Turning the Corner

I know that we will have some more hot days in southern Utah.  Nineties are not entirely out of the question for late August, early September.  But, it was 50F when I got up this morning and I've begun to notice some yellowing of snowberry and ligusticum on the plateau.  We are starting to turn the corner.

Briggsy

We worked for most of two weeks on the Briggs Fire.  But then the monsoons arrived.  Is that what they were?  At any rate, four or five days of rain put the lid on things.  This is what it looked like yesterday.

Briggs

For the past week we've been distracted by the Briggs Fire, a lightning ignited wildland fire that has burned about 1200 acres.  Actually, I'm trying not to see it as a distraction.  We had planned to use prescribed fire at this location anyway, so having a natural fire is just as good if not better.

Bibliophile's Delight; Bibliophile's Dilemma

I must be the last book reader in the modern world.  The way I can tell is that, while an ereader costs $79.99 and an ebook can be downloaded for $9.99, a book with paper can be had for, essentially, nothing.  Last week, I got into a couple of used book situations that I couldn't resist.  By the end of the buying frenzy, I had obtained 30 used books for $26.99.  And good ones, too.  Do you know how hard it is to get your hands on a Graham Greene in the local libraries?  And Stegner, and John McPhee.  I even found an old copy of All Quiet on the Western Front, which I had never read.  The only problem is choosing.  Not every thing you pick up is going to be stellar, and you hate to start with a dull one:  Putting yourself in a bad mood for the other 29.

Submerged

I have, for the past couple of years, been carrying an Olympus EPL7 in the woods.  It is a pretty good camera for my purposes, but it is not waterproof.  On Thursday, after making the picture above, I lost control of the camera and it went into the creek—the Beaver River, actually.  The picture was on an SD card, so it was unharmed, but, the camera, which was submerged for five or ten seconds, has not rebooted.  And I don't suppose it ever will.  I immediately replaced it with a spare Nikon D3000 that I had in the office, but that is not the camera for me—too much bulk for medium quality pictures.  So, I guess I'd better go back to the drawing board.  Olympus makes a waterproof, shockproof, crushproof, freezeproof, dustproof camera that sounds, um, Olympian, but I'm not sure I need all that.  Besides, what kind of lens can it have?  At any rate, I've learned the lesson about keeping the strap around my neck.