a girl, a dog, some snowshoes, a camera and as an added bonus a talented snowkiter who showed up out of nowhere.
The photos of the snowkiter just don't do him or the sport justice. You really need to catch a video or just watch them in person.
For myself I have to say after watching this guy for about an hour I want to go fly my own kite! Up the mountain, down the mountain, loop-de-loo! Some of the sweetest stuff I've ever seen on snow or off as the case may be! Check the video it's kind of long but right good stuff set to sweet tunes.
Announced by all the trumpets of the sky, Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields, Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air Hides hill and woods, the river, and the heaven, And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end. The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet Delated, all friends shut out, the housemates sit Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed In a tumultuous privacy of storm. Come see the north wind's masonry. Out of an unseen quarry evermore Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer Curves his white bastions with projected roof Round every windward stake, or tree, or door. Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he For number or proportion. Mockingly, On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths; A swan-like form invests the hiddden thorn; Fills up the famer's lane from wall to wall, Maugre the farmer's sighs; and at the gate A tapering turret overtops the work. And when his hours are numbered, and the world Is all his own, retiring, as he were not, Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone, Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work, The frolic architecture of the snow.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
With the last three posts having been posts of the past I thought I would post from the present. We had some pretty good dumps last week and snow is at the top of my lists of fave. The photos are from a hike I took with friends out Lake Creek.
While in Australia we were never far from the ocean and we spent quite a bit of time on numerous beaches both on the east coast of the mainland and Tasmania. Here are a few of my favorite photos.
East Coast Mainland Australia
Sunshine Coast
Gold Coast
More Gold Coast
View of the skyline of Sydney from the ferry to Manly
Beach at Manly, a suburb of northern Sydney
East Coast Tasmania
The Beach at Bicheno
Tidal pool at Bicheno
Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park
For now I'll let the photos do all the talking. I'll be posting more about individual places later. I do have to say though that Wineglass Bay is the best place I've ever pitched a tent.
Story Bridge with city of Brisbane in the background
Around New Farm
Brisbane is located on the east coast of Australia. It is the state capital of Queensland and has a population of approximately 2 million. I flew in and out of Brisbane when I visited AU and I stayed in New Farm, an inner suburb, where my friends Dave and Mel were living while I was there. (They recently just moved to Queenstown, NZ.) My visit to the city was brief as we headed north to the Sunshine Coast for their wedding and then on to Tasmania but I wanted to post some photos of New Farm as I found it quite delightful and so very green and lush.
Walking around town there were creatures everywhere.
Lizards
and ibis too.
I also have to mention the kookaburras. I don't have any photos of them but when I first arrived in the city and we were just getting home to Dave and Mel's I was unpacking and I heard this noise...I thought somebody had a jungle track CD that they were playing but no it was the kookaburras just outside the window. Sweeeet.
Anyway... we are 20 days into 2010 and I have yet to post. Although I recently just returned from a three week vacation in Australia so it is with good reason that it has been this long. Now though, I have so many different things that I want to post I don't even know where to begin. I guess the best place to begin is at the beginning.
How I spent my Christmas.
Christmas for me was a travel day. Day one of my vacation. Off to see two of my best friends get married on the beach of the Sunshine Coast of Australia on New Year's Eve under a full moon, a blue moon to boot. A trip I'd been waiting for a very long time.
I had allowed myself a 5 hour layover in LAX in case I didn't get out of our little valley due to snow. I made it out on time. The day was a good day to fly but we did lose power in the valley on Christmas eve at 10 p.m. and it was only partially back on by 2 p.m. when I left. Thanks go out to all of the Idaho Power employees who were working on Christmas eve and Christmas day in negative double digit temperatures trying to restore power to approximately 20,000 people.
Back to LAX. 5 hours people watching waiting for a plane.
A day I will never forget.
In the process of people watching I noticed a man in a wheelchair. He was doing laps around the room. Every time I caught eye of him he had already passed and all I saw was the back of his chair. Then at one point he paused before he passed completely by and the first thing I noticed was his smile. His smile.
SMILE!
That smile,
totally and completely infectious filling the whole damn room.
And then I noticed,
he had no arms and no legs.
And then I noticed,
his t-shirt said "Hugging Machine".
And then I noticed,
everyone else was staring at him too.
And he just smiled on.
SMILE!
He was then approached by a young guy, early 20s, covered in tats and facial piercings and he just walked up to him and gave him the biggest hug you ever saw. People started lining up and a great big hug fest commenced. I watched from my seat. One of the people that had lined up then came and sat next to me. Asked me if I knew Nick, the guy in the wheelchair. I didn't. He explained to me that he was born that way without any limbs. Originally from Australia and now living in L.A. He is an inspirational speaker. All of it was very inspiring. I particularly loved that the first person who approached him was the guy covered in tats and piercings.
The hug fest concluded. Nick then parked his wheelchair in front of me approximately 10 feet away. In profile. (I was in the bank of seats closest to the gate.) I was reading but every time I looked up I couldn't help but look at him. He knew it. I knew it. I couldn't help it. He just smiled away. And then he turned his chair to face me. (I think he does this a lot.) I then got up and got my hug.
I did write that proper. I got up and got my hug. Know that even though I was the one who got up and went over to Nick and wrapped my arms around him, he is the one who hugged me. Yes, hugging requires two, we were hugging one another, but he hugged me first. Putting all of this into words doesn't even come close to what actually happened but I did have to put it down into words that it did happen. (If you watch some video of him you can begin to understand.)
I took a journal with me on my trip (I am the worst at writing things down) and it turned out to be more of a calendar log with dates, times, places, people, plants, animals, food, stuff, I'm good at lists. None of the above made it into the journal nor did all sorts of other important happenings. I believe here will be where the bulk of the last three weeks will end up. I type faster than I write. It's neater too. And... I can post my photos.
