Yesterday, July 4, we drove two hours to visit Sylvia’s sister, Karen and her family.  Her two sons and their families were there from Colorado and Virginia.  The in-laws and the outlaws were all there.  It was good to see everyone again.  Especially the children (Karen’s grandchildren).

Karen with her older son and part of his family.

Cute baby.  Right?  But wait (as they say in the commercials) there’s more.

That’s right! Twins. Oh what fun.

Perpetual motion on the twins’ part made photography difficult.  The boys are 7 months old.  Pity poor mom when they are two and three years old.

The younger brother was also there with family.

The Virginia branch of the family.

Too soon, it seemed, it was time to leave for home.  Sylvia’s dad joined us as we headed south.  A couple of hours later, it was home to a house that was nearly 90 degrees inside.  I turned on the AC (first time this year) and shortly after, Sylvia took her dad home–a 90-minute round trip.

It was nearly 9 PM when Sylvia returned home.  She had stopped and picked up a deli sandwich, which we thoroughly enjoyed.  An hour later the fireworks started.  I’ll tell you about that tomorrow.

Participating in:

Have you come across this bit of verse?

As a rule, man’s a fool. When it’s hot he wants it cool. When it’s cool he wants it hot, always wanting what is not.

That thought has crossed my mind as we continue to experience very hot and dry weather.  (This morning we had a brief rain shower, which brought a little relief–and helped the garden.)  In reviewing the Secondary Roads archive I found this from February of last year:

Today’s Non Sequitur comic strip captures the day — perfectly!

It is Midnight Monday and something between blogger and me isn’t working right. So after many tries, I’m not going to show the banner. After the warm spell we had last week, most of our snow had melted away. Then came another winter storm yesterday.

At first, they said it would hit Saturday night just before Sylvia was scheduled to land in Detroit. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. It was Sunday afternoon, we were in a nearby restaurant with friends when the snow began to fall. By the time we left the restaurant, the roads were very slippery. We did manage to get to the grocery store to lay in some supplies. And we made it back home. Sylvia napped and I watched the Daytona 500 until the snow on the satellite dish cut off reception. Unfortunately, I was running two hours behind real time (thanks to the DVR) and it was too late to see the end. This morning I watched the highlights on the Internet.

Today I’m faced with another major snow removal job. Everyone here has had enough and we’re beginning to dream of warmer days.

Aren’t you ready too? And while we dream of fresh green grass and pink cherry blossoms some of our friends are thinking of other things. Like frogs.

Me? I’m ready to get comfy in my recliner with my four-legged lap warmer to keep me company. The calendar says spring is only a month away. Do you believe that?

Last night (Sunday), I sat in my recliner with Sylvia alongside in hers.  We were talking with our son, Scott, when I heard the sound I had been listening to hear.  A “whump” sounded in the distance.  I rose from the chair as a second “whump” could be heard.  I picked up the tripod-mounted camera and headed for the open front door.  I saw the next two displays as the fireworks illuminated the night sky above the lake, which is a mile and a half from here.

Sylvia was with me as we stepped onto the front deck.  I had the camera ready.  We waited.  Nothing more happened.

There were no more fireworks last night.  Only the fireflies illuminated the night.  I’ve often thought how nice it would be to capture the nocturnal magic of the firefly in a photographic medium.

Why not?  The fireflies were doing their part and I had the camera mounted on a tripod and it was set for capturing a night scene.

I made several attempts at my goal of capturing the “magical moment.”  Ha!  It was like trying to capture emotion and romance in a mechanical drawing. 🙁

I did capture a little bit of “magic” in one of the many images.  It doesn’t do justice to what my eyes saw.

Firefly in action.

Fireflies light up the dark night.
Lens can’t grab that glorious sight.

I want to try to capture fireworks images this week.  Wish me luck. 😀

Like happy, beauty is where you find it.  I’m not heart broken that I don’t have to mow this week.  Hot, dry weather has turned most of the lawn brown.  One plant seems to thrive despite these conditions–buck-horn cholla, or as we call it around here, buckhorn.

Buckhorn thrives in this kind of weather.

In a suburban lawn, this would be considered a most unwelcome intruder.  In a country lawn, it’s just part of the environment.  They look like hundreds of princelings or is it princesslings?  Each with a starry crown upon his (her?) head.

I wasn’t very happy with shots that look down on this royalty, so I tried an oblique angle.  In the process, I found another paying homage at the court.

A friendly visitor called in search of food.

I didn’t have time to focus on the bee before she moved on.  She was intent on her business while I casually pursued my own.  Soon the bee moved on to other plants. Busy.  Busy.  Busy.  I merely enjoyed the scene.

There are other weeds in my lawn.  I like that.  Some, like the buckhorn, add their own special beauty.  Others just exist.  Perhaps you know people that are like that.

Looks like another great day to enjoy the cool of the basement.  At noon temp is 82 F and the forecast calls for a high of 92.  Basement projects are good on a day like this.  I can see the beauty in that too.

English is a crazy language

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.  English Muffins weren’t invented in England.  Quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham?  Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?  If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught?  If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?  We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.  We have noses that run and feet that smell.  We park in a driveway and drive on a parkway.  And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.  And, in closing, if father is Pop, how come mother’s not Mop?

Thanks – busyteacher.org

I’m taking a break from an editing project before lunch.  I don’t eat dinner anymore.  I don’t even know what it means.  When I was a youngster, Mom served dinner at noon.  Later as an adult, Sylvia and I moved to the east coast.  Folks there ate dinner in the evening.  Other words have shifted meaning in this crazy world in which we live.  It’s not easy to keep up with all the latest.  Dost thou know what I meaneth?

Participating in

Briana

Last week on Wednesday, Briana celebrated her 20th birthday.  That right, our granddaughter is no longer a teen.  Happy birthday Bree!

I posted a birthday greeting on her Facebook wall.  “In keeping with the family tradition, I come here today to wish you Happy Birthday. It’s our way of extending the celebration of a special day.”  In that same spirit I’m posting this greeting here today.  How long will it take for her to find this?  Will she find this?

Bob

I’ve known Bob Rose for over 50 years.  I met him when I was a student at Michigan State University and he was working in the Engineering Department.  We soon discovered a mutual enjoyment of the outdoors and, when we were single, had some fun camping and fishing.  When Bob married Sue, Sylvia and I stood up with them.  In 1972, Sylvia and I had been accepted for missionary service at HCJB in Quito, Ecuador.  We were trying to sell the old farm house and eleven acres, which we were buying on land contract.  Bob and Sue were ready to move out of the small house where they were living and inquired about buying our place.  I called the mortgage contract holder and found he would be interested in financing the deal for the Roses.  They bought our place and by the end of the year, we were living in Costa Rica while studying Spanish.

Sue, Bob and their daughter

Bob turned 80 last Wednesday.  Sue organized a surprise party for him.  Sylvia and I were glad to be there on Saturday to help celebrate.  It was great to see these special friends and to visit with them.

In the fifty years since they bought that place from us they have torn down the old farm house and barn.  A new huge garage (or is it a barn) and a modern earth-sheltered home with vaulted ceilings have taken their place.  Their home features some of Bob’s stained glass works.  It’s really nice!  I failed to get pictures. Yet again. 🙁

They buried the remains of the house and barn, covering them with soil.  By doing this, they have added some interesting contours to the land and multiplied the value of the property.  Here’s the view if you walk toward the back of their place.

We’ve had dry weather lately and the water level in the pond is low

That is the house to the left of the vehicles.  As you can see, it is well sheltered from the elements.  A very nice place.

A short way from the back door there is another water feature.  Yes Lin, there are frogs.

It never looked this way when we lived there.  Ingenuity and hard work transformed an old farmstead into a nature lover’s dream home.  Well done Bob and Sue.  Here’s wishing you many more happy and healthy years of togetherness.

It started as an idea, which was itself a mere reflection of another idea.  Here is what came of it.

Would you care to venture a guess as to what this is?  What do your eyes tell you?

Here’s another shot of the same scene but under different conditions.

Now you know for sure, right?  Perhaps this was to easy. 🙁

Or maybe it wasn’t.  What if some sneaky guy used Photoshop Elements to “tweak” what you see.  Would that change appearances?  Of course it would!

Here’s the original image.

I was delayed in capturing the image in the digital camera.  This dark cloud had blown in and partially obscured the crescent moon.  I know, kind of boring isn’t it?  That’s when I started thinking about what I might do to have some fun with yet another moon at sunset picture.  I’m already thinking about improving on the “reflection” concept.  What do you think about this?  Any ideas that you can share with me?

Sunset at summer solstice 2012

As the sun started to set at the end of the longest day this year, I went out on the front deck to capture an image of the event.  I took a wide shot for the full context.  The silo, which you can see in the inset (lower left of photo), is exactly west of here.  There are actually two silos (the sun is gleaming off the taller one).

In only three months (September), the sun will be setting between the silos.  Three months later . . . on second thought I don’t want to even think about that on a beautiful day like today.  I’m sure you understand. 😉

Amish country

Yesterday, Sylvia and I joined a group of friends from church and visited Farm Country Cheese House in an Amish settlement about an hour north of here.  It was interesting to see the operation in action.  Yes, we brought some cheese home with us.

We had dinner at an Amish home.  It was quite a feed.  Swiss steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, noodles, rolls, butter and strawberry jam were on the table with coffee and pie for dessert.  It was all homemade and very good–especially the strawberry jam!  A couple of the women said that their jam wasn’t nearly that good, and I believe it.

We made a final stop at a quilt shop.  A bunch of children met us as we drove in.  While the others went into the shop, Roy and I sat in the mini-bus and talked.  (He is the friend that sends the best humorous e-mails to my inbox.)

Today and Tomorrow

It’s time to get back on the tractor today and mow the lawn (about six acres).  We had rain yesterday and that has left the air cleaner and cooler.  You’ve got to enjoy a day like that.  Sylvia is already in the garden working on weed control.  I’m waiting for the grass to dry–no, really I am.

Tomorrow, I’ll be helping a friend celebrate his 80th birthday.  I’m looking forward to that.

I just received a call from an insurance agent.  I need to gather some info and get back to her.  Hope you have a great day and a better weekend.