I just returned from a lovely trip to Lake Tahoe.

Patches of snow still lingered in shady areas in the forests. The lake sparkled an unbelievably deep blue, with snow-capped mountains rising on all sides. In sunny patches purple lupine bloomed, covering hillsides in violet.

Douglas Squirrels chirruped and trilled from lodgepole pines. I sat out on a sunwarmed granite boulder overlooking Emerald Bay and watched as fat black lizards darted out from beneath rocks. They sprang from perch to perch, ever alert.

The wind sighed in the pines as hawks circled overhead.