Thursday, September 26, 2019

Thursday, September 26, 2019: Picture of the Day ~ Waterpocket Fold

Hi Everyone!
Well, I'm in Vegas.  
I have internet, at least at the D where we're staying.
However I can't access any of my new photos.
I think my computer is balking at the 112,000+ photos and 600 videos I have on it.

So I shall choose an old photo.


Waterpocket Fold
Over Capitol Reef, Utah, U.S.A.
July 23,  2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Why this one?
Because it is a photo of the crown jewel of Capital Reef National Park in Utah.

I flew over it flying to Vegas on July 23, 2019.
That would be west.  
My eyes just about bugged out of my head at the sight.
This is the defining geological feature of an incredible national park:
The Waterpocket Fold!

We flew over it again yesterday on our way to Vegas,
but I can't share a new photo.
It was every bit as magnificent!

It's a warp in the Earth's crust that extends for nearly 100 miles
(160 kilometers) and running north south in direction.
The terrain is rugged, and roads only cross it in a few places.
The one and only paved road crossing it leads into the park.
And OMG, it's drop dead gorgeous for anyone who loves rocks like I do!!!

People in the area for a couple of hundred years have called 
any rugged rocks that impede travel (by wagon or car) a "reef."

I will do a later post on the Waterpocket Fold when I get home ~
after I get a new computer,
and likely after I have cataract surgery in October.

Meanwhile I am having a blast in Vegas!
Why do I love Vegas so much?
Because I have time for me with nothing I must do!
Time ~ my favorite thing!!!!!

Terry, my brother Roy, my s-i-l Sue, our friends Dave and Little Lar
had an epic five hour session of black jack last night.
I laughed and cheered so much with everyone that I have a croaky voice today.
Three hours of sleep don't help either!

So I was out on Fremont Street this morning photographing 
the construction of the new canopy for better light shows.
I got great photos, but of course I can't load them.

So I'll leave you with an old photo I took in July.


Construction
Fremont Street, Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.
July 24,  2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




I'll try to get around later to visit.
I've got to meet everyone shortly!
Take care!  Have a good one!  Hugs to all!



For Map Lovers Like Me:
Location of Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.





Location of Fremont Street





Location of Fremont Street




The Fremont Street Experience Canopy








Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Hope I Have Internet!

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that I might experience
technical difficulties in the next little while.

My computer won't have its usual hookups to the internet,
because I'm off and running ~ well flying!

I will do the best I can!


Dreamy Ducks
(on a day I was chasing helicopters)
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

Friday, September 20, 2019

Down a Rabbit Hole!


Late Saturday morning I fell down a rabbit hole.
I was answering emails at my usual spot at the kitchen counter,
when the sound of a hovering helicopter caught my attention.

I ran out on our deck to find it,
but it took a minute or two because the helicopter wasn't moving.
I finally spotted it among the rooftops at the top of one of the monopoles
in the new power transmission line running through our area.


At the Top of a Monopole
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




I watched for a bit, but the helicopter was too far away
and I couldn't see what was happening.
I was surprised because I thought all the power line work was finished,
but also because I didn't know helicopters could hover motionless for so long. 

Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.
I scribbled a note to Terry who was off playing pickleball and stuck it on the tv.
Then I made a mad dash for my car, forgetting to turn off the tv and lights,
let alone shut the front door completely on my way out.
I was afraid the helicopter would leave before I could reach it.

Six or seven minutes later when I spotted it at the end of an unfamiliar street,
it was still hovering in the same spot,
looking for all the world like a fish feeding on a strand of giant kelp. 


Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




I zoomed in with my little point-and-shoot Canon 
and was amazed to see a lineman standing on the landing skid
of the helicopter and working on the power line.

Perhaps even more amazing was to see the pilot monitoring everything
and holding the helicopter in a position with little room for error
for, what seemed to me, a very long time.

Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved





Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved





Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



One or two monopoles farther south, more linemen were working
under much tamer conditions, or so it seemed to me.


Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




As I was snapping pictures, out of the corner of my eye,
I saw a man in a hard hat headed across the field straight for me.  

Oh !@#$%^! I thought.  I'm in trouble now!

I couldn't have been more wrong!  He was the Xcel Energy 
(Public Service Company of Colorado) representative on the site,
and we had a long and fascinating conversation
(well, him educating me)
about electrical power transmission in Colorado.

We covered a lot of territory: 
from our electrical grid and how it works,
to rapid population growth and meeting future power needs, 
to developing renewable energy sources such as wind power,
to the public and economic issues surrounding major power projects.
It was just the coolest thing ever! 

Thus the rabbit hole.
I have spent many, many hours this week researching electrical power transmission
and learning as much as I could to help me understand it all.

I still can't wrap my mind around the concept of a volt,
but as Curt, the Xcel representative reassured me,
I didn't need to grasp that to understand power transmission in Colorado.

Meanwhile the helicopter had hopscotched over the linemen in the bucket
and moved to another monopole farther south.
Curt gave me his business card and offered to answer any future questions I might have,
and I was off in my car to catch up with the helicopter.



Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved





Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved





Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 14, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




I arrived home for lunch very late.
Thankfully my husband wasn't upset about coming home from pickleball
and finding the front door partially open and the tv and lights on.
He gets me.

I may very well text Curt.
I have so many questions.
If I learn something cool, I'll let you know!



Till next time ~
Fundy Blue


Waiting for the Ferry to Tiverton
Grand Passage, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada
July, 2016
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved








For Map Lovers Like Me:


Location of Aurora, Colorado, USA




Area Where I Took the Photographs
(by the asterisk in the lower middle)
Map Data © 2018 Google United States




Adapted from a Sign in the Park
Red-Tailed Hawk Park
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.



Friday, September 13, 2019

Something Unexpected


I am fortunate to live in the flight paths of Denver International Airport
and Buckley Air Force Base, home of the 460th Space Wing.
That means I get to hear and see all kinds of interesting aircraft.
Often the sound of helicopters and fighter jets
has me running to our deck to search the skies.
I can't help it.  I was a Royal Canadian Air Force brat.

I hear helicopters almost every day, and they are often military helicopters
flying from Buckley to Fort Carson, Peterson Air Force Base, or other destinations.
Some people resent any aircraft flying over our community, but not me.  
I never tire of them.


Helicopter Last Weekend
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 8, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Sometimes, when I'm really focused on a task,
I ignore the helicopters and other aircraft I hear.
Such was the case last weekend
when I was working on our budget for September.
I heard and ignored the siren call of whirling rotors.
I thought, Maybe a Black Hawk on its way to Fort Carson.

But the sound of rotating blades did not increase and decrease.
They went on and on and on, circling near Piney Creek.
So as I was trying to make columns of figures balance,
I was thinking:  News helicopter? Police helicopter?  Flight for Life helicopter?

Finally my curiosity overcame my focus,
and I had to go out on my deck and see what was going on.

Helicopter
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 8, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




The helicopter had flashing red and blue lights
and hovered near an electrical transmission tower.
Police helicopter was looking like a good guess
until I noticed that a wire stretched out tautly behind the helicopter.

Helicopter
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 6, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




As I watched I realized that the helicopter was stringing wires 
from one electrical tower to another.
I thought it was an amazing bit of flying.

I've been watching for weeks as a second set of electrical towers
has marched across nearby hills parallel to the old power line.
Given the thousands and thousands of houses that have been built
in this area in the past twenty or so years,
it was not surprising to see a new power line under construction.


Sunday's Helicopter
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 8, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




I watched in awe for a while,
and then went back to the dreary task of budget numbers.

Monday I noticed the helicopter was back at it, and it droned all morning.
Finally I couldn't stand it any longer.  
I had to go down to Piney Creek and see the action closer up.

It had been at least two months since I walked along this portion of the open space,
and I was surprised to see a new road and tons of equipment littering the landscape.


Giant Cable Spools
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 9, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Transmission Lines, Road, and Equipment
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 9, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Nobody was around ~ They must have been on a lunch break ~  
So I stepped onto the site, snapped a couple of shots, and left quickly.

Transmission Lines, Road, and Equipment
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 9, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



I kept hoping the helicopter would show up.
After all it had been flitting about like a dragonfly most of the morning.
Now that I had shown up, it was nowhere to be seen.

I hung out in a nearby field pretending to be very interested in nature photography.

Waiting with Weeds
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 9, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Waiting with Weeds
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 9, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




After waiting for almost an hour, I finally gave up and headed for home.
Then suddenly I heard the rotors in the distance and ran north toward the sound.

Boy, was my patience rewarded!
And, boys oh boy, was I surprised!

Surprise
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 9, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



This time the helicopter wasn't stringing wires.
It was carrying a lineman from tower to tower.

Not the Job for Me!
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 9, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Monday's Helicopter
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 9, 2019 
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




The Transmission Line on the Right Is Live!
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 9, 2019 
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



It's hard to grasp how big these towers and their components are
until you see a man dangling beside them.

Lineman at Work
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
September 9, 2019 
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



I chased the helicopter with its dangling lineman from tower to tower
snapping photos as I ran.  These guys work fast!

The helicopter pilot would lower the lineman by three giant pulleys on one side of a tower,
and then he would hoist him up by three giant pulleys on the other side of the tower.

I don't know exactly what the lineman was doing, but he appeared to be making sure
that cables were feeding through the pulleys properly. 

But I do know this:  both he and the pilot were doing very dangerous work.

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Moving from One Tower to the Next
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved





© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved


I later read that helicopters are used when linemen work on 
high voltage, high-tension power lines that span huge distances.
The helicopters move them from one massive primary transmission tower to another
These towers can be 500 feet high and carry hundreds of kilovolts of power.



Moving Faster Than I Can Run
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved





I also later learned that Xcel Energy is building 125 miles of new power lines
in its Pawnee-Daniels Park Project.
The 20-mile segment being constructed in our area runs
from the Harvest Mile Substation in Aurora
to the Daniels Park Substation in Castle Pines.
When finished the new power lines will carry 345 kilovolts (kV) of electricity.

(I find it difficult to understand what a volt is, but a kilovolt is a thousand of them ~ 
So it's a 345,000 volt power line.)
Article     Map 

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved


Moving Above the Trees
(middle left)
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




It wasn't long before the helicopter and the lineman outpaced me.
Fortunately, the helicopter lowered him to the ground,
for a well-deserved break I'm sure!

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

I'm so glad that curiosity got the better of me!
I had no idea that helicopters and dangling linesmen constructed power lines.
Actually I didn't know anything about constructing power lines.
I wouldn't have missed seeing this for anything.

Back to Reality
Upper Pond, Piney Creek
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Till next time ~
Fundy Blue


Waiting for the Ferry to Tiverton
Grand Passage, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada
July, 2016
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved








For Map Lovers Like Me:


Location of Aurora, Colorado, USA




Area Where I Took the Photographs
(by the asterisk in the lower middle)
Map Data © 2018 Google United States


Southern Aurora and Northern Parker
Map Data © 2019 Google United States





Adapted from a Sign in the Park
Red-Tailed Hawk Park
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved