

Today was spent driving from Wisconsin, over the Mississippi River into southeastern Minnesota.
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Bridge over the Mississippi River toward Minnesota. *Cell phone + dirty windshield = grainy photo. |
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Another grainy cell phone photo taken through the windshield. |
When you get the opportunity to ‘get away’ for a few days – do you take it?
You would assume that most of us would reply with a resounding “YES!”
Well, unfortunately there are sometimes that you have to say “No”.
Every year, my husband heads up to Northern Arizona for a conference. And each time, he invites me to go with him.
Now, it isn’t that I didn’t want to go – but life has a habit of getting in the way of “getting away from it all”.
But not this year! I was determined to go. So last week, we headed up to Payson, which is a small mountain town just 1 1/2 hours away.
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Anna’s Hummingbird |
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Anna’s Hummingbird |
What fascinates me about hummingbird photos, is that although the photos above are of the same hummingbird; you can only see the bright color when the sun is shining directly on the feathers of their throat.
While I was taking pictures of hummingbirds, my sister wanted to practice taking pictures, so she was taking pictures of me, taking pictures.
I must admit that I feel a bit uncomfortable posing for pictures. But it wasn’t too bad because I didn’t have to pose.
My nephew has a very good eye for both landscape and people shots.
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Sunlight and Purple Prickly Pear Spines |
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Great White Heron |
My nephew also caught me in the midst of taking pictures of three mallard ducks.
I know that mallard ducks are quite common, but I have always liked them and their beautiful colors. I even used to have a pet mallard duck when I was young.
A curious goose was hoping we had some bread crumbs to share.
Another photo from my nephew, highlights the babbling brook that winds its way through the preserve.
Across one of the lakes, we spotted the boys who were visiting some of the ducks…
Soon, the sun was beginning to set and I had to get home to make dinner.
So we started making our way back to the parking lot.
On our way, I spotted some Canadian geese flying back for the night to one of the lakes.
Kai had a little help over the muddy spots on the path…
As we neared the entrance, my sister asked me to pose for a picture – did I mention that I really don’t like posing for pictures? I feel so self-conscious and am worried that I have lipstick on my teeth or that I will look so ‘fake’ in the photo.
My nephew took this photo and I must confess that I cropped out the bottom part because he didn’t push “the skinny button” on his camera.
Okay, I realize cameras don’t have “skinny” buttons, but I certainly wish they did, don’t you?
We had a wonderful time.
I hope you did too 🙂