Photos and Bits of News

I'm having a lazy morning (only because I woke early and decided to stay up). I'm actually not rushing for a change, and that's a rarity. I'm sure that won't last long. I was looking through my emails and other notifications and came across some really wonderful photos and news and this and that. Since my mind is focused on tomorrow's trip to the annual Minnesota Mineral Show (rocks, rocks and more rocks - yippee!), I think I'm just going to share photos and bits of news for today's blog. Here we go. 

Here's a great photo taken on the final day of the 2019 Le Tour
de France in Paris. After the crazy days in the Alps. I think the
riders were grateful to see the cobblestones of Paris at all. I and others,
however, felt a bit cheated at having the final day in the Alps
cancelled completely. 

First off - earlier this week the route and stages for the 2020 Le Tour de France were revealed/announced. If you follow the link here, you'll see all of the stages in profile. The important thing to remember this time is Le Tour is earlier this coming year, beginning in late June (June 27) and ending a week earlier than usual (Sunday, July 19, 2020) to accommodate the riders planning to do the road race on July 25th at the Tokyo Olympics, 

As you can see, the route for the 2020 Le Tour takes
place almost exclusively in the central and
southern portions of France, only pulling into the
northern section for the final day in Paris. 

Although the route is varied, I'm not super happy with it and complaints are rolling in. There doesn't seem to be a lot of sprint stages, and the route almost completely ignores the northern part of France. The article I linked to above also has details of each stage. I'm getting the feeling I should begin my 2020 Blog photo file already, since the stages are pictured so nicely for me. I'd be a step ahead. 

I was also looking through some rather amazing photographs this morning, and thought I'd share a few with you to start your weekend off in a good way. So, here are a few photos I found nice enough to archive. 

I adored this double rainbow over golden fields. The second
rainbow is faint, but you can see it clearly on the left side, closer
to the edge of the picture. Really beautiful. 

I've shown this photo from 2004 before, and it's still
one of the most stunning mixes of rainbow and tornado
I've ever seen. 

Anyone who knows me well knows I'm extremely fond of waterfalls. Here,
the photographer caught the sunlight reflected in this Yosemite waterfall
just right to make a photo with a "rainbow waterfall" effect. Yosemite
National Park is known for its waterfalls, and this photo is an excellent
example of why. 

So, on that note, I'm off to the gym and then heading out to work. I hope all of you have a great weekend and I'll be back for a rather rushed Monday - it's looking like it'll be a VERY busy week ahead. Be safe, be happy, and spread joy.