All wrapped up.

This evening, Sable and I went for a walk at the park in a bordering town that allows dogs on a leash. I am watching my sister's dog, so she was on the expanding leash.

Here is what happened to me. But, there was a good reason. Honest.

This is the mischievous girl who tangled my feet.

I can only imagine that she was trying to keep up with this "hyper" other girl prancing around.

And, this was the reason for my distraction. I was trying to catch a couple of shots of the fading sunset through the pine trees, when I spotted this powered hang glider. I caught picture after picture, but of course - the first one is the best one. He (or she) was far away and when I zoomed in, it just became a blur against the sky.

The dog(s) are forgiven and I even laughed at myself. A couple of walkers were strolling past, but I didn't mind. Silly woman with silly dogs taking pictures of flying machines while the dogs tangle her legs in the leashes. Could have been the beginning of a bad horror movie. The next scene shows one of the dogs running away scared and yapping with half her leash dragging behind her. It would have to be that little squirt, because Sable can't run very well. Her back legs are not very stable. Not very stable, my Sable.

Kickin' it!

Germs?

No. Not germs. Gumballs in negative. Whatever bug had hold of me the past few days, I'm kickin' it to the curb! I was feeling so much better and I have not fixed any decent meal in a few days so we ordered pizza. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! Not for the others, but for me. Ohhh, the agony!

Four cats

Photo Friday Challenge: Four

I'm grumpy

Misery

My unplanned hiatus may be over. I don't know. I may not post again for another few days. I am grumpy. I am sick. My daughter taunts to me that I have mono. "Bite your tongue!"

The poor horse above is being tortured by dozens of flies. That would drive me nuts. As the horse and as the owner. My sister and I used to put this stinky stuff on her horse to keep the flies away. Dip it onto a rag and wipe Queenie's face with it. Queenie. That horse didn't like me.

Headache, earache, nausea, stomach ache. Alka seltzer, antacid. And the nasties. No flies, though. Yawn. I'm going to go back and lay down. Yuck.

Enough to give me heartburn

At the lake near Dellroy, OH

And this is just silly. I purchased some chewable rolaids yesterday. The usual box I buy has three packs in it, thus leaving an empty compartment. This pack had a special bonus and included the 4th pack in it. Would they remove the cardboard compartment and add the 4th pack? Heck, no! They have to build another bigger box and add the 4th pack to the outside of the regular box. How typical is that?

Fits right in.

Jasper snoozing on the new sheet set.

The sheet color was NOT my idea. Good grief, no. It goes with the black and white comforter that has been shipped but has not arrived yet and the black and white area rug which I have not seen yet.

But, Jasper says he is very comfortable with the new look and we think he fits right in.

I am NOT a voyeur!

A very private swim

Okay. Let's get one thing straight. It was no accident that I took this picture. However, this is a crop from a much larger picture. It just happened that my daughter wanted to go along with me today and we chose this very back, gravel road to scout the area for suitable picture taking.

I snapped my usual "shoulder shots". This one happened to be part of a much larger pond scene. Water and green. I did not even notice the couple swimming there until the man said "Hi there." I saw them right before he said anything and thought they were children. His voice was a deep baritone. As I drove on past I asked my daughter "Do you suppose they were skinny dipping?" She said "Probably."

Yeesh. Sorry folks. And, now I go and put you on the web for all the world to see. If the world happens to meander to my little corner of the world.

As it is, even the thought of a voyeur creeps me out!

Okay. A closer look at the larger picture shows a group of voyeurs sitting on the bank watching the couple swim.

And finally, the larger (complete) shot:

I doubt that there was any dipping going on, after all.

Backpedalling

An Amish house

Don't be mislead by the stories you read about how austere the Amish life is. Even the movie Witness was pretty plain. The Amish houses I see are darn pretty. They are great at landscaping around these parts. Notice the solar panels on top of the roof. Many have trampolines and basketball hoops. No electric lines running to the house, but I have seen a few mowing their grass with lawn mowers.

Well, the jig is up. Checking my stats today I found that a family member read my blog. Or a future family member. Sigh. I guess I may have been fooling myself thinking I could remain anonymous. Of course, some of them could have been reading it all along, but I have watched my stats pretty close. I compare them to my stats on my photo web page and yep. There it was. I hurried back a month or two and re-read my entries hoping beyond hope that I didn't say anything to offend. I may have in one post. Re-sigh.

That will taint what I say here, although I have been being very careful. You know how you aren't supposed to talk about work and co-workers.

So, here's to blogging. I imagine that somebody somewhere has typed up a blogging etiquette. Like never blog while drinking, or never blog in anger. How about: Never blog when driving? LOL. Okay, that last one was a joke. But seriously. Now, I will have to check my stats daily to see if they return.

I imagine my niece and nephew have returned from Spain. She has some great photos on her photo blog from the journey. She mentioned that it was hot, hot, hot over there. The pictures remind me of a dry, desert region.

You know, just as a side note. Don't you wish that the dictionary used here to check spelling would add the word "blog" ? I keep clicking Learn. Maybe it will stick this time.

Well, howdy do!

Miniature burro near Charm, Ohio

I met some family at the Chalet in the Valley restaurant near Charm Ohio yesterday. We had a nice meal but better conversation. The place was not as crowded as what I expected. There were a few out of state license plates in the parking lot.

After our meal, I meandered over to the nearby pasture and put a quarter in the feed machine. I placed the bucket under the spout and maybe ten kernels of field corn rolled out along with my quarter. I put it back in and turned the knob again. Another ten and my quarter. Again, and once more. That's all you get for a quarter. About 40 kernels. The little goats were running to me as soon as I picked up the bucket.

As for the burro, he (could have been a she, I didn't look) was not interested in the corn. Just wanted a pat on the nose. I haven't been up close to a burro in years. Since my last visit to a petting zoo, I suppose. Probably five years or more. This one has the image of a cross on it's back. Very friendly little things. I could see another goat across the field. It appeared as though he was tied to a dog box of sorts. He may have been the mean one.

On the other side of the restaurant was a field with one horse. He was up by the fence and I walked over to say hello. He was completely miserable. They had cut off all of his forelock and the flies (there must have been a hundred of them) covered his face. It must have been maddening. All the poor thing could do was dip his head and rub his face against his front legs. His tail wasn't going to reach that far around. If he had his forelock at least he could shake his head and the hair would swing around and shoo them away. He needed to find a buddy and they needed to stand side by side, head to butt so they could swish each others' faces with their tails.

But, I didn't see any other horses in the field. Just the ones tied at the front that went with the Amish buggies. They were harnessed up and on the other side. Beasts of burden.

Private II

This one was taken about two months ago on one of my drives through a neighboring county. I stopped to look at a pretty field of wild flowers and carefully began stepping through some tall grass and I came upon...well....something private.

Is it my imagination or is the one on top smiling? Click on the picture for a close-up and I think you will see for yourself.

I could have used this one for the Photo Friday Private theme, but didn't think of it. Sigh.

Oh, back to that!

So, after the hot weather passes and we are a bit back to normal, Friday at work starts out strange with the electricity being off for three hours. Do you ever realize how quiet it is when the electric is off? The UPS kept the servers up and running. Not that it mattered to me because my PC and my Linux server were down. No UPS there.

With all of that weather talk behind us and things picking back up around lunchtime, what else is there to do or talk about?




Oh, yeah. Back to that.





Only in America, right?





You know what I'm talking about.





You get an e-mail at the end of the day. It's frolicsome Friday. Everybody wants to get out from behind their desks and cut loose. We finish the week off with....





What else? Bush Bashing!

I'm not even sure this is right. But, if you want to see for yourself, you can here. And to capture the screen shots like I did, I use this nifty little product. Except I got it back when it was a free version. I have never needed to upgrade. The old version does what I want perfectly. I never run a computer/laptop without it. That and Irfanview.

Private Journal

Photo Friday Challenge: Private

And to my left

Casper sits at my feet.

I put a small rug down for my cat to lay on in an attempt to stop the shedding onto my bedroom carpet. Does it help? No. The fur just rises up and settles everywhere. As does my dog's black fur and my other 3 cats, and the bird feathers. I think in five years I will just move out and leave behind one big hairball.

I have one more free week-end and then five week-ends in a row I have something to go to. Two week-ends have two events in them. That really makes the time go fast. So after the dust settles I will be in the middle of September. The older I get the more I appreciate my "down" time.

Since I have one child, a lot of people have mentioned to me about how lonely I am going to be after she grows up, moves out and gets a life of her own. If my job remains stable, I anticipate travel. I do like to travel. My sisters have been bugging me to go with them but it requires an overnight stay or two and at this point in my life I don't like leaving a 15-year-old girl alone by herself. I had my niece stay a couple of times, but she has her own life now.

So, when my daughter is grown - I am hitting the road. Work will keep me busy during the week. I have friends and family who all live an hour to two hours away for week-end jaunts, and I should have 20 days of vacation a year by then.

As soon as I finish this post I am sending an e-mail out to the theater here in town. I was always the "art" student that had to draw and paint everything in high school, so I plan on using my humble talent behind the scenes there. Even if it is just moving the props around, I plan on getting involved. My therapist is pushing me to. My Mom was a "homebody" (a.k.a. recluse) and she doesn't want me to get too much in the habit of staying at home all the time.

I can keep myself occupied with painting, drawing, reading, writing, movies, the Internet, pets, plants.... the list goes on and on. She said I need "balance". I will try. I have another secret. For family I have no problem jumping up and going to meet them or get together with them. But I have to force myself with friends. I hope that doesn't sound selfish or snobbish. I don't mean it to. It just doesn't come easy for me. I know that it is important and after I left my last job ten years ago, I realized that this group of gals was far too important to leave behind. We get together every month or so.

Well, I am going to see if it has cooled down any at all outside so that I can get my grass mowed.

Looking over to my right

Peru in her (his?) cage.

When I post my blog, I sit at my desk in my room. If I look over to my right (in front of one window) I see my bird in her (his) cage. Whatever IT is. Sometimes I have to cover the poor thing because IT won't stop chirping. Sometimes covering doesn't stop it.

I stopped at the farmer's market tonight. Sweet corn, green beans, tomatoes and canteloupe. I fixed the first three along with mushroom hamburger steak. I even got a compliment from my daughter. (although she did mention that I should have fixed mashed potatoes - good grief!).

My nephew is always appreciative, but my daughter rarely says that any food is good. I'll cut up the canteloupe later. I have to be careful because I can eat the entire thing. And then boy do I get heartburn. I add some salt but I suppose like a green pepper it just really messes with my stomach. If it is to the point where it melts in my mouth I have to be especially careful. I will have the entire fruit gone before I realize it. Then I start looking for my rolaids chewables.

The custodian and I have been talking up a storm at work the past two mornings. It is as if we are both sorry that we disagreed with one another. He is so polite and funny.

I also bought some aluminum sulfate for my (rusty) hydrangeas. The garden center told me to add it after it cools down tonight so I don't scorch them. I already figured that. I am to look for a fungus also.

It is just too hot to mow the grass. It is going to have to wait until the end of the week.

Do you know anybody who drives a Pontiac Grand Am? My sister has a 2000 model and the gas pedal stuck on her yesterday. Scary! I looked up recalls on the Internet and it talked about the gas pedal sticking in hot (ambient?) weather on the 2003 models, but I told her to tell the dealer that they should fix it for free since it was a big thing for the '03 model. She later told me that when they called, the dealer told them they were aware of a problem and to bring it in.

Ambient means surrounding, encircling. I guess they mean hot conditions.

So, when were they going to inform the purchasers of the '00 cars? After so many accidents? Be careful out there. In this heat things are starting to stick all over the place. Gumming up, I suppose.

Belated

I was saddened to read about the passing of Mandarin Meg. Questions swirl in my head, but all in all - this was one loved person to have touched so many in so many ways. Where do we go from here?

Sable waits for me

Sable and a Moonflower

I could not resist grabbing a couple of photos of my beautiful moonflowers tonight. This one was taken five minutes ago. My dog, Sable waited patiently for me. We were joined by a couple of lightning bugs and an obnoxious barking neighboring dog. Maddening.

Earlier this evening I passed the television and I saw a castle surrounded by some beautiful green countryside. Nobody was watching the movie and I didn't know what it was. I saw Pierce Brosnan and went weak in the knees. I had to sit down. A castle, green scenery and Pierce. How could any red blooded woman resist? I watched for a while. It peaked my interest. I pushed the info button on the remote control. Laws of Attraction. I looked it up on imdb.com.

I couldn't resist clicking on the photos of Pierce. Although I don't care for his beard at the premiere of the movie The Matador, he still has the rakish look about him.

While looking at more photos of him, I saw some with his voluptuous wife Keely Shaye Smith. What a beautiful couple they make. I like him even more, now. I am sick and tired of the lollipop girls!

Sunset Flash

Sunset Tuscarawas county

I believe this photo was taken in June of this year. I do recall having blinding spots in front of my eyes for a good while after taking the shots of the setting sun. Talk about your welder's flash.

It has been a very quiet week-end here in my neck of the woods. Feeling well rested. I have some awesome get togethers coming up, so I am embracing the down time. Storing up, so to speak.

As you know, one should never talk politics, religion or sex. Why not? Well, they are trigger subjects. They can trigger an argument like no other subject. The weather is much safer.

I have a co-worker. He is a retired postman and works as our custodian in the building. I like him. He is very nice, very polite and funny. (uh, not THAT way - he is married and has grown children). He goes to see quite a few movies and tells me about them. I don't get to the cinema often, I usually wait for the dvd to become available. So, he fills me in on the ones he has seen.

When Brokeback Mountain was the talk of the day, he told me that he would "Never" watch that kind of movie. At the time I thought "To each his own."

Then, a week or so ago we were speaking of college students and the war. He told me that he was in Viet Nam during the 1970 Kent State incident. Okay, take a deep breath. You're probably not going to like what he said. I didn't. He said at the time he thought to himself "They should have shot a few more." You can let your breath out now. This caught me off guard.

I mentioned that I liked this guy, right? He is a super fellow. Another deep breath. Okay. I wanted to reason with him instead of argue. I tried to tell him that the students were more than likely following the beliefs of a college teacher, blah, blah, blah. The conversation drifted onto something else or stopped without much more fanfare.

Then last week I walked in the office while he was in the middle of a conversation with my office co-worker. He said "I believe that what is happening over in the Middle East is what the Bible predicted is the end of the world." Whoa! Pretty strong words for 8:00 in the morning. I bit my lip, but did not butt in.

He continued to tell my co-worker that she should read Revelations so that she could see for herself that what is happening is "The end of the world." Yowza. I tried to stay quiet, really I did.

I chimed in on a few remarks he made about the book of Ezekiel and he chimed back. Nothing real intense. It blew over, but it reminded me the taboo subjects of religion, politics and sex. Keep my big mouth shut.

Magenta Rose of Sharon

I would imagine this may be one of the reasons this flower has the name "rose" in it.

I would love to tell you that I did something exciting today. Went somewhere fun and did this and did that. But, nope. I cleaned bathrooms today, and basement steps. And I cleaned up cat puke. Two cats barfed this morning. Then, they sulked when I wouldn't feed them the rest of the day. What do they think? Yep, fun city. Sigh. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.
Oh, I did watch parts of "The Hills Have Eyes". A regular blood bath this one. My nephew left after the first gush of blood. Said that was all for him. We laughed. The rest of the group loved it. Me, I hated it. I'm so glad I ate the pizza before the show. This is SO not my kind of movie. Ugh.

Would you stick a fork in your hair?

Chopsticks hair accessories at Hot Topic

My daughter, her beau and I ate at a the Emperor's Buffet last evening. They insisted on using chopsticks. I never have, and probably never will. I had my fork. It works fine for me.

I asked them if they could eat anything with chopsticks to which my daughter's beau replied "Yes." So I went to the buffet and brought back two plates. One had mashed potatoes and the other had cubes of red jell-o. I really wish that I had remembered to bring my camera.

My daughter finally speared one of the jell-o cubes and ate it. The mashed potatoes? Well, that was just messy.

Afterward we did a little school shopping. My daughter found red and black chopsticks at Hot Topic. The pair of sticks, one red enamel and one black were beautiful. They were around $7. I said "No." They were for hair, but my daughter just wanted them for her room.

Missing an angel

Photo Friday Challenge: Portrait

Can I tell you a secret?

Shhhh. Don't tell anybody. But, I really, really, really want these vases. (glancing around and ducking my head down to speak softly). Shhh. Don't tell anybody. I shouldn't buy them. Together they come to $145. I don't need them. They don't fit any of my rooms color schemes. I am so-o-o attracted to them. If I cave, I'll let you guys know. Cause I trust you not to tell anyone.

Campsis Radicans

Trumpet vine of mine

Ugh. I hate this plant. My Mom had one that grew up the backside of our huge white house. All I remember is that it had thousands of black ants that seemed to be wherever these long coned flowers were and this vine was undestroyable. Is that a word? Why, yes it is.

This one is growing in and around my lilac bush. I am going to kill it off. Yes I am. Murder it. And this coming from a gal who likes orange flowers. Hmmm. What strange and unusual incident may have happened to me that brings up such dark and ugly feelings for this vine? I don't know, but I hope that I don't start barking like Sybil when I have that horrible flashback.

Very much alive

The tree I thought had died - is very much alive.

I guess it is just a late bloomer. I don't recall it blooming so late in the season before. I am not so sure that the city didn't think it was dead also, because the side facing the front has a big fluorescent orange "X" on it. Marked for death, I guess. Saved in time. I need to trim up a couple of the branches. I like to keep it clear for walkers' heads on the sidewalk.

I have been busy with my nephew this evening. He ordered nice invitations for his graduation, but I am helping him print up the "party" slips that go inside the invitations. We were having a blast experimenting with different types of fonts.

He also wanted to help me clean out the one problem gutter corner where the rain overflows into the window well. I told him that my ladder didn't seem to go high enough for me. He just pulled his truck into the yard under the gutter and up through the moonroof he went and he stood on the top of the truck. It also helps that he is over six feet tall. There was very little debris in the gutter. The problem was the nails had pulled away and caused a gap between the roof and the gutter. This was where the water was overflowing and coming straight down. I got him a hammer and he fixed it all up and cleaned out maybe 1 quart of dirt, leaves and twigs.

That with the caulking I did on the one side of the window well should fix that area up. No more leaks through the window into the root cellar and no more bailing. Well, that's the idea anyway.

I showed him the dance video that we have been passing around in the family. If you Google it, type in Evolution of dance you tube and the first hit (or click on the I'm feeling lucky tab) should take you to the video. It is super. This comedian dances for six minutes straight going through a lot of the popular dance steps over the years. I will lay odds that you will laugh out loud. If you don't laugh, I have to believe that you will be impressed by his dancing stamina. Make sure your speakers are on and you have six minutes to spare. It is well worth it as he takes you through some dances I am sure you have done at one time or another.

If you like music and dancing at all, you really should check it out.

Life of a Moonflower

Here is the flower bush. Moonflower (datura). Blooms at night. Lovely fragrance.



Starting out as a bud.




The bud opens and the flower begins to emerge.





In the late afternoon the flower is emerging and waiting for the cool evening.





As the night nears, it begins to unfurl.





It opens in all it's beautiful glory in the dark (or a very cloudy day).



When it is spent, it falls off and returns to the ground.



The Moonflowers were here when I came and they are wonderful. I have transplanted them into two other places in my yard and they do very well. They have a prickly seed in the fall that I collect and share with everyone that will take them.

My nephew told me that bats pollinate the night flowers. I didn't know that.

The wet look

My pink Rose of Sharon showing off it's wet look.

The past meets the present

Pretty purple wild flowers in a field of green

This picture was taken a year ago at my sister's house. She has huge fields of wild fields and wooded area behind her house. I wonder how long it can stay that way.

My daughter has charged into full Oriental theme for her bedroom. She has fallen in love with the romantic stories such as House of the Flying Daggers and Memoirs of a Geisha. I have even taken her and a friend to the dollar store so that they could get the little hand fans and all afternoon they danced and practiced with the fans. They brought up a web site that played the beautiful music of the dances and they really put on a show. The dollar store fans held up pretty well. I had to get the wood glue out later in the evening for repairs.

Now, my daughter wants a shoji sliding door for her room. I told her to get a job. She gets mad at me when I say that. LOL! I went through an oriental decorating phase in the mid 80's. At that time I had little money but only an hour away was Williamsburg's Pottery factory outlet. I still have a few vases and black lacquered accent pieces packed away somewhere. They are not expensive pieces but I cherished them and I loved the look. I purchased an orange and black wall fan. Many moons ago. Now my daughter wants to go to the garage and dig out all the stuff. Oh, the memories that they will emit.

The rain and Spain

Thirsty hostas getting a much-needed drink of water

We have a good bit of rain hitting us today. Last evening also. Needed, but excessive. My window well over my root cellar now has a leak in it. I bailed again. I put my shop vac together today, so I am ready for the next deluge. Or, I hope I am. I read the instructions. I hope I know how to use it to suck up water.

Mine looks like this one below: (much quieter than I expected. I love it!

I watched The Family Stone. Puhhh - leeeeze! There was NO chemistry between Claire Danes and Dermot Mulroney whatsoever. Two cold (dead) fish would have more electricity on screen. Poor Sarah Jessica Parker. Her uptight character was over the top to say the least. She had to play somebody like that - somebody nobody would ever fall in love with. Not even cold fish Dermot's character. She was so out of it, like she had never been in a family home before. She calls her sister in to support her and they don't even share two words together during the film that would even come close to show that they are blood relatives.

The only one who had fun was Luke Wilson. His character was kooky and he played it well. I am still not so sure that Paul Schneider's character wasn't all there. Perhaps he was supposed to play somebody with a slower mentality. If so, it worked.

I am trying very hard to like Diane Keaton. Really, I am. There were times I thought her Mom character was "right on" and other times I can't stand to look at her. As if she is trying too hard to act "hip" and "swingy". It doesn't seem to come naturally for her. I had not seen a character that I have liked her in. Not one. Ditto for Claire Danes.

Some of the things her boyfriend's family said to Sarah's character in that movie would make me run the other way and stay away. I'd cut my losses and say "It's been real and it's been nice. But it hasn't been real nice."

And what is with some of the odd things that came out of Sarah's character's mouth? Who in their right mind would say stuff like that as a guest in somebody's home? And not expect to get thrown out on your bum?! I know that they are supposed to be telling a story about her being nervous and saying the wrong stuff, but I honestly think there is something socially retarded with anyone who would say that stuff to your boyfriend's family. Good grief!

This family had it all inside it's walls. A serious one, a kooky one, a bitchy one, a gay one (who has a black boyfriend) and a sweet one. The Mother was volatile and the father was passive. Could they have added anything else to this mix? There were no pets. Hmmm.

I know - it's just a movie. But it lacked any kind of sensibility to me.

Whoops! I almost forgot the Spain part. My niece has been stating on her blog that she is very sick and tired of Spain and cannot wait to come home. The heat is intense and she wants air conditioning. She wants Taco Bell. She is homesick. That is unusual because she lived in NOLA for two years, so she has been away from home before. She said her brother took a side trip over to Portugal. He seems to be holding up better than she. She does not like the food in Spain. She says it has mystery meat in it. I thought she was vegan. Hmm. And, she says that she is tired of eating bread. She said Spanish food is definitely not Mexican food. LOL! It is only 45 days or so out of her young life.

Common

Photo Friday Challenge : Common

A common theater in a common town, in common ole' U.S.A.

Don't play with your food!

Nephew and daughter having some fun with a lobster head.

At Red Lobster the other night. This is my daughter and the nephew that is staying with me for a month or so while he finishes his degree. Conservation (I was mistaken when I stated Forestry before).

It will be interesting to have somebody around that I can talk to about global warming and the threat of dwindling resources. He has worked in a few of the lake areas of eastern Ohio during his schooling. I think I will dust off my hiking boots (or get a new pair) and we will head out to some of the beautiful areas we have around here. Of course I will take you along via photos.

Coasters

I got the bright idea to use the coasters under the bed's legs.

Sunspot Baby

On the way to work this morning

Caught a photo of the sun on a back alley on the way to work this morning. This was about as interesting as my day got. Whoopee.

Still learning about the Middle East. Found a great time line site and have been studying that. It tells about all the world history. I can't stop reading.

I understand a little more about what triggered some of the hostility (recently). Not to mention the thousands of years of strife there, recently I guess Israel began some construction that would have hindered the livelihood of a lot of Palestinian farmers and would begin to build a wall of segregation.

Phase V of the room

July 18th - Phase V (temporary placement of furniture)

After waiting a couple of days, I finally allow furniture on the floor. I'll replace the striped blue blanket with a black rug of some sort and move the futon closer to the wall. The accent pieces strewn on the table and T.V. stand are going on the walls.

The next purchase will be a black comforter and black pillow cases. They will probably have a design on them. We are taking our time finding those. This photo does not show the black mushroom chair, black chalkboard wall or the wall of mirrors. More pics can be found here.

So, how does the old song go? "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong?" That is how I feel sums up the situation in the Middle East. Israel has a right to defend itself. Lebanon and the innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire.

I spoke with a lady working in a Career Center. Her son is finishing his last year majoring in Political Science. His Arabic teacher just returned to Lebanon. He heard from her two days ago, but now nothing. I would imagine that the Internet connection is shaky there along with everything else. It was interesting to hear her speak. Although she did say "I hate George Bush and he is supporting Israel." I am yet new to the information, but I wondered what she thought Israel should do. Let the terrorist cells bomb the hell out of them?

Do you suppose I found an anti-Semite? I have to tell you my first twenty years on this earth had me in a cocoon. When I went to work in the "real" world, I was perplexed. To say the least. In one of my first "major" jobs I worked for a Jewish man. When I told people where I worked, I would hear somebody mutter a joke or some kind of derogatory remark. I was shocked. My Mother would never have tolerated racism. I didn't even know what racism was.

I mentioned before when I moved to Virginia, I was stunned to see the bumper sticker that read "Clean up the South, put a Yankee on a bus". Why would anybody blame me for what happened over 100 years ago? Until then I had never considered myself a Yankee. To me a Yankee was a ball player and a stadium somewhere in New York. Three years prior I had lived in El Paso Texas. Nobody said anything to me there. Although I did hear racist remarks against the Mexican population while there. One of my best friends was a tall, dark complected, dark haired woman married to a black man. Her little boy was named Seneca. I asked her where she got the name. She said it was an Indian name. That was when it occurred to me that she may be part Indian (or Native American).

And once while watching Jerry Springer (cringe) this man with a shaved head stood up and screamed about black people "They don't belong in our country! Their ancestors are not from this country!" All I could think of was "Mister, where did your ancestors come from?" He didn't look Native American to me. I cannot watch shows like that.

So, what is the Middle East fighting all about? Some piece of farm land? Pride? Ownership? Oil? Money? Power? A religious belief? All of the above? None of the above? Why ask why?

Field of green

Country field near Irondale, Ohio

Above is one of the pics I took while driving around on the 4th of July. The air and earth were muggy and caused a mist to rise above the treeline. I have noticed that I enjoy the pics that I take that have fence posts in them. They call out to me.

I had another "heat" episode today. While cleaning up my patio, I found a couple cans of pop (soda pop) left over from my July 3rd bash, and placed them on the table so I could carry them into the house. They were unopened. As I turned away to pick up something else, one of the cans blew it's top. Just ripped a big hole right in the top of the can. It sounded like a gun going off. Another thing that built up and couldn't take it any more. The can(s) are still sitting there. I won't be touching them any time soon.

There aren't any pictures of the room today. My daughter is anxious to put furniture in there, but I told her "No." She put "light" furniture in there. A small table and a chair. Because it said she could on the back of the can of polyurethane. It said light furniture after 24 hours. I still have the windows open in there and a big fan running. The bedroom door is closed and I put a big towel under the door so no hot air or fumes could seep into the rest of the house. I am running the air all the time this week. Hot, hot, hot!

My moonflowers are blooming but I haven't managed to get a picture, yet.

First day back at work was uneventful. Very slow. During my lunchbreak I studied more about the Middle East conflict and the G8 summit. Oh, and of course Bush being caught saying the sh!t word on live feed. Curse, pound your fists, jump up and down - just get our people the hell out of there.

A nephew is staying with us for a month or so while he finishes up a couple of classes at the University branch close to us. He hopes to finish and graduate with a bachelor's degree in Forestry this August. My daughter loves having the extra company (so do I).