a.d. elliott - Take the Back Roads

Have you ever been frustrated because you can't seem to make your passion work out the way you want it to? Fish and I were exploring the woods near Mount Evans, near a creek called Chicago Creek.  The area was beautiful, and I was taking a lot of pictures. We got home, and I started editing the images I took, and I hated them all. I mean really hated them, and I was sure that it was really time to give up on this photography thing.   And then I discovered Henry. Henry is a lodgepole pine that was near the creek, and I didn't "see" him when I took the picture, and perhaps that is why my photography is really not very good. But I saw him during the editing process, and suddenly, everything came together. It was clear what technique I should be using. I also realized how I should set things up, what settings I should use, and, most importantly, what I should focus on. He is now my muse, and I am grateful that I found him. xoxo a.d.  ...

Dear Henry, You won't believe it, but an Intergalactic Spaceport is in Green River, Wyoming. I heard about it once and went on a mission to discover it. Driving home to Colorado after a wedding in Utah, I descended on the small city to find it.  Back in 1994, when Comet Shoemaker-Levy9 was raining debris all over Jupiter, the city council of Green River voted to allow any displaced Jupiterites to live in Green River and use their small airport. The airport is a 5,000 ft strip of dirt and a windsock off Hwy 530.  While I suspect that the initial vote was tongue-in-cheek and largely a marketing ploy to get people traveling along I80 to stop by the city, there was surprising opposition to this gesture. Many residents objected because the city had a housing shortage and already had a problem with illegal immigration. It is seriously worth the trip to see, though, if for no other reason than a chuckle. Beware, though, as the speed limit on Hwy 503 rapidly changes as it enters ci...