Current gas prices and restrictions of my current life situation prohibit me from much travel these days. Last year I was able to make two trips to the Northeast to cycle and in a week (!) I will be making another trip to the Northeast. But really travel- as in the freedom to just hop in my car and venture out- is not something that I am able to do. Just taking GM to the beauty shop every friday is extremely complicated and taxing. It takes a good hour of prep before I can even begin the process of loading her into the front seat of the car.
But the urge to gallivant is deep within my soul. I often day dream about just driving- no destination in sight. Just me in a car, on the road, and a smile on my face. Even now I imagine sort of a modern fantasy of backpacking through the world- only in my mind I see a chubby baby strapped into some European canvas contraption on my back.
Some day…
Something that I forget is that my backyard can be pretty effing exotic. In addition to the massive population of ducks that hang around* there is also stunning foliage and wildlife. This morning I saw a giant vibrant yellow butterfly flitting outside of our den windows. I grabbed my camera and tried to photograph her flight, but she was gone in an instant. But something stirred in me. This desire to go OUT.
Obviously I couldn’t go far, but with GM and Mother napping to the dulcet tones of PBS I was able to sneak out a bit for some backyard tourist moments. (click on images to enlarge)
*Mama Duck seems to be done with her incubation time with her nest and has abandoned the remaining eggs. There are two left. I am not sure what will happen to them or if I should bury them somewhere. For now I am leaving them alone, but it has been 48 hours since Mama Duck was on them and I am not expecting them to hatch.
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You take some of the most beautiful pictures! And what a joy to have such beautiful wildlife in your yard.
Sometimes a backyard vacation is just what we need. When we had a yard, we would take them all the time, and this week, while housesitting for my parents, I’ve done it a lot again. I’m glad you’re finding the pleasures in just venturing outside, and I love getting to see the photos of these mini adventures. They’re beautiful.
That blue heron is spectacular. We’ve only got the white ones that I have seen. (There’s one out there right now.) I’m thinking about getting some bird seed to feed all the birds around, but I don’t want to attract the alligator and teach him that my backyard means food.
Gorgeous!
Even though we live in the middle of a polluted city, we get a surprising amount of wildlife living in the bushes and trees outside our balcony — hummingbirds attracted by the jasmine I grow, and a number of different kinds of birds, and of course the skunk, possum and raccoon that come nightly to drink from our “watering hole,” a.k.a. the dish of water we put out for the stray cat we feed.
I sat outside to read one morning a few weeks ago and I was struck by how mood-changing it can be to get a little sun and enjoy the birds. Only a few steps outside, but a whole other world.
Oh my god, that bird is freaking spectacular.
(One week! One week!)
Hi,
I just wanted to offer my sincere hopes that all will go well for you with your FET. It took 5 donor egg embryos (3 different transfers) for us to get our now 20-month-old daughter (not to mention all the lovely IUI’s etc. that preceded our progression to donor eggs!) We are awaiting the results on our 3rd FET attempt to give our daughter a sibling right now. But our healthy (and wild) little chick is proof that with enough time, money and determination, the impossible/improbable does happen. What I’ve found useful is just to keep focusing on the next step, with perfect confidence that there will always be one. Very best of luck to you (and sorry this is so wordy!)
The bird is spectacular! His head is almost purple pink… Wow!
ooh, can we come and camp in your garden?!
Gorgeous photos, Cali!
Wow.
it’s like a wildlife preserve back there! Wow, how gorgeous….
oh my… i heart that blue heron. if he is lonesome while you are away on your FET trip, he is welcome to come visit me… ohhh man, he is soooooo handsome. *swooning*
thanks for sharing your backyard vacation photos. it is always nice to stop and enjoy the beautiful things we pass up every day. i try and do this more…
xo,
gypsy
Wow, that bird is beautiful. Flower is pretty too.
I’ve never seen a blue heron before. Those pictures are stunning. I think I need to take a vacation down south. I wonder how far away you are from here?
I love these pictures and I cannot believe that your transfer is only a week away! I will be sending you all the love and good vibes that I can from this small corner of the universe. Hopefully soon we’ll be looking at obscenely cute baby pictures (and don’t forget the belly shots)!
Beautiful photos! Sometimes you don’t have to go further than your backyard to see a variety of nature’s creations!
Gorgeous pictures!
And yeah, I heard recently that the number of auto deaths is down from last year… because fewer people are driving.
Beautiful photos!! It’s one thing to have the wildlife and another to be able to capture it! You and Care are so good at that.
we use mixed nuts as bird seeds when we are feeding our pet birds”-~
we always use sunflowers as our bird seed’*`
bird seeds should be choosen so that they are 100% organic and does not contain genetically modified stuffs *
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