Backwoods Babble

So, sometimes I think I'm going to do something and then end of the semester and a bout of a flu happens ... I did promise to include some fun shots from my visit to Rhyolite about two weeks ago. What can I say? Internet went out (literally). It's the end of the semester. And.. em.. well, I think the aliens ate my homework..at least that's the story I'm sticking to for now. We did pass awfully close to Area 51, though the cell phones all behaved themselves this time. But, I hope it's worth it to get a few of the shots. In case I've forgotten to mention it, Rhyolite is a ghost town from back in the day. They came looking for gold and found, well, Rhyolite. To read more about it (mostly because I'm too lazy to type it all out right now) check it out HERE . It's pretty cool to still be able to see the "bones" of the old buildings. One of my favorite reasons to go is the Goldwell Open Air Musuem . There is something very charming about it.

Yesterday, I went over to Death Valley via Death Valley Junction. Last week, I went a similar route and was rewarded with my first siting of the wild horse herd that hangs out around there. They were fairly far off and the pictures were really fuzzy. These were closer, but still fuzzy (my apologies for the fuzz, but you get the idea). There are four adults and this year two foals! So amazing! We also went by Rhyolite , which is a very interesting little randomness in the desert near Beatty, NV. Of course, we had to stop at the candy store in Beatty. Mmmm.. can you say Kookaburra raspberry licorice..yum! I will make a separate Rhyolite related post tomorrow. I had some fun shooting the "open-air museum" that is out there.. =) It has been crazy around here. Our internet keeps going down.. and we were even without cell phone coverage for part of the day yesterday. If I was a more paranoid person, I would think something was afoot!

I thought I would try to explain visually why I am so obsessed with spring time in the desert. This pic does it great! On the right is what we see most of the year... a tad bit of muted gray and brown. On the LEFT... spring time color! It is also when all the cactus and wildflowers start to bloom, which is quite a sight to see. I definitely recommend spring time for desert visits. It is when it's at it's best. Happy Easter BTW!

I have been thinking about what to do different with my blog to help organize me creatively. Alot of the blogs I like have fairly regular "episodes" so to speak. I like how I can count on the day and what the topic (if not the specifics) will be. So, I'm giving it a shot. I think I'll let it develop slowly and maybe only a few "regular episodes" will show up, but we'll see. I liked the idea of Feisty Fridays because my crazy little cat is frequently the subject of my pictures through the week. Frequently, she is sleeping in some crazy upside down way or just chillin somewhere cool. This is an old pic of her that I thought was funny. Welcome to Feisty Fridays!

Such a good day! My drawing class went on a field-trip to China Ranch . It is one of my favorite nearby places... especially because of the fantastic banana date shakes - a definite must have for all visitors! (You don't have to have banana, but I think it's soooo much better that way!) It was an absolutely stunning day - perfect temperature (for me) with a nice light breeze. I went out a little early on my own to avoid all the chaos and took a little walk up the Crack Trail and found a couple gorgeous little cacti in bloom. The owner, Brian, took us on short little walk through the ranch and talked a little about the geology, critters and the date palms. I have been on one of the autumn walks that Brian guides and he is fabulous! He is very acquainted and loves the uniqueness of the ranch and seems to truly enjoy sharing that knowledge. The next one is later in the fall this year and I think I may need to go again! =) After several hours, a group of us headed back to Tec

I scoured my pictures and I don't have a single shot of a bunny - what's up with that?? I think Peter would like all the pretty pink don't you? I have had the tune to "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" stuck in my head the last two days and realized that I don't actually know anymore of the words except for the first line. So, I googled it! I was amazed how long it actually was! If you want to check out the full lyrics, go HERE ! With Easter coming up soon, I guess I'm just in a Eastery place. Happy Early Easter!

I know there hasn't been very much variety lately, but it's SPRINGTIME IN THE DESERT!! It's the only time of year that there is such an amazing array of color! This is from the newest of the cherry trees in the backyard. My father has been obsessed with having a Bing Cherry Tree for a very long time. Five trees later... we finally have a Tarkanian, which is from the literature, tasty like a Bing, but more drought tolerant and therefore, more likely to happy in the yard. Isn't Bob cute?? He spends his days hanging out in a little birdhouse that the birds would never use, so we stuck it on the ground. In the evenings, our one outdoor cat sits outside the birdhouse and stares inside. She caught Bob once, but he got away, thanks to our help... This is the beginning of a bloom (hopefully) on one of the cacti in the backyard. I think it's a prickly pear, but I'm still a little fuzzy on my cactus recognition. Last summer it had a gorgeous bloom of deep pink flo