November 8, 2010
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Weekly Photo Challenge, “Rocks and Stone”
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the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights.The challenge beginning November 5, 2010 is:“Rocks and Stone”
suggested by: WhatABeautifulNewWorldIt’s amazing to think about the creation of this planet. Born from who knows exactly where, to spin and twirl through space, for billions of years, cooling its outer surface from molten to conditions that finally allowed the growth of plants, which eventually sustained animal life of all kinds. Underneath our earth’s surface the molten still exists, sometimes erupting with such force, mountain tops can all but disappear. Never having witnessed volcanics in action but only seeing photos and video’s of her amazing but terrible power I can be glad to live in a portion of the world I feel is relatively safe. I have witnessed expressions of nature’s powers in mountains and valleys that are now eons old like the Grand Canyon south rim, Arizona, the huge bolder arrangements climbing the pass during the to drive to El Cajon, California, the Sandia crest in New Mexico and the minor cut out beside our home where the setting can be as dry as a bone or as violent as the water is deep when it rains and water washes to and through the branch from miles around. It’s all amazing.
Photos
1- You can cover a lot of ground over the course of a few visits to relatives. Our travels take us to views of flat city inhabited land, green farmlands and some mountainous ranges. Underneath the highways we drive lies the foundation of all the roads, and all the cities, bedrock. It’s the underlying strength builders rely on for any building or road they want to survive.
2- It’s been years since we were in some of the caves in our area but they are huge, damp and cold holes in rock. The rock we see most of, without trying, are the dynamite cuts in roads, made to drop uneven shelves of rock so a road does not have to twist, turn and climb as it would if the blasting had not been done.
3- The cuts are visible summer and winter and the views are interesting as it’s as close as most of us get to the construction of roads.
4- We also get views of a lot of rock, hidden in the scenery in mountainous areas we drive. We may not actually see the rock but it’s always there.
5- Some of us do get first had views of what can happen in the cuts made as rock is loosed in blasts and the freeze and thaw of winter through spring causes water in the cracks of the rock to freeze then expand and the rock to crack off and fall. On a previous entry it was mentioned in a comment that to the viewer, windmills mar the landscape. Personally I find the fence they put up to stop falling rock to be much more offensive but then it may save some hospital bills and law suits due to its existence.
6- This is a view of the creek beside our home. It is about 80 feet or so from our door and the drop into it may be 35 feet. The rock is limestone. The creekbed is in its “dry as a bone state” as we are way below our average rainfall. The creek can, however, be treacherous. It swept the concrete barrier into itself a few years ago. We heard it fall, like a mini earthquake with it’s thud, on Christmas day. This creek is part of the reason we bought our house. It afforded my children an environment to play in similar to the one I and my husband had while growing up. I valued the woods and trees and the rock and stone of the creek as a friend nearly everyday of my growing up which left me with some rocky but really great memories.
Comments (8)
Thanks for stopping by at my Xanga. It is always such a great pleasure to come and visit your photo galleries. As usual you did a splendid job with the topic. 2 and 6 is by far my favourites, but they all are lovely to look at.
The rock is quicly colonized by vegetation : lichen and moss that cover it .But the composotion and the structure of the rocks associated wth climate give the amazing landscapes that you pictured above, all different. I like those large views.
Love
Michel
Amazing photos. I like the big shots showing the geologic structure of the land, made more interesting to me as I have to study geology in school right now. I think my favourite is the last one of the creek. It’s beautiful
Ah the open road…I have always loved to travel… especially through the southwest where I grew up.
@Zeal4living - Hi, I enjoy stopping to see your photos too. As long as you play with the challenge, that’s how long I’ll be by to see them. I don’t do much otherwise with xanga blogging in PhotoGraphics. I only play and comment with and on the challenge and enjoy doing it. Whenever you see a comment from me you will know also that I posted an entry. I try to do them both at the same time.
@fauquet - You are so right Michel per the landscapes being totally affected and constructed by climate change and what it causes the earth to respond with. It’s all a circle of events that history proves happens over and over though where the next catastrophe will be and I say that loosely as I don’t think the earth itself sees any of its natural eruptions or quakes or storms as a catastrophe but instead as growing pains, only the human element views it in that way.
@badtimin - Thank you for your comment and I think geology is fascinating, turns of events we have no control over but that have happened since the beginning of time all carving and recarving a new face on the earth with every event and geological record leaving all the clues to be sleuthed. Amazing stuff.
@sir_spamalot - I know the feeling of enjoying travel. I see the same things many times over and they are always presenting something new for my camera. I thing all of us with digital camera’s are developing more practiced eyes for the seeing. Thanks for your stop and comment.
@PhotoGraphics -
I am always keeping an eye out for your blog entries.
@Zeal4living - I try to do all the photo challenges in the Weekly Photo Challenge even when I wonder just what will I do because some of the subjects seem a bit out of the ordinary and difficult meaning everyone may not be able to play because of the choice of subject. But I try to give them all a shot even if aggravated with the subject. Sometimes you think “what the hey am I going to do with this” sort of the opposite of what I try to challenge people with meaning something most anyone can play with but the difficult ones sometimes propose a challenge you are amazed to come up with anything but at least you played and I need to have something to play with here and there. I guess something is always better than nothing.