Colorado and the West

Colorado and The West

The license plate for the state of Indiana, where I was raised, used to

say “Wanderer”. That never made a damn bit of sense to me for a land of

corn and hog farmers, but I followed it like a mantra around the world a

couple of times. I’m not saying a photographer has to go 12,000 miles to photograph, but I had to go that far, and then I took pictures. That paragraph would have applied to me for quite a few years as I traveled the world, from my teens well into my 50’s; but I don’t think it holds true now. I have lived in Colorado for over 40 years, the last 8 without leaving the state, let alone girdling the globe. At first, I found it difficult to see things I wanted to photograph. Perhaps unusual for Colorado, I was drawn not to the magnificent mountains, but to Eastern Colorado. The desert and plains visually and emotionally appeals to me as much as the Himalaya or a teeming Indian city, but in color and form it is subtle in it’s earth tones ; It gives up its secrets grudgingly, and I had to work at it, and be patient for the West to allow me to find it’s face.

*Click on a photo for additional text*

Wild horse capture. Rifle,CO.

A tragic and unnecessary wild horse round up using a helipcopter to chase the horses into a trap--ordered by the Bureau of Land Management, which is largely controlled, since it's inception, by ranchers, money and politics.

Bull

I came upon the giant longhorn pictured here on a visit to Dreampower Ranch, 160 acres nestled between Castle Rock and Monument in the plains of Colorado. Founded by Diane Benedict, It is a sanctuary for all kinds of rescued animals: from donkeys to dogs, cows to
chickens.
Chico was found as a calf, half frozen on a winter morning. He was brought into Diane’s, the owners house, thawed out and warmed with blankets and homeopathic camphor remedies. He lived on her ranch in the PAALS FOR LIFE PROGRAM * for 23 years, serving as a 2000 lb. ambassador to visitors and students, who at first might have been intimidated by his size, but were won over by his gentleness.
Some months after this photo was taken, with Diane’s arms around his neck, Chico went to the place where gentle steers go when they leave this earth. He might have needed to wait a bit while the gates were moved to make room for those long horns.