Sunset over Utah Lake

This is the view out the front window of our house. We live surrounded by beauty and a lot of deer. From time to time, the deer show injuries, mostly to their legs. We are sad to see them limping up the hill, especially when there is deep snow. The colors in this sunset are vastly different than those in the low deserts of Arizona.

Real Icicles

During the Christmas season, many people decorate their houses with lights designed to simulate icicles. Well, here is what the real thing looks like. We have about two feet of snow on the ground and temperatures have not been above freezing for a week or more. This ice forms as the warmth of the roof of the house from the heating inside melts the snow and it then freezes before it can reach the ground. During the winter here in Provo, the temperature varies and often goes well above freezing for days at a time and so all the icicles melt. This is the second round of icicles so far this winter.

Ice is Nice

The weather has been below freezing for a quite a few days and where there is water dripping off the roof, it has coated the plants with ice. This is similar to what happens during an ice storm, but here it is just cold and wet.

Snowy Sunrise

Going outside to take photos when it is about 17 degrees and snowy is not recommended without a coat. I had to take the photos pretty fast and get back inside before I started shivering too much to hold the camera still. But I can't seem to resist getting the photo when it is there instead of preparing and losing the moment. Hello from ice cold Provo, Utah.

Almost Perfect Camouflage

On a recent walk in the Gilbert Water Ranch Riparian Preserve, we saw hundreds of cottontail rabbits or Lepus sylvaticus. It was interesting that they were very hard to detect unless they moved. I thought it was interesting how closely the color and texture of their coats matched the ground around where they were hiding. They were all along the trails and we saw them in bunches of six or seven at a time.

Back to Provo

I mentioned that we would be leaving the warm and sunny desert for the Frozen North. Little did I know how frozen it would be. This is more snow than many have seen for quite a few years. It is almost three feet deep. I realize that in some places this would not seem like much, but here it is very unusual. It was about 22 degrees outside when I took this photos.

Water, Earth, and Sky

What is real? We live in a world where the distinction between reality and the imaginary is very indistinct. This has become even more of our condition as the "reality" is manipulated more and more by computers. This image is actually unedited. This is what I was seeing at the time the photo was taken. But I doubt that anyone else saw the same image. Most of those who were in the area were undoubtedly focusing on the birds. Oh yes, there are a lot of birds in this photo.

Back to the Desert

Within the same week, we were in Provo, Utah and Mesa, Arizona. Here is a photo at the Gilbert Water Ranch Riparian Preserve. We were walking around in shirt sleeves and taking photos in the sunshine. Later this week when we return to Provo, I will post a shot of our yard or some other appropriate place. I do love the desert, but I also love the snow, ice and mountains.

Piled High with Snow

Scenes of snow appear to be monochromatic. Unless the light is just right, the white of the snow overpowers the darker areas of the scene and most of the color of the trees and brush look black. Taking a photo such as this one also requires the photographer (me) to stand outside in the freezing cold. The danger here is that the camera equipment becomes too cold to operate properly and also that a return to a warm house will cause condensation on the lens and inside the camera.

In this shot, I liked the contrast between the snow and the branches of the trees.

Cactus Spiral

In geometry, a golden spiral is a logarithmic spiral whose growth factor is φ, the golden ratio. That is, a golden spiral gets wider (or further from its origin) by a factor of φ for every quarter turn it makes. A golden spiral with initial radius 1 has the following polar equation:

See Wikipedia: Golden spiral

You can find many natural instances of the Golden Spiral if you look at plants. Cactus are particularly interesting examples. I am, as usual, facinated by the form of the natural world.

Oranges in the Desert

On our recent trip back to our old stomping grounds in Mesa, Arizona, we are always happy to see the ripe crop of oranges and other citrus fruit. Arizona oranges that are homegrown are substantially different than those you buy in the supermarkets around the country. They have more juice and they taste a lot better. One or two orange trees are an adequate supply for a family.

Aloe Flower

Aloe is a common ingredient in all sorts of cosmetics and even foods. But for us, the aloe plant has been a common landscape plant around our homes. It was not at all unusual to run outside and cut off a leaf to use for a minor burn or scald, but most of the time we just enjoyed the plants and their beautiful flowers.

Wood Pile

I have always been fascinated with wood piles. Once, when I was very young, my father got a huge pile of wood to feed the fireplace in the winter. The wood came from a local box factory. Most of the wood was unseasoned pine and burned very quickly with very little heat, but once and while there would be a knot in the wood and the oil from the knot would burn longer and hotter. I began to wonder how many pieces of wood were there in that huge pile. So, I got a pencil and began numbering the pieces. I don't remember the number but it was very large for a young child. For years afterward, I would find pieces of wood with numbers to remind me of my early curiosity about large numbers.

Orchid Trees

One of the benefits of visiting the low deserts of Arizona during the winter is that there are some spectacular flowers. Orchid trees were first found in Hong Kong and all of the plants all over the world come from one tree in the Hong Kong Botanical Garden. My daughter has a large, very beautiful tree growing in her backyard.

Iris Spectacular

I guess I got into iris this week. I love the color and the texture of these beautiful flowers. This flower was growing in a unique iris garden in Glendale, Arizona, west of Phoenix. We visited the garden a few times and then were sad to learn that the property had been developed and the garden was lost. Now, all we have are the photos and the memories.

Iris Royal

To help pass the cold days of Winter, I reflect on the beauty of the snow and the mountains. But I also come back to the memories of the flowers of past years. We have planted as many iris in our front yard as we were able this past year and we are anticipating an abundance of flowers in late Spring again this year. Right now, the plants are covered in snow and we will have to wait a while for the sun to return to warming the ground so they will sprout and grow again.

Remembering Spring

In the cold, dark days of winter, you can always retreat to your memories of Spring. No matter how dark the future appears, there are always sunny, warm days coming. Do not despair. Keep hope and faith alive. Remember Psalm 30:5, "...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Here is another part of the same Psalm:

10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper.
11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

Snow and Fog

When the fog and snow roll into the valley, the entire atmosphere takes on a surreal quality. I think most of the residents of Utah Valley focus on the travel difficulties and the cold and damp weather. I look at the designs and patterns created by the bare trees and the fog-filled air. This time of year reminds me that taking only sunny, clear photos in the summer is a rather myopic view of the world around us.

Gold on Quartz

Gold holds a fascination that surpasses almost every other mineral. This specimen in gold on quartz, one of the most common combinations. This is the time of year when we usually visited the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. This photo is from a past year at the show.

Stone Reflections

A sudden warming trend melted a lot of the snow here in Utah Valley and there were not a lot of interesting snow photos left to take, so I went back into my archives and found this photo taken at Blue Ridge Reservoir in Arizona. It was a perfectly calm, warm day in the summer and sitting in a kayak, we felt like we were floating in the air.

The Heart of the Flower

On a cold and rainy day in January, it is always nice to look back at the blossoms of Summer. I love the delicate iris blooms. We have planted several iris plants around our home in Provo. Our rule, after years of experience, is to bloom where we are planted and another rule is on arrival, plant trees. We already have a lot of trees, so we are taking the only way out and planting iris.

Mount Rushmore

Every once in a while, I take an iconic photo. There are probably millions of photos of Mount Rushmore out there on digital cameras and, of course, I have one also. Here is my contribution to that huge conglomeration of the photos.

Mountain Trail at Sunrise

We actually hike at night. With flashlights and headlamps, it is not that uncommon that we will find ourselves hiking at night. In the low deserts around the Salt River Valley in Arizona, we would hike at night to avoid the intense heat of the desert. In the mountains, we hike at night to avoid the same intense sunlight and heat of the high mountains. Hiking at night has its rewards, we get to see both the sunset and sunrise. My latest night-time hike was the climb up Mount Timpanogos. I am sure I will have additional opportunities to hike in the dark in the future.

Early Morning Snow

With temperatures close to zero, living next to the mountains can be an interesting experience. We have been treated to a series of storms that have come a few days apart, leaving almost no time for the existing snow to melt before new snow is laid down. If this continues, we will start to have a difficult time piling all the snow where it doesn't interfere with the roads and walkways. I realize that this amount of snow would be nothing compared to some places with lake-effect snow, but here it is quite unusual considering the comments of long-time residents.

Tracks in the Snow

This photo shows what is essentially our front yard. We live next to the National Forest and right outside our front door is a hill with its own herd of deer and other animals. Recent snow storms have transformed the bare branches of winter into a wonderland of snow and ice. Deer tracks crisscross the snow as the days and nights pass.

Covered with snow

This is the view out a window in our front room. Over the past few days, it has continued to snow and there is quite an accumulation. The temperature outside when this photo was taken was about zero degrees or perhaps slightly below. Sunrise doesn't occur until well after eight o'clock and we see the sun for only a few minutes every day during this time of year. I took this photo before the sun was fully up because I thought the colors more closely showed the cold temperatures.

Bloom where you are planted

This incredible multi-colored flowering plant is growing in the middle of a dune field. For most of my life, we have had a plaque on our wall in our kitchen that reads, "Bloom where you are planted." I thought this little flowering plant represented that injunction very well.

Time Tracks

There are both animal and plant tracks in this photo. In addition, there is an ant lion lair and micro-dunes from the wind. There is also a track up under the dead or mostly dead branch that I do not recognize at all. The long scratches come from the wind moving the grass and other plants. I am always fascinated with these designs.

Wind Blown

Snow and sand both form some of the most graceful designs from being blown by the wind. We are in the middle of another snow storm and I need to get out and get some snow photos, but meanwhile, I will continue from my inexhaustible supply of photos from past seasons in the mountains, forests and deserts and sometimes, the jungles. If you look closely at this particular photo, you can see some animal tracks in the shade.

Mountain Snow

We spent New Year's Eve on snowshoes in the high Wasatch Mountains of Utah. It was late in the day and the day and the last light was fading from the peaks when we decided that our hands were too cold and turned back to the car and the warmth of our home. Maybe snowshoe outings will become a standard end-of-the-year fair for our family?