We've taken a bit of a blogging break this summer. So much to do and so little time to write! I don't have time to even write a summary, but I wanted to update with a quick "summery"--a brief hello before I submerge back into our summer.
We built a new back deck--all by ourselves using mostly child labor. Just kidding! The kids only did about half of it. But we all learned a lot about letting things go. The original project was to repair the deck!
We've been doing art projects, and when I say "projects," I mean "things we really need and can use." Like books. Tony has taught himself the art of bookbinding through watching videos and trying different things. His goal is to bind his brother's drawings into a large book (or books) for safekeeping.
Beau has been mastering the fine art of cartooning. He's figured out how to make things look like they're in the process of moving. He also has become pretty good at copying famous cartoonists. He can draw a mean Bugs Bunny, can do most of the Peanuts characters, and is taking some cues from Maurice Sendak's work. Check out this chicken: Doesn't it look a little like the chicken in "A Kiss For Little Bear?"
We've also been studying clouds. We've been visiting the Cloud Appreciation Society web site, and bought their fieldguide, The Cloud Collector's Handbook for cloud identification. The upshot is that we've been looking up a lot.
On July 14, we were on the way back from the hardware store, having gone to purchase paint brushes so we could paint clouds on the largest mural we've ever attempted, when we saw this in the sky:
It looks like a double upside down rainbow, doesn't it? We had the distinct impression that the sky was smiling at us. We did a little poking around and found out that the bottom "rainbow" is actually a "circumhorizontal arc" which is quite common in the US in summer, and we just happened to catch a 22 degree circular halo around the sun at the same moment. Here is Tony's picture of the halo using a pair of sunglasses as a filter.
It looks like the halo is doubled or something, but truthfully we don't know much about all this sky phenomena, and are just learning ourselves. It's possible it was a trick of the lens, but I don't know. Any way you slice it, it was an interesting sight.
And of course, we've been taking lots of nature walks, and creating lots of images. This dragonfly was injured, and Tony gathered it off the pavement and placed it into the grass so it could recover.
It's not often that we get this close to a live dragonfly.
But the big event of the summer (so far) has been Tony's 18th birthday! He's finished his high school work and is focused on his future. Now if he can only figure out which way to point the camera. . . .
That's all for now. We want to thank everyone who has been supportive of Jim's Etsy shop!
We built a new back deck--all by ourselves using mostly child labor. Just kidding! The kids only did about half of it. But we all learned a lot about letting things go. The original project was to repair the deck!
We've been doing art projects, and when I say "projects," I mean "things we really need and can use." Like books. Tony has taught himself the art of bookbinding through watching videos and trying different things. His goal is to bind his brother's drawings into a large book (or books) for safekeeping.
Beau has been mastering the fine art of cartooning. He's figured out how to make things look like they're in the process of moving. He also has become pretty good at copying famous cartoonists. He can draw a mean Bugs Bunny, can do most of the Peanuts characters, and is taking some cues from Maurice Sendak's work. Check out this chicken: Doesn't it look a little like the chicken in "A Kiss For Little Bear?"
On July 14, we were on the way back from the hardware store, having gone to purchase paint brushes so we could paint clouds on the largest mural we've ever attempted, when we saw this in the sky:
It looks like a double upside down rainbow, doesn't it? We had the distinct impression that the sky was smiling at us. We did a little poking around and found out that the bottom "rainbow" is actually a "circumhorizontal arc" which is quite common in the US in summer, and we just happened to catch a 22 degree circular halo around the sun at the same moment. Here is Tony's picture of the halo using a pair of sunglasses as a filter.
It looks like the halo is doubled or something, but truthfully we don't know much about all this sky phenomena, and are just learning ourselves. It's possible it was a trick of the lens, but I don't know. Any way you slice it, it was an interesting sight.
And of course, we've been taking lots of nature walks, and creating lots of images. This dragonfly was injured, and Tony gathered it off the pavement and placed it into the grass so it could recover.
It's not often that we get this close to a live dragonfly.
But the big event of the summer (so far) has been Tony's 18th birthday! He's finished his high school work and is focused on his future. Now if he can only figure out which way to point the camera. . . .
That's all for now. We want to thank everyone who has been supportive of Jim's Etsy shop!
Wonderful writing
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