I had a different one-liner planned for today. I even had it written. Then I saw this cartoon on Sunday. I don’t normally read A Family Circus, but I was drawn to this cartoon by one element in the image. I’ve cropped the cartoon, but the family has gone on vacation to the Grand Canyon. After traveling and hiking with our daughter Faith (and her various photography gear) on many occasions, I look this cartoon and I only have one thought,
“He’s standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon and he doesn’t have the camera strap around his neck!”
“Can I help you?” gave me my morning laugh — thank you! Beautiful shots of birds and butterfly; I’m beginning to think they all pose for you. The flooding looks bad, but that apple seems very content with the rain. Congratulations on the fence!
MiMi’s expressions say so much. She’s such a sweetie (really, she is). The flooding was minor for that park, but bad enough to have it closed I parked on the road atop to levy. I’m glad you liked the pictures.
The park is designed to flood, to take the pressure off other places. It seemed to work this time. There was very little flooding that impacted homes or businesses. I’m not sure it was our wettest July, but it was in the top three.
Wow! That’s a lot of flooding! Hope no damage was done.
The expression on the squirrel’s face begging for peanuts is priceless. Of course, it’s probably the same expression he’d have after he snuck into your attic and was busy destroying everything in it!
Maddie looks so prim and proper today. So fitting for a queen! Privacy fence really looks nice. Attractive and functional….what’s not to like? Great shots of the Monarch, Starling and Bluejay.
Really humid this morning. Hard to breathe because air feels ‘heavy’.
Your cartoon illustrates how foolish people are when they don’t take a few seconds to secure their safety and the safety of their belongings……not to mention little kids that no one’s paying attention to!
Ginger
I’ve seen that park when the water is halfway up the level wall. It’s designed to flood, even the trash cans are designed to not float away and to drain after the water level drops. It’s weird to see it in this state, when it looks like a chain of islands.
When m=Maddie ascends her throne, she does seem like she’s in charge of the yard. I guess I should be honored to have an audience.
We are about to go for our walk. I hope I can breathe. I hope you have a great day, Ginger, thanks for starting it here.
*River waves hello to the bunny” And after hearing the recent stories about people falling into the canyon while taking selfies…. losing a camera seems mild by comparison.
My daughter used to make me put the strap around my neck even if I was only taking one picture of her. You’re right, camera vs. 2 or 3 children is no contest.
Hi Dan – Ooh did we get wet paws? – that’s lots of overflow, which you’ve explained … begging squirrels? Ever hoping Maddie … while summer is ebbing away. I do hope Faith has never dropped something very relevant over a gorge edge?! Great cartoon … cheers Hilary
Ha ha … I wondered about the kids climbing over the fence! She’s probably got her idea right for her – though for you I suspect and am sure the camera would be left to fall and you’d be clinging on to Faith! Cheers H
Thanks Maggie. In a while, I’ll be able to share what I admire about your writing, I just snagged your book! I moved it into the next slot in the to-be-read pattern. I’m looking forward to it.
A few months ago I trashed a camera by dropping in on a stone step. Fortunately it wasn’t the expensive one. It didn’t have a neck strap just a wrist strap – which of course was just flapping about in the breeze at the time!. Stone step or Grand Canyon the end result is the same though with the latter there would have been a lot more bits!
Yikes – I’m sorry to hear that. Wrist straps can cause problems. I dropped my camera. I had the wrist strap on, but that caused it to swing into the side of something heavy. It dented the auto lens cap bit. Usable, but it sticks sometimes.
I hiked up the Upper Yosemite Trail one birthday in my last decade with He-Man along too. We stopped at a lookout stop along the trail b/c I wanted to make a picture of the falls from up there, and while I had my harness on for my camera I just had an expensive pair of sunglasses hooked through a ring on my harness and while attaching my camera to my harness my sunglasses went right over the railing and down they fell 100’s of feet below. My first thought was, “Thank God I had my camera attached to my harness”!! Second thought…” I’m gonna miss those sunglasses forever’!! I do.
The Monarch looks beautiful, and the squirrel begging is so adorable! You’ve had some rain!! I hope the river recedes soon, and the clean up isn’t too hard to do so you can enjoy the park some before winter.
I Was so worried as I was reading your comment, Deborah. I understand the pain of losing nice sunglasses, but at least it wasn’t your camera.
The Monarchs have been here for about a week. They don’t seem to slow down very often. I hope I can get some more pictures. I suspect the park is open again. They tend to clean it quickly when the boat ramp is open. I will try and visit again next week.
At least it wasn’t my camera! I did have one topple over tripod and all into Tenaya Lake once. Thankfully, I was quick and got it out before it submerged and it never stopped working! I love weather sealing!!
That was lucky. Our daughter fell while hiking. Her camera was strapped in but it hit a rock. The lens broke off. She had insurance, it was replaced but she had to pay extra to get the latest model as hers was no longer being made.
Look at that flooding. We had rain, but ours was nothing like yours. As for the Grand Canyon, I’ve been there and refused to go anywhere near an edge of it. That place is overwhelmingly huge. It scared me more than awed me.
I’m guessing the flooding was worse than that , Ally. I was there a couple days after it stopped raining. Still, the park is designed to flood, and they clean it up fast. I’ve not been to the canyon. I would like to go at some point.
It would be a shame to see the camera take a rolling tumble to the bottom of the canyon only to land on an unsuspecting burro. Great photos, Dan. Loved the monarch.
THANK YOU! I would have thought the same thing. My strap is always in ‘secure’ position since we lived in Costa Rica. Hubs would have a meltdown if I didn’t do it quickly enough. Even handheld the strap is triple wrapped around my arm. Lol
When, oh when, will that apple be ready to eat? Perhaps you could have a paddle through the park instead of a walk? 😉
Those privacy slats look great. The Monarch is lovely. I onow it’s wicked, but I’d kind of like to see a fight between a bird and a squirrel for a nut. 🤭
Poor neglected, nonchalant kitty. ❤️
We’ve seen the battle for the peanuts, Cheryl. The Blue Jays swoop and steal as the squirrels are running to the peanut. They veer off if the squirrels get too close. I’ve never seen them dust it up. I think they all know there are more peanuts. The squirrels sometime get a pathetic look on their little faces :(
Wow… you have had quite a deluge. Better keep your camera or phone on a neck strap or wristlet so it doesn’t fall into the water.
Dan, that’s a lovely portrait of Maddie. The caption for MiMi is spot-on. That apple is absolutely beautiful — really a fabulous photo. But my favorite is MuMu — which cracked me up. Hugs on the wing!
I think I’m getting pretty good at understanding the cats, Teagan. They have a language of expressions. I try telling MuMu that I’ll brush more but that I need pictures. She’s camera shy. The pictures are from the end of July – that was one seriously wet month. I keep my camera tethered to me in some way. My phone is a different story, but…
Wait a minute–today is One-Line Wednesday! Dan should be here! Not in my Inbox. Not in my Reader. And I am not even following! &$@#@( WordPress!!! I read every single comic–even Sally Forth, which has got to be one of the worst. Don’t even ask why… 🤣 Your fence looks great–well worth the sweat equity you put into it. Maddie or the squirrel–not sure which photo is the cutest. Both are adorable. Tell those HE’s to get on the stick!!
What a great one-liner! I hadn’t noticed the strap until you pointed it out, Dan, but you are absolutely correct! Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and not taking that precaution would be crazy. 🙂 And your photos are splendid, as always.
Two quick thoughts here: 1) I should have a strap for my cell phone when I’m taking photos from the edge of a bridge. 2) You have chubby squirrels. I wonder why?
I use my cell phone as my camera, but a strap to attach it to my body would be great. I had to get a rubber-tire of a case since I drop it so frequently. And great pics of the wild, and no so wild, life around your place, Dan. You could have sent some of that July rain west. :-D
I imagine more than just a few cameras (and now cell phones) have tumbled over the sides of the Grand Canyon. I guess some people have too as they were posing for the perfect Instagram photo. That flooding is amazing. Too bad we can’t just tip the globe slightly to send some of that water to our side of the country.
Not only is the dad at the Grand Canyon without the camera strap around his neck but there are lively children afoot! Your camera certainly is working well! We’ve had a lot of rain and monarchs here, too. The butterlies must be good at hiding during from storms.
The fence is looking good. Hope Maddie is happy with it. I was able to scroll through the photos – yeah. I didn’t get the post in email and had to remember to visit. Got to love WordPress. :-)
Thanks got finding me, Judy. We are surprised by how good the fence looks. Of course we realized that we have a huge bare spot (our eyes were drawn into the neighbor’s yard before) so we planted two white rhododendrons.
You caught that ‘no camera strap’ in the cartoon! Way to go, Dan. Of course it was a perfect one-liner. Your photo gallery is delightful, especially the monarch. How do you like the privacy fence?
We had tornado warnings and alerts going off on our phones all day. Fortunately we had nothing worse than a downpour. More rain- just what we both don’t need. I wish we could ship it to the wildfires out west.
The privacy slats are really nice. We got them to keep our dog calm in case new neighbors (coming next month) have a dog. We were surprised how much better our yard looks now that our view doesn’t drift into the yard next to us.
We had almost 4″ of rain this morning, between 6:00 am and 9:00 am!
I used to love A Family Circus comic strip. But yeah the camera strap needs to be on his neck. The privacy fence looks nice. Pretty flowers. Bad flooding.
Forget the camera, they took small, bouncy, often errant children to the grand canyon! I’m so glad they’re only drawn LOL
That’s a lot of water, even at the edge of a river. We’ve had a dry summer and are glad to see the recent rains.
Your marigolds really look great!
Exactly why I’m glad they were drawn. Billy can’t even walk home from school without making a long, curly dotted line – – – – – – – – he’s not to be trusted!
Looks like the south is next for storms :/
No Facilities 
“Can I help you?” gave me my morning laugh — thank you! Beautiful shots of birds and butterfly; I’m beginning to think they all pose for you. The flooding looks bad, but that apple seems very content with the rain. Congratulations on the fence!
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MiMi’s expressions say so much. She’s such a sweetie (really, she is). The flooding was minor for that park, but bad enough to have it closed I parked on the road atop to levy. I’m glad you liked the pictures.
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July was certainly one of the wettest months I can remember in a while, but then I see the results of your flooding and realize we got off easy!!
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The park is designed to flood, to take the pressure off other places. It seemed to work this time. There was very little flooding that impacted homes or businesses. I’m not sure it was our wettest July, but it was in the top three.
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Wow! That’s a lot of flooding! Hope no damage was done.
The expression on the squirrel’s face begging for peanuts is priceless. Of course, it’s probably the same expression he’d have after he snuck into your attic and was busy destroying everything in it!
Maddie looks so prim and proper today. So fitting for a queen! Privacy fence really looks nice. Attractive and functional….what’s not to like? Great shots of the Monarch, Starling and Bluejay.
Really humid this morning. Hard to breathe because air feels ‘heavy’.
Your cartoon illustrates how foolish people are when they don’t take a few seconds to secure their safety and the safety of their belongings……not to mention little kids that no one’s paying attention to!
Ginger
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I’ve seen that park when the water is halfway up the level wall. It’s designed to flood, even the trash cans are designed to not float away and to drain after the water level drops. It’s weird to see it in this state, when it looks like a chain of islands.
When m=Maddie ascends her throne, she does seem like she’s in charge of the yard. I guess I should be honored to have an audience.
We are about to go for our walk. I hope I can breathe. I hope you have a great day, Ginger, thanks for starting it here.
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*River waves hello to the bunny” And after hearing the recent stories about people falling into the canyon while taking selfies…. losing a camera seems mild by comparison.
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My daughter used to make me put the strap around my neck even if I was only taking one picture of her. You’re right, camera vs. 2 or 3 children is no contest.
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Hi Dan – Ooh did we get wet paws? – that’s lots of overflow, which you’ve explained … begging squirrels? Ever hoping Maddie … while summer is ebbing away. I do hope Faith has never dropped something very relevant over a gorge edge?! Great cartoon … cheers Hilary
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Hi Hilary. Faith has been known to say “if I start to fall, save the camera!” Of course we’d try to save her, but…
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Ha ha … I wondered about the kids climbing over the fence! She’s probably got her idea right for her – though for you I suspect and am sure the camera would be left to fall and you’d be clinging on to Faith! Cheers H
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Big smiles from me!
Attention to detail! That’s one of the things I admire about you and your writing, Dan!
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Thanks Maggie. In a while, I’ll be able to share what I admire about your writing, I just snagged your book! I moved it into the next slot in the to-be-read pattern. I’m looking forward to it.
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Bigger grins from me, Dan. Thank you!
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You’re welcome!
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I have a couple of granddaughters who always want to take a picture. After the strap goes on you can take a picture…
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I know that instruction well, John.
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A few months ago I trashed a camera by dropping in on a stone step. Fortunately it wasn’t the expensive one. It didn’t have a neck strap just a wrist strap – which of course was just flapping about in the breeze at the time!. Stone step or Grand Canyon the end result is the same though with the latter there would have been a lot more bits!
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Yikes – I’m sorry to hear that. Wrist straps can cause problems. I dropped my camera. I had the wrist strap on, but that caused it to swing into the side of something heavy. It dented the auto lens cap bit. Usable, but it sticks sometimes.
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Forget the camera! Kids climb fences, put those kids on leashes! Unless of course you’re downsizing.
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“Unless you’re downsizing” – HA! I love that, Pam.
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I hiked up the Upper Yosemite Trail one birthday in my last decade with He-Man along too. We stopped at a lookout stop along the trail b/c I wanted to make a picture of the falls from up there, and while I had my harness on for my camera I just had an expensive pair of sunglasses hooked through a ring on my harness and while attaching my camera to my harness my sunglasses went right over the railing and down they fell 100’s of feet below. My first thought was, “Thank God I had my camera attached to my harness”!! Second thought…” I’m gonna miss those sunglasses forever’!! I do.
The Monarch looks beautiful, and the squirrel begging is so adorable! You’ve had some rain!! I hope the river recedes soon, and the clean up isn’t too hard to do so you can enjoy the park some before winter.
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I Was so worried as I was reading your comment, Deborah. I understand the pain of losing nice sunglasses, but at least it wasn’t your camera.
The Monarchs have been here for about a week. They don’t seem to slow down very often. I hope I can get some more pictures. I suspect the park is open again. They tend to clean it quickly when the boat ramp is open. I will try and visit again next week.
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At least it wasn’t my camera! I did have one topple over tripod and all into Tenaya Lake once. Thankfully, I was quick and got it out before it submerged and it never stopped working! I love weather sealing!!
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That was lucky. Our daughter fell while hiking. Her camera was strapped in but it hit a rock. The lens broke off. She had insurance, it was replaced but she had to pay extra to get the latest model as hers was no longer being made.
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What a bummer! I’m glad she has her gear insured though!
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This was several years ago but it was a sad day.
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I can imagine! 😭
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Look at that flooding. We had rain, but ours was nothing like yours. As for the Grand Canyon, I’ve been there and refused to go anywhere near an edge of it. That place is overwhelmingly huge. It scared me more than awed me.
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I’m guessing the flooding was worse than that , Ally. I was there a couple days after it stopped raining. Still, the park is designed to flood, and they clean it up fast. I’ve not been to the canyon. I would like to go at some point.
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It would be a shame to see the camera take a rolling tumble to the bottom of the canyon only to land on an unsuspecting burro. Great photos, Dan. Loved the monarch.
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Thanks John. I would imagine more than a few cameras and phones take that tumble each year.
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I wonder who collects them.
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THANK YOU! I would have thought the same thing. My strap is always in ‘secure’ position since we lived in Costa Rica. Hubs would have a meltdown if I didn’t do it quickly enough. Even handheld the strap is triple wrapped around my arm. Lol
When, oh when, will that apple be ready to eat? Perhaps you could have a paddle through the park instead of a walk? 😉
Those privacy slats look great. The Monarch is lovely. I onow it’s wicked, but I’d kind of like to see a fight between a bird and a squirrel for a nut. 🤭
Poor neglected, nonchalant kitty. ❤️
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We’ve seen the battle for the peanuts, Cheryl. The Blue Jays swoop and steal as the squirrels are running to the peanut. They veer off if the squirrels get too close. I’ve never seen them dust it up. I think they all know there are more peanuts. The squirrels sometime get a pathetic look on their little faces :(
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Yes, I think they practice that look. Lol
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Wow… you have had quite a deluge. Better keep your camera or phone on a neck strap or wristlet so it doesn’t fall into the water.
Dan, that’s a lovely portrait of Maddie. The caption for MiMi is spot-on. That apple is absolutely beautiful — really a fabulous photo. But my favorite is MuMu — which cracked me up. Hugs on the wing!
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I think I’m getting pretty good at understanding the cats, Teagan. They have a language of expressions. I try telling MuMu that I’ll brush more but that I need pictures. She’s camera shy. The pictures are from the end of July – that was one seriously wet month. I keep my camera tethered to me in some way. My phone is a different story, but…
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Wait a minute–today is One-Line Wednesday! Dan should be here! Not in my Inbox. Not in my Reader. And I am not even following! &$@#@( WordPress!!! I read every single comic–even Sally Forth, which has got to be one of the worst. Don’t even ask why… 🤣 Your fence looks great–well worth the sweat equity you put into it. Maddie or the squirrel–not sure which photo is the cutest. Both are adorable. Tell those HE’s to get on the stick!!
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I will pass your comment along, Lois. Thanks for hunting for me.
The sweat equity in that fence was heavy on sweat – it was miserably hot and humid last week. Still humid but not as hot.
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What a great one-liner! I hadn’t noticed the strap until you pointed it out, Dan, but you are absolutely correct! Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and not taking that precaution would be crazy. 🙂 And your photos are splendid, as always.
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Thanks Gwen. I’ve been well trained by our daughter and her mom.
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If you guys are coming outside brought back memories of our squirrels!!
Loved that cartoon up top!!
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Thanks, GP. It’s amazing how bold they get. I’ve noticed that they are starting to bury some peanuts.
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Does that mean winter is close? Can’t be….
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I f do not think winter is close but I wouldn’t mine an early extended fall.
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Two quick thoughts here: 1) I should have a strap for my cell phone when I’m taking photos from the edge of a bridge. 2) You have chubby squirrels. I wonder why?
Hope your Wednesday has been a good one, Dan!
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Ha. We have a few chubs. We also have a few skinny squirrels. I have come so close to losing my phone. I hope you’re having a good week, Mary.
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The week has been busy but good!
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Busy by choice, I hope.
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Yup!
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I use my cell phone as my camera, but a strap to attach it to my body would be great. I had to get a rubber-tire of a case since I drop it so frequently. And great pics of the wild, and no so wild, life around your place, Dan. You could have sent some of that July rain west. :-D
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I wish I could have sent that rain west. I also have to have a serious phone case.
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Lol. If I drop my phone, it bounces. But no strap.
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I imagine more than just a few cameras (and now cell phones) have tumbled over the sides of the Grand Canyon. I guess some people have too as they were posing for the perfect Instagram photo. That flooding is amazing. Too bad we can’t just tip the globe slightly to send some of that water to our side of the country.
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I wish we could send some your way.
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Not only is the dad at the Grand Canyon without the camera strap around his neck but there are lively children afoot! Your camera certainly is working well! We’ve had a lot of rain and monarchs here, too. The butterlies must be good at hiding during from storms.
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The fence is looking good. Hope Maddie is happy with it. I was able to scroll through the photos – yeah. I didn’t get the post in email and had to remember to visit. Got to love WordPress. :-)
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Thanks got finding me, Judy. We are surprised by how good the fence looks. Of course we realized that we have a huge bare spot (our eyes were drawn into the neighbor’s yard before) so we planted two white rhododendrons.
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You certainly have had a lot of rain, Dan. An interesting cartoon and one liner.
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Thanks Robbie. We had more rain today. About 4″ (9cm) in less than 3 hours.
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I wish we would get some rain. We’ve had none since early June.
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Oh my. Any extreme is bad. We’ve had a lot of rain, but, so far, we’ve had time in between to let the water drain away.
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Love the one-liner!
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Thanks!
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You caught that ‘no camera strap’ in the cartoon! Way to go, Dan. Of course it was a perfect one-liner. Your photo gallery is delightful, especially the monarch. How do you like the privacy fence?
We had tornado warnings and alerts going off on our phones all day. Fortunately we had nothing worse than a downpour. More rain- just what we both don’t need. I wish we could ship it to the wildfires out west.
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Thanks Jennie.
The privacy slats are really nice. We got them to keep our dog calm in case new neighbors (coming next month) have a dog. We were surprised how much better our yard looks now that our view doesn’t drift into the yard next to us.
We had almost 4″ of rain this morning, between 6:00 am and 9:00 am!
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I’m so glad you like how the fence turned out, and your view. I’ll be thinking of you when the hurricane heads our way on Monday!
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Thanks Jennie. We’re keeping an eye on the storm.
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We are, too.
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A late response: amazing image of that butterfly! Expected a view of the Grand Canon:)
Emille
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Haha – Alas, I have not been.
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I used to love A Family Circus comic strip. But yeah the camera strap needs to be on his neck. The privacy fence looks nice. Pretty flowers. Bad flooding.
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Thanks. The strap has saved my camera too many times to ignore it.
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Ha, can’t read about Family Circus without thinking about this bit from David Letterman back in the ’80s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt5W_hyiKbA
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That’s good, Paul. I had never seen that.
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Forget the camera, they took small, bouncy, often errant children to the grand canyon! I’m so glad they’re only drawn LOL
That’s a lot of water, even at the edge of a river. We’ve had a dry summer and are glad to see the recent rains.
Your marigolds really look great!
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Throughout that series, those kids were drawn wandering around on their own.
We have had a very wet summer. July was among the wettest three in history, and we got smacked with three heavy storms in 10 days this month.
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Exactly why I’m glad they were drawn. Billy can’t even walk home from school without making a long, curly dotted line – – – – – – – – he’s not to be trusted!
Looks like the south is next for storms :/
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Haha.
I f’ing wish the storms on anyone, except maybe California.
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