Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Eclipse

I actually got to see the eclipse at about 3:50 this morning. Heidi saw it too and was fairly impressed.

It wasn't full anymore, but 3/4 full I'd guess. Very cool looking. And unusual that we had the clear sky to see astral phenomena; a real treat.

Speaking of which, I got my moon picture promised in my previous post up to the web album.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Hiking Pictures

We took a short hike to Dewey lake and all I brought back were these pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ZimFam/DeweyLake

Pink Paintbrush, hugging hoppers, fool moon throo zoom etc...

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Several Pictures

This morning the boys and I did some exploring and I took the camera along. You can see the results at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ZimFam/ObservedInOurYard

The first picture in the album is Roadrunner, our Araucanian rooster.
Then there's a picture of the boys when they weren't hiding in the ferns.
After those, there are butterfly, spider, large spider nest stuck to bracken fern, a flower and some slugs.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Anniversary Day

Though I don't have the time to write cleverly, I really must make a journal entry. Too much has happened.
Yesterday was the 9th Anniversary of our marriage (Heidi's and mine). She came back from the beach and we had a romantic dinner at Leonardo's in Battle Ground, with our two progeny by our sides. Last year we went to Mt. Adams. Neither of us could remember the year before. On our 6th I bought Heidi 6 pairs of shoes. This year she ordered my 9 articles of clothing; my wardrobe has become a little patchy, so this should be super.

My cousin Gaylen and his wife Karen welcomed Molly and Grace into the world.

And our chickens, Butter and Santa Claus, each produced an egg on the same day for the first time. They were only the 2nd and 3rd eggs in total. Strong omens of fertility in the chalk-dry height of summer.

My stalks of wheat are drooping over their own clutches of bulging grain.

Jamey has lost his second top front tooth and now has the prototypical gap-front look of kids in the tooth-losing stage.

The crickets have ratcheted up their chirruping, which comes so predictably clear in this parched time of year one is tempted to believe that their sound only carries on dry air. But this is their high time. They've grown from little motes to survive until they are old enough to play their staccato violins, which are paradoxically harder to locate as their volume increases.

So there's my post. It's scattered and strange and wonderful, like any good summer.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Loose Wetsuits


Jamey's was pretty close to fitting, but Arthur could get no relief from the chilly water in his loose-fitting wetsuit.
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Arthur's 5th Birthday Cake


Grandma Jill supplied the action-figures. The Battle Ground Bakery ran wild with them. Not pictured is the delicious bavarian creme filling. Mmmmm.
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Jamey G on Driftwood


Jamey climbs the largest piece of driftwood around the vicinity of Klipsan Beach.
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Thursday, August 09, 2007

Arthur is Turning Five

I remember turning 5. I was in pre-school and I got a green paper crown with borders done in Elmer's glue dipped in green sparkles. I was surprised and pleased that a fuss was being made over me at school. I hardly knew these people, and here they were crowning me king for a day.

All that attention on my fifth birthday left a lasting impression on me. Later I learned that a person's personality is generally established by or in their fifth year. So, perhaps that year really is physiologically important to humans.

In any case tomorrow is Arthur's 5th birthday. He has requested a chocolate-chip birthday cake with Qui-Gon Jinn, R-4, "Three-C PO", Darth Vader and R2-D2. I think there were others I'm forgetting.

He will be humored.

He is definitely much more aware of what to expect out of a birthday this year. He knows the ritual and has no trouble enumerating his desires.

He asked for a remote-control airplane, and car. The car was to have many colored buttons on its remote control with which you could make turns, go, stop and blow blue smoke.

There were a few other things on his list, which I forgot, but I clearly remember his final request: "...a xylophone stick, because I think I lost mine."

If this is his personality for life, I'd say he's in good shape.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Random News

A new US Poet Laureate has been named: Charles Simic
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080102764.html

You can now get the Mt. St. Helens Volcanocam in high-definition:
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/

Jamey has made great strides (strokes?) in learning to swim. I purchased short-sleeved, short-legged wetsuits for all four of us (mid-summer is a great time to get sale prices on that kind of thing). They are not a panacea, but bought Jamey more time to practice before the cold took hold. Arthur's is unfortunately far to large for him. He's swimming in his before he hits the water, if you know what I mean. So despite needing protection from the cold more desperately, he is so far getting less. I mean to rectify that.