Creepy Crawly

Corn as high . . .

as an elephant's eye.  Or maybe it's just perspective . . .

Barn Again

Waiting For A Summer Breeze

Back in the thick of things.  Green, thick and sticky.  Sigh.

Momentarily Passing Through Your Life

Time to say goodbye for now to South Dakota.  It was a fabulous trip for animal pictures; the best I've ever seen.  I rigorously deleted photos in the evening after the day's shoot and still came home with over 1300.  Of those, probably five or six are outstanding.  That's enough.  I'm content.

Many more shots are going to be raw material for paintings.  Not that you'll ever see my paintings in a museum, at least not unless there's a sudden resurgence of popularity for 'primitives'.  I'm not as good as, well, anybody.  And not as bad as, say, Mark Rothko, with his substandard materials changing color and falling apart after a mere 30 years.  I'm a middling painter in the middle of America's corn country.  And on a good day I can almost convince myself I'm content with that.

Growing Boys

Wyoming Duplex

Comfy Camouflage

Not A Hobbit

Black bear at Bear Country U.S.A. near Rapid City, South Dakota.  (You didn't think I got this close to one in the wild, did you?  Hey, I'm smarter than I look!)

Stranger, Turn Back Now.

A Town Named Scenic

Beautiful downtown Scenic, South Dakota. Perhaps it's few trees and surrounding farmable fields were a sort of oasis on the west side of the badlands?  The 2010 census listed 10 residents, and there was one gift store with it's brave Open flag fluttering the day we were there.  Apparently the elderly lady who owned the town found it increasingly hard to maintain, so several years ago she listed the town and 30-some acres around it for sale for $799,000.  It made the national news, along with the inevitable scoffing.  But lo and behold, she had a taker:  in August 2011 a Philippines-based church called Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) bought the property.

Longhorn Saloon

The heads of patrons who didn't pay their bar tab?

Scenic Jail

With a picture-window view of main street.

Spires And Domes

Child's Play

Baby bighorn sheep.  Whee!

Dueling Shooters

 

And Now A Response From The Coyotes

"Excuse me?  Why should the turkeys get such sympathetic treatment in this blog?  I have to live, too.  I'm a valuable part of the ecosystem.  As an omnivore I'll try anything once - cactus fruit, flowers, insects, rodents, lizards, rabbits, birds, even snakes.  Adaptability is my middle name!

"And furthermore, I have hungry pups back at the den that keep me hunting day and night.  Those kids!  But you have to admit they're adorable.  Much cuter than turkeys with their boring eggs.  Have you ever seen a baby turkey???  Aack, a face only a mother could love!

"In a desert environment like this only 5% to 20% of my pups will survive their first year.  So give me a break (especially on the highway).  And an occasional turkey dinner wouldn't go amiss, either."

Evening Parade

As the sun goes down the wild turkeys file purposefully toward the cliffs.  They need to get to a safe roost before night, and the coyotes, come calling.

Safely out of reach, each on it's own little pinnacle or ledge, the turkeys can close their eyes to the greetings and chat of the coyotes I hear close by.

As a side note, I sleep like a baby too, knowing I'm blessed with an awesome camera for these after-dark photos.  Perfectly acceptable shots at ISO 6400 - what an amazing thing!  :)

Cottonwood Jail

Minimum security, I presume.

Happy As A Pig In Clover

In the evening the bighorn sheep venture out on top of the plateau to feast on the rich grasses.  It must be like sweet dessert after the dusty, struggling plants of the cliffs.

Peak Panorama

Contours Of A Summer Evening

Silhouette

Tiny Blooms on the Plains

Russian olives in stream beds and at rest stops filled the air with wonderful perfume.  Not too sweet - just right.

We Interrupt This Travelogue For A Word From Your Country

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!    

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!  :)

Peace and freedom, what more could we possibly ask?  Anything else is up to us.  With heartfelt gratitude to all who made our comfortable lives possible.

Blazing Shade

Those Good Badlands

The soft, sand-like projections of the Bandlands were only created 500,000 years ago.  Just babies in rock time.  They are eroding in the rain and wind at a rate of about half an inch a year.  They will be completely gone in another 500,000 years.  See them while you can!

Ramparts