I had the opportunity to go to the state capitol building today, and after accomplishing my errands I took a quick zip to the top observation floor and also down to the Memorial Hall. Here are a couple of things I noted:
Among the depictions in the brass on the elevator doors is a depiction of a more hostile time. It’s interesting to look at the brass in the elevator areas as well as the revolving doors in the Memorial Hall and note some of the figures depicted thereon.
Uh-oh. Notice that patch of yellow? The leaves are changing, and they’re going to do so quickly. Get those cameras ready!
I used the iPhone’s panoramic feature to do a quick pan of the Memorial Hall. Click on this image for a larger version. This is a great feature that came out with the iPhone 5 and iOS 6. I’m not about to upgrade to iOS 7 unless I absolutely have to.
I used to run around the capitol with my little guys a lot, but it’s been quite some time since we’ve been able to do so. I enjoy it as much as they do, and I suspect that there are many who share the same fondness and memories about this historic building. When’s the last time you paid it a visit?
After our camera club’s meeting this morning I decided to poke around to find a photo that would benefit from the gloomy day. I didn’t have to look far, as I soon spotted these flowers left at the Global War on Terrorism Memorial over at Fraine Barracks.
I wanted to try to get one of those ubiquitous “sunset lens flare over the top of a sunflower field” shots recently, but I noticed two interesting things. One is that many fields I used to see full of sunflowers are now stocked with corn. The government’s tampering in the market by subsidizing ethanol is probably a factor in that. The other is that I’m a little late; all the fields I saw had sunflowers sporting tattered petals. There are still a bunch of these little yellow flowers left for some one-on-one time, but it looks like my plans for a stepladder and a field of beautiful golden sunflowers will have to wait until next season.
You be the judge. This old stump is pretty wild looking, as if it came right out of some sort of sci-fi movie.
While blazing the back roads of Morton County I came across this corn field while admiring the tall, wispy clouds. I kept saying over and over that these reminded me of the clouds when I grew up in the Montana Rockies. I was starting to really miss the mountains when I came upon this field. I dashed over to nab the top of the stalks with the clouds behind, then darted back to the truck. My little boy had just called me to say that he had finished his schoolwork for the day and wanted some Daddy time, and asked me to come home as soon as possible! Zoom.
I spotted this little guy in the road near Hay Creek as I barreled toward him in my dually crew-cab work truck. I turned round down the street a ways to see if I actually saw what I thought I saw, then doubled back to find him. My coworker riding in the truck didn’t see anything, but I was positive and had to prove it to myself. I pulled off to a side street, waited for traffic to pass, and bolted over to a tiny little spot in the road.
When I say tiny, I wasn’t kidding. This little guy, yet to be named by my little boys, is pretty small. As a photography enthusiast I like to think I can pick out details in the world around me, but to spot a quarter-sized lump walking across the road has got to be a new personal best.
My little guy and I waited for the rain to pass and made a dusk voyage out to the east end of town and let the little turtle go. One could call him Lucky considering that he would likely have been pasted had he remained on East Rosser. In any case, he’s got a shot at survival now. He wouldn’t have made a good pet and I try to teach my boys to be responsible with nature, so it was a teachable moment. After all, Proverbs 12:10 says, “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast…”