Zzzzzzzz

Leandro and I sunning ourselves on the Alluvial Fan in Rocky Mountain National Park.

*Photo Credit: JR Ronczy, sneaky bugger

Plants, Links, and a Movie

And what is the plant that looks like a demented geranium?
- Michelle

I don't know, Michelle, but here's another photo. There are definitely red berries on it, so it's not an actual geranium, but you're right, there is a resemblance.

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I've been busy of late, so I thought I'd post some excellent writing I've run across recently.

Something logical: Secondhand Information and Its Dangers

Something humorous: A Story of Three Brothers (need I say more?)

Something emotionally mature: A Cryptic Post of Release

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And if you're looking for a good movie, I'd recommend Traitor, with Don Cheedle and Guy Pearce. It's a well written and tightly plotted political thriller. The friend I saw it with claimed it was predictable, since he guessed the ending, but I guess I was caught up enough in the story and the acting not to guess it, except as a passing thought. It's also a good start for a conversation about religion and world politics. It's good and I'll give it 3 stars out of 5.

A Weekend's "Labor"

I spent half the long weekend with my friends, Stacey and JR, and their daughter, Kat, and her boyfriend, Chad. We stayed in a cabin at the YMCA resort complex in Estes Park. Seriously. They had mini-golf (which we did on Saturday afternoon and I sucked, as usual), playing fields of all sorts, a library, an indoor swimming pool, all kinds of things, really. Saturday morning, JR and Stacey and I hiked up to Mills Lake (you can see the two of them in the picture above), while Kat and Chad, being lowlanders, took a shorter hike to Bear Lake. It was gorgeous, but that's pretty standard for the Rockies.
Speaking of which, the following photos are for Michelle, who thinks the Rockies are a coniferous monoculture:

Pbbbbblllltttttt! ;P
After hiking, we went on a short horseback ride. I had a young, but sensible, horse named Hidalgo. Why sensible? He actually listened to me (unlike 90% of these trail horses). We had a good time and I wish it had been longer. I love horseback riding.
We had a good time. I always enjoy Stacey and JR's company and Kat and Chad were very entertaining. Quite literally, in fact. On the trip back, I got Chad reciting Monty Python routines. That was fine, since it kept him entertained and required no response -- kind of like listening to the radio.

I actually did some labor over the weekend. I helped my brother and his fiancee pack their moving truck on Friday (after being on the bike for two hours through a traffic jam on the way to their apartment) and then yesterday I did chores around the house.
So, a well-balanced weekend for me. Hope it went equally for you!

Now I have to be reminded it's Tuesday.

Not Laboring

I spent Labor Day Weekend having a grand ol' time. I spent Saturday doing errands and sitting outside and reading. On Sunday, I went to my sister's for a BBQ at her and her husband's new house. Family and friends were gathered together to enjoy good food (all delicious: Texas caviar, dry rub ribs, pulled pork, potato salad, cole slaw, apple cobbler, and chocolate mousse) and good conversation. The Wii was pulled out for entertainment and we all had a good laugh when Krissy was playing with the controller upside-down. The funniest part was how hard Krissy was laughing. I also went out and played on the playground with Max, Jenn, and Strider. It had all kinds of fun climbing equipment. It would be fun to have an adult version of that.
On Monday, I went hiking with my friends, Stacey and JR. We went up to Blue Lake, in the Indian Peaks area (same area I went to the weekend before). JR gets credit for all the following photos:
Stacey and I on the way up.
The waterfall from the glacier feeding Blue Lake.
Stacey and I on our way back.
We stopped in Boulder for a bite to eat and then on the way back, a friend called to find out if I still wanted to go for a bike (motorcycle) ride. I stopped at the house, changed clothes and went right back out again. We drove from Lakewood up Bear Creek Road to Evergreen, stopped at the Little Bear Tavern and then rode back down again. The ride was my first on curvy mountain roads and it was a lot of fun. A wee bit scary, because visibility around curves was difficult, but traffic was slower than I thought it would be, so I had plenty of time to react.
All in all it was a very fun weekend!

Weekend By Myself

I went camping this weekend near Nederland, CO. Though I went with friends, I ended up spending a lot of time by myself. On Saturday, they went to a music festival that I wasn't really interested in spending money to go to. I went hiking up Pawnee Pass trail, in the Indian Peaks Wilderness area. I had intended to go up Shoshoni Peak (12,996 elevation), but once I got up to the tree-line and the view shown here, it turned cold and windy and the rest of the trail was rocky and exposed. Considering that I need to take care of my knees and I had forgotten a windbreaker (though I had a sweater), I decided to turn around and go back at this point. Besides, I had done the most fun part (walking in the trees and next to lakes) and had nothing to prove, since I was by myself. Why not? I was glad I did, 'cause my feet were tired by the end. I did stop and dip my feet in a mountain waterfall. That was wonderful, sitting on a rock, eating an apple, and looking out at the gorgeous scenery.
Anyway, when I got back, I had a big headache from the sun (remedied with some ibuprofin and lots of water), read a book til I was bored stiff, went in search of a phone signal so I could talk to someone, came back unsuccessful, and started a fire to make dinner and keep me warm. Firemaking was super easy this time around. I had plenty of sticks for kindling, which was great, since I didn't have an axe to chop up the firewood. Dinner was nice -- grilled corn and a hobo dinner -- and then I returned to my book. The rest of my party came back well after dark, probably around 8 or 9.
I had wanted to spend some time by myself, but I should be careful what I wished for. I got way more than I expected and realized that I'm not quite the loner I was before The Squeeze.
On Sunday I hung out with my friends until they packed up and left, then went to a German American restaurant in Nederland (Aileen, you and Brian should check it out, though they didn't have spaetzel like the place in... was it Glenwood Springs?). As soon as I got phone signal, I called a friend (The Ex-Squeeze, actually) to see if he was free to do something together. He ended up not coming down from the mountains himself until late. So, I spent more time by myself, doing household chores and watching movies at the same time. It wasn't so bad though, since I had many more activities to choose from and the cats to sit on me and purr.

Thistles

Taken during my solo hike... 

Back Again

Hmm... Another hiatus...
Well, I'll have to attribute it to the increased workload at the office.
Last weekend I went camping in the beautiful Rocky Mountains (near Granby) and will post a picture momentarily. Anyway, it was one of the (if not The) best trips ever. Granted, I got to the campgrounds late, and it was raining most of the way there.
The campground was 9 miles off the main road, but it took me half an hour after I turned off to find it on the dark, rainy, and (hard-packed) dirt road. But! When I found them, I was greeted by my friends who had a fire going and canopies up and a very nice guy helped me put my tent up during a temporary halt in the rain.
The next morning started out very misty and I took a solo hike along a ridge, taking lots of photos with my new digital camera. Then later that morning it cleared up and got sunny just as we were starting a group hike along the lake's edge. I almost lost my high school sweatshirt, but luckily (and with the help of someone's binoculars and someone else's sharp gaze) found it . After we got back and relaxed a bit at the campsite, I was convinced to go along on a canoeing/fishing trip. I'm so glad I did. The lake was beautiful, the canoeing so fun (I sat in the middle and took pictures instead of paddling), and one of our group caught a big brown trout. We saw an osprey that had a nest on a neighboring island and a moose on the way back to the camp.
That evening was nice. The stars were out and I had grilled buffalo steak and trout. Someone brought a really good bottle of tequila that I got to taste a bit of. No scrunched up tequila face with that one.
The next day, I just lounged around the campsite and knitted until it was time to pack up and go. Through a friend's suggestion, I drove back over Trail Ridge Road, "the highest continuous motorway in the United States" according to this webpage. Wow. Now that was an awesome experience. I saw elk crossing the road (stopped the traffic) and snow in the mountains. Then, since I was "nearby" I called up some friends and family in Ft. Collins and went up to visit. Like I said -- Awesome Trip.

Lake hike near Buena Vista

The destination for a hike I took on Saturday. A typically gorgeous shot, but I decided to post it anyway. I think my digital picture taking skills are improving.