Things not to do on your vacation: get sick ( Read more... )

I hear amazingly melodic birdsong. I look for its creator. Finally trace it to a tiny, innocuously drab bird. An even grey - no parts noticeably lighter or darker. In fact, not a distinctive mark on it. Beak more like an insect eater than a seed eater. Titmouse sized, maybe a smidge larger, but not a titmouse. Not a clue what it is, can't ( Read more... )

Bunny! Hop-hop-runrunrunning away because I startled it ( Read more... )

After my hike I drive into town to buy groceries. I am hungry before I even get there. It's not in the budget, but I decide to eat in a restaurant instead of waiting another 90 minutes or more until I can finish shopping, drive back to where I am staying, make something, and finally eat dinner at 10 or 11 at night. Having food appear in front of ( Read more... )

One end of the lake has a grove of aspen. There are many many birds in the grove. Mostly I hear them and cannot find them among the leaves, but a movement at eye-level in a tree by the trail makes me pause. It is a woodpecker. Most of the woodpeckers local to where I live are black and white, with tiny splashes of red. The bird a few feet from ( Read more... )

When I hike this lake I often pick up a piece or two of the beautiful slate that tumbles down the mountain on the East side. It is lovely slate, dark grey, almost musical as the shards clink and tinkle against each other underfoot. The section I love is also streaked with deep reds, oranges, and purples. Normally I exercise some restraint, pick ( Read more... )

It is too bad that, despite their geographical proximity to each other, Convict Lake is not fed by the Crooked Creek.
*****I hike around the lake. When I first arrive, the angle of the sun makes it a fascinating shade of blue - a deep blue with some teal in it. By the time I leave the lake is in the shadow of the mountains, and is an entirely ( Read more... )

It is night. I am sitting at the table reading. The sliding glass door closest to me is shut, but the one next to it is open in hopes of catching a breeze. I hear a noise and look up. There is an animal on the deck, looking in at me from the other side of the glass. It is less than three feet away. It takes my brain a surprisingly long time ( Read more... )

Driving to where I am staying, it is late, and dark, and I am tired. The chipmunks decide that it is great sport to appear from nowhere and race across the road in front of me. The first time it happens, I am driving down a mountain road, rock on one side, a cliff to tumble off on the other. I brake, but there is not time to stop, and I cannot, ( Read more... )

I'm running away to the mountains. I'll probably be back within the week, but I don't actually have a specific return date. I've got a place to stay. I'm taking my hiking boots, a bottle of sunscreen, and a bag of books. I'm going to be lazy and read a lot. I'm also going to take day trips to explore parts of the area I haven't seen yet, or ( Read more... )