Gazebo

Two nights in a row I stood inside this gazebo surrounded by thunder, lightning and rain. What a life-saver it was and what an amazing place to be observing the wilds of nature from. One fascinating thing was that, when the falling rain made contact with the ocean, the smell of sea water was radically intensified! Who'd have thunk it?

I'm Back!

Well, that was NOT just vacation in Magnolia, not this time. Oh, I did house sit and cat sit and sit on the back porch hour after hour, but this time my family showed up from California and Washington to give me an un-birthday surprise. And I thought they couldn't surprise ME! I was so wrong and so happy to be so wrong and so happy to show them around my cape for this once in a lifetime delight!

All Colors

Well, July is half way over already and the temperatures keep climbing. It was pretty nice today with the humidity at 35 percent, but definitely HOT in the sunshine and/or out of the breeze. Adding wind and shade together it was really pretty nice, but I was glad to get home and into the air conditioning. I'm glad I have nobody to drag around in the heat tomorrow and I can spend the day preparing for my trip to the beach. Life is good!

Double BBQ

I thought it was funny when I took the picture, after the death of the fancy schmancy gas grill, the old standby barrel-of-charcoal comes to the rescue. Today I was using our new full sized charcoal grill and as soon as the coals were the right size/temperature, they started falling through their rack into the catch basin below. I had to get out my little barrel-of grill and start a whole 'nother batch of briquettes to pour into the big one. It turned out ok, but I was certainly glad I still had my little stand-by grill handy when it was needed!

Early Rising

When I first got the camera I got up so early that it was still night and then I ran around in the predawn looking for something to shoot. Then I went to IWWG's Skidmore summer conference and learned about stock photography. That was the first time that I allowed myself to shoot people - aside from the people that I was hanging out with. The good news was I got to sleep in and the bad news was that I couldn't actually use those people photos (if the people were recognizable) unless I sold the pictures to magazines for education and information. The best news is that within that collection I have some very lovely emotional shots in which no recognizable face shows. Body language tells much and the shots I took back when I got up in the night for sunrise shots, still make me smile.

Low Tide

It was a breath-of-fresh-air day around here - a major relief after the last couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to opening the windows after the sunset stops beating on the front of the house, and letting that lovely cool breeze blow through here. I'm also looking forward to my vacation next week - back to the ocean and my "summer home" in Magnolia. Fresh air every day there!

Rain Clouds

They rolled through here today, grumbling and growling and spitting up a storm. A lot of who-ha though and not much water. I was out watering the garden a few minutes ago and it quietly and gently started raining. That was lovely. It's interesting being on the other side of the clouds once in a while, but for today it was just fine being on the bottom.

Get Wet

This would have been the place to be today. It was a cooker and I got so hot that I couldn't even drive over to the Y for a swim. I'm really looking forward to my visit to Magnolia - the cooling ocean breezes and a sharply cold bay to swim in. One more week.... it won't be long now, unless tomorrow is another toasty day!

Swim it off

It didn't make it up to 90 today - missed it by one degree and there I was driving back and forth and back and forth hauling my "seniors" around or making deliveries to and or for them. I sat in that roasting car with the shirt covering my arms so I couldn't burn them and thought about how when this was all done I'd be so happy to jump in the pool. My last drop-off informed me she needed Rx. and I just barely didn't pout when I had to drive back and forth one more time to get her prescription. But you know what, when I got in that cool water it was all forgotten! Oh, the power of floating on the surface!LIDGTTFTATIM

Fireworks Tonight?

It's a good thing I've got plenty of these photos in stock and it was a good thing that today was yet another relief from the intense heat we've had lately, but many people tried to hang out at the park today and I hope they had their sweaters and rain gear with them. OK, the weather channel says 30% chance of rain tonight, so there's some hope. Although earlier today when it was POURING down rain, the weather channel said it was "cloudy" - well, it was that, too! Of course, both my cats vote for no fireworks at all, so I suppose it can be looked at as win/win no matter how it turns out! Happy 5th anyhow!

4th of July

The nicest surprise about THIS 4th of July is that it was cool and cloudy all day and never got too hot or sticky. It's been so muggy lately that this was a miracle indeed! It's borderline now that it's almost nine and the calm stillness that engulfed the neighborhood today has been broken by returning neighbors and their private stashes of fireworks. We turned on the air conditioner and closed the windows, more for the quiet it would provide than changing the temperature. It's been a quiet day around here, I suppose the weather helped, and our local display of pyrotechnics will be visible from the sidewalk beside the house tomorrow night. There'll be no way to soothe my girl-cats then. Joy is happily sleeping on the foot of my lazyboy feeling protected by closed windows and the hum of the air conditioner. Princess is out there somewhere hiding in terror and waiting for the neighbors to go to bed!