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Me, on 3/9/08
Self portrait taken 3/9/08 at John Lloyd State Park, Ft. Lauderdale, FL The person in this photo didn’t have two nieces. The person in this photo hasn’t hiked the Appalachian Trail. It was but a mere bucket list item in a tiny little journal, a dream that was probably not possible. The real thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. The person in this photo was not sure what she wanted to pursue creatively. The person in this photo had not gone to Bolivia yet. Only 9 more days until she landed at one of the highest airports in the world and waited to see if Marc and Eliana were waiting…
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Sunday Evening Scribblings
I am eating pecan pie, thanks to our field secretary. Pecan pie at Thanksgiving, oh yeah! My favorite is my grandmother’s pecan pie, which I think my mom follows now. I am also fond of Cracker Pie but I’m not sure this is the exact recipe, I don’t remember the vanilla part. It doesn’t matter, it’s delicious. Unfortunately I did not get any of that on Thanksgiving day but instead had to work. We had hoped that we would get rained out but the rain didn’t get here until after 3pm and we were done at lunch that day for the holiday. Seriously, so pointless. We took a quick nap…
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Trail Tales 14: Massachusetts
Relevant posts: Group Hiking Make Time’s Thru-Hike Completion Inch by Inch, Rock by Rock I have to say that Massachusetts surprised me. It turned out to be a lovely state and also a plant community and ecosystem change. Once into Mass we descend into Sages Ravine, a *bleeping* cold water source. I prefer my water Gulf of Mexico warm but the rest of the crew braved the water for a bath. Chris and Merf After getting cooled off we headed for Race Mountain where we stopped to pick blueberries for long periods of time. It’s impossible to resist a clump of sweet and delicious berries! We sat for a long…
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Smurf in the Woods
Special for Marc and Eliana. Taken at Cayo Costa State Park last December.
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Ghosts of Thanksgivings Past
Since I am having a very uneventful Thanksgiving I thought I’d post a few links to previous Thanksgivings. Well, at least the four that I still have up on this blog. 2009: Last year we walked 70 miles from Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic Ocean in preparation for the AT. It was our first major multi-day hike like this and well, it was rougher terrain than I expected. Florida is flat, I’ll give you that, but walking through saw palmettos and climbing over their long trunks can be tiring, and then stepping in pig ruts for long stretches also wears you thin. But, overall it was an awesome experience and…
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The Woods: Part III
When I initially saw the plant there on the right I thought it was some type of coral root orchid. After consulting our Texas orchid book I quickly realized it wasn’t but was left hanging on what it actually was. The thought crossed my mind that perhaps it was a parasitic plant but I still wasn’t sure. So I sent an email off to Prem who is much more of an orchid expert than we are and I knew he’d be able to tell me what they were. Turns out we have beech drops a parasitic plant to beech trees! Pretty nifty and interesting! Parsley hawthorn What I really need…
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Random Thoughts and Around the Web
Cool stuff on the web Kal has some cool Christmas desktop backgrounds to download, plus a plethora of other creative things you can buy for Christmas. Kasie has a recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies…um, yeah!!! Mom, make these! Elizabeth reaffirmed my dreamy nature in admitting she too wished to marry Prince William. We are both already off the market, but now Prince William is too. *drat*. Renee’s apple drawing made me want to bust out some art supplies. Check our her calendars, too. Chiot’s Run is also putting out a calendar for next year. It looks super awesome! We debated doing one before we started this job but the job…
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A Photographer At Work
Caddo Lake, Texas.
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Introducing Wildscape Photo
We have finally launched our photography website! Please take a look around, poke through our galleries and tell us what you think. Hopefully you see something you like and are interested and will purchase some fine art photographybut if you don’t, keep in mind we still have more photos to work through and will be adding more over the next few months. I will be showing some of them here and will update you when I add more…I know I have some butterfly orchids and more swamp photos to share than what is represented on my page. Keep in mind that Christmas is coming and photography is always a unique…
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Trail Tales 13: Connecticut
Relevant posts: New England Once inside Connecticut we climbed Ten Mile Hill. The day had turned overcast from a mostly bright morning. On the north side of Ten Mile Hill we met some Student Conservation Association volunteers reworking parts of the trail. I know that in general flat rocks on the trail are looked at as being nice, but I personally feel like they are just too slick to walk on and would much prefer bare dirt. I’m not talking about trail that is already littered with rocks, but when a trail has specifically been maintained to add rocks to the trail. Lunch was at the Ten Mile River Lean-to…