Northern winds haiku: WHPPC

northern winds swirl, sting
snowflakes dance, drift, and alight
kisses of winter

northern winds

Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge (WHPPC) – Sting & Kiss

Hot Springs State Park: LAPC

You’ll see unique sights if you visit Hot Springs State Park in central Wyoming. Unlike other state parks in Wyoming, entrance to this park, located in the city of Thermopolis, is free. I’ve included a map of this day-use park at the end of this post.

Springs in Thermopolis


History of the park

In 1897, Big Horn Hot Springs State Reserve became Wyoming’s first state park. The park, now called Hot Springs State Park, has always been famous for its therapeutic mineral hot springs.

On the iconic Monument Hill, you’ll see the words “World’s Largest Mineral Hot Springs” in large white letters.

Thermopolis sign
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Dinosaur National Monument: LAPC

Visitors can enjoy unique attractions at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and Colorado. While visiting here, I found myself constantly shifting my field of view to things above and below me. Colorful tilting rocks in vast landscapes showed geology in action. Petroglyphs and pictographs told stories of Indigenous people from long ago. An amazing collection of dinosaur fossils took me even further back in time.

Fossil

The Monument also includes places to hike, fish, river raft, picnic, and camp. There’s a visitor center in Utah, and another in Colorado.

Stegosaurus sculpture


The small Visitor Center in Utah features informational exhibits and a store.

Visitor Center
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Green up close: LAPC & MM

Green up close
In triangular Vanilla Leaf leaves
And tiny Huckleberry leaves

Green up close


Green
In splitting Gingko leaves

Gingko leaves


Green up close
In frond fans of Maidenhair Fern

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2023 Bloopers #6: CFFC

Yes, I know you’ve all been waiting to see more of my blooper photos. This is where I share pictures that don’t quite fit into any category so I try to add a little humor to them. Here are a few 2023 bloopers to entertain you. 😀

2023 bloopers dog

“Am I still your good girl?”

the cause of global warming

I believe I finally found the true cause of global warming.

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Similarities and differences on display: LAPC

Last week, I showed symmetrical displays of history at the Museum of the American West in Lander, Wyoming. However, history is not always balanced. A good museum shows our similarities and differences. Here are more items on display at the Museum.

At times, our differences stand out.

similarities and differences

Though what we wear differs, from practical and utilitarian…

Cowboy clothing

To ornamental and symbolic, our clothing reflects who we are.

Native American beadwork
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Happy Hyopsodus 3 ways: First Friday Art

While visiting Wyoming, I noticed the interesting pose of this happy Hyopsodus wortmani fossil at one of our stops. To me, it looked like a dog asleep on its back.

Extinct small mammal

I thought I’d try to draw what it may have looked like based on the fossil. The first drawing is in pencil.

Happy Hyopsodus drawing

The second one is pen and ink, drawn with a dip pen with a pointed nib tip dipped in ink.

happy Hyopsodus

On the last one, I added a light wash of acrylic paint.

painting

You may have noticed the Hyopsodus I drew is smiling. Do mammals smile?

Here’s a recent picture of one of my dogs, hogging both dog beds. You be the judge. 😉

bed hog dog

Check out the happy Hyopsodus and many other amazing fossils at Fossil Butte National Monument in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.

First Friday Art (FFA)

Treasures of the Old West: LAPC & MM

Here are some treasures of the Old West at the Museum of the American West, in Lander, Wyoming, shown in both color and black and white. Click on the arrows to see monochrome versions highlighting their symmetry.

Wheels may carry you forward, towards new horizons

  • Carriage wheels
  • Carriage wheels

Or back, to a final resting place

  • treasures of the Old West
  • 1880 hearse

You may choose to wander in another’s shoes

  • treasures of the Old West
  • moccasins
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Beer bike rack in Bend: Sculpture Saturday

I saw this creative beer bike rack in Bend at On Tap. This is one of seven “pods” where food trucks can park. Customers can enjoy a wide variety of food from the trucks and beer and other beverages on tap inside the main building.

Beer bike rack

I LOVE the Rush’s Squares pizza food truck here! My favorite is the Pesto Margherita pizza.

Rush's Squares Pesto Margherita

Sculpture Saturday

Jailbird jay: Bird of the Week

I saw this jailbird jay while out walking in Bend. It perched on a rock behind the heavy bars of a fence around the Hayden Homes Amphitheatre.

jailbird jay

This is a California Scrub-jay. Here’s a closer look.

California Scrub-jay

In 2016, the American Ornithological Union (AOU) split the Western Scrub-jay into two species, the California Scrub-jay, Aphelocoma californica, and Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay, Aphelocoma woodhouseii. They appear very similar. This post by Andy Birch describes and shows the characteristics of each species.

Bird of the Week

Unique Roadside Signs: LAPC

After recently covering indoor signs on my post about the National Neon Sign Museum, I thought I’d feature some unique roadside signs today.

A giant jackalope?

The first picture is of a unique animal of the Wild West. It’s a jackalope, part jackrabbit, part antelope. Maybe you’ve heard of them. Are they real or another legend of the West? Chainsaw carver Jarrett Dahl paid tribute to these animals in an impressive 40-foot sculpture near the iconic Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota.

Giant jackalope

Completed in 2022, the jackalope is holding a sign that says, “Believe.” Though it looks like it’s just a big carving, it’s hollow inside with a stairway leading to a balcony. Inside, you’ll find carved jackalopes, murals, and 71 wood spirits, hidden within its cracks and crevices.

Devil’s Tower stories

The next sign is at the cafe and gift store by Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. You can see a bear next to the tower on the sign and the real tower in the background. In the oral stories of Native Americans, the tower formed in different ways. In several versions, a bear tries to claw its way to the peak, thereby creating its distinctive appearance.

unique roadside signs
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Oregon Outback morning: 1-to-3 Challenge

Last Saturday, we had an Oregon Outback morning. We drove south of Silver Lake, Oregon to get a good view of the annular eclipse. Unfortunately, the clouds never cleared during the peak minutes of the eclipse. For today’s One-to-Three Photo Processing Challenge, I decided to make lemonade out of lemons.

Beautiful cloudscapes hung over the land, highlighting the Basin and Range topography. We stood in the middle of a basin surrounded by low mountains and buttes.

I used Corel PaintShopPro 2021 for different photo processing effects. In the original image I slightly increased the contrast and fill light and cropped the edges.

Oregon Outback morning photo effects

The first two show the original photograph and the same picture with a Black and White effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Black and White Film. I used the BW Heavy setting because it works well on clouds.

Oregon Outback morningBlack and white cloudscape

The next two show the original photograph and the same picture with a neon effect. For this image I went to Adjust>Hue & Saturation>Hue map>Neon glow. I liked how this effect enhances the mysticism associated with High Desert environments.

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Whispers of autumn poem: WWP

Whispers of autumn
Blown in on
Northern winds
Cool and crisp
Leaves turn
From verdant to
Golden, orange,
Crimson
Rustles
Drifting gently
To Earth

Whispers of Autumn

Weekend Writing Prompt (WWP) – Whisper (24 words)

Wyoming Dinosaur Center: LAPC

If you’re travelling to Wyoming and like dinosaurs, consider stopping at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center (WDC) in Thermopolis. In 1993, dinosaur fossils were discovered near here at the Warm Springs Ranch. Fossils discovered here and elsewhere are on display at WDC. Visitors will see fifty-eight articulated dinosaur skeletons and a wide variety of fossils.

Wyoming Dinosaur Center


You’ll see dinosaur skeletons large and small in the display hall. Some are real, others are recreated from casts of fossils.

Remember the Velociraptors in “Jurassic Park?” Here’s one, blending into the background.

Velociraptor

I especially liked this one because it shows a Tyrannosaurus dinosaur attacking a Stegosaurus.

Tyrannosaurus vs Stegosaurus
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Ripples of summer haiku: WHC, SS, CWWC

lamplit paths tremble
a bridge arises from green
ripples of summer

ripples of summer

Weekly Haiku Challenge (WHC) – Lamp & path

Sunday Stills (SS) – Bridges to everywhere

Cee’s Which Way Challenge (CWWC) – Any kind of bridge

White Cosmos up close: MM & FOTD

Here’s a picture of a white cosmos up close, taken a couple of days ago in Bend, Oregon. Cooler weather is on the way so it may soon disappear. They are one of my favorite flowers!

White Cosmos

Macro Monday (MM)

Flower of the Day (FOTD)

Oregon photos, 10 favorites: LAPC

When I looked through my Oregon photos, it was hard to narrow it down to only ten pictures for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge of Tell us why. These are the photos I chose, shown by category.

Oregon photos of history

Sometimes you take a picture and when you look at it later on a larger screen, you say, “Wow!”

I took this picture of an old homestead without fussing with the settings first. It almost looks like one of those old-time stereoscope images. I like this photo because it captured a glimpse of history.

Oregon photos old homestead

I took a lot of pictures of the Spruce Goose aircraft in McMinnville and described it in a recent post. When I saw the lines in this photo, I knew it would look great in black and white.

Spruce Goose

Majestic mountains

I noticed I had many portraits of majestic mountains when I browsed through my Oregon photos.

The first photo, is of Steens Mountain, in southeast Oregon. The lupine was in bloom so I focused on its purple flowers. This 50-mile long mountain is one of my favorite places in Oregon. I like taking pictures that show its powerful presence.

Purple mountain majesties Steens Mountain, Oregon
Steens Mountain, Oregon
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Edibles & more gardens High Desert Garden Tour: FF

When I went on the High Desert Garden Tour in Bend, Oregon in July 2022, I was impressed by a couple edibles & more gardens. Their yards had edible plants in the front, sides, and back.

These are gooseberries growing on a shrub in full sun. I remember a gooseberry plant at one of my childhood homes.

gooseberries

These radishes were in a raised bed. We grow them as well and I love their spicy taste.

edibles & more garden Radishes

Raspberries! One of my favorite fruits. Over the years, our dogs have enjoyed eating them off the vines so we have to pick them fast.

Raspberries
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National Neon Sign Museum: LAPC

Where do you go when you’re looking for a quick recharge? To the National Neon Sign Museum in The Dalles, Oregon, of course!

On the main floor, you’ll see a rainbow of neon colors. The signs on display are from the late 1800s through the 1960s.

Do you recognize any of these iconic signs?

National Neon Sign Museum

How about this wall filled with Coca Cola signs?

Coca Cola signs
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The Three Graces: Monochrome Monday

These three sandstone formations are located in Tillamook Bay, north of Garibaldi, Oregon. Known locally as The Three Graces, they’re also called Crab Rocks. If the tides are low, they’re a great place to explore when out kayaking. Check tides before venturing there.

The Three Graces

The Oregon coast has several seastacks near the shore. These are smaller in stature, but still very photogenic.

Monochrome Monday

Pioneer Village in Monochrome: LAPC, WPCC

While taking pictures of the Pioneer Village in Lander, Wyoming, I immediately thought of how they would look in sepia tones. I wanted to focus on their structure and emphasize their age.

The Pioneer Village buildings are part of the Museum of the American West. The main museum showcases a wide variety of artifacts from people who lived in this area in the mid-1800s to early-1900s.

The Guinard Cabin, circa 1902, has a rough plank and mortar construction. The overall brown color in the picture below hides the presence of a garden hose. A windmill and teepee blend into the background.

Pioneer Village

This storage shed and Saloon would fit right into an old time neighborhood.

Old cabins
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Evergreen Aviation, McMinnville: Word of the Day

Last September, we visited the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, located in McMinnville, Oregon. This large facility is a great place to visit, whether you’re an aviator or not.

I featured their star attraction, the Spruce Goose, in a previous post. It dwarfs the other aircraft there. In several of my images, you’ll see parts of the Spruce Goose towering overhead.

I’ve divided this post by sections shown on the Museum map at the end of this post.

Early Flight

Several of the aircraft in this and other sections are replicas of the original. The first is a flying machine as envisioned by Leonardo Da Vinci, 400 years before the Wright brothers.

Evergreen Aviation

The next plane is a replica of a Curtiss Pusher.

Curtiss Pusher

This de Havilland DH-4 aircraft was used to deliver mail in the 1920s, as weather permitted.

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Natural frame scenes: LAPC

A glistening serpent slithers through a natural frame of duckweed and sedges

White calla lilies, surrounded by leathery green leaves, enlighten

Crimson canna lily leaves punctuate a layered landscape of greenness

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Swallowtail on Penstemon: Friday Flowers

I saw this beautiful Western Tiger Swallowtail on a penstemon flower in my front yard recently. We try to plant flowers that attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. We’ve seen LOTS of butterflies this year.

 Swallowtail on penstemon

Friday Flowers

Structure of wings: Monochrome Monday

This Curtiss JN-4A Jenny, shown without fabric covering, shows the structure of wings. This is one of the many aircraft on display at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

Structure of wings

Here’s an informational poster next to the plane. Note the photo of a couple playing tennis on its wings!

Monochrome Monday

Summer Festival in Bend: LAPC & WOTD

Earlier this month, we went to the local Summer Festival here in Bend, Oregon.

If it’s a summer festival, you might see fairies walking down the street, right? Are those blurry spots behind them spots on my windshield? Nope, I’m pretty sure that’s a cloud of fairy dust. 😉

Fairies in Bend

As the sign says, this festival features music, food, and art. It takes place downtown on three city blocks, plus a couple side streets. It’s estimated that 70,000 people attend this two and a half day festival.

Summer Festival

The art booths have everything from jewelry and landscape art, to pillows featuring an image of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Various businesses feature their products and services in the Bend Business Showcase section.

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Canna lily leaves up close: MM & FOTD

These Canna Lily leaves are beautiful up close. Lovely shapes, lines, and colors.

Canna lily leaves
Canna lily, Oregon Garden, Silverton, Oregon

Macro Monday (MM)

Flower of the Day (FOTD)

Fencing near & far: LAPC

Fencing of rock is heavy and enduring,

Guiding the way

Rock fencing
Coumeenoole Beach, County Kerry, Ireland

And dividing the land to conserve it

Steens Mountain
Steens Mountain, Oregon

A fence of rope is lightweight,

Preserving the past

Poulnabrone Dolmen
Poulnabrone Dolmen, County Clare, Ireland
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Frank Lloyd Wright house: LAPC

On July 9th, I returned to Silverton, Oregon, to go on a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright house. When I think of simplicity in architecture, I think of Frank Lloyd Wright. I recently featured a view from the road of the Gordon House. Limited tours of the inside are available by reservation only.

Frank Lloyd Wright house


Tour of Frank Lloyd Wright House

Our 45-minute tour began in the great room. Walls of floor-to-ceiling glass doors flanked towering ceilings. They opened to allow a welcome cross breeze on this warm summer day. As in all Wright houses, a fireplace served as a focal point. Red concrete slabs with radiant heat covered the floors, and they made the walls from concrete blocks. Built-in cabinets, desks, and tables are in nearly every room.

Great room

The design featured the fretwork seen here on the interior and exterior of the house. One of the workers joked how he’d gone through all the router bits in the state cutting the house’s fretwork. That was long before laser cutters!

Shelving
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Bird Festival Highlights: Bird(s) of the week

Visitors from near and far converged in Burns, Oregon for the Harney County Migratory Bird Festival in mid-April. I signed up for six tours and events spread out over four days. I already featured the Downtown Walking Tour in a previous post, but this time I’ll focus on the bird-related tours.

Basin Big Day Tour – North of Highway 20

Though I have participated in this bird festival several times, this was the first time I was able to register for the Basin Big Day Tour. Eight participants, guided by Brodie Cass Talbott and assisted by Duke Tuffy, met at 6:00 am at the Fairgrounds for this tour. We returned at 7:00 pm. The goal was to see as many species as we could in that time frame.

Bird Festival

One of our first stops was in front of someone’s house, northeast of Burns. We had permission to scan their feeders for birds. We saw lots of White-crowned Sparrows here and elsewhere that day.

White-crowned sparrows

A bit farther north, we stopped near flooded fields. A few days before my arrival, snow covered these fields. That’s unusual. Our guide said the weird weather meant fewer birds were being seen, but there was more diversity. More species was what we were looking for so this could work out great for us.

Flooded fields
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Grand Prismatic mug & inspiration: LAPC

This week, as part of the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, host Ritva Sillanmäki asked us to show a photo of our favorite cup. My favorite mug features a wraparound image of Grand Prismatic Hot Spring at Yellowstone National Park. It’s beautiful, like its inspiration, and comfortable to hold. I also like how there is printing inside the mug near the rim.

Grand Prismatic mug

Grand Prismatic mug

Grand Prismatic Hot Spring is especially photogenic. Though I can’t get a drone shot like the one on my mug, I have taken many pictures of this hot spring. Here are a few that show its gorgeous colors.

Yellowstone Hot spring

Grand Prismatic Hot Spring, Yellowstone June 2018

Close-up Grand Prismatic Yellowstone National Park 3June2018

My Grand Prismatic mug reminds me of this special place in Yellowstone everytime I use it.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Inspiration found in the Kitchen

The Gordon House-Frank Lloyd Wright

This Frank Lloyd Wright house in Silverton, is the only one designed by the well-known architect in Oregon. The Gordon House was designed in 1957 and completed in 1963. When new owners wanted to tear it down in 1997, it was moved from Wilsonville to Silverton. It was carefully refurbished and opened to the public in 2002. It looks right at home, surrounded by stately oak trees.

This house was designed as part of the Usonian series, structures meant to provide affordable housing for working class people.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Though I only looked at the Gordon House from a distance, private tours are available of the inside for a small fee. For a higher fee, up to four people can spend the night in this beautiful house.

Gordon House

Here’s a peek of the inside and outside of the house. I hope to go on the tour soon to get a closer look. 🙂

Sunlight in a flower: Macro Monday

I always think of yellow and gold flower petals as capturing sunlight in a flower.

Sunlight in a flower

The flowers shown in this post of little rays of sunshine are dedicated to fellow blogger, Bren, of Brashley Photography.

She recently lost her fight with cancer but will be remembered for her stunning, ethereal portraits of flowers. May her gentle soul rest in peace.

double views of cactus

Macro Monday

Little bit of everything garden: Friday Flowers

I saw this little bit of everything garden on the High Desert Garden Tour in Bend, Oregon in July 2022. The long, narrow yard at this house included fruits, vegetables, and lots of flowers. The homeowners have been working on it for 22 years.

The owners created large, elevated raised beds from wood and tin roofing. You can see sweet alyssum blooming near the front edge. Hummingbird feeders hang near them. They’re growing pear, cherry, and apples on espaliers behind the raised beds.

Raised beds

This raised bed was at ground level. It included red lantana, yellow petunias, orange ganzia, purple salvia, and dark pink snapdragons.

little bit of everything garden

This tiered bed surrounded a tree. It included common sunflowers, orange marigolds, and golden celosia.

little bit of everything garden
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