Today’s clouds are from the Botanisk Have again.

The above steeple is part of the International Church of Copenhagen. We didn’t go inside, but a fellow faculty member went to church there once. I think it is the only place in Denmark with services in English. I asked him how it was since religion is mostly dead in Scandinavia. He said there were only about 20 people at the service. The place holds hundreds.

When we were in the Vor Frue Kirke their service was about to start. The place seemed big enough to hold several hundred people–maybe even 500–but there were no more than about 30. They all looked pretty unhappy and pretty old. The average age was well over 50.

Of the less than 2% of the population that attends church in Denmark, some are still atheists who attend for social reasons. Even a Danish priest, Thorkild Grosboll, came out as a non-believer and his congregation supported him.

Many, if not nearly all, of the churches in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark only continue to exist because of state support. Some have been converted into museums, restaurants, and other facilities. We saw one in Gothenburg, Sweden that had been turned into a fish market.

I wonder how long it will take the rest of the world to follow Scandinavia’s lead. In my own town, in the U.S.A. even, churches are closing up shop left and right.

Posted on August 5th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: clouds, copenhagen, living in copenhagen, nature, norway, pictures, sweden. Comments: None

Posted on July 31st, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: copenhagen, living in copenhagen, nature, pictures. Comments: None

The Botanical Garden in Copenhagen is perhaps the favorite park in the city for nature lovers. We were only there for a half hour or so as they were closing. It’s the only park I know of in Copenhagen with security, only one entrance, and a definite opening and closing time.

Everywhere you looked was teaming with loads of plant varieties. On top of the plants there were numerous other living creatures in the park. We saw cranes, various duck species, turtles, birds, carp, and more.

The above may be an image of the museum. There is a museum and a greenhouse in the park but we didn’t enter either.

The views from every turn in the paths were so great that I’m going to have to turn this into a two part entry with another five photos to show you tomorrow.

Posted on July 30th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: copenhagen, living in copenhagen, nature, pictures. Comments: None

I think part of my love of clouds came from Bill King, the long-time announcer for the Oakland A’s, Raiders, and Warriors. I remember Bill giving play-by-plays of not just the A’s games but also of the clouds on days when they were particularly impressive.

Lest you think that I took all of the photographs in today’s blog entry and yesterday’s during the course of a single afternoon, you should know that the pictures were taken on no fewer than seven different days.

Posted on July 14th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: clouds, copenhagen, Denmark, living in copenhagen, nature, pictures. Comments: None

I have always been a fan of clouds. Don’t ask me why, but I like ‘em. Not just your ordinary single layer of high-sky clouds. I like multi layers, multi colors, and lots of movement. We get some nice displays of clouds back in Ashland, Oregon but not with the regularity I have experienced so far in Copenhagen. Nearly every day features at least one display of not just one or two types of clouds but many types and colors all at once. You may have noticed them in a few of my prior entries.

This entry and tomorrow’s will feature many images of Danish clouds. I was inspired to do these two entries after going to the National Art Museum (Statens Museum for Kunst) in Copenhagen on Friday. There I saw four paintings by three different Danish artists that featured the kinds of clouds I’m talking about. I’ll include those four different paintings as well.

You are going to need a good-sized screen to see these as they are meant to be seen. Click on the images a couple of times to get to the largest view.

Posted on July 13th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: clouds, copenhagen, Denmark, famous danes, living in copenhagen, nature, pictures. Comments: None

Yesterday we met up with friends at Lake Siskiyou in California near the town of Mt. Shasta. We got rained on in the car on the way down I-5 and could barely see Mt. Shasta so things weren’t looking good. Once we got there the rain resumed. However, after an hour or so the weather cleared and we headed to the beach.

The day turned into a great one as the skies cleared and the beach was nearly empty. The remaining clouds danced around Mt. Shasta for our viewing pleasure.

I attempted to take the same picture four times using four different settings (vivid green, vivid blue, vivid red, and sepia). The first three all look identical to my eyes. The sepia one came out kind of nice looking though.

We rented paddle boats and the kids went exploring.

Last, but not least, is a vertical shot (which probably looks better in a vertical blog than the others). They all look best if you click on them after maximizing your browser window.

Posted on June 22nd, 2008 under Other. Tags: clouds, nature, pictures. Comments: None