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

Firefall Video By Shawn Reeder

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If you haven’t seen it already, be sure to take a look at the beautiful new-this-year video of the Horsetail Fall “Firefall” that happens in February when the conditions are right. When we first moved to Yosemite, we were driving out of the valley on South Side Drive, came around a corner and were mesmerized … Read more

Seasons In The Mountains

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One of the great things about living in the mountains is being able to change out seasons by driving up or down in elevation. The same day I took the above picture at 3000 feet, people were skiing and snowboarding in beautiful spring snow conditions above 7000 feet. I remember growing up in the mid-west … Read more

Yosemite Transition

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As neglected as this space is from time to time, I thought it would be remiss not to at least mention the big changes that have been happening all around me this month. On March 1, Aramark took over the Yosemite concession contract, and that ushered in a new cultural era for the park. The … Read more