(okay…you have to go to Amazon to ‘Search Inside!’)

I’m reading Diet for a Small Planet, by Frances Moore Lappé. The ironic thing is that I’m reading the twentieth anniversary edition, which I first read about fourteen years ago. I’ve been hearing the recent news reports about the meat packing plant issues and it’s got me thinking about giving up meat…mostly…again for a while. And one of the things that inspired me to do so during another time of my life was reading this book…so why not read it again and hope for similar results.

I’m not yet ready to say ‘I’m going to be a Vegetarian’, because I know I’m prone to failure with such hard and fast statements. But less is better than more…so I’ll strive for less.

I’ve made it most of the way through the introduction this evening, and I had forgotten (says the girl who forgets the plot of a movie when the credits roll) how much philosophy there is in it. That’s to say, she’s mentioned Relational Philosophy a few times in the introduction. And after reading it, I went on to get a higher degree in Philosophy…and particularly favored relational philosophies. Hmmm. Coincidence?

So among all the other new-ish tasks I’ve undertaken, I’m going to read this book and eat less meat. Wish me luck!

Now I know if you’re reading this, you’ve painstakingly looked through every last post and through my Flickr account and are thinking “You’ve had a D70, why are you excited about a D40?” Well, I wasn’t going to be.

“We” have had a D70 since we brought home AJ, our first pup.

(He’s three and a half now.) But I’ve also had my point-and-shoot, and that’s what I’ve usually been inclined to grab. Until I started gardening again. And walking/hiking more. So there’s been some push/pull about “our” camera. We each like to have it ready and waiting for us, set up the way we want, and it just can’t happen with two people who take different kinds of pictures.

He was trying to talk me into another camera long before these recent interests, but it’s been intensified recently. So last week I finally said okay. And I’m really having a good time with it. Here’s the other pup, Jake. He’ll be two on Monday.

Both of those were cropped out of one picture I took today, then this is the other ‘big’ shot of them today.

It looks to me like they were posed, but I was actually trying to take a picture of a spider that was fairly unsuccessful. And they just snuggled up together like this. Priceless.

This has even inspired me to make a separate photoblog. I’ll ‘blame’ Katie at gardenpunks for the daily photo idea. (Thanks Katie, I actually really like the idea.)

So hopefully, I’ll get this place updated, get the garden tended to, return some overdue correspondence. And settle in this weekend.

flickr set

We got a little closer than this, but not much. This was an AVA ‘event’. It was billed as a walk to the flower fields. Those darn little connector words…to…through…. I guess they didn’t lie. But for a walk that was already 11k, we would have had to have added another 2k (before we retraced our exact same steps back). We opted not to. I was going to drive down after the walk and go through, but decided to wait for another day.

Other than that, it was a beautiful day with wonderful weather and good company. And a nice walk along the beach.

Carlsbad is a nice little town. I should have taken some ‘in town’ shots. But I have a feeling I’ll be back there again soon.

This walk was on Saturday the 19th, I was having a Flickr issue that day.

flickr set

I did a 10k walk today in Morongo Valley, north of Palm Springs. I was invited by a friend and was eager to do a 10k walk. Knowing that it could get a little toasty and the desert not being my favorite place…I was really more excited by the walking itself and the company. It turns out it was a lovely walk over a great variety of terrain.

There were wildflowers.

There was a marsh that reminded me of Florida swamps.

I even saw a snake! But didn’t get the camera out quick enough. I think it was a King Snake.

There was also plenty of evidence of the 2004 fire.

It was a bit warm at times, but there was usually a breeze that kept things just right. It was a very nice day.

Gratuitous post of a pic I really like.