Snapshots
September 20, 2006
Looking back, I'd say we had a decent
summer, with more trips to the outdoors than in summers past.
The first excursion of the season was on the evening of
Saturday, July 1. After dinner with family and friends at a
Chinese buffet, I headed out to Flanagan Prairie to catch the
sunset and maybe find some patches of purple Liatris in bloom.
As usual I arrived later than I should and had to rush to snap
some photos before the sun went down. The Liatris was spotty
instead of in thick patches like I've seen in pictures from
past seasons, but at least I got to see some in bloom on the
prairie for myself. I made the mistake of wearing shorts, and
my ankles were covered with scratches by the end of the
400-yard circular walk I made through the thick prairie
grasses.
Stacey went out of town Sunday, July 23.
After going to see a movie, the boys and I drove up to Mount
Magazine for no real reason, though I was hoping to try out my
new telephoto lens. We pulled in to the Cameron Bluff overlook
just as the sun was setting. I had just enough time to get the
new lens on the camera and fire off a few handheld shots zoomed
in as close to the sun as the lens would go. The last shot
caught the top rim of the sun the moment before it disappeared.
Of course that red glow only appeared in a small portion of the
sky, but it makes a nice picture. The boys ran down to the
bluff (there were guard rails, Mom!) and threw rocks over and
waited to hear them land way below. After that we drove over to
see the new lodge. We got to roll the windows down and enjoy
some nice fresh, cool air. The temperature was a good 15
degrees cooler up on top of the mountain. We stopped at the
Sonic in Paris for a late dinner and ice cream. We had a great
drive home filled with jokes and laughter.
For the first time in about six months, I
made myself get out of bed early enough to see a sunrise. That
was the morning of August 9. The real reason was to drive out
to Lee Creek Reservoir in hopes of catching the full moon
setting. I had forgotten how pleasant summer mornings can be on
the water, and told myself I would do this more often.
Saturday evening August 19, Stacey and I
drove up with the boys to Mount Magazine t0 have dinner at the
new lodge. The prices on the menu were pretty steep (higher
than what we’re used to paying for a nice dinner in Fort
Smith) so we all ordered burgers and sandwiches. We drove out
to Cameron Bluff to watch the sun set, but it was a dull one.
As usual the boys had to throw rocks off the bluff, so I took
Grant over to a spot away from Cliff so wouldn’t have to
worry about one of the boys accidentally knocking the other one
down. Stacey snapped a picture of Grant and me with the western
point of the mountain behind us. On the drive home Stacey
pulled over to watch a snake crossing the highway, and made
more fun of me for mistaking a hat in the road for a snake on
the drive up!
