Sounds~Sunday Stills Challenge 083009

Sunday Stills Challenge for 083009.

Orange and pink clouds~SkyWatch Friday 082809

When we stopped at Mono Lake one afternoon, there was a beautiful sunset~shades of orange and pink and blue sky peeking through the clouds. I snapped this photo hoping the colors would show up. They sure did! SkyWatch Friday for August 28, 2009.

Tree rings, Yosemite~Think Green Thursday 082709

Sometimes you can see the most unusual things on vacation! For example, in Yosemite village, there is a tree stump and the rings are labeled with what happened on various years of the tree's life. On this stump you can see the Norman conquest of England, the signing of the Magna Carta, and other important historical events. Isn't that incredible? It's called "Big Tree" and it is located right outside the museum in Yosemite. For a size comparison, I took a photo of hubby looking at it. Think Green Thursday for August 27, 2009. Perhaps we should remember and give respect to these living things that are thousands of years old?

Mono Lake sunset~Watery Wed for 082609

Hubby took this photo of Mono Lake when we arrived late one afternoon. I had wandered off to another spot and was busy taking my own photos, but I like this one showing the waves on Mono Lake. This is from the northern tufa area. If you really want to see the tufa, go to the southern tufa area! Watery Wednesday for August 26, 2009.

Monsoon clouds~That's My World 082509

Tis the season of monsoon clouds. Giant, puffy thunderheads develop in the afternoons over our desert and the high desert of the eastern Sierra. I actually took these photos outside of Bishop, CA one afternoon during our week-long vacation. About an hour later, rain was falling in different locations all along the Sierra. That's My World for Tuesday, August 25, 2009.

Half Dome on a cloudy day~Scenic Sunday for 082309

Hubby and I have been on a week-long vacation to the Eastern Sierra Nevada range and places in the mountains there. We stopped in Bishop, at a camera store, so hubby could buy more film before we even started our vacation because he didn't think he had enough. We stayed in a little motel in June Lake, CA and went exploring every morning and late afternoon. We visited Mammoth Lakes and found a wonderful eatery there, "The Stove". We drove up to Minaret Vista, back down to Twin Lakes, Lake Mary, and Horseshoe Lake. We drove out to Mono Lake in the afternoon, and out to Bodie in the afternoon and early morning. Finally, we decided to drive home over the Tioga Pass into Yosemite, since I still have 2 weeks on my National Parks Pass and who can resist Yosemite? We stopped in the village, grabbed lunch (BRING YOUR OWN, very pricey and not very good!) and headed out to Glacier Point. Neither one of us had been to Glacier Point before and the view of Half Dome from that area is breathtaking, even on a rainy day! It started to sprinkle while we were there, so we headed back to the car and continued our drive to Fresno for the night. Scenic Sunday for August 23, 2009.

SkyWatch Friday 082109

Hubby and I are currently on vacation in the eastern Sierra Nevada range. We are enjoying a break from the desert heat! We have traveled to Mammoth Lakes, Twin Lakes, Lake Mary, and Mono Lake, as well as Bodie, CA. On this particular morning, we woke up early and drove out to Minaret Vista to see the sun hit them early morning. That's where hubby took a tumble and his Canon smashed into the rocks. It broke his polarizing filter and now he realizes that his lens is sticking, but otherwise he and the camera are doing just fine. (I think it damaged his ego more than anything else!). After that, we drove out to the Twin Lakes area and I caught this beautiful reflection on one of the lakes. SkyWatch Friday for August 21, 2009. By the way, it was so COLD there that morning, I went rummaging through the car looking for my mittens! It has been 28 and 33 degrees in Bodie while we have been here! What a nice change, eh?

Monsoon morning~SkyWatch Friday 081409

I took this photo one morning last spring when we had monsoonal clouds. The clouds are back today. We haven't had any measureable rain all summer and July and August are our monsoon months. Our mountains have had rain, but we haven't had any here in our desert. SkyWatch Friday for August 14, 2009. Have a great weekend!

"d" is for dust! ABC Wednesday, August 12, 2009

During our trip to Monument Valley a couple of summers ago, a dust devil came up. Hubby took these pics of it and the dust that followed. I like the one with the saddle. ABC Wednesday, August 12, 2009.

Round pen~That's My World 081109

Do you really want to see my world? Well, here it is! It's the round pen up at the horse ranch in the mountains above Palm Springs! This is where I spend the majority of my mornings. On this day, my cousin came over to help me with my gelding, Sunni. He's a quarter horse, a PMU gelding. PMU stands for "pregnant mare urine", which was used in premarin, a drug for women with menopause. The mares are kept pregnant, in pens, for MONTHS (the normal gestitation time for a mare is 11 months). Some were kept in very narrow stalls and are not even allowed to move! Sunni is the "unwanted byproduct" (i.e. the foal). I adopted him several years ago and he is now in serious training! He is a wonderful, kind, intelligent horse, even if he was "unwanted". United Pegasus, a horse rescue, went up to one of the PMU ranches and brought Sunni home as a yearling, along with several other PMU horses and took them to their Hemet ranch for adoption. I adopted him a year later. So, now that my back is better (I injured it last summer riding a friend's horse) I'm back to working with my horses and continuing their training. Here he is in the round pen learning to "stay". My cousin uses both verbal and hand signals to train all her horses and she's helping me train mine this way. Look how shiny he is! GOOD BOY! So, if you want to find me in the mornings, I'm up at the ranch! That's My World for August 11, 2009.

Fallow field~Mellow Yellow Monday 081009

I drove by this field yesterday. It is usually planted with something, but right now it is empty and resting. Mellow Yellow Monday for August 10, 2009.

Desert morning~Shadow Shot Sunday 080909

When I can, I love to go for an early morning walk. I took these photos on Highway 74, across from Bighorn. Don't you just love the morning shadows? Shadow Shot Sunday for August 9, 2009.

The elements (3 of them)...Sunday Stills Challenge 080909

Well, I got 3 of them. No fire in these pics, however. We took these on one of our trips to Whitewater Canyon, which is just outside of Palm Springs, during the winter. Isn't the snow beautiful on the mountains? Sunday Stills Challenge for 080909. They have air, water, and earth, but no fire...

Sunset over Lake Hemet~SkyWatch Friday 080709

Hubby and I drove out to Lake Hemet one evening this past week to see the sunset and rising moon. How beautiful and peaceful! SkyWatch Friday, August 7, 2009.

Heat and humidity~Think Green Thursday 080509

It's been so darn hot here that we haven't been going outside much. In fact, we hibernate all day, then head up to the mountains about 5:00 p.m.. At least up there, the air is crisp and cool and there is usually an afternoon breeze. Down at 200 feet above sea level, the air stagnates and, until yesterday, with our afternoon breezes, doesn't move. Coachella is actually 62 feet below sea level! Believe me, summer in the desert is no fun! I looked at my thermometer yesterday afternoon when the UPS truck showed up and it was 118 degrees IN THE SHADE! Heat like this is only good for one thing...heat loving crops like CORN! The Coachella Valley actually gets two harvests of corn. The first one was in May and I would imagine the second one would be now. I'll have to make a trip down to the lower end of the valley one morning. I know that in August the farmers usually plow everything left under and let the fields lie fallow for a couple of weeks. Then, mid-August, which is coming up soon, they start to plant other crops.

My fence~Sunday Stills 080209

I took these photos of my fence around my front yard this past spring. The bougenvilla bush was in full bloom. Sunday Stills Challenge for 080209.

Flamingoes~Camera Critters for 080109

These pretty flamingoes are at the Desert Springs Marriott in Palm Desert, CA. Camera Critters for August 1, 2009.