Category Nature
En route to Las Vegas
By Sunday morning we had done everything we had planned to do in Zion national park, and since Vanessa’s flight left super early on Monday morning we decided to wend our way back to Las Vegas. Along the way we stopped at the Valley of Fire state park, which was a step down from the […]
More Zion!
Up again in the wee hours, out with the first shuttle, and on the trail before dawn. Today we did three different hikes, with snacks and naps and a healthy serving (or five) of ice cream in between. Vanessa’s step-counter says we did more that 30,000 steps over more than 12 miles. Another fun day […]
The Narrows!
Yesterday I met up with Vanessa in Las Vegas and drove to the tiny town of Springdale, Utah, which sits at the entrance to Zion national park. This morning we set our alarms for o-dark-middle-of-the-night so that we could be on the first shuttle into the park and among the first people to head into […]
Misty hike around Coldwater Lake
It has been so chilly and wet in the Seattle area that it’s hard to believe we’ve almost reached the summer solstice and are about to turn the corner to shortening days. I really miss the warm springtime and early summer of other places I’ve lived. The risk of course is that if you wait […]
Not the week to travel
I was supposed to start the new year off with a business trip to Washington DC. A series of meetings and onboarding a new team member. Last week when snow and record low temperatures shut down all travel out of Seattle I rescheduled my flight, pushing it out to today thinking the additional day would […]
A merry Christmas and a snowy Boxing Day
Christmas was as delightful as could be. We rose late, brunched on quiche, and once Bryce joined us, sat cozily in the living room opening gifts and enjoying each other’s company. In early afternoon Amy and Carol arrived, completing the party for the day. We pulled together a tasty raclette dinner followed by games, pie […]
The sunset matched my roses
My garden felt a little empty today without the pond fish (as predicted, the full population has now died), and I felt a little blue. But as I left the garden after dinner I turned for one last look at the roses—just in time to see the pink and yellow sunset in shades that matched […]
Death in the pond
Something went very wrong today. This morning my fish were energetic and seemed perfectly healthy. I fed them, checked their water and treated it for ammonia and algae; pruned the water lilies. By this evening half of them were dead—including my prized giant black one—and I fear some, possibly all, of the others will be […]
More of the garden
I’m realising we’re already more than halfway through the summer and I’ve documented virtually nothing of my garden this year. Not sure why—especially since it has been huge success. Maybe I’ve just been too caught up enjoying it to want to stick my nose back in the phone to post about it. But if hate […]
Water lily
If April showers bring May flowers, the heat and sunshine of July bring water lilies. And oh, what a dazzling show they put on! I attribute this 100% to moving the pond from the spot next to the Japanese maple tree to where it now sits along the southern parapet. After going all last year […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 