No, not finished.

 

This was the halfway point. It was an exercise course just past Washington Crossing State Park. Frankie took the camera this far on the bike, because I didn't make it there. I sat and waited at Washington Crossing, with my book and a pitcher of iced tea.

I had a lovely day.

 

sitting and waiting, reading...

The home stretch

 

The thrill of victory? Or the agony of defeat?

 

You can't really be certain from this picture. But this was the honest reaction upon completing the ride.

He rode straight to the end, and then was exhausted. He wasn't crying, although that's what it looks like. He was just wiped out...

They did it!

 

This is AFTER 50 miles on a bike.

They were much better today... Thor's legs hurt sporadically, but everyone has recovered nicely.

My Daddy

Happy Fathers Day, Pop!

 

This is my father... the greatest guy you'll ever meet. In fact, plenty of people have told me that he is one of the nicest people they have ever met, and even my in-laws think he could almost be a saint. So it's not just me saying so.

I always thought of him as Daddy when I was a little girl, but now that he has grandsons, he goes by "Pop" more often. He was a great daddy when I was growing up. He was very quiet and laid back, and he really didn't lecture as much as explain things to you. He gave very sensible guidance, even when I didn't want to hear it, and he was probably always right.

He is very philosophical, even though he might not think of himself in this way. He always accepts reality, but he is usually positive. He forgives easily and then forgets, and he always tries to look on the bright side. And one of my own personal favorites -- "If it's your time, it's your time." I really don't ever remember him complaining about anything, ever. Not because everything was always perfect -- but only because he was always on such an even keel.

I remember him trying to teach me how to catch. I was a clutz. I remember him teaching me how to drive. I can imagine how scary THAT was! He worked as much as he could, but usually started in the early morning hours so that he would be home in the evenings with us. He always made sure we had a vacation to look forward to, and he loves to travel. He learned how to golf, and he taught the grandkids. He taught me how to read when I was little, and even though I don't remember him reading much when I was a kid, now that he's retired, he really enjoys it. Like his own father before him, now that he's retired he is all about the grandchildren, which in his case means three boys. He is a great role model for them. And also like his father, he enjoys "puttering around the garden." His yard is always a work of art in progress.

When my kids were little, he thought nothing of driving the hour and a half to my house, picking up the kids, then driving the hour and a half back to his house -- keeping the kids all weekend -- and then driving them home again on Sunday, three more hours in the car. They loved to go to his house. He paid all kinds of attention to them, playing catch and basketball, riding bicycles, and just hanging out. He always has a good idea of something interesting to do.

There are so many good things to say that it's hard to say them all. But anyway, he's a great daddy, and I love him very much. Happy Fathers Day!

Enlightenment

 

"Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their innermost being, their true nature. The first recognition of beauty was one of the most significant events in the evolution of human consciousness. The feelings of joy and love are intrinsically connected to the recognition. Without our fully realizing it, flowers would become for us an expression in form of that which is most high, most sacred, and ultimately formless within ourselves. Flowers, more fleeting, more ethereal, and more delicate than the plants out of which they emerged, would become like messengers from another realm, like a bridge between the world of physical forms and the formless. ... Using the word "enlightenment" in a wider sense than the conventionally accepted one, we could look upon flowers as the enlightenment of plants." -- from A NEW EARTH: Awakening to our Life's Purpose, by Eckhart Tolle. Copyright September 2006.

Taking pictures of roses in the dark

 

Life in the Garden

 
Today at 90 something degrees was a lovely day for a water fight.

Swimming laps

 
I was peacefully swimming laps when Thor came up behind me with the hose and doused me with cold water!

Still only a work in progress.

 

So far, the only progress I've made is to sit and look at it a lot.

Maybe I'll work on it today.

Tea time

 

I love iced tea in the summer, and hot tea in the winter. Don't you?

I took this photo to help the painting I have in progress. I can see the colors and lines better on the computer. I can see what I want to do differently, and how I want to fix the painting. Of course, it still won't look exactly like the photo. It's more the "idea" than the reality that I'm looking for. But this definitely helps!

I got my sidebar back!

I admit, though, that I finally did it by shrinking up the Floyd Festival video. Adding junkmail posts didn't help at all.

So disregard the following photos.

I want my sidebar back.

so I'm posting anything to move the posts down.

It doesn't seem to work that way.

take off the wrapper

 

hey, bud.

 

for the birds.

 

I'm tired of missing my sidebar.

So I needed to post a bunch of stuff to get the posts to move down to get my sidebar back. I don't know if it's going to work, but there you go.

The Red Tent

I found my book! Jan recommended it to me. It's called The Red Tent -- I've started it and it's very interesting. It's set in old testament times, in the family of Joseph and his brothers, but it focuses on the women. The red tent was where the women of the family went when they had their period, to rest and wait and worship the female gods.

Interestingly enough, as I'm on the verge of Menopause, I start reading this book.

So I go to my doctor, (Bringing the book, for while I wait, but not BECAUSE of the book, obviously.)

And he says... "You are too young for menopause." He's got this magic pill, called "bio-identical hormone replacement therapy," which will cure me of being old. So I signed up for it.

And right now I haven't taken any yet. I take it right before bed. But right now it's perfect, because it's pure potential and no reality yet. It has the promise of being the fountain of youth. Right now, it could be the perfect answer to everything -- my pudgy gut, my dry skin and falling out hair, my cranky paranoia. It could be the complete cure for everything that makes me feel like my grandmother.

And since I haven't taken it yet, it is still perfect.

Cross your fingers, I'm going to take my medicine and go read in bed now.

I hope to awaken at the age of... maybe 27? That would be young enough.