Sunday Salon coming to you from Lake Tahoe

Selfie taken during hike with Lake Tahoe in the background

Weather: We arrived in California during a heat storm with temperatures in Redding and Sacramento reaching over 100 degrees. But now things have cooled off a bit and the temperature in Tahoe yesterday was in the 80s and with a slight breeze. It was just perfect for our hike and a paddle in the lake afterwards.

Golden visions: Yesterday while paddling around in our little inflatable kayak on Lake Tahoe the wind picked up and caused the water to ripple. I was shocked and delighted to see the crest of each ripple was tinged with a golden/copper color that sparkled and danced. The color was so striking contrasted to the deep blue color of the lake. When I exclaimed at its beauty my husband didn't know what I was talking about. Apparently my sunglasses altered the color of the light hitting the ripples and his didn't. Who cared? Not me. I sat in stunned silence. It was the most gorgeous moment I've ever experienced with light and I wanted to treasure it in my heart.

Eagle Lake. Photo credit: D. Bennett

Eagle Lake: A lake in what is called Desolation Wilderness is one of over 90 small lakes near Lake Tahoe. (See this stunning website which photographs over 90 of these lakes: Lakes of Desolation.) We got up early yesterday and hiked the 2.5 miles into Eagle Lake. Fortunately for us we started early because the rest of the tourists visiting Tahoe also decided to take the same hike and we wouldn't have had the same lovely experience due to the crowds had we started later. The scenery was spectacular.

Front row--- me and my sibs; back row--- our spouses

Visit with my sibs: Now that my brother and his wife have returned to their home in California after two years in Switzerland and now that all of us are vaccinated against covid-19 we were finally able to gather for a family reunion. He lives in a resort community with ready access to all sorts of outdoor activities. When we weren't moving around the house talking and eating, we were outside playing bocce ball or floating in the nearby lake. Thanks for playing hosts, Tony and Becky, it was so good to be together again. We had a grand time.

Books:

• Audiobooks
• End of Watch by Stephen King. We finished the last disc of this audiobook after we arrived at our rented cabin in Tahoe. In typical Stephen King fashion the action was tremendous right up until the last ten pages or so. I recommend the whole series.
• The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. What a clever idea for a book---reviewing aspects of daily life. On our trip to South Tahoe yesterday we listened to Green review Piggly Wiggly grocery stores. Ha! 30% complete.
  
• Print  
• Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford. I switched to the print version of this book so I could read it faster. 21% complete.
• The 100 Best  Poems of All Time edited by Leslie Pockell. They only have one poem by Shakespeare and that's as far as I've gotten so far. 10% complete.
  
• Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story) by Daniel Nayeri. I really enjoyed this unique memoir of a Iranian-American boy and his life stories. I hope to review it soon so I can untangle all my thoughts about it. Completed!
  

Happy LBGTQ Pride month!

Time for my first cup of coffee for the day and Zoom church. Agenda for the day: exploring.

 -Anne