Finally! Walking again...

It's been two weeks since I had a good walk but I finally had the opportunity to get outside today for a town walk. Thank goodness the weather improved...I was going stir crazy. Tomorrow should be a beautiful day and I look forward to getting on the trails again. I miss you Mother Nature!

Breaking News...

Russell made the decision it's time to shave his head. He can no longer hide the fact that he is balding and decided to just go with it. Personally I think it's a great idea and Russell knows I think some bald men are hot. So the deed is done and I now have a bald husband. It's about time I say. :)

Outside Within

Susurration of Wind finely Speak
Alight On dewed Skin
In Trek ever Onward
Journy don't End

Sweet Redolence ethereal of Mystery
Felt Shared intercepted Within
We find our peace
Ancient primal Begin

For this We hold Closely
A power Little known
Together hold The secret
Primitive we've Grown

I was thinking about hiking and how it sometimes makes me feel and ended up writing a little poem about it. I haven't written much poetry so don't laugh if you think it sucks. :)

The Deftones

I can't seem to get enough of their music right now. They have kind of an industrial/alternative rock sound, but some of their songs are total thrasher. I listen to it constantly...whether I'm in the car or messin around the house. I'm sure my family is about sick to death of it by now.

I was fortunate to see the Deftones a few weeks ago and knew nothing much of their music beforehand, but after seeing their show, I was hooked. I love seeing bands live and can't wait for this one to come to town again. Should one want to go check them out, I recommend listening to samples of the following songs:

MEIN(As close to punk as the Deftones come)
Kimdracula
Change
Beware
Cherry Waves

The Roughs Revisited

My hiking partner and I went to McKinney Roughs yesterday for a little walking adventure. I have been to the Roughs before, but couldn't remember the trail system until almost the end where we had to climb out of the valley. I guess it's not terribly surprising that the hardest part of the hike is what triggered my memory. I sucked some wind climbing out, but my recovery time after getting to the top was only seconds. Of course as usual Thomas was at the top waiting for me. He runs up steep switchbacks like they are nothing! We only walked a total of five miles yesterday, but this trail system does offer more.

The Roughs is a pretty place. It has a few look out points to catch a good view, and follows a river for a little while. Since the water was low, we were able to walk out on some rocks and test our balancing skills. I did great until I hit flat ground again...that's when I went down in the mud. This seems to be a regular occurrence for me...falling on flat ground. I get through the difficult terrain with sure skill, but as soon as my foot hits level ground again, I lose my balance or trip and down I go. Figures.

Not much to report on the wildlife in the area. We heard some deer crashing through the trees, but little else showed up on the scene except a bird or insect every now and then. Oh wait, I forgot about the big spider that Thomas took for a little dance. It was a large fat orb weaver of some kind, which I thought was pretty. It ended up on Thomas for a few short seconds after he walked through it's web. That's when the dancing started...

The last time I hiked in this park I was much less hardened to trail walking and didn't take photos. This time around was an easy stroll so I had plenty of photo taking opportunity. Here they are!

River Low
River View From Trail
River Flats
Hind Racoon Print on River Rock
Looking Down to the Left from Trail
Pine and Sky
Big Valley View

Chalk Ridge Falls II

Went on a short little hike today with Russell, who usually won't step foot out in nature, but he's such a nice husband he let me drag him along. I wanted to go back to Chalk Ridge Falls to pick up some of the parts I've not hiked previously, but it turned out there wasn't much else to see. We were only able to squeeze three miles out of these trails. It's supposed to be a longer hike according to people's online hike write ups. The last time we were there I thought we got at least four miles out of it, but I went on every trail available and no way was it near the four or five miles people are reporting online. Am I missing something?

We did have a very cool deer encounter though. On a small off shoot trail, we walked right up on some grazing deer. They were so close I could have almost reached out and touched them. They were every bit as surprised to see us so up close and personal as we were them! Of course they moved away from us quickly after we almost collided into them. Something else I enjoyed seeing were two king fishers chasing each other along the river. They were gorgeous but flying too fast to photograph unfortunately.
Suspension Bridge...Nice and Wobbly
Small Falls
Looking Up River
Different Upriver Perspective

Gingerbread Extravaganza 2006

Each year my friend Jen has a gingerbread house party where all her guests come and decorate their very own house to take home. This year would mark the fifth party and the second one I have had the priviledge of attending. It was a great time and even the guys got into making and decorating their own creations. Elliott designed and built his own train and Jen made a gingerbread dome.

The day before the party Jen and I made dough and baked over a hundred cookies! We pre-baked and assembled the houses too...14 in all. Hours and hours of work went into this year's extravaganza, but it was all fun and time well spent. These houses do look good enough to eat and they are!

The Candy!
My House
Jessica's House
Elliott's Train
Lotsa Cookies!
The Dome (pre-decorated. I don't have a shot of it finished unfortunately)
Hanson and Will's House. The other side of the house says "Please Recycle"
Very Fine Gingerbread Cookies. These didn't last long in my house.