This is actually the first frame of a video I shot of a guy launching. It seemed like he was a beginner, because he got a lot of coaching. Basically the paragliders lay out their parachute, make sure all of the strings are untangled, and then run off the edge of the mountain. 

The weather was so beautiful last week that I decided to take myself hiking. I went to a place in Issaqua called "Poo Poo Point", a place where paragliders launch from. Paragliding looks like it would be a lot of fun! 

It seems like every year this azalea gets more blooms. At this point I can't tell if it's crowding our rhododendron or if the rhododendron is crowding it, but it definitely needs to be moved. 

CAUGHT IN THE ACT. This red-naped sapsucker epitomizes the term "bird brain". Almost every morning, it seems, this bird produces a machine-gun type sound by rapidly pecking at the metal lip of our chimney. It is quite annoying, especially if you're trying to get some sleep! 

At the Redwood park we were at, visitors could take a train tour. We thought this industrial-looking trestle bridge made for a strange juxtaposition among the trees. 

John, Greg, Christine, Sarah, Sarah's friend and I had dinner at this place called the Pink Godzilla. Their sushi was tasty! We took this picture from the car as we were leaving, as someone outside shouted, "Hey, it's a drive-by shooting!" This was particularly funny because John had just said the same thing.  

We're not sure why, but one tree was apparently cut down and whoever cut it didn't bother to remove the part of the tree in the middle of the walking path. John, Christine and I lined up on one side of it and tried several times to roll it, unsuccessfully. Maybe that should provide some insight into the mystery of why it's still there... 

This is John and Christine INSIDE a Redwood. Supposedly a family used to live in this tree when they were hiding from the authorities. Taking this picture was especially difficult because it was pitch dark inside.

We saw lots of these types of flowers in San Jose. I thought they were interesting because they look like they are wearing little skirts.  

...And here's the top of the tree! 

Here's a pic of John and I in front of one of the larger trees we saw. 

Chrissy took us to this place kind of near her condo to see some big trees and do a little hiking. This is John and his aunt Chrissy looking at the cross-section of a Redwood cut down in the 1930's. The people at the park were nice enough to count all of the rings, and labeled them according to major the events that happened during the life of the tree, such as the birth of Jesus.

On Sunday John and I got back from a trip to San Jose. Silicon Valley was just one stop on the lecture circuit he's doing for Microsoft, so I decided to join him since it's a fairly short (and inexpensive) flight from Seattle. To make the trip more fun, John's aunt Christine from Saratoga served as our tour guide for a few days. In this pic John is standing in front of Rodin's "Gates of Hell" at Stanford University. Who knew that the entrance to hell was at Stanford?

Ah, Madeline. Our cat just LOVES paper, especially when it's coming out of the printer. Does anyone else's cat attack printers in progress? 

Okay, so if anyone knows the way our back yard USED to look, this picture should give you a mild heart attack. This winter we took the plunge and did what we were wanting to do ever since we bought our house - create a flat, usable yard space. The grass is just starting to grow, and the next step will be to plant stuff along the edges of the walls. (You'll see how there is a dirt border around the edges for this purpose.) This space is actually larger than it looks...Hopefully the chair under the deck can give you a bit of perspective. 

Congratulations to Andrea on her engagement! This pic was taken at the cute Sassy tea shop in Redmond. 

Check out our new front deck! I love the ironwood, and I took a queue from Mom on checking out Lowe's for patio furniture. I can definitely see myself hanging out here more often once the weather gets warmer!