The June July August Break

Oh dear, I did it again, Said I would and then I didn't. I am very unreliable. Blogging is akin to a habit, you must continually write and post so it becomes part of your daily habits. And I don't mean a bad habit, I mean a good habit, sorta like drinking a cup of coffee before the world begins to turn. Many bloggers are taking what is referred to as an August Break, where they either don't post at all or very minimally. I think I fell into that first category but my August break went back as far as the end of June, the 29th to be exact.

And I might be in real trouble when it comes to forming a habit.  I just checked Google (I love Google) and instead of the old adage of 21 days, apparently the University College London has done a more thorough study on habit forming and now it has been determined that no longer is it 21 days but 66, trumping the 3 weeks to now more than 6 weeks. Are you kidding me, OMG I'm done for.

Oh well, I will give a quick over-view of my adventures this summer. trying to catch up during my June-July-August break. The two photos above were taken in Chicago on a night photo-walk during the photography conference. I rarely, pretty much never, do long exposure night photography. You need a tripod and patience, both of which I tend to fail at.

The 4th of July I drove to Dayton, OH with my kids to spend a long weekend with my sweetie's family.  Only one good day of weather the whole weekend was a disappointment. I thought it was a rule that it doesn't rain on the 4th of July.  Seeing and being with family certainly makes the days brighter even if the skies are dark and rainy.

Later in July I flew to California to visit and stay with my son and daughter-in-law for a week. We visited the San Diego Zoo, along with a million others and walked the beaches with a million others, and yes, it was hot like a million other places have been this summer. Remind me not to visit California in July. Fall or spring seem to be the more pleasurable times. But again, seeing and being with my son and daughter-in-law removed the unpleasantness of the crowds and the heat.

  But one thing is for sure, roses love the hot southern California weather.

And along the way I found a red barn.....always a fav!

And a gorgeous butterfly....

Many happy moments were spent with family this summer....this being one of them.

Can you believe this little bundle of joy will be two next month.

I am heading to Michigan next week to visit old friends that have a cottage on Torch Lake. Expectations are high for many photo ops.  Hope you have had a lovely summer as we head into a new season soon. It's been too hot and too humid around these parts this summer. The windows and doors have been shut almost the entire month of July and into August with the air conditioner running. Love having the windows wide open, enjoying the soft breezes and the sounds of summer. Maybe in September it will cool down for that enjoyment.  Until then, I will continue to sit on the screen porch, overhead fan on high, ice cold drink by my side, with an occasional trickle of sweat dripping on the pages of my latest read.

Until next time.....

Sunday Happenings

Image taken at Mission San Luis Rey in California 

After attending church services this morning where we welcomed the second Sunday of the Advent season in waiting for the birth of Jesus Christ, stopping in at Trader's Joe's (after all it is right across the street), picking up some pretty Christmas greens,along with other goodies that don the shelves of TJ's during the holidays, and now waiting for my son-in-law, bless his heart, to help me haul the Christmas decor up from the bowels of the basement I am ready for the season to begin.  It was always tradition when my sweetie was home that the decorating would start immediately after Thanksgiving was over and then we would sit back and enjoy it for the entire month of December. Not so now, I was so late last year it was practically time to take it down before I even got it up. (that almost sounds like an off-color joke, but it truly wasn't meant to be....giggle). I don't know about you, but as the years march on and they truly do accelerate with each passing year, the struggle to decorate for the season seems to become more difficult.  I always volunteer to have our Book Club Christmas Party at my house because it is just the incentive I need to trim the tree and place all those pretties in their special spots for the holiday season.  

Well, Sam my son-in-law has come and gone and now the living room, family room, entrance hall and kitchen are brimming with boxes to be opened and Christmas treasures await.  And now the decorating begins.

PS On Lifetime Cable TV tonight is an adaptation of "The Red Tent", a book that I know many of you read.  It is a 2 night mini-series depicting the lives of women in the Old Testament.  Good reviews from People Magazine (and you know People is always right....giggle) I am definitely watching it as so little is written about the women of the Bible, should be interesting.

"Dear whoever is reading this, you're beautiful and someone out there is crazy about you. So smile. Life is too short to be unhappy." 

 

-- Author Unknown 

Until next time.....

Sunshine - Bright Sunshine

Since I am doing my best to re-connect and blog more and since it is a down-right gloomy day outside and has been ever since I came home with barely a peek of the sun, I am sharing a few of the many, many photos I took while in California.  We have no sun here, yet in California there is almost too much sun.  I say that with tongue in cheek (you know, kinda kidding) because how could one possibly say there is too much sun, especially in November/December.  I am stating this as a "photographer", the sun was so low in the sky being as it was very late November, casting an extremely bright light on your subject, but really bad shadows, creating a total light/dark contrast. Taking photos in this kinda light is not the best, but heh, I am not complaining about the abundance of sunshine, just the effect it has on photography.

The colors in southern California are intense, the blues are so blue, the reds, whites, oranges, and yellows are so full of rich deep color.

Even the bills on the sea gulls are bright red....

And the pink on the pigeons, dazzling...

So when the sun isn't shining here, which sometimes goes on for long stretches, denying us that wonderful light, I can easily get a blast of the sun just by re-visiting my photos.

As we wandered thru Laguna Beach, one of my favorite places to wander, we went into a shop that was just FULL of STUFF.  And I spotted this and I swear it was the only thing I bought other than a scrubby for showering, but now how could I resist this....??

Thanks for welcoming me back!!

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it."  ~Lou Holtz

Until next time.....

The Zoo Story

Yesterday I checked one off my bucket list....the San Diego Zoo.  I have only been in California twice in my entire life, the first time about 12 years ago when I was here we went to the San Diego Wild Life Park but secretly really wanted to go to the zoo.  So now on my 2nd trip I went to the zoo.  And what a great day it was.  Be sure and make a note that the Tuesday after Thanksgiving is the absolute best time to go to the zoo.  No crowds, no waiting anywhere in the park, perfect.  And I guess I should mention that the weather was perfect too, partly sunny and in the 70's.  Don't ya just hate it when it is freezing cold and snowing where you are and somebody says (brags) "oh, it's 70 and sunny here".  Sorry, couldn't help it now that I am in that area that is in the 70's and sunny.  My son, Lane and I acted almost like a couple of kids, we both love zoos.  We went everywhere, saw every animal, and enjoyed every minute.  But it was not a cheap day.  Tickets were $40 a piece.   And lunch which consisted of 2 wrap sandwiches, 2 bags of chips, a small plate of cookies and 2 drinks added up to another $40.  At the lunch check-out counter I gasped when she said $40.....and I thought prices were bad in Chicago.  Oh well, it's only money, and I don't expect that I will ever be back to the San Diego Zoo again.  Now here is my collection of shots from the San Diego Zoo.....

The giraffe is one of my favorite animals.  They are so beautiful.

The Koala Bear, most of them (all 9 of them) were asleep in the trees.  This one was the only one moving and with his eyes open.  They are adorable animals.

Look at that face.....



The camel...this guy's hump was leanin' a little...

These two were having a strange love-affair....

 This orangutang is still quite young and still acts like a kid....while we were there he put that branch on top of his head. 

Interesting ducks......

This looks like a sparrow, but I am going to pretend it is some rare exotic bird....

Thirsty!!

How would you like to wake up and that yellow eye be looking right at you??

A Condor....ugly, ugly bird and BIG

Mother and child hippos....  Ever wonder how hippos go potty??  In the water ofcourse.....true, I saw it happen.  That was probably information you didn't need to know, but I felt the need to share. 

 Some kind of ugly hog type animal....

 Unusual monkeys...

Open up and say ahhh......

Flies were definitely bothering the kangeroo....

Flamingos.....they are prettier here than on people's front yards.....

Great White Heron landing on a Palm Tree....

What a fun animal the Panda is....he was quite a ham.  

The Polar Bears were out and eating while we were there....

Tigers...one is from Africa the other is from India, don't ask me which is which....

llama...llama

A yellow head woodpecker....well I never!!??

Another totally cool animal....love those zebras

Just a little of the flora and fauna found at the zoo.....

Spotted this church off in the distance when we rode the sky car across the zoo.  Looks quite beautiful...

And finally, another hummingbird, not in a cage.....

A great day, one that I will remember for a long long time.

"You never know when you're making a memory."  ~  Rickie Lee Jones

Until next time.......