The Conversation and Other Matters

Rebecca intercepted this exchange in the backyard earlier this week.

As "Head of Ranch Security" Cookie is diligent to patrol the premises daily to keep the squirrels and bunnies in line.

Happily, we have seen no snakes so far this year. 

We have noticed a fox or two and a coyote skulking about the neighborhood late in the evening or early in the morning. Not in our yard, though.

In case you were wondering, these pictures are not part of the Photography Challenge. Yesterday's challenge was too take some low-light pictures. By the time I took mine (around 9:00 p.m.) and got home, I was too tired to post, so I didn't get them entered. Besides, I wasn't that impressed with them. Low-light is something I need more practice with.

Today's challenge is to take some action shots. I haven't done much action photography. However, I like to use the action setting on my camera to take pictures of waterfalls. It shows the "splash" better than the regular setting, which mainly just makes the water a blur.

This is one of our favorite spots in the Idaho panhandle. It's called Fern Falls, and we visited it several times while we lived there. This picture was taken in the summer of 2011.

In other news, I'm getting ready to move my blog to my own domain: www.roadstoeverywhere.com. You can take a peek while I'm working on it, if you like. Just know things will be changing frequently as I set up housekeeping. I'll let you know when I'm actually ready to move.

Portrait Photography

I've skipped a couple days in the Photo Challenge. I was looking forward to doing the assigned Photo Walk over the weekend, but I wanted Lyle to go with me. Since his foot is out of commission, we weren't able to do it... but I'd still like to. Hopefully soon.

Today's challenge is Portrait Photography. I haven't done a lot of "portraits" but I did do Rebecca's senior pictures two years ago, and I was pleased with how they turned out. I borrowed my Dad's DSLR camera for them. I didn't know enough about the camera to mess with the settings, so I just shot them on auto.

Rebecca loves horses and western themes. Since we lived in town and don't own horses, we did the photo shoot at a friend's place. They have horses and a fun little pony as well as lots of choices for cool backgrounds-- fences and barn walls and woods. Here are a couple of my favorite shots:

I love the lighting on this one with the contrasting shadows.

This one is not posed, but oh, so fun! Rebecca had a handful of corn for Snickers-the-pony and Snickers was giving her a kiss.

Not long after that I was able to get a nice camera for myself. It's not a DSLR but it has a nice little zoom lens on it and I've been happy with it. It is a Nikon Coolpix L820. I shot this picture of my dad with it. Believe it or not, this picture was snapped in a fast-food restaurant, but the light coming in the window was great. It's one of my favorite pictures of Dad.

The photographer who shared today's challenge included "who-what-when-where" in her article. I especially appreciated what she said about "when":

When: Quite honestly? Now. And if not now, do it SOON. Plan it now. I constantly take photos, and even I want a time machine to go back and capture more.

It is a good reminder to take lots of pictures of our loved ones all the time.

Summer Vegetables

I never aspired to be a food blogger. Nor do I spend much time or effort staging my food. I have to admit, though, that there are times when I want to share a recipe and would like to have a really sharp photo to go with it.

Today's Photo Challenge is food photography. So here you have today's lunch. I can't say that it's an amazing picture because, honestly? The tomato juice bugs me. Oh, you hadn't noticed? Well, then. Forget I said anything, and feel free to brag on my photo.

During the summer I love eating lots of fresh vegetables. My favorite meals are grilled meat with salads and/or roasted vegetables. We have a nice deck just off our kitchen, so we eat outdoors more often than not this time of year.

On Monday evening we stopped at Sprouts and bought a mini-cart's worth of produce.

On Tuesday evening we grilled steaks and shishkabobbed green and yellow squash and red onions. (Is "shishkabobbed" a verb? Well, you know what I mean.) I also made a creamy cucumber and onion salad that night.

Last night we grilled hamburgers. I roasted a double-batch of cauliflower and squash in the oven. (Recipe: Chop vegetables. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until beginning to blacken at 475.) I honestly would rather have that than french fries.

Today for lunch I decided to make a frittata with the left-over roasted vegetables. I also made a tomato and feta cheese salad to have on the side, along with sliced peaches. It is delicious, even if my photography is not perfect. I'll just have to keep practicing.

What are your favorite summer vegetables?

Midsummer Macros

Just a few little somethings I happened to find in my yard this evening. 

It's really amazing what you can see when you look close, isn't it?

Day 3 of the SITS Girls Summer Photography Challenge.

On a fun note: Each day the challenge sponsors choose their five favorite photos from the previous day's challenge to feature in the morning email. And guess what? They chose my picture from yesterday for today's list. They said: "We love how she captured the story of her summer day. The photo feels casual, but it is really set up well." How cool is that?

To Kill a Mockingbird

Good lighting... and story telling. Or more specifically, the Summer Photography Challenge for Day 2 is: "...to go out and practice using light and telling a story with your mobile phone camera."

I've been re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird this summer, and I've recently started working on mug cozies again to get my Etsy shop re-stocked for the fall. So I guess the "story" this picture tells is what I've been doing in my leisure time lately.

Harper Lee's long-awaited second book, Go Set a Watchman, goes on sale today. I am looking forward to reading it, but I don't plan to rush out and buy it. I'll read it from the library first. It will likely be awhile before my name gets to the top of the waiting list, but that's okay.

A few weeks ago Lyle and I were in Barnes and Noble one evening and I happened to notice a book discussion group gathered between the bookshelves. As I browsed nearby I overhead them discussing To Kill a Mockingbird. I was tempted to pull up a chair and join the discussion. I expect I would have been welcome, but I wasn't quite that brave.

The group discussed the book and the movie, as well as another book, The Mockingbird Next Door. I remembered seeing that book on the library website in ebook format, so when I got home I checked it out. It is the memoir of a reporter who became friends with Harper Lee and her sister and lived next door to them for a time a few years ago. It was a fun read, giving more insight into the lifestyle of the Lee sisters and the small town of Monroeville, Alabama, which was the inspiration of Maycomb in To Kill a Mockingbird.

As it happens, my dad's people were from the Monroeville area couple of generations back. I don't know a lot about them, but I have the sense they would have been more like the Ewell family in the book, rather than the Finches. (Now that I type that out, it is kind of eerie that my family name is Ezell which is just one letter different than Ewell. Kinda makes you wonder!) Oh, well. It's not where you come from, but rather where you're going that matters, right?

Summer Photography Challenge: Day 1

Just for fun, I am participating in a two-week long Summer Photography Challenge that starts today. I expect to learn a lot, and get some good practice.

I was joking with my sister on Saturday about her photography: "Wow! You must have a good camera! You get some really nice pictures!" She laughed. "Yeah. I do. It's all about the camera." She knew I was being completely facetious. "Seriously," she said, "if a person has an eye for composition, even a cheap camera can take good pictures."

I remember my first camera. I saved up my money for it when I was in about the 7th grade. It was a little Kodak Instamatic that took 110 film. It took a steady hand (which I didn't necessarily have) and even then, the pictures usually turned out grainy. Cameras have come a long way since the late 1970s. And since we don't have to pay for film or developing (Kids, go ask your grandma about that!) it's fun to just snap-snap-snap away and then play around with the results.

Today's challenge covered composition, and talked about using the "rule of thirds" for composing your subject. Even before I knew about today's challenge, I enjoyed playing with that rule yesterday with my road trip snapshots. I had forgotten my "good" camera, so I was taking pictures with my cell phone and then editing them with Instagram.

#westerncolorado #i70 #roadtrip #headedhome #ezell2k15

A photo posted by Karla Cook (@ramblinroads) on Jul 12, 2015 at 6:43pm PDT

When I'm taking pictures from a moving vehicle, it's hard to think about composition, so that's where the editing comes in handy. Here's the original of the "finished" picture above:

First, I cropped off the mirror and window frame of the car. Instagram has the "thirds" grid built in so I was able to zoom in enough to put the canyon cut at the 2/3 vertical line and the guard rail at the 2/3 horizontal line. Then I applied a neat filter and frame. I like the way it turned out.

 Here's another one I did the same way. This one also has "leading lines" with the curving highway.

#utah #i70 #roadtrip #headedhome #ezell2k15

A photo posted by Karla Cook (@ramblinroads) on Jul 12, 2015 at 3:31pm PDT

And the original:

I zoomed in and put the horizon line at the 2/3 horizontal line, and the "end" of the highway (where it goes behind the hill) at the 2/3 vertical line. And then chose a different filter. I don't filter all my photos, but I think they are fun to play around with.

I'll be practicing some more during the next two weeks. I'm not sure if I'll post all the challenges here... or on my Instagram account. We'll see.

Glimpses of My Days

Since many of you don't do Instagram, and that is where I share a lot of the pictures I snap, I thought it was time for another Instagram update. These go back to March...

I'm finding the #hashtags to be a lot of fun. I like thinking up which ones to use for each post... and then seeing what other pictures people have posted using those same hashtags. Sometimes I get comments or likes from random people who have found my picture from the hashtag. You can click on the hashtags below the pictures to see other what other Instagrammers have posted using that particular hashtag, if you're interested.

Breakfast at The Perfect Landing #airplanesinthemorning #breakfastdate

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Apr 4, 2015 at 8:10am PDT

Flowers from a friend. #cyclamen #touchofspringonmydesk

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Apr 13, 2015 at 5:33am PDT

Crocheting and audio book in the passenger seat... My idea of #roadtrip !

A photo posted by @karlacinid on May 14, 2015 at 10:50am PDT

I need a friend to do my hair for me every day. #fancybraid #goinggray

A photo posted by @karlacinid on May 29, 2015 at 12:33pm PDT

#rockymountainsunset #juneevening #lifeisgood #trustinggod

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jun 1, 2015 at 7:24pm PDT

#takingthescenicroute #onthewaytochurch #springtimeintherockies #sundaymorning

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jun 7, 2015 at 9:13am PDT

#rainbow #godspromise #onthewaytochurch #sundayevening #crazydenverweather

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jun 7, 2015 at 5:16pm PDT

#morningquiettime #trustinggod #coffee

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jun 9, 2015 at 7:02am PDT

#flowersfrommysweetheart #brightenmyday #lovemyman

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jun 11, 2015 at 1:59pm PDT

#gottalovehalfpriceafter8 #summerevening #strawberrybanana #milkshake #sonicdrivein

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jun 20, 2015 at 7:53pm PDT

#sundayafternoon #dayofrest #backyard #icedcoffee #goodbook #summertime #trustinggod

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jun 21, 2015 at 1:30pm PDT

#datenight #downtowndenver #lodo #summerevening #crazydenverweather

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jun 25, 2015 at 7:09pm PDT

Sonlight's 25th anniversary celebration at the Downtown Aquarium. #sonlight #denver

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jun 26, 2015 at 3:48pm PDT

Iced caramel crunch coffee for breakfast? Well... Okay! #saturdaymorning #breakfastdate #303coffee #lovemyman

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jun 27, 2015 at 7:43am PDT

A Room With a View

Our hotel in Fairbanks overlooks the Chena River. My room is on the fifth floor and I have definitely enjoyed the view the last few days. We stayed in this same hotel last year and I had the same view, but it was a different room so the perspective was slightly different.

I was in Fairbanks last year April 19-22 and the river was just beginning to thaw. It was interesting to watch it break up during the time I was here. This year, we are definitely farther into spring as you can see from the two different river shots.

 For an even older perspective, I noticed this picture (from 1955) hanging on the wall in the restaurant at Chena Hot Springs the other day. It's the same part of town but from the other side of the river, behind the church instead of facing it. Obviously, our hotel did not exist at that time.

 Here are a few other shots I took through the window.

 The sun was beginning to set at 10 o'clock...

...and was still lingering on the horizon by 11 o'clock. It's not quite the Midnight Sun, but close enough!

Today was our final day of conventions here in Alaska. Tomorrow we drive back to Anchorage, and then fly home on Thursday.

An Evening Drive

My parents visited us last week for Dad's spring break. One evening we took them for a drive up to Lookout Mountain Park.

A herd of mule deer were ambling around when we arrived. They weren't scared of us.

I was able to get quite close to take some pictures

 We walked around for a little bit, but the wind kicked up and it was pretty nippy.

We decided we could see enough from the car.

 It's neat to be able to see downtown Denver from up there.

 When we got back to town the sun was setting.

 Lyle pulled over so we could enjoy it.

I snapped picture after picture.

These were taken in a parking lot about a half mile from our house.

What a lovely way to spend a spring evening!

Instagram Update

I find I'm chronicling some of the tiny moments of my life with the Instagram app. Like I mentioned before, I'm not one for selfies, but it is kinda fun to snap a quick shot of some little thing that caught my eye. Later, I enjoy looking back through the moments I captured. From the last few weeks...

Still #playingwithinstagram

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 21, 2015 at 7:43pm PST

January 21. Light snow caught on the bark of a tree outside the office... I thought the textured filter added a neat effect, too.

So... does the lettuce wrap and the sweet potato fries cancel out the carbs in the milk shake? #workinglate #Sonlight25

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 22, 2015 at 3:31pm PST

January 22. A quick supper with co-workers before the Inspire25 event that evening. All four of us had lettuce-wrapped hamburgers... and milk-shakes!

Taking the light rail downtown. Mid-morning is definitely the best time to ride! #introvert #publictransportation

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 23, 2015 at 9:17am PST

January 23. I met a friend in downtown Denver for lunch and didn't want to try to find a parking spot, so I took the train.

Saturday morning breakfast date at the Golden Diner. #coffee #Colorado

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 24, 2015 at 7:04am PST

January 24. For our breakfast date that Saturday we drove to Golden and ate at an old-timey diner. I like taking pictures of a cup of coffee, apparently.

#breakfastdate #brainstorming #chickfila #lovemyman

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Feb 21, 2015 at 7:33am PST

February 21. My daily snapshots didn't last long. A few weeks later our breakfast date was at Chick-fil-A. We were trying to work through some details for our family budget that morning.

Cute new mug for my Monday morning #coffee. #Sonlight #goodmorning

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Mar 2, 2015 at 5:40am PST

March 2. And another coffee picture with a new mug from my Secret Sis.

Love the blue sky and sun! #Colorado #spring

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Mar 9, 2015 at 4:14pm PDT

March 9. I actually didn't know about this picture until I started getting comments on it. Turns out I had left my phone at home one afternoon, and "someone" decided it would be fun to post a picture for me. Could be worse!

#lookingfortulips, #earlyspring

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Mar 15, 2015 at 3:16pm PDT

March 15. I noticed tulips coming up in the backyard. I hope they bloom this year. Last year a spring snowstorm ruined them.

#sunsetinthecity #denver

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Mar 16, 2015 at 6:05pm PDT

16 March. Mountain sunsets are spectacular, even in city traffic.

#firstdayofspring #crocus

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Mar 20, 2015 at 8:09am PDT

20 March. I was delighted to discover crocuses emerging on the first day of spring. Not my yard, but close enough.

Happy spring!

Marshmallow World

On Friday the weather forecast for the weekend was 8-16 inches of snow by Sunday evening.

Since the weather has been mostly sunny and snowless this winter, I thought it would be interesting to do a series of "time lapse" photos of our back yard over the course of the weekend. Obviously, the weekend isn't over yet, but the results are dramatic enough that I decided to go ahead and post while I have time. (Otherwise I might not get around to it. Iz bad, I know.)

The little dab of snow lurking in the shady areas on Friday afternoon was left over from a few days earlier. The clouds were beginning to gather, but the flurries didn't start until after dark that day.

 Saturday morning the ground was lightly covered with a very wet snow. It had already melted off the stone walkway and mostly just stuck to the grass. But more was still in the forecast.

Midday Saturday it started snowing lightly... 

 just kinda spitting snow off and on...

 By early evening the snow finally decided to start getting serious.

 The "snow" setting on the camera shows it coming down better than the "auto" setting above, though I have to say the "auto" setting makes a prettier picture. I love the warm lights shining from the back fence neighbors' houses.

 And so finally, this morning, we did wake up to a Marshmallow World.

Church was cancelled due to the bad roads, so we are enjoying a quiet morning sitting by the fire, watching the snow. We love that our family room has both a fireplace and French doors overlooking the backyard.

We will enjoy the snow while it lasts because it could very well be all gone by midweek. Denver weather is funny that way.

Do you Instagram?

I've had an Instagram account for awhile but have never done much with it. However, Laura uses it all the time. Now... I'm not into taking selfies, but I started playing around with it a bit this past weekend and I have to admit I've enjoyed taking scenery and still-life pictures. I love the effect of using filters and frames. Here are some fun shots I've taken the last few days.

Breakfast at my desk. #goodmorning #Sonlight

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 21, 2015 at 6:04am PST

Thank you flowers from Judy on my desk this morning. #sothoughtful #Sonlight

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 19, 2015 at 6:27am PST

Enjoying some hooky time by the fire. #relaxing #winterevening

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 17, 2015 at 6:27pm PST

One of Lyle's coworkers made me a cup of tea while I waited for him. #playingwithinstagram

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 17, 2015 at 11:20am PST

Not #Sonlight. #restingmybrain #lovemyman

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 17, 2015 at 10:54am PST

The building above is the print shop where Lyle works. I had just dropped some of the Sonlight reps off at the airport and my work responsibilities were done for the week, so I was running errands with him. It felt good to think about something besides work for a little while.

Let me know if you have an Instagram account, so I can follow you! I don't have very many connections on there yet.

Autumn in the Rockies

 Last Sunday afternoon was overcast and gray, but we decided to take a short drive up in the mountains to see the aspens anyway.

 The brilliant gold is a sharp contrast to the dark green of the evergreens. Just breathtaking.

 I especially enjoyed this scene with the farm pond and the barbed-wire fence... and the little bit of blue sky peeking through the clouds.

 And, of course, we had to pose in front of the leaves!

 This one is just to embarrass the kids. Because that's what we do.

 What a privilege to live so near such beauty. It's almost worth putting up with city life. Almost.

Wonder if I can talk the man into going again this Sunday. Maybe the skies will be clear? You never can tell about Colorado weather.