Showing posts with label * CA-OR-WA road trips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label * CA-OR-WA road trips. Show all posts
Monday, July 8, 2013
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
home again, home again, jiggety-jig
Mt. Shasta
(from Hwy 97)
(from Hwy 97)
Yippee!!! I haven't been this happy to see a California landmark, like Mt. Shasta, in at least 10 years. The volcano looks very different from this highway with Shastina clearly visible to the right, as opposed to the usual I-5 route. It's good to be home.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
good-bye sweet garden memory
Janet's lush and wild garden
June 16, 2013
The papers were signed yesterday. It's time to say good-bye. I will miss this piece of land with an ache in my heart, even though I first laid eyes on it only 7 years ago. Perhaps my ache is more for the fiercely independent woman who has lived and breathed and sweated and loved and found solace here for 39 years. There will come a time when she will not remember, but for those whose lives she has touched, we will collectively remember for her.
We were expecting this for a while, yet we had no idea how it would actualize. A springtime attempt to keep an insistent robin from attacking himself against the dining room window led to a hurtful of cracked ribs. Then came the trickling and disturbing discovery from the medics, the doctors, the friends, and the neighbors that 911 calls and hospital visits had become a weekly occurrence. Did she not tell us out of concern that we would worry and fret over her, or did she simply not remember? The decision to move came before she was ready, and she was excruciatingly angry at us. The surprisingly wonderful part about memory loss is that she quickly forgot she was mad. And so it goes...
We were expecting this for a while, yet we had no idea how it would actualize. A springtime attempt to keep an insistent robin from attacking himself against the dining room window led to a hurtful of cracked ribs. Then came the trickling and disturbing discovery from the medics, the doctors, the friends, and the neighbors that 911 calls and hospital visits had become a weekly occurrence. Did she not tell us out of concern that we would worry and fret over her, or did she simply not remember? The decision to move came before she was ready, and she was excruciatingly angry at us. The surprisingly wonderful part about memory loss is that she quickly forgot she was mad. And so it goes...
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
about exceptions to Nature ID posting rules
It surprised me to receive 223 blog visits since summer road trip published 2 days ago. Nature ID is usually not that popular. So it occurred to me that I should explain three of my posting rules that may not be obvious to the average blog visitor.
First, I always backdate posts of featured CA nature to the photo date in order to accurately document when (e.g., I published colonial orb weaver on 08/14/11 even though the entry shows the actual date of the picture from a year before of 08/04/10). Since this practice is rare for blogs, I do not get many visits on newly published backdated posts, and it confuses some folks who use RSS readers, which often only pick up entries backdated to about 3 months before. To add to the confusion, I do have exceptions to my backdate rule, such as photos taken from outside of CA, a handful of miscellaneous posts, and wordless Wednesday. The reasoning for these exceptions is as follows: when I'm traveling, I focus on the moment and blogging rarely enters my mind -> I occasionally like to share my travel or non-nature pictures -> and by posting currently dated entries, I want to let readers know I haven't abandoned Nature ID.
Second, I'm quite thorough and consistent about including labels for identification (e.g., plants) and location with all of my nature photos taken within the boundaries of CA. For all photos taken outside of CA, I do not include identification labels. Even though introduced nutrias are also found in CA, the above photo wasn't taken here; therefore, I am not including any labels with this post for mammals, and I do not have a specific location label like I do for CA locations. The purpose for this practice is so people can click on identification label links, see what I have personally found in CA, and not be mislead by things I have pictured from elsewhere in the world.
Third, I have my settings open to all comments, because I maintain it should not be necessary for anyone to have gmail or an OpenID-type blog simply to make a comment on Nature ID. Of course this opens me up to all sorts of spam, anonymous or otherwise, especially those trying to sell pharmaceuticals from other countries or promoting websites that have nothing to do with nature or relevant topics. In my zealousness to report spam, I sometimes delete legitimate comments. My apologies to those few anonymous commenters.
These rules and exceptions may seem trivial and arbitrary, but they are important to me for the integrity of Nature ID.
First, I always backdate posts of featured CA nature to the photo date in order to accurately document when (e.g., I published colonial orb weaver on 08/14/11 even though the entry shows the actual date of the picture from a year before of 08/04/10). Since this practice is rare for blogs, I do not get many visits on newly published backdated posts, and it confuses some folks who use RSS readers, which often only pick up entries backdated to about 3 months before. To add to the confusion, I do have exceptions to my backdate rule, such as photos taken from outside of CA, a handful of miscellaneous posts, and wordless Wednesday. The reasoning for these exceptions is as follows: when I'm traveling, I focus on the moment and blogging rarely enters my mind -> I occasionally like to share my travel or non-nature pictures -> and by posting currently dated entries, I want to let readers know I haven't abandoned Nature ID.
Second, I'm quite thorough and consistent about including labels for identification (e.g., plants) and location with all of my nature photos taken within the boundaries of CA. For all photos taken outside of CA, I do not include identification labels. Even though introduced nutrias are also found in CA, the above photo wasn't taken here; therefore, I am not including any labels with this post for mammals, and I do not have a specific location label like I do for CA locations. The purpose for this practice is so people can click on identification label links, see what I have personally found in CA, and not be mislead by things I have pictured from elsewhere in the world.
Third, I have my settings open to all comments, because I maintain it should not be necessary for anyone to have gmail or an OpenID-type blog simply to make a comment on Nature ID. Of course this opens me up to all sorts of spam, anonymous or otherwise, especially those trying to sell pharmaceuticals from other countries or promoting websites that have nothing to do with nature or relevant topics. In my zealousness to report spam, I sometimes delete legitimate comments. My apologies to those few anonymous commenters.
These rules and exceptions may seem trivial and arbitrary, but they are important to me for the integrity of Nature ID.
Monday, July 9, 2012
summer road trip
Newberry National Volcanic Monument
June 20, 2012
June 20, 2012
Have you ever needed a vacation after your vacation?
Even though we've been home for a week, I still haven't quite gotten back into the swing of normal routine yet. Blogging seems like such a foreign concept now. This is my 1000th entry on Nature ID with 59,640 site visits. It also happens to be my birthday today, and I am in a reflective mood.
We covered close to 2400 miles up through Oregon and Washington states and back. As a comparison, to get to Paulina Lake shown above (roughly halfway north) took us longer than our sister-in-law's sister took to go from her home in Switzerland down through Italy to pick up our sister-in-law from a conference and up to Slovenia to their parents' farm. I sometimes forget how big the United States is, let alone the 3 contiguous western states. The last time we did a road trip like this was almost 3 years ago. During this trip, we traveled through temperatures as high as 93.0°F (33.89°C) and as low as 33.8°F (0.99°C) in one day!
Our goal for this vacation was to see family and friends, so I have very few nature photos to share. The one thing that really struck me most was how children and the elderly appear to age much more quickly than the average adult. I was delighted to observe, play, and talk with the kids from age 4 to the first years in college. However, I was pensive about visiting with the older folks, one who still hikes like a mountain goat at the age of 80 and another a few years older in a hospital in the last days of his life. I am smack in the middle of these ages.
I will remember this trip particularly for the similarities and contrasts through time and distance.
Even though we've been home for a week, I still haven't quite gotten back into the swing of normal routine yet. Blogging seems like such a foreign concept now. This is my 1000th entry on Nature ID with 59,640 site visits. It also happens to be my birthday today, and I am in a reflective mood.
We covered close to 2400 miles up through Oregon and Washington states and back. As a comparison, to get to Paulina Lake shown above (roughly halfway north) took us longer than our sister-in-law's sister took to go from her home in Switzerland down through Italy to pick up our sister-in-law from a conference and up to Slovenia to their parents' farm. I sometimes forget how big the United States is, let alone the 3 contiguous western states. The last time we did a road trip like this was almost 3 years ago. During this trip, we traveled through temperatures as high as 93.0°F (33.89°C) and as low as 33.8°F (0.99°C) in one day!
Our goal for this vacation was to see family and friends, so I have very few nature photos to share. The one thing that really struck me most was how children and the elderly appear to age much more quickly than the average adult. I was delighted to observe, play, and talk with the kids from age 4 to the first years in college. However, I was pensive about visiting with the older folks, one who still hikes like a mountain goat at the age of 80 and another a few years older in a hospital in the last days of his life. I am smack in the middle of these ages.
I will remember this trip particularly for the similarities and contrasts through time and distance.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
stuffed in the nest
barn swallowHirundo rustica
Patrick Hughes House, Cape Blanco State Park, Oregon
July 17, 2009
The historical house was closed by the time we finished our hike, so we peeked in the windows to see if we missed anything fabulous. I noticed a huge pile of bird poop on the porch railing and thought to look up. These fellows seemed too big for their nest and had incredibly large mouths. The parents were busy swooping in and out to feed the chicks. They're very cute, with highlighted yellow lips; it reminded me of an old, 1942 scratchy cartoon of baby birds.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
sand wasp
Love the beautiful yellow legs! There were several in the area and they seemed to be nesting in the sand. I have no idea what it is.
ps 08/04/10 - Maybe a sand wasp (Bembicini) in the genus Bembix? I started looking again for an ID thanks to Bug Eric's blog post.
ps 07/22/13 - I originally posted this as an unknown solitary bee. After looking for another wasp, I'm fairly confident this is a Bembix sp. wasp. This got me thinking, what is the difference between a bee and a wasp? From a quick search, bees feed on pollen and nectar and wasps are predators or parasites. Without observing their feeding behavior and just looking at the body, bees are hairier and wasps are less so. Something for me to keep in mind next time.
Monday, April 26, 2010
IDentity crisis!
I'm changing the name of Nature ID! Uh, slightly... for now...
This morning, during my now habitual perusal of nature blogs while drinking coffee, I read Nature Blog Network's featured blog: Ohio Nature Blog. (Tom Arbour's blog is fantastic, btw!) They asked him about the name of his blog and he replied he thought the "name is WAY too presumptuous and have thought about dropping it for something a bit more modest..." Well, that statement really hit home for me.
It's 10 days shy of the one year anniversary of when I started Nature ID. I look back and, boy, was I a green blogger! I thought it'd be simple to take a couple pictures during hikes and use my handful of local nature guides to identify to species. Not! For the past month or so, I've been thinking about changing the name of Nature ID, because it sounds as if I know what I'm doing. The more I learn, the more I'm aware of how much I don't know. Granted, I picked up quite a bit about online ID resources, blogging, and the world of nature bloggers. Now that I actually have a couple blog followers, even some "professional" folks, I've been feeling self-conscious about my blog name.
Unfortunately, all my google searches for creative names came up with too many results. I'm playing around with the name and if I find something more suitable, it may just change again. For those who know me or follow my constantly-edited posts, they'll know I'm moody. So, being "ktnatureid" is apropos.
ps 04/27/10 - Nope, didn't like ktnatureid, so am back to Nature ID. Anyone have any ideas?
This morning, during my now habitual perusal of nature blogs while drinking coffee, I read Nature Blog Network's featured blog: Ohio Nature Blog. (Tom Arbour's blog is fantastic, btw!) They asked him about the name of his blog and he replied he thought the "name is WAY too presumptuous and have thought about dropping it for something a bit more modest..." Well, that statement really hit home for me.
It's 10 days shy of the one year anniversary of when I started Nature ID. I look back and, boy, was I a green blogger! I thought it'd be simple to take a couple pictures during hikes and use my handful of local nature guides to identify to species. Not! For the past month or so, I've been thinking about changing the name of Nature ID, because it sounds as if I know what I'm doing. The more I learn, the more I'm aware of how much I don't know. Granted, I picked up quite a bit about online ID resources, blogging, and the world of nature bloggers. Now that I actually have a couple blog followers, even some "professional" folks, I've been feeling self-conscious about my blog name.
Unfortunately, all my google searches for creative names came up with too many results. I'm playing around with the name and if I find something more suitable, it may just change again. For those who know me or follow my constantly-edited posts, they'll know I'm moody. So, being "ktnatureid" is apropos.
ps 04/27/10 - Nope, didn't like ktnatureid, so am back to Nature ID. Anyone have any ideas?
Friday, April 23, 2010
snakeflies are following me everywhere
Phoenix, OregonApril 23, 2010
To quote NC_N8, "I don't want to brag or anything, but I'm really good at bad photos..." This pic was taken from my phone in the evening with low lighting. See previous entries on snakeflies for more information. This one was bigger and striped compared to the ones from home. I swear snakeflies are following me, everywhere! And, yes, there is a Phoenix in Oregon, not just in Arizona.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
true fall colors
Lithia Park, Ashland, OregonNovember 8, 2009
This was taken while we were visiting a dear friend. I love this pic so much that I'm including it here, even though it's hundreds of miles from the Central Coast of California.