Lexy has strep throat, and I've got the first snifflings of what I hope is only a cold. At any rate, I'm staying home with Lexy tomorrow so Jen can take Willow to her cardiology appointment. It's too bad that I'll miss the last day of camp this week, but my kids are more important to me. That's not to say that the ones I teach aren't important, because they most certainly are. I just have to prioritize, that's all...

Today our group hiked up to a pond overlooking the reservoir I used to hang out at as a teenager. The water level in the reservoir was as high as I've ever seen it, and the pond looked like it was filled to above capacity as well. The sun came and went behind clouds, keeping the temperature at an agreeable level. The trail, which I'd never been on before, was peppered with piles of scat, probably from coyotes and bobcats, and the hillsides occasionally revealed sprinklings of wildflowers.




You can tell when deer are nervous. It's all in the angle of the head.





With toads, it's a little harder to tell, unless you pick one up. A nervous toad will pee on you. This one was no exception.




All of this grass will be brown in another month or two. For now, it's nice to see the contrast between ground and sky played out with such vibrant colors.