All posts tagged: outdoors

How Things Change …

Published by Sula H.

Well, you know how dearly I love me that little mountain we get to go to every once in a while. I usually tell you all about it, whenever I’ve had another chance to get away from town. And we like this mountain for specific reasons. For example, the fact that only few people find their way there. Or that you don’t have to pay money to go for a hike. Or that the trails used to be all natural trails – no stairs, no pavements. Used to be … Because now, there are stairs. Now, there are paved walkways. Now there are more and more visitors crowding (and unfortunately littering) the place. And my little heart is broken. Because it looks like soon our mountain, the only place where we could actually find a little nature around town, will be just another tourist spot in China – overrun with people; occupied by sellers who want to make business; and with paved walkways that take away all the fun of hiking up rocky trails. Sometimes I simply …

Among Lilacs

Published by Sula H.

It’s Easter. And on top of it, it’s beautiful weather. So, yesterday, I decided to take out my camera and go among the lilacs. As I was out on that walk, I was having so much fun, that in fact, I didn’t just stay among the lilacs, I also did some more exploring among the other blooming creatures of spring. Need proof? Here are the lilacs …   And here, that’s me enjoying a walk on a wonderfully sunny Easter Sunday:   And if you’d like to see more, you can check out the photo gallery.  

Bee Keepers and Other Curious Creatures

Published by Sula H.

So, like I told you, we went mountain climbing yesterday. And while that in itself usually is an exciting event, the highlight of the day for me was our stop at the bee keeper’s. It’s this old man and his wife, who camp out at the foot of the mountain where they keep rows of beehives. And for the first time in my life, I was able to see how honey is “made.” After all, quite some of us purchased a jar of pure, all natural honey, and so the old man had to get more honey from the honeycombs. And we? We get honey deluxe – all inclusive that is. Even the extra portion of protein, since our honey comes with bee wings, bee legs and all that other good stuff that makes this honey so special!  

Mountain Climbing and Sad Discoveries

Published by Sula H.

Everyone (we take) loves to go to the mountain not far from town where we can have adventures, nature, and lots of rock climbing. I’m no exception. So, I took a group of my students out on a little trip. But this time, I was in for a little disappointment. They are turning the bottom part of our trail into I-know-not-what – they say it’s going to be a water reservoir. But whatever they are doing, I’m just really sad, because they took down a huge part of the mountain, are breaking apart rocks and whatever else is in their way, and completely change what was so lovely about “our” mountain. And if you look at the pictures and wonder why I’m fussing since there’s no sign of anything out of the ordinary – that’s only because in defiance of what’s going on, I didn’t feel like taking pictures of the destruction. My photographer-heart simply ignored this part of our hike. Anyhow, the good news is, the majority of our nature retreat is still intact, …