Visiting Home

Day 6: Leaving the Denver area I traveled north on I-25 along the Front Range to my boyhood town of Loveland, Colorado. It's funny how things feel so familiar and yet are entirely different. When I left here back in the dark ages Loveland was home to about 17,000 people. Now the population has swelled to over 72,000. Visiting here brought back a lot of pleasant memories. Everywhere I turned something came to my mind. I love to visit but I know that I no longer belong here. It is similar to the German feeling of Sehnsucht. Longing for a place that can never be yet it still home.I stayed with my brother Eric and his wonderful wife Sue at her Mom's house. They are temporarily displaced while their new house is being built up in the Rockies. What a beautiful place it's going to be. It has a great view and it is easy to get to Rocky Mountain National Park from where the house is being built. Eric was awesome because he set up a blind and a bird feeder for me to use in the backyard. I really wanted to photograph a Blue Jay because I've never photographed one before. There weren't any Blue Jays in Loveland when I grew up there as a kid. But they are there now and I really wanted an image of one. Luckily for me the Jays obliged. After I finished photographing photographing Jays Eric took me out to photograph some of the local Prairie Dogs and then we headed up to North Park next to Loveland High School to photograph Canadian Geese and Fox Squirrels. I watched one squirrel insulating its nest with bark in preparation for the upcoming winter. We got home just in time to BBQ some chicken for dinner. Early Fall evenings in Colorado are spectacular. What a wonderful and fantastic day I had. Thank you Lord for the experience. God's love to all, chris