Wood for the still

The maple sugar house I visited uses the one fuel they have plenty of for distilling the syrup – trees. Maple sap is 98% water, so it has to be boiled down quite a bit to make the syrup we all love.

Sugar house

A sugar house is where maple sap is boiled down to maple syrup.

As in a dream

“There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.” ~ Douglas H. Everett On an overcast day in Vermont, this house just looked kind of dreamy. Here’s a posterized view:

Rich colors

Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words.  They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning.  ~ Lydia M. Child (1802 – 1880) American abolitionist and women’s rights advocate A simple ornamental vine,…

Lonely road in Vermont

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” ~ Albert Camus A fall road in Vermont.

Rainbow Cloud

“The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears.” ~ John Vance Cheney This cute little cloud sported a rainbow for us on the way to school the other morning.

Princess slippers

Let your dreams outgrow the shoes of your expectations. ~ Ryunosuke Satoro My two year old loves to take pictures of whatever she thinks is interesting see What a girls sees). She loves her ‘princess shoes.’ She wears them out! This is actually her second pair.

Bluebeard

My two year old is a messy eater. This is purple cupcake icing. She has, as you can see, really large eyes. This may be what is known in Mexico as ojos tapatios, which is a complement given to women from the Mexican state of Jalisco (my wife’s birthplace), who are known for having large,…

A clear morning in the Central Valley

Every crag and gnarled tree and lonely valley has its own strange and graceful legend attached to it. ~ Douglas Hyde (1860 – 1949, first President of Ireland) On clear days, my commute is very peaceful and pretty.

Harvest leftovers

There are three easy ways of losing money – racing is the quickest, women the most pleasant, and farming the most certain. ~ Lord Amherst Many people don’t realize that after the harvesters go through the fields, there’s about 20% left over.  Farmers plow this back into the dirt, which gives nutrients to the next…

Laid-back worship

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. ~ John 4:23 A little acoustic soul this weekend, really melodic. I love that you don’t have to dress up to come to church (though you…

Baptism

Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?   For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since…

A place to learn

“If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?” ~ Dr. Laurence J. Peter My brainy 6 year-old and her new desk setup. She is so pleased to have a place to do her homework, other than the kitchen table.

Inspired art

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~ Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) My 6 year-old daughter’s depiction of father and mother.

A feast for the eyes

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.  ~ Chinese Proverb This photo is unedited – just a beautiful ornamental vine.

Tilling dry soil

“It is thus with farming: if you do one thing late, you will be late in all your work” ~ Cato The Elder I hate to see so much topsoil blowing in the wind, but in the ongoing battle between farmers and the Delta Smelt environmentalists, farmers are losing.

Let us not forget

I am not done remembering the horror of 9/11, and what we should have learned from it. Some say we should have learned that we need to have a gentler foreign policy towards Muslim countries. That may be true. Others have said that not only did we deserve 9/11 based on our foreign policy ‘sins’…

Roots of murder

Another tree stump which eerily looks like a human body. I take this second day to remember the victims of 9/11, and to remind us that Islam is not just another religion, it’s a violent, misogynistic, pedophilic, domineering, anti-semitic, and perverse religion that has shed blood since its inception, and one of the main enemies…