Tragedy mars Parade

Travis’ 100th Annual 4th of July parade, expected to be stupendous was rather a letdown. The tragedy was of course the Gaps, there were more gaps than parade and there didn’t seem to be any new parade entries other than the Pogo Stickers and a stage coach. Even the Antique cars were down in number.  A bit delayed getting the photos up, since I have been busy lately.

The mayor of our small town, Mayor Mike next to the Grand Marshal Janice Blanchard (in the red, white and blue sash). My grandfather was grand marshal one year, he wore a top hat and tails, very dapper.

Debris launchThe Local Mounties Grand Marshal, Janice Blanchard PipersVolunteer FiremenBrushfire Unit Brass BandBand on a truck  ClownsClown carSteel band on a truck    This lady has been leading her Band since forever She runs a tight ship  This band is a bit more relaxedStagecoach and Hot DogThe End

Sparse Summer Blooms

Looks like we need to add more flowers to the property. The yard is a bit bereft of flowers right now.

Four O’clocks – had them since the early 1980s. Got them from a technician when I was working at Bell Labs. Each year we get different variations from the colors that bloomed the year before. My favorite was the yellow streaked with magenta. We let them self seed. This year we have yellow, the red above and a lilac shade.Lobelia – in a pot out front, there are Calla Lily bulbs in the pot as well. Hope they come up. Erodium (x variable ‘Flore-Pleno’)  in a small home made pot.Phlox – about 4 foot tall. We also had white, but that gradually stopped coming back. Cilantro going to seed – I’m gonna count itGreen and White variegated Hosta.A Child of an original Comfrey(from the Farm House Days.

Half-Year Book List 2010

This is what I have been reading so far this year. Mainly mysteries taking place in England with characters like Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hamish MacBeth, Agatha Raisin and Inspector Lynley to name a few. The last one I read took place in Oxford (The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martinez) and had a little twist at the end, though I’m sure my better half would have figured it out. It was made into a movie in 2008 and I did not know that till I looked up the book on the web to get the writers first name. The movie stared Elijah Wood and John Hurt, I’ll have to keep an eye out for it. I had started the Great Train Robbery, but had recently seen the movie with Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland and the movie was so much like the book (as far as I got) that I didn’t finish it. I don’t finish every book I start. If the book is going too slow or I don’t like it for some reason, I just mark it as DNF and move on. Way too many books unread in the world (and on my bedroom floor) to be struggling through a book I am not enjoying. And I read because I enjoy it. I already have a job. Born Round by the NYTimes food critic was interesting, I could not do that job. After a week on vacation I tire of ordering food. The latest Dan Brown novel was a bit of a disappointment, it seemed very much like the others. Though I remember staying up till the wee hours of the morning to finish it, so it could not have been terrible. I usually only get to read at night before I go to sleep, so by that time my eyes are tired and my mind has already started shutting down so lots of time I drop the book a few time and then give up.

Favorite from the list? 4:50 from Paddington. I like the time period and I like trains. Ask me again tomorrow and get a different answer, just like the Magic 8 Ball.

Since it is Officially Summer, I started Travels with my Aunt by Graham Greene. I have read it every summer since 2006 and I had also read it in 2004 over the summer. What the hell did I do in Summer 2005? It’s a fun book and I know how it ends, but I forget all the little things. I only had read the first chapter outside this afternoon and I was already chuckling to myself. Some of Grahams Greene’s other books are downers like Stamboul Train, but others are very enjoyable like Dr Fischer of Geneva (The Bomb Party) and Monsignor Quixote. Monsignor Quixote made me want to read Don Quixote, but the size of the book is daunting.

I have beer labels from the first half of the year which I had photographed, but wasn’t happy with the way they came out. Hopefully I’ll try again. Then I can throw them away. Otherwise my kids will have to do it when I’m gone. Oh what crap they will find down in “The Lab”.

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