Taking Meisa for her walk, I counted eight nutrias on the far side of the beaver pond. Meisa was in no mood to stick around and watch; the grass gets her paws wet and she had business to attend to. So, off we went.
On the way back, I stopped to snap a couple of pictures. By then, a few had already skedaddled.
What wildlife do you see in your neighborhood?
I believe these are nutria instead of muskrats because of their size. As I’m not a professional nutritionist, I’m not sure.
Jamison decided a backyard campout would be fun. He went with the “full meal deal,” including a fire in the fire pit, s’mores, and a sleepover in the tent.
Meisa made sure all wild animals were kept at bay.
I even remembered to turn off the automatic sprinklers. That would have been a little too exciting at 6:00 in the morning. :-D
I took Meisa and my camera for a short walk this afternoon. It’s only 47 and a little windy, but that’s as warm as it’s supposed to get here in Hillsboro today. As a plus, the overcast conditions softened the shadows for the pictures.
Sunday.Happy Fathers’ Day! Rather than sleeping in, we decided to go out to IHOP for breakfast. Dane joined us for the fun and we all ate too much.
Meisa
As the weather starts to warm, Meisa has started shedding. Rather than sending her to the groomers, we decided to DIY. After brushing, shampooing, shaving, cutting, clipping, and lots and lots of vacuuming, Meisa has a nice, short summer do. I’m not sure she looks like a Sheltie anymore. I like it! ;-)
Monday. Jamison and I went to guitar group in the evening with cousin Ethan. We have a newbie in the group, so I pulled out Guitar From Scratch to lend to him. What a great beginners’ guitar book. Highly recommended.
Tuesday. I miss teaching my 6th grader group math on Tuesday mornings. :’-(
The third Tuesday of the month is school board meeting night. Budgets, enrollments, parent surveys, and student security were all topics of discussion.
Wednesday. WFH today (and not the normal H). What I thought was going to take five hours took ten. A very long day — sort of like baseball: long innings of boredom with brief plays of excitement. At least we knew a few of the players.
From our view out the waiting room windows, it was a beautiful day. Nice. I need a “sun” emoticon. A picture will do.
Thursday. Schedules, schedules, and more schedules. I want a big office with a shiny wall and lots of Post It notes. Or a couple of double-wide whiteboards with black tape and lots of colored dry erase markers. Instead, I make do with a spreadsheet — not near as much fun, but I can e-mail it. And I do have a 28″ 1920×1200 monitor. Okay, I’m happy. :-)
It’s the second beautiful day in a row, and it’s not even the weekend. Suzi and I thought it time to show off Meisa’s new do. A walk around the neighborhood did the job and tired out the dog.
Friday. Every day above ground is a good day.
Saturday. Church, family, food, and a church farewell party for dear friends. We’ll miss you, Kings.
Books
The books I ordered last week arrived and I glanced through them, though not enough to say I’m reading them.
My books page provides more information on the books I’ve read or discovered this year.
Blogs and RSS Feeds
Cool Infographics. “Charts and graphs can communicate data; infographics turn data into information.”
Otto on WordPress. “You have to use an Ottopress to get fresh squeezed Otto.”
Bridgetown – Rediscovering the bridges of Portland, Oregon. “As I said, I started this project with very personal goals, I wanted to encourage myself to open my own eyes a bit wider, to see these bridges from new perspectives, but as I am wont to do, I began posting the products of my nightly wanderings to Flickr. I enjoy sharing in that regard, and I was not surprised to discover the impact the images began having on others. It was not long before I had other photographers beginning to join me on my nightly strolls under these bridges. Now I want to catapult beyond the reach of Flickr. I want to reach a wider audience and to make something a bit more tangible out of this. This is where you come in.” Thanks go to @bobpotter for this discovery. I don’t know why it’s not showing up in my probation blogroll.
Saturday afternoon we went to Sunset Beach on the Oregon Coast. And by “we,” I mean Suzi, her sisters, and all our families. When we get together, we always have a great time. :-)
Sunset Beach is a long, wide, flat beach that you can drive on. Note to self: check the tide tables before going next time. We drove a way south on the beach, parked to set up our picnic, and just then a wave came a little too close to the van for comfort. We decided it was time to get the van back off the beach. With four-wheel drive, we could have just pulled up a little higher and not worried. It was no problem — we had a non-sandy picnic in the parking lot and returned to the beach.
We had a typical day at the Oregon coast: digging to China with shovels, building sandcastles, lighting and tending campfires, making s’mores, staying relatively dry, and sitting in circles and enjoying each others’ company. We didn’t get the forecast sun, but we didn’t get wind, either. Not a bad trade.