Micah's home and Micah's boots

Art hallway, living room, great outdoors

Micah sans work boots on the Persian rug in his living room

These boots were made for working.  After a day of taking out trees in rain gear, a boot dryer is a must.

Thanks for the Thin Mints, Fox! (Friday, January 24, 2020)

Thin Mints in Portland, thanks to Girl Scout Fox!

Basketball game on the laptop, Thin Mints, glass of milk...does it get any better on a Friday night?

More of Micah's house, and the house next door

Sun and shadows on the garage

Bird bath among the hydrangeas and bamboo.  See the hose bib on the side?

The wolf next door.  He dropped his bone.

Micah's house

The trap door to basement is in the pantry. The handrail on the pantry door matches up with the handrail on the basement stairs when the trap door is open.  So cool!

Unfinished fir floors were under the ratty carpeting.  Newly refinished, they glow!

Enter the basement through the pantry, exit on moss-covered stairs

Handing stuff down to Micah from the garage attic.  Former roomate's art is on the trap door.

Micah's art hallway

Dumpster day! (Sunday, January 26, 2020)

Micah had a 40-yard drop dumpster delivered to take care of all the junk and trash left behind by the former roommates.  Argh!

Probably a pickup load of stuff was in the garage attic.  Clear!

All this, for instance, sat on the driveway for a month.  In the rain.  Soggy mattresses!  Ugh!  Then there was all the junk in the basement.  And the main part of the two-car garage.

Hours later....thanks to help from Micah's renter with some of the heavy stuff like couches, and from me for lighter items.

Otis at basketball practice (Saturay, January 25, 2020)

Otis is focused and ready for the drill

Hover ball

Flying Otis

Very artsy HomeAway in southeast Portland (Jan. 22-29, 2020)

The owner is a graphic artist

Mexican movie posters and a Bruce Willis chair.  Plus all my "work" spread out on the dining table.

A photo for Papa.  Luckily, these squirrels eat mushrooms, not homegrown tomatoes.

The original Elf on the Shelf?

Afghani war rug made during their conflict with Russia

I've looked at clouds from both sides now (January 22, 2020)

Clouds chasing their shadows outside Sacramento

Sun setting on an ocean of clouds

Glimpses through the cloud curtain

Happy indoor plants, for now (January 19, 2020)

The croton will go back on the deck this Spring.  Tommy 2, in the blue pot, is named for the very hungry alien plant Audrey 2 in "Little Shop of Horrors."  A co-worker left Tommy 2 with me about 20 years ago, asking me to take care of the 1-foot tall yellowing plant until she could come back for it.  Even if we caught up now, I don't think Tommy 2 would fit out the front door and into her car.  We had to use a dolly and Tom's pickup to bring it home from my office when I retired in August 2017.

Back in 1984, when Tom bought the house, the real estate agent gave him the fiddle-leaf fig plant, probably about a foot tall at the time.  It loves living on the deck Spring through Fall.

These plants love living in the warm, misty bathroom during the winter.  Ryder gave us the smaller plant on the right at least 15 years ago.

Zephyr (January 18, 2020)

"Quit disturbing my cat nap!"

Brandy at the Women's March in D.C. (January 18, 2020)

Brandy marched for human rights in D.C., in one of many marches held across the nation that day.

Look closely.  Brandy's above the "WE" in "#POWERED."

Lala and Fox dropped by (January 15, 2020)

So happy to see Lala and Fox after school.  Fox wanted Lala to braid her hair.

Catching up with old friends (January 15, 2020)

Some of the State Office of Administrative Hearings' alumni got together for lunch at Lilo's house.  Left to right: me, Howard, Bill, Lilo, Cathie, Sarah, Renee, Ferdie, and Georgie.  

Apple-sized hail? (Friday, January 10, 2020)

In response to a forecast of thunderstorms with apple-sized hail, 70 mph wind gusts, and isolated tornadoes, Papa made space in the garage for the Zoomer and turned his pickup into the next Mad Max machine. Bring it on, Mother Nature!

Hunkered down for a dark and stormy night.  Thankfully, the apocolyptic forecast was wrong.  We had a gentle winter thunderstorm with lightning flashes and about an inch of rain.

Obligatory Zephyr post

Queen of the greenhouse

Surveying her world

Happy 33, Amon! (January 5, 2020)

Amon, the man formerly known as Tyghe, was a hard-working 3-year-old.  Now, at 33, he's half my age as I was 33 when he was born.  Happy birthday, Amon!

Amon (3), Micah (8), Ramzi (9)