robot six - blue man





He is one of my sister-in-law Mimi's creations http://mimikirchner.com
Closeups reveal his details: dear little hooks and eyes, tiny stitches, tiny colored bars (batteries?). He looks to me as though he would get along with a couple of other people I've met here and there: Wallace and Gromit's robot acquaintance on the moon, and wide-eyed girl up in Barrington, RI, at the fine public library there.
http://thelibraryblog.blogspot.com

Rainy June Day

It's a great day to stay in, the house wrapped in a silvery green grey veil of rain and wet butterfly bushes, lilacs, vines, tomato plants, and flowers. Three napping cats circle my chair, warding off mice, birds, moths, should any get in. Rain falls steadily and moderately outside the window, a straight down steady shower, a good soaking for all the plants.

But soon, my guardians will disappear like quicksilver, when bigger intruders arrive -- there's a hint above...

June 25, 1945

On June 25, 1945, my father came home from India, and we saw each other for the first time. He and my mother were reunited after a year and a half of daily letters on onion skin paper from him to her. I have his letters, but not hers. I want to read all of my father's letters through from beginning to end. So far my starts have been stalled my both too much sameness and too much emotion. Of them, more later. Today I mark our family's reunion with this image composed of his dogtags and a sentimental but evocative picture from the album of letters. It was clearly torn out of a magazine. 

Leaving the C oast

On Friday, July 16, I got into a bright blue Dodge Durango with four other people and drove to Lawrence, Kansas. On Sunday we came back. More of that trip later. Then on Monday I drove southeast to Hunting Island, South Caroilina, where I camped for two nights under live oaks, long-leaved pines, and cabbage palmettos. When the nearby RV's air conditioner was still I could hear the waves on the beach. Insects shrilled in the trees at night and grackles gracked noisily by day. These trees must have been the grackles' special ones: the branches were numerous and stretched over my campsite. I burned hardwood at night in the firering and cooked shoulder lamb chops. Scorpio was rising at nightfall over the ocean, and the stars were brilliant before I went to sleep. It's lights out time on the beaches after dark, so the baby sea turtles will crawl and swim out to sea. Far out on the horizon shrimp boats show their lights, and the Hunting Island lighthouse beams sweeps by every 22 seconds as the balmy sub-tropical braaze blows in the palmettos. The ocean is a pleasant temperature, refreshing and easy, and the waves are child-sied. I thought of the long, rolling, jade green brakersd on the Oregon coast. In Lady's Island Publix grocery store, oysters in their shells are $1.89 each, and little necks $.79. But shoulder lamp chops are cheap and succulent on the grill.

When I got home, I found that Zack had been to the beach, too, near Depoe Bay, with Jenisaurus, but then after he got back to Portland he wrecked his car on the highway. No human injuries but also no collision insurance. I'm thankful but also sorry for his wallet. Luckily he lives in a town where people ride bikes, walk, and take buses. 

HELLO MUDDA, HELLO FADDA, Here I am at Camp -- Bookgeek. Yes, I've signed up for summer camp. It lasts most mornings, as long as the coffee thermos holds up. Bookgeek camp is waaayy fun. When you are done with the morning session, there's plenty of fresh air, sunshine (sometimes it thunders or rains) and nature activities outdoors. Occasional field trips to swimming places are offered. Trips to town for necessaries are scheduled in the afternoons, when the morning freshness has worn off and you don't mind closing up the computer and tidying the quarters. The picture shows the west wall of the main work cabin. The polar bear collage is from earlier camps, I think.
I'd show a picture of my authorcloud I've been working on, but I can't get it onto the computer -- not yet. Next week we're going to look at tags and tagclouds. I'm doing this using LibraryThing http://www.LibraryThing.com . More later.