A glittery end to 2010

The trees glitter like diamonds after an early-morning fog blows out.

Thanks to all of my blogger friends for dropping by to comment. Hope to see you in blog-land next year!

Bright and beautiful!

Brightly colored fabrics are put to all kinds of uses in the Mexican culture.

Colorful

On our Cancun bird-watching outing, we were fortunate to see a Painted Bunting. He was quite far away, and the angle wasn't quite right for a "money" shot, but I did get somewhat of a photo of his beautiful feathers.

The loss of innocence?

This provocatively-clothed statue might tarnish the innocence of young boys who see it.

Jurassic bird?

For some reason, this brown pelican feels very primitive to me. Perhaps because I need a photo for the word, Primitive?

Extra-large economy size....

On one morning of our visit to Cancun, we indulged Jon's current hobby of bird photography, and went on a bird-watching tour. One stop was along an estuary area, and while looking for herons, ibis and other wading birds, we spotted this fellow, catching a little early morning sun. He was easily 15 feet long. Too large for me!!

Man

A vendor on the grounds at Chichen Itza, trying to sell this carving of a Jaguar head, clowns around to attract business.

I found it a little disturbing that vendors are allowed to ply their wares on the grounds of this ancient Mayan site. Outside the gates would seem to be more appropriate.

Festive

Happy holidays, everyone!!

 Outside Captain's Cove restaurant in Cancun.

Old

El Castillo, "The Castle" in the Mayan settlement of Chichen Itza, dates back to pre-Colombian times. I'd say that's old.

Feliz Navidad

Ah. Relaxation. We are in Cancun Mexico right now and I'm writing this from the deck of a condo that overlooks both the pool and the deep blue Gulf. Yesterday, we spent the afternoon here.....

on Isla Contoy, one of Mexico's National Parks.

Looking down

As you wind your way through Echo Canyon, you eventually get to a place where (during our visit) it was flooded - kind of a sink hole in the trail. Jon got up to his chest in water before we decided to turn around.Since we couldn't continue through the slot, we backtracked and took another trail that went above the slot we had just been hiking in. We were able to then look down into the slot beyond where we were stopped by water. We were walking on a ledge in what felt like a big open tunnel, with the slot on one side. Once we got through this tunnel in a canyon looking down at a slot, we were able to reenter the slot from the other end.

On the left side of the photo below, you can see the slot where the photos from the last few days were taken.

When we leaned over the edge, this is what we saw, looking down. Topaz really brought out the pinks in the rocks here. In general, the landscape was comprised of shades of deep gold, orange, rust, pink, and gray. You can just make out the narrow bottom of the canyon in the photo below. I think only a very skinny Minnie would fit through there! Where we could again enter at the other end, it was wider.

Golden

Deep into Echo Canyon, the light changes the color of the rock, from gray to red to golden. I may have overdone it a little on the Topaz here. What do you think? Do you see the face in this image, also?

Wrapped

Once you enter Echo Canyon in Zion National Park, the trail wraps around these rocks, which are alternately worn smooth from rushing water and striated from years of weather - freezing, thawing. The trail is definitely narrowing...

Looking up

Since several of you asked to see more Echo Canyon photos, here you go. This is the mouth of the canyon. To get there, hike above the Weeping Rock trail. What was so cool about this hike was that you came in through this somewhat wide slot, so you were looking up going in. After a little climb, you ended up looking DOWN into the slot, from a ledge above. The colors were amazing. More to come.

Far from home

I've really been enjoying Mike's (Boomer) photos from his trip to Zion National Park. Since I've been bogged down with finals and the crazy blizzard we had over the weekend, I haven't been able to get out with my camera. To "echo" Mike's idea of posting Zion photos, I decided to share this image from our hike through Echo Canyon. Enhanced with Topaz Adjust - Mild Detail.

Happiness is...

...finally switching to a GAS range after years of electric.

Just what I need...more remotes...

My cable carrier has gone all digital, so we must install adapters on all TVs in the house.

This shiny box was tough to photograph. I finally put it in my light box and draped the lights with fabric to cut the glare. The reflection of the remote in the box, however, is intentional.