View from the Saddle

It is difficult to make this anything of a letter. I have been riding for a whole week, seeing wonders and greatly enjoying the singular adventurousness and novelty of my tour, but ten hours or more daily spent in the saddle in this rarefied, intoxicating air, disposes one to sleep rather than to write in the evening, and is far from conducive to mental brilliancy. The observing faculties are developed, and the reflective lie dormant.

~ Isabella Bird, letter dated October 28, 1873

Larimer County, Colorado

~

Nearly 150 years have passed since Isabella Bird explored the Colorado Territory on horseback. Having traveled much of the same ground myself in recent years, I’m happy to say that a great deal of the area’s wild beauty is still with us.

Isabella’s letters about her adventures are collected in the book A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains.

(Posts about my library are archived through this link: ridingwithcarl.wordpress.com/tag/library.)

Carl’s Library: Hammond’s Nature Atlas

I’m no bookbinder, but I’m pretty handy with a roll of black cloth tape. While going through some of my books in storage, I came across an old favorite which has seen better days. I used that roll of tape to reattach the front and back boards, and now the book is shelfworthy again.

The book is Hammond’s Nature Atlas of America (1952), and this copy has been with me longer than any book in my collection; I still remember turning these pages as a kid. As then, I love looking at the colorful paintings by Walter Ferguson and John Cody.

There’s no doubt that this book fostered my lifelong fascination with nature and science.

~

Illustrations and text: Copyright 1952 by C.S. Hammond and Company, Inc.

(Posts about my library are archived through this link: ridingwithcarl.wordpress.com/tag/library.)

Standing on a Corner in Winslow, Arizona

Self-portrait, April 1992
Kodak T-MAX 100 film (35mm)

Seven years later, Winslow dedicated Standin’ on the Corner Park—exactly one block north of this corner—as a convenient photo op for tourists passing by on Historic Route 66.

I’m glad that I arrived before the park was built, and that I stumbled upon this corner; to me, this spot succeeds in capturing the true character of a sleepy desert town.

Per Google Street View, here is what the corner of 1st and Kinsley looks like today:

I hope someone found a good home for the 4 Lanes Liquors sign.

More photos and the story behind this trip can be found in this post.

Rolling By

The semis roll through
Like stainless steel stallions
Goin’ hard, goin’ fast, goin’ wild
Rollin’ hard, rollin’ fast, rollin’ by

“Rolling By”
Robert Earl Keen

Kodak Panatomic-X 35mm film