River High, River Low

Two things I love about a temperate, four-seasons climate:

-Change

-Rivers

And here you see both together.  Sorry that I didn't get the perspective consistent, but that white graffiti under the bridge is the same graffiti in each picture.

During snowmelt:

Two days later:

Now:

The river was amazing this winter.  First it froze. People scraped snow off perfect rectangles and played hockey on it.  Then it started melting in interesting and sometimes hard-to-explain patterns.  Then sudden warmth turned it into a raging brown torrent full of floating pieces of ice.  As it receded it turned an opaque blue-green, like some glacier-fed rivers I've seen in Alaska and the Alps.  Now it's back to its gentle, crystal-clear state.  So cool.

Another view of a different spot on the same three days.  The path leading down to the river is the same road leading down to the same river.

Snow Friends

I saw this snowbear (snowdog?) on the way home from work a few weeks ago and made him a snowturtle friend.

Editors Needed

So yes, there's a grammar mistake on this expensive-looking, official sign.  Some capitalization and punctuation problems.  But I'm not sure you can blame the altitude problem on language issues.  

I was still very happy they tried English...and it gave me a smile (and delusional bragging rights).  Plus, I suppose that if they'd added mm to the altitude, it might technically be correct.       

   

Frosty Fairy-Tale Walk

 This was the last week in January.  I don't think I need any more words.

Cross-Country Skiing in Velké Karlovice, Czech Republic

Here I am a few weeks ago, cross-country skiing for the first time in many years.  Well, I guess I'm not actually skiing here.  This is one of the steep parts where I would have needed a lot more skill, experience, and confidence to actually ski.  So I walked.  

And here I am actually on the skis:

Some of the scenery I got to see (bits of blue sky!!!):

And the snowbear I helped make afterwards:

The pile of skis in the bus home.  I wasn't the only one who thought cross-country skiing would be good that day.  This was just a regular bus that goes between towns, but you would have thought it was a shuttle in a ski resort.  People were happy, laughing together.  What a great day.

I went about 13 km, however, which was too much for my first time in years.  It uses very different muscles than hiking.  I think my technique is very bad, because at the end, I was like, "Hiking that far would have been far easier."

I hope I get another chance this season.   

Frozen Bečva River

This was the Bečva in mid January, when it froze solid enough that people cleared rectangular patches of snow and played ice hockey on it.

You can see the traces of a hockey rink here:

2024 Reading Challenge

Okay, so this is a year overdue, but I only realized now that I never posted a summary for my 2024 reading list, which I really enjoy doing. 

First, a few stats:  

Total books read in 2024:  50

70% were fiction

38% of the novels were middle-grade (the consequences of working at a library and seeing so many great books in the children's section)

Again, one of my biggest non-fiction categories was Grand Canyon books, followed closely by history/bio/memoir, animals, and language/writing.

Best/most memorable books: (And because I'm writing this in 2026, these book really stood out for me)

How Can I Help You? by Laura Sims.  Slow-burn thriller taking place mostly in a library.

The Last Human, by Lee Bacon.  Middle-grade science fiction with reluctant friendships.

It Happened at Grand Canyon, by Todd R Berger.  Interesting non-fiction accounts of specific events through history at the Grand Canyon.

The Last One, by Will Dean.  A cruise ship where everyone has disappeared.  A great survival thriller until it sort of went off the rails.  

Five Epic Disasters, by Lauren Tarshis.  Very readable non-fiction disaster tales for kids.

49 Miles Alone, by Natalie D. Richards.  A tense YA survival thriller.

The Secret Language of Birds, by Lynne Kelly.  A warm middle-grade contemporary novel...with birds.

Of a Feather, by Dayna Lorentz.  A warm middle-grade contemporary novel...with birds.  And no, that wasn't a mistake.  I for some reason read these back to back, and enjoyed both.

The Memory Palace, by Nate DiMeo.  Hands down the best book of the year:  short non-fiction accounts of strange historical people or happenings, based on the author's podcast.