Dean's Light Box

EV's Big Day at the Museum and Garden

Only Photos

Foxes at Moonrise

How's that for a title? Pretty earthy!

We discovered about 2 months ago that we have a fox den occupied by a red fox mother and two or three pups. The den is actually not on our property but alongside the dirt road that leads up to our home. We spotted the pups out playing in the mornings while on our way out for the day and in the evenings on the way back home. One evening I took the trash down and found that I arrived at the den before one of them made it back in, so the straggler ran up the hill in the opposite direction. I didn't realize it until then that foxes make a somewhat screechy bark. The one stray fox stayed up on the hill and barked to it's family until I deposited our trash can out at the street, returned home, and no longer posed a threat.

While my camera is not yet equipped to photograph wildlife very effectively, I did capture a shot of the moonrise under which all of this occurred. It is another HDR image and thus is branded with "Photomatix" since I still haven't purchased the HDR software, but you get the idea. This area is within a few feet of the den and seemed to provide a nice view of the rising moon. I haven't figured out how to maintain detail in the moon but I'll keep at it.

Uintas & Expensive Violins

Memorial day afforded us the time for a little hike. Hiking with a five year-old requires a fair bit of patience and realistic expectations. Hiking with a photographer can prove simply maddening. DD is a very good sport.

About 45 minutes from our home lie the Uintas, a beautiful range of mountains with lakes (natural and dammed) and peaks that reach about 13,500 feet. The highest peaks are found in a wilderness area and are not accessible via car. Obviously we were not really equipped for this type of excursion at this point but some day hope to spend a little time up there.

We decided on a river valley trail off of one of the reservoirs that starts at about 8,000 feet and climbs and descends relatively gently for several miles. The weather included a fair number of puffy clouds and a cool breeze. We were surprised at how few people we encountered on the trail.

I believe we only made it about a mile up the trail due the smaller gait of EV and especially the frequent stops of yours truly. Nevertheless, we had a lovely time on the trail and then enjoyed lunch on the shore of the lake.

I don't want to steal anyone's thunder but DD came dancing back home last Friday after picking up her violin at the luthier's shop in town. She has had the same violin that her parents generously purchased for her when she was a pre-teen learning to play. This violin has served her well but she has noticed over time that it doesn't fit her particularly well. She took it down to the luthier for some general maintenance and fitting advice.

The shrewd fellow at the shop, the luthier's son in fact, offered to have her to play several of the violins in their inventory. He evidently opened a safe and pulled out a Stradavarius and Guarneri. Now I'm no violin expert but by the time she finished her little visit, I believe she had played around 5 million dollars worth of violins between those two and a far more affordable (a mere $10,000) hand-crafted model made in their shop. Oh, and she played them with a $40,000 bow. She can give the full narrative next time we see you...