(Oops – a bit late this morning! I thought I had posts scheduled for the weekend.)
Juniper shines in a swath of late light that illuminates both her and the yummy galleta grass she and her band and at least four other bands were taking advantage of in the – apparently well-watered! – north hills. That rain was such an incredible and huge boon for this entire region. Spring Creek Basin and its mustangs and other wildlife are taking advantage.
I mean, wow, right? Does anyone doubt this latest proof of magic in Disappointment Valley (or on planet Earth?)? 🙂 That was absolutely as wide as my cell-phone camera could go; the rainbow was (seemed to be) right above me.
As usual, the rain forming the prism of the rainbows fell in the atmosphere, but not much actually made it to Earth.
And after sunset, this was the storm to the southeast. Only in a video clip was I able to catch the lightning bolts. Time between first and third photo: about an hour and 15 minutes. (And that rain didn’t make it to my location, either. I’m not greedy, but it’s still annoying to have rain *that close*! :))
On this day celebrating American independence and freedom, let’s actually celebrate the freedom of independence.
Smile at someone today. You never know what big thing a little gesture might mean to someone.
Above: Sundance greets young Odin during a gathering of bands on a glorious evening.
I lovelovelove how the rosy last light of day on McKenna Peak and Temple Butte complements Rowan’s golden coat so perfectly.
Juniper (above) and Mysterium (below) walk across a landscape transformed – and, literally, greened up – by rain.
Pretty. Pretty green. Pretty grey.
Interestingly, my favorite colors, especially together. 🙂
A recent selection of post-rain images:
The water trough at the main/original water catchment is full again. The tank has about 3 feet of water. It has been mostly dry with a poor winter and without much rain.
Post-rain grass growth! If you live east of the Rockies and in places where it, you know, rains, this might look sparse. … To us, it looks lush and divine! And I will tell you, the mustangs are going after it with gusto!
Do you see the pillar of light? The clouds were heavy the last part of the day (and they and the breeze dropped the mercury comfortably), but then, at THE very end of the day, the sun found a window, and it lit up the basin.
Did you think I was exaggerating? 🙂 As usual, the pic doesn’t do justice to the colors of reality.
I couldn’t decide between the really long, wide view or the slightly zoomed-in view, so you get both. 🙂
Just another glorious day in Spring Creek Basin. I promise, pix of ponies are on the way.
P.S. Happy July. 🙂
I think – I hope – that these pix truly are worth 1,000 (or more!) words … but I’m going to give you a few more anyway. 🙂
This is the east-pocket pond, aptly named as it’s located in Spring Creek Basin’s east pocket. This isn’t the only pond that suddenly has water after Thursday’s tremendous downpour, but it’s the only one of which I have a “before” pic.
“Before” was a little after noon on June 27, a few hours before the four-hour deluge. “After” was about 26 hours later on June 28.
Maybe, if you look closely, you can see a band of greys at far distant left in the pond-now-full pic. Fortunately, the horses have multiple sources of water now. It’s amazing how quickly things change (for the better, in this case!).
Tenaz and his young mares head out to graze after a session at one of the water catchments (the trough is full after last week’s rains if not the tank) in the day’s last glorious light (and not-so-welcome heat).
Distance and heat waves and a long lens make this image unfortunately soft, but I loved the hint of light on Skywalker and Flash as they greeted each other between bands (that’s Maiku in the distance at the top of the frame). Flash’s spots are fading by the day, it seems. The most visible splotches are mud!
Terra. She draws the eye and the camera. 🙂
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 