Tree and Palace Building (South Korea)

For my final photo from a series taken in a Korean Palace in 1998, I simply liked the shape of this tree in front of the building.

I've got lots more photos from this trip to South Korea ready for Vintage Weekly! And since the theme for the upcoming week is "old" at Tina's PicStory, I'm linking it there too.

Blixseth Park Plants

The last of my shots from our spring trip to Palm Springs shows some plants in the desert Blixseth Park.

This post is for Scenic Sunday.

The official toll for the wildfire is 347 homes destroyed and one dead. The fire is 15% contained.

Thursday's Wildfire Update

The fire is officially at 18,500 acres (approximately 29 square miles, or 75 square km). According to the mayor it has destroyed hundreds of homes; a more accurate count may be available later today. Containment is still at 5%.

These photos were taken early yesterday evening overlooking the Air Force Academy and the far northwest side of the city. You can see the fire getting into a housing development in this next one.

This last one gives a sense of how much is burning - literally miles of the front range around Colorado Springs.

At this time our house is still safe. Tomorrow I'll have a more normal, cheery post to put up for Scenic Sunday.

Nighttime Wildfire Photos

Rumors are that 100 homes may have been destroyed yesterday. Here are a couple of photos I took yesterday evening, both with a telephoto lens. The first one shows the fire beyond the ridge. The photo is straight out of the camera, no editing or special effects.

Here's a photo of a neighborhood from another vantage point. You can see several fires burning. This one is cropped.

Today's supposed to be another hot, windy day.

Wildfire Update

The wildfire on the west side of Colorado Springs got into the city this afternoon and an unknown number of houses have burned. I'm watching houses burn near my office on live TV. 32,0000 people have been evacuated including many friends and coworkers. I want to thank everyone for their concern - we live miles away from this fire and our house isn't in any danger from it at this time, but here's a photo from this afternoon from our deck, showing the plume of smoke rising and drifting over our house. That's all smoke - at times all I could see was smoke.

This is my sad entry for Skywatch Friday this week.

Last Fall's Aspen

This week's theme at Tina's PicStory is "Under the Tree." I'm going back to last fall to find some photos for this, when the aspen were turning. The photos were taken on a hike near the town of Palmer Lake.

Aspen are a beautiful part of my part of the world, so I'm linking these photos to Our World Tuesday too.

Wildfire update (see my previous post for more details) - 3,600 acres with no containment. Weather forecast: very hot and dry. So far no homes have been burned.

Wildfire

There's a nasty wildfire on the west side of our city. It's burned 2,500 acres, and over 7,000 people have been evacuated, including some within Colorado Springs city limits. We can only hope that the weather forecast is wrong - it's supposed to be a windy day with record heat.

This photo was taken near our house, which is on the other side of town from the fire. The office where I work is within the evacuation zone.

South Korean Palace Courtyard

Continuing with the photos from a palace in Seoul, South Korea, here is the courtyard. Each of the markers indicates where a specific courtier would be expected to stand as the royals went by.

Join the fun at Vintage Weekly for more old photos.

Blixseth Park (Palm Springs)

Continuing with some photos from our visit to Palm Springs earlier this year, here are a couple of photos from Blixseth Mountain Park. It was classic desert scenery.

I was glad I was there in March as it was already quite hot by my standards; I can't imagine hiking here in the middle of the summer. I visited this park while my wife and son were watching professional tennis, and it's my Scenic Sunday entry for the week.

Rocky Skies

Here's a Skywatch Friday photo taken in the incredible Garden of the Gods, looking straight up between two of the famous rocks.

Vancouver's Chinatown

For this week's Our World Tuesday post, here are the last of the photos from last year's brief visit to Vancouver, complete with classic grey skies. These are of the city's Chinatown area.

To an Englishman this is fairly exotic, so I'm also linking the post to Tina's PicStory weekly theme of "exotic."

South Korean Palace Building

I don't remember the details, but I liked this photo of a large building within a palace in Seoul, South Korea, that we visited in 1998. I think it was the main palace.

 It's a scanned print, and you can see more old photos like it at the Vintage Weekly meme.

Palm Springs Hotel

For Scenic Sunday, here are some photos taken around the Palm Springs hotel in which we stayed. First I liked this fountain.

And some geese in a pond.

 And finally, several desert plants, all in the hotel's landscaping.

Visit Scenic Sunday for more scenic photographs from around the world.

Snowy Mist

I loved the mysterious feeling created by the low fog hanging just above the ground looking out from our deck. This was taken just after sunset after a small snowstorm a few weeks ago, and I think it's a nice photo for Skywatch Friday. And the fog qualifies for Tina's PicStory theme of "clouds" this week.

Altitude Illustration

For Our World Tuesday this week, I thought a visual illustration of the altitude at which we live might be amusing. Here's a contact-lens-solution bottle packed at our house and brought to Palm Springs (California), only a few hundred feet above sea level.

Notice how the extra air pressure has compressed the bottle, which was about 1/3 full. That's how much extra air there is near sea level compared to at our house!

South Korean Palace Lake

Continuing with photos from a palace in Seoul, South Korea which we visited in 1998, here is a scanned print of a lovely lake within the grounds.

Visit Vintage Weekly for more old photos.

San Jacinto Mountain (Palm Springs)

For Scenic Sunday, here are the last Scenic Sunday post from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway near Palm Springs, California. These shots are all from the top of the tramway, elevation 8,516 feet (2,596 m), far above the desert floor.

There was still snow up there, even in March.

And despite being only a couple of hours drive from Los Angeles, it was easy to believe that you were in the wilderness.

The Tramway is a ride well worth taking.

Tree & Clouds

For Skywatch Friday, here's a simple photo taken in Garden of the Gods last year.

Huge Flag

Here in the U.S.A. there is a great sense of patriotism, and one of the ways this is shown in the love of our flag. At my son's high school graduation ceremony a couple of weeks ago, this huge flag was behind the stage. Look at the flag's size compared to the podium and chairs!

This respect is even more profound in a military town like the one in which we live. And this is my entry for Tina's PicStory theme of "F", and for Our World Tuesday.

South Korean Palace (2)

The palace in Seoul, South Korea that I showed last week had lots of beautiful ponds and lakes.

There's more to come from here next week, but to explore more old photos visit Vintage Weekly.

Palm Springs Tram Ride

As promised last week, here are some shots taken from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It basically ascends up a valley.

To put the scale in perspective, the platform on top of this tower is a helicopter landing pad!

I liked this slightly-cropped complete tower with our tram's shadow beneath on a nearby rock.

The scenery is incredible!

I think this qualifies as a Scenic Sunday post. Next week we'll see some shots from the top of the mountain.