Highlights from California

I went to California a couple of weeks ago to visit family. It was great; I got to hang out with my niece and nephew, and their children, one of whom I hadn't met yet. Both are fantastic kids. I also got to spend time with my oldest sister and her husband on their farm. I like this family photo a lot. It's taken in my niece and nephew's back yard.


I got to spend a little time with my red-haired sister as well, but she was a little tied up being the maid of honor and wedding coordinator for her friends, who were tying the knot after a 25-year courtship. The wedding was great and I saw a lot of people who haven't seen me since I was much, much younger.

The kids fed ducks and geese in a pond.


Meet my sister's cat, Epperson, who is the bravest cat I've ever met. He likes to help with major projects, no matter how dangerous.

The sheep dog. Crap, I forget her name. It starts with an S. She's really friendly, but never wants to leave the sheep, so she is essentially one of them. She scares off coyotes.


A turkey? My sister Janis* raises turkeys, geese, ducks and chickens. She has a bunch of eggs in the house in incubators and I got to turn them a couple of times.


This goat loves to be petted and is also quite large, and likes to get right in your face, with his hooves dangerously close to your inadequately shoed feet, so he generally just made me nervous. But he is sweet.


I remember, as a child, several times, the pain of the full weight of an adult goat concentrated on a small pedal surface. They don't step on you on purpose but humans have got such big feet that cover a wide area of ground that it's hard to avoid them. I should have brought hiking boots. I knew before I flew out I was going to be in that situation, and I had wanted to set up a photo studio with a white backdrop so I could get some artsy shots of the goats, but every time I got near the ground, the goat above would get in my space and make me lose my balance, plus there was the fear of getting stepped on, so the portrait session got dramatically curtailed. This little guy did do a little posing for me.


I have not been blogging lately for various reasons. It's not for a lack of topics. My life is terrifically interesting. I do stuff, I buy stuff, I eat stuff. I guess updating my Facebook status has taken the place of blogging; it takes less time, keeps people updated in a small way, and I get feedback, which is highly rewarding. Or maybe I just think I'm too good to write at length about my life and share it with you. But this brings me to a related topic. Why haven't you been blogging? Have you not seen anything worth writing about? I highly doubt that.

* Names changed.