Succulents

Succulents at the Mitchell Park Domes this week, arid dome.

Wet Leaf

Also taken at the Mitchell Park Domes, tropical dome.

Hibiscus Bloom

This is the same flower, shown front and back, respectively. Taken at the Mitchell Park Domes, tropical dome, earlier this week.

Pillbug

I don't know if 'anonymous' actually knew what that thing was, or if they just put their mouse over the photo and saw my photo filename show up with the word 'pillbug' in it, but either way - it's a pillbug. Common as dirt and about as appealing. I never imagined that one properly lit would have so much color to it! It was being lit from the underside by the garage light, and then my camera added flash to the topside. I thought these things were just gray, boring gray. Anyway, I am constantly impressed by these seemingly dull organisms that belie a type of inner beauty when you take the time to really look closely at them.

Sunflowers at Night

Hubby and the kids planted these giant sunflowers at the beginning of summer. They now tower above our heads, bowing down with the weight of all those maturing seeds. The one nearest the path caught my attention tonight as it was lit up by the security light on the garage, so I took a few photos.

Guess What It Is!

This really amazed me, to see this thing up close and all the color in it! Can anyone guess? I will post the answer in a couple days.

Bugs in Our Yard Tonight

Here is a sample of some of the bugs I found in our yard last night. The middle photo was specifically taken to show how big our urban Wisconsin slugs generally are. That's my thumb for size reference. The last photo is of some common house-type fly, but he/she sure is pretty when you look up close like this.

Up From the Dead

While photographing sunflowers and bugs around the garage security light tonight, I glanced up to see this tight knot of yellowjackets just above our garage door. No one's been stung yet this year, but last year I was stung at least twice, quite painfully. It took a few doses of Wasp-B-Gone before we gave up and called an exterminator. $100 later and they were gone. Now they appear to be back in a new location this year. Since the nest is visible and not below ground like last year, we might be able to get rid of this one ourselves. I really dislike yellowjackets!

Stormy Skies

This sky was over our house on Wednesday, 8-22-07. The blotches are from rain either coming towards or having landed on the lens.

New Schnauzer Update

Pardon the interruption, but Buddy is too cute for words . . . so here are a couple photos instead:

Baby Fox Snake

Because my daughter and I had once run over one of these snakes on the Ahnapee State Trail while biking to Door County one summer, I knew just what it was when I found it near the side of a back road in Baileys Harbor last weekend. A baby fox snake! How cute is that? It shook its little tail like a rattlesnake wannabe when I first picked it up. I carried it back to Grandma's house so the kids could see it, photographed it a couple times (here in my oldest daughter's hands) and then let it go in a safe place in the woods out back. So neat - such a nice snake to have around. I hope it gets to grow to adulthood.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Hubby and I went out to dinner (Il Mito on North near the Rosebud - wonderful meal) and then took in The Bourne Ultimatum. Maybe we should have eaten dinner a few hours earlier, or even after the movie so that the contents of my stomach wouldn't have caused so much damage running up and down my esophagus during the action scenes - of which there were many. I actually dug through my handbag about a third of the way into the film and found a Zanax that I sometimes have on hand for just such occasions. I took it with my bottled water and I think this helped me through the rest of the story. Wow! An hour later and I still don't think my heartrate is back to normal.

My Family Thinks I'm Nuts, But This Takes the Cake

So my family thinks I love the dogs a bit too much. I buy a few too many schnauzer items: the t-shirts, the decal on the van, the magnets, the earrings. But folks, there are extremes you know nothing about, including, but not limited to this delightful dog yarmulke you can purchase from the Barker & Meowsky paw firm website for only $10.00 plus shipping. Their ad reads, "Appropriate for holidays for observing the Sabbath -- and Bark Mitzvahs, of course!" And be sure to check out the musical menorah toy for only $12.95.

Animal Parts

I think I take this cow photo every year at the Fair. The composition just appeals to me. Besides that, their backs remind me of our new schnauzer, who has similar, though smaller, bones protruding from his back end as he is still under weight. The other photo is the back of the head of a sheep. He has this puff of wool on the top of his head and down his nose so it looks like you're seeing his eyelids just under there, but you're not. They are farther down his snout.

Honey

Smithsonian magazine recently did an interview with an entomologist about the plight of the honey bee: "Honeybee populations in more than 20 states have mysteriously crashed. May Berenbaum, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studies "colony collapse disorder" and its consequences." You can read more of the interview here: http://smithsonianmag.com/issues/2007/june/interview.php It's alarming, once you hear what's going on with the bees.

I thought this honey display was beautifully backlit. I hope we can somehow save the bee populations from whatever is causing their decline.

What Living in Wisconsin is All About

They may tell you it's the beer, but it isn't. This is why true Wisconsinites live here. It's the cheese, man. The cheese. This case is filled with thousands of dollars worth of the best, or at least the best of those who entered. I didn't see any Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Dodgeville, but then again, when you have won Best in the US two times, you probably don't even bother with small contests like this one. Did you know that all of the Limburger in the US is produced by one cheese place alone here in Wisconsin? We just so totally rock the US cheese world.

Quilt Display at WI State Fair 2007

These quilts were hanging up after being judged at our State Fair. It's amazing the amount of detail some of them have. These quilters must have a sizeable amount of OCD to do this stuff. My regards!

Schnauzer Update

Buddy visited the groomer yesterday and came out looking like the adorable schnauzer boy he was meant to be. The first photo is a reminder of what he looked like the day we brought him home. The last photo shows his appropriate reaction to the vet saying he had to gain weight. What fun!

Big House vs. Small House vs. Tiny House

I was chatting with a couple friends in the lobby area after church yesterday when one of them mentioned they were in the process of trying to sell their house. Thus began a conversation about lack of space (this family also has four children and two dogs), sleeping in makeshift spaces, children someday moving out (and moving back in) and all the reasons to live in a house bigger than what one currently has.

I found out that this family of similar size was living in a house with over 50% more square feet of living space than ours. The other friend in on the conversation (five kids, one dog) lives in nearly twice the living space as we do. They were both bemoaning their lack of space. I understand, and have nothing to say in opposition to their complaints, yet my stomach started its usual lurching as the talk continued. I always get to this point and start thinking about our small home, our lack of dining room, second shower, storage space, family room, bedrooms . . . I can throw a regular pity party on this subject, though we surely could just put our house on this extremely soft market and try to find larger digs. It could certainly be done, and summer would be the time to have done it.

Then I think about all the stresses of moving, having just watched two very close friends go through it all in the past few months. I just don't do stressful things very gracefully. I'm already on medication for chronic, low- to mid-level depression. I take care of our finances and am prone to worry, seeing way too many details and noting them all, over and over, each night while trying to fall asleep. I know I could survive a move if I had to, but do I want to put myself through that?

Then there's the mortgage rates. Our current tiny mortgage is at 4.85%. I am so proud of that. I don't want to touch that.

There is my own folktale theory that, at this point, wanting to avoid physical and emotional pain, I begin to apply strenuously to our situation. I call it the It Could Always Be Worse: A Yiddish Folk Tale by Margot Zemach lesson. (See link: http://www.amazon.com/Could-Always-Be-Worse-Yiddish/dp/0374436363)

The story opens thus: "Once upon a time in a small village a poor unfortunate man lived with his mother, his wife, and his six children in a little one-room hut. Because they were so crowded, the man and his wife often argued. The children were noisy, and they fought. In winter, when the nights were long and the days were cold, life was especially hard. The hut was full of crying and quarrelling. One day, when the poor unfortunate man couldn't stand it any more, he ran to the Rabbi for advice."

The Rabbi listens and advises the man, over several sessions, to bring more and more into his house, including loud, messy animals. Day by day the house becomes more and more crowded, messy and noisy. Finally, the Rabbi tells the man to take everything out that he had added to his hut. The man is left with his mother, his wife and his six children. He experiences peace. Love that.

So I become motivated once more to clean out the closets, basement and garage, donating to worthy charities and friends in need and simply tossing a good amount of junk. I go to the library and reread a book on simplifying your life. Then I visit one of my favorite home design websites to make myself feel like I already possess a ginormous estate: Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, specializing in homes "smaller than some people's closets." (See http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses.htm)

I remind myself of my smaller footprint on this already crowded planet, my little electric bill, and how quickly I can actually clean this place, were I actually to clean this place. As long as I can maintain my attitude of thankfulness and peace concerning my own home, and as long as I can get completely away from it a few times a year, I realize really how good we have it.

Dog Break

I just had to post a couple photos of the schnauzers. Buddy is a real sweetie and Lexie is getting used to having him around.

Fort Worden, WA

More From Fort Worden, WA

Fort Worden State Park, WA

Fort Worden State Park is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Here is the description from the Park's website: "Fort Worden, along with the heavy batteries of Fort Flagler and Fort Casey, once guarded nautical entrance to Puget Sound. These posts, established in the late 1890s, became the first line of a fortification system designed to prevent a hostile fleet from reaching such targets as the Bremerton Naval Yard and the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett. Construction began in 1897 and continued in one form or another until the fort was closed in 1953. The property was purchased as a state park in 1955. Fort Worden is named after Rear Admiral John L. Worden."

Though I took photos at different parts of the park, the photos that follow were all taken in and around the cement bunker-type platforms above the cliffs, where the defense canons used to be mounted. This particular area was fascinating and gave me ample opportunities to frame old rusty doors, painted walls, graffiti and moss. I would love to stage an entire photo show based on the photos I got at this spot alone. I am rather stoic and not given much to this sort of description, but this place was magical.

Port Townsend, WA

Gallery posters along the main street

Sewer/street detail

My daughter beachcombing

The Palace Hotel on the main street

Along the Shores of Lake Crescent

One reddened pine stood out from the others.

Port Ludlow, WA

Beached starfish

Port Ludlow, WA

Honeysuckle blossom along the shoreline

Empty crab shell on seaweed

Giant horsetail grass

Wild white blossom

Clean that Dog!

Gave Buddy a couple good baths and cut a bunch of the mats out of his fur. Then I tried to give him a homemade schnauzer do, but I'm not the best groomer. He was good about it, though, and stood there nicely while I tried to trim him. He does look much better than before.

We were laughing so hard taking this photo. I wanted his ears to stand up in their full glory so I made this high pitched whining sound. They would just pop up in the air! It was so funny.

You've Got a Buddy in Me

I have a link to our local Humane Society which I check pretty regularly, always on the lookout for another mini schnauzer. I've been wanting a second schnauzer for a couple of years now, but they never show up. I checked Friday night, breezing through the photo list of adoptable dogs - no schnauzers as usual. Saturday morning, there was 'Brad', a one-year old male mini schnauzer. I grabbed Lexie and her leash and yelled to my husband that I was running to the Humane Society! A couple of the kids came along as well, which wasn't much help in making a rational decision.

At first the staff couldn't find him and I figured he had already been chosen by someone else. I sat on the bench for a good long while and let the kids go play with the kittens. Getting restless, I wandered into the education room and found a computer with Internet on it. I went to the website again and sure enough, he was still listed. I went back to the reception area and asked again, and this time they looked in the back rooms where they keep dogs who haven't gotten out to the viewing rooms yet. They found him and let me meet him - alone first, then with the kids, and finally with Lexie. All went well and I brought him home.

The kids wanted to name him Wizard, and we tried this for a day, but it didn't seem quite right. Dad wanted to call him Buddy, which I think is boring, but my daughter had a good point when she suggested we let Dad name him with the hopes that he would feel better about me having brought him home. So, his name is Buddy, though I did add Grau for a middle name. Grau means gray in German, both of which he is, of course.

Lexie, our first schnauzer, doesn't seem thrilled with this development. She's not hostile, but she's not exactly friendly either. I already gave him a bath and sort of a haircut, and am taking him to the vet today for a complete check-up. I hesitate to post his photo because he looks pretty rough, but this was before his bath and grooming. Stay tuned for his updated photo after his vet visit, and then his groomed photo after his appointment at Pampered Paws in early August.

This panoramic view of Seattle with Mt. Rainier in the background was created by stitching together 12 individual shots in Photoshop Elements. The problem with this blogger program is that you can't really post photos very large, making this panorama almost too small to be appreciated. On the other hand, at this size you can't make out most of the sneaky little things I had to do to get 12 photos to get along in such a small space. There was quite a bit of work involved to get it this far. If I may borrow a limb from a friend, on yet another hand, you can always click on the photo itself and it will blow up. Sounds like fun, huh? Just try and ignore the blending imperfections.