Lucin

Along the route that we took to the sun tunnels is a ghost town named Lucin. It seems to be the only place within miles that has water (unsalted) and is a real oasis. We did not see any wildlife there at the time, but the sign indicates that there is quite a bit.  A pleasant way to spend a day would be to sit behind a dune nearby and see who and what visits the waterhole!

Backyard kitties

We have two cats and a dog officially; and now another kitty from our backyard neighbor's is making himself at home.  Small and short-haired, he will let you pick him up and pet him a bit. He and Fuzzy chase each other around but mostly just co-exist.
These photos were taken on 10/26, the day after our snowstorm.

We have Figs!

After several years of babying the brown turkey fig tree (brought from Monticello, Jefferson's place), we finally received edible figs this year! Both Diana and I were ready to cut it down and dig it out, but now we will implement even more measures to bring us figs next year (hope springs eternal...).
They are luscious and mouth-watering. While you want to eat them all right away, you also want to savor them.

Sunlight on grasses and cow skulls round out today's view - there is never a shortage of beauty within just a few steps of the back door.

Night shots at Sundance

Diana purchased a living social deal for the Tree Room restaurant at Sundance, so Friday night we took advantage of it and a beautiful night and enjoyed a great meal.
Visiting Sundance is always special for us - many good memories plus the energy there is always upbeat and enlivening. Artist happenings, dance things, excited people everywhere.  The resort had a Halloween lift ride going on, and fire pits everywhere.  A 1/2 second exposure of the stream resulted in an interesting photo (bottom).

News Flash!

Zachary, our godson, is an accomplished musician and is rapidly becoming an accomplished woodworker!  He has built one electric bass in our garage that works great; and is now building his second bass.
To up the challenge this time, he decided to build the neck himself! After one aborted try and several miscues on the second attempt, he has arrived at a very nice piece as shown below. Things are still rough and unfinished, but you get the idea - a very beautiful piece of music will be coming forth soon!

Wind and dust and upside down

Out at the sun tunnels last weekend, gusts of wind would blanket the area with dust, making for some very interesting views of the world. No one seemed to mind (very much) and the party continued.

Looking east the view was a bit different - big sky, colors reminiscent of paintings, and the dreamlike landscape.  On the way out of the valley, I turned the world upside down and it now looks like a lake reflecting the sky - dream on..

Traveling on .. ..

More views from our trip along highway 30 to the Sun Tunnels.  The singularity of both the color in the sunlit trees/grass and the shape/form of the falling down fence catch my eye.  I feel like I have returned to basics again, beauty being what it is and where it is.

Leaving Snowville - destination Sun Tunnels

As we drove west on Hwy 30, there were quite a few hawks on the poles by the road.  Most of them were rough-legged hawks, and their heads are very different from the red-tails. The land is farmed out there, including an organic farm noted by the sign that said ' no spraying, organic farming'.

The land is open here, however you can see ranch buildings and work occurring. In the distance, smoke billows from a field clearing fire, and dust devils are stirred up by trucks and work equipment on the dry land. Stacks of hay in various shapes of bales line the roadside at the various storage places.  Ranches and farms have their signs, some elegant and others fairly straight-forward.

Once you leave the farmed lands, the cow ranches begin to appear and there is even less to see on the land as far as equipment and activity.  The road was filled with orange coated men coming back home from their opening morning deer hunt. Large semi-trucks swoosh by and leave the fragrance of cow manure behind. Murphy and I take a break and wander through the sagebrush just off the road and discover the skull of a cow. Imagine the odds of stopping in just that place to take a walk  - and there are the bones.

Color in the desert is pretty bland - except when you find a Cottonwood in color.  The colors light up the landscape for miles.

Travelling on to the Sun Tunnels........

Sun Tunnels

Murphy and I took a day trip to the west desert yesterday to see the Sun Tunnels, a land art creation by Nancy Holt.  Google them if you are not familiar with it.
We took a nice scenic tour, going up to Snowville, UT and taking Hwy 30 over to the tunnels which are just above Wendover, Utah. As you can imagine, the scenery was fantastic along the way and I'll post a few of those photos over the next few days.
The openness of the desert/Great Basin clears my head and renders most of what happens in life inconsequential. Time does not seem to exist in this place, the vastness and quiet push into you and push the worries out.

Here are a few photos of the Sun Tunnels themselves.  This was a celebration as the creator, Nancy Holt, was in town and had invited the world to come out and enjoy the sunset with her at the tunnels.  A windy day, lots of dust devils, and blowing dirt, but no one seemed to mind, especially the kids and Murphy!

The tunnels with no one around - just miles of salt desert.

A classic view of the tunnels with a human to show the size.

Kids of all ages had a great time!

Nancy Holt, Sun Tunnel creator, is the lady with the hat in the middle of the photo.

Almost a bit surrealistic.

Fall Colors around the house

One of the wonderful things about gardening around the house is not having to travel to capture beautiful seasonal photos!  Here's a couple of fall photos from around the house.  The light is so perfect for photography these days.

Tuesday Blahs

Today is my Monday at work, and it turned out to be a very busy day until about noon, then dead! Rescheduled meetings and waiting on a November Exec approval for a project to begin contributed to a bit of the slowness.
I visited my Mom this morning and took a couple of photos out the moving truck window as I drove back to work. It is possible, just don't bring the camera up to your eye and try to sight through the viewfinder!  You will wind up in an accident.  These are 'point and shoot'.

The rose was not shot through the truck window - it stood very still for me :-)

Canna joy!

After a hot summer, our canna lily's are enjoying a resurgence!  With the clouds of yesterday and the occasional wonderful light, I had the chance to capture a few shots with my 105mm. Every time I shoot with this lens I marvel at its sharpness and quality of detail.
Here's what I liked!

Upcoming show

You are invited to come to the upcoming show by the "Tutored by the Land" participants.  We all arrived with different skills and viewpoints and - although we were looking at the same places - we all saw them differently. Fascinating - and excellent photography across the group!
Come for the open house on 10/19 if you can.

Looking back

Many times looking back through old photos reveals some gems - or just some neat ones that you had missed on the original scan.  In preparation for the upcoming show of our Centennial Valley photos (10/19) I looked back over the entire collection of photos.  I found a few that I had skipped over and that were worth a re-looking.  Here's a couple that caught me..

Loving Fall 2012

Fall continues its domination, cool mornings and warmer clear days.  Unfortunately a side effect of this high pressure weather is the smog in the SL valley! Plus a lot of different allergens in the air affecting most of us at one time of the day or another.
Despite - or because of that - a quick Sunday afternoon trip to the Uinta's to visit Steve and Carolyn at their cabin was welcomed by Diana, Murphy and I! Steve built a great fire in the stove, and the ladies fixed a wonderful dinner.  Murphy explored the hills to his heart's content, and, instead of deer or moose, we were visited by horses! Murphy loves Steve and they had a great time together.

Animals

Working folk

On our way into the Manti-La Sal mountains, we came across a working horseman and dog. As he rode by, I pointed my camera at him and heard him ask his dog - "Boy, do you want your picture taken?". I believe the dog is a Corgi.
A wonderful day to be out, whether working or not.

Fun in the mountains

Here's some additional photos from our weekend in the mountains - The truck one looks pretty exciting, doesn't it?
This first one just called out to have a little blurring, to help the eye follow the colors and shapes.

This cloud shape-opening with the dark spots above as if eyes are watching - grabbed me on the way down the hill on our walk.