workin' on the ranch

So I spent a few long, hot days tearing out old barbed-wire fences on our neighbor-friend's ranch. Besides upping my respect level for those who do physical labor on a daily basis and wondering at the silliness of our continual need to do exercise specifically to stay in shape, as our daily lives become more and more lethargic due to the wonders of modern technology, I was surrounded by a beautiful countryside full of thistle flowers, grazing elk, beautiful skies/clouds, a neat old/fallen down ranch house, and lots of buzzing, buzzing flies (do you think this is a run-on sentence?). On the last day I took my camera and snapped way too many pictures. (And then got lost in a thought-tangent on digital photography... What if I didn't take all these pictures? I still got to see it all. I couldn't share it, or save it, but there's something special about that, too. A once in a lifetime image. Hmm...) Anyway, here are some of my favorites of the day.

~ The olde ranche house ~

~ The somewhat dilapidated kitchen ~

~ apacalyptic scene of abandoned clothing in white dust (dry wall remains, I suppose) in an emtpy room ~

~ ze fotografer ~

~ elkies ~

~ dead juniper and two dying agaves backed by an awesome sky ~

~ classic mirror shot with bonus little mirror and getting-rained-on mountains in the distance ~
*this and many others may or may have been taken while driving... oops*

~ I love storms here ~

Okay, I suppose that's enough. Until next time, enjoy our Wild America!*
* line taken from Marty Stouffer's PBS show, all rights probably reserved.