Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads and Dads-to-be out there in blog land!

I've been a slacker lately and I'm sorry for not really posting much.  I've been battling some personal demons and anxiety lately, but hopefully I'll come out of this little slump soon.  Tomorrow is Litha and I'll be putting up some ritual and spell items for the holiday later. 

Oryx and Crake

It's been a long road that I've travelled this week.  My husband's grandmother passed - don't be sorry though - I'd spoken to the women three times in my life and she was nasty and bitter.  My husband wasn't too close to her either.  We went to the funeral in New Jersey on Friday and that was that. 

In other, less depressing news, I'm more than halfway through my next book for my Graduate class, Writing After the End.  All of the literature in this course is Post-Apocalypse/Post-Collapse themed.  It's a bit depressing but still eye opening.  For this unit we were able to choose from three novels The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler and Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.  I chose the last novel and boy is it frightening.  I've even made a liner note for myself: "If this is our future, I want out now!" If anyone needs a good summer read or inspiraton to be green, please read this book.  There is a sequel that came out last year, The Year of the Flood, which I plan on reading once I'm done with this book.  It's dark, but I'm realling enjoying it.  

Graduate School

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting again, but summer session for Graduate school has begun!  My first class is on post-apocolypse literature and it's a bit depressing.  The first novel I have to read is called Riddley Walker by Russel Hoban.  It is a very odd book and is completely written in phonetic Kent dialect.  I've only been able to get through 2 of the 17 chapters so far and I have to finish the novel by Monday night.  This is the first time I've really ever been worried about passing an English class.  I've never encountered a book like this before and, quite frankly, I'm intimidated by the posts I've been reading from my classmates on the online Blackboard system.  A few of them are PhD./DA students and far better read than I will ever be.  For the first time in a long time, I'm at a loss and a disadvantage in a college class.  I was able to find a way to catch up in the past, but this book has really put a blockade in front of me.  So, while I try to understand this book, my posts may be very short or just full of Fur Babies.  I don't want to leave my readers without pictures of Frankie and Marty!

Hiking in Upstate New York

Over the Memorial Day weekend, a few friends and I went hiking at Lake Minnewaska.  It was an absolutely beautiful hike!  I wanted to share a few of the pictures with all of you.

I suppose starting with a picture of Lake Minnewaska would be a good start:

Another view of the lake:

I've claimed a rock:

Waterfalls:

My husband and our friend hiding under the mountain:

And finally, me when I've reached the top:

Happy (post) Memorial Day!

I was away for the weekend camping, so I'll be posting more (with pictures!) later.  I just wanted to say thank you to all those who serve in our military, past and present.  I hope everyone took a moment to remember those who did not make it back and made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.