Don't hate us because we are travellers

Well...

We are off to do some more diving over the coming holiday week.

Going to the "usual" spot, except we are staying at in a resort up north this time...hopefully, sis will be less bored while goofy and i go do the diving thing. :)

I'll be posting more then about the adventures we have...

Until then, take care and be good!

Cheers!

Magic

Sponge Bob Pictography

A sampling of K's "Sponge Bob" series. Note the use of light, dark, flash...the first image is depicting the fleeting moment between talking and whistling; the second, the "star" within the Star; and the third; well...it is just as obvious as obvious can be, isn't it?

Brilliant! Brilliant! Brava!

Pigs

K's first photo project was looking for and "capturing" some of the pigs hidden around downtown Seattle.

Since we were downtown last night for the premiere of "Young Frankenstein" (awesome, by the way), we decided it would be a good opportunity to get some pig pics.

Here are her perspectives on three of them...and a long shot of two. :)

K's first pics

Our own K is on the road to becoming a photographer.

Yesterday, she learned how to use a digital camera.

The hard part for me was trying to "help" her decide what to take pictures of. I finally told myself, that they are her pictures, her "eye", and she could take as many pictures of sponge bob on the plasma as she saw fit. (It was hard for me though :).

When left to her own, without any help from Mom or aunties, she has a very interesting perspective. Good eye...arty even. I especially love the hands photo (included here). I didn't see her take the pic, don't even know where/what it is for sure, but I think it's one of my faves.

Here are a couple of her first pics..."Jazz Hands", "Pacific Place Skylight", and "Paramount". Let us know what you think!

Open the podbay door...

It was time to call the septic guy out. Loud banging noises from the timer were what did it finally. Almost incessant clicking, whirring, thumping. We wanted him to check to see if something was wrong with the timer/alarm thingy...

Turns out that we hadn't pumped the tanks in a long time (or perhaps ever), so...

He'd asked that we dig up the tank hatches. We thought that we knew right where they are. And we did...for two of them. Apparently, there are three (when you count the pump tank - who knew?).

When he arrived to check things out, he's like "where's the third hatch?"

I'm like..."uhm...what?"

So, we used a big old iron bar and dug around a bit...didn't find it though.

This is where Chris (Gardener) comes in. He'd dug up the other two hatches, took out the plants, that kinda stuff. So we called him back in and said..."the septic guy says the third hatch should be around here."

So Chris dug...and dug...and probably cursed...and dug some more. Until he found the pump...tank. About 3 feet down it was. Frustrated, hot, tired...he went home (after a beer and a couple of cokes).

Now...goofy starts digging around with the big bar. Certain that the hatch has been found...calling Chris...

Arriving a bit less enthusiastically than before...he dug where the bar was...no hatch there tho. Turns out it was about two feet north of where goofy thought it was.

The good news is we found it. Chris and I actually celebrated...beer and staring at the hatch...won't lose it again, I think, as we are going to install homing beacons this time.

August...already

I spent most of my morning cleaning my car :)

It's actually bliss for me, taking the time to wash, wax, clean, organize (yeah, me :)...seeing the difference before my eyes. Relaxing time to think about everything and nothing as the whims come and go. It's a luxury too, as not often is there time to while away a morning...

Can it be a metaphor?

Is cleaning your car, simply another way of spending time to organize your thoughts? Get things aligned (a bit) again? Make lists, cross things off? Prioritize? Center?

Contemplative, cathartic, satisfying....

All of that, probably...but it's also...cleaning the car, on a hot August morning in the 'burbs of Seattle.

Far Away Days

Seventeen years is a long time. A lifetime for some.

Today, I'm thinking of things in the past, mostly, but also the present and future.

It's not all sadness now, there are smiles hidden here and there too. Unless I think too much and recall the last time.

Days of elephants and little devilish smiles.
Trips to the park.
Listening to stories from "before I knew you".
Angelic and wise in so many ways.
Older than need be.
Logical and illogical.
Independent and stubborn.
Looks so much like you.

Never, Always, Some Day...

Regret, hope, shaking of heads. Laughter, tears, acceptance. Wondering why things are. What was, what could have been, what is. What happened, what's been said...what hasn't.

It's life, I guess, but not as I'd have it, if given choices.

There are meetings destined in the future. I know this and embrace it with hope and concern and... soft remembered shared days.

Inevitable, I suppose.

But for today...I am drifting...

seventeen years away...

be happy and safe, Angel.

Dark Green Pants at the Beach

Just say no!

It's not a good idea to put them back on when your suit isn't all the way dry.

It scares small children in the ladies room into total shocked silence...

It's a good conversation starter at the bar, tho ;)

OK...so this didn't make sense as it is, so I'm adding some clarity (I think...lol)

When you pull on your shorts over a wet suit, often the color of the shorts darkens a bit. I'd been wearing my sand colored shorts to the beach most days, so even when they were damp here and there, it didn't show much.

However, when you wear dark colors (olive green, for example ;) it just gets REALLY DARK when it's damp or wet from your suit underneath.

Then, when you walk into a restaurant, or bar, or ladies room...you get some really strange looks! Frankly, said small child in the ladies room looked at me with miserable understanding...not believing that it was my swimsuit that made my shorts look like that...and I got the same response (although with much more laughter) coming out of the restaurant's bar later on that evening after dinner...

Bottom line...hehe...no dark shorts to the beach when leaving before suit is dry...

My EYES!

OK...I have resisted relating this story, as it was just too horrific to retell...let alone recall...but I've been having nightmares and I suspect my therapist (if I had one) would say that getting it out of my head will help set me free....I'm not usually one to tell this kind of story. I like all kinds of people, and really applaud those that go out in public in some strange forms of dress. Especially when it's entertaining...but I just have to get this out of my mind, so here goes...

We were at Ulua Beach on Maui. It's a great little beach...nice facilities nearby, and lovely sand...and the reef is shallow enough that even snorkelers can see a lot of cool stuff - even turtles most of the time are visible sitting on the sand or the reef. It's only about 30 feet deep there, and with the visibility...well...it's great.

I'm digressing (or is it stalling?) from my original point :)

So...here we are, our last full day on Maui, out to enjoy the beach and the surf and the sights. It was great. 85 degrees, a bit breezy, but nice...and we managed to "obtain" some lovely beach chairs from the resort down the beach (they shouldn't leave them on their own).

Minding our own business...swimming, snorkeling, chillin'...when all of the sudden...

MY EYES!

There is this woman, of about sixty eight, I'd say (I'm trying to be nice here)...and she's standing on the edge of the sea. In her two piece suit, with leopard print. This isn't bad (in and of itself), it's the WAY she was wearing it (and wore it later on - that's the real bleeding/put out my eyes part, but more on that later).

The lovely top of this ensemble was more or less a t-back style. But she wasn't wearing it that way. Nope, not at all. She had actually pulled the straps down along her middle, kind of in a bandeau style - except it was like, two stripes. Not a good look, nope...not good at all.

This is especially true when you take into consideration that she was tanned - like really, really tanned - you know, like the way they tan leather? Like that. And very wrinkly. Very.

very

Oh, and bleached blond...

And...standing with one hand on her hip and one hand to her brow, looking out to sea...I just hoped the top stayed up, and turned and headed back out to sea myself.

I'd been able to forget this first encounter by the time I returned to shore. I'd been distracted quite nicely by the shiny fish on the reef..and watching Sandy try to free dive to get better pics of same (it's hard to laugh under water without sucking in salt water).

Back to shore we went, laughing and talking about the fish, and how Sandy really wanted to free dive for pictures, and how funny it was (and harder than she thought it would be). She actually did get a few really good pics, even with the trouble breathing and staying under long enough to get a shot. Got as far as my lounge chair, when...

MY EYES!

Same woman - except, and you really have to picture this...I'm trying not to, but it's burned into my retinas I think - she's lying face down on a towel in the sand. Sounds innocent enough, doesn't it? But, wait! It gets better...

She's now got on no top at all...this isn't the scary part...wait for it....wait for it...wait....

(Did I mention the leopard print bikini bottoms? It's important to remember this part...so...)

Not only is she topless (face down, thankfully), but she's decided she wants a nearly "all over" tan, so shes...here it comes are you ready?...she's...made a thong out of her bikini bottoms. Pulled those puppies right on up as far as she could. I know it had to hurt, or maybe, the leather like skin didn't have any nerve endings left...hmmmm...

It was hideous...kinda like a wreck on the side of the freeway...I couldn't believe that an ass could be that wrinkled AND, I couldn't look away. It was, it was...horrible.

"MY EYES!" I literally shouted before I knew what I was doing (although her hearing aid musta been turned off, 'cause she didn't so much as flinch). Goofy and sis nearly both fell off their chairs, and I think they peed their pants too...they looked and then they both closed their eyes...

We all had to look away...it was really that traumatic. We had to leave the beach...really...leave.

I should have taken a picture, dammit!

Where's the sun?

OK..so..where'd the sun go the last few days?

I _know_ it's Seattle, but geez...from 80+ degrees on Monday to whatever the dripping temp is now (around 65, I'd say).

And the grey, blah. This feels more like October than July...I want my convertible weather back! Argh!