Empty Chrysalis

I'm sure your getting bored with monarch metamorphosis images by now, but this one was really a test to see where the dust on my sensor would show up. As I suspected, f8 was the cutoff point. When I stopped down further than that, I could see lots of ugly spots.

Soooo, I did my first ever sensor cleaning this afternoon. It wasn't entirely successful, but my nerves could only handle one attempt today. I'll try to do it little better soon. But now I have enough confidence that I think I will be able to do it.

This morning I went to my first yoga class in over one and a half years. A bad back sidelined me in February 2009; I had surgery in October 2009; and now I feel ready to start back. It felt wonderful. Of course, I didn't do anything very difficult. I'm basically starting from square one, but I'm happy to be doing that.

Later this morning I started to prepare for a backpack trip next week--just a short one I'll do with a friend if the weather holds. It's getting rather late in the season. Between the yoga and being able to anticipate a backpack trip, I realize I've come a long way since my surgery.

Good health is a real blessing.