An Early Winter Day in the Foothills

I let myself sleep in a little this morning. When I got up, I headed out to Red Rocks to kick it and take some photos. It felt so good to get outside that I ran out the door and forgot some essentials, like my water bottle and gloves. And boy, did I regret being careless. There hasn't been any snow yet this season. The days are very bright and blue skied. But even so, today the wind was freezing and coming right at you like something alive and starving. My hands and face were chapped by the time I got back to my car.

We've been here a number of times in the past for shows. But I'm not always allowed to take my camera in and the crowds make it tricky to take good shots. This was my first time visiting outside of concert season. I wish I'd gone sooner. I parked on the east side for a change, and took a new way up to the visitor's center. It was a little steep.

I caught a cute bird having a snack. It was plucking something off this pine tree and gobbling it down. I'm having a hard time narrowing down just what kind of bird this is. I was thinking a lark bunting, but it seems to have too much white on it's body. Hm.

In the amphitheater, facing roughly north.

Some various views from the top of the venue.

A distant clifftop.

You can see downtown Denver, about 15-20 miles away east.

Multicolored lichens.

Cold, bright light.

Here is a video I took from the top of the visitor's center, looking out. I was expecting it to be pretty empty, considering the wind. But there were all kinds of people enjoying being out....

...including some fire fighters getting in some training time.

And here is a video I took from next to the stage. There were people everywhere, including some sort of sports team doing some strength training or something. They were taking turns pulling each other up the stairs.

I lasted almost two hours, wandering around and enjoying the view. Then I drove back into town and treated myself to spring rolls and noodle soup at Pho 79, the Vietnamese cafe I've become obsessed with. Finished my Hercule Poirot mystery too. Just a nice, chill Saturday afternoon, exploring in Colorado.

Pieces of Abundance and Emptiness

My contribution to this week's 2 Things Challenge.

A top shelf in my living room is full of a Pearl Jam album and also four empty marching Paso Fino mugs.

Emptiness:

An empty vase on my kitchen counter.

Emptiness:

I need to stop going grocery shopping when I'm hungry. I barely made it out of the produce section.

Abundance:

We made it up to Boulder once in August to the farmer's market. I went crazy over all that fresh produce. Here are some of my purchases from that afternoon; several kinds of bright squash, a gorgeous poblano pepper, a monster cucumber, and a sweet little sage plant.

Abundance:

Late Night

It was a fun filled Friday night of drinking and partying. We all got up late feeling less than our best. Even Dee Dee was kind of slumped over her food dish this morning.

I have recently become obsessed with Nick 'Takenobu' Ogawa and his marvelous mad cello playing skillz. I could listen to him all day. And today, I pretty much did.

Scanning the Horizon

I'm really getting a kick out of using our wireless Epson scanner. I have tons of photos, postcards, magazine articles, comics and all kinds of things to get digitalized. It's a little time consuming, but worth it. No one can stop me, I have the power! Mwah HAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!

During the semester abroad I spent going to school at Roehampton University, I went several times to the National Gallery. There was so much to see! And I loved Trafalgar Square. I went to see da Vinci's cartoon, The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist, several times too. It's charcoal, and black and white chalk on tinted paper. You can learn more about it here. And here is a scan of my memento postcard.

A Late Fall Visit

I was back in Ohio a couple of weeks ago for a much anticipated visit. My family decided to get together before the official holiday to avoid the travel rush and fuss, and it worked out well for most of us that had to fly in or drive. It was great to be back east and on the farm. Here are some shots of the trail on the back of the property.

The edge of the property is lined with ancient osage orange trees. They make the air smell spicy. And they look a bit like disembodied brains, guarding their tree.

C.K. Dexter Haven has caught himself a rodent.

Someone might be sneaking up trying to steal his catch!

Dexter's all, "Megan, stop staring at me and let me enjoy my kill."

My brother and Cory go for a cool fall ride.

Elfin blends into the landscape.

The walk to the front door is full of gold and yellow calendula.

It was late afternoon on Saturday, the weather was fine, and the sunlight was sublime.

Elsa watches me from a flower bed, with wise eyes.

The rear of the house. My parents keep a giant garden, with the help of their community gardening "serfs". Everyone gets more fresh vegetables than they know what to do with!

Mm, kale.

An asparagus forest.

The willow in front of the barn was looking very colorful.

It's old Mikey (Michaelangelo), enjoying a late afternoon snack in the sun of his stall.

This was probably my last visit to the farm and Ohio for the rest of the winter. So far, weather has been very mild for this time of year in Colorado. I'm looking forward to everything I'm going to see and experience in my first full winter here, but I'm also already looking forward to spring, when it will be time to visit and be visited.

2 Things Challenge: Warning/Authority

I'm late for this last week's 2 Things Challenge. It was due yesterday afternoon and I'm a bad blogger, but I wanted to do it anyway. These pictures were taken in September of last year in Daniel's Park, when we visited Colorado for the first time.

Warning: Wake up, human race!

Authority: We have the power to take care of our world.

And here are some bonus pictures from that same afternoon at that same park:

2 Things Challenge: Emerging/Satisfaction

About a month ago, while I was wandering around the blogosphere, I wandered over to the 2 Things Challenge. It looks like fun and a great way to get creative and share what you come up with. So, here's my first go. This week's 2 things are "emerging" and "satisfaction". I decided to share videos from this past summer in Ohio.

This July storm could be seen coming from far away (emerging!) and looked like a witch's brew being stirred in the sky. The air smelled sharp. You can see flashes of lightening, and you can hear the wind and my dog Podunk crying in the background. Thunder is scary! As soon as I finished taping, I went inside and cuddled poor Popo.

Here is Pigpen in mid June, wrestling with a squirrel's tail he caught himself. The Piglet is feeling very pleased with himself and being silly. If Piggy's antics aren't a feline definition of "satisfaction", I don't know what is.