Life of Wry

The thing about these? I don’t have to say another word and everyone knows what this post is about.

Since I’m pretty sure I’ve yet to blog about our trip to England and Scotland five years ago, here is a shot taken on May 20, 2019..

I have nada to blog, so I’m On This Day-ing.

This soft, cuddle-worthy bundle of lips and lashes was anything but sweet. I mean, she looked sweet, but swore like a sailor! The sounds that came out of her…. hilariously discordant.

These photos were taken on May 19, 2003.

This appeared to be a playdate with Chenoa. Looks like the snacks may have finally kicked in …

Love these kids.

I’m pooped. So here’re the facts:

Started at 12:25, finished at about 4:55 –> 4.5 hours; 8 miles.

Pauses along the way to look at views, figure out our route (which we lost at one point and had to back track about 1/2 a mile), and such, and about a 20 minute stop in a patch of shade under an oak tree that was mighty refreshing.

I think we figured something under 1000′ in elevation gain. If that.

It was in the low 80s but felt hotter due to shadeless exposure most of the day. In fact, I experienced early signs of heat exhaustion (chills).

And.. body report: legs overall good (though by end weary… not sure why I had issues.. maybe the heat thing), no knee issues, but terrible achilles issues. My tendinopathy is flaring (nodules/bumps along right tendon), super painful. Also, these boots (the high ones) are giving me issues.. such that I may lose 1-2 nails after today. Plus I got two blisters. Feel shitty about all of that and worried for August.

If return, do it in flower bloom season. Could be boggy in parts. Also, watch out for poison oak in the ravines.

We saw Beatman and Phantom falls, as well as Ravine Falls and sorta a fourth in the upper part of Ravine ravine.

My camera somehow got stuck on the vibrant filter setting. Over exposed all my photos. I tried to fix them… but they’re still mostly weird. Here are the best ones from today.

That, above, is Beatman Falls.

Above: That was a lake we came upon about halfway through the hike, just after Beatman Falls and before a descent into Ravine ravine.

Below: so much of the hike looked like this. Until you got to the ravines.. then steeper hilly, rocky, bushy, some oaks, poison oak, water… etc.

Above: nice rest stop. Shortly after this, we’ll hike another half mile or so to Phantom Falls, then the 2 miles back to the car.

Above: that wee trickle is what remains of Phantom Falls for the season. Look to the right.

That’s most of it. A good, if tiring, day (for me… Jim was fine).

As seen from my desk, through the window screen as she/he perched on a boulder in the garden about 20 feet away…

I’m no Chuck Babbitt. He’s an experienced professional with exceptional bird shooting skills, and has the equipment to back him up. I’m an amateur with an iPhone 13, but I still like my fuzzy, lo rez pic.

His/her breast is more peach colored, and may not be a Robin Red Breast at all. She/he was kinda skinny, too, not as full of figure as Robins I’ve known before (not too many).

Later in the morning, a Scrub Jay landed in this very spot. T’was a nice day for colorful birds!

We are looking at a couple years of creek repair. I know I posted a pic some months ago of Spafford Lake… here is one from way further west, just past the Putah Creek Lodge.

Before… (This was taken on January 25th this year, as it turns out. I feel lucky that I was able to dive into my 94,923 photo archive and actually put my finger on a “before” photo that matched yesterday’s “after” photo. My archive is ‘smart’ enough, but I’m not sure I can effectively filter a search based on certain bends in the creek… so this was a lucky find.)

Yesterday…

I hope all the construction work pays off!

I’ve listened to a lot of court pundits and legal scholars talking about the trial (you know, the one where the former guy, before he shockingly became the guy, gave a lot of money to a woman he had an affair with on the condition she wouldn’t go public with details about their sexual encounter, thus keeping from Americans important information about just who this asshole is, and in the process also falsified accounting records…. that trial). No idea how it’ll go. My mood depends on who the legal analyst is… some are certain the state has made its case convincingly, others get far more technical and don’t believe a solid line’s been drawn yet to the defendant. Who… let’s just all agree, had the affair, freaked out when he learned the details might come out just two weeks before the election, totally directed his minions “to take care it” by paying off that nice porn star, and then lied through his teeth about all of it. And still is.

Favorite line so far, issued by the creep defendant: I won’t be on the market for long in response to Michael Cohen’s concern for the creep’s poor wife (who’d just given birth to their son) and his wondering if she’d be hurt, mad, or whatever. She just didn’t amount to a hill of beans as far as the psychopath republican nominee for president was concerned.. he’d be remarried soon enough.

Anyway. What an effing nightmare this guy is… this guy the evangelicals just eat up, whose cheesy bible they plunk $59.99 down for.

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I was trying to finish this blog and Jim’s in a hurry to go to Pub Quiz and is standing by the front door, and I say, “I just have to come up with a blog title and he says, “how about It’s Time to Go!“

That works!

I have nothing to blog about (besides a million blogs to catch up on.. like this year’s Guatemala, Oregon, Ann Arbor, and Arizona trips that I haven’t reported on, not to mention last year’s big trip all over the place that I haven’t touched.. and a few other smaller trips, but), so I’ll post a pic of this:

I love them, but never make casseroles. I made a double batch of that one today because have two friends who are laid up (one with a fractured pelvis and one who had open heart surgery) and I needed to come up with a fast and easy follow up to my reflexive, “I’ll bring you a meal” offer. I’m not very practiced on the art of delivering meals to recovering friends. It stresses me out every time. What I do know is that we absolutely loved receiving meals when Peter was born (and maybe some folks brought us food when I had my hip replaced). All I know is, every delivery was a thrill and greatly appreciated. So… how hard can it be to be on the giving side of that transaction?

Well… I haven’t figured out the best way to do it.. have tried numerous things, not sure any of them have been hits (but of course it’s the thought that counts, right?). I’m not sure my casserole dinners tonight were any better than past clumsy efforts, but it was at least a bit more traditional.

I’ll keep working at it.

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Oh, so tonight’s casserole had three main parts…

Pasta that you prepare al dente and to which you add broc florets in the final minute of the boil:

Cut up pre-cooked chicken (like from a rotisserie chick or baked up yourself).. and I added a couple different sausages for extra punch…(one was chicken artichoke, the other chicken gruyere):

And finally a mushroom soup that you make (rather than use canned cream of mush soup.. a staple of so many casseroles!), that’s got butter, onion, garlic, crimini mushrooms, flour, broth, milk, dijon, cheddar, s&p (which was quite tasty!):

Mix it all together:

And bake it for 25 mins or so, adding a layer of cheddar half way through.

Came out good enough, a bit rich. I made enough for lots of dinners for Jim and me (froze a bunch).

And again… I’ll keep working at it.

Jim and I missed what seemed to be the best night for viewing the Northern Lights in California (3 nights ago). They weren’t really supposed to be visible at our latitude, but, in fact, people saw a spectacular version of them.. right here in Davis!

Well.. we committed to driving out into the country the following night to view them. We parked on Kinsela Road, right off of Road 32, between Davis and Winters, and waited.. about an hour.. but never saw them. We returned home. I went out a couple of times, into the middle of the street, hoping that I’d see them if I looked north and left my exposure on long enough. But all I got was this:

Nice shot, no aurora.

So.. that was Saturday. We heard Sunday was also going to be a bust, so we didn’t even try. And by tonight, I’d forgotten all about it. Norora for us.

So.. here’s this — my favorite rendition of the amazing light show that everyone all over the globe’s been raving about (and getting jaw dropping photos of, look it up!)…

As always, the funny people came through.

I love Mother’s Day.. as it gives me sort of an open invitation to immerse myself in thoughts of 1) mom and 2) being a mom to Peter. Jim gave me a warm start to the day with a bouquet of flowers from our garden and a card that expressed the realization that our role as parents has really changed, but we’re still here and still loving on our kiddo.

From our garden!

Peter called this afternoon and we talked for 2 hours and 22 minutes. Yep. We covered a lot of great territory, all good, all interesting. I just can’t tell you.

I posted whole bunches of photos on FB, so I won’t do that here. Instead, I’ll post a few from a walk I took myself on… 🙂 All down at the creek… (I think my phone is stuck in some aurora settings from last night.. most of my photos today came out fuzzy, like it couldn’t figure out what to focus on.. but I’m posting them anyway (just take off your glasses and pretend they’re sharp).