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, garden, living in copenhagen, nature, pictures. Comments Off on Botanisk Have (part 1 of 2)

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 Off on Cloud connected (part 2 of 2)

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 Off on Copenhagen clouds (part 1 of 2)

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: california, clouds, mt. shasta, nature, pictures. Comments: 2

Yesterday we attended two parties on two different ends of the Rogue Valley in Oregon. The views from both were spectacular and very different from each other.

The first party we went to was on the Rogue River in, or near, Shady Cove. Our friends were being unlawfully wedded on the banks of the river. It wasn’t really a wedding as they aren’t legally husband and wife, but they wanted to throw a party so that was the excuse. Between the two of them they had been married 6 times before they exchanged their “illegal” vows that won’t be recognized by the government.

The unwedding was nicely catered. The temperature was perfect, and by the time things started the previously overcast skies gave way to some really pretty cloud formations amidst the blue skies.

The property this took place on had some large trees on a football field sized grassy area between the house and the river. Whichever way you looked was beautiful.

After watching the wedding that wasn’t a wedding and eating our fair share, we headed back to Ashland for my end-of-the-school-year party. Graduation isn’t until the 14th, and finals are this coming week, but we, the faculty, tend to have this party the weekend before.

Just about every home in Ashland has a view of some sort. They are all different. This one is from the lower edges of the Cascade Mountain Range looking back towards the Siskiyou Mountains.

We hung out on the deck you can see in the bottom of this picture. The fields below the property had horses, goats, and llamas grazing earlier in the evening.

The rock sticking up about 15% of the way from the left side of the picture is called Pilot Rock and is located on the California and Oregon border. Last summer we climbed to the top of it. I’ll have to share the views from there on another day.

Posted on June 8th, 2008 under Oregon. Tags: ashland oregon, clouds, nature, Oregon, pictures, rogue valley. Comments Off on Two parties