1500 miles to take pictures. that would be a fur piece for a lot of people. but might as welll go somewhere dramatic to justify the new digital camera. so it's las vegas, southwestern utah, the grand canyon.

but like all vacations -- this one is too short. and the schedule only allows one day for bryce canyon.

get up. have breakfast. and there are hummingbirds outside the window feeding. great photos. but the sky is threatening, and it's 60 miles to bryce.

it rains. it rains ice. but there's clearing.

drive into the park, make the turn to go to bryce point. and it starts snowing. into the parking space, and it's harder. get out of the car, even harder. it's a whiteout.

walking around, shooting snow. walking around. more snow. less shooting.

90 minutes later -- still a whiteout. get in the car, make one last pass. and it starts to stop. climb to sunrise point with fingers crossed, and for 15 minutes, it's clear. for 15 minutes, it's beautiful. white snow and red rock and green trees. for fifteen minutes. then the fog rolls in, and it's gone.

go get lunch, come back -- and it's clearing again. unbelievable. the snow is melting. it's a completely different place. on the climb out of the canyon, the sun comes out. what the heck, stick around for sunset. it's been seven hours in three acts, each offering a different park, and an amazing day.

-------------------------------------------------------------

see "a pretty good day" or "big trip, part 1" photo album

wake up. dreams.

dreaming in hagfish. a wall of output. science and the tantalic.

a trip to mt. dyad.

a butterfly flutters past the kob.

-------------------------------------------------------------

check out http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ -- it's a wonderful site.

i see county district attorney danny porter has given the case of runaway bride jennifer wilbanks over to a grand jury, which found reason to indict her.

the reason: she ran away and then lied to police about what happened.

porter says that's wrong. i guess he wants people to think that by making an example out of her, lying to police will stop. this is so ludicrous i'll stop before i even start to tear that apart.

the district attorney is a guy. a guy who watched another guy plead on tv for his love's return. the da sees the guy embarrassed, and what he's more likely saying is that women, you'd better think twice before making other guys look foolish like this.

think not? when is the last time you read a story about a runaway groom? like that never happens. 

we (men that is) have been persecuting women for their sexuality probably since the dawn of time and certainly since the beginning of male-dominated religion.

not to mention that the wedding was going to have 14 bridesmaids and 14 groomsmen. 14? for a total of 28? where were the family members who should have put a stop to this happy occasion that spun out of control? 

there's enough blame here to go around without the district attorney's misplaced empathy. we need to find a way to help people feel good about themselves. not lock them away for six years. (and, yeah, that's the maximum jail term.)

drop the charges.