Senior night photos

Quincy and Stu, about an hour before a downpour stops the halftime show.

Gratuitious illustration, Flu, etc

Photo above is not totally gratuitious. It is from last Saturday's farmer's market, and almost impossible to see under the blue tent are 2 long-time friends of ours. Recognize yourself, anybody?

Other news: Stu has had a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad week or so. Started a week or so ago when he was car number 4 in a 6-car pile up on University Avenue. Nobody was hurt, and the airbag did not even deploy, but the back bumper on the Jetta at the very least needs replacing. And the car now changes lanes by itself, so I guess the front end needs work, too. Amazing thing: the younger (student-aged) drivers were indignant that cars stopped so quickly in front of them that they did not have time to stop. All students were cited for not taking due care...

He went from that to a return of his cough in a way that felt like pneumonia to him. Getting pretty good at diagnosing these things, what? But he did not diagnose the flu, which he also shared with me and probably Quincy. I started Tamiflu today and have another prescription waiting at home for Quincy, who is still insisting that she just has a cough and is not really sick. We'll see on that one.

Quincy has her first application in (NMSU) and has 2 more underway. She is being very independent on this one. Jacob is having a good semester so far at Willamette.

Oops.

Quincy changed the oil on the Echo yesterday. Clean-up took more kitty litter than the Exxon Valdez. Oops, indeed.

Weekend catch-up: Senior night for the LCHS band was Thursday. The half-time show was rained out about 3 minutes into the show. It was the first time I recall ever having rain at a band event. These southwest kids grow up thinking all weather is perfect.

Market and other stuff Saturday, quiet day Sunday. Big rattle-y snake kept me from the hot tub Sunday evening. Grrr.

Senior night for the band

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Band takes the field!

The LCHS Showcase Band took the field at the first home game. The band looked super. The football team lost 28-14 after a 14-0 lead at halftime. Ouch.

This week's flower arrangement

I think I like a class that involves pretty flower arrangements every Tuesday. This is Quincy's effort for week 3.
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Labor Day Monday

The little guy to the left is a mountain patch nose snake, who slithered across the back porch last week. Jake was not here, so he did not get picked up and cuddled. There was a Wilson's warbler on the back willow today, and hummingbirds are buzzing me as I write this. The day is beautiful -- it looks like it is raining in the mountains, but the weather station across the street says it is 80 degrees, 33% humidity, with a 10 degree wind.

Quincy shopped until she dropped today. No new shoes, but she did come home with hair extensions in 3 colors, none of which are found in nature. And a lot of new shirts. And an application for work with Barnes and Noble. With the way she reads, I am not sure that is really a money-making proposition.

Jake reports a good start to the semester at Willamette. The dilemma he is working through now is whether he should double major or opt for a minor. And what that subject should be (chemistry and biochemistry are the leading candidates). He needs to decide soon as these both will take careful planning if he wants to do a semester abroad.

The important lesson for the day is that the WiFi signal is strong on the back porch. Bird list while I have been blogging here includes: curve-billed thrasher, black-throated sparrow, miscellaneous hummingbirds, doves, cactus wren, lark bunting, and more doves. The quail have had a good year (Gambels and scaled) and there are still young coming to the feeder. No raptors recently, but Jake and I saw a golden eagle before he went back to school.

Enjoy Labor Day, one and all. I recently read Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, an excellent read and one which, in hindsight, seemed appropriate for Labor Day.