Outdoors
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Eagle Rock Loop Day 1 | Ouachita National Forest
Finally, some backpacking time! A week ago Chris and I went with my dad, brother and some of their friends from my brother’s old Boy Scout troop to the Eagle Rock Loop in Ouachita National Forest. I was very happy to be getting some hiking in—on mountains especially. I was hoping that part of it would be reminiscent of the Appalachian Trail and I was pleasantly rewarded with birds, vegetation and smells that we saw on our hike of the A.T. We split the drive up, leaving Houston for Dallas at noon one day, then jumping in the car that my dad, brother and another hiker were in to finish…
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The Weekend In A Series of Haikus
I. We followed the trail Up and over many peaks With sweet, humid views. II. Water crossed our path Hop, skip, jump, across the streams Splish, splash, don’t fall in! III. The woods smell divine Wafting heady aromas Can I soak it in? IV. Dusk falls, night begins The woods come alive with sound Who cooks for you all? V. Hiker stench sets in Sweat drips, bugs bite, stomach growls One more hill to go. VI. Back at the trail-head Feet ache, hiker hobble, tired Ready for some food. Been awhile since I’ve written a haiku—ok, probably since high school which was 14 years ago—so I hope I got the…
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A Short Stint in the Swamp
What? A post from me on the weekend??? Swamp mallow leaves…. Two banded water snakes, well, this is the same snake, but there were two hanging out where we were in the swamp the last day I was out. +I ended up in the swamp for two days for work at the end of the week. Thought it was going to seep into the weekend but it thankfully didn’t. I was back in the Big Thicket where I was working last spring/early summer. It felt like coming home—which is funny because it is a swamp and very wet. +It got a little boring for awhile though because we had to…
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An Evening with 1.5 Million Mexican Free-tailed Bats
While in Austin two weekends ago we took advantage of an opportunity to see the colony of Mexican free-tailed bats that live under the Congress Avenue bridge in downtown Austin. We didn’t really do much research when we got there only knowing about when to go (dusk—but earlier to get a spot in the crowd) and the location but when we arrived we quickly realized we didn’t know where to park. We ended up in the Austin American Statesman parking lot, which I am pretty sure we weren’t supposed to be in, but a few others were parked there and a gate was open to the little green space near…
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The Climbing Canyon at Reimers Ranch Park
One of our favorite areas to visit in the Austin area has three parks right near each other making it optimal for seeing the a variety of ecosystems right around the Pedernales River. Westcave Preserve, Hamilton Pool, and Reimers Ranch Park. The latter we have not had much of a chance to explore as it is newly opened and Travis county is still working on finishing the park. It will have many biking trails, rock climbing areas, and water access to the Pedernales River. We popped in Reimers Ranch just to see what was in the climbing canyon, not having much time to explore the park before we had to…
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Magic in the Woods
Finally sharing the rest of the photos I took when I went to the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory a few weekends ago with Keely and her boyfriend. These photos are from the grounds of the GCBO and the Wilderness Park across the bayou from GCBO. Nature is my medicine. ~Sara Moss-Wolfe
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The Ditch Iris
As I walked to the corner where I start my runs the other day I was admiring nature as I walked. A ditch is to the right as I pass by, and there wasn’t much blooming. At first I thought the dark color was a browning leaf, stuck on top of other vegetation. Nearly continuing on without stopping I changed my mind and backtracked. Peering into the ditch I saw it was an iris. I waited to go back to get a photo because it was beginning to sprinkle and I didn’t want to get my camera wet. The next day it poured and poured, and that evening the flowers…
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Bird Banding at Gulf Coast Bird Observatory
A few months ago Keely from State of Wilderness commented on my blog and after a quick look at her blog I realized she as in the greater Houston area too. This was exciting for me because I am in need of a naturey friend here, someone willing to go on hikes and explore and talk science-geek stuff. When I replied to her via email, as soon as I had hit send I worried I had come off a little too excited, too needy. But, no worries, all was well and soon she invited me and Chris to the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory. Unfortunately that weekend we had camping plans…
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Trout Lilies | In Macro
Remember back in February how I photographed trout lilies at Tandy Hills? Well, I finally finished processing my macro shots taken with our 65mm macro. And let me tell you, I think this lens is the sweetest thing ever! The photos were awesome and now that we bought the flash to go with it I’ll be able to do more with lower light conditions, which happen easily when using the higher ‘X’ magnifications. Here they are…enjoy! Today I’m also over at Sprout Dispatch, so come by and say hi!
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Lovely Lupinus texensis
We have one plot in our garden that has radishes growing but otherwise we have filled it with bluebonnets we bought at a garden center and bluebonnets we seeded, along with a few other non-edible flowering plants. I like having a small section dedicated to flowers, especially since we aren’t focusing on collecting plants right now. I’d been checking on the bluebonnets but hadn’t had any inkling that they were ready to bloom. Then one day last week I walked right up and the blue-purple flower stood out and stunned me with its brilliance. Finally, the bluebonnets were out!