Home to the Inferno

As I mentioned in my last post, the temperatures here in Texas are hellish and our drought worsens. Driving down the country roads here reveals hundred-year-old trees dying from the stress. I work outside a lot at my job so I have been particularly... I search for words here... well, sweaty and prickly. Some would call it bitchy. I spend as much time as possible out of the sun when not at work. Luckily, I tolerate the shade and 80 degrees well. So the front porch or back patio (in the early morning and evening) become outdoor respites.

The sound of the waterfall and the sight of the koi languidly swimming in the water refreshes my spirits.


The water lilies open in the afternoon, looking like they are floating on the water. Unfortunately, they close up late in the afternoon so are not visible in the evenings. We will try some night-blooming varieties next year so we can enjoy them during the times we are most often out here.

Actually looks cool and refreshing, doesn't it?

This Koi pond is actually more of a stream. It it is 3.5 to 4 deep to keep the fish out of reach of predators, which we have many of here in the country. We haven't lost any koi yet.

A dozen Koi (maybe one or two goldfish) swim around in the stream. We got them as babies two years ago and they have grown to be about 12 inches long. There are solid gold ones, a couple of white ones, one that is white with a gold head, and a few mottled with black, white and gold. No, I have not named them, but we are trying to get them to come to the surface and feed from our hands. So far, they only come within six inches before skittering away. So the training continues.

Grand Teton National Park

The scenery of Grand Teton National Park is not as varied as Yellowstone, but it is equally magnificent. We took a bus tour with our Texas Nursery and Landscaping Assoc. group through the park. They are a really fun group to travel with. Our tour guide Jessie was knowledgeable, and a poet when speaking of his adopted home of Wyoming.

That's Jessie on the right and James and I in the middle. I took this as a jump-in shot (which I find fun).
Jessie knew some cool places to show us and had great stories to go with the locations. Here is one of the buildings that was original to the land before it was purchased (secretly) by the government to make it a National Park. This piece is still private property and can be sold on the open market, but with covenants in the title that it cannot be commercially developed.

Just down the road is another old building, a rustic little church. Not much to look at, but check out the view behind the altar.

I still wish I had taken my better camera, but I didn't want to have to carry it. Luckily, my tiny little Canon Elph takes great photos. I just have trouble with tricky exposures like this.

The weather was perfectly beautiful for our tour. The cerulean blue of the sky makes a lovely canvas for the dramatic cloud formations and the reflection in Jenny Lake.

Notice we were wearing long pants but no jackets on this day. The days did not get hotter than the upper 70s the entire time we were on vacation.  I post this two weeks after we returned to Texas where the temperature has not been below 100 during the day. My brain fried. It has taken me this long to acclimate again and get my thoughts out of sluggish mode.

Yellowstone

When my sister heard we were visiting Yellowstone, she told me she thinks Yellowstone is the most beautiful National Park in America. I was so captivated by Yosemite a few years ago, I couldn't believe Yellowstone could outdo it for scenery; but she was right. Yellowstone is gorgeous and diverse.

They called this the grand canyon of Yellowstone. James commented that it wasn't Grand Canyon-like to him; I pointed out a canyon just needs to be deep, not rocky. This valley spread for miles with emerald green grass, dark green fir trees and yellow and red rocks.

I was trying to capture all the different colors in this landscape. The mustard yellow of the bacteria in this pool contrasts with the bright blue of the sky and water with the deep green of the grass in between, the brilliant white of the snow-covered mountain in the background. This photo does not do it justice.

Yosemite may have tall waterfalls, but they can't compare to the power of these falls.

This photo was shot from above, my first view of the falls. The splash from the water rushing over the falls rose hundreds of feet in the air. Can you see the rainbow created in the sunlight?

Down the road aways was the view of the falls from below. See the little platform on the right side just above the head of the falls? That is where we were standing when I took the first photo.

I can now say that Yellowstone is the most beautiful, and interesting National Park I have seen,and I have visited many National Parks, most west of the Mississippi.

You Light Up My Life

Here are photos of some of the light fixtures we admired in Salt Lake City.

 My sweetie posing next to a magnificent fixture.

Loved the details on this one, especially the finial on top.












The one below hung from the ceiling of the Tabernacle.

All these fixtures were in Temple Square.

The ones below were seen around town in public
places.

This art deco sconce on the outside of a building really caught my eye. I have always liked deco style.

Morman temple

We flew into Salt Lake City and decided while we were there we would tour the campus of the Latter Day Saints, which takes up about a square mile in the center of the city. We were not particularly interested in Joseph Smith or the Mormons, but we did hear an organ concert on their immense pipe organ in the Tabernacle. It was a good show with lights and a interesting selection of music.

We spent a little time touring the grounds. Those Mormons sure know architecture.

We admired the buildings, the lights, the sculpture and even the hardware on the doors.

Salt Lake City

We visited Salt Lake City briefly. It is a lovely town; clean, great architecture, lots of green space. I expected it to be very conservative, but we found lots of interesting, contemporary venues-and great bakeries!

I especially enjoyed driving through neighborhoods, looking at the houses and gardens.
We happened upon this nice neighborhood near Liberty Park, a huge park with a pool, tennis courts, playground, amusement park and bike paths.

A lot of thehouses were bungaloes and many had fabulous front yards

 This was one of my favorites. I love the fence and the pots flanking the walkway to the porch.

enjoying spring again

We are vacationing in Utah, Idaho and
wyoming for 10 days, When we left Texas it was already summer.
Temperatures in the 100s, hot and  dry. Here in Utah it is just Spring.

Look at these beautiful tulips.
this was in Park City, Utah, a nice little town where the Sundance Film Festival is held in winter.

These pink and white parrot tulips were lovely.

This mauve poppy is as big as my hand.

The leaves were bigger than the ones on the poppies we grow.

We enjoyed seeing lilacs, iris and daffodils again.