You never know when you just might need this

The all purpose, all terrain, all weather rescue vehicle of choice at 4500 meters.

Mighty Big Thirst

Staying hydrated is important when at altitude and I was reminded of this upon arrival at the site when handed my first water bottle.  I usually have at least two of these over the course of the each day.

A wee bit of snow here at the top

It's the dead of winter here in Maricunga and the 4 wheel drives are engaged to assist the snow chains.  Wind chill over the weekend was exceeding -60F at times but has died down to a balmy -15F or so.

Welcome back to the USA!!!

Kenzie has entered US air space over Michigan's upper peninsula (the end of the thumb part).  China will never be the same :)

Somebody got a panda....

When they announced that the top students attending the Summer Bridge Camp would be receiving pandas, the normally mild-mannered Kenzie would not be denied :)

Rogers Centre and CN Tower

Lots of 3D opportunities.....

Toronto FInancial District

A view of the "Financial District" of Toronto as seen from the rotating restaurant level of the CN Tower.

And to get a sense of scale of the CN Tower compared to the office towers.

Calligraphy Class

Our sojourning daughter is working the pen and ink in China with her classmates.

I think she is just a bit ahead of the others......

Blog of her trip

旅游安全

North meets South

The Postmaster of Dyersburg and a Canada Post mailbox on a street in Toronto.  Colors are a bit more lively than the dark blue back home but both serve their purpose.

Cat Nap

Our cats have a rough life here at 54 Holly Lane.

Kenzie has Landed!

Looking at the route, she may have been able to see Igor waving at Kupol.

Our International Jetsetter is thrilled to be in Beijing!  Her parents will now try to sleep :)

Last little Bird Leaving the Nest

Mackenzie taking it easy in Memphis while the other Summer Bridge Camp travelers arrive for the first leg (Motown here they come!) of the trip to Beijing. 

Seated on board a long-haul Boeing 777---amenities abound.  Looks like everything is ready for the hop over the Pacific!

And she's off!!!!  Taking a leisurely jaunt over the Great White North

  

Waiting all day for this hungry little guy!

Checked a few times today to see when the last little wren would break out and start chowing down.  Finally about mid-afternoon he/she was out and ready to get fed!  Looks like the siblings got a bit of a head start.

Coincidentally, the latest wren shares the same birthday as my brother now :)

First Asiatic Lilly Bloom...now in 3D!

 

 

Cropped and enhanced the color as of course the reds/blues get blown out by the glasses.

New "House" Guests at 54 Holly Lane

We usually have a couple of pairs of House Wrens every year making nests in anything they can find that offers some cover---hanging plants, BBQ grills, dryer vents and this year, storage container.  I left them be as they built their nest, laid 3 eggs and started keeping them warm.

Yesterday the first baby wren hatched and today the second.  By torrow I suspect we'll have all three keeping their parents busy.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Wren

Weekend Bloom

A just opened sunflower is ringed by unblossomed Asiatic lillies on the back deck.  The sunflower was is a party crasher from the bird feeder a few feet behind it.

3D close-up

Mid-Summer Walkway Showing Off

The Hostas and the Daylillies are competing against each other for bragging rights to Best in Show.  Good 3-D fodder as well.

First Veggies from the Garden This Year

It has been a slow year in the garden so far.  A long, cool, wet spring followed by a dearth of broccoli plants anywhere local and then my new best friends, the Voles (since banished), decided they liked tomato plants--the roots anyway.  Things are starting to look up though as the peppers (bell, banana, jalapeno, chili, etc.)  are doing awesome, the few lasting tomato plants have really taken off, the relocated squash (zucchini and crookneck) plants seem to be doing well and the bush beans (in lieu of broccoli) have started producing.

The photo shows the veggies that went along with some grilled chicken breast seasoned Cajun style for Sunday's supper.

As my friend Igor says..."Aliens in my camera!"

On a recent trip to the Sahara desert in Africa, my friend Igor's camera developed spots in his photos.  We both agreed that dust had some how gotten into his camera.  He jokingly referred to this as "Aliens in my camera!"  At that time, my camera showed no ill effects of the ever present dust.  However a few weeks later on a visit to Alaska, "aliens" invaded my camera as well.  Here is a zoomed photo of part of the Denali range with the different spots on the photo.

When I got home I of course did what I usually have done with things in the past...I took the camera apart :)  After removing lots of tiny screws, numerous ribbon cables and the liberal application of a can of newly acquired compressed air---the "alien" invasion has been repelled for now.  The sensor in the camera was indeed covered in tiny dust motes I suspect from Africa as well.  The photo I took shows an up close flash photo of a blank sheet of paper---with the nose of the camera in the lower left corner.

Father's Day Present

The Littlest Princess gave me a nice present for Father's Day.  I think I can work out who the "little princess" is, but hopefully all the tongue-in-cheek metaphorical meanings end about there.  I'm obviously not tall enough, don't look my best in basic black and I loathe hats of any kind---now all that "Feel the power of the Dark Side" stuff?   I'm good with that :)