Scenic Outlook Ahead

My back deck can be a lovely place for picture taking. There are a great many things to see from up there and I have a guilty habit of spending much too much time just standing and seeing. I have learned something: My eyes see much better than my camera. There is probably a camera somewhere that takes pictures as well as the eye does, but I don't have it. This is a full moon through my cottonwood (which happens to be the tallest, hugest, ugliest tree for 3 blocks around). I am told that the man who planted it bought it because it was "cottonless". This was either a lie, or they magically change into "cottonful" once they hit 75 feet. Either way, toward the end of this month, our home and yard, as well as those of our neighbors, will be showered with cotton puffs deep enough to resemble snowbanks.

My camera can zoom pretty good. This is the tree in my neighbors' yard, and in the distance, the Draper temple. Again, my eyes see it better. It is about 15 miles away? This got me wondering, so Husband and I climbed onto the roof. There are two more temples visible from up there, and if it weren't for the other tallest, hugest, ugliest cottonwoods (on the next 3 blocks), I'd have fuzzy pictures of them, too.