Tag Archives: blue

Holy Mackerel !

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Is that bird blue or What ?!? As The Director I’m always looking for things that are eye-catching, dazzling, stop you in your tracks beautiful, and as I was walking by the media center here at *The Institute I happened to look up at the several Jumbo-trons we have placed around the Great Hall. On the screen was an image with the most brilliant blue imaginable. Instead of changing to the next image the shot remained on the screen, flickering, casting its blue light across the room as it kept its place in the que of gallery images that are shown throughout the day.

We use the Image Selector, our patented, proprietary little black box that is in charge of picking the image for the day, the one that sits on the desk of the head of our Pick a Picture for the Blog Today department heads’ desk. We never realized that it had a predilection for the color blue, all shades of it actually, and when it came across this image of a Stellar’s Jay it just froze up. Stopped dead in its little electronic tracks. So far the image has been playing non-stop on the overheating Jumbo-trons for seven hours and twenty-eight minutes and shows no sign of stopping.

Unfortunately or not, depending on your tolerance for blue, we cannot shut down the Image Selector for various reasons (See http://www.bigshotsnow.com/first-light-3/ ) so we are patiently waiting for the algorithm that controls the color choice in an image to finally gets its fill of blue. If it doesn’t knock it off by tomorrow we’re going to try hitting it on its flat little top with a rubber hammer. Meanwhile if you like blue you’re in luck. Here’s a good example of it.

* Note: For those of you unfamiliar with The Institute and what it does, please see the page labeled The Institute on the Menu Bar above. That should explain everything. You shouldn’t have one single question remaining regarding The Institute after reading it. None. For those of you favored few who already know about the Institute, Nevermind.

Hiding In Plain Sight

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Mountain goats aren’t really known for being stealthy. They don’t have a lot of need to be. There aren’t that many predators up here at the top of the world at over 14,000′ to get them so they usually just hang out not caring very much about who sees them.

Yet Nature, who is in charge of animal protection here in this world, has chosen to give them life saving camouflage anyway. When you enlarge this image by clicking on it, and you know you should, you’ll see that even with them standing out in plain sight your eyes will drift right over them and you’ll often miss seeing them. This effect is even more pronounced when the herd is scattered out and the individuals take on the coloring and look of the boulder field they like to forage in.

Occasionally a coyote and on the rarest of occasions a mountain lion will find its way up here in the hopes of catching a lamb or a sick billy-goat but they’re usually so whacked out by the lack of oxygen up here that their efforts are half-hearted at best. Still the camouflage is there in case they need it.

This is Mt. Evans by the way, and it is 14,264′ up in the air. It is also one of the tallest of our national parks with all kinds of neat facts that you can read elsewhere about how cool it is. The road up here is not for the squeamish and will often involve some or all of the passengers in your vehicle crouching on the floor to avoid the sheer terror of the incredible drop offs just inches away from your tires. Drivers Pay Attention! Gravity is not your friend up here.

For those of you who are going to ask “Is that blue real?” the answer is no. It’s actually bluer than that. I had to tone it down in Photoshop from the real color because it is SO blue, and that is the famous Colorado blue you hear about, that my staffers walking by catching a glimpse of it on the monitor would be frozen in their tracks, stunned into immobility, so totally hypnotized by it blueness, that they would be paralyzed and fall over in what we call the Blue Coma. Since some of you may be viewing this on portable devices and doing things like walking or chewing gum I thought it best, in the interest of your safety, to bring it down into a more tolerable color.

Soon and that is in a couple of weeks, the ewes will start having their lambs and the tourists will start arriving to see them. The park opens later in the year than most other parks because this geography and weather up here are similar to arctic conditions. There’s tundra scattered around everywhere with arctic plants growing and biting winds and fast-moving storms that race in just to catch everyone unaware, so they, the people in charge of these places, want to give the inquisitive tourists every chance of making it up and back down alive. Plus the roads are mostly snowed shut until sometime in mid June. But life is an adventure and you’re alive or should be so jump in the old Celica and get on up to the top of the world. There’s views, and vistas, and far-reaching sights that will make you say “oh Wow” or even “Holy Moley” and you can see the Mountain goats hiding in plain sight. It’s worth it.

Captive Beauty: Blue Morpho

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When we think of captive animals it ‘s generally in regard to the large mammals that we see in zoos or refuges. But that isn’t always the case. Insects such as this Common Morpho, or gorgeous blue butterfly as most of us know it, are found in Butterfly pavilions all over the world. They are raised there for several purposes, one of which is to display them to the public so all can see and appreciate their beauty.

Their main characteristics are their obvious electric blue coloring that fades into an indigo blue then nearly black at the edge of its wings. Little white dots in the blackest part of their wings gives contrast making them even more striking. Plus their size. They’re a fairly large butterfly which makes watching them fly in their swooping, darting fashion a special joy to watch, especially if the sun glints off the blue making it blaze like the rarest of sapphires.

They have another feature that most of us aren’t aware of. When their wings are closed they are camouflaged and appear drab, uninteresting and difficult to see against their environment. But when it is their time to shine they spread their wings displaying their fantastic inner and outer beauty for all to see. I know people like that.

If you love beauty take some time and visit a Butterfly pavilion. It’s like going to an art gallery only the art is alive. If, as they say, Flowers are Mother nature’s laughter and birds are her jewels then butterflies must be her happiest thoughts. I think this Blue Morpho must be one of her happiest.

Cloudscapes

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Huge, billowing clouds moving slowly across the sky have always been an arresting sight for me. Memories of childhood float up from the depths and soon you are seeing sailing ships and improbable animals and one that might even look like your loopy uncle Skid, although I guess its possible you didn’t have a loopy uncle Skid. We did and he was great. People travel great distances to see the light and sky of other places but we  have that magic right here in our back yard in Colorado. The images that follow were taken from our deck looking west towards Rocky Mountain National Park as we gently eased into sunset.

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As the sun moved further towards the west the light began to take on a reddish hue

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Soon the blue and white was being replaced by reds and yellows and pinks

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and some of the thunderheads were taking on a pronounced bluish-black underside.

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When the sun goes behind the hilltops and ridges the lower parts of the clouds go dark while the upper parts can be brilliantly highlighted.

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Then as full darkness approaches the gold comes out. There is still some blue in the background because the mountains are lower over there and let the last of the sunlight through.

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An explosion of gold and orange and yellows is brought into even greater contrast by the black undersides of this mammoth cloud. That’s the last hurrah, like that incredible finale at a fireworks exhibition. The only thing missing is the William Tell overture playing in the background.

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The sun is completely set and this last look is tinged in blues and purples with rose highlights, the evenings swansong.