Contrast

Shot in the eastern Sierras in September. I love the contrast between the up to date fences and the broken barn. A life well lived.

A few miles later... your average rest area next to a dry lake in central California, a seldom used turnoff off a less traveled road. The silence broken by a weed eater in the distance....and off to the side, this bloom...

A volunteer, a splash of remarkable color popping up in an unremarkable place.

Happy New Year!

From AG, TOG and the entire Asthmagirl Family!

Rock On!

A Season of Joy

Taking the opportunity on this Christmas Eve to wish everyone joy and peace. It's so easy to get caught up in the frantic pace. Pausing a moment to look inward and listen to your heart is so calming.

Wishing all of you that moment of calm from within.

AG

Live from 12/12/12

Welcome to a wild and wacky Wednesday...

Today is 12/12/12 and happily it's my birthday.

And here in Thoracic Park, the gifts runneth over...

• I am not as sick as I was
• Seriously, I am improving
• I hear I am going out to dinner tonight
• my daughter sent me a Monty Python spam sketch on Facebook!
• I threw caution to the wind and carried my Seahawk purse to work today!
• Best of all, Saturday morning, my beloved and I will climb in the car and take a little mini vacation to one of our favorite places in the whole world....
• It's not Ireland
• But we will enjoy a lovely Irish Pub!

We're off for two days to Victoria!

Quiet, early morning walks around the harbor and Beacon Hill park...

Photo adventures....

Lovely pub food...

Massage...

Holiday lights...

This is our little deep breath before the holidays.... a time to celebrate my birthday and our anniversary which is later this month. Since he'll pretty much be working the rest of December, we'll squeeze as much celebration into a quick weekend as possible!

I would just like to take a moment to thank The Old Goat for making it happen. There's no one I'd rather climb in the car with for an adventure!

AG out!

Donner Pass

TOG and I enjoyed our first road trip so much, we took a few days for a mini road trip in early September. This trip took us back over the Sierras and we stopped at Donner Pass in Northern California. There are some lovely little hikes at the top of the pass and we took the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenery....

Even though neither of us had hiking boots on, the loop we chose was very ill-prepared-hiker friendly!

The trees were utterly fascinating and I loved looking at the dead soldiers on the forest floor. And then TOG pointed up...

I swear this tree had the most perfect branches!

TOG was enjoying his camera as well. I love shooting with him because we see things so differently at times!

But we both agreed on these last two shots... TOG and I loved finding this boulder field in the middle of the forest... So stark and grey in the midst of the trees. But a half mile further....

And here was a beautiful mountain pool soaking up the sun!

One of things we love most about road trips are the little side adventures waiting for the curious traveler. All you have to do is stop to have them.

Wishing you a beautiful weekend in your neck of the woods!

AG out!

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.  ~John Muir

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

I'm ever mindful that as damp as things are here in the Northwest, there are environments where my lungs would be even more miserable.

As TOG and I drove though the Sierras in September, fire season was in full swing. We drove though an actual stretch of one of the fires on the way toward Shasta and even though the signs said not to stop, we slowed waaaaayyyyy down so I could lean out TOG's window and shoot this.

Needless to say, my lungs were in full rebellion and even our getaway was difficult...

Smoke was so thick, it almost blotted out the sun. All I could think of was the poor people that lived there and had to breathe that air 24/7.

So even as my lungs are throwing yet another holiday lung-fest, I'm mindful of my blessings.

And whoever gave me this lung crap... I hope Santa puts some coal in your stocking... or a nice switch.

Yours in rattle-y lungs,

AG

Thankful

I was doing a whole series of posts on Facebook about what I was thankful for... but I think I can do a better job here with some visuals!

I am always thankful for my Old Goat... prickly, nature loving, vivid, appealing... these are all words that describe him!

I'm thankful for my camera, through which the world is an ever present canvas to be explored...

I'm thankful for the Brute Squad who spend their time keeping the fence under surveillance and entertaining us with their antics...

I'm thankful for family...

I'm thankful for the beauty I see everyday on the way to work...

I'm thankful for all the little gadgets that keep my lungs on board...

And all the things unexpected in life that make you smile!

I'm thankful for football! And coaches!

And friends that make life sweeter!

Wishing you all the blessings in life as you head into the final month of the year!

AG out!

Animal Planet

With the lungs a tad bit rocky, I thought I'd harken back to our roadtrip in Utah when they were on their best behavior.

TOG and I weren't just into scenery while hiking the canyons. We spent a lot of time capturing wild life on our road trip this summer. The photo above was taken by TOG near Zion. It was inspired by some art we saw in Kenab, Utah when we were having dinner the night before. I love, love, love this shot.

My buffalo shots were a little less fabulous.

But still fun to take! And then there were the antelope...

The cutie pie Utah prarie dogs...

The deer...

TOG's Favorites... the Desert Sheep...

...in all it's glory...

...and the boy sheep with his band of ladies...

TOG named him Eustace...

There was more lovliness back at the ranch...

This guy thought I had something for him...

Evenings in Utah were just so pretty...

More to come... Stay tuned!

AG out

Dancing in the Desert

Somewhere in Nevada... I felt like dancing.

Lungs take note... you felt this good. Get with it.

AG out

But first... Northern Utah

Northern Utah was crazy beautiful! The colors were so vivid and the sky so blue! One of the places we wanted to visit on our way south was Salt Lake. Not the city, the actual lake. So I pulled the laptop out and started searching right after I took this. I am one heck of a navigator!

The best place to get lake access turned out to be Antelope Island state park which is a brief drive through North Salt Lake City.

My first impression of the island was that every view was breathtaking! The sky! The water! The beaches!

The buffalo! Yes, Antelope Island has a resident buffalo herd!

And at least one antelope. This was the only one we saw!

As we headed for beach access, one very important thing became apparent...

There was a massive bug hatch going on. TOG and I eventually described Salt Lake as really, bug soup. Not that it stopped us...

In we went! It was hot. It was buggy...

Some of us couldn't get out of there fast enough! Fortunately, they have rinse stations at the beach and we were able to get the "soup" off our legs!

We drove around the island for a while and just took everything in. When we got to the side of the island that faced Salt Lake City, this is what we found....

Salt lake city is essentially pressed between the mountains and the lake (which does have some evaporation in the summer, it being 100 degrees or so).

We also found more of the buffalo herd. This is one of my favorite shots from the whole trip... the herd, the lake and behind it, civilization.

The views were amazing!

Really amazing! (all those dots are buffalo)

But we had to get going.... there was much more to see...

AG out!