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May 22, at Zion National Park in southern Utah. Images were taken on our first day there as we took the shuttle bus, which is the only way to access the Northern section that is closed to vehicular traffic. One can get off the busses at any point and explore from that point. The road takes in about 21 miles of the Park and can be extremely crowded if you arrive later in the day. We found the best times for visiting the parks we went to was early in the mornings and later in the afternoons when the dinner bell rang for a lot of people. Sunset for this time of year was around 8 PM. Even though we were early in the current travel season crowds appeared with regularity.
Find a trail and go a few hundred feet and basically you are free of the crowds. Even at the lookouts, find a spot at the railings and ignore the people taking pictures of themselves and you are alone with the magnificence of the land, able to enter into its grandeur. Stay as long as you wish as views are available without interruption as no one is able to walk in front unless they want to die in a tremendous fall.
For the most part we saw enough to say a return trip is necessary to implant the scenes seen permanently in memory. Yet as I work on these images I am brought right back to the moments I experienced the all enveloping magnificence of the land. We stayed two to three days in a given location with one exception which also happened to be the one which was less than the "Wow! O my God!" spot in the month of traveling. This trip was planned in heaven - we could have not been that lucky without Divine help.
Here is the map of Zion National Park:
https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/maps.htm
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This stream is named "The Virgin River."
As the land rose over the millennia this river carved
all the formations seen.
The power of water and erosion ....
O our Mother Earth, blessed is your name.
Blessed are your streams and lakes and rivers ......
Blessed are your mountains and your deserts
where we wander in order to find our place in life.
We were in time for Spring in the high desert
as flowers and flowering cacti were everywhere
along with new yellow-green leaves on the trees by streams,
and wherever a seed could gain foothold on the steep slopes.
Life grows in the least expected places,
in cracks on mountain sides ....
any place where life can hold on.
The Temple of Sinawava
Zion National Park.
Lee at the Temple of Sinawava.
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Last Saturday we visited the new Museum of Contemporary Art in Rockland Maine. Worth a visit as the exhibits are whimsical and full of life. Rockland has turned into something of a center for art as the Farnsworth Museum and lots of galleries offer a fine day trip. If you go perhaps start at the Colby College Museum of art in Waterville, which besides having a fine collection and wonderful exhibits, is only an hour away from Rockland. The Colby museum is now the largest in the State with over 400 objects on display at any time. Or make these destinations over two days, or two weekends/weekdays as time permits.
The following images are something of my interpretation of the Borofsky show at the Rockland museum, without comment.
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Some Humor for these days of political reporting by the media:
Peace until next post,
Bill Lagerstrom
