I am keeping a running series of photographs of the tree and bush in front of my house, simply so that I can compare how they look at different times of year. Both are at the peak of their beauty in these shots taken on August 25, 2013.

Colorado Springs Gets Beautiful Clouds

Driving around the other day, I felt that the scenery was worthy of a few pictures. The first few below were taken at the extreme north end of Colorado Springs, up near Monument in fact.

Then, I happened to notice during a truly gorgeous day that there were some stunning puffy clouds. I'm a sucker for interesting clouds, so I took a few quick snaps.

Below are the results. I like the nicely contrasting primary colors of many of these.

A Midsummer's Night Balloon Ride

A balloon passed practically right over my house recently - yes, such things actually happen in Colorado - so I took a few snaps. It was very early in the morning, perhaps around 6 a.m., and I decided to jump in my car and see where it was going to land. It was awfully low, so low that I could hear the gas machine filling the bag every now and then. So, I drove around my neighborhood, and despite the fact that the balloon couldn't have been more than a thousand feet from me, I couldn't spot where it landed. And it definitely landed somewhere nearby, because it sure wasn't anywhere in the sky that I could see when I finally just went to a high vantage point and looked around.

Perhaps they were trying a night-time ride and it took a bit longer than they expected, thinking they would be down before sunrise. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the FAA would have had some stern words for their somewhat hazardous flight practically skimming the rooftops nearby.

I'm didn't use any focal tricks to make the balloon appear lower than it was - it was really low!

A Typical Colorado Summer Hailstorm

It hailed today, August 8, 2013, so I figured it was a good time to show you a part of Colorado that you might not learn about from the guidebooks - that is, a genuine Colorado hailstorm.

We get hail each summer. This was the second hailstorm in the past few weeks, and probably the last for the summer. Both times it was pea-sized hail, which is a good thing. I've been in hail storms where the hail is much bigger hail. It can damage roofs and cars. I once ran outside in hail to bring a friend's car into her garage, and I can tell you, it stings. Better than going out afterwards and seeing dents in the hood and roof, though.

No accompanying music to this video - I actually find the sound of the hail somewhat relaxing and hypnotic and prefer to just listen to it.