And seeing a Rockies baseball game.

And seeing the Goo Goo Dolls concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheater.  (Wow, that’s an awesome place!)

I also had a chance to do a little hiking.  I borrowed a friend’s copy of the book Hiking Colorado’s Front Range, and selected a hike around Mount Galbraith, near Golden.

Here’s the GPS track from my hike. I used the new Garmin GPSMAP 62s, which I really like.

And an infrared photo, looking off to the southwest…

Thanks again to all my friends from Colorado, and my friends from Austin who were up there with me.

One evening, I was stuck in traffic, inching along next to Boston’s Museum of Science.  I decided to stop in for one very photography-related reason… because it was so heavily influenced by photographer, mountaineer, and cartographer Bradford Washburn, director of the museum for over 40 years.

If you look for it, you can find a small exhibit at the museum about Brad and Barbara Washburn.  I recommend finding it.

I also had the pleasure of being in Lowell, Massachusetts for one day of the Lowell Folk Festival. Wow, this was a great event, and I wish I could have stayed for the whole weekend. I heard several great bands, including The Steep Canyon Rangers, Plena Libre, The Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band, Bua, and others.

Here’s a photo of the main stage at the Lowell National Historical Park, with the Steep Canyon Rangers playing.

They shut down several square blocks of downtown, and have a variety of stages with music going constantly.  And the food!  Lots of tents with a wide variety of good food.  If you’re near Lowell in late July, I highly recommend experiencing the festival.

“This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation and the United States Army as a token of appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”

The funeral for my uncle, a World War II fighter pilot for the US Army Air Forces, at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, in San Antonio.

On Friday, I went to Roxborough State Park, southwest of Denver.

Map of Denver, showing Roxborough State Park

Roxborough is a pretty park, with some nice red rocks.  I’d been to Roxborough a few years ago, spending a few hours with John Fielder, a well-known Colorado photographer.  At the suggestion of the park ranger at the front gate, I hiked the South Rim trail, which I had not hiked before.  This was an excellent choice, with good views of the rock formations in the middle of the park.

Click To Enlarge

I was also in town to attend the opening reception for a show entitled “Sense of Place | Landscape Photography”, at the FLASH Gallery in Lakewood, Colorado.  One of my Bosque del Apache photographs is in the show, which runs June 11 through August 1, 2010.

I was honored that about twenty of my friends from the Denver area made it to the opening reception.  Thanks to all of you who made it out on a rainy night.  Here I am at the gallery with one of my best friends, Nancy.

I enjoyed the whole weekend, including the cool weather, and hope I’m back soon.

Sometimes, I think I take the wildflowers for granted.  Growing up in Texas, I’ve seen and photographed a lot of bluebonnets.  So rather than go out and photograph them, I’ve just been enjoying the wildflowers as I’ve been driving around town.

Do I really need another bluebonnet portrait?  Can I find a new, interesting wildflower composition I haven’t seen before?  Still, the flowers are so good this year, maybe it’s worth at least a little effort.

Click to enlarge

So this past weekend, one of my best friends and I decided to try to find a good spot for wildflower photography.

But first, we had lunch.  And then we went shopping for a hat for her.  Next, we drove down some country roads, but didn’t find any wildflower patches that inspired us.  Then we gave up the wildflower search to visit a neighborhood garden tour, and to spend some time with a couple of friends who live there.

Near the end of the day, we still hadn’t taken a photo of wildflowers.  As we left our friends, we drove by a neighborhood park flooded with the distinctive, blue, state flower of Texas.  We got out our gear and walked around.  I took several dozen photos, but we were tired, and I don’t think either of us felt particularly inspired.

Back home at the end of the day, I went through my images, and selected a few worth keeping.  And when I saw the image below, I was reminded that it’s not about the photography, and it’s not about the flowers.  It’s about being inspired by the people who touch us.  It’s about friends who make us laugh.  It’s about sharing life.  Thanks, Nicole, for being part of it.

Inspired by my friend Carol Watson, who showed me some of her early infrared work at the kite festival, I took my infrared Nikon D200 (converted by LifePixel).

There were thousands of people, and hundreds of kites in the air at any one time.  (Not to mention the dozens of kites stuck in trees.)

Click on any of these images to enlarge.

A squid…

Tinkerbell…

A gecko…

My friend Micaela took me snowshoeing for the first time.  We went up to Bear Lake, in Rocky Mountain National Park, and we had a wonderful time with a couple of feet of fresh powder in some places.

Despite her best efforts with snowballs, she did not cause me to trip over my own snowshoes and fall down.

After visiting Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, I drove up to Santa Fe for an afternoon.  It was the Christian season of Lent, and the St. Francis Cathedral had a figure of Christ on the cross in purple fabric.  In the foreground is a statue by Estella Loretto.

I recently enjoyed a great visit to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.  It’s between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico.  This monument is famous for its rock formations, but I didn’t really know what to expect.

From the moment I drove up to the gate, I felt welcomed.  “Thanks for coming here!”, said the ranger—I think because he was proud of this place.

I visited the day after a snowstorm came through.  Perhaps because I grew up reading Arizona Highways, I think that snow in the desert is a beautiful thing.

Here are a couple of self-portraits, giving you an idea of the scale of the rock formations.

I’ll be back, I’m sure.

Here’s another HDR image, of the Christmas tree in the lobby of the grand hotel El Tovar, on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. (Click the image to enlarge.)