On my own this weekend. Julia & her mom are off to University of Texas at Dallas for orientation. Last report they're doing alright in the heat. In the meantime I'm left to the domestic type duties, one of which is tending the garden. I took a snap of a bunch of tiger lilies growing against the side of the building. I'm not sure I "get" these plants. So beautiful, for only a day, then winding back, to a husk. The challenge is--I suppose--to appreciate them while they're blooming. So I've made a daily trip to the garden, if only to catch the show these flowers put on. The tiger lily is a pretty common flower for North America and is dubbed the "ditch" lily by some.I got up early on Thursday and discovered that it is possible to observe the petals of the flower unfurling. It is slow, but surprisingly fast for a plant. They stay that way until early evening. I can see why botanists are fascinated. The weather has been great for growing, with temps in the mid 70's and ample rain. A sharp contrast to my parents who are getting dealt a crummy batch of weather up north. Perhaps they can vicariously enjoy the virtual garden here.

Another of life's happy events occurred today. My daughter graduated high school! Soon she'll be off to university far away and it'll be empty nest central here. The grad ceremony was held at St. John's (can I ever get away from the campus) and was well planned, running an hour-ten from start to finish. Here is a shot from the rafters. Julia is in there, but it'll cost ya a couple of minutes to find her.

Here it is the 6th of June and I've yet to post one rumination to the blog. Tonight was seasonably warm so I trekked to the roof and got off a couple of sunset shots with the digital snappy. I especally like the jet contrail working its way like an abstract brush stroke against the sky. Constable used to keep sketch books full of studies of the sky and weather. I wonder if he'd go digital today? Conversely, are digital observations of any value comparatively? I'm thinking, if the sky is going to put on such a display, I'll record it one way or the other. Perhaps I'll try something out with watercolor, but at this time of night, I'll definitely need bug spray.