2009 Photo Roundup: Chincoteague & Assateague

Off the coast of Virginia, these marshy islands were made famous by Marguerite Henry's classic Misty of Chincoteague. We rented bikes for the weekend and rode just about everywhere, taking in the scenery and the wildlife.

Ponies ponies ponies!!

I had hoped to get a lot closer to the wild ponies, but it didn't happen this time. I would also love to photograph them splashing in the ocean. My photos of the ponies somehow came out looking like watercolor paintings, which definitely adds to the pastoral effect.

On our first morning on the island, we took our breakfast out onto the hotel's deck, to enjoy the peacefulness of dining next to the calm water. And then I noticed we were not alone on the deck.

I blinked and squinted and could not for the life of me figure out if this thing was real. It was completely, totally still. (That's chapter one of the predator's handbook. Stay still with your mouth open and maybe something will just wander on in.)

Freaky, right? He was gone later. The next morning, there were two there, hoping a guest would toss them a mini muffin from the continental breakfast buffet.

The islands were particularly pretty and peaceful in September, after schools had started. That's my favorite time of year to go to the beach.

The Assateague lighthouse has such fun red and white candy cane stripes.

Not super exotic, but the deer and bunnies got a lot closer to the bike trail than the wild ponies ever did.

2009 Photo Roundup: North Carolina

Over Memorial Day weekend, we took a trip to visit my grandparents in North Carolina, and to cash in on our Christmas gift from my aunt and uncle: a romantic woodland getaway at their log cabin in the mountains.

You say "log cabin," I say "luxury vacation home that happens to be made of (probably luxury) logs." Tomato, tomato.

It was so relaxing because you are alone on 70-some acres and there's nothing to do. It was glorious.

Aside from doing a lot of nothing (nothing involved sleeping and grilling for dinner and eating banana pancakes for breakfast), we took some walks in the woods.

There's an old still on the property, for your moonshine-makin' needs.

Also, this was the first trip we took with the new member of our family.

We adopted a dog from the SPCA at the beginning of May, and she was very scared and unsure of us for a while. Until this pack-bonding trip.

We had never seen her so happy! She got to run free in the "wild," and she was filled with so much joy.


And mud, she was filled with so much mud.

There was lots of beautiful nature for my lens to behold, including some delightful little creatures.

And speaking of creatures... our skittish, mild-mannered pooch truly became a different canine in the wild.

She was running around the nearby brush while we walked along a path, and then we heard a shriek. I thought maybe it was a bird of some sort, so I looked up. Then the Huntress appeared in front of us, with a small brown animal in her jaws, kicking for its life.

I was horrified. Completely shocked and horrified. I buried my face in my husband's shoulder until the kicking had stopped. Then she picked it up again and started trotting back for the cabin, as if to say, "Dinner's on me tonight! Fire up the grill, alpha!" Horrors.

Fortunately, she discarded or buried her prey somewhere in the woods, instead of on the porch.

Then the muddy-bloody buddy needed an outdoor shower, in a bad way.

I hosed her down and then she was allowed to dry off on the porch.

The view from the porch:

That is one content little doggy, right there.

By the time of our road trip back home, she was a new girl. Leaving her homeless past behind her.

2009 Photo Roundup: San Francisco

A friend's wedding* brought us (me, my husband, and my camera) to San Francisco in early May. It was my husband's first visit to the Bay Area, and only my second time there, so I'm giving you fair warning: these pictures are rather touristy.

Can't have a San Francisco post without some trolley shots...

These four businessmen appeared to be together, but they just stood there, not talking to each other, not making eye contact with each other. I thought this strange.

The infamous bush man... I scare easily, so I was glad he got someone else before I passed by!

Awwwrr.

Why yes, Hallmark, I am available for Valentine's Day cards. Call me.

When I was here in 2000, on a school (OK, band) trip, we took one of these ferries, and a seagull pooped on me. All the way down the back of my neck. True story.

I wonder if this is what it feels like to be a hamster.

It takes a special kind of man to pull off velvet pants AND a Louis Vuitton fanny pack.

If you grew up in the '80s and '90s, this one's for you:

If "Everywhere You Look" didn't just start playing in your head, you are not of my generation.

It's stuck in your head now, isn't it? Bah-doo-ba-da bah bah-dah! Sorry.

Friday was rather gray and often rainy, which does not make for great photos, in general. But does dreariness and drizzle stop me from taking as many pictures as possible? NEVER! I'm an Oregonian by birth, baby!

We walked around Chinatown in the rain.

I love Chinese lanterns. I love the roundness of them. I love the bright red color. I even love the tassels (and I am not a tassel kind of girl, as a rule).

I love how they are all strung up in a row like cranberries on a Christmas tree garland.

City Lights Books offered another welcome splash of color on a dreary day.

You know what I love more than round, red paper lanterns?

Farmers' markets!

And there was a good one right by our hotel.

I could proclaim my undying love for farmers' markets all day long, but I'll let my pictures do it for me.

Really, really good coffee. Oh, sweet elixir of happiness.

Is there anything more delightful than a cupcake? Methinks not.

And I'll leave you with one final photo to give you a thought-provoking, deep-meaning-of-life-pondering kind of feeling:

You're welcome.

*Fun fact: This particular friend is a descendent of a U.S. president! But which one? Leave your guess in the comments section. Ooh, don't you love a good intrigue!