The weather has continued to be wonderful - warm and sunny. As I type this, however, it's raining. The sliding glass door is open and I can smell the fresh, clean scent of rain and wet soil. I love the way it smells when it rains.

Last weekend, Steve and I went to the annual Clucking Blossom Festival. It was held up at Birch Hill Rec Area, and there were bands performing, food, dancers, crafts for kids, and an outdoor forest gallery. The festival drew quite a crowd of sun worshippers, children, pets, and 60s-inspired young people (as well as folks who actually grew up in the 60s and 70s). The sun was blazing, and the cool shade of the forest gallery was welcome. Along the path (a cross-country ski trail), there were various pieces on display. It was a beautiful way to present drawings and paintings, sculptures, and even some off-the-wall displays. Art is in the eye of the beholder, right?

Forest Gallery	Up in the Trees	Metal Sculpture	Drawing on Tree
??? (Reminded us of Blair Witch Project!)	Baby Leaves	Bent Birch	Girl with Hula Hoop

On the way home, we stopped along Nordale Rd so I could snap a few photos of the sky and clouds reflected in the ponds along the road. There were several very large rain clouds overhead - and in the distance - and one had even burst open at the bottom to let out the water weight. It made for a very 'tornado-ish' looking cloud, which had a very eerie appearance. It only dropped rain in that one area. When we got to the Chena Slough, we saw at least a half-dozen anglers taking advantage of the warm weather.

Big Rain Cloud

Reflection in Pond

Pond Reflection Panorama (800 pixels)

Life in my backyard has become more interesting too. Besides the ever growing leaves on the birch and cottonwood trees, the prickly rose bushes now have an abundance of buds ready to burst open in bloom. I've discovered that the prickly rose is definitely a wild plant that spreads, as I have three times the number of bushes in the woodline around my house now. They are going to be beautiful when the flowers finally open. I'm sure to have many photos of them to share.

The other day, in addition to filling the bird feeders with sunflower seeds, I placed a small plastic lid on the deck and put a tablespoon of peanut butter in it. It wasn't too long before Mr. Squirrel followed his nose to my deck and the peanut-y treat. He'd lick a little and then run into the woodline, probably in search of water to get the goo off the roof of his mouth! Then he'd come back and lick some more, before climbing up the baker rack to have a few sunflower seeds. Maybe the sunflower seeds helped him to get his tongue off the roof of his mouth! *grin* He repeated this process several times. I prepared for his return by laying on the floor with my camera lens focused out the sliding glass doors. How many of you have seen a squirrel tongue? What a surprise to see that I had captured him "mid-lick"!

Today, he came back to the deck, licked the lid clean, licked the outside of the lid, and then ran off with it! Little bugger! I managed to catch all of that with my camera too. No telling what other treasures he has in his midden, but he's not getting anymore of my plastic ware. I placed another scoop of peanut butter out for him, but this time I smeared it on the corner of a suet cake that he's been snacking on. Anyone want to place bets on how fast he takes off with the entire suet cake?

Balancing Act

Squirrel Tongue!

Self-Explanatory (1100 pixels)

I've been taking Sedona for walks around our property, and the surrounding woods, every morning. There is daylight all day now, and the sun only goes below the horizon for a couple of hours now. I saw a pretty orange sunset last night about 11pm. If I wake at 4am, it's light out. I've taken Sedona for a walk at 4:30 in the morning, and it's felt like 8am. That's one of my favorite parts of the day - when only the birds are awake, but the sky is bright. It's very peaceful.

This morning, I took my camera with me and focused on the little things I saw along the way. The last photo of the snowshoe hare was taken a few days ago when I happened to catch him running through my yard. You can see he's still wearing his white snowshoes, but the rest of him is changing color.

Birch Moss and Lichen

Green, Blue, White

Horsetail Sprout

Spruce Mushrooms and Sap

Running Bunny

While Steve and I were in Denali Park last weekend, we took turns videotaping some footage of the park and our surroundings. I also filmed some of the landscape as we drove on the park road. Unfortunately, when the footage is compressed and uploaded to YouTube, it loses some of its quality. Nevertheless, I put together this video, so you could have a different viewpoint of what it's like to visit Denali Park. My still photographs are great for showing snapshots of the experience, but in order to really appreciate the park, you have to see the landscape and hear the sounds of nature.