Every once in a while I get busy with the organizing and archiving of my huge pile of moments in time. As of now, these digital moments amount to over 60,000 images. Truly a big pile, within which wonders can hide. In stirring through the pile from time to time I'll try to run some through the flow here at mindling.com.

Herewith Thomas&Son on the 'ol kayak in 1978 down south of Novato.

I got a big day-job project out the door this morning, and I followed soon after with mtn bike and camera to explore some new territory over in the Knickerbocker area I had "discovered" while messing around in Google Earth. Some trails, slippery with mud, and wading across a couple of creeks brought me to a beautiful pond, perhaps a quarter mile long and a couple hundred yards wide. An egret was fishing among some cattails while I sat and ate my sandwich. After lunch I thought perhaps I could creep around behind the reeds without disturbing him, so off I went with the camera.

I learned a deeply technical lesson for improving photography from a friend this week - press the shutter once in a while.

Ever wonder what Eric does way down there? Hilda and I checked it out a couple of years ago when we joined one of his tours. We journeyed through the land of the Maya, from the southern mountains and deserts to the humid jungles of the Yucatan. Here is a slide show - the photos are ok, I apologize for the narration, the music is gorgeous. I think the main take-away is the contrast in wealth between our culture and that of indigenous Mexico, especially that of Chiapas. Gives me perspective when I slip into a hand-wringing mode watching our meager retirement fund becoming more so.

A winter's day at home in Cool during the week before Christmas, 2008. About five minutes.

A beautiful mid-Winters day brought four Windmills and at least three times that number of crew, hangers-on and groupies out into sunny Alameda for a delightful time of visiting and just "messing about with boats". The video is about three minutes long.

A 10-minute not all inclusive video trip to Denver, Colorado for Thanksgiving. See also the slideshow here