• landscape,  Plants,  rants,  sunsets,  trees,  writing/reading

    Invasive Species

    June 22, 2022

    According to the National Invasive Species Information Center an “invasive species” is a species that is: 1) non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and,
    2) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. Another definition of invasive species, and my favorite, is from Wikipedia, “An invasive species is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated with and harms its new environment.” You can do your own research but they all say basically the same thing.

    In these two images you can see the harm done to the environment by an invasive species. I am standing in approximately the same location in both images but a year a part. Top image taken in June 2021 and the bottom image in June 2022. Those beautiful cottonwood trees I enjoyed seeing and photographing in the top image, have been removed. The green lush field is now barren dirt, piles of gravel/sand and about to have sewer lines, water lines buried underground then covered with concrete and cement. Gone.

    I am saddened because earth movers are in the process of destroying complete ecosystems and calling it development. Sorry to differ but it’s called destruction. They both start with the letter “D” but that’s about as close as they get. I will boldly say housing is an environmental issue with its roots solidly based in money! Where we build housing says a lot about our views on and treatment of the land on which we live. And, I would suggest that those developers do not live in this sort of neighborhood. Nor do they care about the debt people will be getting into so they can increase their financial wealth. But more importantly the increases in housing density and associated development on rural forest lands and even farming practices has been linked to numerous changes to private forest services across watersheds, including decreases in native wildlife; changes in forest health, reduced water quality and availability. And, I’ve not even started with the impact of the maintenance of this infrastructure, environmentally and economically in years to come.

    If I go with the definition by Wikipedia then the major invasive species I know is: humans. Interesting how man makes a list of invasive species such as thistle, bindweed, Zebra mussels, garlic mustard and the list goes on, but arrogantly leaves himself off the list. We have had people shouting warnings for years but many humans ignore it. Here’s a simple post by our friend Joe at JWSmithPhoto about this very thing.

    Now that I’ve spent a few days writing and rewriting this post, I’ve uncovered how I really feel and discovered that I’m not just sad but I’m also pissed!

    Stand unshod upon it, for the ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed.

    Alan Paton

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  • clouds,  John O'Donohue,  landscape,  Plants,  quotes,  trees

    Landscape

    June 7, 2022

    When you cease to fear your solitude, a new creativity awakens in you. Your forgotten or neglected inner wealth begins to reveal itself. You come home to yourself and learn to rest within. Thoughts are our inner senses. Infused with silence and solitude, they bring out the mystery of the inner landscape.

    John O’Donohue

    I consider myself a landscape photographer because I enjoy moments of solitude whether I’m in nature or not. That inner landscape has been an interest for many years now. I enjoy spending time in nature or the inner landscape and what I’m discovering in those two landscapes.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  rants,  writing/reading

    Dream World

    June 4, 2022
    On a drive down Rist Canyon I came upon this tree shrouded in clouds and mist.

    “Too often in the past our approach to truth has been to assume that we have it and others do not. Consequently, we have thought that our role is to tell people what to believe. We are being invited instead into a new humility, to serve the holy wisdom that is already stirring in the hearts of people everywhere, the growing awareness of earth’s interrelatedness and sacredness.”

    John Philip Newell

    I went to a local coffee shop to sit outside and journal but that did not happen. There was a group of men gathered around a couple tables talking loudly, wearing shirts that told you their political opinions, one of them packing a gun. We are faced daily with people telling us what to believe, their truth, from all different perspectives. It was not a comfortable place, so I left. I went where I could listen to the birds sing. They make more sense to me and I love their music.

    What would our world be like if people spent time in nature? Would there be an experience of the awareness of our interrelatedness and sacredness that Newell talks about? How would that change us? Maybe we’d realize we need to be students rather than know-it-alls. Or worse yet, think we need to change the world but not ourselves.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  mountains,  Plants,  Poudre River,  snow,  trees

    Scenes from Cameron Pass

    June 2, 2022

    I took a drive up to Cameron Pass yesterday. I had not been up there since the fire in 2020. With rain and snow the past few days and overcast skies in town, I thought I would find some wintery images. I really don’t venture into the mountains much anymore, preferring the open prairie to my east instead. However, I enjoyed my morning drive up there and back. Wonderful weather up there on the pass with blue sky and temperatures around 40 degrees. The above image is on the way up and shows the Poudre River near its headwaters. The melting snow was a dirty brown at lower elevations where up here it is still clear sparkling water.

    This is the open meadow at the top of the pass. You get some idea of the height of those peaks in the distance as the pass I’m shooting from is at 10,249 feet. Plenty of snow so you would not think it was June 1st. Not all that familiar with this area but think the peak in the distance is Mt. Mahler. What a beautiful sky we had that day! There were some cross country skiers enjoying themselves up there.

    This area was devastated by the Cameron Peak fire in the late summer of 2020. The fire began on August 13, 2020, and was declared 100% contained on December 2, 2020. In that time period the fire burned 208,663 acres (326 sq mi.). The wildfire was the largest to ever burn in Colorado’s history, and became the first wildfire to surpass 200,000 acres. Not the kind of bragging rights we want. The fire is thought to have a major impact on the wildlife, habitat loss, tree population, and many more elements over the next several years. The burn scar from the fire is expected to last and will take years to recover properly. Many areas within the burn scar burned intensely and will take many years for the native Ponderosa Pines to regrow. The cause of the fire is still unknown. Here is a link to information of the fire. The above was shot taken near Chambers Lake from my car.

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  • clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  mountains

    A Memorable Day for Clouds

    June 1, 2022
    Pineridge Natural Area about 5:00 pm

    Nature was creating beautiful art with the clouds and the dark blue sky on Memorial Day. As any restless photographer would do upon seeing these clouds from home, I headed to Pineridge Natural Area to take in all the beauty, journal and listen to the birds sing. With nothing on my schedule for the rest of day and with all the cloud activity, I decided to drive east so I could get closer to those clouds. 😂

    Looking at the eastern horizon about 7:30 pm on Memorial Day

    Along Weld County Road 15 I spotted this scene. What a mix of dark, almost tornadic looking formation on the left side of the image and those bright white cumulonimbus clouds on the right just at the horizon. Not sure how far away they were but I imagine 40-70 miles. With all the wind blowing the smog along the Front Range out over Kansas somewhere, we have had rather beautiful dark blue skies the past few days.

    Running Deer Natural Area about 8:00 pm on Memorial Day

    Driving back into town I stopped at the Running Deer Natural Area for a bathroom break and was given this third image. I love how nature does that, just freely and unexpectedly offers gifts. Just to the left of center you can see clouds shrouding around Longs Peak (one of Colorado’s 53 14ers). This view is looking out over a marshy area so I am surrounded by Red-winged and Yellow-headed blackbirds all in chorus, and of course, millions of bugs.

    As I write this I am reminded of the homemade ice cream my parents would traditionally make on Memorial Day when I was younger. And today would have been my parents 73rd wedding anniversary and the first without mom. I will give my dad a call. And, maybe talk about the homemade ice cream. ❤️

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

    Good to be Alive

    May 26, 2022

    “To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe — to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it — is a wonder beyond words.”

    Joanna Macy

    I ventured out to Riverbend Ponds the other night because the sky was filled with clouds and I love clouds. It was rather quiet out there, maybe a half dozen people fishing. The water was very peaceful without the wind. Birds were singing all around me. And those clouds! Yes, it’s good to be alive!

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