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And this is fanTAStic!
Who needs an actual Kindle? ... Well, OK, it would be nice, but dealing with reading on my phone has proven to be quite convenient.
Anyway, this is awesome timing considering that I leave on my tour of Israel next Wednesday. I've also found several excellent theological works - John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, Aquinas - available via the Kindle store that are very inexpensive-to-free. So assuming that my battery holds out in "airplane mode" for a decent time (and yes, I'll be able to charge it in Israel; I'm mainly worried about the flight to/from Tel Aviv), I'll have all the reading material I could possibly want!
Life is good - and God's provision is wonderful!
Certainly not quite the journey that Sam and Frodo had, but extremely worthwhile, and we got to do things that very few people who visit D.C. have the opportunity to do. I just got back home, however, and have about 200 photos to process through, as well as video to edit, combine and upload.... AFTER I relax with a glass of wine and maybe the latest episode of Bones!
The four and a half hour drive from D.C. went fairly quickly (especially after I stopped for some Starbucks in Rte 3 in Fredericksburg!), and I'm home early enough that I have the whole afternoon and evening to unpack, wash all our souvenir t-shirts, and see if my Beloved likes the tie tack (an American Eagle cut from a Kennedy coin, and then plated in gold), t-shirt, and beer glasses ("Beer is proof that God loves us." - Benjamin Franklin) that I picked up for him. ;-)
So, I hope that I can get a round up post published by tomorrow afternoon... One thing about this trip, though: D.C. is a LOT closer to me than I think, and I really ought to make a practice of getting up there for a week once or twice a year, if only to be reminded of the abundant blessings of this country and her Providential history.
Well, yesterday finished an era: our two teams from my Munchkin's school were up in Harrisonburg, VA, for the FIRST LEGO League Robotics Championship for Virginia and D.C. This is the last year for our senior team, the Scream Team. The girls did great and had a lot of fun - we didn't do quite as well as we'd hoped (do we ever? LOL), but we still brought home the second place for Research Presentation! Hooray for them!
UPDATE: More pix under the cut...
The Woodlawn Academy Mini-CougarBots and Scream Team pull it off the third year in a row: we advance from the Regional Tournament (held today) and go to the State competition in December. James Madison University will be our host (third year for them, too), and both teams are looking forward to it.
These competitions are sponsored by USFIRST, an organization which seeks
"To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes."
Dean Kamen, Founder
Mission
Our mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.
Our kids compete in the FIRST LEGO League, which uses the LEGO Mindstorm brain and programming to run 2.5 minute "missions. FIRST LEGO League is for kids from 8 to 14, in grades 4 through 8. The "missions" are only one part of a four piece puzzle: team project (a presentation on what they have learned about the mission topic), robot design, teamwork, and, of course, the timed run on the table. It can get quite exciting, and if the kids are even somewhat diligent, they learn quite a lot.
I suppose I ought to clarify something: two years ago, the Scream Team was a Division 1 team (the younger teams), and our sole entry to advance to State level. At the State competition, their excitement and *ahem*enthusiasm*cough* made the Master of Ceremonies nick-name them "the Scream Team." Last year, in Division 2 (the older kids), they decided to run with it and allow the junior team to take the name of the Mini CougarBots while they as the senior team officially became the "Scream Team." (It does help that they're an all-girl team. I think. For the screaming, anyway...)
Here's a small sample of their, ah, style...
It's much more... piercing... in person, believe me!
So, their hard work paid off and we brought home the First Place in Robot Design for the MiniBots in Division 1, and both First Place for Presentation and Second Place Champions for the Scream Team. Both teams, as I said, advance to State competition!
Well done!
But, now we REALLY have to polish things to do well at State! [headdesk] Oh, well... I'll get my Saturday sleep-ins back - eventually. ;-)
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Up to regionals today - and then, to STATE!!!!
Just some linguistic errors which drive me completely bonkers!!!
And some personal dislikes, although they're actually correct (my preference is for the first word):
*sigh*
Anyway. Sorry. I just had to get out a little rant... A good resource for many quirks of the English language is the Grammar Girl over at the Quick and Dirty Tips website. Actually, Q&D has several excellent resources: modern manners, public speaking, money, finding bargains, parenting tips, and lots more. I highly recommend the site!
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Onlt two teams this year, instead of the three we had last year... But they're "all kid"! LOL... Gonna be another wild ride - appropriate, since this year's theme is "Transportation."
Earlier this year, in May, my Beloved's cousin came out here to the Big Island with his partner, and hid something for us to find when we came out. All Tom sent us was this picture, and a note that said it was within 20 miles of the resort area:
Well, my Beloved, being the genius that he is, enlisted the aid of our two nephews and the Darling Munchkin, and set out this morning to find the geocache. Of course, we had no actual coordinates, just the picture, but in a masterful display of deductive genius, they found the cache!
Wooot!
Meanwhile, my sister is halfway through her 90 minute massage, and then it's MY turn! ;-)
Last day in Hawaii for this year... It's been awesome!
Oh, heck, I posted the previous post too quickly! Here's the photo I ment to send.
After each round, the team gathers to talk with the referee about their score
The Beloved Husband really is saintly to endure all the craziness we foist upon him... *snicker*
Teams like to hang out here to monitor their progress and ranking
Teams get a practice round before the REAL excitement begins. When the teams start the real runs, the whole gym ROCKS... Music blaring, spectators cheering, teams screaming (OK, *our* team screaming, LOL). I hope I have enough tape to record all the fun!
We've come through the insanity that is the bus shuttle, and are now eating. At 230p, we have teamwork judging, followed by the skit presentation. After we're done, the girls want to go shopping [headdesk]. We STILL need to finish their shirts for tomorrow, and assemble the spirit stick their Coach (my Best Beloved) will be carrying. Oh, and Scream Team Survival Kits have been quite popular! BWAHAHAHAHA! They remember us from last year!
The Gathering - of the Lego teams, anyway - has begun!
We are READY to ROCK!
We just have to look out for our fans' safety... Hearing loss is a serious problem around us LOL!!
State Championship is this weekend in Harrisonburg, VA, hosted by James Madison University. Should be fun!
.... And *LOUD!*
I am so proud of the teams from my Munchkin's small school! They worked hard (OK, yeah, yeah, with more than a little "coaxing"), and each won FOUR First Place awards, including CHAMPIONSHIP in each division! (Make sure you go check out what FIRST Lego League is all about!)
We transported three of our four plaques home, and here they are:
So, congratulations to the Mini CougarBots (the younger, Division 1 team), and all hail my Darling Munchkin's team:
THE SCREAM TEAM!!!
(faces blurred to protect their privacy)
Voracius kids devoured the two pizzas we got
Here's the main competition floor, where the teams do the robot runs. This is one fourth of their total score.
Here we are, all set up in the "Pit" with the other teams. This is where we wait until we have a judging session or a competition round. My poor Munchkin is not happy due to her ankle, which she sprained yesterday :-(
I'd been using Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com (partner sites) for the longest time, but they went through some weird change a couple of months ago, and just don't seem to have the same... excellence as before.
Today, I googled a word ("peroration," which I got from Rick Moran's article about Sarah Palin over at Pajamas Media - love learning new words!), and came across a link to the Free Online Dictionary. I like - no, I LOVE it!
The front page is fun, too - besides the typical "word of the day" sort of thing, they also have a hangman game and also a spelling bee widget and a match up game. I think that's great - they all help you play AND learn at the same time. The match up game was interesting, because I had to think about how the words were put together (prefix, suffix, root) to get some of the possible meanings and then match them with really out-of-the-ordinary synonyms. Here, take a look (click to embiggen):
I confess, I'd never heard of about HALF of those words, but with a combination of using what I did know, the process of elimination, and examining word construction, I managed to get 100%! Go, me! ;-)
So, if you're looking for an excellent online source for definitions and word games, try out the Free Online Dictionary.
Now, I'm going to go prowl their thesaurus entries....
Second place overall champions, division 1!
This is the First Lego League championship for Virginia/D.C. - and we won second place overall!!! I'm still reeling in astonishment and glee. The girls worked hard, and they kept up their efforts, even when our robot didn't perform as well as we wanted.
Next year's theme will be on climate (gee, what a surprise! [rolls eyes]), and we're already brain storming (heh) possible scenarios and research projects.
Up here to learn about hydroelectric power... The Darling Munchkin is participating in robotics at school this year, and the theme is "energy." Smith Mountain Lake Dam is only about a half hour away, and set in a beautiful area. Although I've visited the Leesville Dam before, I hadn't yet gotten up to see this one, which is about 17 miles upstream...
Here are a couple little video clips I took, but you might also want to scan the Wikipedia entries for Smith Mountain Lake and Leesville Dam for more information.
(The first video I took is still processing at YouTube, so I'm going to save - and thus post - this update, so I don't lose any of my edits. As soon as YT has finished with the first video, I'll post it.) Ah, and here it is!
--- I posted this last year, and it was well received. And so I post it again in hope that it lifts up someone's spirit and reminds them of the foundation of this great country on its birthday. Here is the wonderful mix that my blog brother, Alton, made for me. He'd asked me to record this post, and then he added music. Listen or read - but enjoy either way!
I would also encourage you to go over to Rick Moan's site, where he is "liveblogging" the events which happened July 2, July 3, and July 4 of 1776. He is an excellent and imaginative writer, and you won't be disappointed.---
Two hundred thirty years ago, a group of men - men of influence, wisdom, and courage - gathered together to sign a Document and birth a Nation:
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
And so began the war for our Independence, a war where we threw off the stifling apron-strings of our Mother, Britain, and began our journey of discovery. The War was long, and fraught with set-backs, disasters, tremendous hardship, and discouragement. But through it all, one man held true to the ideal and fought with dogged determination to keep his army and his new country from giving in.
General George Washington. He was not necessarily a brilliant man, but he was honorable and resolute. He had been given the duty of defeating the British and winning the War, and he pursued his orders with unflinching persistence.
And in October of 1781, the British General, Cornwallis, surrendered at Yorktown, VA.
The United States of America was free.
But freedom doesn't come easily. The States had adopted the Articles of Confederation in early 1781. The Articles gave the States many sovereign powers, and any changes to the Articles had to be approved by nine of the thirteen States. Federal power was practically non-existent: it couldn't raise taxes, it couldn't regulate trade, it couldn't stop States from printing their own money.
With authority to act scattered throughout the States, and an anemic central government, America threatened to dissolve into a group of bickering little provinces. The States had their own armies, their own international ambassadors, they argued over interstate trade, the justice system left quite a bit to be desired. In other words, it was a bit of a mess!
In 1786, after much unrest and disputes among the States, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton petitioned that the Constitutional Convention convene to write a new Constitution which would strengthen and unify our young Nation. The man the Convention elected to preside over this process was none other than George Washington, the man all Americans look on as our First Father. General Washington was reluctant - he had recently lost his brother, and he preferred to remain at Mount Vernon, managing his lands. Finally, however, he accepted the duty, and made his way to Pennsylvania.
Under his calm influence, eventually each of the States made compromises and came to agreements, negotiated the power of the Federal Government and State Governments, outlined the authorities of the branches of the Federal Government, and placed the ultimate power of Government firmly in the hands of the People. The first draft was accepted in August of 1787 after months of wrangling and debating. Five weeks later, on September 17th, the convention dismissed, and the Constitution went to the States for ratification. It wasn't until July of 1788 that the Convention received word that the ninth State, South Carolina had ratified the Constitution.
Finally, enough States had accepted the Constitution to begin to implement its laws. Of course, there was further debate about the Bill of Rights, which were passed by a total of three quarters of the States by late 1791, but now America had her "supreme Law of the Land," which began:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Thus we began to work out this fine balance between the Power and Authority of the People, and that of the Government. Men and women have stepped up to serve our country in war and in peace throughout our 230-year history. Elected officials, military, police, firemen, medical personnel, charity organizations, human rights groups, and so many more have furthered the cause of Freedom and Liberty in our country.
But for me, no group deserves our honor and our respect more than the men and women who serve her in our Armed Forces. Each man and woman who enters the military takes this oath:
...I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same...
Our men and women do not swear to a particular leader. They are not members of a cult of personality. They swear to uphold the Law, and the Supreme Law of the United States of America is the Constitution.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what the Fourth of July means to me. "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness," "We the People," and "I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same."
Happy 231st birthday, America! I love you dearly, and pray that God will continue to bless and guide you. I pray that you will always be that "shining city on the hill," a light and example to the rest of the world of Freedom and Liberty.
Happy birthday!
As I said, today I visited Fort McHenry, and it was wonderful! I was greeted by Old Glory, of course:
She is so beautiful! I was reminded of Michael W. Smith's song, "There She Stands" -
When the night
Seems to say
All hope is lost
Gone away
But I know
I'm not alone
By the light
She stands
There she waves
Faithful friend
Shimmering stars
Westward wind
Show the way
Carry me
To the place
She stands
Just when you think it might be over
Just when you think the fight is gone
Someone will risk his life to raise her
There she stands
There she flies
Clear blue skies
Reminds us with red
Of those that died
Washed in white
By the brave
In their strength
She stands
When evil calls itself a martyr
When all your hopes come crashing down
Someone will pull her from the rubble
There she stands
We've seen her flying torn and tattered
We've seen her stand the test of time
And through it all the fools have fallen
There she stands
By the dawn's
Early light
And through the fight
She stands
She does stand. She is still waving over the land of the free and the home of the brave, no matter that there are those who want to pull her down.
Anyway - back to Fort McHenry. There's an EXCELLENT video by the History Channel (I spoke about it here) that is well worth watching.
The War of 1812 is actually America's second war for independence. Britain was taking our sailors off of merchant ships and impressing them into British service (one of the many factors of the war), and we didn't take too kindly to that. Another little factoid most people don't realize about this "forgotten" war, is that the Battle of Baltimore - the most famed battle, and the one which inspired our National Anthem - didn't actually take place until September, 1814. So, our fondness for playing the 1812 Overture is actually a mistake on this point, besides the fact that it was written to celebrate the victory of Russia over Napoleon's French army...
As you leave the Visitors' Center, there is a large statue of the brave man who commanded Fort McHenry that fateful night.
When he arrived in Baltimore in 1814, he commissioned a huge flag from Mary Pickersgill. He wanted a "a flag so large that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance" and that is the flag which Francis Scott Key saw flying proudly the morning after the battle.
Consider the situation: in August of 1814, Washington had been sacked, President Madison had been forced to flee the city, and our fledgling country was in disarray. The Major probably knew that a rallying point - a glorious symbol - was desperately needed.
I doubt, however, that he had any inkling of the critical importance that flag would have in our country's history. Neither could he have imagined the inspiration it has provided to our nation down the years.
Here is the front entrance to Fort McHenry. To the left, out of frame, is the ravelin, which protected the front gate so troops could move out into battle safely. It also stored ammunition, and provided a base to catch any attackers in the defenders' crossfire.
Here's a picture from inside the ravelin, looking up and out. The grate to the right blocks a doorway that leads into an ammunition room. The angle of the stairs as well as the depth below grade helped to protected any powder from exploding due to a stray mortar.
I probably ought to have taken a picture from the outside, but, well... Ooops...?
This is one of the cannons which surround the fort. Most aren't from the Battle of Baltimore, but instead they're dated to the Civil War. Fort McHenry was fortified by the Union forces, but it never came under attack by the Confederacy.
It's actually quite interesting - the technology was pretty sophisticated. You can see the tracks at the lower left of the picture, which helped swing the gun from side to side. Some time after the Civil War, if I recall correctly, these guns were upgraded with "hydraulic" pistons. When the gun was fired, the recoil would slam it to the back of its frame. The pressure which the recoil built up in the piston would move the gun up to the load/fire positions. This made the process of load-fire-repeat much faster and more efficient.
Look at the size of those critters, though - pretty impressive, huh?
How about some video? This is a video I took from the top of one of Fort McHenry's bastions -
I took another from the interior of the fort as well:
Fort McHenry it truly inspiring, and you really need to go and visit yourself. If you're quiet and really listen, you might hear the voices of the men who served here. They would whisper their stories in your ear, they would tell of blood and fear and courage.
They would remind you of why they fought and died - and ask you to love and serve the country for which they sacrificed.
Men and women throughout America's history have stepped forward and lived this verse of "America the Beautiful" -
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife.
Who more than self the country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!
Do you love your family, your country, more than yourself? Do you understand and cherish America's founding concepts of duty, service, self-control, honor and courage?
Will America - will we - return to God our Savior and Provider, God who has blessed us beyond compare, and allow Him to refine our gold?
Will we be able to answer "YES!" to Francis Scott Key's question:
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Yes! Finally I'm getting the pictures up!
So, on Tuesday, while all y'all were snarking and fisking all the idiots who are screwing up our country, the Darling Munchkin and I got up close and personal with some of God's most glorious creatures: dolphins.
Dolphin Quest has a facility inside the Hilton Waikoloa Village, and we made reservations ahead of time - I think they allow up to 60 or 90 days in advance (check out their website).
These are Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins, not the Pacific Spinner dolphins, which are a deep water creature, and therefore unsuitable for this environment. All of these dolphins were born in captivity, so this life is all they know.
They are beautiful, BEAUTIFUL animals, and if I believed in reincarnation, I would like to either come back as one of my own (terribly spoiled) cats, or as a dolphin 
The Dolphin Quest staff are obviously devoted to their charges, and full of information as to their habits, needs and behaviors. One thing which the Beloved Husband learned was that the staff actually feeds the dolphins water. In the wild, dolphins get all the water they need from their prey, but that's not the case in captivity. So, the trainers deliver water via a sort of gastro-IV line which they snake down the dolphin's throat. Also, each dolphin has its own dental cleaning kit(yep - it's a toothbrush!), because they aren't using their teeth to catch their prey as they would in the wild.
This guy's name is Lono, and he's the only mature male in the Hawaii pod. He's a real sweetie and very patient will all these strange people making a fuss over him. Here he is, waiting for the Munchkin to give him a kiss:
We also got to meet one of the ladies, who is pregnant and due in September... I want to say that her name is Kona, but I might be mistaken.
Their skin feels like a very, very smooth cool rubber - actually, Madeleine L'Engle put it better in A Ring of Endless Light: she describes a dolphin's skin as "resilient pewter.
Anyway, it was wonderful, and if there's a Dolphin Quest near where you take your next vacation, I highly recommend that you try to participate in one of their "encounters."
Oh, yeah, I remember what that felt like! But today was the Darling Munchkin's last day of school, and she's now enjoying the pool with a friend...
I'm wondering, will she succeed in her mission to completely saturate herself with chlorine before the summer is over?
... I bet she can...!
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I'll get back to this in a minute, but for now, just hold this thought in mind, would you?
Commonly reported side effects include difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, irritability, stomachaches, headaches, blurry vision, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness and tics and tremors. There have been concerns that ADHD medication temporarily delays growth, and one study found that up to 5 percent of children experience tactile hallucinations, often involving a sensation that bugs or snakes are crawling on their bodies. The FDA recently announced that certain ADHD drugs should caution users about the risks of serious heart problems and psychotic behavior.1
I'm tempted to think it's a conspiracy corrupt young minds and deliberately manufacture easily manipulated sheeple, but then I'm reminded of the quote attributed to Napoleon:
"Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity."
I'm speaking, of course (and again), of the public "education" system in these micromanaged-from-the-swamps-of-D.C. United States.
But it's not just micromanagement of local schools by remote bureaucraps and educraps or even bad (or lazy--and there are plenty of those) teachers or even pubschool adminstrators *spit* that are at work creating mind-numbed children (future citizens). Nope. Parents are the ones most responsible for the failures of American schools that have created a populace that is largely subliterate (while feeling good about itself, falsely calling itself literate). Parents could require discipline in school, could require their children to learn useful information, turn off the video games and TV and, well, read... Parents could vote in such a way as to lessen or even eliminate remote micromanagement of their public schools, even to voting in school board members who would turn down fedgov funds in order to maintain some semblance of local control.
But no.
Continue reading "It'd be easy to think it's a conspiracy..." »
The Munchkin loves all the bugs and critters. Well, she DOES say she wants to be a scientist...
Lori examines a catch.
A baby one - absolutely TINY!
Looking for critters - and with a good sized group, too!
This is going to be a very photo rich post, so most of it is below the fold. Also, although I love my little Sony camera, it unfortunately does not do too well in low light on its automatic settings. However, not having a tripod handy, I was kinda stuck with what I got. Still, the pics came out pretty well, even if they're not perfect...
Moooooving along, now: I'm up in Annapolis with the Beloved Husband and the Darling Munchkin, while Husband conducts some business. We came up on Sunday so we could have Monday to go to the National Air and Space Museum outside of Dulles International Airport. The Munchkin loves scientific things - she adored the Museum of Natural History when we were in D.C. over Memorial Day Weekend - so this was a huge treat for her.
Actually, it was a treat for me, too! I got to see some planes that made history, as well as take lots of pictures of the the plane which is - for some unfathomable reason - my absolute favorite in all the world.
For more yummy aviation-type stuff, you can now click to read below the fold! I've used fairly large thumbnails throughout, but ALL of the pics can be enlarged by clicking on them. Go on, now - you know you want to!
Continue reading "The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum" »
The Beloved Husband's uncle lives very close to us, and he's a brilliant man. He taught at Penn State many years ago (I want to say he was the Dean of their Geology department, but I'm sure I have it at least a little wrong...), and he still has a love of teaching. Charles loves his grand-nieces, and is enjoying introducing the Darling Munchkin to all sorts of good stuff, now that we live close by.
Yesterday, we took a walk up to his place to enjoy his irises, and he took us on a little tramp around the property. Unfortunately, I couldn't take as many pictures as I wanted, because my little Sony was in her death throes. Nevertheless, I did coax a last few photos out of her, and I hope you enjoy them, too.
Charles is really a brilliant man; I haven't come up against any topic that he doesn't know at least something about. As I said, he has a love of teaching - he must have been wonderful in the classroom! - and really enjoys answering questions. I'm hoping to do this regularly over the summer, longer if possible, and post about all the fascinating information he gives us. I will have to remember, though, to a) wear my hiking boots for ankle support, and b) make sure I'm dosed up on my allergy medications!
One thing that's blooming around here right now, and which I did NOT photograph (baaaaad Kat!), is the honeysuckle. It's beautiful! The flowers are white, pink, and yellow - sometimes on the same vine - and it smells heavenly! Of course, that's probably what's giving my sinuses fits right now, but... Anyway, I'll make sure to take some pictures when my new camera gets here.
We walked up the Charles' place and gave our co-dependant dog, Tasha, a treat by taking her with us. Of course, you can't see her in this picture, but it does give you an idea of how... rustic our area is! This road runs between our property and Charles' - ours is on the right in this picture, with our house about, oh, 100 yards off this section of the road.
I suppose it's about a fifth, maybe a quarter mile walk to Charles' house. It's lovely; all shaded and quiet and private. That's one very nice thing about living where we do: we've got 18 acres of PRIVACY!!! No one's looking over our shoulder. Mmmm!
Here's a shot of a lovely old wild rose of some type or another. We originally thought that it was a blackberry, since we have blackberries growing all over. The flowers looked just the same, but the leaves were much smoother and less crinkly than the blackberries. Also, the thorn pattern was a little different. Charles said it's no surprise that we confused them, since this rose and blackberries are in the same family.
These roses bear very little resemblance to what you find in a florist's chop. As you see, they're tiny, and only have one layer of petals. And their scent!! My gosh, do longstem roses really even have an aroma any more? These small beauties, however, have a lovely, delicate scent that drifts out from the plant and just lures you in for a deep sniff.
Egad, I hope these guys aren't responsible for my aching sinuses! Yup. Call the Doc tomorrow - time to get back on Allegra, and maybe go for allergy testing... *blech!*
Finally - well, not finally, but for the last photos I was able to take - we got up to Charles' iris patch.
It's very cool the way the leaves of the iris grow out like a fan, all flattened. I wasn't able to get a good shot, but it looks very cool!
Charles also took us over to his little bog and showed us some pitcher plants, several lush ferns, and some water irises (I think that's what he said they were). He also has a gingko tree, and some Mahonia (Oregon Grape). He also has some... horsetail? broom weed?... I forgot what he called it, but it was a little bush, with droopy, willow-like "branches" that had tiny leaves and beautiful little flowers, yellow with dark orange or brown centers. I think he mentioned that he has some papyrus, and I know he's got some lily pads in a little teeny pond...
... Good gracious, Charles has a LOT of stuff! I'm looking forward to my new camera's arrival, because I've got a LOT of pictures I want to take.
Anyway, that's all for now - I've got to take care of my poor, sore nose!
UPDATE: Suddenly I notice that I repeated myself several times (brilliant, cool!) in this post. I blame the Claritin: it can't clear up my allergies, but it certainly confuzzles me!
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