This photo selection is mostly intended for photos which have not been included in the blog posts. They might be either from trips not covered on this blog or photos just not included in the posts … as I have way too many to be posting all the ones I like. I make no claim as to the artistic or technical merit of the photos, they are simply ones that I personally like for one reason or another.
Please note most photos can be viewed at larger size by opening in a new tab (right-click)
August 14, 2026. Well hello, World. Friday Photo has been offline for a few months. But today I share with you some marmots I've met this summer. I don't see them super often, and it's even more rare to acquire a photo. This summer I snagged photos in two different places while out 4x4ing in Chewie, our 4Runner. The top dude was near the top of Rollins Pass, which begins at the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel outside Rollinsville, Colorado. The dude in the bottom two pics was along a trail system above Empire, Colorado. I'm afraid I don't remember the name of the lake we were parked at!
*08.14.2026*
May 22, 2026. There's a lot going on with this elephant. I love the expression on his face that to me is kind of a scolding look of, "This here is mine! Why are you stopped?" His trunk is simultaneously gathering grass to eat and taking a big ol' whiff of the humans taking his photo. The Buffalo Core Area is part of the Bwabwata National Park in northeastern Namibia. It is off the beaten path for game viewing, so you tend to spend most of your time as the only vehicle in the area. Compared to Namibia's famous game park of Etosha, this is practically deserted. Bwabwata is known for its elephant conservation efforts.
*05.22.2026*
May 15, 2026. Women making traditional bead skirts in the Kavango, Namibia. A few months after I took these photos, my friend from this area graduated nursing school and the graduation ceremony included women wearing these skirts (without the underlying western clothes), dancing and singing traditional celebration songs. It was so cool ... way more entertaining than American graduation ceremonies. (I was not at the graduation, but was sent a video of it from a mutual friend.)
*05.15.2026*
May 1, 2026. Rainstorm in the Kavango. Namibia. Boy, the clouds really let loose one day, we had just entered the courtyard of someone we were visiting and were marooned under one of her awnings there for awhile until the rain abated. Even the chickens were running in frantically for shelter. First pic, as we walked into the family compound. The next two pics, sitting under the awning with our friend -- the sound of the rain on the metal awning was so loud we could hardly hear each other talk. Last pic, then the rivers that remained in the courtyard after the rain.
*05.01.2026*
February 27, 2026. Does this not top the adorability scale?? This darling girl was trying to imitate my friend, Berrie, who was making bird calls with his hands. She watched carefully how he folded his hands together and blew into them, and tried tentatively to mimic the motions. She didn't quite get it right, but dang if she wasn't so precious in trying. And frankly, she's doing a better job of it than I could! Or rather, than I did. I tried. I failed. And I didn't look nearly so cute.
*02.27.2026*
February 6, 2026. 2025 was a slim year here on the blog! Recovery from a total knee replacement and a rotator cuff repair this year took a lot more out of me that I realized it would, and I did not spend much time keeping this up. But here is one of the highlights from 2025, taken on Christmas Day. We drove to Rocky Mountain National Park, as is the recent tradition for Erik and me on Christmas Day, and although the typical winter snow was missing (a freakishly dry winter this year), we drove into this rainbow for about half the way there, and it was positioned perfectly over this chapel at Camp St. Malo outside Allenspark, CO.
*02.06.2026*
See Friday Photos from 2022 - 2025
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The caretaker of the precarious Xianglongsi Temple above the Yellow River in Jiaxian City told us a story that one time someone left offerings only at the main temple there to the Buddha. The next day at the little shrine for the land god, there was an enormous snake all coiled up inside it. The caretaker said the land god was mad that he didn’t get the same offerings as the Buddha. So the caretaker put an offering in the little shrine himself, and the next day the snake had gone. So he warned all of us that if we gave anything or burned any incense in the main temple, we couldn’t forget to do so at the smaller shrine also.
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