Sunday was a brilliant November day,
and the sky was deep, deep blue.
Grasses in My Adopted Garden
Aurora, Colorado
In the spring,
the poles pose
no questions.
No sign of clouds,
or sleet, or snow, or blizzard ~
just bright sunshine beating down.
Definitely fall though, because those strange poles
are standing stark against the blue in my adopted garden.
In the spring,
the poles pose
no questions.
(Photo taken
on a rare soft sky day
on the High Plains.)
Eagle Bend
Metro District
Demonstration Garden,
Metro District
Demonstration Garden,
Aurora, Colorado
What to do, but walk in the sun
and snap some photos ~
I couldn't help humming
And the skies are not cloudy all day.
Colorado rivals Florida when it comes to sunshine!
E-470 and Mt. Evans
Cowboys, settlers, and others
and snap some photos ~
I couldn't help humming
And the skies are not cloudy all day.
Colorado rivals Florida when it comes to sunshine!
Xeriscaping in an Arid Land
Mallards Enjoying the Bright Sun
Pond at Heritage Eagle Bend
Ducks on the Water
Heavy Metal Switch Grass in the Strong Light
Berries and Leaves
On a whim I googled the lyrics
to the song Home on the Range
when I got home.
when I got home.
This is a storied song
adapted from Dr. Brewster M. Higley's poem
"Oh, Give Me a Home Where the Buffalo Roam."
Cowboys, settlers, and others
carried the song across the American West.
As a child growing up
in the Maritimes in eastern Canada,
I learned this unofficial anthem
of the American West,
and I dreamed of wide open spaces
and the deer and antelope
under bright blue skies.
No one ever suspected that my future
would lie under these same sunny skies ~
least of all me!
Now that I have known them,
I don't know if I could leave them.
Thinking my post was finished,
except for adding the song,
As a child growing up
in the Maritimes in eastern Canada,
I learned this unofficial anthem
of the American West,
and I dreamed of wide open spaces
and the deer and antelope
under bright blue skies.
No one ever suspected that my future
would lie under these same sunny skies ~
least of all me!
Now that I have known them,
I don't know if I could leave them.
Thinking my post was finished,
except for adding the song,
I raced off to an appointment Monday afternoon,
and BAM!
My post and afternoon were hijacked!
There were those pesky pronghorn
taunting me on the horizon again!
The antelope in that song I couldn't get out of my head!
I simply had to pull off the road and try to get a shot.
I could not drive by yet one more time,
appointment or not.
Definitely not Straight Out Of Camera ~
I'm pulling every trick I can think of to get an image ~
but perhaps you can glimpse their mystery and grace.
My post and afternoon were hijacked!
There were those pesky pronghorn
taunting me on the horizon again!
The antelope in that song I couldn't get out of my head!
I simply had to pull off the road and try to get a shot.
I could not drive by yet one more time,
appointment or not.
Pronghorns on the High Plains
Now I was going to be late!
And then BAM! SLAM!
STOP the car ~ jump out again!
Darned if there wasn't that buck
I've been trying to spot for months!
Now I was really going to be late!
Buck with Does
Inspiration Drive, Parker
Gotcha!
Pedal to the metal again!
Oh no!
Do I have a flat tire?
Ease to a stop and off the road for a third time ~
Please, oh please!
Whew!
Holding air!
Only some bumps in the road! ~
And I was just a tinsy bit late after all.
My friend was late too!
My friend was late too!
On the way home,
in the brilliant slanting sunlight,
those pronghorns were still there!
STOP!
Pull off the road.
Pull off the road.
Jump a barrier.
Slink run across the prairie
Try to get a little closer.
The light is so bright
I can't see through
the lens of my little camera ~
Where are the !@#$%^ antelope?
Point.
Shoot.
Pray.
Stock Pond and Prairie
Do You See What I See?
Not SOOC!
One of These Days Im Gonna Git Clos 2 U!
Definitely not Straight Out Of Camera ~
I'm pulling every trick I can think of to get an image ~
but perhaps you can glimpse their mystery and grace.
Source: You Tube ~ tarquin45
Sorry about the late supper, E-P!
Who wants to cook when there are antelope to chase!
haha just how deep deep blue was it? Oh that song can get stuck in ones head more than a bit. You sure live on the range where animals are there and it's not strange. Even chew toys for the cat, he likes that
ReplyDeleteIt's the deepest, bluest, most gorgeous sky in the world, Pat! If I saw the cat after my ducks, I'd be chasing him ~ away! LOL!
ReplyDeleteYes, in time management, one must have priorities. Great shots!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debra! Fortunately the E-P gets me! Have a good one!
DeleteBeautiful photos! I love that pond. There is so much to photograph where you are that I'm surprised you ever manage to get from point A to point B! We had a buck run through the green space in back of our home one fall season. I've never seen anything like that. It was quite an amazing experience. And a few weeks ago, there was a coyote waiting patiently on the sidewalk to cross the street one night. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. I can't tell you how much that made me laugh!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Martha! Coyotes are something else! They have adapted quite well to urban habitats. I read quite some time ago, that they have made it all the way to Newfoundland. They crossed the ice in the winter! I hope that you are having a good day!
DeleteLouise, I love all of those photos!!! I am so jealous of all the wildlife you get to see and photograph. And those blue skies are REALLY gorgeous. Of course here in North Carolina we also have some gorgeous "tarheel blue" skies. My parents have bucks in their backyard sometimes when I visit. I go NUTS and my parents think I'm off my rocker. But they're IN THE BACKYARD. I'm excited now just thinking about it. The suburbs really do suck.
ReplyDeleteThan you, Audrey! I wish I had more time to take even more photos! Suburbs are tough! I love wild areas. I was fortunate to spend a lot of time in my early years in wilderness areas. Kuddos to you nurturing a love of nature in Sophie and Clara! I totally get your excitement about the buck! I can remember one place where I lived in Nova Scotia when a big buck and some does were eating apples off an apple tree near our house. It was pure magic for me! Have a good day!
DeleteHoooooome, home on the raaaaange... O, beautiful, unblocked expanse of land and sky! O, clean, unreclaimed tract of water! O happy, wild animals freely feeding of someone's lawn!
ReplyDeleteLOL! I'm guessing that you liked the post, Janice! Some of the homeowners around here aren't as happy as the deer when it comes to the deer eating off their lawns! My thought always is, the deer were here first!
DeleteWhat a wonderful looking place, so pretty.
ReplyDeleteThanks, GT! I think there are things of beauty in every place! One day I hope to see Australia's beauty.
DeleteHave a good day!
Whenever I go to Colorado (which is at least once a year since my nephew moved there) it takes me weeks to stop missing it when I am back in Wisconsin. Especially the mountains that rest so gracefully on the horizon, and loom so majestically over every westward view. I love those mountains. They make my heart soar.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the antelope and deer photos! No appointment (well, almost) is more important than getting a good shot. :)
P.S. Those blue skies flew over to Wisconsin to give us a glorious Tuesday sandwiched between a grey drippy Monday and a grey damp Wednesday. It was wonderful.
Hi Sue! Thank you! The mountains make my heart soar too! Fortunately my appointment was for a massage with my friend, Kathi. She's a healing touch therapist and much, much more. She works from her home, and if anyone would understand it would be her. She's like me: dozens of irons in the fire, a touch of ADHD, broad interest in people and things all around her. She's also a well-known graphologist, an author, a speaker, and, and, and! I'm glad that you got a blue sky break! We went from warm and sunny yesterday afternoon to below freezing and snow today! It took my husband more than twice as long to drive to work today. The roads are bad. But this being Colorado, the sun will be back tomorrow and melting everything away! I hope that you are enjoying a brighter day today!
DeleteYour dreams have come true Louise! You are definitely in your element here. Now THAT is a blue sky if I ever saw one.
ReplyDeleteI love your adopted garden too....we've 'played' with ornamental grasses and they 'show' so well all year round.
Some times, maybe most for me, SOOC is just not good enough. These photos that you enlarged and cropped are great. Beautiful critters!
I still chuckle when I see you have all these deer on your lawn!
Hi Jim! Thanks for the kind words! I'm like you regarding SOOC! I feel that if people are going to spend time looking at my blog, then I need to give them the best photography, writing, and visual layout I can. It means I spend hours, sometimes many hours on a post. I plan to do some posts on my adopted garden! I went to an "open house" back in late August, and I just haven't had the time to get to the garden posts yet. I have so many blog topics backed up in my head! I thought I had retired, but I'm finding that being a homemaker takes tons of time too ~ especially since I'm trying to ease things for Terry who is still working. He did so much to support me when I was a teacher and a union leader. Here come the holidays!!!!! Yikes ~ up to my chin in baking and preparing! But it's fun ~ loads of fun! Take care!
DeleteI love that song and think it epitomizes living out here... I often find myself humming it as I drive out east a bit! Beautiful shots - you captured everything in the song! Well... maybe you'll need to come over to my street to get the buffalo!
ReplyDeleteI have seriously considered going to Rocky Flats for buffalo! Well, perhaps the Plains Conservation Center's West Bijou location! I've been by that Buffalo Lookout on I-70 countless times. I've seen the buffalo about once every ten years! I hear Parker had a moose running around it recently ~ but it's been relocated! I hope you're warm today! What a change in temperature!
ReplyDeleteI am with you on this one Louise ~~~ it doesn't have to be SOOC just git that photo at all costs! Right!?!
ReplyDeleteHey Ron! Just git that photo! The shot is just the starting point ~ like paint on a painter's palette or fabric and thread on a quilter's table! Google is driving me nuts this morning. I can't access my email at all, and I had to find an alternate route into blogger! Argh! Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteHiccups abound ~~~ I have had DAILY updates from Windows and Google, so I think the end is near ~~~ LOL!
Deletehopefully this w/e the cyber-Gods will be kind to us!!
Ron