8/31/08

Late summer gold


A few images from our last evening walk with my mum around Berkeley Lake.

A wandering duck.

Have you ever seen a water rat? We spotted this one and it spotted us at the same moment. There it sat, among the reeds, minding its own business.

Unfortunately, we had a dog, and the rat did not sit long enough for me to focus properly. But I'm glad I snapped these shots. I haven't ever seen a water rat before, outside the Wind in the Willows! A very mysterious creature!

And sunset descends over the lake.

This is the move I call her "excited clench". I got a good shot of it here.

She finishes with a little full-body shudder of anticipation. What's she excited about here? Ducks. It took some work on my part, folks, but I managed to get her hooked on ducks. I think it was my constant quacking that finally won her over. Mike got some pictures of me quacking, in case you're wondering what that looks like. I'll post them later.

Oh, that color. The older I get, the more I appreciate the subtleties of all the varied seasons. The gold of late summer is one I'm just noticing this year - gold in the light, gold in the sunsets, gold in the flowers, gold in the fruits on the trees, gold in the meadows - even before the trees begin to turn with their own shade of gold. How is it that I never noticed this particular symphony of nature before?

Sittin' on the dock of the bay.



Beautiful.

Tomorrow, we head up to Vail for our "last hurrah" before M. has to start school again. It's our last chance to show our old stomping grounds to Flynn before the new season sets in, and things get busy again. Also our last chance to do some hiking with the Kelty backpack that M's parents gave us, weather permitting! I'm hoping to have some good photos to post when we get back. We are beyond excited to introduce QQ to our beloved mountains, I have to tell you!

7 comments:

tiffany said...

Have a wonderful time!

kitchu said...

These photos are breathtaking, I've never seen a water rat either! How enchanting (yes, I do love rats I am weird that way). It's funny, my sister called me two days ago with this next set of storms coming through and said, "That's it, I've had enough we've got to move" and I said, "Colorado" and she said, "Jay JUST said the exact same thing". I hope if the market ever turns around we can make our way out there... I am really tired of Florida. I never was a Fl girl anyway.

Have a wonderful trip!

Yoli said...

I am falling more and more in love with Colorado. You do for Colorada what Myriam does for Marrakesh.

A Beautiful Mess said...

Just beautiful!

Ok...Kris moves to colorado we can one fun little get together! You do make colorado look enchanting...even the cold weather:)

have a great time!

Fliss and Mike Adventures said...

Oh... the photos were gorgeous... as for teaching Flynn about the ducks... time to pull out that duck book and start showing her how it is done... hehehe... I am with Kris... I am falling in love with CO... hey, I have been there twice in 2 years... ummmm... now there is an idea...

Vivian M said...

I hope your daughter inherits your love for nature and seeing the beauty in all things.

Kristin said...

Love, love, love the photo of mommy and baby sitting on the dock in the sunset. Breathtaking.

Kristin
CCAI WC mom