Driving with windows open

A great wind is blowing, and that gives you either imagination or a headache. ~ Catherine the Great For a few moments, having your hair blow around can be fun.

Girl at the well

“Few men during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used.” ~ Richard Byrd Zoos can be so educational.  My kids love them, but my mom is not much of a fan because she is a lifelong animal rights advocate. Thankfully, most…

Sunset in Patterson

If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton  We still miss Emma, and our hearts go out to the family who buries her today. We are sad and very tired. 

Neighborhood sunset

“How strange this fear of death is! We are never frightened at a sunset.” ~ George MacDonald, Scottish author, poet and Christian minister (1824 – 1905), particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels  Just another sunset outside my front door – wish I had a direct view of the western hills, but no, I…

Wife’s birthday cake

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” ~ Abraham Lincoln  Our friend Richard is a pastry chef, and instructor of such at the California Culinary Institute.  One fantastic benefit, besides his winning personality and good looks, is we get awesome cakes for celebrations.  This…

A different kind of tuna

If God would choose a plant to represent him, I think he would choose of all plants the cactus. The cactus has all the blessings he tried, but mostly failed, to give to man. Let me tell you how. It has humility, but it is not submissive. It grows where no other plant will grow….

Love those old pickup trucks

“When I got outta High School I was driving a truck. I was just a poor boy from Memphis, Memphis.” ~ Elvis Presley Ahh, the classic pickup truck – and this one can be yours for a mere $14K – I guess it’s in good shape!  this little guy has an 8 cylinder engine, and…

Perfect fluffy clouds over Livermore valley

I would not fear nor wish my fate, but boldly say each night, to-morrow let my sun his beams display, or in clouds hide them; I have lived today. ~ Abraham Cowley  The clouds around here can be very nice, though not as dramatic as those I've seen around Florida. Enjoy.  

Open sky

By reading the scriptures I am so renewed that all nature seems renewed around me and with me. The sky seems to be a pure, a cooler blue, the trees a deeper green. The whole world is charged with the glory of God and I feel fire and music under my feet. ~ Thomas Merton  Just…

Black hole sun

When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat. ~ Ronald Reagan This is a closeup of yesterday’s panorama. Enjoy.  

My train’s a comin’

“If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.” ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer This is my second or third picture at the city limits of Westley, CA.  I see this train every morning, and wave and flash my lights at the guy.  Sometimes he sees me and blows…

Angry clouds over the Altamont

Before we had airplanes and astronauts, we really thought that there was an actual place beyond the clouds, somewhere over the rainbow. There was an actual place, and we could go above the clouds and find it there. ~ Barbara Walters  A cube-mate here said that these pictures make it look like God is about to…

Bigger than a breadbasket

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.  Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s…

It’s not rust, it’s primer

“You may be a redneck if . . . you have spent more on your pickup truck than on your education.” ~ Jeff Foxworthy (American comedian, b.1958) Here’s an old flatbed near my home, waiting for the sander, or a coat of paint, or something.  Here’s some other versions, including the original photo.  

On cloudy days, the road goes nowhere forever

“RAILROAD, n. The chief of many mechanical devices enabling us to get away from where we are to where we are no better off. For this purpose the railroad is held in highest favor by the optimist, for it permits him to make the transit with great expedition.” ~ Ambrose Bierce  I sure hope the cloudy…

Poppy panorama

  “Truth, like the juice of the poppy, in small quantities, calms men; in larger, heats and irritates them, and is attended by fatal consequences in excess” ~ Walter Savage Landor  A panorama of yesterday’s closeup.  Below are a couple more versions, including the original (last).  

Poppies galore

  Through the dancing poppies stole A breeze most softly lulling to my soul. ~ John Keats This is the most amazing front yard I’ve seen in a while. 

Cinco de Mayo

“The celebration of the holiday has to do with Mexico defeating the French, which prevented Napoleon (who hated the United States) from supplying the confederate rebels for another year.” We celebrated Cinco de Mayo with carne asada, Anaheim chiles, and homemade salsa. Some extra salsa prep pictures below – I didn’t take a final pic…

Eating off the tree

You can't pick cherries with your back to the tree. ~ John N. Mitchell, United States Attorney General under President Richard M. Nixon. I stopped at the cherry orchard on my way in today (just pulled off to the side of the road) and tried a few of these babies. I don't like most cherry…