BIG JOHNSON RESERVOIR

I spent the afternoon driving around my town. These pictures were all taken along the same stretch of road in South East Colorado Springs.

Edit:  hey mom its me gabe.  theres a picture that you took of a tree a couple stories or journals back.  the one that hangs over the road.  thats the HAUNTED TREE.  i guess  a few years before we moved to colorado some kid hung himself on that tree. and every now and then you can see him on that tree.  
                                                                                      Gabriel
Comment from nativehopi - 4/9/05 4:03 PM

COOK-OUT SEASON!

Last night was the official first cook-out of the season.  We grill out year round, but last night it was actually nice enough for us to eat out on the patio.  I am most at home outside of the house.  Oh, the simple pleasures of life! 

 

 

CHRISTMAS TREE?

This is probably a sign that my lense needs some serious cleaning, but I love the effect.  This was taken this morning at about 9am, as the sun was coming up over the tree in the front yard.  Every year we say we're going to decorate the giant spruce for Christmas but we never have.  I guess we don't need to, Mother Nature has taken care of it all by herself.

GARDEN OF THE GODS

This was taken at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  The natural rock formations are awe inspiring at any time of the day or year.

Pikes Peak as seen from the Gardens.  I never get tired of gazing at the Peak.  Needless to say, my house didn't get cleaned today, but somehow I just can't make myself feel guilty.

JUST A FEW OF MY NEIGHBORS

I went on a little walk-about yesterday to see what I could see, and this is just a sample of the 120 pictures I shot within a 1 hour period in the little town I live in here in Colorado.

I call this picture "Mikhail Baryshnigoose in Goose Lake"  When I arrived at the park, these two geese were right on the tree line but I was able to coax them up to within 5 feet of me.  The female was so comfortable in my presence that she actually lay down and took a short nap.

This is our neighbor 'Shorty'.  All the squirrels in our neighborhood  are named 'Shorty', only because we can't tell them apart.  Shorty stopped by yesterday for a little snack of sunflower seeds.  He wasn't too happy when my husband arrived home and stood on the buffet table.

Whitetail deer are not indigenous to Colorado.  They are considered a nuisance and are rapidly taking over the grazing grounds of the local mule deer and elk.  Oh, but they are beautiful!

PIKES PEAK IN THE MORNING

Pikes Peak at sunrise.  The first picture was taken at around 6am.  The second was about 5 minutes later, as the sunlight washed up and over the mountains.  I used to be able to see this view from my front porch but too many houses block my view now days so I had to take a short drive to get these pictures.  As you can see I still need a lot of work on settings, but even that can't deminish the early morning beauty of the mountains in spring.

FINE FEATHERED FRIENDS: Monday Photo Shoot

One of the many perks in living in Colorado is the abundance of wildlife.  The Canadian Geese and the Robin are more than happy to pose for the camera, but the Blue Heron, the King Fisher and the Mallards prove to be a little shy.  I hope to get better pictures of them now that I have more free time on my hand.

Monday Photo Shoot: On the Wing

Edit (04/01/05):  I have been honored with the expertise of amasterplumber4u who has refined the identification of some of the birds in my pictures.  The geese are actually Canada guess (yes Plittle, I know... you told me that before... I honestly didn't think it mattered... sorry), the ducks are French Ducks (or is that France Ducks?  Oh,never mind... lame joke) and the Kingfisher is more specifically a Belted Kingfisher.  The Blue Heron, well, its still just a blue heron... the Tri-colored herons are more common in southern states like Florida and Texas (I had to look that up).  Thanks again for the information, Masterplumber and Plittle.)