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Week Nineteen, July 23-29
Sunday, July 29, 2001
Another sunset pulled me outside this evening to snap a photo. It was a mixed day with a few clouds, some breeze, and pretty warm temperatures once again. I finished doing some much-needed weeding along the front terrace, finishing the project both for Natalie and I and also for our neighbor who had tried to ask nicely, and largely failed, that I clean up the yard so she could sell her house easier. When I wasn't outside, I spent time working, reading and hanging out indoors. I was sitting on the couch when I noticed that Loki and Maya were laying next to each other for the first time ever behind my shoulders, so I quietly got up and grabbed the camera to catch the moment on Polaroid film. Yes, it would look better taken with our digital camera, but that isn't available...so I made do.
Saturday, July 28, 2001
Here ends the streak. I took a couple of shots with the Polaroid camera tonight while walking along the Ruston Way waterfront, but none of them really turned out good enough to consider posting, so for the first time since the spring equinox I don't have a fresh daily photo for this Weblog. I will have to make up for it with a couple of photos tomorrow...
We had more rain overnight and into the early morning hours, about a quarter of an inch in total, and once the rain passed here we had sunbreaks and breezy conditions, with the southwest wind kicking up to 30 miles an hour or so as I worked on weeding the terrace in front of the house. It felt good, with the brisk wind whipping past as I wrestled grass and weeds.
Friday, July 27, 2001
A soft rain is falling outside as I write this, the first rain to fall in a month. It is a relief to feel the dampness again. The weather took a definite shift this afternoon, when a familiar southwest breeze kicked up and clouds started drifting over from the west. And it grew dark much earlier tonight. It's funny how odd it can feel to live in this land of water and rain and wind and have day after day pass in these summer months without a drop of moisture.
I snapped a couple of Polaroid shots of the clouds as they closed in and the shot above was the best of the bunch. I admit, I look forward to Natalie getting back home. Both to see her and have her here, and also to bring the digital camera back. I feel like I have stepped back a few years by being relegated to shooting Polaroid shots and scanning them.
Thursday, July 26, 2001
I found the old Polaroid camera today, so after spending the morning with M, I came home and set out for a walk. I parked at the top of Puget Gulch and wandered down the winding trail from the park alongside Proctor St. It was steep going to get down wearing my Birkenstocks - I didn't really think ahead about wandering the trail from top to bottom and back again. But it was good to wander from the heat of the pickup down the hillside and into the coolness and relative dampness of the gulch.
I walked the full length of the gulch, just taking a mental inventory of what things look like now in the midst of the summer and comparing it to the walks Natalie and I have done in the gulch during the wet spring months. In comparison, although it was a bit more messy in the wet season, the gulch felt more natural in its true dampness than it does today. I could see a lot of areas where we should get down there and clear out blackberries and morning glory is growing absolutely everywhere, everywhere that isn't already covered by the entwining ivy vines that threaten to choke out all of the natural vegetation seems to be under attack from the brambles and morning glory. The creek still carries quite a bit of clear, cool water from the point where it emerges from the clay hillside and starts on its short route down to Commencement Bay. And I know that if I would just take the time to sit still, I would see small salmon hanging out in the eddies and pools of the small creek. I didn't see any today though.
I snapped my photo for today near the top of the gulch on my walk back up the winding trail toward the pickup. A fern cast a perfect shadow across the path, and even using the limited Polaroid camera the photo turned out OK...
Wednesday, July 25, 2001
Since Natalie is away in Oregon with our digital camera, and since I couldn't find where our Polaroid camera is hiding here at home, I am using a photo taken by Natalie today down in Salem, Oregon. She took the shot of a gary oak tree in a park near her grandparents' home in Dallas, Ore.
Meanwhile, back here in Tacoma it was another warm day. I spent too much time indoors, reorganizing our office and moving things around in the warm evening hours before working a shift on the Internet. I will get out more tomorrow...
Tuesday, July 24, 2001
We have a new addition to the McNair-Huff household...a tiny kitten we have decided to name Maya. Our friends J and J found the kitten last night and they knew that we were interested in getting another cat after our Kiki died in February. So, when J called to say they found this abandoned kitten we drove over to take a look and decided to bring the poor thing home for a quick bath and to have it settle into a new home. Maya will be keeping me company the next few days, while Natalie heads off with her parents tonight to visit her grandparents in Salem and then Gold Beach, Oregon. I remain home, taking care of the animals and working. It should be nice to have some time to myself...and although this six-day separation from each other is definitely out of the ordinary, I look forward to some time to just be with myself. Of course, I will be hanging out with M as well during this week, but when nightfall arrives, I will be heading home alone.
Monday, July 23, 2001
I wandered outside tonight to snap a shot of the fennel plant near the front porch casting its silhouette against the sunset. I snapped the shot after spending some time picking another batch of strawberries. I am not sure how much longer these berries will keep bearing fruit, especially now that we are into the seriously dry and boring weather season. Speaking of boring weather, I was talking to M today and decided that this stretch of time, from the beginning of July through the end of August, is definitely my least favorite time of year for weather. This is the time when we have our hottest days, when we go without rain for weeks on end, and when the biggest weather drama to be played out from day-to-day is just how hot it will be. I much prefer days when the weather actually changes.
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