What you don't see...

Sandpiper
Originally uploaded by ChrissyJ.

This photo suggests that we spent a lovely peaceful day admiring shorebirds during our visit to Bombay Hook Wildlife Preserve.

What you don't see are the multitudes of truly ferocious mosquitos that swarmed me every time I left the safety of the car. They actually waited around the car door so that when it was opened they could rush inside.

We didn't do the planned hiking, instead driving through the preserve and swatting the invading mosquitos that made it into the car.

But the picture, at least, is lovely and peaceful.

Sod!

Sod!
Originally uploaded by ChrissyJ.

We laid our sod on Saturday. Thus ends the era of the backyard mud puddle. There's still work to be done - we have to edge the grass, dig up the beds, plant some shrubs and mulch before it gets cold. But things are shaping up!

Pink Power

Flamingos freaking out
Originally uploaded by ChrissyJ.

Yesterday, we went to the Philadelphia zoo. It was a beautiful day and there were tons of little kids running around, hitting each other, and exclaiming "Jesus God! That's just like on Kimpossible!" when they saw the naked mole rats.

The zoo was great - so big and interesting, that we didn't even see everything before our tired feet told us it was time to head home. I got some good pictures of lots of different animals, but I think I had the most fun watching the flamingos. They are so weird! And pink! We stood watching for a while, maybe 10 minutes. For most of that time, the flamingos were mostly either wading for food in their pond or standing quietly on the grass. But at one point, they suddenly got really... boisterous, is the best word I can think of to describe it. They made a lot of noice, they ran and jumped around, chased each other, flapped a lot. It was crazy! And then they stopped. And went back to lunch/nap. Like I said, weird animals.

Photos from the train

Substation from the train
Originally uploaded by ChrissyJ.

I took my camera to work yesterday. (It sounds like a new holiday in the making!) It was fun - instead of reading or working on a sudoku, I got to take pictures of the industrial, smelly, urban decay that is the R2 commuter train corridor. The tough part is getting a window seat on the right side of the train and facing forward... and then you realize the window is all smudged with someone else's head grease. yuck!

I'm in the process of learning how to remove the reddish window glare at the top of the frame. Photoshop is phun!

Anyway, I love the yellow cast that was a result of the window tint. I could have adjusted it back to normal white balance, but I think it gives the image (and the other ones like in in my photostream) a nice industrial mood. Kind of like smog, but not.

Work in Progress

Eric and I have a dream... That next spring and summer, our back yard will be a beautiful, weed-free place with a nice lawn and flowerbeds. Now that we're in late summer/early fall prime yard work time of year, we've gotten started on making those dreams come true.
Here's where we started:

The rows of bricks lining the lawn stuck up a few inches, making mowing very difficult. And the beds were too narrow to allow the kinds of things I'm envisioning. So the first step was to replace the bricks with inset pavers. We chose a more flowing border that goes all the way around the lawn.

Then we decided that the crabgrass and weed thing wasn't working for us, so on Labor Day we started ripping out the grass. I'm still sore. If budget allows, we will be laying sod in the next week or two. So midway through the revision process, here's where we are:

Watch this space for further updates!

Change of Phase

In an ice cave
Originally uploaded by ChrissyJ.

This is an ice cave at the toe of Exit Glacier, near Seward. I love blue ice, and this cave in particular because you can see the ice melting in the sun.

Tourists were happily standing inside and having their picture snapped until the volunteer ranger noticed and scolded them like 2nd graders. Of course, the glacier could move and the cave could collapse at any time. But don't worry, no photographers were harmed in the making of this photograph!

What NOT to do when you go camping in Alaska

Layers
Originally uploaded by ChrissyJ.

Our first night in Alaska was overcast and drizzly. We picked up groceries and camp fuel, had a quick dinner and then headed south from Anchorage. The campsite we were planning on staying in was closed to tent camping due to bear activity... Oh well, there were more further on.
When we got to Williwaw Campground (WILLIWAW!) it was getting dark and still drizzling. We succesfully set up our tent in the rain and threw our duffel in the tent to get set up for bed.

It wasn't until I finished pulling stuff out of the duffel that either of us realized that Eric's nice new sleeping bag was still sitting on our sofa back in Delaware.

Long story short(ish), this photo shows what Eric wore to bed that night, while huddling under my unzipped mummy bag with me. And you can't tell in this shot, but there's a pair of khakis under those jeans! (He didn't figure on needing long underwear.)

We bought a $17 sleeping bag and $65 long underwear the next day.

More Alaska photos and stories are on the way...