2020. Ugh.

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2020 has been a helluva year. We have managed to weather it relatively well, but it’s been anything but smooth. Income from our Yosemite vacation rental took one hit after another. We closed for a major sound-proofing renovation in February, only to have COVID-19 lock everything down just as we were ready to put the … Read more

Still Here #FergusonFire

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Map of Ferguson Fire

In spite of all odds, it seems that our house is still standing! Our neighborhood has been under a mandatory evacuation since Aug 21, and yesterday, a crazy fire whirl (also sometimes called a firenado) raced up Avalanche Creek temporarily pinning fire fighters in our neighborhood as it crossed Hwy 41 and headed toward the … Read more

Ferguson Fire

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Meijer Gardens during the Ferguson Fire

The blaze started down by Cedar Lodge on Friday the 13th, downslope of our neighborhood where it has been growing and throwing threatening looks at our home. Today we got the advisory notice and then the pre-evacuation notice. Depending on what the fire does the neighborhood might move to a mandatory evacuation at any time. … Read more

Lady Slipper Treasure Hunt

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“Rare in Yosemite, and now confined to hidden sites where plants have not been subjected to detrimental flower gathering.”  – An Illustrated Flora of Yosemite National Park, Stephen J. Botti. These crazy elegant flowers! Searching for them was quite the adventure. We followed the most incredible treasure map, hand-drawn for us by a generous and … Read more

Slow For Butterfly Migrations

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I love that there is a time of year when our community is asked to please slow down on their commutes in order to save butterflies. The California tortoiseshell butterflies (a different species than the one pictured above) are doing their annual migration across Hwy 140 just outside the Yosemite park boundary. In 2010 extraordinary numbers … Read more

The Yosemite Un-List

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Reading by the river.
Reading books next to rushing water. The best!

Part of the beauty of living in Yosemite is feeling like I have time. There is time to take a short walk to nowhere in particular, breathe deep, and (at the risk of sounding too hippy dippy) just be. I can walk a book out to the edge of a river and spend an afternoon reading without wondering if there was something else that I should have crammed in to my 3-day trip. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

And here’s the thing, there is no way to see everything in Yosemite in 3 days anyway. We moved here in 2003 full time, and there are still so many things that I haven’t seen yet, or want to visit again.

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Dogwood Memories

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Dogwoods are peaking near our house in Yosemite West. Picture taken from our deck.

Dogwood trees have a particular niche of its own in the passing of seasons. In the spring, their large white blossoms (actually sepals) decorate the forests and mark the arrival of spring. Photographers of all levels focus their lenses on them – against a backdrop of dark red cedar bark, the deep grey blue of the Merced River or back-lit against the brilliance of the sky. They are stand-alone beautiful, and I love them for that, but I also love them because they’re now associated with people and memories that are fun to revisit as well.

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Chickaree

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Of all the wonderful animals that live in Yosemite, my favorite is the Chickaree. Lately, two of these hyper-energetic and entertaining critters have been running through the yard on a regular basis, chasing each other generally being cute. One day, I grabbed a camera and decided to see if I could get a photo. This … Read more

Internet Progress

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In the midst of a kind of rough work day, Tom sent me an IM yesterday with good news on the internet front. We may soon have the opportunity to pay exorbitant amounts of money for slow internet! The tower construction is finished, and there should be the possibility of accessing a T1 line soon. … Read more