Monday, December 31, 2007

Count Down - #2

On the south side of Delta, there sits an old home, once someone's dream I suspect, but no more. It now it sits, waiting for what will surly come. I drive by it often, and this past April I captured this shot as spring embraced the home one more time.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Count Down - #3

On January first, the theme is your favorite picture of the year, so I thought I would do a top three, and here is #3. It was originally posted on 10/14, and shows the first snow up in Imogene Basin, which is about 50 miles to the South of Delta. The place has a special meaning for me as one year earlier we scattered some of my Mom's ashes there, near a waterfall that was one of her favorite places to visit.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Getting That Time of the Year Again

Well, it's getting that time of year again, time to figure out just how long we are going to keep the tree up, and what what do you do with used trees in Delta.......

How long do you keep your tree up after Christmas?

Friday, December 28, 2007

Yes There Is!


An Jilly, you were right, it was a ball. Somehow she knew!

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Is There Anything for Me?

Our dog Abby waited patiently for her presents on Christmas morning.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas Eve

We have six kids, and remarkably, we have not spent all that many days in the hospital with them. Christmas Eve was only the second time I have found myself in the hospital with one of the kids on a holiday, and the last time was about 16 years ago with Tim. Well, this year Rose got the honor. She did well at Angel Tree all day and seemed ok, but then she got a 104 fever, had trouble breathing, could not stand, then said something that really got us moving, "My arms and legs are going numb". Off to the hospital we went. It turns out that she has the flu (the real thing), and once we got her settled down and and the fever broke, she started to get back to normal.

Once we understood that that was not going to be a major illness, I found myself sitting in the room with her for a couple of hours as the completed all the tests, and naturally my thoughts went to this blog. :) So, using my camera of last resort, a.k.a my cell phone, I too this shot of the rather interesting light they have over the beds.

When all is said and done, we are thankful that Rose will come through all of this fine, and hope your Christmas was less eventful!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas!

Delta feels somewhat idyllic this Christmas morning, almost as much as in this scene found in a local business. I pray that you will allow God to touch and guide you this next year, and that His blessings will flow through you to make a difference in your community. There is no better place to be than in His will.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Angel Tree

Sorry for the late post today, but not really, as we were involved in something very cool. Our church took on 34 families with more than 100 kids in an Angel Tree program put on by the local elementary school. Basically it is a program for struggling parents to assist them in providing Christmas presents to their kids, and in some cases, what this program provides will be all the kids will get for Christmas. Our church is involved in many outreach programs throughout the year, and is VERY generous as a rule, and this program was no exception. It came together rather late when one person found out about the need, and felt called to get us involved, but the names were snapped up quickly, and a small mountain of presents was collected in 1-2 weeks. There had to be something between 40 and 50 bicycles of all types and sizes, and lots more. We spent the entire morning and afternoon delivering the gifts, and I was the logistics person for the delivery operation. There were a few moments of confusion, and we had to get creative tracking down families who moved, parental custody changes, or in one case where a single mom had died since signing up her kids, but I am fairly certain that we got all the gifts to all the kids. Small towns have their advantages. :)

Delivery did present one rather funny episode where the packages were being delivered. The delivery crew went to the door, and explained that they were from Angel Tree and had presents to deliver. The response was “I’m sorry, we don’t have any”, and the door was quickly shut. Sometimes we need to listen better, or we won’t know what we are missing! They called me, wondering what to do, and in the end, we got those gifts delivered as well.

The picture above is from one corner of the gym where we staged the operation. Hopefully it will give you an idea of what we were up to. Next year, if you hear about an Angel Tree program, embrace it, and help make it fly. I know that the people who were involved on both sides were blessed a great deal, and we want to make the opportunity available to as many as possible again next year. Thanks to all who participated, we could not have done it with out you!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Solar Power

Sunshine is a welcome friend on a cold winter day.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Health Food

There is nothing like a "Health Food" sign to great you after a nice piece of Pecan Pie & Ice Cream.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Lights

Delta has lights everywhere this Christmas season. Many streets are like this one, with a majority of the houses showing their spirit. Do you light up your house this time of year? Sorry for the bluring, the wind must have hit the tripod.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Rip In The Sky


Delta has had a rather unusual number of cloud covered days lately. Typically we get 300+ days of sunshine per year, so I guess we are working on the 65 days right now. Yesterday afternoon however, a large rip in the clouds appeared reminding us that the sun was not far off.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Jack Frost Attack

Delta hit single digit temperatures this past week, and Jack Frost was hard at work attacking car windows.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

He Ain't Heavy


He's my brother...

Also, thanks Dan for moderating yesterday's comments. You can expect some DDP swag in the mail soon :)

(For those not sure of what swag is, click on the link, and read #3)

Monday, December 17, 2007

No Water


Sorry, I could not help myself. :)

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Metal Art Store

I have never been inside of the Metal Art Store, but I like their sign!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

View From The Past

I wonder what those in the past would think of the future we have created......

Friday, December 14, 2007

The Edge of Town No More

Back on 10/4/06, I posted a shot of the old building on the right as the edge of town, for now. Well, that time has passed, and "progress" (In the form of a Taco Bell) has started the march east.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Bike Storage

This old bike looks to have been here for some time.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Clouds Win

As the clouds pull back, you can see that they won the fight....for now.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Breakthrough

The sun and storm clouds battle it out up on Grand Mesa.

Monday, December 10, 2007

No Admittance

No room at the Inn, no admittance, same result.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Another Day Closer

The sun rises once again, and we get another day closer to Christmas. You don’t need to look hard around Delta to see that Christmas is coming. Decorations abound, and I don’t recall seeing so many lights up so soon after Thanksgiving. I will try to show you some of the holiday spirit that is around town as we get closer.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Parade of Lights

Last night was the annual Parade of Lights, and one of my favorite floats honored the veterans from years gone by. With all the political talk going on these days, it is easy to forget about the individuals who willingly sacrifice their lives for the freedom we enjoy in this country. Last night, we got a chance to say thank you men and women for your service!

Friday, December 07, 2007

Valley Heartbeat


If you don’t get enough to read in your mail, each of these boxes outside the post office promise to inform you even more.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Round and Round We Go

Exactly where are we going again?

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Going and Going and Going


I recall a movie once where a person tied some rope to his steering wheel, and climbed out the sunroof to drive from up there. This worked since there was a distinct lack of roads curves on the road. While I would not recommend this, it just may work here.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Don't Fence Me In


Open land abounds in western Colorado.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Lazy Day

We had a lazy day last week, watching the ducks do the same.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Opening The Shades

I opened the shades on my office window this morning, expecting to see some snow on the ground since it was blowing last night. Alas, next to none on the ground here, but the Grand Mesa got hit, and that view was worth opening up the shades for.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Deep Thought


A penny for your thoughts.......

Friday, November 30, 2007

The Road Turns


But if you don't turn, you will probably survive.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

On The Move



I got back to Confluence Park a couple of days ago, and the ducks were at it again. I am not sure if they are just on a stop over or here for the winter, but they do like to chatter. Today's post is a short video of the activity.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Up on the rooftop

It is that time of year again; time to climb up on snow cover roofs so as to temporarily increase electric bills while hopefully not incurring hospital bills. I love this time of year! :)

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Guesses Please

I am curious if anyone knows what is going on in this picture. I will let you know in a day or so, and look forward to your guesses…..

Monday, November 26, 2007

Collision Course

A battle of chicken…..using ducks

Sunday, November 25, 2007

The Confluence

As I have mentioned before, Confluence Park is at the confluence of the Gunnison and the Uncompagre rivers, but I have not actually shown you the confluence. The Gunnison comes in on the left in this picture, and survives for a while longer.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Geocaching

I had heard about geocaching a while back, but got the bug to try one out last week when I discovered that there was cache down in Confluence Park. We headed out, and after some swamp time, got back on the trail and found the cache. The cache included a log book, and various little items, toys, etc. You can leave one and take another. We left the SunRocket (RIP) tape measure, and took a travel bug. A travel bug is a tag with a serial number that is attached to an item, and it's progress is tracked online. It was great to get out on the trail for the morning, and I suspect this is something we will start doing more of.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Blogger In Training

I took two of my girls on a Geocache hike last week, and Colleen insisted on bringing a camera to document the trip. More on Geocaching later.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Eternal Smile

Back on January 25th, I posted another shot of smiley. Vandals have since done a senseless attack, but he is still smiling. Even thought he really could not choose how to react, I think he is a good example of how we should react when things go against us. A smile goes a long way!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and keep smiling!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Fuzz Bombs

I love these plants that spring up around the water in this area.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Morning has started

Things are just getting started for the day at the grain elevator.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Still Morning

The early morning sun on a windless morning makes for some fun places to photograph.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Breakfast

Lesson one in the growing-boy diet!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Please Send ME Your Nickles

I guess you can have too many nickels, but if they don't want them...........

Friday, November 16, 2007

Picnic Place

Not a bad place to picnic!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

An Artist’s Perspective

It seems that a local artist decided to paint the lake at Confluence Park, did it on steel, and cemented it in place. I expect there will be some more landscaping added in the spring, but this is a unique addition to the park. Glad to see the town working on this park.

On another note, I am going to start trying to put the daily back in deltadailyphoto, and I have some contest ideas I am working on as well :)

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Inside Moca Joe's

When you enter Moca Joe’s, there is a certain warmth, and you feel welcomed. You can grab an over stuffed chair, and pick up paper to enjoy with your coffee, a muffin, or even a locally made breakfast burrito. The person behind the counter may be an employee, or the owner, but they are all very friendly. The consistent stream of customers all seem to be experiencing the same feeling, their morning is starting out well. Oh yea, the coffee is excellent as well! I like their Skim Vanilla Latte (I am a creature of habit) better than the big chain variety.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Moca Joe's

A number of years ago, I was at a gas station in Delta, and asked the attendant where the nearest Starbucks was. She said “a what?”. Starbucks I repeated. The man behind me laughed, and said, “they don’t know what a Starbucks is around here. You will need to go 40 miles north to Grand Junction”. Well, they do know what a Starbucks is now, but they still don’t have one, and that is not a bad thing. When the big chains don’t move in, the independents have a fighting chance, and Moca Joe's is one of those that seem to be doing well. In this case, I like them better than Starbucks. Tomorrow we will venture inside and I will explain why.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Could someone please turn the handle for a few seconds?

In the lobby of the Delta County Court House, there is a drinking fountain, but if you are thirsty, you had better look elsewhere, as another is already waiting for a drink…….

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

A hard place to blog

I actually did not take many pictures on my trip, but I could not resist this one. My guess is this place does not have a daily photo blog since the URL looks to be available! I wonder if we were near the middle……….