Happy Halloween!!

JACK is an acronym from our initials (yes we are that cute).

Inside/Out: Pygmy Nuthatch

Taken from our kitchen window this morning.

Out: Calm Water

Today was one of those windless days when the lake looks like a sheet of glass. I took the one of Otis on our morning walk and the one of the Tahoe Queen paddlewheel this evening, from our living room.

Out: Seagulls, including one splashing a duck in the face.

Inside/Out: A Bald Eagle...

...just flew by our living room window. We usually see a couple each December/January, but this is the earliest I've ever seen one here. Anyway, it flew by far to fast for me to snap a pic, but here are some we took of one we spotted the winter before last.

Out: More Fall (because the readers demand it).

Okay, so Anthony and I both go a little crazy with the foliage shots in the fall. But there's a relatively low percentage of deciduous trees around the Tahoe basin (at least for a couple of east coast kids like ourselves), so we're compelled to enjoy the fall colors while they're here, lest autumn pass us by unnoticed.

We're lucky enough to have these fabulous poplars on the beach in front of our apartment. They're huge -- like 80-100 feet tall -- and their leaves turn a bright yellow-gold which are especially intense against the blue water and sky. It's a color theory dream.

We took these photos on Wednesday. I particularly love the shots from the bottom of the trees looking skyward. And I'm not the only one -- notice the photographer to the right in the last shot? He came up right behind us to snag his own shots from this angle. It's hard being a trendsetter.

Inside: Bill Maher: The cows disagree with him

Nearly seven years after the fact, I'm still confounded and devastated to find myself living under the Bush administration. However, I take some comfort in knowing that, each Friday, Bill Maher will show up on his HBO show, Real Time, and call out the emperor for running around naked.

My adoration for Maher is a teeny bit short of hero-worship. There are a few issues I disagree with him on. And he seems like he'd be a total asshole on a date. I guess the latter doesn't really bother me all that much, primarily because he dated Ann Coulter, and although I don't like to think about that, the fact is that I occasionally do think about it. And when I do, I like to think that he crushed every bit of what was left of her shriveled soul. I also like to think that he found evidence that proves that she survives on the blood of infants and that he's threatened to release this information to the public and to the authorities if she ever stops making conservatives look completely ridiculous.

But I digress. My point is, it warms my poor broken political heart to watch Maher each week because he consistently bases his realty on...reality. Yes, I know it's pathetic that I'm so grateful to hear points based on things like "research," "science" and "common sense." But I am.

And Maher's arguments often make something that's been nagging me tangible. One recent example is when Maher called out John Mellencamp (one of the guest panelists that evening) for arguing that people should be able to keep their political innocence. Mellencamp, after characterizing people in the heartland as truthful people who expect others to be truthful as well, asked "What's wrong with being naive?" Here's Maher's response:

"You must know what’s wrong with it. What’s wrong with it is, because – it means that they buy into shit that isn’t real. This is why they elected George Bush, because they wanted to have a pot roast with him. This is why they believe Fred Thompson is the real deal, because he “drives a pickup truck; he’s got dirt under his fingernails…”

In other words, of course we should have trustworthy politicians. But we don't. And we never have. And trusting them will not make them trustworthy. And why shelter adults from these realities anyway? I know the world is full of ugliness, and it can be tough to swallow. Personally, I read gofugyourself.com in the morning before I read the news. But I still read the news.

And frankly, I'm more frightened of the power of the ignorant. On tonight's Real Time, which was live, protesters interrupted the panelists with screams about how 9/11 was orchestrated by the government. Like Maher, even I don't hold Bush accountable for that. FYI, the title of this post comes from Maher's response to one protester who started booing/mooing after Maher made fun of their cause.

Although the episode (which included Maher jumping off the stage to help kick one one guy out) was unexpectedly entertaining, the fact that these people took a look at their world and decided that this was the thing to get pissed about is, at the very least, disturbing.

Worrying over something that seems terrible, yet isn't actually as threatening as something that seems less horrific is, unfortunately, a flaw most of us live with. It's why I'm afraid of flying, even though statistics show that I'm much more likely to die driving to the airport (my apologies if this all sounds familiar -- this point is more eloquently described in Freakonomics). Politicians are no exception. From all the energy wasted freaking out about marijuana and gay marriage to the invasion of Iraq, plenty of politicians spend their lives imagining threats that don't exist and creating solutions that cause actual harm.

Maher, on the other hand, has a gift for shrugging off the pathos that other talking heads and politicians depend on, and debating an issue with the facts at hand. As a result, arguments like "We have to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here" don't stand a chance. And, pathetic or not, I am thankful for it.

Inside Out: Soleil and Otis

Otis was lucky enough to have a playmate for a couple of days last week when we watched our friends' pup Soleil, who is a total charmer. Here are some pics of them at High Meadows, near Armstrong pass and cuddling up.

Out: Here are some fish that turn an angry red, grow hooked snouts, exhaust themselves, and die. Let's have a festival!

Okay, despite my snarky title, I actually really love the Kokanee Festival, which happens here on the South Shore each year on the first weekend in October.

The festival coincides with the annual Kokanee salmon spawning. The salmon, who have been swimming around in the lake for the past four years or so, suddenly become flush with hormones, turn a bright red, and head upstream to the spawning grounds where they originally hatched to lay or fertilize eggs themselves, before dying of exhaustion and becoming food for bears, ducks and other fish. From a human standpoint, this method of reproduction leaves something to be desired.

But it is quite a site to see--the scarlet-colored salmon are stunning, and it's an excellent chance to watch nature in action close up. And the Taylor Creek area (where the festival is held) is full of fall color, so just strolling along the path by the stream is lovely.

Below are some pics of the Kokanee. The ones sporting a huge hooked nose (also a product of hormones) are males. The underwater shots were taken inside the stream profile chamber, which offers a below-surface view of the salmon, along with the substantially less-crimson brown trout (who seemed a little baffled. But then, I guess fish always look a little baffled).

Inside/Out: Crazy, Stupid and Probably Kind of Fun.

I took this photo of the lake from our living room window (hence the inside/out) when the storm was kicking up Friday afternoon. This little fishing boat was getting knocked around more than a goomah on the Sopranos.

Out: Fall in Hope Valley

Yesterday, Anthony and I headed to Hope Valley to absorb some of the fall colors before winter settles in for good. We headed to Woods Lake to get Otis some exercise, stopping here and there along the way to take photos.

Out: River Otter in Training

I volunteer for Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (I'm the webmaster and also a rehabber). Earlier this year, LTWC received an orphaned river otter. In case you were wondering, yes, baby river otters are the cutest things ever. They're energetic, gregarious and playful, and incredibly charming. Young otters require interaction as they're growing, which means that we actually had to play with this one, for her own good. But unlike other wild animals, which will become imprinted after a prolonged period of interaction with humans, river otters naturally grow out of their need for company once they reach full maturity.

After spending the summer in LTWC (which has the only rehab habitat for river otters in California), she's now all growns up and just about ready for release. To get her ready for the big day, LTWC volunteers take her to a nearby creek a couple of times a week to practice swimming, diving and looking for food.

On Wednesday, Anthony and I went along. Anthony filmed the outing (we'll post a video on LTWC's site soon) and I took some photos (which will also be on the site soon) . In the meantime, enjoy the cuteness here, and pardon the blurriness -- she didn't stop moving the entire time.