Southern skies

Flags were flying in the cloudy skies of Ft. Worth when we arrived at the entrance of the Botanic Gardens.  Lots more pictures from the gardens are posted below, but for more SkyWatchFriday pictures check here.

More from the Ft. Worth Botanic Garden

Recognize these monkeys?

The Botanic Gardens in Ft. Worth are the oldest in Texas.  The Japanese Garden was most lovely to visit this time of year.

Gotta love ducks!

I was fascinated by the combination of tree reflections on the water and the koi in the water.

Springtime in Texas

Last Thursday we left for a long weekend trip to Ft. Worth.  While we were there I got an early birthday present--a new macro lens!  We had the opportunity to visit the Botanic Gardens and I had fun experimenting with my new toy.  It was cold and rainy most of the time we were there, but the skies cleared on Sunday.  It was wonderful to get out of the snow and see flowers.

"Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity." --John Ruskin

Dinosaurland

Vernal's nickname is Dinosaurland. About 20 miles outside of town to the east towards the Colorado border is the Dinosaur National Monument. For more official information and pictures you can check the site here. There is a dinosaur fossil excavation area that was of great interest to tourists until the building started to collapse and the site had to be closed. There wasn't any funding available for renovation (so "they" said even though the deterioration was obvious for years.) Those of us who support tourism over gas and oil exploration in the area were very disappointed.




Anyway, this is the Utah Field House in Vernal which is full of dinosaur replicas and other interesting displays.





Outside the museum, someone with a great sense of humor and creativity enjoys decorating this dinosaur for each holiday season. Happy Easter soon!

Deep Peace

Deep peace of the running wave to you;

Deep peace of the flowing air to you;

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you;

Deep peace, deep peace.

Deep peace of the sleeping stones to you;

Deep peace of the wandering wind to you;

Deep peace of the flock of stars to you;

Deep peace, deep peace.

Deep peace of the Eastern wind to you;

Deep peace of the Western wind to you;

Deep peace of the Northern wind to you;

Blue wind of the South to you;

Pure red of the whirling flame to you;

Pure white of the silver moon to you;

Pure green of the emerald grass to you;

Deep peace, deep peace.

Deep peace of the running wave to you;

Deep peace of the flowing air to you;

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you;

Deep peace, deep peace.....

The words are from a prayer adapted by Donovan.  

The moon and Venus without a tripod

Perhaps these shots should be submitted to Crappy Photo Blog but I kind of like the strange effects. I'm weird that way. For more interesting sky pictures from around the world, check out SkyWatchFriday.

Sawtooth Mountain

This unique mountain top is to the northwest of our house.  The ridges resembles the tines of a saw, hence the name.  Our next door neighbors own Sawtooth Saddle.  They make beautiful and authentic western style saddles from the bottom up, all custom design and hand tooled.