Sweet Sixteen

E asked me to take a new portrait photo of her as she's starting a semi-private blog (only those who have been invited can read it -- just close friends and family) and wanted a new photo. This was taken in front of our apple tree, and she looks quite fresh depsite the 106 degree heat.

Yesterday at the Heritage graduation (see Meditative Meaderings for the post), I realized more than ever that my girl only has two more years here at home in high school before she graduates and starts college. Two years. Such a short time.

Spring Flowers at Summers Past Farms

I took these in mid-May at Summers Past Farms, and I simply haven't had time to edit the 150 photos I took there. Some are good, but these are the best, besides the sunflower photos I posted right after my trip to Summers Past. I love this place -- wonderful for photography, artwork, writing, visiting with friends over coffee, and, of course, shopping in the two gift shops and the small plant nursery. And the maze, whether covered with sweetpeas in the spring or morning glories in the summer, is always a miraculous place.

Fathers' Day on the Mountain

We spent Fathers' Day (and our anniversary) at my parents' little cabin atop Mount Laguna. For the events of the day and for a couple more photos, click here.



The cabin's chimney....



Fallen logs near the cabin....



Wildflowers each the size of my thumbnail....

Trip to the San Diego Zoo

To celebrate J's birthday and our last day of school, we took a trip to the San Diego Zoo. It was unusually crowded, so we decided on a bus tour rather than pushing the wheelchair all over the zoo which is rather hilly and therefore difficult for wheelchairs (and even more so for the people pushing them). It was a lovely day, even though photos were difficult to take from a moving vehicle. Plus, when on a zoo bus, one is attempting to take photos while level with the walking patrons' heads, some of which were not able to be edited out. (GRRRR....) So here are several of the best photos, and my favorite is on my Meditative Meanderings site.

Yay! School is out for the summer!

There's Nuthin' Like a Dog....

E cuddles with Dash. Sometimes when life is tough, the solace of a doggie heals hurts like no other remedy, even chocolate....

T's Find in the Garden...

One of my Class Day students came up to our home today so I could go over his MLA research paper with him and his mom. While we discussed comma splices, fragments, and parenthetical citations, T, J, B, and my student's two younger brothers played together outside. And when five boys are goofing around outside, it isn't surprising that they made a significant scientific discovery:





Yes, they found a young gopher snake. They enjoyed playing with him for an hour or so, and once the visiting family went home, T put him in an old spinach container from Costco. When Keith arrived home, the boys enjoyed showing off their prize before letting him go in the bushes where they caught him so he can do his job of keeping down the mice population near our house. He's a cute little snake, but I much prefer him outside in the garden than in the house, spinach container or no....