And ... we are back

The threat (now realized) of precipitation compelled us to cut our Yosemite Valley trip short as the prospect of folding up a wet tent in the rain held little appeal for either of us.

We spent many, many nights there in the 1990s, before the 1997 flood that washed away our favorite campground, but since then have mostly avoided the area. Despite the crowds even at this time of the year, it is a breathtaking place, the scale and majesty of which simply can not be captured on film.

The ear-shattering gunshot that echoed through the valley at 2AM yesterday morning may have resulted in one of these empty containers filling up.

If not, hopefully someone had some other good reason to get thousands of peoples' hearts going from 50 to 150 in a matter of seconds.

It appears that the Fed meeting minutes were received well yesterday - like at least one Yosemite bear that was stopped in its tracks, stock market bears were similarly thwarted yesterday but seem to be gathering again today.

Maybe the Federal Reserve and some of the big Wall Street firms should invest in a goodly supply of bear traps and tranquilizer guns if they want to see stocks continue to soar.