Upside Ann

  You may remember, I have sort-of-a-thing for  panoramic  photos on my phone.  If that is news to you, here are two reasons why.  These are so much cooler than any of my standard photographs.  They have just so much more there there.  I really appreciate the way both the near field and far field are in focus.   I did not expect much from the Badlands.  A friend of mine had been very unimpressed and this had colored my view.  If they had not been so very convenient off I-90 or not had such a do-able drive, I might have skipped them.  I am so glad I did not.  If nothing else, marvel at that blue sky!  I even managed to earn my Junior Ranger Badge for the park. I would have preferred to not include the edge of the keep-behind-the visitor fence on the first photo and the quarter car on the second.  Not include as in I wish there wasn't a car parked or a fence.  I considered cropping the photo, but felt editing ...

  I believe the first location is called  Firehenge .  OK.  Yes.  I know it is because I just looked it up.  Firehege has great billboards along the highway featuring that green alien you see perched atop a  red ladder truck.  We pulled over.  Bought gas- but ultimately did not pay the entrance fee for admission.  We still believed that Wall Drug was important.  (We meaning Kevin.)  Absolutely, I would recommend Firehenage over Wall Drug - unless you are really in need of chep coffee or a place to lose your son's cardboard Mjolnir. The latter two images are of "Dignity of Earth and Sky".  A quick break from the highway.  Easy on.  Easy off.  Educational Ranger Center.  A pause to consider the American people who first called South Dakota - and every other state- home.

We could NOT miss the Corn Palace, The Word's Only Corn Palace.  It isn't build of corn - which I was hoping for - but, rather, it sports several very large murals contructed from ears of variably colored corn.  The murals change each year and these masterpieces of vegetable art have been on display in Mitchell since 1892 - long before the concept of a pixelated image was coined. It is no surprise that this year the images are patriotic in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States.   It is hard to get a great photo of the palace: trees, traffic, scaffolding.   If you are finding yourself in Mitchell and considering the Corn Palace, you do want to go inside.  You, unlike me, might be a person interested in the gymnasium full of flea-market like souvenier vendors.  More importantly, the murals continue inside AND there are photos of previous years work.  This week I celebrate the artists who design these exercises in edible poi...

 If your response was "new washing machine".......winner, winner chicken dinner!

This should have been a summer picture.  I planted an entire envelope of cosmos this spring and each time a seedling broke the 3 inch mark, a rabbit consumed it.  Finally, I have one.  ONE cosmos.  I think it is a volunteer from plants I grew a couple years ago. It isn't where I planted this spring.   I don't know why the rabbits let this one get past.  She stands about 24 inches tall.  Spindly.  With only 3 flowers/buds.  Still - cosmos always makes me smile.  Welcome.

They are supposed to take down the crab apple today.  Our last picture together.  A cloudy fall afternoon.  Misty rain in the air.  A tear in my eye.  I let her know I loved her.  Her beauty in the spring.  Her gnarled branches.  Her favorite hawk perch.  There aren't many leafed branches anymore.  Part of that is the season.  She never held her leaves all summer and through fall.  But the marjority are dead.  Rest friend.