PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
Fresh Air, Friends, and 4th of July
Week 5: June 28-July 4
This week I took my last required furlough day on June 30. Having that extra day away from work to get outside and take a hike made a huge difference.
I took the lead photo on Monday. My friend told me about a free yoga class that was taking place at a local park at 5:30 p.m. I’ve never done yoga in a class setting, so this was definitely out of my comfort zone. The picture shows the view looking up from my yoga mat. The shade was nice!
On Tuesday at work, we finished the path we were building to connect our pollinator garden to a display of historic farm equipment. We were finished by noon, but it was already a hot day. My coworker leveled the trail and we both spent time lining it with rocks.
On Wednesday, I used my extra day off to go up to Sand Harbor, a popular beach at Lake Tahoe. I thought going early on a Wednesday morning would be a little slower but I was wrong about that! I arrived at 9 a.m., right before they closed because the parking lot was full.
The beach was crowded already, so I took a walk. The squirrels were fun to watch, so I stopped for a few minutes. The photo above shows a squirrel eating bitterbrush seeds.
On Thursday, I was surprised with an Amazon package from my Medium friend and “pen pal,” Terry L. Cooper! I sent her a couple of homemade soaps and in return, she sent me a Burt’s Bees travel kit. I really appreciate the foot cream because I was hiking in flip-flops on Wednesday. My feet really don’t like it when I do that. Thanks, Terry!!
Since I’m planning to visit family in Utah in August, the travel kit will be great. I haven’t gone anywhere in two years, so I’m excited.
On Friday, we finally got some rain! Unfortunately, the thunderstorms that brought the rain caused some lightning fires. By Friday night, there were at least three fires around Carson City. The smoke from the fires and the clouds from the rain gave us a colorful sunset.
Saturday took me back to work after my days off. It’s the 4th of July weekend. We expected it to be busy, but the heat and drought seem to have kept most visitors away. We are also under fire restrictions, so people can’t have campfires or grill with charcoal.
I was sitting outside reading after work when I looked at the chair next to me. The spider was just hanging out, but I got up and moved my chair a few extra feet away, just in case.
While I was at work on Sunday morning, I was watering the plants outside the office. I happened to notice this butterfly resting on a sagebrush branch. iNaturalist says it’s a Copper Butterfly. The map shows they are common in our area.
This has been my week in photographs. Thanks to Dennett for starting this PHOTO-A-DAY challenge. Also thanks to Anne Bonfert, Barbara Radisavljevic, Mia Verita, Susan Alison, and Barbara Dalton for the inspiration to join in. I’ve had fun looking around at my daily life, deciding what to take pictures of and what to share.
