Random Pictures Thread

Thanks for those pics Arn. It's great that so many are dedicated to bringing nature to the city wherever they can. I know for many, those pockets of nature may be the only time they see a little bit of what we 'Rural' people see every day.

Brings to mind when I was at the Univ of Illinois at Champaign. We would go up to Chicago's Lincoln Park zoo for a weekend of "Farm in the Park". It was a show and tell for inner city families to learn about farms and where there food comes from. Real eye opener to realize that even though these people lived just a few hours away from us, many had never been outside of the city, and had no idea about the animals and crops that they ate.

The amazement on those kids faces when they got to touch a 6 ft tall holstein cow and then look at her udder and see where the milk they drank came from!
 
Thanks for those pics Arn. It's great that so many are dedicated to bringing nature to the city wherever they can. I know for many, those pockets of nature may be the only time they see a little bit of what we 'Rural' people see every day.

Brings to mind when I was at the Univ of Illinois at Champaign. We would go up to Chicago's Lincoln Park zoo for a weekend of "Farm in the Park". It was a show and tell for inner city families to learn about farms and where there food comes from. Real eye opener to realize that even though these people lived just a few hours away from us, many had never been outside of the city, and had no idea about the animals and crops that they ate.

The amazement on those kids faces when they got to touch a 6 ft tall holstein cow and then look at her udder and see where the milk they drank came from!
Tim @trc65 - parks and any spaces with greeneries are a luxury for concrete jungle city dwellers. Living in the city, there is a craving of outdoor and indoor spaces with greenery and natural settings. They do all sorts of good things to your senses- it gives you pause, slow things down, you get to appreciate the natural environment, a place of respite, a green space that filters the city noises, a great place to meet friends and have a social gathering, to have lunch/picnics, a place to read/write/listen to music of your own, they sometimes become spaces for folks to entertain musically, people use it to sun bathe, to get fresh air and to get away from the city distraction of the hustle and the bustle.

The city does their best to educate anyone that comes to these sites- they have place cards with information that tells you what species they are, why they are important to the environment, etc., etc.

The “Highline” to me was a great success- back in the late 90’s when I first got married I lived literally a block away from this place. It was ordinary people who had a simple idea to turn something dilapidated into something functional into the city- these were old elevated train tracks that was use for transportation and brilliantly turned it into a parkland walkway that runs through people’s backyard (literally), but elevated. Some fascinating new architecture and old architecture meets in this greenway- a couple were designed by famous Architects of our time. They have done this respectfully and they always leave “witness lines” where what once stood there- iron railroad track fragments. I can’t explain it to you and it is something need to be seen to be able to comprehend and appreciate what was and what is there now- truly it is like a book where there is a beginning and an ending in they find a way to bring the old elements back into the fold as you journey into these green spaces. It is a reason why they call this expanse the “Meat Packing District and Hudson Yards”…….

This particular greenery walk gives you a different feeling during the day or at night and when fall and spring is in the air. Winter when it snows just blankets the ground, the trees and the buildings…..
 
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In our area they have scrubbed most of the old raised railway beds and even removed several of the railway bridges. The younger folks around these parts only get to see the depot as a store and have no clue what the building across the road is built in a wedge shape since the rail line was fully erased.
 
In our area they have scrubbed most of the old raised railway beds and even removed several of the railway bridges. The younger folks around these parts only get to see the depot as a store and have no clue what the building across the road is built in a wedge shape since the rail line was fully erased.
It is a crying shame and here they do their best like I mentioned to preserve the past so you can trace what was there before the whole things blows up to unnoticeable artifacts.
 
This was one of the beautiful things I have ever seen and experienced when I got back here- this is in the city, SoHo (South of Houston St.)………..

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Tim @trc65 - I shot this on top of the Whitney Museum. You can see the “Greenway” (The Highline) that actually starts where this museum is and it weaves as you can see under the building and it extends to about 34 city blocks and ends at Hudson Yards…….

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This is the devastation caused by the Mountain Pine Beetle in Rocky Mountain National Park. I read that 77% of the Lodgepole Pines have been killed. Some of the hillsides are starting to green back up as Aspens start moving in.

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I used that bathroom 2 weeks ago today, no line and 3 cars in the parking lot. It was 80 in Estes and 57 at the bathroom. Only 2 of the 6 had paper when we were there.
Once again the axiom “timing is everything” holds up. And ours has been bad. Besides the crushing crowds, we arrived Monday along with the thick wild fire smoke haze from further west and north. Today was much better visibility wise, but not crystal clear. We leave tomorrow and the haze is supposed to clear up as we depart. Estes Park got to 86 this afternoon but it went down as the elevation went up to the mid 60s. Not bad at all.
 
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