Road trip

Somewhere between Austin and Portland

Sweet dreams, Otis!

Swinging Jade

Jade relaxes before leaving Austin.  We miss you, Jade!

Bouncing Baby Boy

River told his Mom that he can't wait to visit us in August.  I can't wait either, River!  You're already making me smile.

More honeydews on the vine

We weren't sure when to pick the melon.  Wait for it to pull away from the vine a bit?

It's a beauty!  Another of our volunteer vines.  We think the seeds came from the compost that Papa Tom brought from the back yard to fertilize the garden.

More!  We picked that last one a little early.  The heart of the melon was yellow and sweet.  The rest of it was green and crisp and tasted a lot like cucumber.

On the road to Albuquerque/San Jose/Portland

All of this plus three people must fit in the Suburban.





The most important cargo!  She'll ride in her car seat.



It's 2 a.m. July 7th (Happy Anniversary, Ryder and Brandy!) and Amon, Anjanette, and Jade are ready to pull away on their adventure to Albuquerque, San Jose, and Portland.







They're off!  It's the last time I'll see the Suburban.  The transmission blew an hour west of Flagstaff on Saturday, July 9.  Amon was able to limp the Suburban into a truck stop in the small town of Seligman, where someone was willing to trade his running Dodge Caravan minivan for the dead Suburban.  Amon and Anjanette made it into San Jose on Tuesday, July 12.  Plan was to leave for Portland on Wednesday, July 13.



Millie Wants to Go Too!

We're taking care of Millie for Amon and Anjanette until they get settled in their new home.  Millie hung out with the cargo while the Suburban was packed.  Nice try, Millie, but you aren't Amon and you aren't going on the road trip!

Millie, you're as cute as can be, but you aren't Jade Fox either!  You'll be okay here with Papa Tom and me.

Amon graduates from his Fit to Fight class

We all attended Amon's Fit to Fight graduation.  He had to last three rounds with other Fit to Fight graduates.  They were allowed to strike him, but he could only strike pads they were holding.  The class is geared for students who would like to compete in bouts that lead to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Amon in action.  Thank goodness for head gear and mouth guards!

After graduation.  Amon's thinking about something.  Leaving for Albuquerque in a few hours?

Papa Tom's annual July Fourth melon toss

Yes, that's the honeydew melon rind from the "volunteer" that came up in the garden.  We all enjoyed it.  Two more on the vine.

Condo remodel

Looking from dining area into living room.  This unit is on the end.  There are no upstairs or downstairs neighbors in any of the condos; I should have taken a photo of the outside: lots of trees and grass.  Feels as much like a single family home as possible in a condo, in my opinion.

Looking from patio into living, dining, kitchen

galley kitchen

more galley kitchen

second bedroom

second bath

master bedroom

master bath vanity area

patio

Emma in "Godspell"

We enjoyed seeing Emma in "Godspell" on Friday, July 1.  Afterwards, we visited with Al, Joyce, and Emma at the Olive Garden.  In the video above, Emma sang a number from the play.  I promise she was right side up when I videoed her!  Shanana obviously has a lot to learn about taking videos with the digital camera.  You'll need RealPlayer to see the video.  And if anybody knows how to rotate it so Emma is upright, could you please let me know?  Otherwise, turn your head or monitor sideways. ;-)

Lest the peaches feel left out...

The peach trees have produced like crazy, drought or not.  And we hardly water them.  Each Spring, a wasp lays its eggs in the peach blossoms.  Almost every peach has a very tiny green worm inside, about the size of the letter "l" that I just typed.  So it's easy to cut around the worm.  Might not even hurt to eat it! Protein with your fruit?  Eww! 

Our official honeydew melon tasting

We didn't really know how to tell when the melon was ready, but luckily guessed right.  It was crisp and sweet, with a slight hint of pepper.  Strange!  Anjanette said she doesn't usually like honeydew melon, but she liked this one.

Mya and River swinging in their backyard

Asheville is so beautiful!  I can't help but notice how green the grass is in this picture.  Do you go high in the sky, Mya?  Your Daddy used to love to be pushed as high as possible.

My Alma Mater: one more thing

Here's the back stairway at what was Benjamin Franklin High School (now Audubon Charter School). Can you see how worn the treads are?  The building was originally a courthouse (built in the 1830s, I believe).  Maybe why so many of us in the class of '71 became attorneys? At one point, the building was a jail. As far as I know, only one of my classmates turned to crime, embezzling funds from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, where he was the newspaper's chief financial officer.