Sure, you've been enthralled by my Tales of the Gym, but those of you who really just come around for the kitty pr0n have been feeling sorely ignored as of late. Luckily, I've had a few ... uh, gems (?) ... stashed on my camera's memory stick, and finally got around to downloading them after today's Marathon Gym Session.

twinkle, twinkle, little star

you're older than you feel you are

Christmas, twenty years ago. Events stay the same. It's we that change.

I am, however, required to notify you all that due to circumstances beyond our control, Chris and I are sponsoring a new holiday this year. Say hello to Christmas 2: Electric Bugaloo.

Four-thirty finds me beachside, sprawled on Noah and David's multicolored beach towel, camera in hand, in the hopes of catching one of what Noah describes as Redondo Beach's spectacular sunsets. They're pretty picky out here, these sunset connoisseurs. Knowing that tomorrow, the sun will - yet again - set into the ocean means they're not nearly so excited by its daily happening as someone who will only see a maximum of six such occurrences before flying back east again.

Despite my laughter and my joking about California weather to my friends, it does get cold here, although not as cold as the locals would like you to think. The beach winds at sunset have teeth sharpened over miles of ocean; they chew past the breakers and roar onto the sand, looking for something to devour.

Me.

We drove south from the Grand Canyon through Flagstaff, marveling at the random slashes of aspen through the pines of Cocanino National Forest, making our way toward Sedona. There's no quick way to get to Sedona from the north, as far as I know; to my knowledge, the only way to slide from one to the other requires a jaunt through Oak Creek Canyon.

We were laughing and tired as Kara drove, tired from the walking and the altitude, upwards to the canyon. We realized we were being beaten over our heads with instructions to pay attention to the scenery, by means of repeated warnings: "Scenic Overlook 2 Miles." "Scenic Overlook 1 Mile." "Scenic Overlook ½ Mile."

Or, as Kara said, 'We get it already! We'll stop! We swear!"

Oak Creek Canyon overlook
by domesticat.

Never let it be said that I don't ever let anyone take photos of me. Jody, not a word from you, boy.

Noah says: "Make sure everyone knows that these are just snapshots, and not my usual artistic stuff."

Flickr photos from the album 2003 - Sedona by domesticat

Oak Creek Canyon overlook
by domesticat.Oak Creek Canyon overlook
by domesticat.Leaving Oak Creek Canyon
by domesticat.Very red rocks
by domesticat.Cathedral Rock - 1 of 4
by domesticat.Cathedral Rock - 2 of 4
by domesticat.Cathedral Rock - 3 of 4
by domesticat.Cathedral Rock - 4 of 4
by domesticat.Primitive road?
by domesticat.Sunset - 1 of 5
by domesticat.

10 out of 17 on Flickr

So that's what the photos from the Grand Canyon look like. I wasn't able to get Matt and Kara's computer to play nicely with my card reader, so even looking at the photos had to wait until I got to California, but a few of them were actually worth the wait.There are about twenty photos in this batch. I took more, but decided to prune out the obvious duplicates. I'll post the photos from Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona separately. Right now I have a choice: sit here and work on photos, or make myself some lunch and enjoy an exquisitely sunny day.

I have a 4 p.m. play date with a very exuberant Labrador retriever, whose day job is to be a hearing dog for one of Noah and David's friends. We're going down to the beach, and we're planning on having a lovely romp.

Sunset and rock formation photos can wait. It's time to play.