What has Justin been up to?

Well, I'm glad you asked. Even if you didn't, the fact that you're reading this indicates that you're curious anyway. I started drawing again...kind of. At least, I've done one drawing, the first one in a very long time.

It's called "Poi at rest" if you like those boring names that describe what is in the picture. If, like me, you find those names pedestrian and prosaic, it's called "Excuse me, but your goat is in my petunias". It was drawn in honor of the Fall Wildfire going on this weekend that I am currently missing.

Also, I've been doing some hiking, some of it with a young lady of questionable taste (she's going hiking in the woods with me after all), and recently we went up the Ramsay Cascade trail, a 4 mile trip that starts out as an easy jaunt up a mild incline, and then after a mile and a half, turns into a vertical death march up a narrow trail with boulders and roots everywhere.

(Headed up the trail)


(View of the stream below the falls)

We managed to make it up in 90 minutes, eat lunch at the top of the falls, and then it proceeded to rain. Steadily.

(View from the bottom of the falls)

The trip back down was much wetter and considerably faster, but there was a certain amount of intentional puddle splashing, tree shaking (I got hit in the head with a branch), and mud.

(View in the rain from a bridge over the stream)

In addition, since it is now October, and Halloween is rapidly approaching, I went all Jack(Skellington) O' Lantern-y.

(My pumpkin)

And to finish it off, here is a view across the valley from my back porch at the new house.

(A little dark, but the colors are better)

These pictures brought to you courtesy of the new SD card reader I bought to replace the USB cable for my camera that I lost. If you Boston guys happen to have noticed a Canon USB cable, it might be mine, it's been missing since Spring Wildfire.