The Soul of the North Cascades
Bernie and I went to Big Valley to go snowshoeing on Thursday.
This is one of the few groomed multi use trails in the valley.
The groomed trail was so nice and compact that it was easy to walk on in just my boots.
And then at other times we made our own trail by snowshoe.
We made a track down to the Methow River.
We actually used to live across from Big Valley when we lived in Winthrop before.
We would cross the river by foot, and explore the trails that snake their way through
Big Valley.
It was good to visit this area again.
We enjoyed many expansive views from the large open fields.
See, here we are in BIG Valley.
(Bernie is showing us how big)
~
I have been practicing writing most mornings lately.
Below is a piece that I wrote that I am pondering sending into our
local weekly newspaper, just for the heck of it.
I am enjoying writing, and I look forward to improving on it.
Bernie and I just moved back to the Methow Valley after 3 years of exploring our country through the beauty of the Aleutian Islands in 2008, the Pacific Crest Trail in 2009 and the Appalachian Trail in 2010. Over the last three years the valley has been in the back of my mind and deep within my heart. We had only lived in Winthrop two and a half years during our previous stay from 2005 to 2007, but there is something so special about this area that it has felt like home from that first moment.
When we were pondering a place to move to for 2011, I kept trying to convince myself to try another part of the country, to experience something new and fresh. We visited the Southwest, and were in awe of the raw beauty that red rock country holds. And then we talked about the Oregon coast, to experience the wild call of the open ocean. The west still holds many places filled with the pureness of nature, and each of them would be spectacular to explore. But the more that I thought about exploring a new area, the more I felt the call of the Methow Valley.
In our travels through the United States, this area is still one of the most beautiful I have experienced. Being nestled in the North Cascade Mountains provides a setting that is nourishing for mind, body and soul. How can one not be moved by nature here in this place that is still so saturated by it. The sheer majesty of the North Cascades provides a picturesque backdrop to our little communities. Right in our backyard we have an almost endless playground to go explore, and the inhabitants of the valley make sure to take advantage of this. I am being reminded each day of the amazing bounty of outdoor recreation opportunities that this perfect location grants us. We are exploring on almost a daily basis by snowshoe, and the spring and summer months call to me with their endless trails that will be revealed as the snow slowly retreats higher and higher in the mountains.
The community that exists in the Valley was another strong draw to return to this area. Sadly there seems to be fewer true communities in our nation with each passing moment. I feel that small towns are one of the few hopes left for whole communities to exist. And the Methow Valley holds one of the kindest and loving group of people I have had the honor to experience. When living here it feels as if you are part of one large family, and yes, like any family we have our small upsets with each other. But more often I see everyone holding out their hand, asking how they can help each other, or simply being there with some kind words. During difficult times I think a community is measured by its kindness rather than its monetary gain, and with that I see the Methow Valley’s great riches.
And so after trying to ignore the melody of this area, it has called me back. I am excited to once again be an instrument in the great orchestra of the Methow Valley. We have been welcomed back with the warm embrace of the community, and the joyous beauty of nature. Our time here will never be measured by the turning of a calendar, but by the experiences that build ones mind, body and soul.
A little treasure of nature that I found on our trek through Big Valley.
Canyonlands ~ Island in the Sky
Ok, I am obviously failing at keeping up with blog posts.
Part of the reason is that we are getting ready to move!
Hopefully by the end of this week we will be driving over the North Cascades,
back to our home in Winthrop Washington!
We lived there from 2005 to 2007, and I LOVED it there.
It has called me back ever since we left, and now I am returning home.
But for now I continue my posts on our Southwest trip.
We drove in the north entrance of Canyonlands,
heading toward Island in the Sky.
We again stopped at the visitors center and watched the video on this park.
Then after talking to the rangers for a little bit, getting a feel for places
that we could camp that evening, we headed out to do the viewpoints.
I was feeling a little sluggish that day,
my body did not feel like a long hike.
So we did a short hike to the upheaval dome area.
Then we drove to the Green River Overlook,
and enjoyed sitting at the edge of the cliff looking out over the view.
It was peaceful to simply sit, and witness Nature.
Looking out across this vastness it was amazing to reflect on the
fact that water had created all of this.
It is a slow process from our perspective,
but in the lifetime of the earth it is an ever flowing process.
The earth shows us that “aging” is a graceful process,
one in which to embrace every line,
every contour,
every experience!
We then drove to the Grand View Point Overlook.
There is a lovely trail here that we walked down a little bit and found
a over hanging rock to relax by.
We took books with the intention of simply being in this space for a while.
As soon as we sat down I felt the rocks pulling me down,
gently into their embrace.
My eyes grew heavy and I did not fight it.
I laid down embracing the rocks,
feeling completely comfortable on their warm surface.
I slept.
I dreamed.
I wish I could remember the dreams.
Isn’t it cute how I cross my feet while I sleep?
haha, I just love that picture!
As I met Mother Nature in Dream Land,
Bernie enjoyed Being with Nature.
He Read.
He Witnessed.
He took pictures of me sleeping.
It was an easy place to Be Natural.
As the sun drifted lower in the sky,
we made our way back down the road and onto BLM land to spend the night.
It was a great day of resting with nature.
My mind, body and soul were re-charged, and I was ready for hikes again!
Cama Beach Wooden Boats
On Saturday my Parents, Bernie and I went on a little outing to Camano Island.
The Center for Wooden Boats at Cama Beach was having a nice get together for people with wooden boats.
So we brought along Bernies newly finished Kayak, and dads woodstrip Canoe.
Bernie got to take his maiden voyage in his kayak.
It felt a little different than he imagined it would, but its a good boat.
You can see by the smile on his face that he enjoyed getting it in the water for the first time.
There were beautiful wooden boats of all types.
These traditional style skin kayaks are amazing to look at.
They are simply held together with artificial sinew.
Instead of skins now they use Nylon.
The beautiful thing about these wooden boats is that we got to see all the details of the boats,
including some in the process of being made.
My dad got many compliments on his beautiful woodstrip Canoe.
He made a matching set, one for him, one for my mom.
He followed a method, but instead of nailing the strips to the form,
he strapped them down, so there are no unsightly nail holes in the wood.
It created an amazing finished product.
He even learned how to weave a cane seat.
Pretty impressive!
There were several sail boats that people brought.
It was a perfect day for them too.
Enough of a breeze to be able to move around, but the water wasn’t too rough.
It was a lovely day, and fun to look at everyones beautiful work.
I enjoyed some time sitting on the beach,
looking out across the water.
A boat drifting past every once in a while.
North Cascades ~ Day 2 ~ Part 2
We made it to the top of Devils Dome. Filled our tummies with a good meal, still not sure if we were going to continue on or camp for the evening.
After enjoying the view for a little while we decided it would be much nicer to camp up on top and watch the sunset and get to see the beautiful morning light on the mountains. From Devils dome we were headed down to Ross lake and then back to the car. It would have been a shame to hike on farther and not get to see the sun set on the North Cascades.
So we stopped early. It was only 5:30pm, we had lots of time to just sit on top of our mountain and admire all the mountains that surrounded us. We set up camp.
I enjoyed a brief cat nap in the warm sunshine, ahhhh!
After a few minutes of that I got up once again to stretch my legs around the top of our dome. Looking around at our 360 degree view. Ridges surrounded us, snaking in all directions.
Being out in nature brings great joy to the soul. Mind, body and soul can’t help but blossom when one is surrounded by such beauty and pure energy!
As we moved into the magic hour the light was AMAZING! Natures radiance glowed from everything that surrounded us. We were blanketed in her warm embrace. The sunlight seeped into each pore of my being.
I love the lavender hue that moves across the landscape as the sun gets ready to dip below the horizon.
When the light is just right you can see the magic that hangs in the air. Can you see it?
What an amazing place to spend the night! I am so glad we decided to camp on top of Devils Dome. Our evening was filled with so much beauty and magic! The sunset was Stunning!
North Cascades ~ Day Two ~ Part 1
On day two of our hike I am not sure we even made it 10 miles for the day. There were so many magical scenes to capture our attention. It really was a beautiful day filled with lovely hiking and many stops to just soak in the nature around us. We got so many pictures that I am making day two a 2 part entry.
We really were stopping all the time to absorb the feelings and beauty of nature around us. It seemed like even though we were looking at the same mountain range most of the time it really was changing with every mile or two that we hiked.
We saw so many different angles of Jack Mountain. It really is a stunning peak. I am not sure that many people even get to see it. One of the best hikes to view it is this loop, and there was no one out there except us. We heard from another hiker that there was a family that probably did the same loop as us, but it took them 11 days. In the above picture I loved the stripes of exposed rock on the left hand side of the picture. We actually walked right under those little rock shoots. I think it was rock pushed by snow/snow melt in the spring. It just had such an interesting feel to it.
The white peak on the left is Mt. Baker from the backside. Its so interesting to have a totally different perspective of the mountain that we get to look at from our yard. It just looks like one of many peaks from this perspective. From our house we only see it and the Twin Sisters, you would never guess the magnitude of the North Cascades lingering just behind it. Its always good to get another perspective in life!
Here Bernie is basking in the beauty of the mountains that are embracing us. Ah, such a peaceful moment with nature! He is stretching open his mind, body and soul. When we fully open ourselves to the world around us, we are often amazed by the feelings that flow through us.
All the different colours of the meadows, forests, rocks and skies made it feel as if we were immersed in a painting. You can feel the brush strokes of nature here! Look at the amazing colour palate that she chose. I think its called “Mountain Summer Splendor”.
And of course in between photo stops we had blueberry stops! I love to pick a handful at a time and then pop them all into my mouth at once, Mmmmm! Nature has the most pure tastes, so vibrant and full of energy!
We also got to overlap a section of trail that we hiked back in 2004 when we did the Pacific Northwest Trail. It travels from Washington’s outer coast to Glacier National Park. It came right through this part of the North Cascades. It was neat to see what parts of the trail I remembered and what parts seemed new all over again. I found myself drifting back to that hike a little bit.
As we neared Devils Dome we got to do a little bit of ridge walking. This opened up some of the views to the north, giving us even more expansive views of the mountains around us. We stopped often at different view points, pointing out other ridge lines and peaks that we know from other hikes, such as the Pacific Crest Trail.
We are almost to the top. Another pause to absorb these views. I could sit and look at each of these views for weeks and still not absorb all that there is to see and feel in these places.
There are so many special places on this earth. We could spend lifetimes exploring them all. I am endlessly grateful for the amazing places I have been able to experience in my lifetime, and I look forward to visiting many more. I am also very grateful that we have one of these beautiful places so close!
Nature has taught me so much through the years. I love her and am drawn to her embrace. With time I have learned to take her with me when I return to society, and each time I return to visit her wild places I bring even more of her back with me.
North Cascades ~ Day One
When we were still hiking on the Appalachian Trail earlier this summer I was dreaming about getting back to Washington for a hike in the North Cascades. Originally I thought that we would take a week off when we got back home and then take off on adventures of different lengths through our mountains. Well, the rest period proved to be a little longer than that week, and a month after ariving back in Washington we made our trip into the North Cascades.
We chose a 40 mile loop near Ross Lake. We have had the chance to hike through North Cascades National Park in the past, and the mountains are so rugged you really dont get to enjoy them because you have to hike through the valleys where the views are extremely limited. The ridgeline we followed on this hike is one of the first ridgelines to the east of the park that allows you to hike up high and get an AMAZING view of all the mountains. You are truely immersed in the center of the mountains in that area. We took my Canon Rebel Camera with us, and took turns taking pictures. This is a collection of pictures from both Bernie and I.
Our first day we started out hiking along a most beautiful creek that follows highway 20 for a little while. The song of the water tumbling over the rocks dimmed the sound of what traffic did happen to go by. This stretch of Ruby Creek has several reminders of its prospecting past. There are a few old cabins, barely holding form in this world any more, their stories fading into the dirt even faster than they are.
And then we started our climb. Its a stretch of a few miles to get up to our first real views of the hike. I huffed and puffed more than I was hoping to, but it was a good journey up. The trail took us through beautiful woods with little streams cascading down the steep hillside. Even though its a steep climb up, it was so very nice to be on a graded trail again! The east coast does not quite grasp the concept of switchbacks, so it was lovely to experience those once again.
Soon we found ourselves with the first views as we stood in McMillan Park (my moms maiden name……). It was not a very big park, but the woods opened up in little patches of meadow and wetlands. I was out front along this stretch, and as I strode along the path all the sudden a movement on the trail ahead of me caught my eye. At the same moment s/he saw me. I believe we even froze at the same moment. About 150 feet in front of me a coyote stood almost motionless, assesing the situation. I even started to second guess myself, is there something on the trail? Or are my eyes playing a trick on me thinking a log is an animal? Nope! I saw its tail twitch. So there we stood for a moment, Bernie paused a few footsteps behind me. And then the coyote decided to move along, and it trotted off the trail into the woods. I am sure watching us long after we had last caught sight of it.
Next we came to Devil Park Shelter. I had forgotten that there were a few shelters still dotting the North Cascades. Many have been torn down over the years instead of putting time and money into repairing them, which is a bit sad really. This one needed some roof work, but it was still a fun experience. It made me feel as if I was on the Appalachian Trail once again! We enjoyed a little break exploring around the shelter. A deer and group of grey jays stopped by while we were there, on the chance that we might have something extra to share with them. While we did not pull out our food, we offered them some company and a little bit of conversation.
Devils Park was really the first amazing views we got! What an amazing energy the whole area had to it. And the light and colours of everything. I could have just sat in Devils Park for days to absorb everything. If one fixed the roof on the shelter you could easily set up a summer camp and just absorb nature 24/7!
As the day passed we started following along the ridgeline that we would be swinging around on. The light changed, highlighting different mountains as the day wore on. Giving us endless photo opportunities. Each moment was filled with such beauty, it was hard not to take a picture every second!
I love being able to look ahead, or behind us and see the trail stretching off into the distance. A faint slender line gently making its way across the sides of ridges. It creates such an amazing sense of scale. You can see where you have come from, where you are going, and how tiny your trail looks from this distance. You can start to feel the immenseness of a landscape such as this one!
That first night we slept in a lovely little blueberry clearing. We were both tired and fell asleep promptly at dark. I woke a couple times to enjoy the beautiful stars shining so vibrantly above, but would quickly pass back into dream land. Mmm, a lovely first day to our 3 day trip!
Birthday BBQ
Yesterday my parents and I went to a BBQ at our friend Stephanie’s house. It was a very lovely gathering of about 20 people. It was partially to celebrate her birthday (which was on the 8th….), but also just a yearly party she throws to get to see many of her friends. She has a beautiful yard filled with bright blooms, and an amazing view of Mount Baker. The weather was so beautiful, it actually felt like we were in big sky country! Mt. Baker was mysteriously hiding behind a cloak of clouds.
The nicest seats in the house were going unused….. It was a shame, what a beautiful place to sit and visit! As it was I didn’t even try to take pictures of people because everyone was sitting in the shade with the sun behind them, so I didn’t feel that I was going to get anything good. So I enjoyed wandering around the yard and capturing the beauty that we were surrounded with!
Not only was I enjoying the flowers, but many little guys were totally immersed in each bloom. I love the fuzzy bumble bees!
And then Mt. Baker made a grand entrance! I think many of the guests even missed it because they had their backs turned toward it, or were immersed in their conversations. In the first picture of this post, Mt. Baker is hiding behind that pile of clouds. It shows you how vastly different the perspective of one view can be. Her view is even more spectacular than ours, just because she is a little bit closer to the mountain than we are. It just looks amazing with those big fluffy clouds sitting behind it, accenting its rock and snow.
I enjoyed getting to meet some new people, and visit with others that I had not seen for many years! And there was SO much good food! Everyone brought a dish or two, and it was all amazing. Gatherings such as these are wonderful, because you get to share with each other in so many ways.
Oregon?
I know what you are thinking….. Wasn’t it last weekend that she was in Oregon? Yup, I am just a master procrastinater! So here are some pictures from the mini road trip that mom and I took last Sunday before coming back home. We did a really beautiful loop heading east from the Salem area.
The resevoirs were all pretty busy with people out in boats. Everyone enjoying the refreshing energy of water on a warm day.
We found this old cash register while walking along a beautiful little creek. I think moms hypothesis was probably right on, someone stole it from some store, and dumped it in the creek after emptying out the money to get rid of the evidence. Nature has a way of reclaiming and making everything beautiful!
We stopped multiple times along this creek, this spot being the most amazing! They took an old bridge support and built this platform out over these deep pools for fishermen. The pool was deep and SO beautiful! I just can’t believe that colour. Mom and I were both drawn to the water, it looked so inviting, and perhaps if the road did not hover just above us we would have worked up the courage to peel off a couple layers and take a dip. Although it would have been quite refreshing! We did stick our feet in though, and through that we were rejuvenated!
I wish I had caught the smile on her face as she splashed her feet in the water. This creek brought much joy to my mom! We could have both stayed there all day long. But we moved on, and had a beautiful drive up and over a pass and then looped back around to Salem. We stopped and bought some fresh peaches, and then started our long drive back home.
A Union in the Beauty of Nature
This past weekend my mom and I made the pilgrimage down to Salem Oregon to attend my cousin, Annika’s Wedding. We were not 100% sure we were going to make it down until the day before, which perhaps is a good way of doing such a journey, not thinking about it for too long. So Saturday morning we packed up my cute little car and headed south. The drive only took us 6 hours, and that was with a couple brief stops and some traffic, not too bad!
We checked into our hotel and got changed into our wedding outfits. I have to say I didn’t manage to bad considering I never attend weddings (well except for Annika’s brothers wedding last year….. Its the in thing to do in their family aparently). I somehow managed to not get a picture of myself at the wedding, perhaps because I was the one with the camera.
The wedding was outdoors, and at a beautiful location. Outdoor weddings always seem to draw in the slight threat of rain, and this one was no different. It sprinkled a little in the hour before the wedding, causing everyone to hold their breath for a few moments. But the weather decided to behave itself, and was quite nice. The ceremony started at 7pm, backlit by the lovely evening sun peeking through the light layer of clouds.
It is so nice to enjoy the outdoors during a wedding ceremony. As they were saying their vows a little white whispy seed floated across in front of them and then off into the evening sky. I am not sure if anyone else witnessed this, but to me it was the blessing of nature on their union. Birds danced through the sky all around us at different times during the ceremony. The creek gurgled softly in the background.
You can’t see it in my pictures above, but the creek was right behind the wedding party. What a beautiful symbol of spirit flowing past them.
The reception was lovely, held in a very comfortable space. We got to visit with family, catching up on a few stories here and there. It is quite sad in certain ways, I have 16 first cousins, and manage to barely stay in contact with only a couple of them. I would love to talk to them more, and share stories of our journey through life, but as we all know life has a way of taking us all on different paths, and sometimes it is hard to stay in touch while walking those seperate journeys. But I got to visit with my cousin Bradley and his beautiful wife Kathleen (we attended their wedding last fall). I really enjoyed our time together! I also got to visit with a couple of my aunts and uncles. It was a lovely time to catch up, and as always much too brief.
My aunt Judy, the lovely mother of the bride made much of the food for the reception. She is a great cook, and the food created a wonderful comfortable home feeling for the evening. Then there was the cake! Beautiful, yummy, and way too much of it for all of us to finish off. Someone is having cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
As the evening light faded happy chatter and laughter filled the air. People making new connections, others visiting with old friends. We watched a slideshow of the lovely couple from childhood to their journeys together. A few brave souls danced a couple songs. And then it was time for the send off. There were little tubes of bubbles on each table, we made our way to lining each side of a walk way, and started blowing bubbles. Annika and Matt left in a cloud of bubbles, what a fairy tale ending to a union in the great outdoors!
Cama Beach Getaway – Part 2
We awoke to be able to see the Olympic Mountains through our cabin window.
What a beautiful sight to enjoy while eating a little breakfast and waking up.
They were shining bright with their cloak of snow.
Daddy-O (my nick name for my dad) and I went for a 5 mile hike.
There was a lovely trail that connected Cama Beach State Park (where we were staying)
with Camano Island State Park which was very close.
We enjoyed walking along this beach, and I had the chance to play around with the camera’s timer.
These beaches must be packed in the summer,
They are simply so beautiful!
There are signs all around this park talking about claming season.
And there is also a boat launch that a couple people were taking advantage of as we walked through.
We were often watched closely from a safe distance,
Just in case we had a snack that we felt compelled to share!
After a lovely walk,
with our muscles feeling invigorated from moving in the fresh air,
We returned to the cabins.
This avenue that travels in front of the cabins will become a mini highway in the summer,
as everyone brings their families to enjoy this gem of a resort.
There is a certain energy to the islands.
This sunset conveys it wonderfully,
A gentle peace, with soft beauty.
Adventures Along the Spit
What a spectacular day spent in the sun!
Bernie and I went to Semiahmoo Spit today.
Its a great place to spend the day taking pictures of water fowl.
Because it is a spit you can follow the sun from one side to the other, getting the perfect light on your subjects.
The first bit of wildlife we came across was this very regal Bald Eagle.
She was sitting on this snag watching the world go by.
We were taking some pictures of her, and she took off,
Only to return shortly with a tuft of grass she had collected.
Does it look like a good place for a nest? She seemed to be really thinking about it.
In this photo she looks quite proud of her little tuft (which later was blown off the snag by the wind).
There is a nice pier next to the resort at the end of the spit.
It’s a favorite spot of Bernie’s to observe all kinds of different birds out in the water.
Last year they installed these viewing machines.
They are a great way to look across the water at the small town of White Fish, in Canada.
And another one looks toward Mt. Baker.
I took along a few of my needle felted acorns, and left them as little treasures.
I wrote up a little note to go with them.
“I am a good luck charm, hang me somewhere special to always remind you to follow your dreams!”
I hope they bring a little spot of joy to a couple peoples lives.
I have so much fun leaving them places!
On our way back to the car we came across a little flock of Black Turnstones.
What sweet little birds!
These guys were very calm and trusting.
I could even get close with my camera, and capture some photos.
The light and setting was just beautiful!
On the way home we stopped at Birch Bay to watch the sunset.
We had just enough clouds to create a beautiful contrast.
So lovely reflecting across the water and sand.
Cama Beach Getaway – Part 1
My Dad wanted to do a little get away with me before we left on our Summer adventure.
So I did some looking around for places near by, and found a treasure!
Cama Beach State Park is located on Camano Island. It is the newest state park in Washington.
It is a small resort that was built in the 30′s for familys to come enjoy in the summer.
Its a collection of really cute little cabins. They are simple little buildings, but very comfortable.
All but 4 of the cabins lack a bathroom within, but a new and very nice bathhouse is very close by.
It was quite humorous to me that so many people complained about not having a bathroom within their cabin.
Even though each cabin had hot water, a fridge and electricity (which includes heat).
Our every day luxuries are taken for granted.
It is valuable to take a moment to appreciate everything in our lives,
We are truely blessed with many comforts that most did not have 100 years ago (or even more recently).
The day we arrived we were welcomed with a beautiful glowing sunset.
The light on the water was truely beautiful.
It was the start of a relaxing couple of days along Saratoga Passage.
Our weather was really wonderful for this time of year!
The clouds passed in front of the sun a few times, but over all we were blessed with lovely sunshine!
It truely felt like spring, I really could not believe that it was February!
The wildlife abounded in the area.
What a special treat to be able to watch all of these beautiful creatures.
There were many different water birds (unfortunatly this is a weak spot in my bird ID skills).
I watched a porpoise swim through the passage.
A pair of Bald Eagles lived in a tree above the cabins, and spent their days soaring the skies and calling to each other.
What a tranquil setting, it is no wonder that these cabins were built here.
And what a treat for many more to enjoy!
The property has been slightly restored and improved by the park system.
The cabins really are a wonderful price, making this a reasonable getaway for families!
To See More
My World Tuesday
Enter Here
Light Shines Within
We took an evening walk.
Mount Baker was basking in the sunlight.
Even though it is only January,
It really did feel like spring today.
These pictures speak stronger and more beautifully than my words ever could,
About our lovely outing,
Soaking up the sunshine.
The park that we visited has a lovely fragrance garden.
This garden held a fragrant beauty for us to meet.
I recently learned that this is the blooming season for Witch Hazel.
A lovely surprise this time of year!
And today I learned,
It comes in red also.
Peaceful moments spent outdoors,
Soaking up natures essence.
Tonight my light shines within!
The Art of Appreciation
Our weather cleared up a bit today, we even had moments of sunlight! This is a treat here in the Northwest during the winter months. Bernie and I took a little journey to the Chuckanut Mountains today. We have not been getting outside as much as we enjoy lately, so it was nice to get some fresh air and be immersed in nature. We ended up hiking about 6 miles, which was a good stretch for our legs and souls.
Nature emulates the same form in many different ‘beings’. Here is a tree impersonating an octopus. It looks as if this tree started as a little seedling in a bit of dirt on the top of this rock. As it grew it spread its ‘arms’ to embrace its new home. What a beautiful form it has taken! I love to see the life in plants, they are such amazing beings to me. If you have ever doubted that plants are ‘alive’ and ‘conscious’, take the time to sit in nature and watch the plants around you. Not only might you watch them come to life through the day, they might start to talk to you in their own special way. What do the plants have to teach you?
This moss illustrates how wet it has been around here lately. It has soaked up the rain like a sponge, and is still dripping with it, even though it did not rain a drop today. What amazing form these little plants take. I love to look at the form of these graceful little beings. There is so much detail we can miss in our every day world if we don’t take the time to slow down and enjoy it.
The cedar trees were coated in this beautiful lichen on the lower part of their trunks. It highlighted the amazing patterns that the cedar bark grows in. Each tree had a unique ‘painting’ on it.
It looks as if this tree is stepping into the light, to enjoy the wee bit of sun rays that were shining through the canopy. Are you stepping into your own personal light?
We did a big loop hike that takes us on a beautiful journey through the woods, seeing many amazing different scenes along the way. The light was not plentiful today, thus the slight darkness to many of the photos. But it was a spectacular day to spend outside, enjoying the beauty of nature. And when the sun managed to peek through the clouds and the tree canopy, it was a special treat that made the emerald foliage on the forest floor glow.
What a beautiful day Bernie and I got to spend in the Chuckanuts. If you feel yourself being down, tired, or bored in the winter months; take the time to go outside. Nature has an amazing way of re-setting our souls, helping us come back to our center.
And I received a treat when I got home. A lovely lady I met on Facebook, Peggy Halevi is in the process of publishing her first book. She asked if I would like to review a copy of her not yet released book, and give her my feedback, I was honored! Well, her book arrived today, and I look forward to reading it!! “The Art of Appreciation” by Peggy Halevi will be immerging into the world shortly. This has prompted the title of this post, because I truely appreciate my life in every way!
A Christmas Filled With Beauty!
Well, I had a lovely Christmas with my beautiful family! We had a very relaxed and peaceful day. It was filled with beautiful moments shared together, and some really special gifts for each other! As you can see from the photo above, we rarely skimp during Christmas, although I truely feel that we are moving away from getting “stuff” as was sometimes the case in the past, and now are making an effort to make and get items that we know will mean something to each of us.
Now, I do have to say I wondered if perhaps we were getting a few too many presents under the tree when Angel was slowly getting pushed out of her bed. It looks as if she is holding her own, even though that red present looks as if it is planning a territory take over.
I got many fun presents today, little things that add to my hobbies. But I have to say there was a couple presents that I am quite excited about. The most meaningful present to me this Christmas was two pendants, one for Bernie, and one for me, from my parents. They had these custom made by an amazing local artist.
If you are not familure with the Sea Otter aspect of our lives, Bernie is a Wildlife Biologist, and before I met him had done several years of Sea Otter research. Two summers ago, we did a volunteer job together up in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska doing Sea Otter research (If you want to see some photos from our journey here are the entries from Bernie’s blog on that adventure! Visit here ). These are truely beautiful creatures, and I fell in love with them! So these pendants are a gift from my parents to remember our adventure with these beautiful animals!
This first pendant is mine, with a beautiful sentiment of love from my parents on the side.
The tallented lady that did this scrimshaw work is Tina White, and she lives here in Bellingham. If you would like to see some of her amazing work I would highly recomend visiting her website www.scrimworks.com . And if you have Facebook, I suggest looking her up by searching “scrimworks”. Her personal site has some beautiful photos of her scrimshaw jewelry.
My parents pulled out a couple of pieces of scrimshaw that they have collected over the years, and there is simply no comparison! Tina does such amazing detail! The other pieces simply look crude next to her work. My photos don’t do justice to these pieces of art, the detail is spectacular! We were looking at these through a jewlers ring, wow!
This beautiful pendant is Bernie’s. Tina really captured the essence of the Sea Otters. So much of the Sea Otter artwork that we have seen has simply lacked accuracy, and the inner essence of what these beautiful little souls are. It is amazing with all her artwork how she captures the essence of what ever she is carving into this fossilized Mammoth Ivory.
My other present I am excited about is this new Sansa clip+ 4GB MP3 player. I know that this is standard equipment for many now days, but I am a little behind. So this was a lovely gift from Bernie for me to be able to take music with me when we go hiking (yes, the Appalachian Trail is seriously calling to me….. I did not think I would be saying that so soon). The technology is truely amazing! I can’t believe how many things this little tiny piece of plastic can do. It also has an FM tuner for when I get bored with the music I put on it. It has beautiful sound!
Another very meaningful gift that my dad is making for Bernie and I, is a serving tray. He does beautiful wood work, and he is creating a beautiful Maple tray with an inlay of two hikers (us) with a mountain in the background. He was not happy with his first attempt at the inlay, so he is starting over (he loves to get his projects perfect). The parts he has done, and shared with us today are really beautiful, and such a loving gift! I look forward to sharing pictures of it when he gets it finished. He made mom an absolutely beautiful Walnut serving tray. It is not quite finished either, but close, and it is an amazing piece of wood!
I also got a few books, all of which I am excited about reading. They are all about our food system now.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
by: Barbara Kingsolver
The Omnivore’s Dilema
by: Michael Pollan
The Wisdom of the Last Farmer
by: David Mas Masumoto
What a beautiful Christmas! It was filled not only with beautiful gifts, but wonderful time spent with my family, enjoying the amazing energy that is the Holidays! I hope everyone had a beautiful day with those that are near and dear to them!
Did you get any special gifts this year?
What did the Holidays mean to you this year?
Reflecting From Within
When we see the beauty within ourselves,
It reflects onto the world wround us,
And we find that we are immersed in beauty at all times.
So take the time to remember your beauty,
In all its forms.
So we did get snow this weekend, but it was only a couple inches, and did not lend itself to a photo opportunity. So I share this picture from a few winters ago, when my parents came to visit our home in Winthrop. My dad took this picture one morning. There were many moments filled with beauty in Winthrop.
My Adventure – Part 3 – Sedona
Now the Grand Canyon is a very magical place in its own way. I love that I got to see and experience it once again, and look forward to going back some day. But I do have to say, my favorite place on the whole trip was Sedona. Again, I had been there 7 years ago with Bernie, and loved the little bit of exploring we got to do then. It was wonderful to feel the amazing energy of this place again.
The whole area is immersed in these magic Red Rock formations. The colour in these photos is not messed with, they are really that red. Its a great experience to be surrounded by so much vibrant colour provided by nature. And look at it against those amazing clear blue skies.
We went for a couple little short walks. The wonderful thing about being immersed in the middle of these formations is you can take a very short walk, and be right next to the rocks. This walk was 1 mile each way, mostly flat. It was a good healing walk for moms cold. We got her out in the warm sunshine, enjoying some beautiful scenery (that is her in the white shirt)! The weather continued to warm as we were in Sedona, and we were able to melt the little bit of chill left over from the Grand Canyon from our bones. Being from northwest Washington, it was really nice to experience that warm dry air for a change.
There are a few energy vortexes in the Sedona area. This is a unique thing to experience, and is quite advertised in the area. We went to one that was easy to get to, and sat there just after sunset until the sky got nice and dark. I can not say that I have had a life changing experience on one of these vortexes, but I do believe that I can feel a slight difference in energy, kind of comforting and cozy. I am sure with some time spent just being in these places, one could tune into the energy more. It is an aspect I would like to explore sometime in the future. Its easy to understand why these vortexes exists here once you have been to the area. The energy of the whole valley is just different from anywhere else you have been.
Above is part of the town of Sedona. Its both lovely and sad that it snakes its way through the rocks. What a magical place for a town to be, but also a bit sad to see chain stores and mini malls right in the middle of such a view! But the beauty does attract people….. and where people go, building follows. The fun aspect of all the people in the area was watching the trick or treaters in uptown Sedona. This is the main tourist shopping area, and lots of people turned out to get treats from the businesses. We sat at a sidewalk cafe and had dinner, watching everyone walk by in their costumes. There were mostly plain costumes, cute, but not creative. But I do have to say we saw a couple unique ones. Probably the cutest of the night was a girl of about 10 or so dressed up as Barbie, but they went one step farther. They rigged up a whole box to look like the box you buy Barbie in. they had the little viewing windows, painted pink, Barbie written across it. Very cute! She walked around inside the box, lifting it up as she walked, setting it down to pose for pictures. Wish I had gotten one!
This was the view from our room. I was standing on the little balcony attached to our room to take this photo. It was truely peaceful. We had a little creek, Oak Creek, flowing right below the balcony also. It was so lovely to sit out there in the morning and listen to the water, and watch the sun slide across the Red Rock. Then at sunset the rocks would glow like this. Amazing!
Well, the trip was magical in many ways. And we had a beautiful time in Sedona. We got some Christmas shopping done, did some lovely little walks to see some rock formations, relaxed in the warm desert sun, and had a good time together. We packed up our belongings, quietly said our goodbyes to Sedona, promising to return in the future and started our drive back to Las Vegas to catch our plane. When we started our road trip out of Vegas we had seen a couple herds of Big Horn Sheep near Hoover Dam. There was no place to pull off to get pictures, but on our way back, after we had crossed over the dam and started to get back into the populated area of Las Vegas, we saw a herd of males next to the road, enjoying the well watered stretch of grass along the highway. We were able to safely pull off, and I snapped some shots. This guy seemed to enjoy the photography session. I have loved Big Horn Sheep since I first saw them in Yellowstone, they are quite majestic creatures.
Well our flight home went well. It was a bit sad to see the grey skies again, and the rain. But we enjoyed our trip, and the photos are a good inspiration for us to return to this beautiful area some day soon.
My Adventure – Part 2 – The Grand Canyon
Las Vegas was interesting, but I have to say that the trip really started for me once mom and I took off on our road trip. First destination: The Grand Canyon. We made it to Williams the first night out of Las Vegas. This is the gateway to the Grand Canyon, and it was a very cute little town. We spent the morning shopping a little bit, finding a few good gifts. It was SO cold though! I really did not expect it to get so cold on our trip, but alas it did. It spit snow on us a little bit driving into Williams that night, and then the next day right as we made it into Grand Canyon Natioinal Park we god a couple more snow flakes spit at us before the clouds started to slowly give up and drift away.
The clouds turned out to be perfect though, it added some dimension to the scenery. And with the lovely lens that Bernie let me borrow, with its great polarizing filter, I got some wonderful pictures on our journey! The colours of the Canyon simply amaze me. Its spectacular to look down into this gaping hole in the ground and see all these beautiful colours accenting every formation and bend.
Unfortunatly Mum started catching a cold at this point, and was having a hard time breathing. She did not feel up to any of the steep climbs that the Canyon is filled with, so we kept our outings simple. This was a lovely 1.5 mile walk along the rim. We got to see different view points (mum enjoying one of them in the picture above), giving us many perspectives on the Canyon. Its great to see the trails snaking down toward the river at the bottom. It made me really want to strap a backpack on and head down to the bottom. When I met Bernie seven years ago I was not a hiker at all, I developed this skill quickly as I joined him in his adventures. The Grand Canyon was my first real overnight hike with a backpack. We had been doing day hikes up to that point, and driving out dirt roads and camping, but we had not done a hike in camping trip yet (The Grand Canyon adventure was only a month or two after we had met). This was my first time back to the Grand Canyon since that adventure, and looking down at those trails brought back some memories. I have walked literally thousands of miles since then, and it would be great to go back down with a whole new perspective.
We saw a flock of beautiful little pygmy nut hatches in a tree along our walk. I do love the nut hatches. Such beautiful little birds, and a great personality! They jumped around the tree, gently talking in their happy tones to each other, gathering little morsels of food. I snapped this picture just as he pulled a seed out of the cone, and a moment later he had flown of to hide his treasure in a food stash somewhere.
There are many buildings along the rim. A good handful of them are giftshops such as this building, the Hopi House. Most of these structures were designed by Mary Colter in the ’20′s and ’30′s. They are all beautiful and unique in their own ways. Showcasing materials of the area.
The day we left the Canyon we drove along the rim to the east, and stopped at many of the viewpoints. Its amazing how quickly the Canyon changes. Each vantage point is spectacular, and reveals a new perspective.
Another of Mary Colters creations.
Standing at the edge….. Loving Nature!
My Adventure – Part 1
This was the sunrise here the morning we left for Las Vegas. What a beautiful send off! I am not a morning person, so I don’t see a lot of sunrises, lol.
The convention that we were attending was at Ceasars Palace. We stayed at a different hotel about a (Las Vegas) block away. These are the statues that greet you when you first walk in Ceasars. All the details that they have put into this massive building is amazing. It is beyond imagination how much it cost to construct this monster of a resort. The whole place takes up a huge amount of land, and is a maze to get around.
This is an indoor cafe….. all the detailed painting, and statues. It amazes me.
One of the fun parts of one of the shopping areas there is the FAO Schwarz Trojan Horse. Only in a building of this size could something like this look at home. Its pretty neat. We went to the Forum shops at Ceasars also, very expensive over all, but kind of fun to look through. Things that I would not normally see shopping around here in Bellingham. I did find a Christmas gift for mom though.
One evening we made our way up to Fremont street to have dinner, do some shopping and experience the light show. For anyone that has not been to Las Vegas, this is a walking only street that has a huge lightshow built over it. It runs a couple blocks long, and every hour or so each night they put on this big show with music. We happened to be there for two shows, and each one was different. At the end of each show there was a Halloween bonus show. These two pictures are from one of the bonus shows at the end. Its a pretty amazing thing to watch. Nothing in Las Vegas is small.
Mom and I had a good time in Las Vegas. It is an interesting place to visit once in a while. I have to say it is not a place that I would really enjoy living in, or spending too much time at. But its always good to get a different perspective on life, and Las Vegas will do that for you for sure! It is entertaining in its own ways, if you have never been you might ponder doing it once as a once in a lifetime experience. It’s unique!
A Weekend Full Of Spring
My Dad and I outside of the Farmers Market
This weekend finally felt like spring. We had REAL spring weather. Today it made it up to 68 degrees, wow!! And the energy felt like spring also. We got to do some fresh, new things. Saturday started out with my parents and I going to a local car auction. It is a once monthly thing, and there are some great deals sometimes.
My car is on its last legs, so I am looking around for some new possibilities. Unfortunatly I have little money to invest in a new car, so I am looking for the best deals out there. I had my eye on a couple of the cars, but they ended up going for a little more than what I could afford. I think they were still a very good deal, but just not for me. I will most likely go again when we get back from our hike.
And then we went to opening day of the Bellingham Farmers Market. I LOVE farmers markets, as I have said many times before, so it was really nice to go and enjoy it again. Bernie did not have interest in the auction, so he met us at the farmers market. I got to visit with some people I know that are vendors there. Christie my good friend that I work for some times was selling her body products, and doing very well.
Bernie and I went to visit Heather, the lady that made my purse (which you can see by going here) . She is such a sweet and loving soul, she always gives me a great big hug when I see her, and I barely know her! I can tell she is someone I would really enjoy getting to know more. We told her we are getting ready to hike the PCT, and she was very excited for us. Its always been a dream of hers to hike the PCT. She told us to chose one of her little pouches to carry with us on the trail, to put our things in. So sweet and generous! This is the one I chose, her new peacock design. It will be cherished, and well used!
We have a hen hatching out chicks. What we have been doing with the chicks from the last hen and this hen is to take most of the chicks away as they hatch and raise them in the trough with the chicks that we bought. Then the last couple of chicks to hatch (they hatch over a few day period) we leave with the mother. We have been doing this because in the past when we have let the hens raise all of their chicks, things go well for about a day if we are lucky. Then a chick dissapears here, and then there, and over the next couple of weeks we whittle our way down to one or two chicks. So instead of loosing those ones, we are simply raising them ourselves, and letting the moms handle the number they seem to be able to keep track of. It works really well!
This lovely trio is the chicks that I pulled out of the nest today to join our growing group in the chick trough. They are sooooo sweet! I had them out in the lawn, featuring as models for an upcoming post. These are some of the behind the scenes photos of them snuggling with me in between takes. They really thought I was their mother. They were sticking close to me, and I could tap my finger around in the grass and dirt and they would run over to see what little snacks I had found for them. My family was making fun of me (in good nature of course) of my love for chickens. I am a bit lost on chickens….. oh well. How could you not love that?
It was a very lovely weekend all said and done. Productive and full of fresh spring energy.
Daily Outings
Since my photo’s are limited at the moment, perhaps I can convey our adventures with words….. I hope my writing is good enough to express the feeling of our outings.
Yesterdays outing was to the Oakland hills with Bernie’s parents. It was quite a nice walk over all. The route we take is a loop trail that takes you through a shaded redwood and California bay forest. You tread upon an old dirt roadbed, a little creek mianders through the valley you climb, gently babbling and feeding water to the trees that tower over you. Sun rays sneak their way to the forest floor in a few spots, putting natures highlight on little gems here and there. We turn onto another trail, gently climbing up out of this majestic little valley. At the trail junction we are suddenly surrounded by millions of ladies. Lady bugs that is. They are huddled into groups and piles all over the surrounding vegetation. They are mostly close to the ground, little clusters here, large clusters there. When there is sunlight focused on a spot of them, they start to crawl around, you can almost hear them celebrating the warmth. We join in their little community for a few moments, enjoying their company, and watching their habits and interactions.
The higher we climb the redwoods and California bays are slowly replaced by a towering eucalyptus forest, surrounded with various shrubs and trees. This time of year the Eucalyptus don’t seem to have a lot of resins/saps coursing through them, because the area is not permeated with that all too familiar smell. Later in the year their intoxicating scent will fill that area, announcing to each person their presence. As we move into this area more sunlight makes its way in between branches, dancing across your face. We pass a talking tree, holding a gentle conversation with the wind, and the world around it. As it sways its voice creaks, and as it swings back it sighs.
Slowly you notice a new character. Who is this with its little jagged and curly leafs? Ah, we have entered into coast live oak land. These hardy little oaks always amaze me as we walk among them. They create their own special habitat, and seem to thrive where many other plants don’t prefer. Soon these are the main beings that surround us as we move along the trail. What fascinating, sturdy trees these are. We are now getting high enough that the views pop open when there is a little gap between the trees. You can see for great distances, all the homes and cities stretching out below you. You would not believe when you are being embraced by nature up here that there are so many people pulsing through the veins of the city down below.
We all stop at a bench to enjoy a lunch with a view. Our feet rest, our faces soak up the sun, our eyes soak up our surroundings. As we continue on we meet a man with a little dog full of enthusiasm, and a larger dog, calm and wise with age. They all jog by, looking quite content with their outing in nature. Our direction begins down, losing a bit of the elevation we have gained. The man has turned around, and passes us again, with the wise dog, the little one is on an adventure, exploring the brush somewhere. There is trust there, the man continues on, he will show up. We bid him well and turn onto another trail, quickly moving down. But wait, we are now joined by a little dog, his eyes asking us if we have seen his dad. We try to point him the right direction at the intersection of trails, he just does not understand our words. Back and forth he goes, a moment of barks that I understand clearly. “Where are you dad? Which direction do I go?”. So Bernie and I turn around. We try harder to bridge the language barrier, he looks confused, not quite listening to us, what do they know anyway? But then a moment of revelation. Ah ha! Dad must be this way, and he bolts off. We wait, making sure everyone found their way. He doesn’t show up again, and so we make our way down, bidding farewell to the hills and the little dog. In moments we have droped back down to the trailhead. There is the car, and Bernie’s parents waiting for the update. Yes, everything is well, we can now go home.
Todays outing took us to the Hayward Regional Shoreline. This is an expansive trail along the shore, with many different parking/access points. We started off, the first moment on the trail we are graced with golden showers on both sides of the trail. Some type of Acacia is in full bloom. I take a moment to smell these little wonders, they remind me of something….. I just can’t quite place what it is though.
The trail makes its way to the shoreline, and then we turn left. We walk past a water treatment facility with a large mural painted on one of their buildings of humpback whales. Most of them are swimming under water, but one jumps joyously out of the water. Tidal marshlands are laid out to the left of the trail. There are some shore birds, but the tide is high, so most of them are resting, waiting for the water to recede and reveal the little treats that are hidden within the mud. A few poke around where they can get to a shallow spot, but it is relaxed, they seem to be passing the time.
Gravel crunches under our feet as we walk. Every now and then Bernie stops to snap a shot. Various birds decide that we are not too bad, and they accept us as we stop to watch them, and click away. Who knows what those silly humans are up to with those clicking machines in front of their faces…… but it seems harmless enough.
I have brought a couple of my needle felted acorns and a little note reading “I am a gift to who ever finds me. I am a good luck charm to make all your dreams come true!”. I scan for a place to leave my little treasure. Here comes a bench with a good view…. That will do. I set them down with a couple rocks securing the note from the gentle breeze. I hope they bring someone some joy….
We come across a group of Canada Geese, but they have some interesting visitors. Three snow geese seem to have found themselves in this group. Are they lost? Do they just want different scenery than all the other snow geese? Are they having an identity crisis? Or do they just find those Canadians entertaining to hang out with? What ever the reason, I hope they are enjoying themselves.
We walk, we snap shots, we turn around, we walk, we snap some more shots. This is an interesting place to walk. We are at water level, but there are no obstructions for quite a ways, so you have an expansive view of the area. You can see the city of San Fran in the distance, from here, it looks like a little toy set of buildings all stacked close together. You can see up into the Oakland hills. Little clusters of houses inching up into the hills like fingers. It always amazes me how much green space is up there. When you can see houses and buildings stretching as far as the eye can see, its really nice to see green hills. Mount Diablo stands in the background. A green giant sticking up above the other hills around it. Bridges crossing the bay, here and there. Little toy cars (or so they seem) streaming in lines across them. Jets roar over at carefully timed intervals. FedEx, Southwest, FedEx, Southwest, some other plane….. and so on.
The sun slowly descends into the west. The evening takes on that warm golden glow of late day. The best light for taking photographs. Bernie finds a group of willing subjects, so we linger for a while. The large groups that were resting with the high tide sense the change in direction of water flow. They start to stir. First just a couple take to the air, making the short flight to the other side of the path, landing on the bays edge. Slowly little groups wake up and fly to the feeding grounds. Bernie stands in the middle, capturing their movement as they fly around us. Pretty soon you can see thousands, no millions of little shore birds moving along the shore, poking into the mud and sand, searching for their dinners. As the minutes pass by, the tide slowly recedes, and with it the birds. They follow the edge, each of them working the mud in their own unique ways, with their own unique bills.
It is time to make our way back to the car, the sun is setting. As we come to the end of the trail we are surrounded by the Acacia again. But something is different. The magic twilight has enticed them to release their intoxicating scent. The air is filled with their perfume. What an enjoyable way to end our walk.
Whew, I have not written that much in quite a while. But it’s a wonderful exercise to get me to reflect on the details of the day. We are surrounded with beauty each moment, take the time to enjoy it!
The lady bug photo is courtesy of Bernie from our outing the other day. I played around with some different effects and created the final product.
Getting Ready
I am in the process of getting ready for a couple of things. The biggest one is a road trip. Monday Bernie and I are heading south to visit his parents in the San Francisco Bay area. We do this just about every year, around this time. We will most likely spend about two weeks there, and then we are continuing on with a road trip. We are heading down through the desert. We have no idea what route we are taking, but we are just heading toward Arizona and see what catches our attention.
While we are at Bernie’s parents house we will have our computer and be able to do blog entries, but there is a high chance we will be leaving the laptop at his parents house so that we can leave the car for a couple of days to do hikes and not worry about things being stolen. In that case we will not be able to keep up with blog land *pout*. I have to say I have quite enjoyed the opportunity to meet all my friends out in blog land, and I will be sad to not be able to keep in touch for a little while. But we should have a quite enjoyable time on our road trip, so we should have lots to share once we are back near a computer.
The other thing I am getting ready for is participating in the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival. I am trying to get together a nice giveaway package of items that I have made. I thought I would share the link in case anyone else felt like participating. Its fun, and its amazing how many people have giveaways during this week. It runs January 26th – 30th, with the drawings on the weekend. If you are interested in having your own giveaway or just entering in hundreds of giveaways when they come along visit:
Beauty in Everything
Its been raining and raining here, which is just part of life in Northwest Washington. Sometimes it is hard to appreciate the rain when you have been immersed in it for days. So I went digging through the picture archives on the computer and came up with this one. This is to remember there is beauty in everything. This picture was taken a few years ago by my dad. Most of the time our clouds are just a flat sheet of grey extending across the sky, but every once in a while they work themselves up into something special.
To see more beautiful skies visit:
Merry Christmas!
We Have had a most beautiful Christmas! We got a good bit more snow over night, so we are having a wonderful white Christmas! Its been an extremely relaxed day of opening presents, eating brunch, and going outside.
Bernie and I went out to do a bit of sledding. This is the new sled that we got as a present. We don’t have the biggest hill in the world, but its still pretty fun. We have a pretty good track going on it now, so the sled flies down at a decent speed.
I spent some time doing scenery shots when the sun came out, and Bernie headed over to the pond area with his camera to get some birds in the snow. I love this shot of our big Fir tree’s shadow stretching out accross the field in front of me. We have had feeders up since it started snowing, and we have quite the flock of birds coming to visit us and eat. The list of birds grows on a daily basis. Today the most exciting ones for me were the slate colored junco, fox sparrow, Oregon junco with no tail, mourning dove, and towhee. I love to sit by the window and watch them. Bernie will probably be posting some of his photos from today over the next couple of days, if you want to see what he has been up to visit:
I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday, and enjoying each beautiful moment! For those of you with snow, I hope you are unleashing your inner child and spending some time out playing in it! For those of you who didn’t happen to have snow this year, I hope you are enjoying your inner child in other grand ways! Merry Christmas!
For other peoples view of the sky visit:
