A few odds and ends

I have a few pictures and places that I thought were interesting but did not have a whole post.  Above is the world’s largest easel in Goodland, Kansas.  Besides the easel, Goodland claims the first U.S. Helicopter.  It didn’t fly.

Wyoming is a state with lots of contrasts.  You saw the mountains. This is between the ranges, as very dry place.  Good for geologists and fossil hunters. Below shows some cabins.  Why you want a cabin against that rock is beyond me, but some do.

Below more arid Wyoming on the road from Riverton.

This is the University of Colorado.  It is in Boulder, a truly pleasant place, at least in the summer.

Finally, below is a really big cottonwood at University of Colorado.  Cottonwoods are great trees.  They are less popular than they should be because they grow very fast & very big, with greedy roots.  They also give off a cottony seed, hence the name, that tends to be messy.   But the big complaint is that they don’t live very long.  This is true but not usually relevant.  A cottonwood will live 75-100 years.  This is not very long for a tree, but long enough for most human needs.  Few trees in a human environment ever get at chance to live longer, since somebody moves a road or builds a house and cuts them down.   A tree that could live 500 years is no better than one that could live only 100 years if both are cut down before they are 50.