Rock Art

These are ancient rock paintings. They are said to date back thousands of years. They are not petroglyphs. The designs are painted on the rocks and are very fragile. Some of them have faded are are difficult to see. The rocks are located under a huge ledge in a canyon near Sedona, Arizona and are part of a National Historic Site. You might have to click on the image to see all of the paintings. They are relatively hard to see, even if you are there in person.

Early Morning Reflections

I guess it is time to travel back to the desert and take a few photos that don't look like lakes and mountains. You might notice that there are a lot of dead trees in these photos. This is due to a huge infestation of bark beetles killing off the pine and fir trees. The die-off is very bad in Colorado and parts of Arizona. Some of the hillsides in the Uintas have more than half of the trees dead. The infection is due to the stress caused by higher temperatures and drought. There are new trees growing, but it will take a while (if ever) before the forest looks more alive.

A Carpet of Fallen Leaves

The late evening sun was slanting across the carpet of fallen leaves and I was impressed by both the color and the contrast. The trees have yet to turn completely, but they are already losing their leaves and Winter is just around the corner.

Early Fall Color

There are a few trees that have turned enough to be called Fall color. These leaves almost made it to red, but they are still mostly yellow. None of the temperatures have been low enough to make the leaves change except in the higher slopes of the mountains. I have enjoyed to beautiful summer weather but I am ready for Fall and the colorful leaves.

Big Spring -- Early Fall Leaves

Big Spring is a Provo City Park up the South Fork Canyon just east of the city in the Wasatch Mountains. It is a lovely picnic area and the site of our now annual Fall picnic. After the sun went down behind the mountains, the temperature dropped and it was the first time we needed sweaters since the weather warmed up in the Spring. The weather has been quite warm and the children were still wading in the creek, but that warm weather will likely come to an end very soon.

Unusual Flowers

Continued warm weather here in Utah Valley means that we still have flowers. I noticed that the ground crew at Brigham Young University was pulling out the summer flowers and planting the cold hardy varieties. They were also planting next spring's tulip bulbs. We're supposed to have warm weather into October and I suppose that 90° weather is considered warm. I do not believe I have seen the flowers in this photo before. Any ideas?

Coleus Patterns

 Coleus has leaves that rival some types of flowers. Abundant coleus plants are almost the exact opposite to vegetation. Although I did see a few shaded plantings in the low desert, the plants are much more popular in the more temperate climate. The extreme heat and sun in Mesa make it difficult to grow plants like these. Of course, all these plants will be removed from their decorative plantings or they will freeze solid.

First Snow 2015

We had a series of storms in mid-September, 2015 and the first snow showed up on Mount Timpanogos. It was mostly gone by the time the clouds cleared and completely gone by the next day. It seems like Fall is a little slower coming this year. We went up the Provo Canyon to Big Spring for a cookout and had to put on some sweaters for the first time this season. I guess the weather will start to change sometime.

Echinus Geyser, Yellowstone National Park

One time, while visiting Yellowstone National Park, we saw more than a dozen geysers erupt in a single day. This is the Echinus Geyser and many years ago, we saw a very dramatic eruption of this geyser. But not this time. The main difference between a hot spring and a geyser is the explosive nature of the geyser spring. Some of the geysers erupt almost constantly, others only very rarely. The pattern changes over time depending on earthquakes and other changes in the underlying rocks. I don't ever get to spend enough time in Yellowstone National Park. Now, that I live a lot closer, maybe that will change.

Rocky Mountain Waterfall

My summer activities are almost over for the year. This summer's highlight was the trip to Canada and the Northern Rockies. I am sure all the waterfalls we saw had names, but there were too many to keep up with. I am sad that many of the areas we visited ended up with huge wildfires. Here in Utah Valley, we got the second-hand smoke from these fires during the latter part of the summer. I am now watching the leaves on the trees outside my window turn yellow, almost one at a time. There is a little more yellow each day since Fall is officially here. It is still strange to have changes agree roughly with the seasons, instead of living in the desert where the leaves are still turning colors in January, just before the new leaves appear.

New Provo Temple

The new Provo, Utah City Center Temple is almost completed. The Open House starts on Friday, January 15, 2016 and will go through Saturday, March 5, 2016. It will run every day except Sundays. The Temple will be dedicated on Sunday, March 20, 2016 with the cultural celebration taking place on Saturday, March 19. Where was I standing when I took this photo?

Panorama of Utah Lake

This is one of those photos that needs to be viewed in a larger format. The slightly pointed mountain peak in the left-center of the photo is Squaw Peak in Rock Canyon. As the bird flies, where I am standing to take this photo is only about two or three miles from my own home in Provo. Utah lake is a shallow remnant of the huge pre-historic Lake Bonneville that used to fill all these valleys. Most of the leaves up on this mountain have turn colors now and Winter is not too far away.

Mirror Lake, Uinta Mountains

One of the most popular destinations in the Uinta Mountains of Utah is Mirror Lake. I had to wait a while to get this photo without solid crowd of people surrounding the lake. It is a beautiful place. One of the "tourists" stopped my wife to ask if "the lake was all that there was to see or do?" She said, "Well, yes, we are in a wilderness area." He then asked if there was a bar nearby where he could get a drink. She responded with, "You are in the wrong place in the wrong state." I am not sure why some people end up in the mountains. On two of our last trips, we have been stopped by serious accidents. In one case it was a bike rider who fell and in other, it was a climber who was killed in a fall. This seems like a pattern.

Straight as an Arrow

Reflections are one of the most intriguing of natural phenomena. Conditions have to be just right to get bright, consistent reflections off of a lake or other body of water. I am amazed that there is no wind at all to move the water even slightly. It is also important that the light be just right. Earlier and later in the day, there would be either too much light or not enough.

Like the Down of a Thistle

I think every child that sees a thistle or a dandelion probably thinks the same thing. This is a good opportunity to blow the little parachute seeds all around. Out in the wild, it is very hard to consider thistles and dandelions as weeds.

First Snow September 2015

We had our first snowstorm in August in 2014 and it wasn't until mid-September that snow first appeared on Mount Timpanogos. With moderate temperatures, the snow was gone by the next day, but the storm continued for a while. Today the weather is warm and will sunny when the sun comes up. I decided that I would document the change of the seasons with a series of photos of the mountains and the leaves as they change. So, from time to time, there will be some photos of snow and ice and colored leaves.

Egg Plant

I have never been quite sure why they call this vegetable an egg plant. The egg plant or Solanum melongena, is part of the nightshade species. It is actually an edible fruit. The common name changes in different parts of the world. Quoting from Wikipedia,

It is known in South Asia, Southeast Asia and South Africa as brinjal.[1][2][3][4]"Eggplant" is the common name in North American and Australian English but British English uses "aubergine".[5] Other common names aremelongene,[6] garden egg,[7] or guinea squash.[8]

This was not a food that I had regularly or ever when I was young. From the purple color and the name, few of my grandchildren would probably voluntarily eat it either. I first ate it from time to time in Argentina. It has since become a staple in one of my daughter's garden and we do eat it from time to time.

Chili Peppers

Eating chili either raw or cooked or even added to a dish, is an acquired taste. When I was very young, my father rented some of our land to some local Spanish-speaking farmers. They planted chili. The plants grew and soon had beautiful chili peppers. I think I was about six or seven years old and had no idea what they were. I asked my father and he said pick one and take a bite. I remember that experience well to this day. But the experience did not give me an incentive to eat anything with chili for a long time. Later, when I was a Boy Scout, our troop stopped off for lunch at a small, Mexican restaurant. This was my first encounter with real "Mexican" food. I looked at the menu and decided that only thing I recognized was a tamale. I found out why they call them "hot tamales." It took me a many more years before I would agree to eat anything labeled Mexican. Now, I have acquired a taste for chilis in whatever form. For a long time, we grew chili plants and I ate them raw in salads.

Fall Leaves in the Wasatch

With the dramatic changes in elevation and therefore temperature and other climate conditions, the Wasatch Mountains of Utah demonstrate seasonal changes in various stages at the same time. Here we have green leaves, dried grass and brightly colored leaves on the hillside. The colored leaves are on the north facing slopes and show more color than those slopes facing in other directions. At the same time, you can see the effect of a small change in elevation. The vegetation at the bottom of the canyon are still in late Summer mode, while the ridges are moving well into Fall. The colored leaves on the hills will be gone about the time the lower trees are just turning.

Tent Caterpillars

I have always been fascinated by tent caterpillars. When I was very young, I could not understand why there were masses of silken spiderwebs in the trees. At some point, I finally realized that the webs were spun by masses of caterpillars. Since they eat the leaves of the trees, their webs appear only in certain trees. The caterpillars themselves are of the genus Malacosoma and the moth family
Lasiocampidae. The Lasiocampidae have over 2000 species and are not all discovered or classified.

Split Rail Fence

 Those who arrived early in America had few choices for fence construction. They could use rocks or wood. Fortunately, there were lots of both. One of the most common early fence construction methods was the split rail. A farmer could clear his land of trees and build a fence the same time. This particular fences in North Carolina but there are similar fences built in Arizona and Utah.

Flag in the Canyon - September 11, 2015

A local man raised this American Flag as a memorial to those whose lives were lost on September 11th. You can read about it on this link. We took a hike up Grove Creek Canyon near Pleasant Grove, Utah to view the flag.

A Touch of Fall, Wasatch Mountains

Fall in the Wasatch Mountains is far different than the brilliant displays of color in the North East or other mountain areas. The colors are more pastel and the mountains are very hazy due to a lot of wildfires. It is still quite warm and so the trees in the bottom of the canyon have yet to turn. I hope to show the progression of colors as the season advances.

Fall Thistles

These thistles sometimes end up in decorative flower arrangements. I have been interested to see them growing in fields and along the roads in Northern Utah. They have impressive shapes when they dry out in the Fall. This plant is known as Canada Thistle (Cirsium Arvense) and it is another example of an "invasive plant" originating in Europe and Asia. It is interesting that the roots and stalks are both edible (of course before they dry out in the Fall). So here we have a beautiful, edible plant that is considered a noxious, invasive weed. Interesting.

Petrified Forest National Park: Painted Desert

I spent many of my early years in and around the "Painted Desert." The painted desert is not just one location, but a series of bentonite clay hills that stretch across much of Northern Arizona. Similar landscapes are often referred to as "Bad Lands" but they are anything but bad, they are just not suited for agriculture; the main and sometimes only criteria by which the early settlers viewed the value of this country. Now great stretches of the painted desert are "preserved" in National Parks and Monuments. The land is rich in ancient fossils and the color and form of the land is remarkable. It is desert, but it is far from bad or useless.

A Spinning Wheel

Long ago before computers, I was very interested in weaving. I still have a four-harness loom and all the equipment, but I haven't done any weaving for a long time. All in all, weaving is a lot more relaxing than working on a computer all day, but now I am writing all day long so computers are something I do most of the day. It is hard to tell from the photo if this is a real live working spinning wheel or just a prop.

A Colorful Field

Most of us do not have a yard to dedicate to large expanses of flowers. You usually find such concentrations in public parks and gardens. It takes almost professional level gardening to get such a huge collection of plants to bloom at the same time. I am glad someone takes the time to do the work and that there are those who would pay them to do it. This image falls into the category of background images. Most computer-based devices have a way to incorporate a photo as a background image for the operating system. Sometimes "busy" images interfere with your ability to see the icons, but in this case the uniform color probably highlights the icons.

Coleus Color

Remarkable color in a Coleus. There seem to be an infinite number of varieties of this ornamental plant. We had a really hard time growing anything like this in Mesa, Arizona because of the heat. But they seem to thrive here in Utah Valley in the Summer. These are truly amazing plants.

Capsicum annuum 'Black Pearl'

This is a Capsicum annuum 'Black Pearl' pepper. At first, I thought this was a "black pepper" variety, but black pepper grows on a vine and is a tropical plant. This is a pepper like chili. It is supposed to be very hot. It is said to have 30,000 Scoville Heat Units. This would do some serious damage to your tongue. As I wander around, I notice all sorts of interesting plants. In fact, I can see a lot of interesting varieties outside my window right now.

Morning Glory

 Morning Glory is one of my favorite flowers. Because of its association with a pernicious weed, the ornamental variety of Morning Glory is very seldom planted. Morning Glory is not a common weed in the lower deserts but here in Utah it is very common and is usually referred to by the name "binder weed."  I have to admit that I have pulled incipient morning glory out of the flowerbeds. It must say something, when two of my favorite flowers, morning glory and dandelions, are considered to be weeds.

Grasshoppers

I have been told, that when I was very young I called these insects "hopper grasses" instead of grasshoppers. From this family story, I would assume that grasshoppers have been part of my life even before my memory of them. I am aware that both grasshoppers and ants re: this food. Although I can say that I am not a habit of doing so. I am not sure if these grasshoppers were merely sitting on the yellow flower or actually eating it, but I did notice them. Many photographers prefer a "macro" lens for this type of close-up work, but if you are walking around taking photos, you may not have either the time or the availability of a lens to change. In this case, before was taken with a telephoto lens setting.

Caught in Flight

I only catch hummingbirds with my camera once and while. Most of the images are so blurred as to be unrecognizable. This was an exception. But the flower was so white, that the detail was lost. Oh well, not all photos are the perfect ones you see highly manipulated online. Even on a bright, sunny day, the camera speed was not enough to stop the movement of the hummingbird's wings.

Succulents

Some people seem to classify all desert plants as "cactus" but that is not at all correct. Cactus are one kind of very specialized plant. The general category of plants that are adapted to harsh, dry conditions are succulents, that is, plants that store some of their water in their leaves or other modified plant parts. I found these particularly interesting succulents at the Thanksgiving Point Garden, far from a traditional desert looking setting. Not all succulents are suited for hot, dry climates. Some require much cooler weather. There are about 60 different plant families that contain succulents. Here are some resources for finding out about these amazing plants:

Andersohn, Günter. Cacti and Succulents. East Ardsley, Wakefield, England; New York, N.Y.: EP Pub. ; Distributed by Sterling Pub. Co., 1983.

Baldwin, Debra Lee. Designing with Succulents. Portland, Or.: Timber Press, 2007.

Cutak, Ladislaus. Succulents. [St. Louis], 1959.

Hall, H. Common Succulents. London; New York: Longmans, Green, 1955.

Hecht, Hans. Cacti & Succulents. New York: Sterling Pub. Co., 1994.

Hewitt, Terry. Cacti & Succulents. New York, NY: DK Pub., 1996.

———. Succulents. London: Southwater, 2002.

———. The Complete Book of Cacti & Succulents. London; New York; Boston: Dorling Kindersley ; Distributed by Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

Hewitt, Terry, and Royal Horticultural Society (Great Britain). Garden Succulents. London: Cassell Illustrated : The Royal Horticultural Society, 2003.

Innes, Clive. Succulents. London; New York, N.Y.: Cassell : Royal Horticultural Society ; Distributed by Sterling Pub. Co., 1989.

Kelaidis, Gwen Moore, and Saxon Holt. Hardy Succulents: Tough Plants for Every Climate. North Adams, MA: Storey Pub., 2008.

Kramer, Jack. Cacti and Other Succulents. New York: Abrams, 1977.

———. Succulents and Cactus. Menlo Park, Calif.: Lane Books, 1970.

Lamb, Edgar, and Brian Michael Lamb. The Illustrated Reference on Cacti & Other Succulents. London: Blandford Press, 1955.

Loves, June. Succulents. Philadelphia: Chelsea Club House, 2005.

Perl, Philip, Enrico Ferorelli, and Time-Life Books. Cacti and Succulents. Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books, 1978.

Rowley, Gordon D. Flowering Succulents. Farnham, Surrey: Living Colour Publications, 1959.

———. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Succulents. New York: Crown Publishers, 1978.

Sajeva, Maurizio, and Mariangela Costanzo. Succulents: The Illustrated Dictionary. Portland, Or.: Timber Press, 1994.

“Snapshot.” Accessed September 5, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Succulent_plant&oldid=673347553.

“Succulent Plant.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, July 27, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Succulent_plant&oldid=673347553.

Sunset, and Linda Brandt. Cactus and Succulents. Menlo Park, Ca.: Lane Pub. Co., 1978.

Garden of the Gods

There seem to be few areas in the United States outside of the Colorado Plateau where there are large quantities of vertical sandstone. The Garden of the Gods in Colorado is one of the more prominent areas, although each time I visit it, I am surprised at how small an area is included. It is also right at the edge of the city and so it sort-of reminds me of Papago Park in Phoenix. Of course, it is not desert, but mountains. I have not really had much of a desire to travel to exotic places outside of the Southwest because there is so much to see right here in my own backyard.

Water Strider

Some of my early memories are of water striders on the water in the irrigation ditches. It always seemed amazing that these creatures could walk on the surface of the water. This particular water strider is joined by some tiny flies, although they might be mosquitoes. This particular insect is a member of the Gerridae family. There are over 1,700 species of gerrids and 10% of those are marine and 90% are fresh water bugs. They are true bugs in the Hemiptera order. Water striders use the high surface tension of water and long, hydrophobic legs to help them stay above water. See Wikipedia: Gerridae. If you are interested, you can read about how they manage to walk on the water by clicking on the link.

The Heart of the Wasatch

The Wasatch Mountains of Northern Utah is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains in the eastern edge of the Great Basin. This impressive mountain ranges most popularly known as the "Wasatch Front" because the majority of the population of Utah lives along its western flank in a series of valleys. Since I presently live about 200 yards from the steep mountain face of the Wasatch Front, it is pretty much part of my daily life. In fact, as I look out my window I am looking at the steep hillside of the Lake Bonneville shoreline. In less than half an hour, I can be driving on the Alpine Loop with use like that one shown in today's photo.

The Flowers of Late Summer

We can see that the weather is starting to change. It is late summer and Fall is fast approaching. We took the opportunity to take a walk around the huge Thanksgiving Point flower garden. The flowers were gorgeous and profuse. I am really thankful for flowers.

Roses at the end of Summer

Roses are Summer flowers and they have a first and then a second blooming cycle. These are about the last of the blooms. Many of the roses have already stopped blooming and are covered with "rose hips," or the fruit of the rose bush. I have not tried to eat one, but I know they are edible. They are very high in Vitamin A. I used to grow quite a few roses, but now we live in a condo and the landscaping is all provided by the association. We have been planting a few flowers, but I haven't gotten into the roses again yet.