Gray Skies are Gonna Clear Up...

   Put on a happy face! The scattered showers throughout the weekend gave way to bright blue skies. Little to be unhappy about this year, with the mild temperatures, blue skies, and gorgeous blooms. Here are a few photos from my back yard:

Sunset at Heritage park

Not a bad place to spend a beautiful evening with the dogs!

Strange Clouds

   Not sure what type of clouds these are, but they proceeded the storms this week, and I love how dramatic they look, like a vortex around the setting sun! I saw these in LA when I visited Kelley last July, too. Fascinating!

Powder Day!!!

   Day 1 on the mountain was awesome, and today (day 2) we woke up to TEN INCHES of fresh powder! Off to carve like crazy!!!

Hiking in Smithville

   After the snowy owl viewing, Joni and I hit the trail. The Smoke & Davey Trail, to be exact. It's a beautiful, winding, hilly, wooded, lakeside trail. 3 Borders, 2 Shibas, and Joni and me.

Joni and the boys: Asher, Wager, and Kippy

Me and da mutts: Aki & Taylor

And a gorgeous sunset for the ride home:

Happy Birthday + Merry Christmas to Me!

   The board that I ordered just arrived, and though these low-light pictures clearly don't do it justice, I am SO. FREAKING. EXCITED. It's even nicer than I remembered! I can't wait to not ride it!!!

Great Horned Owl

   I was following Joni on the way home from the hike, and she unexpectedly pulled over, telling me that she thought she had seen a owl on the side of the road. So we turned back and pulled safely over to the side of Highway 45, got out and crossed the street. From a distance I could see the telltale "horns" sticking up from the dead grasses. The owl flopped around, flailing its wings clumsily and tried to escape. The poor thing. As Joni noted, its wing bent the wrong direction—a serious, compound fracture. I took these photos from my lousy Blackberry-cam, which struggles in low light:

And Joni got this one with her camera:

   The owl glared at us as we stood there and marveled at its stunning, barred feathers, fuzzy "horns" and clear, brilliant eyes. It blinked slowly and softly, and I couldn't get over how much it looked like a cat—it really reminded me of Atom! Its talons were surprisingly large for the size of the bird, and looked fuzzy. Joni said these guys are called "the tiger of the sky" due to their ferocity. It was quieter now; perhaps because it realized we weren't there to eat it. The larger question was, were we there to rescue it?

   We debated for a few minutes. We'd have to safely catch it and get it into Joni's dog crate, keep it alive overnight, then deliver it to OWL (Operation Wildlife) tomorrow. Would it even make it that long? One eye now opened wider than the other, and the owl's life seemed to be draining away.

   Ultimately it was Joni's realization that convinced us to leave it where it was, so that nature could take its course. It would probably be eaten by a coyote. But the alternative—due to the severely broken wing—would be a life in captivity, at best. And that didn't seem to suit this noble, beautiful, and thoroughly wild creature. It wasn't an easy decision, given the extent to which both Joni and I are animal lovers. But it was the right one.

   I followed her home, and we both independently enjoyed the quiet contemplation of the harsh reality of nature, accompanied by a strikingly gorgeous sunset.

(Almost) Unspoiled Beauty

   After a lovely evening hike on Shawnee Mission Park lake's north shores, I returned to my car to see this spectacular view of the sunset. I loaded up the dogs and drove over to the overlook, to catch the last of the sunset from above the trees.

    The "view" at my feet on the overlook was less spectacular. Ah, teenagers. (Actually, this totally cracked me up.)

Just... WOW.

 

Metaphorically Speaking...

   I snapped this photo as I drove home, just as Florence & The Machine's "Shake It Out" ("It's always darkest before the dawn") started. I wasn't familiar with the song, but found it haunting—and inspiring—and turned up the volume.
   There was a dark, heavy storm cloud directly above me, practically pressing down on me with an incredible weight, and extending far in front of me, with just the tiniest sliver of daylight on the horizon. But I could see that the light was beautiful, and burned so brightly...
   A cloud of large, dark birds emerged from the trees next to the highway, swirled above me in a chaotic mass, then broke and flew together toward the brighter sky, just as the song hit its crescendo. It all felt like a perfect metaphor for my life at this moment... I need to keep focused on the road ahead and get my head out from under this cloud.
   True story. Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up. I just observe.

Random Hallmark Moments: Cloudy with a Chance of Hilarity

   There have been some awesome stormy clouds rolling through this week, though they produced very little rain. I took these on my way to work, and again wished I had brought my good camera! I'd put it in my pocket and take it everywhere, where it not GINORMOUS. (That 20x zoom has its downside. Time for a new mini point-and-shoot?)

   Today's work day was full of surprises; none of them bad per se, but some things definitely caught me off guard. (If I stopped to think about it, I could probably say that every day. Which actually is part of what I like about my job.) Fortunately our Creative holiday party at Marianne's house was this evening (avoiding the actual, overly-busy holiday season). So some good wine, good food, and good friends were awaiting me.
   I had a blast talking to everyone, and capped off the evening talking to Sara, Kit, Andrea & Julie—who collectively got me laughing so hard that I did a literal spit take—I had to turn and spit my mouthful of water into Marianne's mums to keep from choking on it. I believe we were talking about questionable gifts, such as a putter, a vacuum, and a food dehydrator. And doesn't that just sound like the intro to a perfectly hilarious joke? Sara said, "What, did he think you were going to live off the land?!" and I was done.

Have a fun & funny weekend, dear readers.

Van Nuys Clouds

This IS Los Angeles, right?!

Freshly Inspired...

   Just a couple lil' sketches that I hope will turn into something more finished someday... Someday when I invent the 48 hour day and get to do everything I dream up.

(I'd bet green money there are misspellings here. So rusty!)

Memorial Day Race

  I hopped out of bed at 6:00 and threw my clothes on for the Amy Thompson Run (benefitting the Brain Injury Association), made coffee, fed the dogs and let them out, and didn't waste any time heading out. Over 2,000 people registered for the race—a record, I'm told—and I didn't want to have any trouble parking. For my efforts I was rewarded with a truly spectacular sunrise: a "God sky" with beams of sunlight streaming dramatically through the clouds. Quite a nice way to greet the day.
  I arrived at Loose Park early enough to have a banana and take a stroll through the rose garden, which unfortunately was already waning. Last year's roses looked much better for the holiday.
  Larry Moore from KMBC did a great job as emcee, as always, and a young woman nailed the national anthem. The spirit of the crowd was palpable, and I reminded myself to take strength from it... Races over 5k generally aren't my thing.
  Shortly before 8:00 and the start of the 8k, busses carrying 250 soldiers from Fort Riley arrived, mostly young men and a few women. They wore different t-shirts according to their unit, but all were easily recognizable by their neon yellow belt. Most lined up at the back of the pack and intended to run in formation. (I was leading them the whole time, and didn't see them cross the finish line.) There were a few, faster soldiers that ran ahead, so I had a chance to thank a few as we were running. There were a lot of younger kids running the 8k this year. I wish I'd had that kind of determination at their age. Towards the end, a lot of them were slowing down and walking, and I made to sure tell them all "Great job!" as I ran by. Hoping that with a little encouragement they'll stick with it.
  I never saw Amie, but I ran into Fred & Ben during the race just as I had last year, said "hey" to Al Mauro at one of the water stops, and at the finish line I found Brett & Mary, and Joe Griggs. It was nice to see some familiar faces.
  It was too hot: 75 degrees and cloudy at 7 am, and close to 80 and sunny by race time. (Anything over 50 degrees is too hot in my book!) The open, unshaded areas were brutal, though the breeze helped. With less than 2 miles to go I was able to run through someone's sprinklers and that gave me the boost I needed to finish strong.
  Overall, I finished 450 of 1265, with a time of 46:12 (slower than my time of 44:26 last year). I finished 20th out of 107 in my age group, and 131 out of the field of 662 women.
   I'm still pacing slower than I was last year in general, having some trouble with shin splints and not wanting to overdo it on my hips. But given that I'm running and feeling pretty great without surgery, I'll take it! I saved just enough energy to do a long sprint to the finish line, with the crowd cheering me on.
   After the race I walked through the chute and down the line to pick up the usual post-race treats: a banana, some chocolate milk and banana milk from Shatto (yum!), and a granola bar. The next table stopped me in my tracks: heaping trays of crab rangoon, with Costco-sized bottles of Heinz Ketcup. I've seen (and avoided) post-race doughnuts before, but... crab rangoon?! Really?!!?

  So I headed over to Eggtc. for my favorite breakfast in KC. They were as busy as always, but had a seat for me at the bar, and Jay-Z was playing. Clearly they were expecting me! I chatted with the folks around me and had a great time.
  Now I'm at home, sitting outside on the deck with my coffee and the newspaper. It's shady, breezy, and perfect. If you don't hear from me soon, come over and wake me up!

  Actually, Tay already took care of that. He climbed up on my lap and started licking my ear. I'd like to think it's 'cause he loves me sooo much. But I was probably a lil' salty.

Gorgeous weekend

   My favorite kinds of weekends are those when the weather is beautiful: sunny, warm and breezy; before the bugs are out, so I can open up all the windows in the house and the back door, giving the cats access to countless sunny spots and allowing the dogs to go outside at will. This weekend they've scarcely been inside, returning only to cool off for a moment and grab a drink of water. They like to lie in the grass under the trees and just observe and enjoy. (Makes me think I should make more time for the same!) I've had a lot to do, however, both in the house and yard, and running errands.

Aki keeps an eye on the front door and enjoys the breeze

   This morning I ran Scooter to the vet to have her knee checked, and to meet Jana, another MSIR volunteer who was transporting Akira. On the way home from the vet, I snapped that photo of the clouds. Wish I'd had my real camera instead of the Blackberry, but I think it's spectacular nonetheless. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather holds up for next weekend's Backpackin' 2: Electric Boogaloo!

   Although I had plenty to do, I couldn't resist taking the pups to Antioch Park for a run, especially after I learned of Nike's new challenge, in which they're donating $200,000 to help Japan recover from the earthquake and tsunami. We clocked another 4 miles racing all over the park, enjoying the blooming magnolias, redbuds, Bradford pear, and cherry trees. (How's that for Japanesey?) Hallmark is matching employee donations dollar-for-dollar, which makes me very proud to work for such a caring company.

Random Hallmark moments: God sky

   This afternoon at work we were reviewing cards that my team had created for our personalized product online, and one had a painting that someone referred to as a "God sky." And wouldn't you know it, this was the sky over I-35 as I drove home tonight! It is pretty spectacular the way the sunset's rays are breaking through the clouds.