I really like this shot - combination of clear and moody skies, green and weathered tree, shaded, colorful ridges contrasted with brigher, higher geology... 

Looking downcanyon. 

Another pre-bottom, pre-camera battery death shot near Cedar Ridge off the South Kaibab Trail. 

This is about as low as I got, just before Cedar Ridge, when my camera battery died. You can still see some outlines of the switchback trail over the next butte. 

Oak Creek. 

These are images at Slick Rock State Park, one of my leg-stretching stops after the Grand Canyon, and after I purchased my plug adapter to recharge my camera battery. 

Another glorious yucca! 

My nephew Kyle and neice Casey at Christmas, near Houston. I made a quick trip down, only known to their parents, in which I showed up on Christmas morning with my most huge suitcase filled with a ton of gifts, and a minimal change of clothes in a day pack. It was like playing Auntie Santa Claus. Mille filled the photographer role perfectly - she was two-fisted with cameras snapping shots at every gift opening! And Keith did wrapping, trash, and bow patrol on the side. I then used this giant, weightless bag of wrapping paper to put in my giant suitcase for the return trip, and packed my day pack in there as well, so that it be thrown about all alone in that cavernous suitcase. All in all, it was a great surprise factor, a wonderful Christmas, and an entirely smooth and organized operation. What else would you expect?

The kids take turns opening their gifts, and actually have the presence of mind to comment on each other's bounty. Here Kyle is commenting on Casey's new mini-bratz doll, and Casey seems to be getting a bit worn out from the activities.

Kyle loves his cars - and Hot Wheels has started making a custom collection of both classic cars and super pimped out high-end cars. Note Casey's exceedingly relaxed position on the subject....

Finally, one little girl was just too exhausted from all of the Christmas activity and had to conk out!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Well, I have not updated much as I don't have internet connectivity outside of work for the time being. I won't have exotic location shots to post for a time to come yet, but stay tuned for things like chaos~~~~order at home as I settle in, and wacky photos of some of the crazy stunts I will get up to between now and the new year, such as:

• replacing the water heater….dangerous and fun!
• scraping ice away from the driveway annoyingly necessary!!
• Changing the locks (since the keys I got when I bought the house are 3rd generation wal-mart copies) scary!
• Pulling trash from out of the crawl space …just plain wrong!
• And finding an appropriate disposal for the automotive gas tank and muffler left in the garage by the former owners!!!

WOW!!!!

At any rate - to all of my Family, Friends, Colleagues, and web voyeurs -- Wherever you Are in the World -- have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, or Whatever Floats your Boat.

No pun intended to the Alvheimers!!

On Sunday the dish network guy never showed up but I got deep into some cleaning. It started snowing again. I am going to have to go out and discover where the walkway is to the garage. Bonus to cleaning in the kitchen: found the garage door opener! 

This is what a normal blaze should look like.  

This is the raging blaze. I added one too many logs and thought, oh great, I am going to burn the house down before I move in.