Cookin in the Kettles at Whidbey Island

Sunday's race was blessed with the best weather, by far, in this mountain bike series.  The scenery was also superlative.  Jill and I warmed up in sunshine, taking in the views. 

Beefuddled

The most recent check in my hive revealed a sad, small cluster of bees milling about the top of the hive.  Numbers were way down, and there was evidence of dyssentry (bee-diahhrea).  I gave them a Beepro pollen patty and a feeding of Pro-Health as a final desperate attempt to keep them alive, but to no avail- the hive did not make it.

A few sad bee carcasses (One of Venessa's lovely shots from her blog, Kernels and Seeds. ) 

More dirty fun- Soaring Eagle and Steilacoom

The West Side MTB races have been keeping me active all winter.  Races 2 and 3 were great muddy fun, and added great variety to the twisty turny thrillfest of Dash Point.

Race two went down at Soaring Eagle.  Jill and I were joined by one of my favorite bike buddies, Mr. Justin Calvo.

Amara Boursaw's great shots!

Two unrelated wonderful jewels

I've been busy on catch up posts about recent gardening and mountain bike adventures, which I hope to finish soon and get posted.  In the meantime, I happened upon a two jewels of wonder that I must share.

First, here is an image of the most amazing bicycle wheelie ever.  I love the abiding sense of adventure and playfulness portrayed here- a reminder that the invigoration offered by the bicycle can be accessible at any age (and, now that I think about it, a  great image to commemorate International Women's Day).

Via The Daily Bike . 

Second, here is an absolutely jaw-dropping video by visionary filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg about the hidden beauty of pollination.  The entire video, including commentary by Schwartzberg, can be viewed as a TED talk (which I highly recommend doing).  This segment below gets right to the beauty without any discussion, and really is quite a visual treat.  Apparently it will be out on Disney Nature as a full length film soon (I will be anxiously anticipating this!).

A video: