• clouds,  Fujifilm X-T3,  grass,  landscape,  mountains,  natural areas,  Soapstone Prairie Natural Area,  sunsets

    More Stars

    July 20, 2020
    Setting sun at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area

    I made my first visit to the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area yesterday afternoon and evening. I have driven up to the gate before but it was late so I did not venture in. Well, last night was different and well worth the time and drive. The isolation, the quiet and all those birds captured me immediately.

    It is one of the Natural Areas maintained by the City of Fort Collins and includes over 28 square miles of wide open vistas, pristine grasslands, miles of trails and world-renowned cultural resources. The city has set it up to be an educational classroom for both young and adult. Excavations in the 1930s by the Smithsonian and Colorado Museum of Natural History conclusively dated human habitation in North America to at least 10,000 years ago and gave new insight into the Folsom culture. Needles, beads and stone tools were found, making the Lindenmeier site the most extensive Folsom culture campsite yet found. They have a herd of bison on over 1,000 acres of pasture but with no visitor access. However, I could see the herd when I drove in the gate with binoculars. It is a large area with no city lights so they have more stars out there. 😊 Another reason I’ll go back! 

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  • coffee shops,  fountain pens,  Fujifilm X-T3,  journal,  quotes,  writing/reading

    Put it in your calendar

    July 19, 2020
    Journal time and a mocha at Mugs in Old Town this morning

    “When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”

    Henri Nouwen

    And, for those who need to know it’s National Ice Cream Day, which happens the third Sunday of every July. Put it in calendar! 

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  • clouds,  Fujifilm X-T3,  Humor,  landscape,  mountains,  Plants,  quotes,  sunsets

    Softening the Heart

    July 18, 2020
    Sun setting behind a sunflower at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area

    “The old Lakota was wise. He knew that a man’s heart away from nature becomes hard.”

    Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Lakota

    I’m  aware of how much more time I’m spending in nature. Seems the morning and evenings are always calling me. I took this image last night. But, this morning I took my latte, camera and journal to Red Fox meadows. A red fox scampered across Taft Hill Rd just as I turned into the parking area. Then as I parked the car a red tailed hawk rose up from the grass in the meadow but I did not see anything in its talons. I began to journal and listen. After about 5 minutes the fox came out a wooded area and into the grassy meadow. They were too far away to take a photo so I watched with my binoculars. They just sat there soaking up the sun and seemingly with eyes closed decided to lay down. Even I was enjoying the sun’s warmth. There were blue jays off to my right in a grove of trees having a rather loud discussion about something. I’m pretty sure it was not politics. I then watched a doe slowly walk out of the wooded area but staying close to the trees. I next had a short conversation with an elderly couple on a morning walk, both with canes. They lived nearby and said they were hoping to see owls. He was 88 and she was 83. Then as I started to leave a mother with two boys pulled up. I told them about the fox, deer and hawk which seemed to set expectations for some adventure. As they moved on the youngest told me, “Thank you Mr. Kind Man.” I believe, as does Luther Standing Bear, that nature can soften the heart!

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  • Camera Equipment,  flowers,  Fujifilm X-T3,  natural areas,  Plants

    I learned something yesterday

    July 17, 2020
    Snow-on-the-mountain

    On my walk around Dixon Reservoir I found this most beautiful plant I do not remember ever seeing before. At first I thought it was in the milkweed family because I found it near some mildweeds. But, it’s scientific name is Euphorbia marginata or called Snow-on-the-mountain. I would not recommend trying to say the scientific name if you have a mouth full of peanut butter, just saying. It has grey-green leaves along branches and smaller leaves in terminal whorls with edges trimmed with wide white bands, creating, together with the white flowers, the appearance that gives the plant its common names. I thought they were beautiful!

    When I went to upload this image my laptop could not find any photos, either through Lightroom or Finder. I changed card readers and the same thing. Grabbed the manual and began looking up the card information on the card slots. Wanted to make sure I had the camera set up correctly as it is my first camera with dual card slots. I wanted it to be in the Sequence mode, storing images on the card in slot 1 until full then begin storing to slot 2. I had it set up right. I began to think it was a bad SD card. Put the SD card back in the camera and playback showed all the images. It was then that I found the images were stored on the second SD card. I’ve discovered that if you do not have the SD card all the way in, or not even have a card in slot 1, the camera will default to storing images in slot 2 if there is a card in the slot.

    So, I learned two lessons yesterday. One was the information on this plant and the second one about my dual storage slots on the new Fujifilm X-T3 camera.

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  • bees,  flowers,  fog,  Fujifilm X-T3,  insects,  landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  trees

    Good morning

    July 16, 2020
    Fog in Rolland Moore Park
    Snow-on-the-mountain
    Backlit sunflowers at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area
    Bees busy pollinating at Reservoir Ridge

    I chased some early morning fog then headed out to one of the natural areas to write and get in a morning walk. It’s about a 5 mile drive to Reservoir Ridge and then found the sun shining brightly there and eerily quiet. I watched the sun burn off the fog along the foothills to the south, nature at work. Everything was wet from the humidity and dew; the split rail fence, the grass, and a spiderweb. The sun and wind will quickly dry things out. Thus begins a morning in the meadow. Makes me smile somewhere inside of me as I experience it.

    The birds now begin to sing as if they were waiting for me. They dart so quickly in the aire and must in order to catch all the quick and nimble flying insects. I watch as the wind slowly moves the fog to my east in a southerly direction. While small clouds along the foothills are moved south by the same wind. I watch a blue-jay perched on the fence hop to the ground in hot pursuit of some insect. He misses on the first couple tries then finds success. Such a beautiful bird dressed in blue, a work of art.

    Now a bit of information about common chicory from Wikipedia. I see these all over the place and finally looked them up. The bees love them. The plant was adopted as a coffee substitute by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War, and become common in the United States. It was also used in the United Kingdom during the Second World War, where Camp Coffee, a coffee and chicory essence, has been on sale since 1885.

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  • Fujifilm X-T3,  Fujifilm XF35mm f2.0,  leaves,  Plants

    The Work of Nature

    July 15, 2020
    Hops leaves at Marcee and John’s

    These are the leaves of a hops plant that was climbing up the wall at the apartment my sister and brother-in-law were renting in Lake Forest, Washington. The hop is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Although frequently referred to in American literature as the hops “vine”, it is technically a bine; unlike vines, which use tendrils, suckers, and other appendages for attaching themselves, bines have stout stems with stiff hairs to aid in climbing (Wikipedia). Anyway the leaves were stunning in details so I grabbed the camera.

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  • flowers,  landscape,  Plants,  quotes

    Hope

    July 14, 2020
    Sunflower looking east for the rising sun at Pineridge Natural Area

    “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”

    J.R.R. Tolkien
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  • Avian,  Family,  flowers,  leaves,  Plants,  Travel,  trees

    The Seattle Trip

    July 13, 2020
    View of Lake Washington from the deck of the VRBO
    Marcee and John going down The Hill
    We just don’t have ferns like this in Colorado
    Have no idea what these flowers are and can’t seem to find anything on them
    Fire pit on the patio because it did get cool at night
    These were in the garden at the apartment
    A Bald Eagle perched above us on one of our walks

    Here’s a little bit about the trip to Seattle. First off, the weather was wonderful, highs reached about 70 degrees and lows at night down to 55 degrees. No rain the whole time we were there. I ate too much.

    The Vacation Rental By Owner apartment Marcee and John were renting was sweet. It sat up on a hill with a great view of Lake Washington. We walked each day on a flat trail around the lake but the walk included climbing up “The Hill” on the way back. I walked about 12,000 steps each day. The Hill was steep and long enough that this older man had to stop and catch his breath three times to get home. You will see in the photo two orange cones marking holes in the road. I used them as rest stops on the way up.

    The walks along the lake were breathtaking for me. The area has such different and diverse plants than we have here in Colorado. The plants and density of them always amaze me. I experienced that when living in Ohio. I was always way behind everyone else because I had to stop so many times. 

    They had a small propane fire pit on the patio which did provide some warmth if the wind was not blowing. I actually thought it would be nice on my patio but  we cannot have grills due to insurance issues.

    I decided to only take the Fujifilm X-T3 and the XF35mm f2.0 lens. I was going for family time and did not want the extra weight and bother. It would also have distracted me from family time. So, this image is a major crop. Still not bad. I began to get more comfortable with the camera, its responsiveness and handling. The 30% increase in size and weight are no longer an issue.

    I really enjoyed the time with Marcee and John and Sheree. I was also able to see a nephew and niece I’d not seen in about 16 years. It was so. good to see them and their families. The trip was worth. Have a few more days of self-quarantine to where I will feel comfortable around others. But, it is good to be home, even though it’s hot.

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  • animals,  Meister Eckhart,  natural areas,  quotes

    The Silence

    July 10, 2020
    They call them cottontails for a good reason

    “Nothing in all creation is so like God as silence.”

    Meister Eckhart

    Started the morning with time in nature. The birds were singing. A Great Blue Heron surveyed the kingdom perched on a distant tree. A sunflower looked east greeting the morning sunrise. Cottontails wandered around in search for the best grass to nibble on. I come for the silence and the effect nature has on my soul. It can set me in a good place, clears my mind of irrelevant stuff. Yes, the silence.

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