Kite Flying

Kevin and Ethan's Uncle Ryan and Aunt LaCee sent them each a kite the other day. This afternoon I took them up to an open area near Kevin's school to fly them. Kevin had cut the tail off of his kite, so it just spun in circles. Ethan's kite (a sweet teenage mutan ninja turtles one) flew remarkably well. It was great to be out with the kids.

Photographs from the Weekend

Here are a few photographs from the weekend.


Interior of Burnt Farm Building, Newdale, ID


Wasp in our Garage


Tree with Irrigation Ditch, Roberts, ID

Potato Cellar on Fire

Saturday I went out to rephotograph a potato cellar I had recently photographed (here's the post), but didn't like all of the snow in the scene and I wanted to take a couple of interiors. On my drive out I noticed a big plume of smoke, which is not that unusual this time of year when farmers are often burning stubble. I was sort of happy to see the fire because I thought I would photograph it while I was out. As I got closer though I began to worry that the fire might have been coming from the cellar. The fire was indeed coming from the cellar and it was mostly gone by the time I got there. It was probably a dangerous structure, and fire seems a quick way to destroy it. I made some photographs despite the choking and tears (not for sadness, but from the smoke).



Burning Potato Cellar, Osgood, ID 2006

Crocus

As a diversion from other photo projects I like to make still-lifes of things that grow in our yard. Tonight I made my first such photographs for the year. I sacrificed a few crocuses growing in our flower bed. To see other similar photographs you can go here.


Crocus, 2006

Abandoned Home

When I first became seriously interested in photography one subject of interest was interiors of abandoned homes. I loved the light that bounced around the enclosed spaces. I also enjoyed the artifacts left behind by the previous occupants. Though I don't photograph these places as often as I used to I still enjoy interior spaces. There is nothing like the light that bounces around in these places. Anyway, this afternoon I photographed a little bit in an abandoned home near Roberts. It was a lot of fun.



Abandoned Home Interior, Roberts, ID 2006

signs

I stopped in Beaver, UT on the way back from St. George to buy Susan's mother some cheese. These signs were along main street.

Lytle Ranch Nature Preserve

We all went down to visit Susan's parents in Fayette, UT this weekend. I went down to St. George to do some birding. St. George is on the edge of the Mojave Desert. If you drive Southwest of St. George you find a landscape dominated by Joshua Trees, Cholla Cactus, Creosote Bushes, and Mesquite. You can also find wildlife associated with the Mojave including: Desert Tortoise, Mojave Rattlesnake, Gila Monsters, California Kingsnakes, Roadrunners, Cactus Wrens, and more obscure birds like Lucy's Warblers, Phainopeplas, Crissal Thrashers, and others.

I was surprised to find most of the desert along the road to my destination had been burned. I guess there was a pretty big fire last summer that burnt down a lot of Juniper and Joshua Trees in the area.




Joshua Trees, near St. George, UT

Within the Desert near St. George is Lytle Ranch, a nature preserve owned by Brigham Young University. It's an old fruit orchard that sits on Beaver Dam Wash, a lush stream that penetrates the desert. It makes for pretty good birding. That was my destination for the day. It was great to see a lot of birds that I don't get to see very often. It was a little early in the year to see many of the birds, but I did mange to see a few things including: Common Black Hawk, Costa's Hummingbird, Phainopepla, Verdin, Road Runner, and Crissal Thrasher (a life bird for me) among others.


View of Beaver Dam Wash near Lytle Ranch

The weather was o.k., temperatures were in the mid 60s, and I got rained out around 3 pm. Anyway, it was a fun day.