Ah, May! What a glorious month with so much time outside! (And so much of that outside time at the Old Highway - ha!)
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| 5.1.23 (spelling time in the hammock - a wonderful combination!) |
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| 5.1.23 (May 1st and we still have the pile of snow!) |
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| 5.1.23 (this was the ice rink in Huntsville) |
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| 5.1.23 (glorious evening in the backyard) |
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| 5.2.23 (went to check on the flooding situation at North Arm. This was as far as I could go before my feet got wet.) |
bonus video!
5.2.23
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| 5.2.23 (hard to see in this pic, but right in the middle is the river going off course and running down the middle of the trail!) |
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| 5.3.23 (bike ride to Old Highway for some nature journaling. Also: stay tuned for more photos from this spot, showing the rising levels of the reservoir since it has finally melted (sometime between 4/29 and 5/1)!) |
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| 5.3.23 (we walked down along the beach and over to a spot beneath the creager's property, out on the lakebed on some big chunks of concrete stuck there. but also, I think I was taking pics of the cranes in the grass here?) |
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| 5.3.23 |
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| 5.3.23 |
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| 5.3.23 (there was a lot to observe out here - some great blue herons, cranes, seagulls, geese, a hawk, and pelicans!) |
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| 5.3.23 |
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| 5.3.23 Mucky mud patch. |
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| 5.3.23 (on a solo walk on the nature trail in Huntsville while the kids play at STEAM club at the library. I thought these seeds (flowers?) were cool.) |
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| 5.3.23 (buds!) |
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| 5.3.23 (the water is rising out here in these marshlands) |
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| 5.3.23 |
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| 5.3.23 (the south fork river is high, fast and brown!) |
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| 5.3.23 |
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| 5.3.23 (this used to be a campground, but I think they closed it down because it used flood often - go figure!) |
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| 5.3.23 (another bridge, more raging waters) |
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| 5.3.23 (the water is swirling and touching the underside of the bridge!) |
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| 5.3.23 (wider than usual) |
bonus video!
5.3.23
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| 5.4.23 (district track meet at Roy, watching Gregg's high jumpers and chowin' down on the concessions (Cal and Sam brought their own money and bought pop, chips and a hot dog and had such a great time). |
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| 5.4.23 (chips and a track meet - perfect!) |
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| 5.5.23 (not my pic, but my friend Holly sent this to me - a little shrew she saw while xc skiing in north fork park. a shrew!!) |
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| 5.6.23 (the very last bit of snow! Gregg had chopped up the big pile and spread it around so it would melt) |
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| 5.6.23 (the fam wanted to come see the flooding north fork river, so we went on an adventure) |
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| 5.6.23 (so much water!!) |
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| 5.6.23 (Gregg braved the flooded trail in his muck boots) |
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| 5.6.23 (but Sam and Cal and I stopped here, turned around, and went around the bush through the field to get to the bridge) |
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| 4.29.15 (this is what the trail usually looks like) |
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| 5.6.23 |
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| 5.6.23 (this river is usually a quiet, still, clear little streamlet) |
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| 5.6.23 |
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| 4.29.15 (this is what the little stream usually looks like) |
bonus video!
5.6.23
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| 5.6.23 (even if you can get the bridge, you can't get any further!) |
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| 4.29.15 (this is what the bridge used to look like when we first moved here. it hasn't had the railings for a few years now, since the last flooding situation in 2017) |
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| 5.6.23 (we walked along the trail out toward the lake and were just amazed at the color, speed, and volume of the river) |
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| 5.6.23 |
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| 5.6.23 (we walked all the way to the old highway bridge and noticed that the roadbed is getting eroded away before the bridge from the rushing water) |
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| 5.6.23 (amazing!) |
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| 5.6.23 (some cool driftwood we found on the lakebed) |
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| 5.6.23 (Gregg walked out to the edge of the water (through the squelchy mud) to place a stick so we can watch the water level rising) |
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| 5.6.23 (all kinds of weird things out there where the water used to be) |
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| 5.6.23 |
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| 5.6.23 (looking over to the big, new bridge to make sure it's not going to get washed away (it's hard to see but it looks okay) |
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| 5.6.23 (just a lovely evening walk to the park) |
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| 5.7.23 (cool clouds in the backyard) |
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| 5.8.23 (the kids and I rode bikes to Old Highway and walked down to check out the lake) |
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| 5.8.23 (it's getting higher! the buoy is in water again!) |
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| 5.8.23 (I spy two great blue herons, the buoy, AND our stick that Gregg placed just a few days ago - totally surrounded by water now!) |
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| 5.8.23 (just to the left off the tip of my finger is our stick) |
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| 5.8.23 (on the old highway roadbed - I don't think this will be dry much longer) |
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| 5.8.23 (no water out there yet . . . ) |
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| 5.8.23 (it was so windy that this giant limb fell from our tree. Our garage door opener was not working so we had been parking on the driveway, but I was nervous about more limbs falling on our car in the wind, so I parked out on the street till it all died down) |
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| 5.9.23 (I was walking through Huntsville and noticed this house still had snow in front) |
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| 3.9.23 (here's that same house two months ago! (I didn't even mean to take it on the same day two months later!)) |
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| 5.9.23 (back on that nature trail in Huntsville - so much flooding) |
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| 5.9.23 (even bigger than 6 days ago!) |
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| 5.10.23 (a scooter/rollerblade hike on a cool little trail in Liberty (probably we were not supposed to be here because it's private property for The Preserve neighborhood, but our friend Holly told us she did it and didn't get in trouble, so we tried it out, too).) |
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| 5.10.23 (these vole "tunnels" are super weird - the go along the top of the dirt, but then they also go along thick grass (not pictured) and pavement?!) |
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| 5.10.23 (we saw SO many of these shiny green beetles on the trail) |
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| 5.10.23 (more of those trails - I don't know how this works!) |
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| 5.10.23 (a pond along the trail - we heard ducks) |
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| 5.10.23 (nature journal time on a log) |
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| 5.10.23 |
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| 5.10.23 (back on that trail in Huntsville - my favorite walking spot while the kids have clubs at the libary) |
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| 5.10.23 |
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| 5.10.23 (leaves!) |
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| 5.13.23 (I'm seeing some water snaking in from our parking lot lookout) |
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| 5.13.23 (a solo walk to the Old Highway - the water is almost touching the road!) |
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| 5.13.23 |
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| 5.13.23 |
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| 5.13.23 (both sides!) |
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| 5.13.23 |
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| 5.13.23 (look how close the water is to getting through the road!) |
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| 5.13.23 |
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| 5.13.23 (I walked along the lake bed toward north arm trailhead since I knew that I wouldn't be able to do that again anytime soon) |
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| 5.13.23 (here's the trail - I had to detour through the field to get to the parking lot) |
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| 5.13.23 (the first bridge is gone! we thought it looked like that yesterday when we biked to the trailhead to check things out. sheesh! here comes another trail closure for how many years? :( |
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| 5.13.23 (I think the big, new bridge is still okay) |
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| 5.13.23 (but that water is definitely not normal) |
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| 5.13.23 (we saw this sign yesterday on our bike ride, but I think it had been updated since we were there because it mentioned the bridge that was washed away) |
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| 5.13.23 |
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| 5.13.23 |
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| 5.14.23 (sunset over Willard Bay on our drive home from Providence) |
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| 5.15.23 (checking out the hollow tree - soon will be underwater, too!) |
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| 5.15.23 |
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| 5.15.23 |
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| 5.15.23 (we had a new visitor on our deck!) |
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| 5.15.23 (our fritillaria are getting so big and plentiful) |
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| 5.15.23 (they are spreading into the lilac bush, too!) |
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| 5.15.23 (usually we have blooming tulips way before now, but this year they were slow coming up AND THEN the deer chomped off the buds!) |
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| 5.16.23 (post dinner walk to the Old Highway trail) |
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| 5.16.23 (check it out! the road is almost covered! I walked across it just three days ago!!) |
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| 5.16.23 (checking out the secret beach) |
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| 5.16.23 (we put a stick at the waterline near secret beach) |
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| 5.16.23 (end of the road) |
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| 5.16.23 |
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| 5.21.23 (north arm is filling up!) |
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| 5.21.23 (Sunday evening bike ride on Old Highway trail) |
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| 5.21.23 (lookout from the secret beach) |
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| 5.22.23 (we got a few tulips! they are so spiky this year) |
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| 5.22.23 (just a few this year, but they're lovely!) |
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| 5.22.23 (another debris hut made by Cal, at the park this time) |
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| 5.23.23 (lilacs almost in bloom!) |
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| 5.23.23 (plum blossoms!) |
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| 5.23.23 (here they come!) |
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| 5.23.23 (oregon grape in the front yard) |
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| 5.24.23 (blossom trees at the library!) |
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| 5.25.23 (morning blossom tree walk around the neighborhood) |
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| 5.25.23 |
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| 5.25.23 (look at those leaves!) |
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| 5.25.23 |
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| 5.25.23 |
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| 5.25.23 (so many petals on the sidewalk at Emmy James) |
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| 5.25.23 |
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| 5.25.23 |
bonus video!
5.25.23
(while we were visiting Gregg's parents, who feed Daisy
and Donald, a pair of wild mallards, in their backyard
every spring, some bully ducks came in and started
beating up Daisy. Paul told the kids to go out and scare
them away, which then became the favorite game
of the evening; each time they came back, someone would
call "Duclairs!" and the kids would rush out and scare them
over the fence)
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| 5.26.23 (take me out to the ballgame!) |
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| 5.26.23 (take me out to the crowd!) |
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| 5.26.23 (we checked off one of Gregg's 40 before 40: go to a Raptor's game) |
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| 5.26.23 (such a beautiful night! too bad the raptor's played like poop) |
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| 5.26.23 |
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| 5.27.23 (Sam played with this board in the tree making ramps from different branches for a good long while) |
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| 5.30.23 (pretty white lilacs on the way to the park) |
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| 5.31.23 (here we are at our same lookout - and the lake is full!) |
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| 5.31.23 (Sam and I rode/walked down to the lake while Cal and Gregg were backpacking. It's almost to the highest point we've ever seen) |
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| 5.31.23 (while we were down on the little beach, Sam looked up and spotted a bald eagle flying by!) |
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| 5.31.23 (there it goes!) |
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| 5.31.23 |
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| 5.31.23 (we tried to walk over to the secret beach, but couldn't get all the way there on the shore) |
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| 5.31.23 |
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| 5.31.23 (we saw three vultures sitting on the fence posts) |
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| 5.31.23 (secret beach is almost gone!) |
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| 5.31.23 (brought our breakfast with us for this morning hike) |
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| 5.31.23 (brownies for breakfast are beautiful, especially after a banana ;) |
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| 5.31.23 (more tunnels - these are super rocky; it's super crazy how they form all over the place) |
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| 5.31.23 (these blossoms reminded us of our bananas) |
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| 5.31.23 (we are friends to the bitter end!) |
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| 5.31.23 (as we rode along the trail the vultures flew to the next fence post and then the next) |
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| 5.31.23 |
