barefootwalk

It is getting warm. The pollen season is cooling down but summer days are heating up. It is not summer yet, but we already feel the summer heat. I have been busy and down, but this is not a surprise anymore. I have been working on some car maintenance and improvements. I think they are all needed upgrades. Twyla is napping her days out (I guess I can build this phrase), and keeping her eyes on me! I read an interesting quote this week: "Travel and tell no one, live a true love story and tell no one, live happily and tell no one, people ruin beautiful things." ― Kahlil Gibran

This is the week of spring break. No class this week. The campus is quiet. The weather has turned cold. I was planing to go somewhere, but then I had a meeting on Tuesday. The plan B to travel during the second half of the week didn't look appealing either. It is not long enough to go to places I love the most. For nearby places, the weather is not warm enough, so no vegetation. There are however short lived spring blossoms. I am taking short trips, like picnic. Cooking some food, brewing some coffee, short walks with Twyla and letting her enjoy swimming, while I am playing with the camera and lenses.

It is getting warm. Spring is here. I couldn't plan a proper spring break due to a meeting scheduled right in the middle of the break. I guess I can use this time to prepare for summer. I may get a chance to camp out for a couple of days. It is lovely outside. I got two new lenses. They are insanely sharp and fast!

Another one full turn around the sun. I got a new lens for myself, and a few books. Not in digital format anymore, all paperback. "Light and Color in Nature" is the most notable one. Glad to be able to learn something new.

Spring is coming. The weather was cold past few days, but it is gradually warming up. This was a cold winter for being the South. I am still amused by the snow we had for a day. There is a little pond in the park sometimes I walk with Twyla. The pons side is not busy and she can run and go crazy without leash. The pond doesn't look very clean but she jumps and swims anyway. I have newer pictures but they are boring typical brown color, so I put this older image with snow on the bank. iPhone does a good job of stacking HDR images but I still like the pure camera work. Newer cameras do HDR with a press of a button!    

I went backpacking again. I have been traveling but they were just light road trips, just to get away. The last time I went for a hiking was in January 2022 ( Link ). What happened and why I suddenly caved in, is a long story. It was nice to have a backpack on my shoulders again and for a few hours don't think about everyday concerns we all have. What is a life worth, if we don't live it? What is life anyway, opportunity, liability, ... ? Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center offers a web of trails. The Multi-Use Trail is shared with horses, it is wider and easier and over used. The side foot-only trails were nice and narrow and more beautiful. Although at this time of year there is not much vegetation. Weather on the other hand was fantastic. Warm and dry, with a nice breeze. End of the Murder Creek trail When I take photos, Twyla takes a rest Twyla didn't like this sign! The new, light green grass was so refreshing

I had fun working on this simple postcard. I love scrapbooks and simple multimedia items.  I put a snapshot below, but you can save it as pdf in with the link below. Download the pdf from the Google Drive:   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iVcbD0WxzmvsgI1m5nP7y157fmEwE3QX/view?usp=share_link

Winter in the South can get cold but snow is rarity. Well, it is never cold as many other places, nevertheless it is not comfortable either. But in my surprise we had some snow this week and they didn't disappear immediately as usually happens. We enjoyed playing around and walking on the snow. The Sun the next day was a nice addition.

Winter Weather Advisory is in effect and the university has canceled on-campus activities. Apparently it is snowing in many places. We were supposed to get some snow, well we got some white powder. It turned to ice due to the temperature. We are working from home today. Fortunately our classes will begin on schedule.

In previous years trips, I have always been stopped by a cold weather at one point, so I had to turn around at some point and head south. Although I have full clothes and sleeping system for very cold temperatures, but the main problem is that my comfort zone is very small and I can't move around a lot. This time I was focused on ideas to improve the cold weather comfort and test how far I can go. As a side note, I have learned that holidays are not good times to travel to places with good weather, nevertheless Christmas is one of those times that I will be miserable staying home. I always have very nice neighbors and friends and their attempt to make sure I am not feeling lonely makes me feel pathetic. So it is the best time to leave the town and go somewhere. If they ask why, I would say I am missing the snow. And if they say, well, you can just drive a shorter distance to the north and see the snow, I would say I miss the desert. And it is true, I miss snow and desert. The magic...