Far from Home: Montana

Vast, empty, a disk of earth and a dome of sky.

Weathered: Painted Canyon

The Painted Canyon, in between rainstorms.

Dusk: Sunset, North Dakota

We camped last night in West Fargo, North Dakota. It is The Worst Campground Ever--a dirty parking lot with hookups, not even picnic tables. But even The Worst Campground Ever has some pluses: in the case, the sky.

Fire

Oops...forgot the photo! No way to edit the post on my iPhone.

Dusk, northern Wisconsin

A crescent moon drifts through a night smudged sky.

Trees: Sunset in Illinois

We are camping in Joliet, Illinois. The campground is actually part of a casino complex. We don't gamble (we leave that to the folk in the half million dollar motorhomes parked around us), but the campground is quite nice. It's not far off the highway but away from traffic noise.
@Val--We're following I-80, so I think we're north of you. Would have been great to get together. We haven't had Internet access outside of my iPhone.

Nuisances: Repairs

Bob--our pickup--started overheating, so we had to bring him into a local repair place in Milford, Pennsylvania. They were wonderful. It cost us $142 and three hours, but Bob was fitted with a new thermostat.

Surreal: Goats, New Columbia, Pennsylvania

I'm going off theme for the duration of our vacation--hopefully to Glacier/Banff, although we are already having a bit of a set back with a glitch with the truck. I'm going to try to post a photo a day of our whereabouts when I can.
The campground here has a petting zoo consisting mainly of some sweet Pygmy goats. We were able to get a short walk in between rain showers. I love goats. It was dark & the iPhone flash gave one goat's eyes an eerie glow.

Vacation

Powerful storms moved through Connecticut this afternoon. We were lucky that we didn't lose power, but we did lose Internet access. We're leaving tomorrow morning for a 3 1/2 week camping trip to Glacier National Park & the Canadian Rockies. I won't have reliable Internet access (plus I'll know I'll be absorbed by the experience!) so posting on the blog & commenting will be sporadic. I promise to catch up as best I can when we return in mid-August.

Unexpected

As I waded into a field of Queen Anne's Lace for a few takes with the new Hueless app (it shoots in B&W), an ant crawling on of of the flowers was an unexpected bonus.

Camera: iPhone 4s, Hueless app  Processing: PSE

Candid

Granddude Aidan tends to the serious work of finishing his home made ice cream cake. 

Camera: iPhone 4s  Processing: PSE

Curvature

The rim of a pewter tumbler.

Camera: Canon EOS T3, Lensbaby Muse, 4x macro lens

Spiral

Two different views of our corkscrew taken last night at the Trinity college carillon concert.  The top one was taken with the Canon EOS T3, using the Lensbaby Muse and the 10x macro lens.  The bottom one was taken with the iPhone 4s, using the Hueless apps (a B&W app just released--I like it a lot!)  Both were minimally adjusted using PSE. 

Liquid

Way back in the early 80s, not long after we were married, we went on vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia.  There we bought a pair of small pewter tumblers.  all these years later, on Wednesday evenings in the summer, we bring a picnic dinner to the quad at Trinity College in Hartford, where we sip wine from the pewters as we listen to the carillon concert. 

Camera: Canon EOS T3, Lensbaby Muse, 4x macro lens  Processing: basic adjustments in PSE

Sexy

Paper Goods Pond at dusk on a balmy summer evening is a romantic place.

Camera: Conon EOS T3, Lensbaby Muse   Processing: PSE

Domestic

Our weather-worn clothespins.  We still do hang clothes out to dry on a line. 

Camera: iPhone 4s  Processing: a variety of apps...I lost track

Glow

This woman was performing at the town Farmers' Market today.  She was raising money to provide instruments and lessons for kids in Haiti and a Lakota reservation.  Two weeks from now, she's gong to be going to Haiti.  There was an unmistakable inner glow emanating from her as she played and sang--as well as when we talked to her. 

Edible

These two guys from the seafood department at Stew Leonard's were very enthusiastic about the lobsters they had for sale on the Fourth of July.

Camera: iPhone 4s   Processing: PSE

Symbol

One can wear one's heart on one's sleeve or one's flag in one's pocket. 

Camera: Canon EOS T3, Lensbaby Muse  Processing: PSE

Extreme Close-up

After yesterday's stinky fish, I figure I owe you all something nicer looking and way better smelling.  Queen Anne's Lace is in bloom now at Paper Goods Pond.  I've always been intrigued and enchanted by that one magenta flower in the center of the cluster of white. 

Camera: Canon EOS T3, Lensbaby Muse, 4x macro converter   Processing: PSE

Debris

This year, there's been an extraordinary run of shad in the Connecticut River, which has lead to an extraordinary (albeit natural) die-off--with the result that there are deteriorating dead fish floating in the river and washing up on shore.  They do reek--but there's a certain beauty in their skeletal remains.  I have to admit that John, when he saw me working on this photo said, "Wait--you took a picture of one of those smelly rotting fish?"  Um, yeah...Now you know why he had that pensive wondering expression in that portrait: "I married a woman who takes pictures of stinking fish corpses!"

Camera: iPhone 4s Processing: PhotoGene2, ScratchCamera, PhotoToaster, Dynamic Light

Strength

The guy in the previous photo was blissfully cruising with the outgoing tide.  This dude and his son decided to go the other way--not only against the tide, but also through mudflats.  They were determined to get to wherever they were going, so Dad hauled and the son pushed. 

Camera: Kodak Z915  Processing: PSE

Starboard

I daresay the Theme Police might want to issue me a summons for this--the boat seems to be tacking to port, but at least it HAS a starboard.  I'm not sure I'll come as close to "starboard" again. 

Camera: Kodak Z915  Processing: PSE