Laid Back (Off )Days

I have not been keeping up on this blog- just so much has changed since my ironically optimistic last post in June. What can I say? Things just have been in the toilet recently.

However, there is nothing like hard times to re-think your priorities and realize how much importance you were placing on things that, in the end, matter not nearly as much as your family, friends and your own well being. So although I am still grieving for a job I loved, the opportunity to start again is not completely unwelcome. At least I keep telling myself that.

The best part about not being employed (the worst part being way too much time to obsess over the last six months) is how much time I can spend with the dogs. Rhett & Leary no longer have to cross their old-lady legs waiting for me to get off work, Nellie is THRILLED that I'm available for pets and only has to see a crate after she rolls in something unsavory and gets a bath and Jet is becoming a little hardbody from plenty of sheepdog work.

The other good part is that I've seen alot more of my family too. My sister, brother and I took a little hike last week and Lindzay took some great pics which I thought I'd share with you all. Lindzay is a landscape architect and she's in the same boat I'm in- what can we say, the Vegas economy is in the pits!

Here is the start of our hike, in Red Rock Conservation Area. If you have been to Vegas and not visited Red Rock- you've really missed out on the best part. It's still unbelievable to me that Red Rock is only twenty minutes from the strip.


I kinda like the sepia tones for these first two pictures, old-timey which is appropriate because we first stopped at this little homestead ruin.



Right in front of the little homestead was this lush green meadow (ok, swampy wash- we take what we can get, meadow-wise in Vegas). Jet and Nellie were the official guides for this hike and they thoroughly approved of the homestead stop.

Nellie is 9 years old and Jet is just barely 2 but they so far have been really good pals. I keep expecting that to change but I will just enjoy it while it lasts.

Let's get going lazy humans!

After a nice, pine lined walk and then a grueling rock scramble from hell, we finally got to our destination, Fern Canyon. Remarkably, it actually still had water this time of year and Jet was the first to find the little waterfall.

Hmmmm, it's like a hose. Coming from a rock.

I'll have to consult with the water-pro on this one....

Nellie knows exactly what to do with waterfalls, she's cool like that.

What can I say- the dog has issues! I hope I'm as spry when I'm the equivalent of her age.

Well, the dogs had a blast, we were all beat but in a good way. I really liked this picture of these old ponderosa (I think) pine roots and the rocks. We don't have much in the way of trees and water in Vegas, but what we do have is worth admiring.