• landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  trees

    A Good Starting Point

    This is the starting point to the trail at Arapaho Bend Natural Area. I find this view to be an inviting place to start. I spent some time out there late Saturday afternoon for some renewal and to touch base with nature.

    The second image is along the trail on the west side of the natural area. I’ve been coming out here for over 15 years and watched things change. A year ago they changed the dirt/gravel path to concrete. It is nice in funky weather but it does take away from the feel of the natural area. The engineering mind of man wants to improve or enhance this area. In doing so we alter the natural area to a man controlled environment. Almost wish the old path was still there.

  • landscape,  mountains,  sunsets

    The Quiet at the End of the Day

    “I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness; I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too. I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.” Anne Frank

    Have a wonderful weekend!

  • Art/Design,  lifestyles

    Sunshine, Clear Skies and Rain

    “If you’re to choose to paint your life today… What will it be? Remember, you’re the artist, not the canvas.”  Val Uchendu

    While visiting my parents we needed to make a trip to the pharmacy. My mother wanted to look for a specific color of makeup. I came across this array of nail polish and its colors. We have sunshine, clear skies and expecting more rain later today.

  • landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  quotes,  snow,  trees

    Yes, it’s May in Colorado

    Snow was falling,
    so much like stars
    filling the dark trees
    that one could easily imagine
    its reason for being was nothing more
    than prettiness.

    Mary Oliver

    Awoke to this pretty scene. A reminder that it’s still spring and I live in Colorado. It is a wet and heavy snow with plenty of moisture, making farmers happy campers. Most of the trees have their leaves on so many of the branches on the smaller trees are under the stress of its weight. It is not cold so I’m good with it. This is at the trailhead to Fisher Natural Area along West Stuart.

  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  prairie

    Rain Showers on the Horizon

    Rain Showers in the Foothills, Colorado

    Nature supplied me with this scene along Weld County Road 13 this past weekend. We have had rain almost every day and the next two days are expected to be more of the same. My car was a mess as the roads were muddy but man, those fields are green.

    I have a couple of questions for all my WordPress Gurus out there.

    1. I seem to have lost the capability to have the viewer click on the image to view a full size image. I’ve discovered I can set the image to link to the media file but this seems to give me two larger files. Any ideas?
    2. Second is my image caption. I cannot seem to change the image caption font color. At the present time it is almost the same color as my background. See the above image.
  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains

    New Natural Area

    With every grandparent, parent, sibling, boyfriend or girlfriend in town for graduation I decided to venture off to Arapahoe Bend Natural Area. It was much quieter! A couple years ago this reservoir named Rigden Reservoir did not exist was a mix of open fields and gravel pits. It was a haven for meadowlarks, blackbirds, prairie dogs, rabbits and raptors. I was surprised to find that is another natural area. The City of Fort Collins asked citizens to submit names and Topminnow Natural Area was chosen. They have built a 2.2 mile paved walking loop around the reservoir. So, I walked it and found this scene. I liked the light rain falling along the Front Range and cropped it to give it a more panoramic feel.

  • clouds,  grass,  landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  quotes,  trees

    Walking the Path

    “Perhaps for the first time we have a limited sense of what it means to be silence, instead of actively seeking or longing for the silence we think we lack and trying to make space for silence in our lives, as if this silence were not already silence but some sort of object to be sought and found.”

    Martin Laird

    This is from yesterday afternoon on a walk at the Environmental Learning Center along the Poudre River. I go there for the quiet, probably not often enough. I found three young people who had strung hammocks among a grove of trees, were playing music and staring at their phones. We were not using the ELC I read earlier in the day that we do not seek silence as much as we are to be silence. I like that idea and will need to ponder that for awhile, in silence. You”ll find the reading below.

    Storm clouds filled the sky to the south and west but no rain. Teh clouds and a cool breeze made it almost a perfect temperature. Loved the musty smell of the woods and all the birds singing. The Poudre River was full and running hard from the spring runoff. I was glad to see few mosquitos or flies.

  • architecture,  shadows

    Blue Sky

    We got home from Phoenix on Monday evening. I enjoyed my time in Phoenix with family, eating way too much, talked about old memories of our childhood and laughed a lot. Dad may have gotten bored a couple of times but mom sure did enjoy herself. Each morning after dad made breakfast we would go for coffee. This is the adobe wall outside the building and two shadows I found intriguing.

    The cataract surgery went well. Was seeing 20/50 with my right eye 24 hours after surgery. Have an appointment today and see how much it improves. I may not need glasses except to read. That is strange as I’ve had to have corrective lenses since I was around 10 years old. I am scheduled to have the left eye operated on June 4th. As of now, I am quite excited.

    “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving.
    What you have caught on film is captured forever…
    It remembers little things long after you have forgotten everything.”