Hanging Out

     It's summer time and that means summer vacation for our nephew.  It's also a busy time at my brother's motorcycle repair shop and that means Patrick hangs out with us a bit - for better, or worse.  
     
     Here Uncle Dan gives a few pointers on the range.  It's been a couple of years since Patrick has tried to hit.  He's made impressive strides in controlling  the clubs and in patience for the game.  
     
     Later on, Uncle Dan continued his tutoring, showing Patrick his favorite Monty Python scenes - conveniently available on You Tube.  The Black Knight was far and away his favorite. 

Appreciation

     Last month we had an unexpected call from a real-estate agent.  She wondered if we would be willing to sell our house and, if so, to name our price.  This led to some serious discussions between Dan and I.  We love our home and it would be difficult to find another we could afford on the river.  On the other hand, it is difficult to maintain and we might not have another chance to recoup our investment.

     We decided to suggest what we thought too high a price.  To our surprise, the client did not flinch and scheduled a showing.  I then proceeded to what was near panic.  What if they saw the house and met our price?  Would I be as happy to live away from the river?

     Lucky for me, the client decided our house was not for him. Since then I have renewed appreciation - for our home and the river - and our neighbors and neighborhood.  And that's a good thing.

California

Dan went to Napa, California for a meeting and I glommed on.  We did some glomming together once we were there - to private wine tastings, to fishing trips, to dinners.

We didn't expect to see so many wonderful birds. There was a Black Phoebe nest in the building we were staying in.  There were Acorn Woodpeckers galore.  There was a White-tailed Kite flying over our friends house while we played bocci ball.  The best sighting may have been of a group of American Avocets.

We missed Hudson, but got some dog love from our friend's dogs, Mooch and Angus.

Mooch and Angus have quite the view of Green Valley.  Lucky dogs.

Partial Solar Eclipse

     Napa is a long way from the Maumee River, but I happened to be there during the recent partial solar eclipse.  

     Above is an image of the moon passing across the sun as seen through a pinhole projected onto a wall.  Below you can see the same pinhole effect produced by the intersections of tree leaves, casting multiple shadows onto the sidewalk.

          Another interesting celestial event occurs June 5 when Venus crosses the sun.  This can be seen in the afternoon if you live in the Americas.  For more information about safely viewing this event, go to Astro Bob.