...I'm back. My guest and good friend was delightful company. I'd forgotten that he puns even more frequently and enthusiastically than do I (I have some restraint and moderation and decorum in such matters), so there was a recharging of the batteries and the wits. Even with all the fires limiting the views, the Yosemite High Country is a wonderful place to be. (Bikermouse: we were drinking a gallon a day each and were still parched, the air is that dry right now.) I've got a stack of IMs and emails to go through and it will take a couple of weeks to catch up on these threads, but it looks like... barbecued birthdays and mangled geometrys. Pat: do you still need help with the cat and finding Ken's hummingbirds? Pam: earthmoving equipment, especially cutting into the earth? If I owe an answer or whatever to anyone please nudge me! Hell... use a cattle prod. ;^) The Perseid shower was great, but I'm a bit short on sleep and groggy and might overlook something. And speaking of being groggy, Skrogg says that it is time to go to bed. Carolly

Welcome back. The Perseid shower must have been incredible from there. I just have to go. There, and Big Sir...and...and... List is endless. Q

Welcome back, it wasn't the same with out you and your wit...Sharen :-)

Welcome back, Carolly! Yosemite is one of my favorite places. I worked at the Ahwahnee for nearly a year when I first got out of high school. :) Jay

Welcome home! :^) Still delaying on reinstalling Poser to get the !#*! cat and still haven't been able to find or contact EmpKen. Jaybutton's email address for him bounced, so I zipped over to Vista and finally bought the Scrub Jay I've wanted forever....but it won't fit into the foreground of my composition nearly as well as the hummer.....sigh. does her Happy Dance at once again being Mentored and frightens 3 large cats

hauksdottir, Welcome back! A gallon a day? Well that's one reason I like to go later in the year. Also there aren't as many mosquitos hanging around, although I never noticed that many in Yosemite. Persius son of Zeus and Danae who slew the Medusa and saved Andromeda: The Perseid Meteor Shower is usually pretty good if you can get someplace dark. I backpacked into the 'high' Sierra once to see them, got caught in a lightning storm where strikes were coming down around us on bare granite. I probably would have been struck down if Otto hadn't said we should seek shelter. It cleared up later and we saw some streakers but nothing to write home about. The lightning storm was something else though - I'll always remember walking past those strikes. This year, in Fresno, I thought back on previous years Perseids, and that at least someone was enjoying them. Next month I'll go up and try to Photograph the Moon. I'm really looking forward to that. I have missed your puns and riddles. Glad you're back, - TJ (bikermouse)

Glad you're back, and yes still looking for earth moving equipment. I envy you for the weather, Europe is a little bit wet at present. Pam

STREAKERS ???? thought that was a 70's fad ... LOL j/k from here in College Station, Tx ... I just happened to be working nights and went outside around 2am and was able to catch some of it, not entirely dark but dark enough to see some. bob

It was too overcast here to see anything, darnit. One of the things I look forward to every year is the perseids just in time for my birthday. Oh well, there's always next year. Kate (who wonders if she's really gonna feel older on Wednesday)

Happy birthday Kate!

Thanks Kiddo. I still have 4 days, 2 hours and 59 minutes before I'm officially older though. g

Kate, I feel younger already. Bob, I was talking about meteors - although I saw a couple of those too - dated one for a while. I even drove a meteor 'til I got hold of the Goat. You're lucky to have caught some of them meteors. I didn't see any. BTW hauksdottir, I couldn't find any of those puns you hinted you might leave for us to read while you were gone. I hope you have some saved up for us. I'm all ears. -TJ

::chuckle:: @Bikermouse... I would have required an accessory to the rhyme, er,... you do work in security or some such, don't you? And if some party was posting puns under my name on a daily basis, with intent to inflict fits of giggles and snorts of coffee, my helper and I would both have ended up nailed by our toes to the nearest telephone pole. I have seen better showers, but not with better company. @Quixote... the Valley is magnificent, but too full of people. Go to the High Country (summer only, I'm afraid) and wander through a meadow at 9,000' and breathe clean air. Sit on a rock. 83 million-year-old granite offers perspective as well as beauty. @Kate... we can't possibly be this old. If we are still learning new software and new ways of looking at the world and new ways of playing, we will remain young. @Jaybutton... the Ahwahnee is very handsome. I could never afford to stay there, but have sometimes wandered through the buildings. IIRC, there is a nice bit of natural shower on the cliff behind it in the spring. @Unclebob... glad that you caught a few star trails. I've sunbathed in the buff, when far enough into the back country, but not dashed around in front of people. As an artist, it wouldn't embarass me, but it might discomfort others. @Pam... we need that water! Please send it this way!!! We came home sunburned despite sunblock and hats, and would gladly trade a couple of sunny days for a good soaking. :) Carolly

hauksdottir, thanks I needed that. Security? er no . . . at least not so's you'd notice. I think you must be thinking of one of our fire breathing members. It sounds like you came back happy abeit burnt. I'll bet it'll be a few days before you're fully recovered - it's always a culture shock for me to come down from the mountains. I always wanted to be Mr. Ranger, but I couldn't outrun Yogi and Booboo. take care, - TJ

Can't say I don't need perspective. I will make it there one day. Thanks. Let the puns begin. Q

Carolly, that's what I keep telling everyone, just ask Jim. I'm always saying I'm too youmg to be this old, dammit. And of course, everyone just looks at me like I have no marbles left. :) It doesn't help that I have a younger brother who refers to me as "The Ancient One" instead of my proper title of "She who will beat the crap outta me if I mess with her stuff again." giggle Brothers, gotta love 'em - it's a law or something. ;-) Kate

"it's a law or something" - no, it's just recompense for all we suffer from our sisters.