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Lampshade dog. Yeah, this is random:

Friday Fun

Just two fun videos for today:

 

Awesome robot that balances on a ball… but is also remote controllable… and awesome:

(via)

 

And a cupcake cannon, for pure entertainment:

 

(via)

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Flowers in the forests of Prescott:

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Courtney had never been to Wolf Creek falls before. So Saturday we made a quick hike down:

Pic of the day

The barn door swings wildly in the wind:

Life

Snow falls on Prescott today. Two days ago it was sunny and 70. The weather can’t seem to decide between spring and winter.

 

The Whiskey Row 10k is coming up in just over a week. It’s supposed to be rainy and snowy that day. I suppose I should go running today just to get used to it. Seems like I’ve been running somewhere, but I don’t really know where.

 

Life is good right now, but is flying by in a blur. I feel like I am in slow motion and it is all passing me by. I sleep less trying to open more hours in my day, but those too slip by at light speed.

 

My best friend got married last weekend. It was weird to see his life change so much in one day. I’ll be moving out once they are back from their honeymoon so that his wife can move in. The wedding was fun though, I finally got to use all those dance lessons I’ve been taking.

 

Scrappy is getting restless, I think he must be awaiting spring with the same eagerness as myself.

 

I’m cooking still, making meals that contain the singular taste of whatever I am craving that day. Yesterday it was tarragon, so I had mom and Courtney over for tarragon chicken parmesan with homemade marinara (cold). Everybody liked it, but all I could see were the things I could have done better.

 

The camera sits, yearning to be held but is rebuffed by my inability to make time for it.

 

I sit and stare at pages in books without ever reading the words. This makes finishing a book a very time-consuming ordeal.

 

Most days I’m tired and sore, and yet I keep pushing harder. Perhaps I think it will eventually get easier. Maybe it is getting easier and my tunnel vision has prevented me from realizing it.

 

All in all though, I feel good. I suppose that’s what counts the most.

Pic of the day

A panoramic shot from the canyon, guaranteed to be unimpressive in small blog-sized format:

click the pic for large, or click here for really large

An interesting look at John McAffee

Great article on this eccentric guy.

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A tree, while out hiking around Prescott.

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Magenta in the desert:

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Professional foreground re-arranger:

Do you have a nice landscape shot, but that dead branch in the foreground isn’t quite in the right place? I know a guy who can take care of that for you.

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A hedgehog cactus in bloom. Complete with ladybug, and incoming bee:

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Bent, askew. Flying all over the place in the wind:

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Went to Wickenburg this weekend to shoot wildflowers. Also shot this Joshua tree with the 50mm f/1.8 wide open. For some reason I really like Joshua trees.

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A look upstream early in the morning:

Pic of today

The Bright Angel creek as it meanders next to the North Kaibab trail:

Pic of today

Lonely mule sits in the corral after all the others have headed back up the hill:

A trip to the Grand Canyon

Is it sad that after twenty six years of living in Arizona, I’ve never been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon? It may be sad, but it is definitely true. Or at least it was, until this past weekend.

 

My squeeze, Courtney, used to work at the canyon and she tells stories about it with a sort of beauty-inspired awe in her eye. I told her that I wanted to see her canyon, and so we figured out a date that we could take a long weekend down there.

 

We hiked down the Bright Angel trail to Phantom Ranch. We stayed down there for two nights, hung out with the awesome ‘ranchers’, ate some good food, hiked around some of the trails down there, and then came back out via the South Kaibab trail. It was a beautiful weekend, even with the ridiculous number of people on the trails.

 

And I decided to take my big-boy camera with me, because what’s a little extra weight when you have so much to photograph? Without further ado – the pictures:

 

My ugly mug as we walked down:

 

An idyllic spot to eat lunch, just past Indian Gardens:

 

And with the water, we found these pretty purple bushes:

 

As we approached the river we heard reports of a rock slide on the trail. Sure enough we came upon a trail crew working seriously hard to clear it:

 

 

Shortly thereafter we were at phantom where things are GREEN, a stark contrast to the red walls:

 

The Black bridge where dude and pack mules cross the Colorado, bringing all the supplies in for Phantom Ranch:

 

A different view of Black bridge, from within the rock tunnel:

 

Speaking of mules – here they are, ready to ride trash and detritus out of the ranch:

 

I decided to get up early one morning to get some different light for the river. It was gorgeous (with the Silver bridge spanning the Colorado in the foreground):

 

I also got a nice morning view of the local wildlife, baby dear who aren’t terrified of humans:

 

Courtney, up on the Clear Creek trail:

 

From which you can also see this:

 

Not that you had to go far to see the beauty. Here is the creek that passes right by the ranch:

 

As with all good things though, this trip had to end. So we hiked out on a beautiful trail that always seemed to point UP. Like this set of switchbacks:

 

But it did afford us some pretty views of the dusty day:

 

A gorgeous place, that I’m sure I’ll be going back to.

 

All photos available on flickr, in a pretty slideshow.

The case of the missing blogger.

Not sure why, but I just haven’t been feeling the blog lately. Sporadic life schedule is making for exceedingly sporadic posting.

 

Hopefully it will catch me again soon. I’ve got lots of photos from a trip to the grand canyon over easter that will be making their way here in the next few days.

 

Beyond that – hope everybody is having a grand ol’ time out there in the blogosphere.