WWC #91: 6 and “look up”

It’s Tuesday, and that means it is time for the Weekly Words Challenge.
Tink gave us the number 6 and the phrase “look up” for this week’s submissions.

There are 6 people playing in the surf & sand of the Pacific Ocean. Now look up and see the birds in flight!

[Yes, this IS one of those desperate “look up” what is in my archives to find ANYTHING that might work for the theme kind of days weeks. All 3 of these photographs are from a camping trip to Cape Disappointment on the Washington coast back in 2006.]

Since I was overwhelmed last week (and this week is different?!??!?) here is “C” and Wood:

Catching some Zzzzz’s while camping

Wood: some dead, some alive

Be sure to check out Tink’s blog for her pictures. Many who post comments there are also WWC posters, and here is a list of regular participants.

Zipping by to say “hi”

I’ve been trying to keep up with my feeds in Flock, but it’s a little bit like trying to pick apples while on a moving train. At some point I will either catch up or be so behind that I give up entirely! At any rate, reading what YOU have to say has been more interesting than trying to come up with something worthwhile on my own. And then I see that The Bag Lady (who has a very busy life on the ranch) has posted again and I feel a smidgen of guilt.

So, a few tidbits before the weekend:

1. new (used) car …aka, Tysons ’til 11pm
2. once-and-future king wisdom teeth
3. girls’ movie night
4. work camp weekend
5. a lifeguarding gig that doesn’t pay

Oooh, look — I can call that a Friday 5 post. 😀

Gotta run…

WWC #90: “C” and Wood, part 1

As I was trekking along a small (okay, teeny-tiny 2 mile) portion of the Appalachian Trail on Sunday, it occurred to me that I had forgotten what the words were for this week’s WWC. In the past week, I’ve also parented 4 children who had their last day of the school year, attended a handful of meetings, helped out with the after-grad party, stumbled through Father’s Day, and I’m still busy editing the church newsletter.   I also just found a small yellow plastic Easter Egg on the computer desk! Please don’t call me organized.

The Weekly Words Challenge is a fun photo meme. You get an entire week to find and photograph things as you interpret the given words.

Tink is our fearless leader (check her blog for next week’s words), and here is a list of regular participants.

I’ll be back soon-ish with my own submission, but first I’ve got to get that newsletter finished.

Happy Trails

Yesterday was Father’s Day (which you were already aware of, even if you live under a rock). SuperDad wanted to hike a section of the Appalachian Trail near us.

SuperDad with MusicMan, Encyclopedia Blue, and SnakeMaster

I left these 4 at the end of a steep, narrow, gravel road to start their hike. Don’t let the looks on the faces of those red-shirted boys fool you. They were happy to begin hiking — they just don’t like posing for pictures. SuperDad actually hoped it would rain because it hasn’t rained enough around here lately. Humorous-Juniorous and I drove to our usual hop-on point of the A.T. with the plan of meeting them halfway.

It was enjoyable to hike with H-J because he didn’t mind my stopping to take pictures, which makes him just about the perfect hiking buddy!
I took the following group of pictures for this week’s GREEN theme over at Carmi’s Thematic Photographic.

Because I had paused to take a 15 minute nap and wrap up SuperDad’s Father’s Day gift, his hiking group had a 90 minute head-start on us, but H-J and I still managed to meet them at the rock cropping overlook a couple of miles away from where we parked.

Happy Father’s Day to SuperDad

rock steady

In the interests of gender equality in my musical tastes, today’s video is of BarlowGirl

If you were a rock, where would you live?  What kind of rock would you be?

Super Power

My friend Harry said he was surprised that I liked Rush (**the BAND, people!!**). Obviously, I have been remiss in showing my rocker side, so here’s a little Kutless for you (sorry, I had trouble finding a good video with my favorite songs).

If you could choose one superpower, what would it be?

WWC #89: “A” and favorite song

Tink has stretched the boundaries of the game, since neither the letter “A” nor “favorite song” is a word, but no matter… the Weekly Words Challenge isn’t about rules — it’s all about

cre-A-tivity!

A is for Apple

A is also for Anniversary flowers

And A is for Arachnid

Hear that squealing? It’s the sound of several bloggers who just saw that last picture. Heh. 😀

So, on to FAVORITE SONG…

I recently posted a few lines from each song on an entire CD that I like (well, all the songs with lyrics, that is); you could head over here if you missed it. It also contains my ROAD photo for Carmi’s Thematic Photographic.

But for those who already knew I was a lover of classic rock, allow me to shift some paradigms:

Moon

River

What? You thought I didn’t appreciate the crooning romantic Andy Williams? Of course I do! Sheesh.

Tune in tomorrow when I mess with your brain again!

**I know the moon shot isn’t that great, but it was the best I could do with my Nikon coolpix when the full moon rose last week.

PS:  If you haven’t already read the post immediately “following” this one, please do so.  A fellow blogger could sure use our help!

Military family housing

I haven’t lived in military family housing since June 2002, which is right around the time that the military stopped taking care of its own housing and “privatized” it. That means that the folks that now run the repair shop (you didn’t really think all military housing is NEW, did you?) are contracted by the government. It also means that these old homes, with their old heating & cooling systems, no longer have their utility expenses covered by the housing office. When the military went over to privatized housing, the basic utility costs (gas, electricity, water) were passed on to the military family. Some of these homes are “substandard.” I think Mary Alice’s house qualifies for that moniker.

Mary Alice over at From the Frontlines has a husband in the Air Force and a son serving in the Coast Guard. She has been discussing her housing situation lately on her blog. Housing on military installations is a cookie-cutter operation, and if it is happening to Mary Alice and her family, you can bet it is affecting other military families. Our military families deserve better! They certainly deserve better than to have their private e-mail read by a base commander (how the base commander obtained a PRIVATE e-mail sent from Mary Alice to HER FRIENDS is unknown). Instead of doing The Right Thing and investigating what is really happening in housing, this leader instructed her Military Man to stop his wife from “spreading rumors” about her housing situation!

Yes, my blood is boiling just a bit here, and I’m not the one living in this situation. Read on…

I challenge you to do a little mouse-clicking and see what I mean.

Try this post out for starters, then read this post. If you have time, read this post also and follow the links.

This is a sad and sick example of how some of our military families are treated.

If you are moved to do so, link to Mary Alice’s blog and write your own post. I’m making sure to “tag” this post to help it get picked up by other readers. If you Twitter, tweet away. It would be wonderful to see mainstream media pick it up and run with it. Bloggers can help each other, and here is a great opportunity!

Weekend Update

In order of appearance:

Not bad enough for a visit to Cheri‘s hot toe doctor.
Sadly, this is not the first time those particular toes have looked so colorful. Depth perception and navigating doorways in the middle of the day do not appear to be my forte.

And in an entirely unrelated event, I widened my reputation for making margaritas when I played single-drink-option bartender at a friend’s party. Because I’m helpful like that. 😉

Hey, it keeps me out of trouble: you can’t overeat/drink if you are busy serving others, and the small talk is simple: With or without salt? Slushy or on the rocks?

[Not mentioned or photographed, a small mountain of laundry]

And The Why

Rush has been one of my favorite bands for the past 38,932,893 years (or at least since I went to high school). The lyrics are part poetry and part personal commentary. I don’t always agree with the mindset behind the words, but I can appreciate the way Neil Peart shares his heart and mind (not to mention his percussion skills). Sometimes it is social or political commentary. A prime example of this is the song, The Trees [the sound isn’t so great on this video, but at least the lyrics are there]: