Angel, just "dawned" on me the 21st of June is rapidly approaching.  If I remember correctly that is the day the sun doesn't set in your part of the world.
At the Cape we played a game of softball on that day at about 2 AM, just for grins and because we could.....

You're right Hal, both the summer and winter solstices are big in this part of the state. We had sunset at 12:42am and sunrise at 3am, today. Upon the week's end of June twenty-first we begin to lose daylight and the week of December twenty-first, we begin to gain daylight.

The summer solstice is one huge party with barbeques, river gravel pit parties, and picnics,midnight shopping, mimes and musical groups everywhere and street fairs, boat races, motorcycle races, a golf tournament and a storied baseball game all beginning at midnight and all with no artificial lights.

The baseball game has been going on since 1903 and this year we host San Franciso.

Well, after our nice rain quit, we've had a lovely day.  From the weather channel, we should have stormy weather tomorrow (Wednesday).  Our temp is under 80 degrees now and it is very comfortable and I don't have to have the a/c on.

Today I met my retiree friends at Red Lobster and I had Fish and Chips.  Of course, the chips were fries, but I had one big piece of fish (I forgot to pay attention to what kind) but it was good.  Since Tom will not be here for supper, I brought home half of the fish and will have that for my supper.  It was delicious.

MaryPage, with so many descendants, no wonder you have something gone on so often.  More power to you!

Mary Ann

Patricia, your June 21st activities sound like fun.  Of course, we gain and lose time in December and June, the same as you, but we can't have the activities that you have.

Mary Ann

Thanks, MaryAnn!

On the twenty-first, you can watch the sun go down to just over the foothills, travel along them and then rise again. That is our solstice midnight sun and that is why we party starting at midnight. The day is as bright at midnight as it is at noon. We have 24 hours of daylight on the 21st of June and three hours of daylight on December 21st.

"The Polar day begins around March 21 when it is vernal equinox and the sun is right above the equator and the day and night are equal. At the Arctic Circle, the Polar day reaches its climax around June 21 when the solar orb is so high that at no point does it drop below the horizon."

Yes. I now see one of the young Eagles back in the Nest. Having lunch. Looks like it is eating on a dead baby rabbit. Wonder if the eat other smaller birds?

I think they will eat anything the parents bring them .  One time it was, it was a duck .

Mary

In the S.E. of Alaska, the town of  Homer specially, there will be three or more thousand eagles overwintering. Eagles are carrion birds and will eat almost anything.

Good Morning Everyone, 
I am off to walk to Drug Store and
the Grocery Stores... to pick up a few
things I missed out of yesterday... 

Comfortable Sunny weather here.

I went for my yearly visit to the
Eye Specialist yesterday,  and all
is well...  no Glaucoma or macular
degeneration...   There is about another
year to go before  my Cataracts
need to dealt with ...    So my
next appointment is going to
be one year from now.   

Have a good day, 
Everyone
Sandy

Hi everyone on a bright, sunny and already warm morning.  We are expecting to get to 94 degrees this afternoon.  We had a two showers of about a quarter of an inch yesterday, which is appreciated.  I won't have to water my yard on Thursday morning. 

We had a great time with our friends yesterday. We enjoyed a long leisurely lunch at Ryan's Buffet, then we took them for a brief tour of our little town and then across the bridge to Augusta and went down the main business street quite for some block seeing things we had not viewed.  When we got back to the house it was time for them to leave. 

I did see the cardiologist yesterday and she wants to do a PET scan of my heart, an ultrasound of my carotid arteries and a stress test to get a better feel for the condition of my heart.  I should hear soon when these are scheduled.  I have never had the PET scan done before. 

Today is our day with Scott, which we always look forward to.  He called me yesterday afternoon to see if I would be available, if needed, as he works on his brakes to take him to the auto parts store.  I told him I would stand by.  He will then be out either to go to lunch with us or this evening when we will got out to eat.  Spending time with him is always the highlight of our week. 

Mary Ann, hope you had a nice time with your friends at the Red Lobster.  We haven't eaten there since we moved but there is one available here. 

MaryPage, I read that Disney World was beefing up security further after the tragic shootings in Orlando.  Hope the celebrations for Debi's birthday may not occur all together, I bet everyone will have a nice time.  I don't think Pat and I have ever eaten in an Indian restaurant. 

JeanneP, staying inside with a good book on a hot and humid day is a great idea.  It sounds like you day was much like ours in terms of the rains and following humidity. 

Mary, it sounds like you are really a ran of the eagles.  On each corner of my porch are wrens nests and it is fun to keep an eye on them.  I can see one of the nest from my office window.  I guess mother bird doesn't fear me anymore as she stays on her nest as I go onto my porch. The birds serenade me each morning with their singing. 

Patricia, your friends in your apartment yesterday introduced an unknown in Farrah's world.  Interesting that she is now becoming vocal.  Please don't fret about causing me a concern and I will be looking for more humor. Over the years I have done several computer based at home courses and found them interesting. I still remember the solstices from the two years we lived in Anchorage. 

Sandy, good to hear that all is well from your eye appointment.  Enjoy your comfortable weather.

Larry,  I have only had whole body PET scans, so not sure if what you will be getting will take as long as the ones I have had.  The ones I get take about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, including all the pre-things they do.  After they inject the dye stuff,  I have to sit in a semi-dark room for about 90 min. for the dye to get through your system.  Then, the actual scan only takes about 30 min.  Just the normal no eating for several hours before and I have never had any kind of side effects.  It is a tube-thing similar to the MRI or CAT scan machine.  Not nearly as noisy as an MRI, tho.

With what you will be getting might not take as long. You are free to leave, once the scan is finished.   Although, you did say your doctor wants some additional tests.  I hope you can get everything done at the same visit.   I wish you Good Luck and I don't think you will have any problems.

Glad that you had a nice visit with your friends. 

Joy

A dull grey day here on the bay.  It has been raining, but is not doing so at the moment.

Larry, just to make sure you know what I was talking about, I meant an Indian restaurant as in the subcontinent of India, and not as in Native American.  I love the shrimp curry, while Chip loves the lamb vindaloo.  We both love the bread: naan.  Oh wow, do we ever love that bread!  Their ice creams are interesting (and good.)  Usually mango, cinnamon, or pistachio.  They serve it in little cubes in sherbet glasses.  Hope you can find one and try it out one of these days.

We had a couple of good rains overnight so I now will allow the cat to go on the porch stoop where he munches on my Star of Bethlehem and Woods Lily leaves.  I just let him in from the deck and figured he'd be chomping at the bit to get in but he was quietly waiting for me.  He did come back in.

Tom, Terry and I met at Denny's this morning for breakfast.  As I was paying for mine, I noticed a sign about using the AARP card for a 15% discount.  I presented it and my bill went from $8.35 to $7.10, well worth it.  I usually charge my meals but paid cash this time.  At Denny's, I'll have to pay more attention.

I think we will get more rain today which will delay having our road resurfaced.  We were warned about it so I noticed a lot of cars at the library across the road, also at the medical building across the road and I have an idea many of those cars are of our residents. 

I just looked at radar and the storm seems to be in the other part of the state and we might have a nice day now.

Mary Ann

Lilies can kill cats!

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/digestive/c_ct_lily_poisoning

Thanks, MaryPage.  This is not a regular lily plant.  It is a perennial with small blue flowers and elongated foliage.  It is a wild flower and when my grandmother was with us many years ago, she went to some nearby woods with us and brought back a plant.  I bought this one and it is doing the best it has ever done this year.  If I can find something online, I'll post it.  It is not a bulb plant.  We used to call it Snot Grass because of what forms around the flowers.  Truthfully, it has the same sort of foliage as my Star of Bethlehem, but the plant is much, much larger.

Mary Ann

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=blue+wildflowers&view=detailv2&&id=1F4AB88C1F26CD44D93A1F975272EDB9F7C16154&selectedIndex=86&ccid=EXOLqlUy&simid=608019460059040985&thid=OIP.M11738baa5532a28d9a27e4332cea17dco0

MaryPage, I won't guarantee you'll get to the plant with the above link, but I found a Spiderwort Ohio Blue Wildflower that matches it.  I think I got the Woods Lily from a wildflower book I have that I bought when I had a cottage in the 60s and 70s.  The foliage is like grass but the plant grows to around 2 feet.

Mary Ann

MaryPage - PS I tried the link after I posted and it shows a picture of the Spiderwort.

Mary Ann

When I search for Wood Lily, this is what I get.  From your description, it does not sound like what you have.

http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/wood-lily/

Now another horrible thing has happened in Orlando. Disney World. Did you have the TV on telling about the missing little 2 year old boy . They were to near the lagoon that has the Aligaters I guess and one grabbed the little boy. He had his legs in the water. So far not found the gater or the child. People not watching their children again. First the Ape and not this.

ORLANDO â€" After 15 hours of searching a man-made lake at a Disney World resort hotel for a toddler snatched off the beach by an alligator, officials said Wednesday that the horrific ordeal was "not survivable" and they were now looking to recover the body of the 2-year-old.

The 7-to-8-foot reptile grabbed the boy late Tuesday as he was playing in about a foot of water at the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Grand Floridian Hotel. His father, who quickly rushed to the boy's aid, could not fend off the alligator

But Jeanne, both parents were right there.  People from up north do not realize that any body of water in Florida possibly has alligators.  When I had little kids up north, I often let them play in the edge of a lake.  Of course up there, there were no alligators.  How horrid for both parents to see their little two year old taken.  They both tried to fight the alligator, to no avail.  A sad situation.

Good morning from a sunny and windy day. We'll hope that the rain stays away. Farrah is still being skittish.

Larry, I've had people over before, but that was in her strictly under the bed days. If you open the door to the balcony, she also runs and hides. Unfortunately, the skittish behavior lasts for a day or so after the incidence.

That is indeed sad about both small boys, dying and having the fear after the gorilla for the second. There needs to be more education about wild animals and why wasn't there at the very least signs warning folks about alligators and bodies of water?

In Alaska, there are bears, moose, and wolves, not to mention lynx and coyotes. There are information articles,pamphlets and discussions at school because we have the larger animals and bear are very common here and can be found on the outskirts of town.

With the forest and five rivers, Fairbanks was built in 1903 in the midst of the Athabaskans prime hunting grounds and the animals are still here.Bear and wolf maulings are a standard summer event. There was a female hiker killed in 2014 by wolves.

I think we rush to judgment too fast.  No one wants to feed their little ones to gorillas or alligators.  I cannot tell you how many times one or another of my children would let go of my hand or skirt or whatever and dash for an escalator, or a door, or the street with a car coming, or what have you.  It only takes a second to lose a child.  Why do we have the tendency to blame the poor parents?

In my own case, I have counted myself just flat out lucky not to have lost one of mine.  Pam was awful:  she was a bolter.  Give her a second to spy an escape route, and off she'd go.  She was not trying to run away from home;  she was just trying to take in the entire world.  She was born an explorer.  She is the next to youngest.  Chip, the youngest, was the worst of all.  We had to use a child harness on him, and take turns holding the leash.  I swear!

The first time we ever took Chip to the Washington Zoo, he was about 2 plus 2 months.  But we did not have to rescue him from the animals.  To our intense disappointment, the items that fascinated him that day were the drinking fountains.  He had very little interest in the animals on display;  apparently he already knew them all from his books.  But we had to stop at every dang water fountain so he could take a drink.

Kids are not predictable.  I was very upset at the news this morning, and briefly wondered if it could be Mateo.  But Mateo is three, and was not staying at the hotel where this devastated family is.

The bad news coming out of Florida is beyond belief...  Shootings and Alligators ? 

Oh my word ...  And of course,  the news goes
on and on ad nauseam ....  the worst
besides the reality that over 50 people
were shot,   were the news showing
videos of some of the people killed in
those awful shootings,  talking on their
cell phones when shots were being fired
and saying that they knew that they
were going to die..    over and over
again ....    I refuse to watch it believe
that they news coverage should be
much more responsible...  of course,
they won't because they make money
out peoples pain and tragedies. 

I also think that harnessing children is
one good way to keep them close,
when out in crowds,  where they could
get away and get lost, hurt or stolen.

Too bad if other people don't like
to see kids in harnesses.   It is not
their child,  so it is none of their
business.   

Oh Sandy ...   This is all just way
too much horror,  sadness,  and
tragedy  for this old soul. 


Sandy 

MaryPage - Thank you for your post.  My son was the worst! We called him the "little monster" and I am amazed he managed to grow up to become a judge! 

When John F. Kennedy died, his first gravesite was not at the present memorial. There was a fenced in area with a roped walkway all around. The packed crowds slowly moved along paying their respects. Our three oldest were with us. Donna, who was five, tugged at my skirt and said "Mommie, Lauri (4) and Michael (2) are gone!" Panic time! Chape spotted them running down the hill. By the time he caught up they were headed out the entrance of Arlington Natl. Cemetary. Would you believe the security person at the entrance didn't stop them? Lauri said they got scared because they couldn't see us in the "sea of legs". She said they were heading for the car.  This was 1963 and the whole place has changed. At the time, the parking lot where we were was a grass and dirt area and there was no real gate at the entrance. We've also had a few other harrowing experiences through the years.

As Shirleyn posted elsewhere, tourists don't always realize there can be alligators in any pond. They move from place to place. Unless there is known to be a "resident" alligator, there isn't a warning sign posted.

We are having a heat wave! Yesterday it was 104, the highest I've seen it in the 14 years we've been here. Monday night, our A/C died. Yesterday we had a new one installed, top-of the-line, that will probably outlive me!

Larry - I had a Pet Scan before lung surgery and it was similar to a Cat Scan but as Joy said, takes much longer. Ryan's is a good place to eat but you need to be hungry. 

Angelface - Hopefully Farrah will become accustomed to others coming to your place. I had a cat who used to head for the closet when visitors came.

Mary Ann - Do you remember when Norm used to talk about the alligator in the pond near him? For a residential area he had quite a bit of wildlife.

My three were all so different.  Ken, the oldest was cautious and inclined to think things through.  He might still go ahead and try something, but he had weighed the consequences and knew what might happen.  Alice, the baby, was actually quite timid around strangers and would stick close to me or her father.  But Billy, the middle one..  he's the main reason my hair turned gray early.  We did need the harness on him - he was always apt to dash off in all directions. 

But the worst times for both boys were at the New Jersey shore.  My in-laws loved the shore (bah) and I went with the family twice.   Each time when the boy was only about 2 or 2^1/2.  It was insisted I should join my husband and "enjoy" the surf (I hated it) and the four or five sisters-in-law would of course watch the baby.  Five minutes later each time, I was missing a son and no one knew where he had gone.  After a few minutes of absolute panic, the wanderer was found and Mommy stayed right with him the rest of the afternoon.  After the second time, I never took the kids to the shore or allowed anyone else to take them.

I am absolutely (me, who hates absolutes!) convinced that each of us is BORN with our personality built in.  Once when Bob was stationed in Frankfort, Germany, the whole family went to church one Sunday.  Pam was 2½ at the time, and was put in the nursery.  After the service was over, she was not there to be picked up!  Everyone panicked.  No one had seen her!  The whole church, the army, the police, EVERYone was looking for her.  She was finally discovered many blocks down the street, marching happily along taking in all the sights.  She had crossed a number of streets!

OK, have I one upped you now, Beverly?  Just kidding!  Just kidding!  Yours was a terrifying interlude, as well and all.  My point is, don't charge the parents as guilty as an automatic, because it probably ain't the way it was.  And believe you me, having known folks who lost a child to Sudden Death Syndrome in their very own safe little crib with a monitor on hand, and to pool accidents, and a number of other incidents or accidents, the parent, even though NOT guilty of neglect, will BLAME THEMSELVES for the rest of their days, no matter how many they are.

I think that our personality is something
that we are born with plus something
that has occurred to us,  along the way.   

I am a bit responsible for the way
my children have turned out,  but
not totally.... 

Somethings are genetic and inherited
and others are learned  and become
part of us,  along the way.   

I also believe that much of our learned,
in conjunction with inherited behavior, 
is complete at a very young age.   
So rarely do we change all that much, 
the older we get. 

So the old adage
"What you see is what you get", 
pretty much says it all ..

"Grant me the scerenity to accept
the things I can not change, 
change the things I can  and
the WISDOM to know the difference", 
pretty much says it all,  IMHO. 

Unfortunately,  that "WISDOM" part,
sometimes gets lost in the fray..........

Sandy

MaryPage, what you found by typing Wood Lily is what I found too, but that is not my plant.  I hope you checked the very long link I put in because it did show my plant, which turns out to be a Spiderwort.

Now, I'll tell you of my escapade.  My dad had gone to a meeting at church which was about a half mile from where we lived.  But - I thought he had gone to a meeting at the school where he taught.  The school was about a half mile in the opposite direction.  I had to cross one busy street, but this was in the evening and maybe not so busy.  Anyway, I decided to go meet my dad.  A policeman found me and my poor mother was lying on the davenport of our next door neighbor.  I remember the couch - it was the old horsehair type of couch.  I was three years old.  I don't remember walking to the school except knowing enough to cross in front of the building to get to the other side.  And I remember being found and seeing my mother lying on that davenport.

Mary Ann

MaryPage - I do believe you one-upped me!  Because of the layout of Arlington Natl. Cemetery (and the gravesite was up on a hill) Chape never completely lost sight of our two. The scary part was that they were able to almost reach the parking lot.

Sandy - In some ways we are shaped by our lives while growing up, (insecurities, environment, etc.) but I do agree with MaryPage that we are born with a built-in personality. I see it in my children and my grand-children. No clones in this family! 

Mary Ann - Your poor Mom was probably frantic! My mother had a similar scare when my teacher kept me after school one night till nearly dark (5th grade...couldn't master long division!) I had to walk close to a mile home on the main road. No cell phones, then......