rain!

Yippee! I woke up this morning to a delicious downpour of rain bouncing off our metal roof. What a lovely sound. By the time Tiika finished her breakfast, it had abated enough that we ventured out into a lighter shower. Ahh, I like walking in rain like that...and to know that it must be helping all those firefighters out there to douse the flames, even better.

PS I did get in a short run yesterday. Man, oh, man is it hard after not running for a while. I walked more than I wished. At least I was out there. I intend to go at it again tomorrow.

home again, home again

We arrived home last night at the beginning of some rain showers that lasted for a couple of hours or so. What a relief.

We had escaped our smoky town by heading east on Friday afternoon and not returning until 7:30 last night. It was great to breathe clean air for a couple of days. It was an additional treat to arrive here and have the rain begin. It seems to have cleared the air, at least out at our place. Hopefully town is cleared, too, as I'd really like to get in a run. It would be the first in what feels like forever.

(I suppose I could have run over the weekend since we were camping in National Forest and the road was right there. Somehow, sleeping in seemed a higher priority.)

Regardless of the smoke status, the temperature is supposed to stay cool for a day or two. Very much a good thing in my book.

Time to hit the showers. Have a good week.

couple of brief rants

In my morning walk with Tiika this morning, we encountered a dead cat. Rob came across one in our yard on Tuesday evening. I'm not sure what is going on but if someone is poisoning them, I'm p*ssed. The one this morning might have been hit by a car, it was hard for me to tell.

We have had a growing population of feral cats in the neighborhood so it's not far fetched to think that poison has been put out. While I don't like the idea, if it is the management company's doing and they haven't warned anyone, I'm even more p*ssed. There are a lot of children who live and play here not to mention dogs. It's time for a call.

On another ranting note, the fire that is west of here, the Black Cat Fire, has burned "structures" and continues to threaten more. Many of those "structures" as far as I know are usually called homes. It bothers me that the media don't just say homes but what ticks me off even more are the gawkers who come to get their picture of history:

"Sheriff’s officials say people are stopping to look and take pictures and by doing so hampering the firefighting effort, while impeding those trying to evacuate. In additon, Giffin told KPAX that heavy air tankers and two helicopters were unable to refill for water drops because onlookers were parking too close to the dipping site." (from New West Missoula)

Don't people EVER think outside of themselves? How would they feel if it were their "structures" being threatened by this blaze? Grr. The situation is large enough they have even pulled city cops off the streets to help control the crowds and road closures.

Enough of the crankiness. It is Friday (yeah!) and we are planning to head out of town this afternoon to escape the smoke and ash that is currently the air we are breathing. I am thankful the fires aren't close enough to us to be a threat to our home, humble though it is.

Happy Weekend everyone.

couple of doodles

Just a couple of small pieces of art work. The first is from my journal that I carry with me pretty much all the time. You never know when a thought or idea will need immediate expressing. It's almost full so I have to take a look at my stash soon and pick a new one. It's done in pencil so not all of it came through in the scan.

The second is a piece I've been playing with for a while now, off and on. I haven't been very happy with it so decided I would just doodle on it and see if it got any better. I think it did. You can't tell in the scan, but a few layers back I used some of that really cool iridescent paint that is one color (green) until you angle it a little and then it becomes another (lavender). (Thanks Elisabeth!) My favorite part is the whirly-gig that I ended up sewing on because the medium wasn't holding it well enough.

It was a nice way to spend some time last night. It was dang hot again so I wasn't sure I was going to follow through on the ideas from my air conditioned office. I'm glad I made the effort.

This morning the wind seems to have shifted and the smoke it pretty thick. I think I saw ash in the air as I walked Tiika. Yuck!

a couple of images to whet your appetite

Yo, anyone want to party?
Both of those images were taken at Brad and Mandy's rehearsal dinner last Friday. Can you tell which one of us is sober? My oh my, did I have a good time. McMenamin's (sp?) makes an excellent porter. Thankfully I didn't pay too heavily the next day and I remembered MOST of what I did and said. It was a good party. =) [It's a lizard behind Rob's ear and a sea anemone on my head, both table decorations gone awry.]

I've got more pictures from that night and the wedding the next day but they will have to wait a bit. Firstly, I'm at home and it takes too dang long to upload a bunch of pictures and secondly, I accidentally brought home Mom's camera instead of ours. [We have the same model and same camera bag. Somehow the camera's got switched.] I want to put together a complete album before posting a link. (Also, the pictures from the pre-Oregon visit hike are on my camera and also deserve to be posted.)

Ok, I can't resist, I'll post one wedding picture. Not of the bride or groom but of my sweet, sleeping nephew, Will. In that moment, I was one contented auntie.

got some sleep

We got mostly unpacked last night and hit the hay early. Not early enough to completely offset the deficit but enough to function somewhere near normal today. Tonight is laundry and another goal of getting to bed early. I also intend to work on the photos from the week so I can post a few of them and tell a story or two. =)

I am very close to having my ArtFest classes chosen, too. Yipee!! I'm starting to feel anxious about getting back to creating and am looking forward to the cool hours of Saturday morning to play in my art space.

home

We're home. We're exhausted. Three hours of sleep simply isn't enough.

Tonight's agenda? Grocery shopping and to bed as soon as possible.

More tomorrow.