June 29

One year in Raleigh as of today. A year ago today I was busy throwing the last few things into the pod and chasing the kitty round the yard. Though there was a few minutes of panic that morning, the move went well, and smoothly.I am not looking forward to next year when a move is likely inevitable.

The temp when I came down this morning was 78 (it is 5:31), and we expect a high of 90. Real summer weather, the only down side is the drought is apparently building once more, and we are likely going to have to engage in major water saving practices soon.

A mourning dove who's
song birds are warming up in the woods
The sun is close enough to risen that I can see the jet's vapor trail, though the rest of the sky is featureless, to bright for stars, to dark for features.

I had planned on staying in bed a bit longer this morning, but the neighbors decided to come outside and discuss the wonderful party, they yell and chatter waking me up. I finally gave up, turned my light on and got up. Of course as soon as I did, they shut up. Next Friday I will need to consider not doing any sleeping.

I have been happy enough through much of my time here. The ac and heating were funky, we never did get screens for the windows or a new front door, but it is a nice place. Large, airy, and comfortable. I am sitting on the back deck enjoying the morning, and that is enough to make the place feel like home.

June 24

Morning pleasures

strawberry/rhubarb jam on multigrain toast
stepping inside to a house full of fresh brewed coffee aroma
post thundershower air outside
brightening blue as the sun rises
crows continuing yesterday's argument on rising
wet slippers from a damp deck
the first slurp of coffee
song birds singing above the crickets and frogs, or is that harmony?
photoshop disasters: http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2008/06/sears-lets-have-big-hand-for-model.html
train whistles

June 23

It has been very quiet here the past few days. Nothing has happened. Well, not very much anyway. I made a trip to the farmers market last week though I may have mentioned that in the last post? The weather has been cooler, but I have not really been out enjoying it until this morning. I walked to school today and spent the morning on the ninth floor of DH Hill Library doing some writing. I hope to have a photo up on my Picassa site, or maybe even the Photo a Day site later.

My photo a day project is actually over. I wanted to do it for awhile earlier in the year, but had no intention of continuing for the full year. Now I am taking photos at a lower frequency, though I still would like to take a photo a day. I was thinking about writing today, and wondering how many f stops one can fit into a poem. Depth of focus is useful in poetry as well as photography. One can try to bring the entire image into view, or one can make the object of the poem/photograph in focus and the rest out of focus. Even in poems one needs to be aware of specular highlights and how to use them. Of course there are differences between the two art forms, but they are not so separate either.

My walk to school this morning (roughly two miles) was pleasant. My only complaint is that I was soaked by the time I arrived due to a high humidity. The air was moist, but the sun was shining, no clouds were interfering with the blueness, and it was perfectly calm.

My writing went well, I managed to get around six pages (handwritten), which might be squeezed down to half a page, so I am pleased with the effort. I also managed to get some work done on my syllabus for the fall course. I don't have long until I will be in full fall panic mode.

June 18

The weather is wonderful this morning. Clear, cool, dry, sunny, and calm. I went for a short walk this morning, and was amazed at how green it is. All the trees and all the undergrowth are full of green. I had a great walk.

I went to school Monday and picked up the text I will be teaching from this fall. I am going to have to spend some time looking at it and designing a course/assignments over the next month or so.

The weather is supposed to be nice for the next few days. I am thinking about making a trip somewhere while it remains great...Maybe tomorrow?

June 15

It has been quiet here the past week or so. The weather has been moderately warm, making it wiser to remain inside where it is slightly cooler. This morning is the coldest it has been in the last ten days or so, and what is even better, it is raining. I have been up far too long due to an urpy cat on my bed. No laying about when you hear that, especially when you washed your sheets just the day before.

My writing is going along ok lately. Some days I am pleased with my progress, some days it is not so good. Rather manic...

I have no interesting news, due to being stuck inside. I am missing my photo sprees, but hopefully I will get out this week at least once or twice.

June 6

It is five-thirty and the temperature is 77(feels like 79). Heat advisories are out, with the weather people threatening temps near 100 today. Definitely summer. I am sitting out back this morning, and it is pleasant, a slight breeze, noisy birds, no sun, and warm. The only negative is that our ac is not working well, the downstairs heats up, and that means the upstairs unit is unable to cope, so the upstairs heats up as well.

I have made some writing progress the past few days, the panic levels continue to ebb and surge, but at least I am making progress, a little.

Been quiet here the past few days, too hot to make long walks, and I am too lazy to think about other kinds of walks. Maybe next week?

June 4

Today was my mother's birthday, she would have been 88 today.It is also a nephew's birthday, so happy birthday to him as well. Mom used to say the wild roses were blooming on her birthday, and I do hope they are doing so again this year. Feels strange to talk about new blooms so late in the season. Soon the magnolia's will end their season and the crepe myrtle will take over. Rather exciting to always have something blooming here. Just recently our little morning glory that grows in the pot has begun to bloom, four blossoms in total so far. The rest of the plants are doing ok as well it is a green border on our back deck.

Today is a wonderful summer day. It is currently 80 (going to 95) but feels like 87 with humidity. People say it is the humidity that sucks, but I think that is what makes it great. Though I must admit I am glad I do not have to actually do hard labor out in the heat. It would be like working in the boiler rooms all the time. The plants seem to enjoy it though.

New photos from my trip to the arboretum are up (see June 2), and in an hour or so a new photo of the day should magically appear.

June 1

I should be writing, but I have some computer maintenance happening (moving last month's photos to back up drive)along with some photos uploading (check the link to the right) so I thought I would update my blog. It is a new month after all.

Last Tuesday I went down to the arboretum once again. The kinds of flowers that were blooming has changed once again, but there are a lot of them blooming still. There is a huge variety of trees on the site as well, and they have different shaped leaves, and different colored leaves, so even if flowers were not blooming, there would be a lot of interesting plants to ogle.

Other than that the week was quiet. I spent most of my days in my office pretending to work, while really just looking blankly at the screen much of the day. If there were paying jobs for looking blankly at monitors, I likely would be among the best and highly paid. And no, I was not surfing the internet, nor playing video games, just blankly staring at what little I managed to write in the latest Indesign document. My panic level rises with each passing day, only 60 some days left until I start my final term.

Not sure what I will do this week, other than sit and stare at my monitor some more. The forecast looks nice for the week, so I may wander off a bit, though I might not.

I think I will try opening an indd and see if I can get writing as all my morning photos are uploaded. Might be a bit slow yet, but probably fast enough for me.