"Wait, I was too close here, I think"

"Let's get a good picture here."

"Here, so the water is in the background."

"Let's put our heads together so we both are in it."

"Let me take the picture, I have longer arms."

"O.k.-I'm completely blinded."

click

"Wait, I was too close, I think."

King of the tree

This red-winged black bird looked so Christmas-like in the heart of the summer. I especially like the fresh pine cones starting to grow.

Violet Thistles

on the corner in Waukegan, Illinois

on or no depending on your perspective

Colors just pop in summer...

It's not all about you, gray cat....o.k., it is...

Cripes, could there be anything in the world cuter than kittens? I really want this gray kitten.

Runnin' him out of town

It's not against the law to be homeless but apparently it's against the law to be offensive. This man was at our local McDonald's the other day. His hands were as black as coal, and his face was just as dirty. He wore a ripped up, bent-up graying plastic stenson hat with white hair spiking out the sides. He was probably, oh, 100 years old. He had a stack of Bibles on his table with a message tented on top. It ressembed one of his signs on the car. I asked him if I could take a picture of his car. He was delighted. I think he lives out of the car. He used to ride up and down the streets of Milwaukee with a amplifier shouting warnings to all the sinners to repent-or was that someone else? Anyway he's in our suburb now. Just today the two squads pulled him over. He seemed pretty calm sitting in the drivers seat sipping soda from a McDonald's cup.

Oh, and he's calling me in a week to get copies of the pictures I took. I gave him my work number.

Thistles

Oak Creek Fire Hydrant

tree

White dog with black spots....

off Wells Street

an old silo, filled with...air?

it's a flower

ready to bloom

Behind the green door

Peeking through...

Here's my walking buddy, Juan, who always, without fail, runs into someone he knows. When he sees someone he knows he shouts at the top of his lungs, "HEY! How's it going?!" or he shouts it in Spanish.

He is amazingly popular. Can you see why? Look at that smile. Could anyone be happier?

my mom's backyard

If you look to the upper left there are Canada geese with their flock of goslings.

the five mile walk to heaven

The other day my friends, Brendan & Juan and I all went walking to try to slim down. I read that if you walk a half hour a day you can loose a pound a week. I read it, so it must be true. Anyway we walked far, it was hot, so as we were passing by, Juan says, "Oh, smell that Mexican bakery." Of course, Brendan and I agreed it was wonderful. As Juan always does on our Weightloss walks, he says, "Come on you guys, let's get a pastry. I've got $20.00." We weaved in to the store and picked out our favorites. They give you a tray and tongs for self-serve. It's soooo cool. So we were all happy, walking back and we are all, "Oh, mines the best." and "No, mine's the best." We are all sharing bites so we can try each others out. So then I say, "Juan, want to try mine and he takes a little bite and then I say, "Brendan?" and he does and takes a huge bite! I had already taken a small bite of his out of politeness.

He wouldn't hand his over to me so I could even out the bite. I will never offer another bite to Brendan again. No matter how much he begs. My Dad use to do that to me with cheeseburgers and ice cream.

Parking Lot Luck

Parking is not an issue in Wisconsin. There may be too many parking spots and not enough cars with the exception of the city of Milwaukee where it is hard to find a place to park. In the winter, though, it's a great bit of luck to land a parking space near the store entrance. I usually don't bother, I have terrible parking lot luck, I just park far away and walk in the rain, slush, or snow. This poor kid was collecting shopping carts and let me snap his photo. This was taken in February where it was kind of half snowing/half raining. Needless to say cold and wet.