The other morning a few clouds were snuggled among the mountain in the west while the pale blue sky to the east had nary a cloud. The wind was causing a bad hair day for even those without hair. As is customary along the Front Range, by mid-afternoon larger clouds were developing from those few clouds. As these clouds moved eastward they showed their power with thunder, lightening and rain. So, in the next morning I rose early in hopes of seeing a colorful sunrise. But nature gave me more cloudy skies, unusually cool temperatures and, of course, the wind.

Since I’m new to this area just east of Denver, everything is unexplored. After driving 20 miles east the pavement ends and the bumpy dirt road reminds me of the few rattles in my old car. The beauty offered by the Colorado prairie are large fields of green wheat extending into the distant flat horizons. Every so often we can find small clusters of trees following along river bottoms that offer protection and habitat for deer, raptures, coyotes and other wildlife. But, along with finding these gifts in nature we also find mans electric power transmission lines, a farm house with a barking dog claiming ownership to his homestead, an old barn (maybe no longer used), an isolated oil pumpjack, and, sadly, the proverbial real estate sign. I had another good morning but without the photograph of a colorful sunrise, only a a photograph of an unused and solitary barn on the horizon.