Tomatoes for the picking

These are the ripe tomatoes that I can see outside the kitchen window over the breakfast booth. You can just reach out and pick one. The view below is the outside view of the same window which is hardly visible behind the tall tomato vines. For perspective the gutter rim is about 11 and half feet from the ground which means the tallest vines are over 14 feet. The bottom of the window is about 7 feet from the ground. Also visible in the photo below are the pepper plants to the left of the tomato vines and a 24 foot ladder laying behind the vines.

Mammoths

My Mammoth sunflowers are. The red arrow is at the 9 foot mark and they are about 3 feet taller than that. My tomatoes pictured below are not too shabby either. The one is over 10 feet and about to grow into the gutter.

40 Years Ago

We were in Oshkosh, Wisc forty years ago. The time sure flies.

Five Years w/o a Camel

It's been five years today since I smoked. I have thought about it almost everyday since then. Smoking was one of the most pleasurable things I can ever remember. It seems that life is missing something without it. A nurse recently told me that it takes 10 years to get past the craving. I don't think I ever will.

Midsummer

The sun is shining, the sunflowers are blooming and the bees are busy. By all the signs, it has to be midsummer. Today the glass is at least half full.

Skunk 2009

With these longer days, I noticed that Mr Skunk was back to his early morning foraging habits. I had smelled him in the early mornings, but this is the first time I caught him digging up grubs. I don't know whether I should try to trap him or just keep throwing out moth bolls to keep him from burrowing under the garage and making a home again. I guess we will try the "live and let live" theory in the near term until he becomes a real odiferous pest.

Summer Solstice

Today is a double holiday. First, it's the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. This has been celebrated for thousands of years in places like Stonehenge (see video above) and all around the world. Secondly, it is Father's Day. I always celebrate by going back to the pond and paying homage to the blue green algae. The Star Trek video below makes the same point.