Senior Picture Season Is Now Open

I had a great day. I felt happy. No fighting with my kids, no kids fighting with each other. And I got to shoot David's Senior Portraits. So much fun!

We walked around the CSUC campus looking for good spots and there were a lot of them. It's a beautiful campus.

Then, we visited some of the local spots in downtown Chico like the Diamond Alley, I think that's what it's called. They have these structures at either end - I shot the kids there last weekend - and they are covered with these mosiac tiles. Beautiful.

Then we went just beyond downtown to the top of Bidwell Park, where we visited a bridge and a tunnel that runs under the road. The tunnel is tiled with tiles decorated with bugs and birds. It's new. Chico is really a pretty cool little art town.

Lucky Duck

I had a super-lucky day today. It started with a work break due to a planned power outage. I took off for a hike and felt absolutely justified because I couldn't work anyway. Actually, I did a lot of thinking on my hike and I realized that I need to get out of my house more. Seeing more of the world will make me a better writer. There are only some many ideas I can come up with in my living room, at my couch/office.

Okay, on to my day......... I saw this tree and it reminded me of how I feel sometimes. It's all sharp and prickly and old. And it sort of looks like it's fighting with itself. Do you see that?


When I got back from my hike, I found a big box on the patio. I opened it up and it was from the Axe people. They sent me a fluffy black robe, some body wash, a cool basket that Kitty has been sleeping in, and this "mixed tape." Unfortunately, I have no way to listen to the tape. Dang. Going to work on that tomorrow.

The note from Axe mentioned flowers, but there were no flowers. Later, I got a knock on the door and the flowers arrived. A whole bunch of them; red, peach, yellow, and white. They came with a vase and they look lovely. I think that Axe may have a crush on me. ;D


This morning, I peeked online before the power outage and I had a message saying that yes, I was the Michelle who won the Asics hat from Fleet Feet Chico. They've been doing drawings and trying to add to their list of fans at Facebook. I love Fleet Feet, even before I won the hat. If you ever need running shoes, go see them. They will watch your gait and your stride and set you up with your perfect shoes. Mine, coincidently, are Asics. I've tried three different models and all three were and are wonderful. I hiked in an old pair today and ran in a new pair last night.

Do I sound like a Fleet Feet/Asics commercial? Probably. They are both great companies.


Here's a last view of the park. Looking to the South-ish. There's the ridge and below that is the creek. The golden part levels down and forms the north side of the valley. I love the park.

Feeling Grumpy

I've been craving Nutella sandwiches lately. I love wheat bread, but the Nutella sandwiches need to be on white bread, best if it's Potato bread. They taste a bit like a frosted donut sandwich. I think Ashlee is a new fan of Nutella.

I wish I had something fun to look forward to today. Instead I've got work and later I'm digging out a plant and replanting it. I've got a bill to drop off across town. I'm going to help Sarah with her room. Woohoo, the anticipation is making me feel a bit giddy........ Wow, where did the sarcasm come from? I am feeling a little bit grumpy. Darn.

I'm going to kick the bad attitude. There's no room for negativity in a Saturday. Maybe Mom will watch Buddy and I get get to the creek with Sarah.

Showing Mark the Park

I had the best weekend. My pal, Jackie, brought her kids over and they spent the night. We sat out on the patio, around a fire, and talked and talked. The kids played video games and got goofy. It was so relaxing.

The next night I stayed up all night talking to my new boyfriend on the phone. Again, we talked and talked. I figure we've put a couple of months worth of talking in just a week and a half. He's got a lot of ideas and I look forward to hearing him examine each and every one. :)

This one is of Bay and I took it when I was walking up from the creek. It's so beautiful here. The trees curve above and it feels like you are in a .... basket? a tent? It feels pretty and it feels protected, like the trees are embracing you.


These photos of the park are here for him. Well, I want to show them for Nature's Notes, but I picked this spot in particular to show to Mark. That's his name. Mark. That's the creek, back there. I'm facing the opposite direction now and just a little to the West of the first photo. In the past few weeks, the trees have filled out, so it's probably even more green now.

Tomorrow is the first day back to school. I have loved every single day of sleeping in. I will be sad when my alarm goes off and it's still dark out tomorrow morning.

I had such plans for the vacation time. I was going to organize and clear out and finally get things back in order. Instead, I wandered around, my head in the clouds. I cannot say that I hated it, because I so did not. I think I deserve a bit of head in the clouds time and I will savor every single second of it.

Field Trip With Bailey

Bay gets a few minimum days a semester. We've started a tradition - if you can call two times a tradition - of grabbing the cameras and taking photos at the park. I'm mentioned before that Bay has a great eye. We will shoot the same subjects and come up with totally different shots. I wish I had a touch more of her creativity.

We get along so well when we are out there together. We share the two cameras - a Nikon D40 and a Canon Rebel - switching out our memory cards. She prefers the Canon and I am trying to love it, but I think that using the Nikon first, learning on it, has marked me as a Nikon lover. I do not love that Canon.

I dream of a fanicer Nikon......... or maybe I just have developed a taste for cameras the same way that many women have a taste for shoes. I mean, I want old cameras, too, not just expensive cameras. I love to hunt for them in second hand shops. I love to imagine what they must have shot in the past. I love the way my Duraflex looks - I'd love to try to shoot with it as a camera-camera and not just a lens for TTV.

Bay just called from school - she's sick, I can hear it in her voice. So, I've got to make this fast. She is supposed to be leaving with Mom, Greg, and Sarah for Pismo Beach time with Robin's family, but she told me this morning that she did not know if she could make it. She's got to be sick if she will willingly miss out on that. She loves the beach and she loves her Robbie.

I'm using this one as my Facebook icon. My sister remarked that we look alike here. I'll take it - Bay is a beauty and I'd love to look even a little bit like her.

Okay, running off to pick her up........... Happy day to you!

The Things That I Remember

I was talking to an old friend tonight. He told me that he had a crush on me back in high school. He said that he liked "my attitude." I can remember moving a lot in high school. So much of it was almost physically painful for me, being shy, feeling that I did not fit anywhere. Apparently, I was good at hiding this.

When I try to picture it, me walking the halls, this boy seeing me the way he did.... Well, it would have been nice knowing that at the time. Not easy for kids to share feelings like that though. It was nice to hear it today. He gave me a compliment the other day, said he liked my picture on Facebook. It was nice to hear that, too. I've felt invisible for awhile.

I really enjoy talking to old friends. I love the shared history, going through the list of memories, Hey, I don't remember that? Do you remember this?? We all hold onto different things. So many of my memories are tied to a boy.

There's a whole lot that I let go of, just can't recall, and I think it's because of other crap that was going on at the time. Things were challenging when I was a kid and even when they were quiet, I did my best to screw them up on my own.

I wonder what my kids are going to hold onto? I bet it will be things like camping at the beach. I know they both tell funny Uncle Matt stories - Bay is partial to his "My Humps" performance. Maybe some creek stories will be in there....... I know they are going to have lots of Kitty memories. She's a funny girl.

Okay, I'm off to bed.

Nature Notes: Upper Bidwell Park in the Spring

Today I've got another Nature Notes blog entry. Nature Notes is the creation of Michelle from Rambling Woods.

Yesterday, I took a short hike in Upper Bidwell Park. I love this hike. It's a fairly steady uphill climb, not uncomfortable, but good exercise. This time of year, it's very green, lots of wildflowers.

In the Summer, it's much warmer and gold in every direction. The first weekend that Steve visited, we did this hike. He called it a "Death March," but he laughed when he said it.
As we hiked up the hill, I found myself growing comfortable with him again. It was the beginning of falling in love with him, after more than 20 years apart.

I'd say that 9 times out of 10 I've hiked this alone. I've run it many times and I always feel a mountain goat scrambling up and then I fly back down. One time, I ran by these woman who were my age and one called out, "You go, girl!"

The below shot is looking to the West. That ridge of rock you see is right around where the basalt rock starts. The creek lies below the line. I'll take some photos of that area soon.

More wildflowers. I wanted to lay on my belly to get a different view of these, but it was so busy up there and it's not like the front lawn when I'm trying to get shots of the clover.

I love the wildflowers, but oh man is my head a mess from my allergies. Not as bad as poor Max, though. He's very uncomfortable and he takes allergy medicine all year.

The shot below was shot near the bottom of the trail. You can see the fields of flowers. I start the trail with a worry. Some issue that has bothered me all day. With every step I examine the problem, try to work out the knot. By the time I get back to the bottom, I always feel better. I can leave it on the hill.

Nature Notes - Bidwell Park and My Patio

Rambling Woods started something she's calling Nature Notes. I just woke up, so please excuse me if I don't get it completely correct. She is inviting people to take photos of their local nature and share them with the blogging world. Please click her name above, if you'd like to a take a look and participate.

Here are some flowers on my patio. I call them pansies, but I think that they are actually called something else. The something else currently escapes me, I'm sorry to say. I want to say violas, but that's probably wrong. I need some coffee.
Bay had a minimum day last week and we took the cameras down to Sycamore Pool, at One Mile, in Bidwell Park. I was messing around with the Through the Viewfinder here. My new Canon works much more effectively for this, because I can set the automatic focus. No leaves on the Sycamores yet.

Here's a longer shot of yesterday's Wordless Wednesday photo. That's a Valley Oak over head and I'm looking toward the dam and the bridge.

Bay leaned over and caught her focus on the side of the water with the Nikon. I wanted to try it and then she started taking shots of me taking shots. I don't know how many shots she made of me from my feet up - I was laying on the sidewalk - but I hate to think of the view of my big butt floating around somewhere out there. The park was pretty full for a weekday, but that's what it's like in a college town - the weather turns pretty, everyone heads for the water.

If you'd like to take part in Nature Notes. Then, you can click Rambling Woods name above or the picture, because I tried to make it clickable. :D More nature to come. Have a nice day.

Wordless Wednesday - Bidwell Park, Sycamore Pool