Wahoo! . . . oops . . . Thursday

Sometimes a girl gets forgetful . . . this week it's Wahoo! Thursday, instead of Wednesday.

Having just returned from vacation, I feel like I have a lot to be grateful for. This post will probably focus on last week, for that reason. It was awfully fun. That's a Mississippi squirrel, though, munching on the grass in our backyard.

This week's Wahoos:

1. I'm thankful for good timing. We arrived in Ann Arbor on Saturday; and, Sunday just happened to be the day of the "Taste of Ann Arbor" food festival, where we sampled foods from a variety of local restaurants, watched an exhibition of Morris Dancing and, best of all, squeezed in some great people-watching time. I was particularly fond of the family interaction:

I love seeing a parent down at his or her child's level; it seems to reflect a level of respect for one's child that standing above them lacks. Not that you shouldn't ever be able to stand up, but you know what I mean, right?

I liked the happy feet of Morris dancers, as well:


2. I'm grateful for this paragraph:

The Pont des Arts is wooden, and if you look through the slats, you can see boats passing beneath. Sometimes small bolts of lightning shoot from the boats as tourists take pictures of one another, and sometimes they just aim the cameras at nothing in particular and shoot - I like these kinds of photographs best, not that I have a camera - but if I did, I would randomly take pictures of nothing in particular. How else could you record life as it happens.

--from "Little Birds" by Simon Van Booy (Get the feeling I liked The Secret Lives of People in Love?)

With that thought in mind, I set my camera down on a counter in the Canton, Michigan IKEA and took photos aimed at the restaurant cash register. I do often take photos of people without paying too much attention to what they're doing, but I doubt I'd have thought to set the camera down for a change of pace, if I hadn't just read that paragraph the night before.


3. I'm grateful for little ones, who help us look at the world as if everything were new. Even with a little drool hanging from her lips, this was a beautiful sight:


4. I'm thankful for old friends. We had a little difficulty fitting in a dinner with our friends R. and L. because they're dealing with having their house "fixed" (wrecked by contractors who are not careful, is more accurate) and R. is immersed in his hectic job. But, we did manage to get together and it was wonderful. I always find myself wishing that we lived closer to R. and L., whenever we see them. Okay, so you want to see what I look like? Here's Bookfool with hubby and friends. You won't see another photo of me till the blonde babe (aka "me") loses some major flab.


5. I'm ridiculously in love with nature. We went to the botanical gardens. I'm afraid I can't remember the name of the place, off the top of my head, but I've been sitting here flipping through photos from the gardens and . . . oh my gosh, it's so hard to choose! There was an incredible amount of beauty. I've decided to go for one close-up and one distance shot from the outdoor plots.

Here you go, a reason to be grateful for pollen - honey and the bees that make it:

I want my garden to look like this!!

I could go on all day. I only took about . . . uh . . . maybe 300 - 400 photos? Not bad for me (I took more than 900 during last year's vacation), but there's obviously too much to share in one post.

We spent a lot of time in our favorite park, which makes me very thankful for:

6. My tolerant spouse. He wanted to visit the museums, but very kindly agreed to my wish that we spend our time outdoors. I wanted to enjoy the cool air while we had the opportunity, since I knew we'd be returning to a long, hot summer. I didn't anticipate that it would shoot up to the 90's in time for our return, so it turned out to be a doubly good decision.

Which reminds me that I'd better go water the flowers before any more of them keel over.

Happy Thursday!