Photography, Nature, Life

A Rainy Day in Southern California, a Deer Sighting, Hitting the Trails, and the Sofa that I Designed

A week, or so, in photos

After a hot, dry summer, with the constant threat of wildfires looming over us, I cannot even begin to express how wondrous the arrival of fall is, with her foggy mornings and the hint of rainy days to come.

Mr. Emerson, along with all the rest of my rescue babies, is part Maine Coon and loves water. They have “double-layered” fur, which the rain cannot penetrate (a vestige from their ancestors, who lived in the Northern climes). I thought he looked like he was wearing diamonds in his fur in this shot.

I designed a sofa last fall to replace a cherished ten-year old “Gypsy Den” type piece which had suffered the indignation of repeated “markings” by the kitties. I have a great re-upholsterer and he told me that he wanted to start building furniture. So we started from scratch and made a new-and improved version of the old one.

The main fabric (with the birds) was from India and, because of the pandemic, took forever to reach U.S. shores. I had agonized for months over fabric swatches, so I just had to be patient in order to get what I had chosen. Eight months after the old sofa was taken away, the new one finally showed up. I’m quite happy with the slightly-crazy design.

The bottom cushions have fabric on one side and leather on the other, so that you can have two different looks. What do you think? Maybe a new career in furniture design? Probably not, but I did have a lot of fun with this one.

I’ve been “upping”my game with mountain biking lately. I guess I have always been drawn to skilled movement, which is why I have adored yoga for most of my life. I used to do some pretty hard core stuff — acroyoga performances and quite intense physical practices.

But my practice has tamed a bit in recent years. I still love it, but I don’t feel the compulsion to put my leg behind my head on a daily basis (or, really, ever) anymore! I still love to practice, but, since I stopped teaching about a year ago, I feel like I have been liberated to really just do my practice for me, rather than always having the thought in the back of my head that I was designing a sequence that I might teach.

Mountain biking, something I’ve also been doing for most of my life, has really kicked in for me though, lately, as a way to keep working on my technical skills. I bought a bike which has “pedal-assist,” meaning that when I am climbing something really tough, it will kick in to give me a little boost and allow me to then work on the technique of getting over and around rocks and things. It’s a game-changer. It’s not like one of those “scooter-type” bikes that are more like motorcycles. It only works when you are pedaling, and it can tell if you are really working hard and need a little boost.

This is one the trails I’ve been working on lately. To get back into the trail system behind the foothills of the mountains, you have to first get up this killer trail, called “Chutes.”

This is the view from the bottom, looking up at the start of the trail.

Then, once you’ve summited, this landscape beckons to you from the other side. It just goes on forever, all the way to Saddleback Mountain.

See those oak trees at the bottom? You have to take a trail called “Deer” to get down there. Although it is very dry right now, it is still quite pretty. This is the view from down at the level of the oaks.

The thing that I love the most about mountain biking around here is the wildlife. You might have seen my recent story about encountering a bobcat. I regularly see turkey vultures, hawks, road runners, quail, rabbits and lizards. Once in a while, like the other day, when I was riding at sunset, you might see a deer.

I did just buy a little device that attaches to my pack, just in case I encounter a mountain lion (which does happen here). All I have to do is yank the bottom off of this thing and it screams like a banshee and flashes like crazy.

As I write these words, the sky is rumbling again. I’m debating hitting the trail. A little rain can’t hurt me, but I worry a bit about the lightening. We’ll see if it passes.

I’m off to Bend, Oregon, on Wednesday to celebrate my birthday, which is on Thursday. We’ve rented a house that is way out in the boonies and we will be there during a new moon and a meteor shower, so I’m hoping to get some astrophotography in.

I hope that you all had lovely weeks. As always, I thank you Dennett for creating this “week in photos” challenge. I’ve once again exceeded the SNAPSHOTS word count limit, so I’m sharing this in my own little pub this week.

It’s so fun to share about the week and to read about so many other photographers’ weeks around the world.

You might want to check out a few of the others who participate:

Dennett /Anne Bonfert /Eileen Vorbach /Lisa Bolin /Tracy Aston /David Wade Chambers/ Mia Verita /Kim Zuch /Barbara Radisavljevic /LensAfield /Barbara Dalton /Sasha Meyer /Susan Alison /Diana Lotti /Barbara Dalton /K. Barrett /June Nguyen /Juan O. Aguilera /Ellie Jacobson /Shruthi Sundaram/ Pene Hodge /Tracy Aston/ Sandra Barrett and more… (if I’ve failed to mention your name, please let me know so that I can add it in future weeks).

Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).

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Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.