uh Oh!

Local Weather Alert

Frost Advisory for Rapid City, SD

From 1:00 AM MDT until 8:00 AM MDT, Fri., Sept. 30, 2011

The frost is going to be on the Pumpkin tonight!

a quercus Necklace

A new little burr oak, planted along Rapid Creek, someone decided it need some decoration. Very stylish.  A touch of whimsy where you don't expect it. Live long and prosper, little oak tree.

stampede Victim

This old JEEP pick-up looks like it has been walked on by every bit of wildlife in the Black Hills!

not exactly the gingham dog and the calico Cat

More like a scruffy dog and a tuxedo cat trying to figure out why I am not pulling into the driveway. Cat favors the sunny spot, dog favors the shady spot.

makes you a little Jumpy

This is right in the middle of town out here in the Wild West, about 15 ft. from the beginning of a hiking path and the kids' playground in Wilderness Park. Rustling dry grass this time of year causes people to jump backwards and then grin sheepishly. We did not see any herps on the birding trip, just birds and a few trout.

this must have been a grandfather Cottonwood

On a birding field trip today, came across this huge old stump of a cottonwood tree. This must have been one ginormous tree in its prime, judging by the comparison to my size ten shoes!

the autumnal Equinox

Catching the first rays of Autumnal sunshine

Autumnal Equinox

9/23/11

um, is this a Horseboat?

Why in the world is there an old motorboat in the middle of a horse pasture???? I just don't see horses enjoying a day of wakeboarding.

love it, love It!

I am going to make a poster out of this and stick it on my desk when necessary or desirable! Art Alley has some awesome offerings sometimes.

sneaking In

Those sure signs of Fall are starting to sneak in to the landscape. The single twine of woodbine are shown its colors already, everybody else is still green.

just for Eeyore

Streamside thistle

the clean-up Crew

I filled the birdfeeder, the clean up crew was there to take care of the spilled sunflower seeds. Ma and the Terrible Twins are shedding and starting to acquire winter coats, but not as quickly as some others. Some of the whitetails are quite gray already, this family is still summer colored.

stars upon Thars

Bee's bliss...borage

it is a curious Thing

Why would a house at 103W longitude have a sailfish for a weathervane when the nearest saltwater is 1600 miles away???

a big Fan

Hey, Andy...President McKinley is a big CU Buffs fan!

it's all in the Details

Pennington County Courthouse, Rapid City, SD

^{Egg and dart moldings like this were first found on the Erechtheion, a temple found on the north side of the Acropolis in ancient Athens, and subsequently  in classical Roman architecture and on into modern times.}

^{The Pennington County courthouse was designed and built using classical style architecture popular for monumental public buildings in the 1920s.} 

9/11/11

Remembered

Those lost, and those who lost their lives trying to save others.

The victims and the firefighters, the peace officers and the first responders.

it sounded like elephants Breathing...

but it was a herd of hot air balloons approaching from the west!

over the deck

coming in for a landing

touchdown

putting things away for next time

What a gorgeous sight on a September Saturday morning! These folks landed in a field about 1000 yards from our house. 
A bunch of us neighbors headed out in clothes quickly thrown on, barefooted and hair uncombed to watch them land. I grabbed a camera but not my glasses, I wasn't even sure what my pictures looked like till I got home.

Thank you, Balloonists for a perfect start to the day!

ps. Beth and Becka, that is the corner of Moon Meadows and Sheridan Lake Rd.

sticky, sticky, Sticky

Commonly known as Curlycup gumweed, a native flower of dry prairie places. Know to both modern herbalists  and to Native people as a medicinal herb, it was used for everything from a poultice for poison ivy to a treatment for breathing problems to a remedy for saddle sores on horses and skin rashes on humans. The downward curving bracts exude a sticky resin, hence its common name. A September bloomer and an obvious friend to bees.

um, did you Think...

...I couldn't see you hiding behind the speed limit sign?

the morning Porch

This little yellow house is completely covered in ivy. I hope they never have to paint and pull it all off the walls. It just invited someone to sit, have a cup of coffee and read the morning paper when I drove by on my way to school. I would have been way late for school if someone had offered me that coffee today.

still life with Keys

Sometimes when you don't have a book in the car, and you are waiting in the car for your children to stop lollygagging around, you have to do something to amuse yourself. I had the camera, I had my car keys, I had a fence.

the balcony Scene

Just because you live on the top floor of an apartment building doesn't mean you can't be a gardener! The folks who live in this 3rd floor eyrie have a balcony that looks like this every summer. It is worth a detour on the way somewhere just to enjoy the abundance of it.

winding Down

Summer veggies starting to wind down, soon time for the pumpkins and yummy winter squash at the Farmer's Market.

painting by Ma Nature

Picture yourself in a boat on a river

With tangerine trees and marmalade skies

(Lennon and McCartney, 1974)

hey, Fella....

looks like you found yourself an umbrella!