Just a few pictures of Tahoe goodness for all you blog readers out there… This past week has been prime for landscape snapshotting as a rare slosh of clouds came rolling through last Friday, creating what I like to call Tahoe neopolitan: sunset-stained clouds + baby blue sky + eggplant-tinged lake = a trifecta of beauty (see exhibit A).

Exhibit B showcases that classic Tahoe cerulean sky (nary a cloud in sight except for the one-legged potato), snapped above Eagle Lake, just a short hike from Emerald Bay, yesterday.

Funny how the smallest of things can inspire.

For me, I put some of my nearest and dearest trinkets at eye-view on the window sill above my desk. I find it calming to have a tangible, three-dimensional object to focus the eye on when in thought. Of course, my items have the potential to make the mind wander: The sea urchin shell recalls a recent trip to Troncones, Mexico. The two dinosaur figurines have, a time or two, sent my mind reeling on extinction (no good), and the marbles take me back to attempting still lifes in art class. Yet as I stare once more at these items, I realize it’s more than what they represent to me… it’s how they look. The way the clear glass marbles catch the light coming through the window, the dinos’ bright colors, smooth lines and hysterical extremities (look at the left foot on the orange one!), and the urchin’s spiky texture—it’s as good as a lake view for me. What are your little things?

‘He said mysteries work that way. If you want to keep people interested, you can let them know only so much.’ The rest is enshrouded in the vast sunny stillness.

And so ends “American Stonehenge,” one of the most enthralling features I have read of late, on page 126 of Wired‘s special mystery issue (May 2009). Written by Randall Sullivan, the story details the Georgia Guidestones, what the dek claims “may be the most enigmatic monument in history.” Yowza! As a Georgia native, I had never even heard of the guidestones, which are located in Elberton, about an hour and a half east of my grandmother’s Braselton home. Built by an man in 1980 to seemingly instruct survivors of an apocolypse, the monument is part guide, part calendar, part clock and part compass. Yet the identity of the man is unknown, and the purpose of the guidestones unrevealed.

I am certainly intrigued, and can safely say that this issue has been one of my favorite Wired releases. From the mind-bending puzzles scattered throughout the issue to the explanation of the Donnie Darko plot on page 40, it’s all brilliant. Certainly, the quote from page 126 is right… there is something about mystery that captivates us. One thing’s for sure: On my trip to Georgia next month, I’m going to high-tail it over to see the granite wonder. Stay tuned for more mysteries revealed…