Beauty is the harmony of contrasts.

 

"Beauty is the harmony of contrasts."

Alfred North Whitehead,
20th century philosopher

Today was amazing!  I started out on the Plains at 5,000 feet with golden Cottonwoods glowing next to rock formations in silhouetted in shadow.  The temperature was about 50 degrees. Then, hiking up to a lake at 9,700 feet, I found floating green water lily leaves with snow glistening in the trees and on the peaks.

Finally, at 10,100 feet, I reached a lake where the conditions were wintry, with snow blowing all around and the wind chill hovering near zero.  How amazing it is to live in a place where so many different environments abound!

Photos: (Top) A farmer's fields, an irrigator, Cottonwoods glowing, and the Devil's Backbone, near Loveland, CO; (Middle) Waterlily leaf on Nymph Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; (Bottom) Blustery winds buffet a Limber Pine, with Hallett Peak looming in the background, Emerald Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO.  All three photos were taken on October 27, 2014