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Three on the Verge
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2023

Three bison on the verge of a patch of faint sunshine on a cloudy day, on the verge of the brunt of winter, on the verge of being pushed north to more open ground in their search for available forage, on the verge of (maybe) wandering outside of the park boundaries in that search, on the verge of senseless slaughter as the result of the State of Montana’s asinine bison regulations. Stay away from Beattie Gulch!

Sunset Flora
Cedar Mesa, Utah
2023

Bear’s Ears View
Cedar Mesa, Utah
2023

The two mesas on the horizon are the namesake for the Bear’s Ears National Monument. I’ve messed around this amazing part of the country off and on for 50 years now. While I am grateful for the protection from development offered by its designation as a National Monument in 2016, I’m chagrined by the increased popularity that designation has engendered compared to back when it was known mostly simply as BLM land. While I won’t have to put up with threatened developments such as mining, drilling etc. when visiting there now, the empty, wide-open spaces just don’t seem so empty anymore. It just goes to show you can’t get something for nothing.

Edge to Edge
Cedar Mesa, Utah
2023

I took this photo because I liked the way the rock on the cliff edge in the center of the image was surrounded by shadow. But I also find it interesting that in this black and white view the foreground cliff edge seems, at first glance,  to blend almost seamlessly into the background, even though that background is the much larger scale far cliff edge across the separating canyon. The actual distance is disguised by the fact that the close-up texture of the foreground rocks just happens to mimic the larger scale texture of the cliff face across the way, sort of a strange Mandlebrot set effect in a way.

On the Edge
Cedar Mesa, Utah
2023

Balanced on the the precipices of canyon and darkness.

Bare Tree #119
Cedar Mesa, Utah
2023

Bare Tree #118
Cedar Mesa, Utah
2023

Bare Tree #117
Cedar Mesa, Utah
2023

Contemplating the Spacetime Fabric
Bozeman, Montana
2023

I’ve read enough books and articles about the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, including what is sometimes referred to as the fabric of spacetime, to be totally confused. But as I recall, some theories state that gravity is a bending of spacetime and that they often illustrate the concept by imagining spacetime as a fabric grid and then illustrating how large objects (planets, stars etc.) cause that fabric to distort. Like I said the main thing I’ve gleaned from all this is pretty much total confusion on my part (and I’m not alone, e.g. see here and here). But I’ve remembered enough of it that I thought of it when I saw a faint blue grid on an empty bulletin/blackboard combination at our local art center. So I had to photograph it. What does the magpie have to do with the fabric of spacetime? I’m not sure, I haven’t quite fleshed out my theory on the magpie-spacetime continuum yet. But I’m sure the result will be earth shattering.

Eight O’clock Abstract
Bozeman, Montana
2023

These day-glo “stickie” pads on our kitchen counter are hard to ignore because of their bright colors. But when the Fashion Queen stacked them in an accidentally appealing and very 60s abstract mod art manner, I couldn’t resist photographing them. The composition reminded me a bit of a clock, hence the title.