So, it’s going to warm up again, right? I guess not. I forgot how much you have to check weather.com and the thermometer in Chicago. I’ll just be going about my day and then “Oh crap, it’s snowing. Hard. I don’t have any boots. Or a snow scraper. Please don’t let the windshield washer fluid run out” OR “Shoot, it’s raining AND freezing, I don’t have my raincoat AND down vest or parka.” Or then I wear a sweater to work at a school and it’s so f-ing hot inside I’m sweating all day long, but it’s freezing and windy outside. Geez Louise preparing for the weather in Chicago takes effort. I guess I had gleefully forgotten. But the schools in California were very cold and damp in the winter. So there.

Can I just get a little bit of sun, here? That would be nice, thanks.

I know this picture is a month or so old, but I thought it was pretty. And happy.

This one is from the Rockefeller Forest, Bull Creek Flats, Humboldt Redwoods State Park:

Someone transport me back to last weekend when we were enjoying the Allianz Cup in San Francisco. Last night I was awakened at 2am by my car alarm going off. I looked out the window and someone was trying to get into my car!! Talk about panic!! We shouted at him, but he didn’t budge, I couldn’t figure out what he was doing. Some people walked by who seemed to shoo him off. He stumbled away, talking to himself, then fell in the grass. He must have been drunk, high, or disturbed. We called the cops and they actually showed up in 5 minutes. After awhile, they took him away in the squad car. He probably wouldn’t have actually gotten into the car given his state, but I hope this isn’t a sign of more things to come. Back off the Honda!!

September 30, 2006

Trail to North Dome

Despite my many years of living in the 4-season midwest, I’ve never seen ferns turn yellow before. I was mesmerized!

purple coneflower

purple prairie clover

byron prairie, byron, IL

july 2003

So I’m on a flower kick. These are pictures from way back when I was *really* into taking macro shots of wildflowers, trotting around visiting prairies in IL. The best was when I realized there was a Nature Conservancy prairie right behind the school I worked in (not the Byron prairie). I noticed it when it had a controlled burn one spring because I could see all the black land behind the trees. I was then able to visit the prairie often and watch the flowers and grasses change through the seasons. Very cool (although I had to pick off a lot of ticks). It felt like no one even knew about the prairie and that it was my very own to explore, just me and my camera.

This is a picture of her amazing greenhouse:

We had a great time swimming in the pool, knitting, reading, and hanging out with J & B!

“His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand

The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake…”

-John Denver, Rocky Mountain High

Ok, so this isn’t in the Rocky Mountains, it’s in the Yosemite High Country of the Sierra Nevadas. But it’s the song that came to mind when I was sitting by this lake. We stayed there two nights and the second night we were the only ones there.

Yosemite National Park

Babcock Lake (about 9,200 feet elevation)
August 2006

Sorry if you’re getting sick of looking at mountain pictures, I like to look at them!

May 2006

I’ll be in Yosemite over the weekend, so here’s your Friday eye candy a day early. As a shout-out to Yosemite, here’s a picture from the spring. If you look closely you can see how tiny the people are on the edge of the waterfall. I didn’t expect this hike and this waterfall to be as impressive as it was because it’s a tourist hotspot and a popular hike easily accessible from the valley. I figured it couldn’t be as beautiful as Nevada Fall way above Vernal Fall that we hiked over on our way to Half Dome last year. Even though it was crowded, I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty and the scale of the falls, and the joy of the hike. It was so invigorating to go up the Mist Trail and get soaked by the downpour of the mist from the thundering falls on that hot day. Just thinking back on it makes me smile.

Sunrise at Garnet Lake 9,680 feet elevation

Ansel Adams Wilderness, CA
August 2004