Welcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where we join our pals Rosy, Sunny and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard. This week’s gander at Nature is a hodgepodge of pics from our recent visit to my Dad’s home in southern Colorado.
No view is more emblematic of the region than Pikes Peak, this view being inspiration for a song. Katherine Lee Bates, a young English professor from Wellesley College, was so taken by the wide open vistas on her trip to Colorado Springs, she wrote a poem based on her travels in the late 1890’s. Samuel A. Ward, an organist and choir director for Grace Church, Newark, New Jersey, was equally inspired by the poem and composed a tune for an old hymn (“O Mother Dear, Jerusalem,” retitling the work “Materna”). Ward’s music combined with Bates’ poem were first published together in 1910 as the song we now know as “America the Beautiful.”
The view from the area surrounding my Dad’s house always makes me stop to take in those “…beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain” landscapes but I can’t help but noticing just how extremely dry everything looks. Even Pikes Peak only had a tiny dusting of snow. While a storm is forecast to arrive later, not much accumulation is expected. It may however build into a monster for other regions east of us. Sigh.
Even while walking along our regular route, the tawny colored grass was as crunchy and dry as I’ve seen it. Norman kept scanning the landscape for bunnies but there were none to be seen.
Still there was colors other than brown to be found at sunrise when Nature pulls back the curtains on the unfolding day with this gorgeous view from the front door.
Do you have any big plans for the weekend? Here in Denver, the National Western Stock Show is slated to open today. With the rise in COVID cases, the annual parade of longhorns strolling down Seventeenth Street was cancelled and I won’t be attending the show, but it may be interesting to watch local news coverage from the show. Mutton Bustin’ is one of the more popular events during the rodeo performances and always seems to be a visitor favorite. Nothing like watching a 5-7 year old weighing less than 55 pounds trying to hang on to a wily mutton, bound and determined to rid itself of the hanger-on. While entertaining to many, it seems rather barbaric to me.
Whatever you do, we hope you remain safe and enjoy Nature’s symphony of beautiful ‘music’ much like Katherine Lee Bates did.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
That photo of the sky is absolutely amazing!!
And yes I have never understood the thrill of bull riding!
Thanks! For some reason, brilliant sunrises seem to be the most exquisite in rural areas without a doubt.
Beautiful photos of a gorgeous place ~ Love you doggie header ~ and your Dad lives in a great place ~ Xo ~
Wishing you happy moments,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Thank you! And thanks for swinging by the Ranch. We 💙 visitors, especially fellow shutter bugs. 😉
How beautiful, no wonder it was so inspiring! We are just hunkering down here….below zero wind chills today, a little warmer tomorrow, but not much, and then a big snowstorm on Monday. We’re definitely feeling January here!
Yikes! You’re right to hunker down. We’ve had so many warm days when the temps are more typical, I feel like such a wuss. Have a cozy warm weekend.
What gorgeous photos……..not so sure about Mutton Bustin’ though – I’ve never been a fan of rodeos and from the animal’s point of view there’s nothing really “nice or fun” about them.
Hugs, Pam
It’s tragic to use animals for human entertainment in rodeo sports. Yeah, not a fan either. Have a safe weekend-hopefully with not a lot of snow your way. 🤞🏻
Yup, laughing at animals is NOT my thing.
Those kinds of things always turn my stomach and leave me wondering what is wrong with people who seem to enjoy pleasure from the mistreatment of animals.
Beautiful scenery!
Too bad the bunnies were hiding, they must be smart to know Norman was about, LOL!
Thanks. That vista is quite inspiring. Norman is fine without finding bunnies. It’s more the events that intrigue him than anything else. I doubt he’d know what to do if he saw one on the prairie.
Beautiful vistas Monika.
And I’m sorry that Norman didn’t run across any bunnies. But I do so admire his earnest behavior.
Thanks, Marc. That boy can sniff every single cocklebur in the prairie and still be happy.
Haha! What a good man.
The weather has been cruel lately. I wish it would cycle back to something less dire.
Yeah, the east coast is getting pummeled while we’re desperately parched out west.
I send you some if I could.
And I’d gratefully accept.
Thanks for the pictorial tour.
It’s no wonder this splendor was inspiration for poetry and song.
Pray for snow.
Wags,
Paz
Thanks, Pazlo…yes, we’re trying to learn how to do the right snow dance. So far, we’re not very good at it but will keep practicing. Have a great weekend.
What a stunning photo of Pikes Peak and how interesting to learn about the origin of ‘America the Beautiful’.
Pikes Peak is very well known along the Front Range even though it is considered one of the smallest of the 14,000 foot tall peaks in Colorado. Whenever I drive past it I can see why Ms. Bates was moved to pen that song.
Great pic of Norman. I’ve never wanted to attend the stock show, mostly because of the rodeo type events. I did attend an alpaca show at the same facility one year…they’re so cute!
The Stock Show’s mission is supposed to be education (and events like the alpacas, goats, small animals etc. seem much more in line with that mission). But rodeo-ing doesn’t seem even remotely educational.
Yes, I agree with that.
blustery today
Blustery and chilly! Then again I sort of got used to the 60F days. 😉
Sweet Norman mee thinkss Bunniess moved away to gfind sum water an foodabullss…..
You DUE look hansum standin inn THE tall grass!
Miss Monika yore sky fotoss are deelitefull….
An Elsa wee hope yore doin well.
***nose rubss*** BellaDharma an (((huggiess))) BellaSita Mum
I agree with you on mutton bustin…very barbaric and incredibly unkind. Sigh. And not something I love children learning about as a fun activity.
Right! Who thinks up things like that? Guess I think it’s important to treat animals with kindness and dignity. Have a lovely weekend.
A wonderful reminder that amber waves of grain produce amber gallons of beer. So inspiring! And yeah, Norm was promised there would be bunnies.
He was pretty forceful in reminding me of the bunny promise. C’est la vie, big guy. Thanks for the reminder about what grain does best. Cheers for a swell weekend. 🍺
Beautiful nature shots. I love the wide open places far better than the cluttered, dirty cities.
I got stuck on handsome Norman. Go figure.
We’re staying home this weekend. I have a new laptop so I’m moving tons of stuff from my old one to my new one.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. Scritches to the pups, a smooch to Norman and a hug to you. ♥
Seeing Pikes Peak from that angle never fails to amaze and impress me. You’re too sweet about Norman’s pick. He is a handsome boy who always manages to turn heads. Have a good weekend migrating data to the new laptop. I think I need to take mine in for a tuneup which I’m kind of dreading but know it needs to be done.
Mutton Busting is always a favorite of mine! Have a good weekend at the Ranch!
I always root for the mutton.
LOL. I just saw this comment. I kind of do too….
😈
Great pictures! 🙂 I’ve always liked the view across the plains towards the Rockies, especially we we drove to Denver through Oklahoma.
It’s really pitifully dry, isn’t it? Around here, too.
“While entertaining to many, it seems rather barbaric to me.” – totally agree, and that holds true, to my mind, for all the rodeo events.
Have a great weekend,
Pit
Yup…rodeo seem horrible cruel to man and beast and I’m always rooting for the beasts. The Front Range is quite the majestic scene. It’s no wonder people continue to move here just for the scenery. Enjoy your weekend!
I’d really enjoy rodeos if the bulls could ride the cowboys. 😀
👍🏻 Or the calves would rope them.
When we lived in San Antonio we attended the rodeo. Mutton Bustin was a favorite of the crowd. I didn’t like it as well. I raised some sheep at one time and know how gentle they are. Having a kid on their back would be mad street. I always rooted for the sheep.
🤣 I’d be wearing the “yay for the sheep” jersey too.
😁
Oh my goodness those views are breathtaking! The lack of precipitation is more than worrisome, to be sure.
I have to agree. I find all these types of things, be it riding a mutton or a bronco. I’d not make a good cowgirl, I fear.
While I LOVE horse and riding, the rodeo scene is just barbaric by my way of thinking. It’s clouding up and cold this morning; I suspect we may get 12 drops of wet and that’s all. Sigh.
I love horses and riding (my sister has a lovely horse, that is starting to behave really well. She was never ridden and was afraid of her own shadow.) I think everything rodeo is barbaric. I know you watched Yellowstone. The way they maneuver the horses back and fro is amazing. I worry about those long slide stops – that has to be hard on the horses’ legs…
12 drops ain’t gonna cut it…
Nope, 12 drops is gonna be a bit shy in the bucket. I attended the National Western Stock Show rodeo when I first moved to Denver. A friend had tickets right behind the shoots at the rodeo and saw first hand a lot of despicable treatment to make broncos/bulls buck. It made me nauseous and angry. Cutting/roping horses are truly amazing the way they can move laterally. It does make you wonder how much it affects their long term health.
Yeah. Way shy.
Exactly. The cruelty to the broncos and bulls is disgusting.
Yes, the cutting & roping are amazing. I can’t believe it doesn’t affect their quality of life once they are off the circuit.
I always think someone should lash on a bucking strap on every cowboy so they know how it feels. 🤬
And make sure their balls are nice and squished…
🤣
😉