Guardian Angel

Two month ago one of the bushes outside of our apartment died.  Instead of putting in a new bush, someone placed a little ceramic angel in the bush's stead.  It's tiny and looks so out of place but somehow has ended up being so endearing.  If it gets knocked over in the wind someone always sets it back upright within the day.   Odd but charming.

The First of Fall

I love the firsts of the months and I love the firsts of the seasons.  It feels like I get to start clean and set goals and do better.  My husband and my students are the innocent victims of my excited fury of goal-setting since I can't be satisfied with just I setting goals. For the fall season, I decided one of my goals would be to continue working on photography with a picture a day.  It will be hard because all I really see is my classroom, my livingroom, and the gym everyday.  But then again, that's the charm of photography - seeing something special in the ordinary.  So, here's to fall.   

Migrating Swifts

Every September there are swifts that dive into the chimney of an elementary school downtown right as the sun sets.  Hundreds of Portlanders bring their blankets and sit on the lawn to watch this.  We traded the picnic for a delicious Moroccan dinner beforehand, but had a nice time just sitting on the lawn watching.  It is so fun having Katie in town for a variety of reasons, one of which being that we get to revisit some of the sites we might not have gotten back to, like this one.   

First Week Recovery

It was a rough start, but I survived my first week back at teaching.  The moment the bell rang to let out the last class on Friday, I was out the door and Mike had our stuff packed and we headed to the coast to meet up with some dear friends and do some playing!  It was gorgeous, as was to be expected, but the wind did get the better of my hair.  And a first for me, we saw a whale just off the shore down near Newport.  

The Rose Garden

Mike, Nate, and Brian - all the pictures seem to be from the back because the guys weren't terribly fond of all the posing possibilities in the rose garden. 

Mike's brother, Nate