Baby Goats Jumping

More of Sarah's baby goats.

Goats are Great

When visiting my sister,
I got to snuggle baby goats!
I fell in love with this little billy goat, Brownie.
He was pretty calm about being held.
He also likes to chew things--
my jeans, my shirt tail, my hair...
He's very friendly and warm and cuddly,
and best of all, I don't appear to be allergic to him.

Stargazing

Canyonlands is one of the best places in Utah--
make that the American southwest--
to view stars.
Dry weather, open spaces, high elevation,
and above all very little light pollution.
We were lucky enough to be out there during new moon phase,
which gave us optimal star gazing.
The milky way showed up very clearly,
along with every constellation in the spring sky.
My camera isn't very well suited for night photos,
since the maximum shutter opening is 15 seconds,
but I did get this terrific horizon view
of Airport Tower and a shining evening planet
(Venus, I think)
with the last glow of post-sunset light.

Kite Eating Tree

We tried to fly my kite out on the White Rim,
but the winds kept changing direction,
and our kite blew into a kite-eating juniper tree.
Fortunately Benjamin was able to climb up and retrieve it...
but the gusts made it hard to keep the kite aloft
and eventually we gave up.

Fives

I have a ranking system for my photographs.
One is dreadful- I only keep these if they are old sentimental pictures.
Two is bad- I only keep these if they are for study purposes
(for example, a building in Europe I am researching).
Three is fine. Most of my photos are threes.
There's nothing wrong with a three, but there's nothing special either.
A four is a good photo-- very nice, good light, good expression, etc.
A five means "I would enter this in a photo contest."
I am rigorous with my self-ranking,
and I rarely give out fives.
It has to be a pretty spectacular photo to get a five.
But on my last trip to Canyonlands,
I got several fives.
All of the above are 'fives'
and were taken shortly after sunrise
at Musselman Arch on the White Rim Road
(I got up way before dawn to drive out there,
so I am pleased that my efforts paid off!!)

Everybody Loves Ice Cream

When visiting my sister in Oklahoma recently,
we went to Braum's-- great ice cream, great prices.
The boys liked their cones.
My sister enjoyed her cone.
But the best were the little girls--
in particular the baby,
who is eating what is probably her first-ever ice cream cone.

California From the Air

From the Sierra Nevadas
to rivers and windmills
and the coastal hills,
this was a pretty flight home.
The last photo is probably Nevada.
It looked a bit like a crater,
but the light was getting dim,
and the photo has a rather mysterious blue quality.

Center of Attention

My two-month old grand-niece is the center of attention
at every family gathering.
Naturally her parents dote on her,
and her great-grandmother thinks she is just great,
but what I find most entertaining is how all her teenage uncles
cannot seem to put her down.
They hold her when reading
and even when playing the piano...

Easter Photoshop Magic

So, I liked my nephew Edward and his younger cousin Lucy in this photo,
but Rachel looks a little startled.

And this one is cute of Rachel,
but Lucy is distracted and Edward solemn.

Solution: combine them in photoshop!
I LOVE the computer!!

The Feathered Friends of Spring

One nice thing about the pre-leaf season
is that it is easier to spot the birds-
and their nests.
I have yet to see an occupied nest, though.
But this robin on campus was quite used to people
and so I could get fairly close.
I would like a really good zoom someday,
but for now this wasn't a bad photo.