Samuel A. Johnson

Themes 145 and 151

A presto movement, and a thoughtful, quiet piece that I like to call “Resolution.”

Theme 145

Theme 151

Sitting on the Back Porch

Waiting for 2021. Theme 130. Relax and enjoy.

New Music

Theme 137, using trombone and bassoon solo instruments to make little arpeggios and colors. Two minutes and forty-three seconds of bliss. More on the way to, someday, a symphony. Hmmm.

Theme 137

And, as always, a poem to keep you thinking.

Musings on a Winter Day

Two new poems and Theme 142 for a change of pace.

Theme 142, a playful piece.

Theme 140: Lament

This is in memory of my dad, who would have liked this, and would have encouraged me to keep at it.

Lament

And I’m wondering about this wonderful little fold, which looks like a local phenomenon, not affecting the strata around it. C’mon geologists, gimme a little interpretation here!

Theme 132

This is to help cheer you through 2020. As always, use headphones or good speakers!

Hiking the Rippled Niabrara Sandstones

Hiking the extensive trail system that connects Red Rocks Park with Section 16, west of Colorado Springs, one encounters an impressive array of ripple-marked sandstones, a beach back in the Mesozoic, now dipping at almost 90°. The so-called “White Acres Trail” should have been named “Ripple Mark Trail.” The steep east-facing slope of the hogback seems to be Niabrara sandstone, but is backed on the west by Dakota SS, both of which form hogbacks. But how about these classic ripple marks?

New Moths for 2020

Like everything else in 2020, mothing wasn’t great for me in the Pikes Peak Region. I wasn’t able to distinguish additional species from the few moth photos posted to Arthropods Colorado and Wyoming, and I’m sure I missed some. But on a single trip up Bear Creek in early August I discovered two species of moths new to my database. The first (above) is probably Hellinsia homodactylus, a Pterophorid, and the second (below) is Glyphipteryx montisella, a Gelechiid, nectaring with a few tiny flower beetles.