4 Quality Time

His second quarter is finishing in two weeks, then come finals, and a break. Seventeen units of physics, Calculus, honors humanities. When he comes home he's met with all of our pent up affection, our eagerness to share things we postpone until his next visit. He's teaching me about reflection and refraction, how to calculate the angle light travels through different materials. He's already taken me from believing I could never learn physics, complex math, to understanding, or at least feeling like it's approachable.... and that was a long distance to travel. He has such a fluency for math, for abstract conceptualization, for writing, and when he teaches, his patience, with his command of the subjects, lend tremendous confidence. He's opened my mind to so much, and my heart to even more.

There are a great many blessings in my life... one of the greatest is the honor of spending time with my children, with these brilliant young people. They are joys.

With Infinity More Monkeys, a picture a day.

3 Cozy

While this fairy cottage is quite a bit bigger than their first build, it's still a pretty cozy fit. But very little can detract from the fun and accomplishment enjoyed when tackling a DIY construction project. For mentorship they had Geoff's help, then additions from Alex, and inspiration from William, too. I think if it hadn't started raining, they would have added a second floor, or walls!

With Infinity More Monkeys, a picture a day.

2 Friends and Fairy Houses

While our friend's new home is being finished, they are spending some days with us. Hopefully our RV, with its quirks, wear and tear, is more charming and cozy, than funky and freaky. Accommodations, aside, the real bonus is that we have friends for neighbors, and Maria and Amira have been thoroughly enjoying all of the benefits of the close proximity and common space arrangements. And it's a pleasure to hear them doing homework in each other's company, making plans, to see them making fairy homes, with garden roofs. It's nice to be reminded, to see, that with a little imagination and some effort, good things can take shape from what we find around us.

With Infinity More Monkeys, a picture a day.

1 Tasha Can't Even

Is there something that you can't even?

For Tasha it's about the soggy ground, and she can't even imagine another rainy day, or walking through her swampy yard.

As for me, I can't even believe that my first born son is another year older. No, I can, but it is strange, wondrous, dear. Happy Birthday, dear William. You are wonderful, a joy. Your dad and I beam and glow with all these years of knowing you, loving you.

With Infinity More Monkeys, a picture a day.

28 La Mano and Amor

I always love it when they give us La Mano, or La Luna. And I love it, even more, when Geoff and I have time together, with tea, or not.

With Infinity More Monkeys, a picture a day.

27 Enough is Enough

Taken from the San Diego Museum of Man, in Balboa Park. Maria's class field trip was enjoyable, good, but I think the weather that day made the bigger impression. It rained, hard, all day. And. I am shocked to admit this, and even more shocked to have felt this, but by afternoon, I was totally over rain. Done with it. Couldn't bear another minute, and still, it poured. It wasn't the actual rain or weather, but the flooding yard that was driving me to distraction. The goats and chickens were drenched and surrounded by massive puddles, saturated ground. Our septic and leach field were in danger of unspeakable disasters. I could have taken more rain, but our ground could not! And the drive to and from the field trip were a bit harrowing. I can laugh, now, in retrospect. Or maybe just acknowledge that it all came out alright, with a tentative smile. But, February 27th was the day I waited, in desperation, for the rain to stop.

Just before closing, we were all in the hardware store, buying wood chips, then spreading those around in the goat's cottage, in the pouring rain, sunk in sloshing, muddy water. And the chickens? Those mad hens were roosted in all of the wettest, windiest, most absurd spots they could cling to! Good grief!

With Infinity More Monkeys, a picture a day.22

26 Sunday Photo Journal

A section of the old aqueduct that runs along Del Dios Highway.

Not overflowing, like we've seen in some years, but much fuller than it's been in quite some time... Lake Hodges Dam.

Happy to oblige... distance and respect, by all means.

Same.


Fire scars. Signs said this was due to the Cedar Fire, but I thought it was the Witch Creek Fire that came through here, in '07. The Cedar Fire was further east, mostly. ...Uh-yeah, we have a long and too close history with fires in this county.

Somewhere on the Internet you might be able to find the episode of Steve Irwin's Crocodile Hunter, when he was clambering all over these aqueducts and messing with the rattlesnakes. He was finding loads of them. Happily, I've never come across even one, and I've lived here fifty years.

The fires do tremendous damages.

But then, with rain, and time, nature comes back and new growth flourishes.

We call our reservoirs lakes. This is Lake Henshaw.

A stop along the highway, between Warner Springs and Santa Ysabel.

Further up the road, a friendly stop at the General Store.









Oaks in the foothills... sights I always enjoy, especially when sharing the views with my sweetheart, on a Sunday drive.

With Infinity More Monkeys, a picture a day.