Waning Days of Summer in Green Valley Lake

                                               Boats line the shore at Green Valley Lake

                                                         Some kids play on the shore

                                                        Others happily go for a swim

                                         And other tiny ones stay on the sidelines with mom,
                                              unsure if now is the time for that first swim


                       
                   

The fishing is good here

All are welcome

Adorable junior hiker

             Speaking of hiking, Chris and I have been hitting the trails nearby, 

                 training for next weekend when we head up to 14,000 foot 

   Mt. Langley in the Eastern Sierras

      Actually, I should say it's mostly been Chris hitting the trails. 

           I've joined him some of the time, but mostly I'm doing lots of stairs 

         in our cabin for my training. Since we're at 7,000 feet,

    I figure it's almost the same thing (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! LOL).

Trail above Green Valley Lake

View of Green Valley Lake from high above

Looking up from town

   These white and red posts show how much snow we get up here

 during the winter. Gotta enjoy the summer while it's still here!

Water, trees and sky

Cabin and fence

         A Bald Eagle flies over the lake, bedeviled by crows who rightly 

          consider him a threat. One or two nesting pairs of Bald Eagles

grace our lake every summer.

The view north

Looking up from our deck

Cabin and flowers

My sweet dad and his wife Michele came up to visit this summer

Quality time

Entertaining can be tiring, but with loved ones it's always worth it! :-) 

It's late August but the wildflowers still bloom

Cabin and meadow

This crazy cloud really looks like a giant asteroid hurtling towards earth!

These thunderheads foretold a frightening lightning storm we had two nights ago. Hundreds of lightning strikes hit all around -- horrifyingly close, too. With no rain. YIKES. 

We found out yesterday that there were a dozen spot fires started by the lightning on our mountain. Fortunately they were all extinguished by our wonderful firefighters. 

The view from Green Valley Lake of a wildfire this morning on Mt. Baldy

But summer is still here -- we've got weeks of it left!

So come on up to the lake...or get out in the sun,  

 wherever you are, while it's here!

Summer...summer...she still beckons...

BEND low again, night of summer stars.
So near you are, sky of summer stars,
So near, a long arm man can pick off stars,
Pick off what he wants in the sky bowl,
So near you are, summer stars,
So near, strumming, strumming,
So lazy and hum-strumming.

-- Summer Stars, by Carl Sandberg