Shadows In The Sky (151/365)

 
 
“A cloud cannot cast a shadow unless the sun is shining beyond it."

Unknown

TIME:  4:30 PM
PLACE:  The sky over the Little League Fields
SUBJECT: Cloud Shadows

Sometimes you look up and see something so beautiful, you catch your breath.  I did today when I saw these cloud shadows that appeared as we were watching StellaDella's T-ball game this afternoon.  I googled the Internet to find out the scientific explanation for these (I'm nerdy like that).  I learned that the shadows are due to a haze layer that is under the cloud.  The darker shadow is actually projecting below the cloud.  In the top picture you can also just make out another shadow that is due to a second haze layer that is lower than the first.  Way cool.

On a related cloud note...we returned to the movie theater to see "Up".  It was worth it.  I think my favorite part of the movie was in the beginning which told Carl's (the old man) and Ellie's (his wife) love story.  It opens up with Carl as a child in a movie theater watching a newsreel and how he met his wife "Ellie" that day.  Then the dialogue stops and the most sweetest montage begins and tells the story of their life together.  I cried for Carl when his wife passes away and he is left alone in the home they built together.  The emotion that Pixar placed into this opening sequence is amazing.  The remainder of the film is wonderful as well.  I highly recommend you all go and see it on the big screen.

A Series Of Inconvenient Events (150/365)

"If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you've got a problem.  Everything else is inconvenience." 

Robert Fulghum (American author & essayist, b1937)

TIME: 6:33 PM
PLACE: The back porch
SUBJECT: Fuchsia - Paula Jane 

We had some "issues" today.  First, we attempted to go see the movie "Up" at the 1:15pm matinee. After the previews, about 2 minutes into the Pixar short, "Partly Cloudy" the screen went dark and then the lights went up.  After about 10 minutes, an employee came on stage and announced that they were having technical issues and the movie should resume in about 5 minutes.  Twenty minutes later, we decided to come see it another day.  The theater did offer free refills on sodas and popcorn if you wanted to wait, as well as free movie passes.  We took the passes and will try again tomorrow.

As we were leaving the parking lot, HandsomeHusband noticed that the low tire pressure light was on in the Jeep.  So we stopped by the gas station so HH could check the tires.  He found the reason for the low pressure...a nail in the front driver's side tire.  It was 2:30pm and we went searching for a repair shop that was still open to get it fixed.  After driving by one that was closed and stopping by one that would have taken an hour and a half to fix the tire, we made it to a repair place that fixed it in about 20 minutes.  We made it back home about 3:15pm with 3 very cranky kids. 

I left soon after to go pick up some plants for the two urns at the bottom of my front porch.  I had planned to plant these fuchsias along with some Portulaca Sundial Fuchsia, Celosia New Look, Hypoestes and a Talinum Limon in the purple planter HH gave me.  However, I had left the petunias I planted last year in the pot over the winter and they ended up growing from the seeds and have completely filled in the container nicely.  So, I guess I will just have to go and buy another planter...I am pretty happy about the "free" petunias though!

No Rain On This Parade (149/365)

  
Skipper the Penguin:  "Just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave."

Madagascar (Tom McGrath, Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath-directos, 2005)

TIME:  8:37 PM
PLACE:  West Main Street
SUBJECT:  Shriners Parade

The Shriners Circus is in town and that means the annual Shriners Day Parade for our city.  HandsomeHusband, the kids and I have walked in this parade for many years (HH has walked longer than me and the kids).  We usually walk with our state representative and hand out Tootsie Rolls and beads.  This year, he was in session at the capital, so we represented our representative! (That just cracks me up!) The weather was beautiful for this evening's event.  The kids rode in a vintage car, MonkeyBoy in the passenger seat and DramaQueen and StellaDella in the rumble seat. HH and I walked and handed out the goodies.  (That white blob on the lower left corner of the photo is HH's shoulder and arm.  This was a night shot and I ended up performing a "vintage" Photoshop action from The Pioneer Woman on this picture).  This year HH remarked that it was the biggest crowd he had seen in all his years of participating in the parade.  I like walking in it, we get to see many, many people we know on the parade route.  After we finished (around 9:00pm) we went to a sushi bar for an after-parade meal.  SD and MB fell asleep at the table.  DQ fell asleep on the way home. 

Remembering Mom's Birthday (148/365)

 
"Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad."

Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), British poet. Remember (l. 9-14). . . The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti. Vol. 1. R. W. Crump, ed. (1979) Louisiana State University É Press.

TIME:  Unknown
PLACE:  Unknown
SUBJECT:  My mother, Ruth Ann

My mother was born on this date, May 28, in 1942.  She would have celebrated her 67th birthday today.  The above picture was taken when she was about 3 years old.  It's from a group shot of her and her siblings.  I just love the fabric of her handmade dress.  Can you see how the sides of her hair are different lengths?  Her older brother decided to play barber and gave her a haircut shortly before this photo was taken.  No wonder she looks a little unhappy!

Round & Round & Round She Goes (147/365)

 
"Each makes this cosmos and its construction the pivot of his emotional life, in order to find in this way peace and security which he can not find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience."

Albert Einstein (German born American Physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955)

TIME:  6:44 PM
PLACE: The alley
SUBJECT:  Storm sewer whirlpool

We had some sun most of the day, but late this afternoon, the rain moved back in.  MonkeyBoy's 6:00pm baseball game was canceled.  About 6:30pm we had a massive downpour with thunder and lightning.  It rained so much that it overtaxed our city's storm sewers and the alley behind our house temporarily flooded.  This is a rare occurrence, I think this has happened only about 4 or 5 times since I moved here in 1993.  This whirlpool appeared as the water was beginning to flow into the storm sewer.  I give credit to HandsomeHusband as he pointed out this photo opportunity to me...what a guy!

Who'll Stop the Rain? (146/365)

 
Western wind, when will thou blow
The small rain down can rain?
Christ, if my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again.

Unknown. Western Wind (l. 1-4). . . Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1918. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. (New ed., rev. and enl., 1939) Oxford University Press.

TIME: 12:41 PM
PLACE: The front sidewalk
SUBJECT:  Rain splashing in puddle

It rained.  It stopped.  The sun came out.  Storm clouds gathered.  It poured down rain.  It stopped.  The sun came out.  It grew overcast again.  The rain poured down.  It stopped.  The sun came out.  The sky clouded over.  It rained.  This process repeated all day long.

The good news is, our DSL service has been restored.  Free from diaaaaal-up at last!  Now I can start commenting again.

Memorial Day (145/365)

 
And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.

Joseph Drake (American poet, 1795-1820)

TIME: 2:49 PM
PLACE:  Walnut Hill Cemetery
SUBJECT:  Veteran's graves

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day that we stop, reflect and remember those who gave their lives for us so we may continue to enjoy all the freedoms of our country.  We as Americans, reap the benefits from the men and women in the military who have made the ultimate sacrifice.  I hope that this point is the overriding theme today, and that this day is not looked upon as just another holiday and three-day weekend.

I'd like to honor the men and women in the military, past and present for their service to our country.  You have given us a great gift of yourself, thank you.