What is this weather doing?

Click to go to the SkyWatch site.

What is that cloud doing over there over the Rattlesnake Hills?

Will it come this way?

From the way today's weather went, if it does, it will be just passing through.
Looks like it left its mark on the hills, no matter how temporary it may be.

Click to enlarge.

I am what I am...

Liz did this and it looked like--well, maybe fun. Maybe I will be sorry by the time I get to the end of it.

I Am: apparently older than I look

I Want: to finish the Breast Cancer 3-Day this fall without having to take a sweep van at all during the event

I Have: 10 grandsons and 5 granddaughters (sorry, Liz, I know I'm blest)

I Wish: there were more interesting classes offered locally at the Community College (That's more classes in which I would be interested, not classes that are more interesting. I'm sure the classes I haven't taken there are certainly interesting, but there are not very many that I am particularly interested in.)

I Fear: edges (not heights--heights I can handle--I fear edges so I will go high but stay away from the edge.) Oh, high bridges have edges, so I am afraid of high bridges, too.

I Hear: buzzing in my ears.

I Search: pretty efficiently on the Internet

I Wonder: when I wander

I Regret: not having tried a professional massage sooner

I Love: my family

I Always: generalize

I Usually: spend some time sewing and reading each day

I Am Not: deaf, so you don't have to repeat everything you said--just the beginning--because of * below

I Dance: (d) a long time ago

I Sing: in the choir

I Never: eat pickles that I can see, or drink coffee

I Rarely: make phone calls

I Cry: at the end of Extreme Makeover Home Edition

*I Am Not Always: paying attention if you don't get my attention first

I Need: to improve my Spanish

I Should: follow through on my Spanish language course

So, where's my stuff?

This is what my blog looks like on my screen right now.

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See? All the layout stuff, no post.

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If I follow the link from my Yakima Valley Daily Photo blog, it looks normal. And linking from other blogger's blogrolls seems to work.

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It is a puzzlement to me.

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So let me know if you don't see this so I will know it's not just me.

Ash Wednesday

Give me back the joy of your salvation,

and a willing spirit sustain in me.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

from Psalm 51

ABC Wednesday--F is for

Visit the ABC Blog for other ABC Wednesday F posts.

Also stop by to tell Denise thank you for all her ABC work.

Back with my travel ABCs, F is for

Fruits

These huge fruits are called jackfruit. There were many exotic fruits which were the norm when I was visiting India. Another that I recall was mangosteen.

There were also more familiar fruits. On a trip to the city, we picked up a large box of mangoes and took them back to the boys at Boys Village. You would have thought we had brought them the world. The younger ones danced about the courtyard with their mangoes, brought the over to us and shouted with delight, "Look, a mango!" Flowers

Flowers were bright and everywhere. Shops in the village sold garlands, which were given in welcome and in celebration.

Forest

My favorite forest photo is this one from Siberia. This forest is the setting for the Akademgorodok--University District-- where we were staying with friends of our son.This pathway winds through the forest there, connecting the eleven large apartment buildings and the buildings of the university.
In India, we passed through this eucalyptus forest on our way to the tiger preserve where I saw last week's elephants.

Odd Shots on Monday

Clicking the logo here or in the sidebar will take you to Odd Shots details. I am becoming more confident in Mr. Linky, though he still disappears for me from time to time. Do leave a link and a comment both if you have participated.

On my frosty visit to the playground a couple of weeks ago, I discovered this missing-tooth grin.

Sunday's Psalm--Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

R. Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.

Blessed is the one who has regard for the lowly and the poor;
in the day of misfortune the LORD will deliver him.
The LORD will keep and preserve him;

and make him blessed on earth,

and not give him over to the will of his enemies.

Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.

The LORD will help him on his sickbed,

he will take away all his ailment when he is ill.

Once I said, "O LORD, have pity on me;

heal me, though I have sinned against you."

Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.

But because of my integrity you sustained me

and let me stand before you forever.

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,

from all eternity. Amen. Amen.

Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.

Psalm 41: 2-3, 4-5, 13-14

Photos:

birdhouse at Toppenish National Wildlife Area, Washington

soapberries at Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, Arizona

bitterroot blossom, Spokane, Washington

lupine leaves after a rain, Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington

pond in the Japanese Garden, Yakima Area Arboretum, Yakima, Washington

Mt. Shasta, California

sunset at Goose Lake, Oregon California border

PhotoHunt--Theme: Warm

See
TnChick for more PhotoHunters.

It's time to start the first training walks for the Breast Cancer 3-Day I will be doing in November this year. I checked on the 3-Day site for any local walkers who are sharing their information and contacted someone from my own small town. When she e-mailed me back I discovered that it was my oldest daughter's best friend from high school.

We met up this morning to walk the pathway between our town and the next. She had left her car at our endpoint and come back with her husband to meet me to start.

A warm cup of cocoa was a very welcome end to the walk, since it was definitely NOT warm outside this morning.

It was also kind of a warm feeling to know that your grown children and their friends have turned out so well.

And when we returned, she automatically after twenty years started to turn toward my house to drop me off. I had to remind her that my car was parked a block the other direction from the exit.

Maybe that was warm memories.

I have warm memories of my past walks and the friends and family who have supported the effort. Click here for my 3-Day donation site, or here for more information about the event..

Mountain Skies

From our Saturday hike

Click to reach the Skywatch site.

ABC Wednesday--E is for...

My E is in the photo below. Can you see them? There are two.

This photo was taken while on a small boat cruise of Lake Periyar in the Periyar Tiger Preserve National Park in Kerala, India. And no, we never did see any tigers. They apparently don't hang out near the lake, and fortunately they don't hang out near the hotel like the monkeys do. We did see wild boar, lots of cormorants and other birds.

But what else would you find in a national park in India?

Elephants, of course.

No, this elephant was not at the national park, but at Kodiacanal Park in the hills of Tamil Nadu. It was quite a bit easier to get a picture of, as was this elephant slide at another park near a dam in Tamil Nadu. Sorry, I don't remember the name of the dam.

So did you see the elephants in the first picture? No? I didn't think so. But they are there. Those two dots on the top of the ridge.
Someday I will figure out how to get my video shots of these elephants, and of the temple elephant giving me a "blessing" off the 8mm tape and onto the computer. They are much better.

In the meantime, you will find many other Es by visiting the ABC Wednesday Linky site. And stop by to pay the ABC sponsor Denise a visit, too.

By the way, these photos are old files and will not enlarge any bigger with any clarity no matter what I do.

Odd Shots Monday--Here's Looking at you

(I've been asked for Mr. Linky. I have inserted Mr. Linky. The last time I did there was a problem with it, so please, leave both a link and a comment. That way, If I should have to remove the Mr. Linky, anyone looking for an odd shot will be able to find you.)

I think I used that title before. But this time, it's looking at you if you happen to be playing in the snow at Mt. Rainier. The webcam in the upper left pane of that window faces north, giving this view in real time.

Shots shown earlier in the Monochrome post were taken from either inside or just outside this window, so if taking a picture of the webcam is not odd enough for you, the combination seems so to me.

Color removed.

Aileni indulges his Monochrome Mania at this dedicated site, and lets the rest of us play along.


I actually removed color from only three of these, and if I hadn't told you that you would probably not have noticed the tiny bit of color in the one I left. Do you even seen it?

The primary color removed? the blue of the sky. And here I have been, moaning over our gray skies lately!
Removing the color gives an opportunity to look at other aspects of photography--such as composition. The same view above and below--which do you prefer?

In quilting we sometimes find a way to absent ourselves from the colors to see the values and how they contrast. It works in black and white photography as well.

These photos will relate to the Odd Shot post which follows later.

So, did you see the color?

Here they come...

...and there they go.
Paradise Valley Road--yesterday.

Sunday's Psalm--Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble , and you fill me with the joy of salvation.

Blessed is he whose fault is take away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.

I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble , and you fill me with the joy of salvation.

Then I acknowledge my sin to you,

my guilt I covered not.

I said, "I confess my faults to the LORD,"

and you took away the guilt of my sin.

I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble , and you fill me with the joy of salvation.

Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;

exult, all you upright of heart.

I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble , and you fill me with the joy of salvation.

Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 11

-snow in the local park

-geese in the Columbia River Gorge

-Yakima Arboretum in the fall

-sculpture garden, Maryhill Museum

-sunrise, Alaska's Inside Passage

PhotoHunt-Theme: Nautical

See TnChick for more PhotoHunters.

Reprieve

When we set about getting our DTV connections working, we had seen notices on local stations that they were switching next week despite the postponement of the deadline. Our good news is that the one station which we are not getting yet is keeping their analog signal till June. So we now have till June to get this station figured out. We think that pushing the antenna higher might do the trick. I wonder if we can test that without investing in another pole.

I hope things are working for others who are having problems with this.

Sky memories

These are old skies. (This one is Mt. Rainier.)

I'm not flying around today--haven't since June.
(I am pretty sure this is Mt. Adams with Mt. St. Helens in the distance.)

Hope to again one day.

In the meantime, our skies are gray. I'm going to have to get out to get something interesting to take pictures of.

Skywatch is here.