Thursday, August 15, 2019

One tent for me, one for the bears

Not too very long ago, Anita mentioned a dream and a photograph of me. My reply was to the effect that it is not unusual for me to include a photograph of myself with a post, but my face generally is hidden or blurred or not visible for some unconvincing reason. I tried again with this shot, but when I saw the results it appears that I must have looked down at the wrong time. I will blame this one on me and the camera timer being out of sync. Is that a good excuse or another ineffective one? Whichever, here are two more photographs recently taken sort of northwest of Denver in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Nice lake, but rather boring from my point of view .... I prefer ones like Lake Superior for canoe jaunts and, to me, the mountains will never compare to "big water" for allure and fascination. I enjoy the mountains and being in their midst provides a break from the routines of life, but I will never have a love affair with them.

I went the easy way and picked John Denver's, "Rocky Mountain High," for the musical piece. Denver met his first wife, Annie Martell, while performing a concert at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, where she was a student. She is the girl for whom he wrote, "Annie's Song." They lived in Edina, a suburb of the Twin Cities, from 1968 to 1971 before he "discovered" the Rockies.

By the way, there have been grizzly bear sightings in the area, but none by me.






4 comments:

Anita said...

Wow!!Beautiful post Fram!!Extraordiary view !
I really really love the number two shoot!
How was it spending nights out there in the wild??
Yes good to see you preparing the tents!Love your outdoor fit:))Red jacket and sport pants!Heh heh a new Fram!!!I always thought of you in gun clothes :)))

Ok-!Thanx for mention me!The dream is all gone now but it was a funny one with much laugh!
Take care Fram and be sure I am soo glad about your new lifestile..I quess you have met a darling now and Iam very happy for you great friend!

Pss..did you see any tracks of bears??

Great shoots the best I have seen on the internet for a long time!

Happy weekend !

Anita

Fram Actual said...

You either are reading things into this post that are not there or are not reading it thoroughly, Anita. My lifestyle has not changed and there is no "darling" -- new or old. Some would describe me as a carefree and curious bachelor; others as a careless and lazy wastrel. I suppose I am somewhere in between those two descriptions.

I almost always pitch two tents, one for me, one for food and assorted gear. Open food is hoisted into the air on a tree branch, especially when in bear and mountain lion country. All manner of wildlife will "pillage" a campsite. Squirrels and chipmunks will beg for food; raccoons will shred a tent to get at food; coyotes will lurk nearby waiting for an opportunity to rush in for unattended food; even blue jays and other birds will soar in and pluck food and other small items from a table while you are sitting at it.

I really do use a tripod and the timer on a camera for a number of photographs, especially those in which conditions require that the shutter must remain open longer than usual for increased focal length and/or because of low lighting.

Finally, I also am a proponent of dressing in layers. The red jacket actually is an outer garment to add protection against rain and wind. As you can see, winter still exists in the mountains there. Actually, I feel as much at home in a suit and tie as I do in jeans and a t-shirt or a shooting jacket.

No, I saw no bear tracks .... but, they are everywhere and probably are watching you even if you do not see them.

By the way, I recently "swung through" a family get-together in Iowa and here is a sample of the menu: Lefse, rømmegrøt, kringle, pickled herring and fruit soup, along with miscellaneous bars and cookies. Make you hungry?

Thank you, Anita, for coming and for leaving a comment for me. I hope you will dream a few more times ....

Anita said...

Thought there was a new post here today but I quess not(looks so at my blog list)
Nice you enjoy Norwegian food and snaps!They really do that kind of things in the States?Most be some Norwegian folks in your close family..
Lefse og pinnekjøtt er tradisjon mat..Faktisk så skal jeg lage Fårikål til søndagsmiddag ..Det er jo høst og tradisjonen holdes ved like..

Her er det øs pøs regnvær--frem med sjøstøvler og regnklær..Tror det blir en kald vinter i år..Masse rognebær på trærne..Mye mat for dyrene og samle..
I skrivende stund er jeg nettopp stått opp ..Vært på nattevakt sefølgelig..

Må ha peng!

Ok ser deg senere..Kansje på tide at du lærer deg litt Norsk?!
Ja det med den drømmen var sprøtt..Det var jo slik jeg så deg..med telt og alt mulig..Hvem vet hva jeg drømmer neste gang?

Ha det fint

Kyss og Klem

Fram Actual said...

Many communities in Minnesota and elsewhere in the United States were first established by groups arriving from European countries, and they brought with them the foods, customs and beliefs they had in their "old countries." In Minnesota, for instance, New Prague was originally settled by Czechs and New Ulm by Germans. There is even a town named Warsaw in Minnesota and another named Viking.

Califorinia has a London and a Dublin; Michigan has a Moscow and a Pompeii; Wisconsin has a Berlin and a Stockholm, to list a few other examples.

My own DNA is Norway 90 percent / Sweden 7 percent / Germanic Europe 3 percent. So, yes, Norwegian food is heavily favored in my family background and, because of marriage, German food probably is even a bit more dominant.

Do you recall the words of Ole Rølvaag writing as Per Smevik? "I have gotten pretty good at English now, although I must admit that it goes more slowly than I had expected. It's a terribly difficult language to learn."

I seem to have a mental block when it comes to learning languages. I am barely competent in English. I can handle a bit of Old English and Middle English. I tried to learn Italian and Latin, without much success. I once could read Russian to a level well enough to pass tests, but that was when I was a college boy. So, while nothing is said to be impossible, I would not hold my breath that I ever would learn Norwegian.

There are times I also think someone has a new post and it turns out not to be the case. To make your life a bit easier, I will mention that barring the unforeseen, my next post will be August 20.

I try not to predict = guess the weather, but agree that plants and animals often have a sense of what is coming. Nature rules, and nothing the weather does surprises me.

I will try to read for a while now. I have begun to "study" some of the work of Hamlin Garland. He was a rather prolific writer -- mostly short stories and novels and essays -- of life on the American frontier in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially about farm and Native American life. He visited at least a dozen reservations between 1895 and 1905, and his stories/essays have been described as sensitive portrayals of the transitions from nomadic to sedentary lifestyles for the Indians. It was Garland, for instance, who wrote, "General Custer's Last Fight as Seen by Two Moons."

Anyway, take care and stay safe and be happy, Anita. I will see if I can send a telepathic thought or two to you via dreamworld .... kyss og klem ....

Something special ....