Quiet Life Lately

A few days ago LC called me on his cell phone just a few minutes after leaving the house.

Since I knew that he was still close I was immediately alarmed at the call, but once I answered and heard his excited voice I knew that whatever news he had was good.

He told me that as he drove down the dusty hill leading towards the main road he had seen a bald eagle sitting high on top of a dead tree by the mailboxes.

I grabbed my camera and my truck keys and headed down the hill, excited about the prospect of seeing my first eagle since leaving Alaska.

I know that there are bald eagles in Wyoming but did not expect to see one here in Cody.

Mostly because there are few trees and no forest in town.

I arrived at the mailboxes, looked around me and when I did not see it called my Mountain Boy back.

As I was talking to him on the phone I looked immediately to my right and there he was - a hundred yards away from me, white head, dark body.

Quickly ending my call I made a grab for my camera all the while watching this very large bird.

As I was watching him I realized that he was not an eagle after all.

And then as I climbed out of the truck he took flight.

I do not know what he was but he was very big and had white and black feathers on the underside of his wings.

I watched him for a long time as he glided on many different wind currents and was hoping that he would decide to land again so that I could take a good picture of this very large bird.

He did not and all I could do was enjoy him while he was above me and then visually follow him until he finally flew away for good.

The second picture taken at the mailboxes barely shows him gliding high in the air...................

Yesterday afternoon LC, James and I climbed into the truck headed for a wrecking yard just outside of Powell.

We were on the hunt for hub caps of all things for LC's new-old truck.

A beast of a vehicle - a F250 that LC is now fond of saying passes everything on the road except a gas station.

With a 460 engine he is really only half joking, but in actuality this "Crimson Beast" of his is better on gas than either of us ever expected it to be.

Just on the other side of this farming community of Powell we unexpectedly came across a 20 acre (or so) pasture completely filled with sunflowers.

These were not the beautiful and knee high sunflowers that are now so abundant along both the sides of the road and on BLM land.

These particular sunflowers were taller than me.

As far as the eye could see.

And they were also very beautiful.

I asked LC to pull the truck over to the side of the road and he willingly humored me and obliged.

For five minutes I stood by the edge of these giant flowers of the sun, and then climbed into the bed of the truck to try and capture the full scale of what was in front of me.

I only partially succeeded, and for the millionth time over the past year and half resigned myself to the realization that a camera will never be able to capture intense beauty on a large scale.................

When we arrived at the wrecking yard LC walked into the office while I wandered with Jamie.

After petting the owners two young, good natured and sweet dogs I snapped this picture of an old and wonderfully formed old vehicle sitting at the end of the driveway.

As I studied it I wondered what stories this rusty old thing would tell me if it could..............

More scenes of the area while still wandering.

LC did not find hub caps, I did not take many pictures, and life has been very quiet lately............

The Road Not Taken

....Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.