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Photo of the day 4/26/11 – “Unpretty”

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“Unpretty”

In between monsoons today, I went for a walk on a nature trail. I’ve been doing this more and more as my appreciation of nature grows. (The 1000 and 2011 goal doesn’t hurt either.)

One thing I notice more and more on my walks is litter. Some there accidentally, some probably there intentionally, and some definitely there carelessly. But unlike the past, I didn’t just walk by it. I picked up a bunch. But there is a bunch more. Next time, I’ll bring a bag and leave the camera home.

So here is some of it in today’s photo of the day. Raw, and not prettied up.

Combined Locks, Wisconsin
April 26, 2011

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Photo of the day 4/25/11 – “Untitled”

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“Untitled”

Every now and then I get to work in the Minneapolis office. For years I flew there, but this time it was cheaper to drive. Of course, I had to bring the camera.

I love cities, and having the car allowed me to discover some cool parts of this one that I didn’t before know existed. Here’s a view from one of those.

Minneapolis, Minnesota
August 16, 2010

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Photo of the day 4/24/11 – “Foreign Landscape”

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“Foreign Landscape”

Even after having been to seven other National Parks in the past three years, Joshua Tree National Park took me be surprise. Perhaps much of the reason so was because nearly every part of it was foreign to me. No evergreens, leafy trees, or anything remotely recognizable from where I live or the other National Parks I’ve been too.

About the photo:
While I botched up the shot, I still included here as it still gives a sense of the place, and it reminds me of my experience. This photo was taken at the end of what is probably a pretty untypical day in April; it was in 50’s with on and off light sprinkles to a steady rain. It should have been in the 80-90’s and probably clear. So to get this shot with the sun peeking through the dark clouds behind us it probably pretty lucky.

April 6, 2011
In celebration of National Parks week

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Photo of the day 4/23/11 – “Surprising Beauty”

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“Surprising Beauty”

I guess I had seen photos of this place before I went there and must have dismissed them because they looked fake. And much like I wasn’t expecting the desert in Joshua Tree National Park to be so full of life, I really wasn’t expecting this place to be so colorful. After all, they only have a few months here when it is not covered in snow.

Turns out, the best picture I have of this place (until I get some panorama stitching and HDR software) just so happens to have me in it. So while I did edit some of the dullness out of the photo from the partly cloudy skies, I’m lucky to be able to say it really did look much like this.

About the photo:
This was taken from Eielson Visitors Center in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. To get here, one has to either get the very rare permit to drive in, bike or hike, or like we and most people did, endure a 66 mile ride (one way) to the Center in a school bus on a nearly all gravel road. But while we ended up riding 170 miles in 13 hours in the bus this day, the sights were so incredible that I really did forget I was in a school bus.

June 10, 2010
In celebration of National Parks week

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Photo of the day 4/22/11 – “Respect”

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“Respect”

I think I’ve always appreciated nature, but never realized the impact that I’ve had on it. I started to realize it after first visiting Muir Woods National Monument and Yosemite National Park in late 2007. Having been to six National Parks since then, I have grown to appreciate how precious and fragile our small earth home is and made many changes to reduce my footprint.

So after hearing about the vandals that caused Old Faithful Geyser to become less regular, and witnessing teens poke and throw things in the thermal pools at Yellowstone (yes, I made them stop), it is no accident then today that I show my respect to someone who, 140 years ago recognized similar and reported to the Committee of Public Lands, “the vandals who are now waiting to enter into this wonder-land, will in a single season despoil, beyond recovery, these remarkable curiosities, which have requited all the cunning skill of nature thousands of years to prepare”, Ferdinand Hayden.

Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
May 31, 2009
In celebration of National Parks week, and Earth Day

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Photo of the day 4/21/11 – “Tribute”

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“Tribute”

I had never been to any National Parks or Monuments before I set foot here. I read about this place and it put it on the ‘to see’ list, but not on the ‘must see’ list. And surely I didn’t know at the time how it would change my life. It was this place that created my love for the National Parks and a new found respect for nature and preservation. If I had been to such a place at a younger age, I may well have chosen a career to be able to work in such a place. And if I can hack it when I retire, I know I’ll be working to preserve places like this.

This place is hard to photograph because everything is so close. So while I don’t have any great photos of it, I still chose an image of this place today because it is National Parks week, and because it is the birthday of this National Monuments namesake.

This incredible place is named after a person now coined as the “Father of the National Parks”. A former Wisconsinite, he set out to follow his dream of exploration and study of plants after being blinded for six weeks following a factory accident. It was he who convinced President Teddy Roosevelt to protect Yosemite (including Yosemite Valley), Sequoia, Grand Canyon and Mt. Rainier as National Parks.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” -John Muir

Muir Woods National Monument, California
September 11, 2007
In celebration of National Parks week, and his birthday today

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Photo of the day 4/20/11 – “Clingy”

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“Clingy”

Taken while hanging out the driver’s side window, you get a glimpse of the rainforest and moss hanging on the trees.

Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington
July 6, 2009
In celebration of National Parks week

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Bonus Photo of the day 4/19/11 – “Contrast”

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“Contrast”

It probably doesn’t jump right out at you, but the black mass on the right side is a glacier. It contrasts from the glacier on the right not only because it really is black, but because it is two miles wide and is receding, whereas the glacier in the left is white, one mile wide and is advancing.

Margerie Glacier (left) and Grand Pacific Glacier (right), Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
June 5, 2010
In celebration of National Parks week

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Photo of the day 4/19/11 – “Chipping Away”

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“Chipping Away”

By time you hear the crack as loud as thunder of the glacier calving, you probably missed it. You really have to pay attention to catch it.

Unfortunately the photo doesn’t do the grandeur of this amazing place and justice. One easily gets lost in the enormity of it all. To give some perspective, the ice you see above the water is about 250 feet high, which makes the part that calved about 20-30 feet high with the resulting wave about 5-10 feet high.

Margerie Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
June 5, 2010

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Security

Things to think about as you use facebook

Everything has a cost somehow, and with facebook, it may be more than you think or understand. Check out these articles on the dangers (potential costs) of using facebook.

http://www.csoonline.com/article/676819/social-networking-security-4-reasons-why-facebook-and-vanity-don-t-mix
http://www.csoonline.com/article/603441/facebook-dislike-button-scam-spreads-virally
http://www.csoonline.com/article/679808/security-firm-to-facebook-clean-up-your-act

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