Lazy weekend

I took a long solo hike at Bicentennial Woods and at the Robert C and Rosella C Johnson Nature Preserve. I wish I'd had my Acres Preserve Guide with me. It would have allowed me to see that when the trail dumped out on the road at the Johnson Preserve it picked up again further down at the Whitehurst which doubles the trail length. Now that I've examined the map I see I'll need to go back and explore further. I've always enjoyed the Cedar Canyons area, so much so that back in 1985 Mark and I had our wedding reception at the Izaak Walton Chapter house on Hollopeter. Here's some of the photos of wildflowers I found on the hike. It's rather melancholy to see the Tall Bellflower, Creeping Trumpet Vine, and Bladder Campion in bloom since it means that summer is at its zenith.

I thought all the green foliage in the last photo made for a lovely photo, but don't let it fool you. Those are stinging nettles. In fact some of the healthiest looking plants in the woods right now are the nettles and the poison ivy.

First Kelly and Sean, and then Daryl tried to roust us out to see the finish of Three Rivers Festival and the fireworks, but we were enjoying our own little world; and then when it started to rain and we were tucked in all cosy watching a movie, we even felt a trifle smug. I love Sunday afternoons, hanging out with J at Hydes; reading and watching him hunt and peck on the computer (amazing that such a talented, intelligent, and dexterous man would use the 2 finger method on the keyboard- he's quite fast at it too!) and interact with his customers. A lot of people don't understand the constant state of flux that is a used bookstore. They're so used to having a clerk check a computer database to determine stock that they can't even comprehend that Hyde Brothers is like a huge undiscovered hoard of treasure just waiting to be explored and discovered. No one knows exactly what is there, you just have to be willing to spend the time browsing.