First light on the Foggy Forest

This morning we got up early to head inland and check out the fall colors and (hopefully) see some fog rising out of the valleys. Well, when it came to the fog... we hit the jackpot! This morning gave us the best foggy views that I have ever seen in all my years of photographing early autumn sunrises in Grand Portage. The light and the fog was constantly changing presenting us with an incredible amount of variety in the view of the landscape laid out before us. This definitely ranks as one of the top mornings I've ever spent in the woods!

Relatively Pink but Quite Charming

When a bag of 4 daffodil bulbs labeled 'Pink Charm' showed up at the dollar store in fall .., I paid the $2 and planted them in the bulb bed. At that price I didn't really expect them to be pink... at least not pink like the Narcissus cultivars 'Accent' or 'Salome' or 'Filly' had been in my Illinois garden. I just hoped they'd live long enough to make a few flowers of any color before disappearing the way so many daffodils do in Austin. Instead of disappearing, they've made flowers for 4 of the 5 springs they've been planted here. And although the small trumpets don't look pink right away, look what happens after the flower has been open for a day! {click to expand the photo and look into the heart}
Even a Coral narcissus is Pink enough to make me glad I took that $2 chance.

Ms. Muscovy

Ms. Muscovy is the only duck here who flies much. The Indian Runners can't be bothered, Ms. Mallard prefers to waddle, and Mr. Muscovy is too heavy to get off the ground (unless Jasmine is chasing him).
Lately she has learned that on the rim of the dog pen (that serves as their nighttime predator protection), she'll be away from the drakes' loving attentions, yet remain part of the flock. Being part of the flock is pretty important to ducks.
The roof of the workshop is Ms. Muscovy's other favorite place to land.

Belated Dad's Day at Limantour Beach!

Oh boy! I'm a little bit late about this, but did I tell you what a great time I had with Dad on Father's Day? We went to Limantour Beach after hitting Blackie's Pasture - Limantour's my fave (only the waves were pretty big) and I hope it was Dad's fave too. Dad tossed my kong to me hundreds of times and I can only hope that he had as good a time as I did.

Hmmmm - can't quite get it wrapped into my teeth!
Then we met Meridel, who was quite adept at kong stealing, even though her mom and dad insisted that she'd never retrieve a thing! Hah!
She wanted my kong, alright! And was pretty good at trying to get it!
Then Dad threw me for a loop hehe! Such salty water! (such a salty doggie!)
I got my rest stops, then fresh water, cause I was so thirsty!
Here's Dad - throwing long!
A truly gorgeous day at the beach with pelicans dive-bombing for whatever it is that they feed on! Have a great weekend and hopefully, my secretary can play catch-up.

Down!

The birds in the flame tree about 1.5km before I crashed. There are times I envy them, but I suppose they have days like this too.



Well I suppose now was the time it was traditionally "supposed" to happen, but that doesn't make it any easier to take. It happened when I was lane-splitting my way through the gridlock on the Sundale Bridge today -- something I've done a zillion times before, well there was this ute ahead (had to be a friggin' ute didn't it?) who apparently wasn't sure which lane he was in (although he wasn't actually moving anywhere -- that's what gridlock is all about). Actually, I managed to get into a position where I possibly could have gone by, but I just felt a little uneasy, and moved back, then tried for the gap around the ute, and didn't make it.

Strangely, it still came as a shock to me that I actually went down. It took a couple of seconds for me to realise it had happened, but then, I've got plenty of those spare if I'm riding through gridlock. Thank god it was the so-called "rush hour". I had plenty of time to get up, check myself, get off the road, do a minor repair that my bike needed as a result of the crash, and get on my way again. The thing that really bugs me is that firstly, it's my own fault, and secondly, I'd already done all I needed to in order to avoid this one, but I still managed to f*ck it up completely.

Still, as I say, it's about the time -- six weeks before a tour. Add this to being hit by a car in 2000, a far more severe crash in 2001, a knee injury in 2002, another collision with a car (this time in a hailstorm) last year -- all supposed "calamities" 4-6 weeks before a tour, and all of which I survived and learned from. The only damage done here is a bit of road rash in about three different places, and some bruised pride. I'm sitting out the Hinze Dam ride in the morning, just to make sure nothing seizes up -- I've got a century this weekend, and I want to be ready for that.

Another lesson learned. I have to say I'm feeling a multitude of emotions right now. Anger and embarrassment that I crashed. Relief (and even a little excitement) that I came out of it OK, and kept on my way (probably still getting home faster than any of the car commuters), and determination to put it right tomorrow. Time to get Alex Lloyd on the CD player I think.

Actually, the whole day was a bit of a f*ck up really. Kept getting interrupted at work and couldn't get anything done, now this. At least it's over (I think).

Pilgrim Inn by Elizabeth Goudge

The Elizabeth Goudge reading challenge is coming along nicely having just finished Pilgrim Inn this morning. There was one paragraph in the book that really spoke to me. That always happens in her books. Her gentle, insightful writing soothes you into a calm complacency, then a phrase or description will suddenly jump out at you and you'll recognize yourself, or your former self, or even the person you wish to become. In the paragraph that follows I saw my former, present, and hopefully, future self.

"Don't you know anything about women? Don't you know the difference between a woman like Nadine and a woman like Sally? Nadine-she can't help it, poor dear-was born a hungry, unsatisfied woman. Her perpetual search after perfection is a lovely thing in her; because of it her home and her person will never be less than exquisite; but it makes all the normal relationships disappoint her by their imperfection, so that she looks beyond them for happiness. At least she did until now. I think that perhaps, just lately, a glimmering of sense has been vouchsafed to her. Sally-and she couldn't help it either-was born the other way round. She does not demand gifts of life; she just loves it for itself, and her humility makes her feel that what she is given is always far too much. She'll feel exactly the same about you as she does about life. You won't disappoint her."

An aside-I believe the English say, "Poor dear" like Southern women say, "Bless her heart." Just an observation.

I relate very much to Nadine's sensibilities. I've always been on a quest for beauty; though not necessarily perfection. I want things to be the best they can be, but I know in this life that perfection will never be achieved. That doesn't stop me from striving for it. I do idealize relationships and life and am disappointed if things don't measure up to what I think they should be. This attitude, I know, puts too much pressure on those you love most, so I've really tried to have few expectations. This seems to work much better for everyone.

But I'd like to retain the striving for beauty with Sally's ability to love life and people for themselves and not expect anything. Then nothing will ever disappoint. That would be nice, wouldn't it? I don't know that I'll ever be so humble that what I'm given will seem like too much. I can only hope and pray that it happens.

The Scent of Water is next on the list. I bought it as I want to eventually own all of her books. I'll be re-reading them for the rest of my life and then passing then down to some fortunate heir. She's that good to me.

SNAIL OR CORKSCREW?

This floral combination on the metal arch is really pleasing me right now, although it sure is not what I’d planned. Earlier in spring, the Lady Banks yellow rose threw her yellow-blooming canes onto the arch from the left side. Now the native coral honeysuckle and what’s probably a Snail vine are growing up from the right side. In March, I was delighted to find the vine, supposed to be annual here, as inexpensive little plants from the Travis County Master Gardeners’ booth at Zilkerfest/Florarama, labeled as Vigna caracalla.
Before the fest, I’d been mining garden sites for information on Corkscrew and/or Snail vine, and found many heated and conflicting opinions. Some insist that Phaseolous caracalla refers only to Snail Vine, a related but separate genus, producing lavender, scentless blooms. They say that Vigna caracalla is the scented plant that is seen at Monticello. Other online experts were just as positive that Phaseolous was an outdated name, that the species was moved into Vigna, and that the scent and color were a result of selection, with both the fragrant and non-scented versions sharing the same name.
Naturally, I was hoping that mine would turn out to be the fragrant white one with blushes of yellow & purple, and thought it would look wonderful with the honeysuckle.
Just as naturally, both of mine turned out to be the lavender one with no fragrance. And the ants adore it. Although this snail vine may not have the scent and color of the corkscrew vine, growing it on the arch lets me see its intricate shape at eyelevel.

Visit to Wellesley Island - Thousand Islands Park

California Grape

A cluster of wild California grapes found on a vine growing in Las Trampas.

Autumn Eagle riding the thermals over Mt. Sophie

My friend Paul and I were fortunate enough to watch this eagle from eye-level on a fire tower earlier today. We were photographing the fall colors when I looked off to the West and saw this eagle coming towards us. I had my wide-angle lens on at the time, so I was quickly digging in my bag to get my telephoto and managed to change lenses and grab a few shots before the Eagle flew away. Usually when I see Eagles flying around I find myself looking up and squinting because of the sunlight. It was awesome looking straight out from the fire tower and watching this eagle bank left and right as the morning sun hit him while he rode the thermals that were rising off the surrounding hills. A great start to a wonderful day!

A Busy Week Ahead

Miss Thing will be gone all week to a church camp in the North Carolina mountains. I'm going to work like a fiend to get her room painted, her school books ordered, and her school year planned.
So....looks like my week off will be all about her anyway. So what else is new?
And do I need to say that she did NOT want to have her picture taken?

Addicted

You know you're addicted to cycling when you can come in from a 195km ride, having broken a front derailleur 70km from the finish, and think only of getting your other bike on the road so you can ride the next day. That's exactly what happened to me today. The MTB is now ready to go, and I have another challenging ride in mind -- probably a return to the Garden of Eden from earlier in the year. I don't expect it to turn on another day like that again, but it should be an interesting ride regardless.
The derailleur wasn't the only problem today. My new camelbak sprang a leak somewhere just before my first ride with it, and had to be abandoned at the last minute. Then I couldn't find my sunglasses -- net result I started 30 minutes later than I'd intended (which means the temperature was 30 minutes hotter). As it happened, I headed to Murwillumbah via the John Hogan rainforest, then took Reserve Creek Road toward the south-east. I love the little climbs on this road that come up time and again -- even if the dirt sections had been hit by some of our recent storms.

Next, of course, was the climb of Cudgera Creek Road -- a series of switchbacks on dirt, eventually leading to Burringbar after the screaming descent.

The really hard part of the ride was the climb of Mt Jerusalem. It's not a massive climb (only 278 metres at the summit), but the gravel here was really loose, and by now it was getting hot (it hit 34 degrees C today), so it was a bit of a push. There are, however, great views to be had from the eastern side of the mountain, prior to the screaming descent into Uki.

It was here that the derailleur decided to die. It didn't help that the last 70km was against the wind (apart from the climbs of Urliup and Bilambil). At least there was a sea breeze on the coast to cool things down, and make it easier to concentrate on evading the idiots. Normally at this time of year, this place is beset by 2 million tourists. This year it appears to be dead quiet, and today was no exception. I think even the tourists are being driven away by the heat this year. In anycase, I want them back! I'm a little tired of dealing with the idiot locals -- the tourists are usually a little saner and a little more competent.
As it was I got home and had the obligatory cold shower after an extremely challenging but very rewarding ride. More to come tomorrow.

Waters Receding

After a week off the bike, it was time to get out for a ride. Weather was gorgeous when I headed out to the Wabash Trace Trailhead. It was a sunny, 74 degrees, with a slight breeze. Brought the road bike for some pavement miles. First destination was the Western Historic Trails Center.
Barricades where down as I headed out from the trailhead. A good sign that the mud had been cleaned from the trail along Mosquito Creek. As I approached the railroad underpass, I saw that the trail is clear - just a small bit of water still draining from the hill/mud.
Ground water around Lake Manawa is still very high. The low spot near the Nature Trail parking lot is still under water. Next stop was at the Missouri River boat landing. More of the road and larking lot are now visible as the waters recede.
At the Trails Center, I rode up to the levee to see the conditions of the trail behind the center. Its going to be some time before this section of the trail is dry, cleared, and rideable. Today's photo shows the trail behind of the Trails Center.
Uneventful ride to the bike shop. Stop for a rest and G2. Finished the ride down Harry Langdon to the trailhead. Grade A bike ride.