It's been almost two months since I last posted anything on this blog. I am not going to try to catch up with what has happened, other than to mention, my brother died suddenly of a heart attack last week. It was a real tragedy on numerous fronts and was a shock to the whole family. Although my brother and I have not been particularly close over the past twenty years I do have many fond memories of him taking me camping, fishing, and hunting when I was small. He introduced me to the High Sierra's which is one of the loves of my life and for that I am forever grateful. My brother was not a particularly religious man but he did live life with a lot of zest and he was a good role model for living life as an adventure and I will always remember him for that.

Summer has begun and as it stands right now I am tentatively planning to take a few trips but not sure where because I am somewhat at the mercy of the schedules of others regarding when and where I might go. Next week I am hoping to take off for a week, on my own, to the High Sierra's of California and hope to take some pictures of the oldest trees in the world, the ancient Bristle cone trees which can only be found in the High Sierras. Some of these trees are well over 4,OOO years old.... Over the years I have taken quite a few pictures of trees and have decided to create a photography portfolio of trees from my travels. I have become fascinated with trees over the past couple of years and have come to understand that trees reflect so much of what life is about...beauty, mystery, grace, color, age, stamina, survival, community, determination, diversity, etc. All of these qualities and many more can be found in trees. They are truly fascinating...

Finally, over the past couple of weeks I have come to understand that I prefer interaction with others....which....helps to explain why I have not posted much on my blog over the past three or four months. I prefer spending my time interacting face to face with people and discussion this or that on the yahoogroups. I don't know what this means for the future of blog??? I suspect I will keep blogging but am not sure how often. I don't like to go so long between blog entries but I also don't like to spend too much time blogging, especially if I have time to spend with others. Writing is also not my strong suit and it requires a lot of energy for me to put together something that truly reflects how I think and feel. It's a chore in other words...anyway...for those who check in from time to time...sorry....it took so long, I'll try to keep up better...