Dam pictures.

“Twenty fathoms under in a milky green light the spectral cabins, the skeleton cottonwoods, the ghostly gas pumps of Hite, Utah glow dimly through the underwater mist, outlines and edges softened by the cumulative blur of settling silt.  Hite has been submerged by Lake Powell for many years now, but Smith will not grant recognition to alien powers.”  - Edward Abbey, “The Monkey Wrench Gang”.

I first read this book when I was in high school, it has become somewhat of a family icon since then.  The license plate on my Jeep reads “BEYOND2”, my brother’s 4-wheel drive vehicles follow suit in honor of Seldom Seen Smith’s river running business “Back of Beyond Expeditions”.  I credit that quote for my fascination with ghost towns and abandoned buildings.  It probably has something to do with why I bought my tiny 100 year old home instead of a brand new one in a subdivision where I could have got a much bigger house.

Last night we were looking through my older brother’s new house and found some pictures in the garage.  The original owners haven’t completely moved out, so all I could take were pictures of the pictures.  Here are the three pictures they had of the Glen Canyon Dam being built.  The dam that created Lake Powell, that covered Hite, Utah in water.  The dam that G.W. Hayduke, Seldom Seen Smith, Doc Sarvis and Bonnie Abzug longed to blow up.

Split Screen Explained

As you know, this picture was taken as a single shot, it looks this way without any photoshopping at all, except for the frame and copyright.

Here’s how it was taken.  I was up in Logan at a math conference, and the building we were in had a lot of mirrored glass.

When I stood right outside the door, at just the right spot looking in just the right direction, the glass was at a 45° angle and reflected the building to the right of me as if it were directly in front of me. 

The building on the left side of the picture is actually a reflection, the greenhouse on the right side is what was really right in front of me.

So, that’s the trick.  And like any good magic trick, it simply took framing the picture so that you couldn’t see any clues to what was really happening.

Split Screen

I was up in Logan this weekend at a Math conference and I took this picture.  I did no editing to it other than to add the frame and copyright.

Tonight’s Pictures

It was a beautiful evening, not a single cloud in the sky when I found the vacant lot in the upper avenues where I decided to get some pictures of the city.

Cloudless makes for a beautiful evening, but a wholly unexciting sunset.  But it does allow for some nice lighting on the buildings in the city.  These are the shots I got, the last one is a panorama of the Salt Lake Valley, you’ll have to click on it to really see it.  It’s a big file, so give it some time to load.

Looking down 700 East, where it runs in front of Trolley Square.

The State Capitol.

Downtown Salt Lake City.  It’s grown a lot since I moved here in 1974.

My alma mater, East High School.

The I-15 Freeway interchange to downtown.

Looking out over part of the Great Salt Lake.

The Salt Lake Temple.  (If you have to ask what Church, you haven’t spent much time in Utah, or heard a lot about it.)

University of Utah Rice Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics were held.

From the 50’s to the early-80’s, the Walker Building sign told what kind of weather to expect.  In 2008 they brought it back.  Solid blue for tonight – clear skies.  On-and-off blue for cloudy skies, solid red for rain and flashing red for snow.

And the panorama.

Just some evening pictures.

It’s been about 8 years since I’ve been without a second job.  So, I’m not used to having the entire summer to myself.  It’s nice, but I do remember, and am rediscovering, that it is too easy to do literally nothing with all this free time.

I’ve taken this first week pretty easy, spent a lot of time just watching my DVDs.  I’ve worked on the car, started repainting the front deck and taken some photos.

Here are a few that I took last night.

Sunset behind the First Baptist Church on the corner of 1300 East and 800 South.

Relay towers on the top of the mountain north of the Capitol Building.

The sunset again.

I have no idea what a school bus was doing out and about this late at night, but this one broke down right in front of the East High School parking lot.

More sunset from the same spot.

Looking directly west, out over the city and the Great Salt Lake.

If you’ve seen any of the High School Musical movies, you’ve probably seen this clock.  And since it’s not the original clock that sat atop the original 1913 building (the one that I went to), that’s the actual time I was out there.

Looking west, at the intersection of 13^th East and 8^th South.

Some pictures.

It’s a bird!  It’s a crane! It’s the moon.  Nope, it’s all three of them.

Jet trail over the Wasatch Mountains, at sunrise.

Welding, in the dark, on the building next to the Chevron.

More welding, at a slower shutter speed.

Just wanted to throw those pictures out there.

Another beautiful morning.

 

 

P.S. – And I saw a White Lioness driving a Red Cougar on 13th East this afternoon. Nice day for a drive with the top down, eh?

Stuff

… Here are some more pictures I got in my email box.  I won’t vouch for their unaltered state – these days you have to look at every photo as possibly being photoshopped, but they’re still funny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funny school stories and Back of Beyond pictures….

…. About a week ago, we’re working in 1st period and one kid way in the back raises his hand to ask me “So, do you still like Ms. P?” (The history teacher from the high school that the kids always accused me of flirting with). I was a little dumbfounded, and it took me a second or two to figure to ask “How do you know about Ms. P?” Seems he hung around the 9th grader I mentioned last year that worked 30 hours a week to help pay the rent. So this kid had actually been to the high school and been in Ms. P’s room and seen me “flirting” with her.

…. Then today a different 8th grader tells me he got bumped “down there” and had to go check to see if he was bleeding. I’m thinking, that’s one heel of a bump!” I made the mistake of making a comment to that effect, and got an explanation regarding just having a hernia operation. Which was ok, except when he described the doctor’s visit and how he screamed when she pushed on it and he felt “it pop into my testicle.” Yeah, thanks.

…. Now for the pictures (of the camping vacation, not the hernia!)

The campground at night. that’s my nephew looking all ghostly at the bottom of the picture.

The moon in the clouds at night.

The stars above my camper. Without the city’s light pollution, you can see millions of them.

Looking out over the valley from the cabin.

Looking out over “Rossi Draw” from one hill top to the other hilltop on our property.

Old wagon train meets new(er) Ford pickup. that’s my little brother’s pickup with his truck tent set up. It’s pretty cool, I had possession of it for a while when I had a pickup and he didn’t. Very comfortable and even I could stand up in the middle of it.

The view from inside the cabin.

The cabin itself.

…. To see all the pictures I took, click HERE. To see all the pictures my niece(s) took, click HERE.