Major Fail

Wow, I was organizing my photography folder on my external hard drive and I found this.

Oops. Guess that should have been posted quite a few weeks back. It was super cloudy and we didn't even get to see the moon when it was super big.

Contest Prize

A few months ago I entered a photo contest, here, and won, here, and was even mentioned on their website, here.

I had until 12/31/10 to order my prize and of course I hem hawed around with it and never picked one and then had to go out on Friday morning and try to capture an image I wanted in a huge poster.

I am not 100% in love but this is what I ended up ordering:

Frosty

I commute to south Denver from Platteville two times a week so I leave my house super early. Sun doesn't even start to come up until I hit the middle of downtown Denver. The summer's are really nice but this winter was nice until it started to get so cold. Lately it is bitterly cold and it hasn't been so nice but the other morning when I walked out it was SOOOO pretty. Here are some shots.

Brrr. SO COLD!

We were have a nice warm "winter" and everyone was so bummed about not having snow. Um, are y'all crazy!?!?! Maybe it's because I have a 60 miles, one way commute to work or maybe it's because hauling a toddler around in deep snow is NO FUN, either way I was NOT happy to see the snow come, except that maybe it will help with my static issue.

Ok, anyways, we went from super warm to SUPER biter cold over night. It was so cold and so dreary. I hated it, but it presented good photos who eh, whatev.

As the seasons change...

Being only about a quarter of a mile from the Platte River we have TONS of vegetation. We get good moisture most of the time and have good luck with our lawn and plants without much effort. As the seasons change though its sort of neat to see all of the nice green vegetation die. It doesn't happen over night so you truely can see the transformation of plants. It's pretty neat.

 

This is some random weed that had grown in the corner of the pen right outside of our house. The dew was still ripe so you can see little sparkles.

Pretty little corn all in a row.

Corn is huge in our county. Our county is the largest in the state but also has the most agriculture in the state. On top of that it is also the county with the most tornadoes in the whole country. (Yes, I'm full of weird, useless knowledge) Corn though, seems to be everywhere. A few years ago you would have to drive at least an hour to get to a corn maze. Now there are literally four within 20 minutes from our house.

I think corn is fascinatingly scary. The absolutely only way I will go in a corn maze is during the day or with Darren. No exceptions.  So obviously this was day, and I was with Taylor, so I was safe! :)

Black Hole

A few weeks ago I went to a small little pumpkin patch country farm type place by my house with an old friend. We took our kids to pal around and play on all the stuff they have for children. The place is only about three miles from my house. Darren was on lunch at the time and randomly my blackberry went off with a text asking if Miller's was burning down. Taylor and I hadn't even been paying attention but when we turned around this is what we saw!!

 

Ok, not literally. We saw a ton of smoke coming from the field across the street though. It was a controlled burn so no worries but this is what the sun looked like. Super, wicked cool and crazy!

The Beauty that is the Colorado Sky

I'm very fortunate to live in such a beautiful state. I am also very fortunate that I live just outside of a small little town and have a beautiful "front yard". I have awesome views of the mountains to the west and the river to the east. As the mountains start to get covered with snow the views in the early mornings and evenings are breath takings.

Strange Fascinations

I feel like I've shared some weird photos lately so here's another one for your viewing pleasure. I have a strange fascination with hay bales. Especially round bales. And again, living where we live I have an abundance of them, right outside my front door. I also have a strange fear of a hay pile falling on me when I take pictures of them.

 

And no, this pile didn't fall on me. Thank the Lord.

Tumbleweeds. Tumbleweeds. Go Away. Come back another day.

Or preferably not at all. They are EVERYWHERE! Neat as they may seem. They are a pain in my rear end. Especially when I hit them while driving Nerby. (My 04 escort for those of you who don't know my car family).

Blustery

I love Halloween. I love fall. I love everything about the season changing from summer to fall. I don't believe I have ever truly appreciated the beauty of the year though.

It is amazing to sit down and look at what fall is. It's a time to reflect on a good harvest. We grow things all year round but here in Colorado the vast majority of crops are harvesting in early fall. A good crop means God has blessed you and your family. There is a lot of beauty in the trucks and tractors rolling out to celebrate harvest, good or bad. The leaves changing proves that yet another year has come and gone and growth and rebirth has happened and will happen again next year. But it also is a reminder that life gets dark at time. Days get shorter, nights seem to get a little darker. With the cold weather setting in it reminded me that darkness in the literal sense is setting in on us here in the country. But also figuratively. Darkness happens to everyone but eventually light reappears. Fall brings in the shade and winter is cold but spring brings a new light. I have to remind myself that when my life goes through a sense of fall that eventually there will be a spring.

I love the way this picture turned out. It was actually a very nice, sunny day when the picture was taken but when I saw this group of trees and bushes I thought it looked sinister. It was a not so sunny snapshot that made me think of all of this.

Rocky Mountain High

I took a little road trip to Estes Park a week ago. It was the day before Elk Fest started. If you don't know what Elk Fest is, you MUST check it out: here. The elk are rutting this time of year, here's a good video from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:




When my dad posted this on Facebook it made me want to go back to Estes and see some elk. Crazy though, even around the time they hold Elk Fest I didn't see ANY elk! We did see some big horn sheep though while we were coming down the canyon.

Here is what I captured on the afternoon adventure: