Thunderbirds

The Air Force Academy graduation ceremony usually concludes with a show by the famous Air Force Thunderbirds, and that's this week's Skywatch Friday post.

They're famous for their incredible aerobatic moves.

And of course, they fly in very tight formations.

Don't miss them if they perform near you!

President Barack Obama

It's been an exciting couple of weeks for my family. A couple of weeks ago, my daughter graduated from college. Last Thursday my son graduated from high school. And last Wednesday my nephew graduated from the United States Air Force Academy. The commencement speaker was the President of the United States, Barack Obama, and I was able to take my camera in to the ceremony and get some photos of him while he was speaking.

He is a captivating speaker. The ceremony ends with the hat toss and a display by the Thunderbirds; join me in a couple of days for photos of that.

It was thrilling for me to hear the President in person, and while my photo of him may not be the best I found it exciting nevertheless - I took a photo of the President! And it's my contribution to Our World Tuesday.

South Korean Palace

For this week's Vintage Weekly post, we're moving to a palace in Seoul.

There are lots more (and better) shots to come from here.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

The next couple of Scenic Sunday posts will be exploring the incredible Aerial Tramway near Palm Springs, California, which climbs near the top of San Jacinto Mountain. I rode this with my son back in March, but my wife refused to go because it was too steep and high!

As shown above, the tram itself is large, holding up to 80 people. The floor rotates, ensuring that everyone gets different views as it ascends or descends.

At times it's high above the ground and it certainly is steep - I can understand why my wife was nervous!

It rises 5,920 feet (1,804 meters), with the top station at an elevation of 8,516 feet (2,596 m) above sea level.

The rotating trams were installed in 2001 as replacements for these original tram cars.

If you can handle the heights, this is the must-see attraction in the Palm Springs area. Next week I'll show you some shots taken while on the tramway.

Annular Solar Eclipse

We happened to be driving to Albuquerque on Sunday (more on this brief but long road trip later), and of course I had to pull off the road to see the annular solar eclipse, which was fully visible from our location. I don't have the right equipment to get worthwhile photos but I did manage to get a couple that I want to post.

This was one of the most amazing natural things I've ever seen in my life, and I wish my photographs did it justice. And it's an obvious choice for my Skywatch Friday post.

Julie Penrose Fountain

Tina's PicStory theme this week is Round. So here are some photos of the Julie Penrose Fountain at America the Beautiful Park, near downtown Colorado Springs.

Spencer and Julie Penrose are two of the most famous people in the history of our city, known for their philanthropy.

The above shots were taken before the fountain was turned on; in the next one you can see the water flowing.

Originally the city tried to keep people away from the fountain. But it was just too attractive to hot children on the sunny summer days that are so common here, so they gave up and hired a lifeguard instead.

I can only imagine how refreshing it must be, but I didn't get wet!

And it's a part of Our World Tuesday.

Korean Temple View

After climbing the steps in last week's Vintage Weekly post and walking a little way, this is the view you'll see.

I think the rain and mist add some beauty to the photos, but they didn't add any beauty to the walking back in 1998 when we were there!

Greenwood Park Ruins

Here are the last of my photos from last summer's hike to the ghost town Of Greenwood Park. It's not too old, as they had electricity at one point!

 I couldn't tell what this old machinery was.

 Here's the inside of a ruined cabin.

 Here's some kind of rotunda.

 And a view out from one of the windows!

 It's not easy to find, but it's interesting when you do. And that's this week's Scenic Sunday entry.

Grey Skies & Lightpole

We had a rare grey sky day last Friday, and of course it was when my daughter was graduating from university. But I decided to get a photo of one of the huge poles that hold the lights for the stadium with those dreary skies behind it, just for Skywatch Friday.

In most of the places I've lived this would be a common sky, but here in Colorado it's unusual as we get 300 sunny days a year. So we'll enjoy the grey skies and rain when we can!

CU Boulder Graduation

My daughter graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder on Friday! Can you spot her among the graduates in the stadium?

After the main speakers in the stadium,there was a smaller ceremony where each individual graduate in her major was recognized. I liked the theater in which it was held - here's a detail of a window.

And that's my contribution to Our World Tuesday this week.

Korean Temple Steps

For Vintage Weekly, here's another photo from a temple in South Korea. We're looking up some steps at one of the main buildings on a rainy day.

Greenwood Park Chimneys

Continuing with last week's photos of my summer hike to the ghost town of Greenwood Park, the first sign of old habitation are some chimneys poking through the forest.

Next week we'll see some actual buildings! In the meantime visit Scenic Sunday for more scenery of all kinds.

Stormy Night

Taken later on the same night as last week's rainbow photograph, this week's Skywatch Friday is a cloud illuminating itself at night by lightning. There wasn't much cloud-to-ground lightning out of this storm, but an incredible amount of lightning within the clouds made for a very eerie sight.

May Snow

On Saturday we were 80 degrees F (27 degrees C) at our house. But here are some photos just taken a few minutes ago in our front yard, to show the crazy weather we get here. Yes, it snows in May!

After lots of sunny, warm weather, it looks like winter again.

These are blossoms on a tree in our yard. Trees must be able to adapt to the wild temperature swings or they don't survive here.

And these cold photos are for Our World Tuesday!

Temple Entrance (South Korea)

For this week's Vintage Weekly photo, here's a scanned 1998 photo from a point-and-shoot camera, showing an entrance gate to a Buddhist temple near Pusan, South Korea, on a grey, rainy day.

I refuse to let bad weather stop me from enjoying a vacation or taking photos!

Greenwood Park Path

I'm going to spend the next couple of weeks exploring the ghost town of Greenwood Park, just outside Colorado Springs. We'll start with the trail to get there, which starts in Cheyenne Canyon. This trail isn't always obvious, and I don't think I'd have found the "town" without GPS coordinates and a navigation unit. It wasn't great weather when we started hiking.

 I'm always intrigued by fallen timber.

 And larger fallen timber - I was a little nervous walking under this tree.

As you can see, the weather cleared up. Next week we'll start to see some ruins... In the meantime visit Scenic Sunday for more scenic photos.

Rainbow

On Thursday after dinner it suddenly started raining while the sun was out. Of course I think "rainbow" and rush to the front yard with my camera, and this is what I saw.

 Notice the stormy skies on the right and the clear skies on the left in this photo.

Of course this is my Skywatch Friday entry for the week.