opinions vary.)

Moran Morning

Mt. Moran from Oxbow Bend, one of the most-photographed views in the world, I do believe.  At least, whenever I've been here there have been tourists of all nationalities.

Happy Feet : )

Lift My Eyes to the Hills

Teton Sky

Mt. Moran in Grand Teton National Park.  It don't get any better than this, to quote an old commercial.

Dumb Animal. And I Don't Mean the Elk.

Park rangers will tell you to keep your distance, for the wildlife's safety and yours.  I was hoping for some tourist-stompin' mayhem, but unfortunately this elk turned out to be a pacifist.

Canyon Cataract

Yellowstone National Park has some of the most jaw-dropping scenery anywhere.  I can't describe it.  You'll just have to see it for yourself.

Oasis

Gem-green valleys in Montana and Wyoming owe their lushness to irrigation.

Top of the World

 . . . or at least the Rockies, at Logan Pass on Going To The Sun Road.

Wood and Lace

Glacier National Park is on the border of Montana and Canada.  The spine of the Rocky Mountains is preserved in the park wilderness, but you can cross it (weather permitting) on the Going To The Sun Road.  An apt name for the feeling you're winding right up to Heaven.

Drive On

Thanks, but I can wait for a bathroom break until we get to the next town. The next town with pavement. Pavement, and indoor plumbing. Drive on.

Going to Sturgis

 
Sturgis, SD, is just down the road from the Badlands. Bikers are beginning to trickle in to attend, or deliberately miss, the big event two weeks from now. Of all the bikers I talk to (the smiling, least-scary ones), they are united in their passion for motorcycles.

Old and young, male and female, the enthusiasm vibrates in their voices. The same enthusiasm I recognize in my own devotion to my camera. Hmm. South Dakota: big skies, small world. Nice.

Immoveable

The spires and blocks of the South Dakota Badlands look like ruined cathedrals frozen in time. For a place sculpted by erosion, it looks like nothing will ever move again. The pliable road curves around buttes and over hillocks, conforming itself with shrugging practicality. I can't shrug, though. I'm in awe of this sculpture playground.

Badlands Dusk

As we head "out West" toward Glacier National Park we take a road I've never been on before. There are a lot of those. But I'm working to change that. Dusk seems to come to the sky first, before the land. Curious.

And Then

. . .  the sun comes out, and all's right with the world. : )

Risky Shelter

Rain can be life-giving or life-taking. It's probably a good thing we don't know which, each time.

Farm Shadows

Spring planting in the Midwest is of course a time of long hours, second only to the fall harvest. The best time is when the new seed is safely in the ground, hope for a good season abounds, and the equipment can be parked temporarily until the next work of care and cultivation needs to be done.

Rotten To The Core

"I had to shoot him. He didn't leave me a choice."

So sad when saguaros go bad. ; )

Mirage

Well, not really. It's just the reflection of one of the many upscale homes springing fullblown from the desert. Beautiful neighborhoods with coordinating colors and xeriscaping, and shiny new rain barrels collecting the precious runoff from flat roofs.

They're part of the boom-and-bust cycle of employment, which I'm neither qualified to, nor interested in, discussing. But coming from an area where the "bust" has been dominant for more years than I care to admit remembering, it's delightful to see homes that are new. Clean-lined. Pretty. Long may they last!

Subtle Colors

We were in Arizona at the end of February. Still winter almost anywhere in the northern hemisphere. The overall impression was greenish-brown, and of course the ever-present blue of distant hills. Looking closer, however, yields lovely color rewards even in the blandest seasons.

Enough Room For A Friend

I met a friend in the desert. We've been corresponding for quite some time but never meeting in person. A little matter of 2000 miles, give or take.

But I was finally in her neck of the woods, if I can use that term about a place with no trees. She said she'd be waiting at the crossroads. She was. We met in the geographical center of nowhere, and drove yet another 13 miles.

And it was absolutely fabulous. We didn't stop talking the whole time. The time was way too short, as the best meetings are. So short we didn't get around to sitting on this beautiful bench.

But this picture reminds me that friendships grow and flower with just a little encouragement, like mesquite after a spring shower. Next time we'll sit on the bench. Until then, email will carry nourishment for this budding friendship. Electronic sustenance as welcome as rain in the desert.

Daytime Doze

This barn owl was perched agreeably on the leather-clad arm of a staffer at the Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson. He didn't mind the oohs and aahs of passers-by. It was daytime, the proper hour for sleep. If he was dreaming of cool wind, the scratch and scrabble of mouse feet, and the hot-blooded thrill of the hunt, he maintained his poker face.

Arms Wide In Welcome

Everywhere I looked was painters' and photographers' heaven. Spiky shapes and soft colors, aggressive defense tools, in-your-face plants and retiring wildlife. Definitely not a comfortable land for those who want to drift unengaged through life.

A Country of Light

I visited a foreign land this week. Technically Arizona is part of the U.S., but the desert colors, plants, and terrain were so different from the mono-green Midwest that it felt foreign to me. The boxy adobe architecture seemed fitting and right amid the similar-colored rocks. And when the sun came out - aah, the colors glowed like a photographer's dream.

It's Snowing Inside

The city of Chicago (and it's octopus suburbs) advances over the surrounding fertile farmland at a rate of half a mile per year. (source: Illinois Farm Bureau) Covered over with concrete, that rich dark soil will never return to productive life.

So it goes with farms, too. Barns that no longer house livestock aren't worth the expense of maintaining. They gently decay, are torn down, or are pushed in a pile and set ablaze. Like the proverbial old gray mare - barns ain't what they used to be.

Seeking Shelter

The winter of 2009 - 2010 was unusual world-wide, it seems. We in the Midwest have had to shovel more than our accustomed share of 'global warming'. But the snow becomes a visual map of the highways and byways of animal life. I'm fascinated by their wanderings.

When God's Ready

This shot brings to mind a favorite quote from that master of all things magical, Ansel Adams: "Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."

Yes! Click. : )

Icon

When I saw this through my viewfinder I thought it was the iconic buffalo image. A shot that says it all: the West, freedom, unlimited space, wild, independence. I was proud of this shot. Still am.

My pride suffered a bit of course correction, though, when I happened on this quote: "People can often mistake being in a particular geographic location for being talented." Well, yes. There is that .......... : )

What do you think about?

Never give up on something you can't go a day without thinking about.
~ anonymous Internet wisdom

This has been said rather more eloquently any time over the last few thousand years:

A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of his thoughts.
~ James Allen

The mind is everything. What you think you become.
~ Buddha

The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind.
~ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Life consists in what a man is thinking of all day.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our life is what our thoughts make it.
~ Marcus Aurelius

I continually think about making photographs; my life is lived in images. Therefore I'm a photographer. Reassuringly, none of these sayings require you to be good at what you think about! Becoming good has a way of coming with practice, though. ; )

What do you constantly think about? What is your life's focus?

How many colors do you see?

On a gray foggy day it's easy to believe the world has no color. I love the way the frosted weeds stand out against the gravestones, but what really fascinated me was the amount and variety of color in these old markers. I think they're beautiful.