Daily Image — 23 August 2023
Category: outdoors
Daily Image — 22 August 2023
The Girl and I are walking in town for the time being. We have a couple of routes we like, this one being one of them.
The weather is cooler with the influence of the hurricane. It will not last forever.
Still, life is good.
Daily Image — 20 August 2023
After I spent much of the morning puttering at my desk, I decided it was time to get out. We are experiencing the remains of a hurricane from the south. Our weather is cloudy, very cool, and a bit rainy.
The Girl asked to go with me. So, she did.
I had a lens to put into return mail. It was not what I expected. So we walked north to the post office and I dropped the parcel in the bin while chatting with Older Son. Then we walked the reverse of our normal circuit to Station 51. There was no one at the park, so Sera got some time off leash. She had a blast chasing the ground squirrels.
On our way home, I stopped at the planters outside the NDEP building and made a few images of the flowers there. I missed the focus on most of the shots with the thin depth of field of the 35mm f/1.4 wide open. I still got a few decent captures.
Once home, I made some lunch and shared some of my chicken with The Girl. She is doing much better today.
I am grateful. Life is good.
Archive Image — Ki
I was browsing my image archive this morning, cleaning up some culls and organizing the directories. I stumbled across this capture of Ki I made seven-years ago. She was on overwatch as I climbed up towards her and she looks so happy. We had so many good times together. She was a great dog, not perfect but neither am I.
I still miss her. We will see each other again and have a big-ol’ play along with all the others.
Life is good.
Daily Image — South End of a North-Bound Dog
I have laughed, many times, over the fact that no matter which way I point the camera (or face for that matter), there is The Girl, looking in the same direction. I think I could write a book entitled The South End of a North-Bound Dog. It would include a lot of dog stories, of course.
Once again, while looking at a piece of scrap metal left behind years ago, I pointed the camera. Before I could make the capture, there was The Girl, with the South End pointed at me.
Nevertheless, life is good.
Edit: On our morning hike, a large coyote crossed the access road behind us. Unlike they usually do, this one stood there, staring at us. Of course, this set off The Girl, who wanted to engage.
Well, that is not going to happen. But this raised her energy level so much that she was hyperactive as we started our walk.
About a mile in, I saw her jumping on a bush. That in itself is not unusual, but she was very agitated and clearly on something. I walked over and heard the buzz when I got about ten feet away. I called her off and she had blood on her nose and tongue.
It was a rattler, definitely. I figured she was bit, although I could not find it. I called the vet and we headed back to the rig.
They found one bite site on the side of her muzzle. She is in hospital while they infuse her with antivenin and monitor her blood and kidneys function. She should be fine in a couple of days. I doubt she will be any wiser.
Damned coyote…
And, nonetheless, life is still good!
Daily Image — Sunstar
Last Sunday, after activating the park, The Girl and I walked to the east for some exercise before calling it a day. I looked over my shoulder and saw this specular reflection on my 4Runner. I immediately thought “Sunstar!” and raised the camera.
It was a good day. Life is good.
The Girl Poses
We have been spending some time every weekend in the national forest at an elevation of about 7,000 feet. It is much cooler there and the pines provide shade and that soothing shooshing sound when the breeze blows through the needles. The lagniappe is that I can play radio a little, hike as much as I want, and enjoy being away from the sounds of Carson City.
I already have enough backlog of photographs to post for weeks. Those are just the captures from the last couple of weekends up there near Spooner Summit. I have many more from our walks at Silver Saddle Ranch.
I am already looking forward to the weekend. I plan on going back to this place. Although, as I think on it, my friend Greg mentioned Hermit Valley out south of us. It is also at elevation and is a new place to explore. I will have a look this week to see if there is a park or a summit to activate. Then I might plan a day trip out there to explore.
What a Difference a Day Makes
This old cottonwood was my subject a few times over the last week or so. Some of those captures were published here or other places. I commented a couple of times on Facebook about this tree, and posted an image or two.
Yesterday (Friday) morning The Girl and I walked early because I had a bunch of meetings. We did pause here or there for an image or to sniff or to pee or to just be. When we passed through the ranch compound I noticed a brush pile near the old cottonwood. As we approached, I saw tractor tracks.
I knew what that meant.
Sure enough, when we got closer, I saw the brushpile was the remnants of the green part of the old cottonwood. I noticed it was turning yellow and that meant nearing its end. I suppose it was in the irrigation ditch (the Mexican ditch) and the rancher cleaned it up.
That is the nature of things. We get old. We get broken. We die. Then someone comes along and cleans us up and returns us to the earth from which we came.
This broken old cottonwood hung on while it could. But it had to go. It was going anyway.
Daily Image — Happy Dog
Yesterday was a field day. I had a site walk with my prime contractor and the clients for a project that is about to begin construction. Yes, another of my projects will be built this fall. My role was the hydrologist and engineer for all of the hydrology, hydraulics, and this culvert design. The design was complicated by the client’s requirements.
The project was bid and was a lot more expensive than anticipated. But construction bids are high this year. So a compromise was reached, a change in the culvert material was made, but now there is a question about removing the existing concrete overflow (culvert is a combined box and low-water crossing) because of cost.
My assessment is that removing the concrete overflow will be less expensive than dealing with it in place. It is at about the invert elevation of the new culverts such that it will intersect the barrels. I do not think it can be left. But the construction stakes will be in place within a couple or three weeks. Then we will see. I might be wrong.
We then walked downstream to look at places where the channel fill could end if the budget runs short. There are several places where the project can end, function, and wait for another round of funding to finish the restoration.
The meadow is lovely this year with all the water over the winter. Vegetation is dense and healthy. Several times Doggo paused to romp and roll in the grass. I managed a capture of one of her dances.
It was a gorgeous day. She makes me laugh. I love he so much and she knows it. Life is good.
Daily Image — Can’t Stack Hay
We walked past this shed/open barn many times the last few weeks. I watched the hay stack grow as more bales were added.
I was reminded of helping Dad (father-in-law) with the hay as a young man. Having grown up in the city, I knew nothing. But he taught me what I needed to know and I did my best to stack bales on the trailer and wagons. He did most of the work in the barn because of my allergies.
I do not know if the stack is that way because they machine stack it. But the bales are sure not tied together and would readily fall over.
They just can’t stack hay bales.
Nonetheless, I came away with an image and a story. We had a good walk. Life is good.