Today I reach back ten years ago for shadows.
Trees turning color in downtown Tulsa.
The deep shadows of Guthrie Green, a popular event space in downtown.
A shadowy guest house of some family friends out int he country. Notice the chicken!
Riding bikes on Tulsa’s RiverParks Trails. That’s my wife, Heather, up ahead of me. She is usually ahead of me in many areas besides bicycles.
A “tree tunnel” at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center.
I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday
Here’s the biggest shadow I have ever photographed. The lunar eclipse earlier this week. I made the image small because otherwise it is just kind of big and blobby. (Blobby is a word here in Oklahoma, just so you know.) Did you get to see the eclipse. Did you get a non-blobby photo of it!
Here is a Lost and Found shadow. Somebody at the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area here in Tulsa had the good idea put a lost and found basket at the base of map stand at the park. I think the drilled hole shadows are cool.
And here is a trailcam photo of our backyard. That is Sadie the rescue terrier in the sun and I am in the shade behind her. Both our dogs are sun dogs. They love laying out in the heat of the day. Note the temperature, note the burnt grass. Here in Tulsa we average eleven 100+ days a year, so far we have had 22 and we have a solid 7 day forecast for over 100F temperatures coming up this week.
The mornings are cooler though so I have been taking Sadie for a walk. I love dog walking shadows.
Here’s a variation on a dog walking shadow, a picket fence shadow overlaid on a dog walking shadow. Who says I cannot do two things at the same time?
You can tell it was early. Here’s a long morning shadow of a tree in our neighborhood greenbelt.
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Do you have a messy corner in your backyard. Surely not, it’s only us. Where we have utility boxes, stumps of cut down trees, and wheelbarrow. We have that and it has a whirlygig so here is video shadow, a fence shadow, and shadow shadows. Don’t mind the pipeline signs. They are from past employers of mine before I retired.
And a combination dog and fence shadow. Sadie likes to give the yard a good sniffing when she’s back there.
Also from the backyard. Earlier this month we had the deal we get once in a while at almost sunset and the light takes on a reddish hue. So I thought it was cool and took a photo looking up into the tree. No filter used. I use filters a lot so if I did use I would tell you, maybe.
You have heard about the miracle weight loss drug GLP 1, right? Well I am on a clinical trial for GLP 1HX. An experimental variation that makes you lose weight and get taller. It is working fabulously. I hear that is a variation of that called GLP 1HXYX. You lose weight, get taller, and younger. Let me know if you are interested. I will hook you up.
I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday
The sun is bearing down on Oklahoma hard these days. Every day is over 100F for the high and mornings are high 70’s/low 80’s. It’s brutal. It’s too warm for a dog walk in the morning especially with our little Pomeranian. I’m trying to get out early on my once or twice weekly hikes on Turkey Mountain.
Fortunately on the mountain it is very shady. And you you shadows make good photographs.
The new part of Turkey Mountain is “The Sanctuary.” It’s off by itself and has the newest trails, all single track and many of them fairly technical. You have to watch your feet is what I say.
This is one of the old landmarks on the Mountain. Everyone but me calls it the washing machine. I call it the clothes dryer cuz is what is if you look closely. But you can ignore me if you want, everyone else does, and call it what you wish.
This is the main trail to the Mountain from the lower parking lot.
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Mornings in Santa Fe are always cool and shady.
A shadowy pedestrian bridge at Bandelier National Monument about an hour or so from Santa Fe.
Shadows are welcome at the sunny Chimney Rock National Monument near Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The woman on the left is my wife.
A mano and a metate on display at Chimney Rock National Monument. The metate is the big rock and mano is the small one. These are used by the Ancestral Puebloan People to grind maize, nuts, and seeds into flour. This takes grinding labor into a whole new realm. Can you imagine the work that would be needed to make a meal? As a side note, these stones are found all over the southwest. My brother found one while we were hiking out in the desert of central Utah. I don’t know what happened to it. We moved a lot and these things are heavy. It probably got left near one of the houses we lived in. It’s not like you could throw it away and I don’t think most of them are worth much. Nowadays if I saw one on a hike I’d take a photo and leave it be.
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The light in New Mexico is different. The sun is intense, the trees in the desert areas are sparse and small. The shadows are wonderful.
A bench with shadows at an art gallery on Canyon Road.
Tree Shadow we saw on a hike on their Dale Boll Trails just outside of town.
Also on the Dale Boll Trails, prickly pear cactus makes for interesting shadows.
I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday
One of my favorite places in Santa Fe is the covered walkway at the Palace of the Governors. For my whole life I have seen Native American vendors setting up to display and sell their jewelry. This time I saw a guy, looking like an inspector of some sort, checking out all the vendors and filling out a checklist. I also noticed that each vendor area is numbered so I got to wondering how are these vendors regulated. Was the jewelry made by Native Americans? I had so many questions.
So I checked the interwebs and it turns out the vendors displaying their wares are very tightly regulated via the Native American Portal Program administered by the New Mexico History Museum. The vendors must be a member of recognized tribe and they have to show technical mastery of their skills and crafts. All sold items must be handmade by the vendor or a member of their household, using traditional methods and materials (e.g., turquoise, coral, silver, beadwork). I’m thinking that the jewelry on sale is legit. Up to you to get a good price for it though.
I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday
We had our family vacation earlier this month. Our first stop was Santa Fe, New Mexico. The morning after we got there we were eager to get outside and walk around because driving from Tulsa to Santa Fe takes a long time. Our first stop was the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi which is in the middle of downtown and adjoined out hotel. We were a little early for the Cathedral to open so we walked around the grounds of the Cathedral. I’m always looking for shadows and I came upon this sculpture.
It made a great shadow and the adjoining plaque said it depicts Saint Francis dancing on water. And it was like, what!?!? I am not Catholic but every depiction I have seen of Saint Francis of Assisi is that he was a very serious guy. I have never seen a painting or a sculpture of him being joyful. So that kind of jarred my thought process and I thought I have to go check this out.
It turns out that it is a different Saint Francis, Saint Francis of Paola, a Franciscan hermit, who modeled his life after his namesake from Assisi. He is most known for his crossing the Straits of Messina. He didn’t have enough money to take a ferry so he prayed and blessed the sea and then laid his coat down and walked across the Straits. Because of this miracle, he is regarded as the patron saint of boatmen, mariners, and sailors. I call him the Joyful Saint Francis.
I love finding out stuff like this. The interwebs can be fun!!
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Hiking in Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain this time of year. Lots of shadows on the trail with all the trees.
A bicycle crossover over the trail. Hikers are not allowed on the crossovers. After one crosses over the slope is very steep. I like to ride my bicycle but I am strictly a pavement kind of guy. You have to be a very good rider to this structure. If you are by yourself and get injured I don’t know what you will do. This is in one of the most remote areas of the park. Weekends are not so bad but during the week I rarely see anyone here.
And a short ways later we have this bicycle jumpover across the trail. You better know what you are doing here. The crossover at least you can “roll over” the structure. Here there is no roll over.
I am linking with ShadowShot Sunday
I saw some shadows while hiking earlier this week on Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area.
This deer was hanging out in the shadows.
In places where trails get muddy frequently, one sees pieces of flat rock that are fitted together like a jig saw puzzle. When it rains the water flows over the rocks without eroding the trail and making a big mess. It is called “rock armoring” a trail. It’s a bit much for volunteers to do. One needs to have some machinery to move the rocks around. (Finding the rocks to use in armoring is called “rock farming.”) It’s hard work.
And I saw some leaves forming shadows on the trail.
In the summer, I look for the shadowy trails to hike, especially at midday.
I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday.
And Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.