These People

So about that lens. The 70-200. I needed test subjects, so I begged Dan and Amy, and they said sure, as long as there was beer and dinner involved. 

Dan. 

If you look closely, you will see that Hand-Holding is not Dan's Favorite. 

Excuse me. Where did spring go? Hellooooooo Spring! It's almost MAY. A little sunshine please yesh thankyouplease. 

Dan and Amy were great helpers. I was afraid I'd be all awkward and also awkward while shooting them, since they do not work for snackycakes and tennis balls, but turns out my camera is a Shield From Awkwardosity, so it all worked out. 

But then Dan does things like this, and you just have to wonder. 

(does this guy really sell life insurance?)

After Dan got Eagle Pose out of his system, Amy and I went on to create images like this: 

And then we found the best door in all of Boulder Country Ever in the History of Doors in Boulder County. 

And then I made them skip. 

After skipping was over (I'm not one to cause a scene but the crowd was loving it), it was back to the wall so I could try different things with the lens. 

And Amy laughed at Dan trying to out-decibel the Hysterical Loud Laugher Lady, who will remain anonymous.  

 

These next two are among my favorites:

Dan, Dan, Dan. 

Thanks guys, for putting up with me and the cold weather. Mostly, thank you for skipping (which needs to be a bumper sticker, by the way.) 

THAT'S DAN! 

Waterloo

Last night I decided I should Go Out, so I walked down to the Waterloo in Louisville to hear The Commoners, a Celtic rock band out of Ft. Collins. 

I've just uploaded them to my computer and now I am leaving to go to Extended Family Yoga (not as painful as it sounds) so there will be more later, but in the meantime, please enjoy my favorite frame from the evening. 

Sigh

That's more like it.

Fremont Pass

A couple days ago I borrowed a 70-200 f/2.8L IS and took it on a mini road trip west on I-70 (yuck), hanging a south at Copper and going up and over Fremont Pass to Leadville and, further down the road, Buena Vista. The roads were fine but there was still quite a bit up snow up above 10,000 feet so I didn't get off the main roads much at all. Come early summer, I'll definitely be heading back up there to shoot the purdy flowers and also to get some of those cookies at the bakery in Leadville. 

Turn that horse around! 

I could live here: 

What I would like to know is why Colorado didn't get the Big Sky title. 

I mean, it's really big.

Was I happy driving through the mountains on a quiet road with the windows down and the music up? HEY-ull yesh. What made me less happy, however, was looking at these images when I got home. Just. Wasn't. That. Happy with them. But then I got Told, and turns out the mountains are still there, and I can go back and try again, which is nice. One of these days, I would like to recreate a road trip I took about 5 (gosh) years ago with Forest Service Guy (FSG not included, necessarily). We loaded up his truck with not much more than beer and fly rods, and headed down the same stretch of highway, camping and fishing along the river as we went. We ended up staying near Pagosa for a few days (The Incident of the Snowshoe Swim comes to mind) and turned west to southern Utah, camping near Canyonlands before hiking all my (secret) favorite spots near Moab and canoeing a decent stretch of the Colorado River, finally and reluctantly heading back to civilization via I-70 to Boulder, where I found that I had accumulated 10 days worth of parking tickets, which remain unpaid and outstanding. 

Well then. Thank you for indulging me that trip down memory lane. 

Oh, something else: I changed my blog settings so that I have to approve comments, because about 6 jack-asses called "Cheap Van Insurance" and "Detox Your Spleen Tomorrow" had to go and ruin things by posting spam on, of all posts, the one about Bones' passing away. I mean srsly. So just so you know, it's nothing personal; it's just those advertising dip-shits that I have to force into submission. Comment away, dear loyal readers (BOTH of you) and I shall approve. :) 

Bones

In the past couple weeks, Kay Beth and her little pack have been hanging on to hope as they received news that Bones was having kidney problems. KB adopted Bones and Copper about 7 years ago when Bones was nothing but his namesake having not been fed or taken care of in his previous home. Kay Beth brought him back to life and gave him 7 years of bliss and pure doggie awesomeness. When I photographed them back in March, it was clear that I was witnessing the bond of a girl and her heart dog- the bond of a lifetime. 

Sadly, Bones passed away today in his Kay Beth's arms. This photo of the two of them will no doubt be one that I remember forever... their relationship truly was remarkable. Rest in peace, Bones. 

Leadville

I went for a mini-marathon road trip today. Louisville to Boulder up I-70 to Copper to Leadville to Buena Vista to almost Salida and back. 

More tomorrow.... gotta go snuggle with the mutts now.

Boing!

Kaya has springs in his toes.

Spandex

Went for a drive this evening.

It was 70 degrees and sunshineswesome out, so I had no choice but to make a miraculous recovery from my cold/sinus implosion.

Drove east of here out past Lafayette and Erie, then doubled back on the county road into Louisville. The view was nice.

Coming soon: mini road trip to the mountains west of here. I'M not even sure exactly where I'll end up, so check back for updates tonight! 

Man Squirrel

A view from Charlotte's perpetual viewfinder: 

I think he's cute, but Char thinks he's a snack.

I'm still sick. I tried taking some of Char's expired tramadol, but that didn't do much. Naproxen, Tylenol, aspirin, neti pot, entire cloves of garlic, gallons of supah-hot salsa, steamy showers... and through it all, the Sinus Infection from Hell prevails. I'm ready to move on to the tequila, but GOSHdarnit, liquor stores here in Colorado close at 6 on Sundays.

This makes the mutts sad, because their walks are totally lame, slow, and short. 

It makes them sad, but more importantly, it makes them have Wicked-Crazy Zoomies, and they stare at me like this: 

And like this: