Horatio

Good morning everyone. Father's Day is coming up. Are you ready? I am excited to celebrate Father's Day with my very special father.

When I was at Whole Foods yesterday, I was thinking of you. This poor girl must have been new, she was having a very hard time throwing a pizza. I went through my shopping and came back towards the pizza counter as she was taking one of her pizzas out of the oven. It was an oval. I stopped for a minute, and looked at her pizza, it was pretty strange looking. She will need a lot more practice in recognizing what a round pizza looks like.

Aaaahhhhh, the elusive perfect light. Yes, perfect light would be such a wonderful gift. Every morning for over three weeks, I was up early, waiting on the beach for a dramatic sunrise. Nothing. The following morning, I needed to be at the car service center, and as I am driving there, what an incredible sunrise. Gorgeous clouds, light rays and tons and tons of colour. It lasted but about four minutes, if that, and then if was behind the clouds. And... there was not even a chance for me to take an iPhone picture. LOL!!! That is always the way. Tossing a pizza... perhaps I need to come to your pizza place just to see you toss the pizza. LOL!!! Of course, it would be a bit of a drive, seeing as how I am out in Utah. But, the thought is fun. Aloe, keep lots and lots of aloe nearby. Running your arm, fingers, hands, under luke warm to cold water is the first step, that gets rid of the sting, and cools down the burn. Then apply the aloe. But, of course, you are in a health food store, so I am certain that you already know that bit of information. I clearly remember when I was cooking bacon on the grill and severely burnt my hand. OUCH!!!!! I ran my hand under water for almost an hour. Then I tore apart my aloe plant and glopped on the aloe. That did feel good. Herman is a semi-diurnal hamster. His sleep pattern is not normal. He wakes up around 07H00, then wants to be active for the next two to three hours. He gets a little ball time in the morning, and then just wants to hang out with us. I believe there is a little bit of human in him. I always worry that he will get dehydrated, so after about fifteen to twenty minutes, I place him back in his cage so that he can get a drink of water. MacKenzie is showing her personality. You and Sean are going through parent training. She is seeing just how far she can get you both to comply. LOL!!! You two are doing well in your roles. Now you know who is the boss in the house, and it certainly is not the two of you. The best way to discover new recipes is to have a lack of money and not be able to make the recipe as stated. What is great about Florida, is that I had container gardens. I used the seeds to create new plants. For example, I love tomatoes, and I started with the seeds from one tomato, and threw them into a container, then this grew into a large number of tomatoes. And banana trees are wonderful producers of fruit, but you do not want to plant them in the ground, as you will have a banana over run. They are such prolific reproduction specialists, that you will be able to supply all the banana growers with what you find in your backyard. We started with one and ended up with over one hundred. Then I had to have them cut back until I only had about five. We then expanded our varieties introducing apple bananas, red bananas, and a few others. Now the banana grove is getting too large again and is time to be cut back. We have avocados, papayas, citrus trees, and a variety of other wonderful foods. I just love having a year round growing season. The park... oh, I was borderline overwhelmed. There were so many buses, so many people and when they got off the bus, it was like a swarm of fast moving bees. Hopefully you were already in the spot, before the bus pulled up. An example, I had my tripod next to my friend's tripod, and I was bending down to change lenses. As I did this, a lady picked up my tripod and attempted to move it. But I was bending over between the legs of the tripod, so she could not move it far. And... there was lots of space for her to go to another spot to take a picture. I guess that she thought our view was better than other spots. Anyway, we stood our ground and asked that she photograph in another spot. LOL!!! Part of fall, winter and part of spring are the only dates I want to be in the park. Time... I always had something on the back burner, as other priorities got into the way. It is so interesting how you have time for some things, then all of a sudden your priorities change, such as with MacKenzie. Finding time is the biggest challenge. Hopefully you will find some time, as you are a very talented writer. But... it will come when it is supposed to arrive in your life. Later this week, I am heading for some hundred year old ghost towns to take some pictures. There is weather approaching, let us hope that it is almost gone, or at least it gives us some phenomenal sunrises and sunsets. That about covers everything. Take care and please stay in touch.

This is the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls, in Yosemite National Park.

A Pine Martin, who resides just outside Yellowstone Park. Poor little guy is in need of some dental work.

This was a rock along the California Coast. It reminded me of a horse head that would be drawn by Picasso.

Hellooooo Topazia! MacKenzie is crawling and Herman found out what the ball could do last night. He was cruising around at such high rates of speeds, that we needed to put up bumpers along the walls to keep him from an abrupt stop. LOL!!! We left him alone the first day and night at the house, to get accustomed to his new surroundings. So, when he was introduced to the ball... he just loved it. We had to watch the time so that he would not dehydrate. We placed Herman back into his cage, he drank a load of water and then got into the wheel. So, we placed him back into the ball for a little bit and he raced around some more. Not wanting to tire him out, we only permitted him a short amount of time the second adventure into the ball. Now that is an interesting mac and cheese creation. My "skinny" mac and cheese version is as follows. Take the powder and place it into a bowl. Add a little water, stirring. Keep adding little bits of water until it is all mixed. You do not want to add too much water, just enough until it is blended and a little creamy looking. Then add your macaroni. This eliminates the butter and milk. Yosemite was terrific until the multitudes of busses arrived with a zillion tourists on each bus. After the busses unloaded, the Yosemite Valley became overwhelmed with people. Too many people in such a small location. Overall, the park is big, but everyone wants to view the Valley sights, and that becomes difficult. So many people, in such a small amount of space. Consequently, I am avoiding the Yosemite Valley until the fall or winter. The same goes for Yellowstone. Only the winter and perhaps a little bit of the fall and the spring. The majority of people really do not enjoy the park in minus twenty degree weather, so that is when I go to the park. Besides, the buffalo look so much more interesting with snow all over their faces. The push around the snow to find the grasses, hence their faces are covered with snow. Little MacKenzie is really doing well. How are the parents doing? LOL!!! I am sure that she has you running and keeping up with her. It seems like only yesterday when you gave us the news of her birth. Pretty soon she will learn the word NO! I can not wait until we hear your stories of her terrible twos. Wonderful news that you have changed jobs. I am thrilled! Now we have our resident health foods expert. Terrific. I believe this is a much better place for you, than working for a company that does not appreciate it's employees. How is the writing progressing? Are you still working on your novel? I can not imagine that you have much spare time, with life, work, home and little MacKenzie. Well, next week I am off to a couple ghost towns in Nevada. It would be terrific to be able to take good photographs of some of the life that was living in these towns over one hundred years ago. More on that later.

Hellllllooooooo everybody. We have a new member to the family. Herman, a beautiful grey hamster with black eyes. Oh, is he gorgeous. Herman was born 07 March 2017. Pictures to follow. But first, Herman has to have a day to himself to adjust to his new home.

Did everyone enjoy Earth Day yesterday? Who participated in the March for Science? We planted two trees yesterday. It will be exciting to see them grow. So, now I am off for Yosemite.

Well, another adventure into Yosemite awaits. At least two weeks of wandering around the park and seeing what I can photograph. Wish me luck.

HAPPY PASSOVER AND HAPPY EASTER

Very sad news today... Hajar, the sister of Hafden, passed away. We hope miss her now and will miss her forever, but know she will rest in peace.

Happy Monday. I am building a play area for my hamster friends. It is far more interesting than I thought it would be. As soon as it is finished, I will post a picture of it.

For the past week, we have had spectacular sunsets. But, I have been waiting for the spectacular sunrises. Certainly, if I decide to sleep in and photograph the sunset, that sunrise will be the one I have been waiting for.

WHOA!!!!! MacKenzie singing to herself, that is outstanding. You need to attach a little audio file. LOL!!!

Okay... now for me. I have been wandering around taking photographs, from Death Valley, Yosemite, Yellowstone, back to Death Valley (my favourite place), to Point Lobos State Park and the areas around the California coast, and then back to Zion National Park. And, very sad... for perhaps a long time, months, there is forty plus miles of California Highway 1, that is closed. This is due to the landslides and erosion around and underneath the road. It is closed from The Bixby Bridge to Ragged Pointe. Now I am back in Utah, wandering around, finding new things to take photographs of.

WOW!!! You are living in Manhattan! Very nice!!! Good luck on your triathlon. I am thrilled that you have a great company to work for. What is your job? As for Japan, I told you that Japan was outstanding. Yes, after being in Japan, China is very disappointing.

It is my fault that things have been dead.. I have had no cellular service and this is frustrating. MacKenzie is getting so big, so beautiful, and those two teeth... what do you need knuckles for anyway?

Oh! Guess I've missed a lot! CONGRATS Topazia! She's beautiful. TBFOF... welcome back. I have been out of internet and cellular service touch for a long time. I am taking pictures around the west, and there is something I see on my telephone all too often... "No Service". Thank you for your comments on my photographs. I know you are a terrific photographer, so I appreciate your input.

Well... the day is here. The new President will be inaugurated today. Let us hope the next four years are positive.

Leguan... welcome back! I am sorry to hear that you have to cancel your skiing holiday. But, the good news is that you will have the quality management qualification behind you. If I remember correctly, you were working on your doctorate. Did you complete the doctorate program? I hope so. Is there one industry over an other that you would prefer? Would you please keep us up to date with you and your job search? The ice... oh we know that well here in the U.S.A.. There was a monster storm that traveled across the country, leaving lots of snow and ice in it's wake. There were so many accidents everywhere. It was terrible. In some cities, there was the same problem that you encountered, the ice on the sidewalks made walking almost impossible and the roads were even worse. Roads were ice skating rinks for vehicles. At least you are back home, safe and sound. There are lots of new things happening. Topazia now has a daughter and Jesusfreak has gotten married. - Kat -, has a job that she has been at for over one year, and she seems to really enjoy it. As for me, it is the same old stuff. We are getting rid of the condominium in Tennessee and buying a place in Utah. You are always welcome to come out for a visit. We should have a couple extra bedrooms. That about covers everything here. I hope you will come back and visit soon! Horatio

How is the New Year going for everyone? For me, we have had cold, cold, cold weather and snow. Lots of snow. The snow, for now, is beautiful and crunchy. Time to head out and see if I can take some photographs whilst the snow is gorgeous.

Happy New Year everybody!!! May you all have a year filled with good health, happiness, peace, prosperity and lots and lots of love.

I was speaking with a lady at Barnes and Noble, and she said that the Fantasy art takes seven years and is some of the most beautiful she has seen.

A medley of Christmas music.