New Glass

It's fitting that I used up the last of my airline miles to receive some new glass right before the weekened.  Charging the battery up and reading the 200+ page manual, I head north in search of good times and subject matter.

Troy and Dara were good of us to lend their home for the weekend as long as I fed the dog and watered the garden....Fresh buds of lettuce never looked so good in the morning light.

Heading out for an easy spin through the park, I stopped to shoot some panoramas.  In the ensuing calm, the sound of crickets and the wind through grass reminded me of summers in Virginia, hot and sticky.  Today however, was perfect with temps in the lower 80's.

Some of the wildflowers stood in stark contrast to the browning grass, still waiting for the first summer rains.

Following our brief roll through the park, we retired to my fathers house for a BBQ and some beer.  Chimay  shared in two glasses always tastes good.

As the light faded and filtered through tall trunks of Ponderosa, shafts of light reached inward at acute angles, highlighting the wildflowers below.....

....and the ever-present pine pollen coating everything....

The following day, a field trip was planned up to Bismark Lake in search of some wild Orchids.  At times, I felt like John Laroche, very much in Orchidelirium.....

I was in this spot just a week ago, and the bracken have nearly doubled in size....images of my dog Graham running through these fields was like watching Ewok's attack an imperial base...

More wildflowers abounded on the short climb up to the lake, here a butterfly takes shelter in a brisk wind.

 Composing shots of Iris, Graham kept showing up.

Eventually getting the shots I wanted,......

....I turned my attention to the moving objects around me and snapped a few in shutter priority mode.  We should all strive to exude the joy a dog must have, running leash-less on the Coconino below the fading snows of summer.

Iris leaves backlit by the sun show their internal structure and an infinite edge of glowing light.....

 The Mountain.....

I'll be gone for a week to go follow Widespread around for a bit, but I'll be back to my regularly scheduled riding adventures when I return.  It's been nice to slow it down the past few weeks...but my eye is on the horizon once again and my bikepacking bags are calling me.....until then, I have some Panic to attend to......