Meanwhile, in August

I'm going to be traveling for a few days and probably will not have much internet access. So, to tide you over, here are some more pictures from last month's Nebraska vacation.

When you are lucky, you get twenty minutes of lovely sunset:



But before that happens, you have hours of this:



I challenge anyone who was educated in an American elementary school to look at that picture and not think of Woody Guthrie's words:

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway.
I saw below me that golden valley.
This land was made for you and me.

Meanwhile, on a lighter note, I bought this:



The Beer-Bottle Scope. Basically, it is an 18x50 monocular. 18x is pretty aggressive for a handheld instrument, but it also has a thread so you can mount it on a camera tripod. The quality is so-so, but then my viewing eye is also of so-so quality, making me a terrible judge of optics.

Here, our handsome spokesmodel demonstrates its use.