As I mentioned already this past weekend was a mostly stay-at-home weekend. I hate just being a homebody, though, so we mixed it up with having a friend over on Sunday- and going on an easy hike together. "Easy" was the speed because Hawk is still recovering from foot surgery a few weeks ago ( Read more... )

It's been yet-another take-it-easy weekend. That's both a good thing and a bad thing. Good, because it's enjoyable to relax at home, both alone (just the two of us) and with low-key friends. But also bad, because I've had several low-key weekends in a row. At some the enjoyment of simply relaxing goes flat and I need adventure ( Read more... )

Last weekend we went walking in Byxbee Park. It's along the edge of the San Francisco Bay in Palo Alto. We've been there numerous times before. One reason we like it is that it has a slight hill. Of course, that hill is man-made- it covers an old dump. Yes, sadly, for many decades Bay Areans were like, "Let's take all our trash and just pile it up ( Read more... )

Our visit to Byxbee Park on Sunday wasn't just spur-of-the-moment hawk watching. As much as we enjoyed the surprise visit from a few hawks we also hoped there'd be some good wildflowers. Although it's early in the year for wildflower blooms, the weather has been right: lots of rain several weeks ago, and warm and dry for 3 weeks since then.


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Last weekend we managed to get out for hiking both days. After Saturday's slightly more ambitious tromp at Edgewood Park I felt like taking it a bit easier on Sunday, especially because one of my feet was still hurting from pushing a bit too hard at Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge the weekend before. We ruled out the more strenuous, more ( Read more... )

Saturday we went hiking at/near Byxbee Park in Palo Alto. Byxbee has been a local favorite of ours for the past few years as it provides a network of trails that allow us to plot a route of shorter or longer length, all with great views out across the SF Bay and to the mountains on either side. The authorities have forced us to mix it up a bit, ( Read more... )

The weather today was nicer than expected so we made a point of going out to hike. ...But locally, because lockdown. After a failed attempt yesterday at returning to Sierra Vista Open Space in the hills above San Jose we decided to keep it even more local today and visit Byxbee Park, owned by the city of Palo Alto.


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Yesterday morning I wrote I was going to get started on my taxes this weekend. Indeed, I did! I began Saturday morning with an hour or so of entering basic information into my software. Then it was time for a break- because this was, by design, a weekend both taxing and untaxing ( Read more... )