This is from one of the last times I saw Emma, right at the end of summer break. I think that it also has to be one of my favorites. A few minutes afterwards I would catch her on a walkway railing. My very last photo of her is a two second exposure on that railing while she turns around. The bottom quarter in focus with the rest bluring into nothing. But the one shown is from when I had just a little longer left with Emma. She would die the night I returned for Thanksgiving.

Early this past fall I went on a morning walk through a forest only 20 minutes from campus to shockingly see another sunrise. This was my second time going to Horse Mountain. The first time was on a formal hike in a full suit when it was very much too warm for a suit! But this time it was just me in boots, and even those were probably unnecessary.

Along the way to the pictured lookout, we came across this huge mushroom growing out of a rotting log. And so of course a large piece almost a foot across is harvested for a later stew. Called chicken of the woods, it is apparently quite delicious and distinct from the closesly named hen of the woods. Mushroom cookoff in my future?

Anyways, at the lookout while most of the small group was sitting on a ledge overlooking a grand vista with campus in the far background, I was doing my thing. Looking at pretty leaves and figuring out how to frame silouettes. Enjoying the place and time in my own way. The beginning of fall is special because you have the pleasure of seeing each type of tree go one by one through its own unique motions. Some lose their leaves all at once without notice. Others are a multicolored beauty that rain steadily down. And others still feel like an elevator stopping at each floor, with the top of the tree holding out for as long as possible while the rest is long since barren.

Pictured is largely undergrowth, but undergrowth that serves as a frame for the spiderweb creating concentric rings around the background sun. With leaves past their due but holding out for just a little bit longer. Exactly what I love about fall up here.

Right before leaving for break I went to the big Smith conservatory to destress before a final. Deep into the greenhouse I came across a Heliconia vellerigera, a tall plant with large leaves and an long, fuzzy flower/seed arm that almost touches the floor. And on it I ran into this little guy.

Despite being somewhat offput by the unnervingly fuzzy arm in front of me, I think that our first impressions were alright. And so I found myself otherwise alone with a new greenhouse friend talking about seed pods and photography and well... I guess not much. Our mutual interests were limited but we tried. Not a big fan of cheese it would seem. But alas, this bright white creature ran away from me in time (probably upon noticing me in the first place) and entirely withdrew emotionally from our still young but deep friendship.

In hindsight it is probably good that I was cut off. The 'little guy' was actually a mealybug larva, an infamous pest of greenhouses! Oh the deception! Specifically because they have a symbiotic relationship with some species of ant, they can go out of control with the munching. Mealybugs secrete honeydew as they feed on plants which the ants eat while the ants protect against population controlling predation. Terrifying for greenhouse owners but otherwise pretty cool.

These last few days have been hurriedly running around The Netherlands. Visiting museums, towns, cities, and a couple extensive parks and beaches. By the time I leave I also will have taken the bus, train, tram, and subway. That is assuming I survive the never ending stream of bicycles constantly headed my way.

A common fast food here that I keep running into involves thick fries in a little handheld paper triangle with mayonaise and a sweet peanut sauce, eaten with a fork. It's surprisingly okay considering how the idea by itself sounds to me.

I took this post's image after an excellent time at Space Expo, the country's space museum directly adjacent to a major ESA (European Space Agency) research facility. I'll have to be around on a weekend to get a heavily secured tour of that, but on the day I was around I still got to see some cool things. There was a Soyuz sent up with a Dutch astronaut to the ISS, a Soviet autonomous film spy satellite, and mockups of so many funky satellites!

Afterwards I went to the beach a half hour walk away. To protect the rest of the country, much of the coastline here is built up with grassy sand dunes. Some views have looked shockingly familiar and like some parts of Texas. The complete opposite from the flat, water, and green that I've come to expect. From the top of the last one before the ocean I took this rare picture of myself. I think it turned out alright.

It was notably not last January last week. This was written when it in fact was and I have left it as is.

This past week I went... *gasp* camping. About 10 minutes from a Walmart superstore and with more or less the ability to run away but these are besides the point. Our arrival coincided with the beginning of a major freeze so it was Texas cold. But I lived to tell the tale. Was only 30 feels like 19 when I woke up in the tent!

Sunset was fast approaching near the end of our almost 10-mile hike that had snaked through the back of the state park, stopping at just about every extra bit we could see or tack on. So we took a shortcut through the park along an unpaved utility road where this was taken. Looking through a field of tall grasses and among trees ravaged a decade ago by fire.

The sidewalks or lack thereof here make me seriously concerned for anyone without steel knees and perfected balance. They have a mind of their own, switching sides at random and looping you back around. Outside of a couple major roads throughout the city, jaywalking is mandatory and fits into the flow of the city. Pedestrians and cars act out a type of four-way stop despite there being a notable lack of any stop signs about. And despite the fact that neither really fully stops.

What I pictured here was an especially egregious example. The one-sided sidewalk switched to mandatory stairs along the majority of the hill with frequent utility poles sticking out of it and with a most peculiar handrail. Even I was nervous walking down it. But then again sacrifices must be made. It's not as if this city was built with cars or weak knees in mind. Although old maps of the city that I've seen show that the city center was planned out ahead of time with moderate competence.

Ian and I spent a very long Friday in Dublin last week, taking a 6 am train and arriving back in Cork just a few minutes before midnight. In foresight, this was an ambitious plan. And in hindsight, running on between 3 and 4 hours of sleep, doubly so. We should have been in Dublin back when we first arrived in January to obtain Irish Residency Cards so that we could legally be let back into the country after our upcoming break. But in bureaucratic efficiency, the earliest appointments available were in late March, when we are closer to heading back than arriving.

The train ride to Dublin was two and a half hours of stunning scenery with only very occasional glimpses of towns, cutting across the entire country with no stops. Now Dublin as a whole has a mixed reputation, especially in the rival Cork. Claims are made that it's too big, dirty, they talk funny, and whatnot. Similar to any other rural or small area next to The City.

Now in defense of Cork, they're not entirely wrong. But I found Dublin overall to be surprisingly pleasant even if overwhelming in its sheer scale. The cities over here are more dense than back home. Instead of a small city center made up of huge skyscrapers, all the centers are filled with back-to-back businesses underneath a couple floors of apartments with only the occasional walking alley in between. My eyes never know where to look and I almost miss the large outdoor parking lots of back home even if just to break up the architectural overload.

Anyways, Dublin was filled with a pleasant few museums. We went to the National Galleries and saw an exquisite chicken paining, the National Museum and came face-to-face with 2500-year-old preserved bodies buried in bogs to mark territory and became way too excited over seeing giant bumblebees in a stunning park. And I had two positive experiences at pubs with excellent food and a homey atmosphere before quickly learning that a tapas restaurant's dishes are so cheap because you need 8 of them to have a proper meal. Oh well.

Next time I go I want to check out either the massive nature preserve within the city or the fine arts museum. And probably arrive on a bit more sleep.