Horses in the Mist

Foggy morning. Snapped this on the way to work. Hard to resist fog photos. And yes...I said "horses". Look closely.

Beginning of the Fall

Cold Turkey

Andrew went hunting today with his Uncle Kurt. Long story short, he got two turkeys with one shot. What a sharp-shooter.

Fall Is Coming

He lives in our front yard, just on the south side of the driveway. Every year, this guy puts on a fantastic show. Take a good look now. He's about to blow our minds with the most vibrant colors as Autumn begins tonight. He never disappoints. We should sell tickets.

First Deer

This week, the state of Kansas allowed youth hunters to go hunting for deer before the grow-ups take a crack at it when the season opens next week. Andrew went out with his Uncle Kurt last weekend but didn't have any luck. They saw a lot of turkeys, though. They gave it another shot yesterday and didn't see a thing until they climbed out of the blind and there were three deer standing there. Shucks! Because of that, they gave it another shot today, the last day. Lo and behold, those three deer came back! The first one was a large doe and he got it! He hit her in the shoulder and she ran off not too far away. When he fired that shot, a young buck came looking around wondering what all of the commotion was about. This was about 13 minutes after the first one. He collected himself, took aim and fired. Got it! That's the deer pictured above. He could have had the third deer, but he only had two tags. They brought them home, shared stories with all of us, and we broke for lunch and a rest. Later on, we all got together and skinned and butchered them up. (Kurt's dad was a butcher and learned this valuable art from him.) It was a lot of work but good family time. It was a great day of hunting! Not to mention, an awesome experience for Andrew and quality time spent with his uncle, who is a pretty cool guy.

Full On Single Rainbow!

Whoa! It's so beautiful! What does this mean? So bright! So vivid! Single rainbow! So intense!

Sunflower

My favorite time of year breeds my favorite type of flower. There are fields of them everywhere, and today they seemed especially vibrant. Just another reason why Kansas is such a great place to live. On a side note, the KU Jayhawks won their football game today. It was a good day!

Football Weather

College football started today. Well, there were a few games on Thursday, but today is Saturday and that's college football day. So, in this guy's world, it started today. Especially with all of the Big XII games being played. It was so nice outside that we sat out in the driveway to listen to the games on the radio. It was sort of like being at the game, except we had great parking, the snacks were a lot cheaper, the seats were more comfortable and our dog was sitting on the field under the tree growing in the middle of it.

My Tree Son

Temporarily Untitled

I can't title this one until I have time to write the story behind it. Story coming soon...

Sweet (picture of) Corn

I've been wanting to snag a picture of the corn fields I drive by each day. The kids and I had some extra time after haircuts, football equipment checkout, and breakfast so we stopped on a lightly travelled road to see what I could get. I took several different shots, but I walked away with this one. I think it's a real winner with the contrast in colors and the rich, blue, Kansas sky in the background. As simple as it is, I love this picture.

Back Road Birds

In the last week, as I walk along the back road each morning, and sometimes in the evening, I've seen horses, deer, and tonight, geese. That's what I love about living on the outskirts of town. Nature is not afraid to show its face.

Hello, Horses!

I guess after seeing me walk by their meadow on a consistent basis, they're comfortable enough to come and say "Good Morning" to me. They would just stand there and let me pet their noses and the side of their faces. They weren't spooked at all. It was a nice way to sort of commune with nature. Very peaceful.

Meadow of Horses

From the morning walk.

Morning Walk

Morning view. Road of seclusion. Except, road construction has made this a major thoroughfare. All serenity is gone until they get that roadwork done. Let's expedite the project, huh guys?

Sky

I entered a contest today. I had to take a picture of the sky. I sent it to the photographer holding the contest hoping for a win. Well, I didn't win but he shared all of the entries with us in this collage and I thought it was pretty cool. Can you guess which photo won? Can you find mine? Bonus points for you if you guess either!

Wire 'n' Wood

From the evening walk.

I ♥ Snow!

I wrote a love note in a wall of snow on our trip up the narrow, one-way dirt road, old Fall River Road. This was near the top right before we reached the Alpine Visitor Center. We were about 11,000 feet above sea level right here.

25¢ Mountains

See that stretch of mountains off to the left? Those are the mountains they put on the back of the Colorado quarter. Except, these aren't as shiny.

2 Miles High