Aldergrove Park in Canada

Sign at entrance to park

 Today, fifteen Senior Trailblazers carpooled from the Senior Center in order to make a trip across our border with Canada into British Columbia to enjoy the Aldergrove Regional Park. Our crossing into Canada was incredibly easy, with no wait and a friendly border guard. Since I just recently started hiking with the Happy Wanderers, who annually make this trip, it was my first time here.

Aldergrove Regional Park is located on the border of Aldergrove and Langley, not far from the Canada-U.S.A. border. The park's easy trails, beautiful landscape, and numerous picnic areas make it a popular destination for families. The trails in this area are very well kept, and they are marked well, too! You will see a diverse amount of wildlife here, too. (from a hiking website)

It was quite cold when we started out, just barely above freezing, but the sun was out in full force, at least for this time of the year. We were bundled up and pretty much stayed that way.

Bridge was very slippery

 We crossed this bridge to begin our hike onto the trails, and I was very glad to find that the central section was salted and the best way to get across without falling. It was definitely slick, but we carefully crossed and then made our way to solid trails.

Group shot, including the photographer

All fifteen of us walked together around five or six miles in total, completing several of the more accessible of the trails. As we hiked, we gradually warmed up. and the delightful sunshine helped, too.

Good doggies

When we stopped for lunch, we saw these two dog walkers with their charges. They were all well behaved and nothing went amiss, but I realized that the well-behaved dogs made all the difference. They eventually piled into two vans and drove away, but we were impressed!

Lunch stop

We found a couple of (almost) dry benches and stopped for lunch, enjoying the company, the sun, and the lack of wind. By this time I was almost completely warm myself, after wondering if my hands were ever going to warm up, But they did.

Overlooking farm land

We continued our hike as we climbed a short hill and were looking out over verdant farm fields, and stopped for a moment to enjoy the scenery, before continuing on.

Sky, mountains, fields

And then, after a few short miles, it was time to return to our cars and cross the border in the other direction. That also was without a wait, and with a cheerful border guard, too! We decided to head to Edaleen's Dairy for some ice cream, even if it is winter!

Edaleen's store in Lynden

I really like their cappuccino chip ice cream the best, but since they didn't have any, I tried some eggnog ice cream to celebrate the season. And then we all climbed into our cars and headed back to the Senior Center.

Delicious Edaleen ice cream

We had a wonderful day, with plenty of lovely conversations, exercise, sunshine, and more. I will not forget that ice cream any time soon! And thanks to all for a delightful day.

Great Conjunction and the Solstice

Jupiter and Saturn

I was planning to write a short blog post about the solstice, which occurred locally this morning around 2:00am, but upon looking up some information about it, I learned about a truly rare event that will happen in the sky tonight: the close (appearing) conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn right around sunset. On this website, I found some interesting information:

This year's great conjunction also marks the first time in nearly 800 years since the planets aligned at night and skywatchers were able to witness the event. (The 1623 conjunction wasn't visible to skywatchers on much of the Earth because of its location in the night sky, so the last time the event was visible was in 1226.) 

Wow! That's a pretty rare event, all right. And because it is happening at this time of year, it is also called the "Christmas Star." If you want more information about this event, just click on the above link from Space.com. 

The winter/summer solstice happens annually, marking the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of summer south of the Equator. After today, our nights will slowly begin to shorten, and by the end of January, we'll be able to notice the difference. 

I love to pay attention to the sky, when there's actually a chance to see something other than rain pouring out of it. We're in the middle of a real gully washer right now, but it's supposed to stop and give us some sunshine for a few days. Do you know that phrase? Of course I looked it up:

When it rains in Oklahoma it mean rains you can drown in with your raincoat on. Oklahoma is where the gully washer was invented. Oklahoma is home of the original frog strangler. 

Oboy. Now I'm wondering about "frog strangler," but I'm going to leave it alone. This could go on forever!

:-) 

Windy and chilly Saturday

Sunrise from my front porch

This sunrise was captured last week as I headed out to the bus. I know I'll have more glorious sunrise pictures like this in the weeks to come. There are lots of days now when the sun will rise at just about the same time as I leave, and our days are quickly growing shorter on the way to the solstice in December, marking the longest night and the shortest day of the year.

This morning was overcast and the wind blew lightly as I headed out to Lake Padden for our walk with the ladies (and one man). The temperature was moderate, but then the wind started, and we quickly bundled up before starting our walk. Occasionally the sun came out, but the skies changed back and forth from overcast to almost full sun, as the clouds scudded across the sky. We got in two times around the lake, just over five miles.

We have a gale warning in place; the north-northeast wind is bringing cold air from the Fraser Valley right into our homes. Windows that were open and inviting the outdoors inside yesterday are all closed, and I've placed my many heavy rocks on the rugs to hold the front porch together until this latest weather event has passed.

Fortunately for me, there's nowhere I need to go for the rest of the day, so I'll stay inside with a good book and enjoy a day to putter around the house aimlessly.
:-)

Winter solstice

From Astronomy Picture of the Day

Boy, you can sure find some strange stuff on the Internet if you go searching for something as simple as "Winter Solstice." I am sure most of you know that the first day of winter begins when one of the Earth's hemispheres experiences its longest night and shortest day of the year. When you get into higher latitudes (such as where I am at the northern 49th parallel), the days are only a few minutes longer than eight hours, and the nights... well, the nights are VERY long, it seems. But soon now, we will begin the journey back to summer's long days and short nights. That picture above was taken in Tenerife, Canary Islands, during last year's lunar eclipse that occurred on December 21. If you want to know more about the picture, I've linked the Astronomy Picture of the Day that explains it.

I don't know about you, but I find the long nights and short days to be a time to pull inside and ponder the meaning of things. This year, the Winter Solstice will occur at 10:06pm on December 21 here on the Pacific coast of the United States. If you have some time to explore the Winter Solstice link above, you'll find that all over the world in every culture and in most religions, humans have acknowledged a recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, gatherings, rituals, or other celebrations around that time. I'm sure there will be plenty of them around Bellingham this coming Wednesday night. You can bet I'll be fast asleep when it comes around this year. Usually if I am awake, I mark the moment.

I've been buried in books and have laid out my knitting needles to start a new project, both things I like to do when it's dark outside. Yesterday I finished Jodi Picoult's latest book, Sing You Home, which I enjoyed immensely. My only problem with her books is that I tend to keep reading until I've finished the story, anxious to find out what happens to her characters. She also keeps you guessing right up to the end.

Our local independent bookstore here in Bellingham, Village Books, gives its clients who sign up for an account 25% off any book in the store during your birthday month. Since I forgot to take my card for the discount, I'm forced to go back for another book before the end of December. You can tell I'm really sad about that (smile). My problem when I go there is trying to leave without taking home too many books. Plus I can bring them back and turn them in for a store credit once I'm finished. Because of that, I no longer write my name inside the books and ask friends who borrow them to treat the books gently.

Surrounded by plenty to read and at least two knitting projects to choose from, I'm feeling quite ready for long midwinter nights. And I have my blogging community of friends who keep me entertained with the comings and goings of their family and friends. For those who are struggling during these long nights, I am keeping you in my heart and will light a candle to push back the dark.
:-}

Fragrance Lake and Christmas party

Anonymous sign decorator

Thirteen Senior Trailblazers set out to hike the Fragrance Lake trailhead, hoping to be done by noon so that we could all attend Amy's Christmas party at 1:00pm. We started at 8:40am and got to the lake by 10:30, so Al suggested that we go "over the hill" to extend the trip; otherwise we would have been back to the cars by 11:00am. So once we got to the lake, we extended the hike by heading up before we went back down to the trail.

Several of us, including Marjan, wore our Christmas gear on the hike. The hat and earrings are definitely Christmas-inspired. The day was overcast and we started out with a bit of rain, but before we had gone more than a few miles, the rain had stopped. We were relatively warm and comfortable.

The lake behind the raindrops on the foliage pretty much showed what the hike was like today. The main thing was we hoped for a good workout before meeting at Amy's for a party, and that was what we got. Al suggested the extension, and then we missed the original trail, ending up hiking very steeply downhill before joining up at the regular trail. We covered almost six miles and considerable UP and DOWN before heading over to Amy's for the party.

Once we got to Amy's and began our party, all the difficulties of the hike faded away as we ate and drank and appreciated all our friends and family who showed up for the day. We got to visit with family members we had not met before, such as Mike's partner Miriam, as shown below.

It was wonderful to meet partners who we had only heard of second hand. (And it was all good!) At least thirty people showed up at Amy's for this solstice gathering/ end of season extravaganza. And I suspect I was not the only one who overindulged in all the food and drink we brought to share with each other.

Here you see Dorothy, Dan's wife, Steve in the middle (our sometime leader), and Gina, Norm's wife, with the ladies dressed in holiday finery. We had a great day, and now that I am writing my post, I realize how much I appreciate all the friends I've made over the past years, who now feel like family. I am truly blessed.

:-)

Tis the season

Wreathes for sale at Farmers' Market

I got up early (even for me) to dress and quietly tiptoe outside to see if I could view this morning's lunar eclipse. The moon was full here on the west coast and the eclipse was complete at just about 5:58am. I thought about going out to Bellingham Bay to see if I might capture a dramatic shot or two, but when I walked outside, the clouds and fog told me I wouldn't get much of a shot, if anything at all. And then the clouds parted as I stood on my back porch, the moon appeared in the sky, almost completely eclipsed. Although I took several shots, none of them were good, since in the dark at full zoom I couldn't hold the camera steady enough. But I watched as the last of the light left the moon, and I gazed at it in wonder. The clouds closed up and covered the moon again. It was as if the sky opened up just long enough for me to glimpse it.

After a nice walk with my usual walking group this morning, I headed over to the Farmers' Market, looking for scenes that would illustrate the season. We only have one more weekend before the Market closes until April of next year. The much-smaller Market was serenaded today by these young musicians. They had just started to play and laughed at their efforts with frozen fingers. The music was so beautiful, though, it brought tears to my eyes. If they made mistakes, I never heard them.

Since there are still plenty of vegetables, I stocked up before heading over to the Y. For some reason, I just couldn't get myself excited about swimming, so I halfheartedly used a couple of the weight machines, took a shower and went home. I like the bicep curl machine and the one called "lat pull-down." Both of them give me a nice "pump" with just a little effort, and since it IS the middle of December, I decided I deserved to bring my veggies home and stay warm and snug in my little corner of the universe for the rest of the day.

I took this picture of my car the other day when the sun was just coming up. (We haven't seen the sun today and aren't likely to.) I thought the patterns in the frost were just beautiful. Smart Guy said the shapes remind him of coronas from the sun. To me, they look like tapestry. Isn't Nature amazing?
:-)

Summer solstice

Max Alexander, Astronomy Picture of the Day

Actually, today it is the summer solstice only in the Northern Hemisphere; in the Southern Hemisphere it is the winter solstice. The above picture is from one of my favorite sites, Astronomy Picture of the Day (which I visit daily to remind me to widen my horizons). Taken at Stonehenge at the summer solstice in 2008, the picture shows the 4,500-year-old stones, with some amazing fog, trees, and sunrise to add to the mysterious setting.

Stonehenge, located in England, is often shown in pictures during the solstice, because although the reason for the construction of this prehistoric monument is lost in the mists of time (it is, after all, at least 4,500 years old and maybe older), it is an amazing place, filled with magic and mystery. From Wikipedia:

The prehistoric monument of Stonehenge has long been studied for its possible connections with ancient astronomy. Archaeoastronomers have claimed that Stonehenge represents an "ancient observatory," although the extent of its use for that purpose is in dispute. Many also believe that the site may have had astrological or spiritual significance attached to it as well.

Whatever the origins and meaning of Stonehenge, the site has drawn so many people that it is now almost impossible to imagine what it must have been like long ago. It has become another of those ancient sites that has been altered by the unending approach of hordes of visitors. More from Wikipedia:

Although Stonehenge has become an increasingly popular destination during the summer solstice, with 20,000 people visiting in 2005, scholars have developed growing evidence that indicates prehistoric people visited the site only during the winter solstice. The only megalithic monuments in the British Isles to contain a clear, compelling solar alignment are Newgrange and Maeshowe, which both famously face the winter solstice sunrise.

Never mind. I guess I won't visit it, but I'll continue to imagine and dream when I look at pictures like these. After today, each night of the year will be a little longer and each day a little shorter, until we reach the equinox in September. The brilliant poet Emily Dickinson wrote this in 1883, and it says everything to me about Stonehenge:

Sweet hours have perished here;
This is a mighty room;
Within its precincts hopes have played, --
Now shadows in the tomb.

Happy solstice, wherever you are on our blue globe. Namaste!
:-)

Winter solstice

I was wondering what I might use as a picture for the winter solstice, and I found this one on line by a fellow Bellinghamster. (I don't know her, but her Flickr site is at hopeisalot, well worth a visit). She took this one today of Bellingham Bay, at the winter solstice and named it "Stormy Sky." The solstice occurred here in the Pacific Northwest at 9:47 this morning, while I was in my exercise class.

You know how some days you wake up and all seems right with the world? That happened to me today. The wind was blowing hard but it was 54 degrees F when I walked out to catch the bus. The weather forecast said the wind was blowing in a cold front and that the temperature would drop all day. It's now 42 and raining, but the wind has stopped. At my workout session, we all seemed a little perkier and happier than usual today, with lots of well wishes for the season and remarks that now the days will start to lengthen. We have reached the nadir of darkness. Funny, I haven't really minded it, but it sure has helped to have those excellent Thursday hikes and good weather during most of them.

When I got home from the gym, I fed the birds and noticed how many there are. I must have close to a hundred of different species who see me as the Bird Lady. The chickadees always talk to me and have no fear when I'm filling the feeders. Sometimes they will even land on the far side of the feeder from me and peer over, with a lot of happy chirps, as I fill it. The other birds all stay away until I'm done, but I notice that the bushtits are getting very used to me also and get a little braver each day.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have my blogging friends, and I notice how often we leave comments at about the same time on the ones we follow. I started following some because I would read a comment left by a (then) stranger and I just had to get to know that person. I would pop over and read the blog. Now many of you feel like family. And although Facebook can be somewhat of a pain to keep up with, my friends and family made my birthday such a pleasure with all the comments. I must have re-read those birthday wishes a half dozen times and filled my cup of joy each time.

So today, the Northern Hemisphere winter solstice, Christmas week and the end of the first decade of the 21st century, there's not a whole lot in my life that I would change. Thank you for being part of my life.
:-)