Hal's Photo Journal: July 2009

Friday, July 31, 2009

The children and I went down to North Carolina to visit my parents

this week. There was something of a bittersweet quality to trip for

me because this coming fall they are moving from their mountain

home in Cashiers to Asheville.

We did all of our favorite things: played golf and tennis, swam in

the Chattooga River, talked to the llamas down the road, went to

bluegrass church service, made a campfire and ate s'mores. The time

went too quickly.

We spent Sunday afternoon in Asheville, and fortunately the kids

gave the new place their seal of approval. So... next time we visit,

we'll start a brand new chapter.

~ Hal

On Saturday morning Maggie and I went down to the farmer's

market. Our summer schedule has been so irregular this year

that despite the fact that it's only a few blocks away, this was

the first time we've been this season.

While we were there we ran into a bunch of friends we hadn't

seen lately and had a great time catching up.

Naturally I was keeping an eye out for whatever revealed itself.

I've always loved the explosive, fractal patterns of dill blossoms;

I found them bunched together like this in a bucket near one of

the market stands.

~ Hal

After our trip to the Boundary Waters, it took me a while before I

really felt like taking photos for the journal again. I still had a lot

of images from the trip running through my head.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I took my camera in to work. At lunch

time I went out front and ran across the same patch of prairie plants

that I took pictures of earlier this spring. The difference was that

now they were in full bloom.

I ended up chasing this bee around for a while, which I imagine

was pretty amusing for folks passing by.

~ Hal

This is the third year we've taken a summer family camping trip

to the Boundary Waters. According to the kids it's now a tradition.

They'll get no argument from me.

We camped with our friends Craig and Shelly, whose children are

the same ages as Maura and Garth. The fishing was good, and we

encountered all kinds of wildlife, including a bear that visited our

camp.

The first two days were cool and cloudy, then the sun came out

and we took a day trip to this area on Disappointment Lake, where

we warmed ourselves on the rocks, swam, fished, and enjoyed a

little bit of heaven.

~ Hal