Garden of the Gods

SmugMug Appreciation Sunday — No. 045

In brief, these posts serve to introduce new readers — and reintroduce regular readers — to photos from the early days of this blog and, occasionally, to photos from days before this blog came into existence.

Today’s gallery covers some of the photos from my first visit to Colorado.

The year was 2004, and we — Melisa and I—headed West searching for a place we could move to. We also had Pops in tow.

The original post for these photos is HERE. In this post, I’m sharing the 31 photos from THIS Gallery.

Yes, not too many photos this week. I figure readers needed a break from some of the recent large galleries.

It was October of 2004, and we were on a grand loop drive . . . we went to Illinois to pick up Melisa’s dad, then drove to Colorado Springs, then to Bozeman, Montana, then back to Chicago, and home to Michigan.

This is the first photo I took in Colorado, coming into Colorado Springs on Highway 24. That, of course, is Pikes Peak (will eventually share some of those galleries as well), but this gallery is actually about the Garden of the Gods.

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Stuff, Luminar 4, and a “U” stories voting reminder

Wow . . . Time flies like an arrow . . . but fruit flies like bananas . . . and there are only four days left in the voting block.   

If you are a reader of our stories and someone who votes, thank you in advance for casting a vote for your favorite of the three. Links to the stories and the poll for voting for “Alphabet Challenge U-Stories” are HERE(link) Votes will be accepted until noon, Chicago time, on Wednesday, December 16th.

So, today I’ll be all over the place . . . and I begin with the Kissing Camels . . .

Kissing Camels, real bird, sky by Luminar 4

As the note says, the bird — likely a Red-tailed hawk — is in the original photo. The sky wasn’t . . . that’s one of Luminar 4’s Dramatic Skies.

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Alphabet stories poll and trying a new theme

A quick reminder that The Alphabet Challenge “S” Stories poll is still lagging in votes with only five days remaining. Of course, I realize we’re probably all a little occupied with a little election that’s going on. 

Still, if you are a reader of our stories and someone who would like to express an opinion about which of the stories you liked the best (or disliked the least), and if you participate in the poll, thank you in advance. Links to the stories and the poll for the “Alphabet Challenge S-Stories” are HERE.<<<Link Votes will be accepted until noon on November 8th.

And . . . readers who are on a PC might have noticed something . . . a different look for the blog. But, before I discuss that, here’s a photo . . .

Yellow VW Beetle covered in snowBack in the days when we were still living in Colorado and I was still working, we’d experience our first snows in September . . .

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Western Landscapes and “N” stories voting

The action for the Alphabet Challenge “N” Stories voting has been hot and heavy these last few days. A good thing to see and likely due to Sunday’s noon deadline, when the poll will close.Just a friendly reminder that — if you want to participate — you have until then to vote.

And, no, not by mail because The Orange Blob is continuing his efforts to turn the once-mighty USA into a Banana Republic, this time by deprecating the Post Office. As a nation, we’ve come a long way down from our lofty ideals.

For example, we once thought a functioning and reliable Post Office was crucial to our country’s future . . . now, not so much, at least if you listen to certain people. Like I said, every day, there is less and less to calm the nerves and soothe the soul (I mean, if I had a soul, which I don’t). 

I still somewhat trust the security of the poll, so if readers have yet to do so, they can still — but not for long — read the stories and cast a vote for their favorite of the three. Links to the stories and the poll for voting for “Alphabet Challenge N-Stories” are HERE.<<<Link

So, Western Landscapes and sights . . .

Sometimes I’m an idiot. (Hmm . . . Only Sometimes?!) I really like that processing but I forgot to save the finished product as a preset, and I don’t remember the exact steps for that “look”.

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