monarch butterflies

8 natural wonders were added to the UN Heritage list. One of which was the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico.



This is an image of one such beautiful butterfly resting on the wildflowers by the side of the road. A visitor in the blue hills of Wisconsin.

I hope you are enjoying the retreat to Mexico City, sweet butterfly. Have a safe flight back. The upper midwest region is gray and dismal without you!

monarch butterflies

8 natural wonders were added to the UN Heritage list. One of which was the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico.



This is an image of one such beautiful butterfly resting on the wildflowers by the side of the road. A visitor in the blue hills of Wisconsin.

I hope you are enjoying the retreat to Mexico City, sweet butterfly. Have a safe flight back. The upper midwest region is gray and dismal without you!

playing with color

Making the jump into Photoshop Elements is daunting! At first, I was disappointed that I didn't have the budget to purchase the larger version of Photoshop, but as I started fooling around with Elements, I realized that having anything more would have been totally overwhelming. For the first few months, I gained limited skills with things I am already familiar with: contrast, sharpness, minor hue and saturation adjustments. All the while knowing there were endless possibilities that I had no idea how to tap into. Thanks to
Pioneer Woman, I have learned so much in just this last month! Although she does work with the larger version of Photoshop, her tips and suggestions led me to a more guided search of internet tutorials that allowed me to attempt her image magic.

This morning I spent a few hours playing with color. The actions required switching the color image to B&W, then brushing back selected areas full of color. Here are the results. I am so proud!

Here was a chance to take a "typical" flower shot and transform it into something that brightens the color of the peony:





After I had a grasp of how to perform these little miracles, I started searching my whole catalog of images to play with. This little lizard was on the patio of a villa we visited in Port Antonio, Jamaica.





This shot in color is gorgeous. I have a tendency to photograph my meager harvest from my front-yard urban garden each year. The images remind me each Spring of the possibilities waiting to bloom in the garden. It was fun to take this previously colorful image, and change in a way that highlights the bright red of the chili peppers.



The only problem with this morning's project is that now I miss my garden so much! After seeing his shadow, Punxsutawney Phil forecasts another six weeks of winter. Jeez louise! Winter this year seems so long!

playing with color

Making the jump into Photoshop Elements is daunting! At first, I was disappointed that I didn't have the budget to purchase the larger version of Photoshop, but as I started fooling around with Elements, I realized that having anything more would have been totally overwhelming. For the first few months, I gained limited skills with things I am already familiar with: contrast, sharpness, minor hue and saturation adjustments. All the while knowing there were endless possibilities that I had no idea how to tap into. Thanks to
Pioneer Woman, I have learned so much in just this last month! Although she does work with the larger version of Photoshop, her tips and suggestions led me to a more guided search of internet tutorials that allowed me to attempt her image magic.

This morning I spent a few hours playing with color. The actions required switching the color image to B&W, then brushing back selected areas full of color. Here are the results. I am so proud!

Here was a chance to take a "typical" flower shot and transform it into something that brightens the color of the peony:





After I had a grasp of how to perform these little miracles, I started searching my whole catalog of images to play with. This little lizard was on the patio of a villa we visited in Port Antonio, Jamaica.





This shot in color is gorgeous. I have a tendency to photograph my meager harvest from my front-yard urban garden each year. The images remind me each Spring of the possibilities waiting to bloom in the garden. It was fun to take this previously colorful image, and change in a way that highlights the bright red of the chili peppers.



The only problem with this morning's project is that now I miss my garden so much! After seeing his shadow, Punxsutawney Phil forecasts another six weeks of winter. Jeez louise! Winter this year seems so long!

brief january thaw

The day was a surprise of above 40 degree temps. Neighbors I hadn't seen in months came out from their winter hibernation. Garden accoutrements that were buried by the snow were peeking through the snow melt. The neighborhood came alive and became very wet. The street corners started to flood because the snow melt had no where to go.

Spent part of the day splashing around in the Jeep, then some time on the ground, wandering around the thawing neighborhood, jumping from puddle to puddle...

brief january thaw

The day was a surprise of above 40 degree temps. Neighbors I hadn't seen in months came out from their winter hibernation. Garden accoutrements that were buried by the snow were peeking through the snow melt. The neighborhood came alive and became very wet. The street corners started to flood because the snow melt had no where to go.

Spent part of the day splashing around in the Jeep, then some time on the ground, wandering around the thawing neighborhood, jumping from puddle to puddle...

On the Lion's Back

I won't ever forget the first time I saw a video clip of an SUV crashing off a huge rock fin in Moab. Of course, back then I didn't know it was Moab or that the rock formation is referred to as a fin. Never did I think I would find myself there at the base of Lion's Back located just on the outskirts of Moab.



Apparently the campground and the rock formation are privately owned now, so there is no more chance to ride down this very scary slope. When we drove out on Sand Flats Road there was no one at the site and looking at it, there is no way of really understanding the scariness of the drive. From this view, the Lion's Back does not look high or steep.





There is a fee to get into the Sand Flats recreation area, but if you just want to drive through to the La Sal Mountains, you can do it without paying. We decided to pay because we wanted to wander around, get out the Jeep, and hike. The Jeep trails are too difficult for us. The biking trails even seem at a more advanced level. But, walking we can do. So, we parked in a nearby lot and started hiking, not really realizing we were heading towards Lion's Back until we were right next to it.

This little "valley" between the fins can be traversed by the Jeep, but there was no chance in hell I was going to do this with our stock Jeep, not without a guide.





This is about where I stopped my hike. I was too nervous to continue, a bit hungry so I knew I would get shaky, and decided my heart would be better off just watching my man head on up. I still haven't really figured out how the Jeeps get up there other than to drive right up the slope and turn around for the trip down, but for some reason, I was thinking there was another route. In any case, we did not see any other way that day.

My heart was in my throat just watching the Big D make his way to the top of Lion's Back. If we weren't supposed to there, there was no one around to say so. I was holding my breath as he climbed the side of the fin and hiked to the top.





Apparently the view from the top made it worth his while. See the road down there? That's where we came riding in. The campgrounds are located at the bottom of this fin. And the La Sal Mountains provide a stunning backdrop to this setting.





This is the view as you head down the slope. How do people do this? Very, very slowly.




See, there I am, waiting and imaging the worst that could happen. There was cattle dung all around, lots of brush, sand. I had a lot of time to look around while i waited for Big D to go up, then climb back down.




As we hiked back to the Jeep, the sun rose higher in the sky, washing the area with bright sunlight. We spent the next 7 hours driving the length of this road that leads into the La Sal Mountains, stopping at a deserted campground for lunch, one that had an incredible 360 degree panoramic view. We also walked a little of the "fins and things" Jeep trail that is a series of these fins. And yet another 4WD campground was found and we bounced our way through it, but we ended up having to turn around as the exit was blocked by a couple of other suvs stuck in the sand.

This was planned as a "free" day on this roadtrip to Moab. We didn't have anything planned, but we ended up having quite an adventure that day. And this is where I learned that we shouldn't leave our motel without a packed lunch. By the time we stopped for lunch we were a good two hours drive from any gas station or diner.

Off season travel is the way we go. Although we saw a couple of bikers and a few cars, we felt like we had the area to ourselves. There was plenty of time to contemplate the vast beauty of this place in peace and quiet.

The path was good to us that day.