My hand carved wooden lure collection

Some lures I have collected over the years. They are all hand carved wooden lures made by various artists and lure makers. My love for art, fishing and handmade items come together here.

A lot of catching up to do

Now that I have a smartphone and the blogger app I can keep better record of Natalies adventures! Saturday mornings I like to take Natalie to Stanley Park. It gives mom a chance for some quiet time and Natalie has a blast there! She was up a 5:45 am this morning ready to greet  the day. We had breakfast with mom and off we went.
We headed right for the playground, and to my suprise not a soul there! She had it all to herself. We went on the slides, swings and climbed up and down the playscape.
Next stop was the garden area. We walked around, I checked out the plants and trees while Natalie explored. She picks up rocks and finds bugs. She loves playing in the gazebos. After a quick diaper change it was off to see the ducks. We walked around the boardwalk and a little girl and her grandmother gave Natalie some bread to feed the fish and ducks. She was so happy. There were ducks, swans, frogs and fish. Natalies vocabulary is getting really broad. She was saying "ducks, frogs, fish, bread, dog, bird" and pointing out everything she was saying. She is stringing words together now into full sentences.
It was a really nice morning. Tempatures in the 70's. She had a blast and was starting to get tired. I decided to head out and she is now past out in the back seat of the truck.
Well this is the first of many I hope to blog. It is great to have record of her as she grows and learns!

To clear my mind

A little over a week ago my wife and myself made a huge step in our lives together. We made an offer on our first house. With the owners on vacation we knew we could be waiting days for a reply. With my wife sleeping, I could no longer circle our apartment in nervous anticipation any longer. I had to go out and clear my head.

It was a beautiful day in the 70's with a slight breeze. Perfect conditions to hit the trails. I decide to check out Arcadia. The last time we were there was in one of my previous posts on letterboxing in the winter. I arrived to see a wedding taking place in the field by the entrance. Out of respect I kept my camera at my waste and continued on to the trails. I had a good chuckle when I first stepped foot on the trail and a Subara was blocking the entire path, with a bumper sticker that says "Share the road". Irony at it's best!

I made my way to the tree house overlooking the wetlands with the thoughts of the house spinning through my head. Incredibly I only passed a couple of people along the way.

I made my way up the spiral staircase and soaked in the peaceful sights and sounds. It's almost impossible to see, but a bald eagle perched itself in the large tree straight ahead. I played the waiting game for him to come out so I could grab another picture, but he won .

A great heron cruised the shallows looking for small baitfish and frogs

I took a few minutes to brush up on local bird names

Maybe it was the eagle waiting for dinner, but there were very few birds flying around in the open air. I took some calming deep breathes and headed back down along the river trail

I hiked for about an hour at Arcadia and didn't put a dent in my nervous energy. I decided to head up to Mt. Tom State Park for some more hiking. I've always wanted to check out the Nature Trail, but for some reason never had. It is a self guided nature tour with signs along the way that provide information about local plants and wildlife. It is a great hike.

This picture of the crawling roots makes me realize how much I need a better camera.

There is a point in the trail that comes to a "t". You can either take the high road or the low road. I chose the high road and was rewarded with a beautiful scene. The opening is small in the summer, with trees smothering the view, but it is still worth the extra effort.

After soaking it in I continued on.

There were some nice wooden bridges that have signs of recent upgrades.

These rocks caught my eye as they stood out in a stacked up row. There was small scale rock harvesting here at one point.

You pass over a few smaller brooks that offer a very calming sounds of breaking water over the rocks. I took a few minutes to sit down and clear my thoughts.

I made it to the end of the trail and felt abit more relaxed. With alot of sun left I set coarse for the peak. It would be a waste to turn around this early. I marched up past the visitors center and headed towards Goats Peak. The park was very busy, with picnics and families grilling and enjoying the beautiful day. I made it up to the old parking area and took a nice snapshot. It's a great view of the Oxbow marina.

I took a few sips of water and headed off again. My goal was goats peak, but I passed the trail and ran into the Eyrie House ruins by mistake. I have hiked up here so many times and have never seen these before.

The remains of a very well built house looks over the path.

The craftsmanship is really amazing to me.

Glad I made the mistake I enjoyed the view and then explored the area.

An old lookout tower is now a prisoner of the modern era, riddled with satellites and radio antenna.

With some daylight left I moved on to Goats Peak

I made my way to a very special place for me. The spot where I proposed to my wife. I took a seat on the bench and felt very relaxed. At that very moment my wife called to see if I had heard any news on the house. Timing is everything.

Right after I got up I received a call from our realtor. She had told me our offer was accepted. I was happy and nervous at the same time. I was thinking "We did it!" and also thinking "What did we just do?" Now with my head buzzing even more then it was that morning I took a minute to think things over on the lookout tower. A beautiful day with big news.

Knowing things will soon change drastically, I took my time getting down the mountain. The five hours of hiking was exactly what I needed to burn out the nerves.