• bees,  insects

    Thirsty Bee

    Drinking Water
    Drinking Water

    My sister has a small fountain in her backyard. I love the soothing sound that it makes. I was amazed to watch the bees and wasps as they gathered around the fountain to take in water. Since bees are not know to be good swimmers they prefer to find water in small puddles. The bees find all the small pebbles around the fountain, perch on the pebbles and begin lapping up the water. Nature gave me another lesson.

  • landscape

    Well, It Rained

    Over the edge

    For almost 3 weeks we saw no rain and high temperatures while a High Park Fire raged just 15 miles west of us. Now over the past few days we have had afternoon clouds move into the area bringing light rain until yesterday. Yesterday the light rain took on a new look, such as heavy, and dumped on us. The storm built up in the mountains and along the front range then just sat there. That is not good because we have about 87,000 acres of burnt forest with a lot of debris and very few plants to keep the soil from rushing down hill.

    These two images are of the pond out my front door. I live along the low area of Spring Creek. There are two holding ponds for runoff and both were full to the brim. The first image is about 75 feet from my front door and the other is at the far end of the pond. As you can see the culverts are struggling to handle the excess water. I had my camera gear and laptop ready for evacuation if needed and I was trying to find out how long a cubit really is. It continued to rain lightly throughout the night but all is well this morning. Enjoy your Saturday!

  • landscape,  National Parks

    Jim Bales Place

     

    Jim Bales Place
    Jim Bales Place

    Housing sure has changed over the years. The houses I was raised in was so different than what I raised my family in and their houses are different also. We can go back each generation and see the changes in houses. A smile comes across my face as I look at this image of Jim Bales place in the Great Smoky Mountains. Probably too small for most Americans way of living: no running water or electricity, therefore no microwave, TV, desk lamp, hot water or crapper. Probably would stay on the market too long. And, where’s the 3-car garage?