Waiting for Dusk

Summer

Here Comes

Here comes summer,
Here comes summer,
Chirping robin, budding rose.
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer,
Gentle showers, summer clothes
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer —
Whoosh — shiver — there it goes.

— Shel Silverstein

Summer.

Running...

Hiding...

Picking strawberries...

...and enjoying them.

Peeking...

Laughing...

Enjoying old treats...

...and trying new ones.

(It's a deep-fried Twinkie. I'd never had one before. I didn't find it as impressive as some do, but it was still a worthwhile experience.)

Bed racing...

Dragon riding...

Discovering the strange...

(We had a hard time identifying this one. Turns out it's not one creature, but about 50: one Tomato Hornworm caterpillar — bane of gardeners everywhere, and 50 or so parasitic wasp larvae — bane of tomato hornworms everywhere.)

...and beautiful.

Seeing nature up close...

...and far away.

(That's Jupiter and four of its moons. You may have to just take my word on it. My astrophotography skills obviously aren't the best!)

Getting the ball into the basket...

...and trying to get the basket under the ball.

Bouncing...

Splashing...

(Happy little sigh) See you next year, Summer. It's been good.

A Foggy Mirror

If/when I ever move (the "if" there is a sign of something deep and disturbing to my former globe-trotting self) one of the things I'm going to miss is my daily commute to work. Five left turns, most of them within view of the lake. It's amazing how much variety there is in those 1.6 miles.

On the first cold snap in fall, I pretty much just assume that I'm going to get to work a little later than usual. The lake billows with clouds, and there's no hope for me but to go back around the block and fetch my camera.

Photos from two separate mornings:

Yes, this is scarcely a hundred feet from my front door. No, it's not Photoshopped. I do wish the bird had flown just a little bit closer, though. Then it would have been perfect.

At first, I wasn't sure what I was seeing as it floated out of the mist. After a minute, it became more obvious. It's hard to imagine a better morning for a nice paddle around the lake.

Christmas Photos, Part 2

Out of the gloom, out of the fog, there arrived... in-laws.

Santa was in attendance. When Deborah and her siblings were little, they used to say, "Of course Santa is real! He's my Daddy!"

Aiden and Grandpa Renaud try out Aiden's new helicopter.

"Andy, quit taking pictures so we can play the game already..."
Actually, we were waiting on something/someone else before we could start, and I couldn't resist getting a shot of the identical poses.

Yum.

Puzzling.

Fiona shows Auntie Marty a picture she drew for her.

More puzzling.

We started a new tradition this year: When we finish the Christmas puzzle, we date the back of the last piece.

Christmas Photos, Part 1

The kids were just about jumping out of their skin with excitement.

Aiden watches one of his new books in action. Yeah, it's a book — and it comes with pop-out figures and a tiny little wind-up tractor that zooms around the pages on a little track.

Aunt Martha gets a puzzle...

Deborah, Fiona, and Aiden check out a very cool Narnia pop-up book from my sister Sharon.

No harm in letting Santa know what you'd like, eh Fiona?

Uncle Paul explains the proper function of thumb-sized Rock-em Sock-em Robots.

The cat got a rather exorbitant trip to the vet to get an abscess drained, but was in good spirits nonetheless...

Well, what would you give a 2-month-old, that she would genuinely appreciate?

O Christmas Tree...

My Aunt Martha is braver with her back than I am!