Sunday, March 27, 2011

Some pictures I took today

It snowed this morning, which means that the valley was incredibly crisp and clear.  So I just had to go out and get some pictures, and, as we all know, they are bound to end up here.  This first picture I took yesterday, when the cats were playing in the kitchen sink.  They’re still getting used to what is and isn’t out of bounds for them.  I’ve got them to understand that the dinner table is off limits, but we’re still working on the kitchen counters.  And I just couldn’t resist getting this picture of them.
The rest of the pictures were all taken from the east bench, this one is of downtown Salt Lake City.
The Capitol Building, which overlooks downtown.
The Oquirrh Mountains, on the west side of the valley, still covered in snow.
The Sugarhouse area of the city, just a couple blocks from my house.
Kennecott Copper’s Bingham Mine, the worlds largest open-pit mining operation.  Over the last 100 years they have literally moved (removed) a mountain.
The Salt Lake International Airport.
Another shot of downtown.  You can see the airport on the left hand side of the picture.
Looking directly west, you can see the shadow of a cloud over the city.
The “H” rock.  All over the western states schools paint, or some other way, put a letter representing their school on the sides of mountains.  This one is for Highland High, and on the north bench there is a huge concrete “U” for the University of Utah.  [More on the “H” rock here."]
Looking south, along the path I took to the rock where the pictures were taken.
This is pretty much the same shot as the last one, just zoomed in on Mt. Olympus and the residential area we call “The Cove”.
Zoomed out view of the north end of the Salt Lake valley.

10 comments:

A Paperback Writer Photos said...

I can see you've had some fun with the framing. :)

It was a gorgeous day outside today, and these are great shots.
However, I must protest, as A FELLOW ECIDER, about your photo of the H-rock! Ugh! How dare you?!

Yeah, it's still me. I had to start a new blog just for pictures, since blogger had a fit that I had over 900 posted on my blog and expected me to pay.
I'll do a post to explain that.

A Paperback Writer said...

Okay, now I'm back in the usual form. (I found a phone booth and changed out of my tights....)
I've added a blogpost to explain everything. I hope it'll all run smoothly.
And I am still admiring these lovely, clear posts, by the way (except that ONE -- ahem). I think these are some of your best pics ever.

Max Sartin said...

How dare I? I dunno. Maybe because high school was over 30 years ago. Maybe it's because I've been brainwashed by evil Highland High super-villains intent on eradicating any and all memories of the East High before the new building was built. Or maybe it's because I still find the whole "letter on the side of the hill to mark your territory" thing kind of funny. Maybe if there were mountains instead of vegetation covered hills back east I'd understand it better.
Who knows. But as I said to the department head at my school who I ticked off last year - "Chill out."

Max Sartin said...

Writer - that's why I keep all my photos on my own server at home, there's no limit to the number of pictures Blogger will allow you to get from off site. Of course it was easy for me, since I had already set up my own home web site a decade earlier, before Blogger even existed. I think if I were just getting started now, I wouldn't go to all the trouble, and would probably still be a Mac person.

Alexia said...

Wow you've had a busy day alright! Your usual suberb standard of photo-taking is clearly demonstrated here.
I love the fact that that beautiful sharp clear Utah sky that I remember from (oh so many) years ago has not been fogged or smogged or otherwise sullied by pollution :)

Oh - and I love the cats in your blog background!

Max Sartin said...

And for further information regarding the "H" rock, click here

Max Sartin said...

Thanks Alexia, I was happy today because it was such a clear day. Unfortunately, that's not always true. Especially in the winter when we get our temperature inversions, the Salt Lake Valley can get incredibly polluted. We were on the list as the worst city in the country for several days last winter. But fortunately the spring brings a lot of storms which scour out the valley, and in the summer inversions don't get a chance to form. In the summer, though, we do have to contend with smoke pouring in from wild fires throughout the west, which is better than industrial pollution, but annoying none the less.

A Paperback Writer said...

Oh, we get plenty of heat haze and smog in the summertime, Max. It's only after a good storm or a strong wind at any time of year that we get air this crisp and clear. That's one of the problems with living in a valley; the muck -- natural or man made -- gets trapped in between the mountains.

Max Sartin said...

But somehow the summer haze doesn't seem to ever get as bad or last as long.

young-eclectic-encounters said...

Sorry I missed this blog when it first came out, because I remember climbing up Y mountain my freshman year at Brigham Young University in Provo. It was great fun and a great school spirit builder. That same year the Univ of Utah (school rival) went to the trouble of painting a big question mark next to the Y. To which some enterprising BYU students painted not next to it. It was great fun to look out my dorm window to see what crazy things were written on the mountain. It took literally thousands of students and I don't know how many buckets of white wash just to do the Y and it took all day in the light. The additions were added in the dark. Oh what college students do.
Johnina :^A