Smuggler's Blues, Star Wars Style

Thanks to my "wookie" friend, Annie, I'm being completely nerdy by posting this fabulous video here and on my MySpace blog. I've always liked the song and love the Han Solo character, so here's a very creative mashup:



I can't wait to see all six Star Wars movies when I play them at the library during a Star Wars Film Fest!

My Possum Friend . . .

. . . is becoming less timid. I've been leaving out apple or banana slices for this little guy every night for months. He/she eats the fruit along with slugs and snails and the occasional avocado, unless the raccoons are around. The nice thing about this guy - besides keeping the snail and slug population down - is that I often find a nice-sized avocado left on the ground for us many mornings when our tree is in season!

The Prairie

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, -
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do
If bees are few.

- emily dickinson
Until Carol and I explored the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge (4-5 miles from the Bergland cabin on Blue Lake) I had no idea how beautiful prairies can be. Until our visit to Minnesota a couple of weeks ago, I'd always thought of them as dry, flat, grassy expanses. I was very pleased to discover acres of summer wildflowers between areas of oak savannahs (until recently all but chopped down out of existence, they, along with the prairie, have been replanted and restored at this refuge. It was easy to imagine why settlers moved here - so many trees just right for building cabins and so much land available to farm. So good for the pioneers; too bad for the land!)

Looking Back at our Vacation: Blue Lake, MN

It's going to take a while to sort through all the photos but we will have happy memories of the Minnesota leg of our summer vacation for years to come. Paul and Carol were such gracious hosts, the Bergland "Blue Lake B&B (and Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks In-between)" was the perfect place to complete our city & country vacation (the guest house, our home during the visit, is pictured above)! Even though the weather was unseasonably cool (in the high 60s/low 70s in mid-July!) they kept us entertained, extremely well-fed, and pleasantly relaxed for a wonderful time that ended too quickly. The weather cooperated on our last day there - mid-80s and perfect for kayaking, jet skiing, and cruising the lake!

Home, Sweet Home

As wonderful as our vacation was, it was great to fly into LAX last night and be back in SoCal again! We rode the Roadrunner Shuttle up the coast and through Malibu Canyon as the sun was setting and it clarified just how beautiful our part of the world is. As the driver said when he picked us up, he was taking us back to paradise!
We got home right around 10 pm and Bob Cat was there to welcome us. It was so warm while we were gone that the moss and algae (that I had thinned out the day before we left town) had grown so much that you could barely hear the waterfall! This morning, I thinned it all out again and enjoyed seeing that along with the algae, the cannas, peacock orchids, and begonias had also taken off!