ENJOY THE RIDE...

"found heart" ~ Bob Jones Trail, Avila Beach

A three-day weekend... all to myself...

{JPE is backpacking w/students in No California}

The past three months, have raced by...

our mornings have a chill to them...

a reminder that our 

FAVORITE TIME

{notice, I didn't say season}

of the year is coming!

SEPTEMBER...

marks the opening of a new calendar!

{we work in education... so, it's an academic calendar}

TIME TO ENJOY...

See Canyon Apples

weekend walks & bike rides

puttering
community events

baking & tea-time

being a "tad" exhausted,
I've adjusted my weekend plans!

think I'd do a little

reorganizing & put out some

FALL DECORATIONS...

OOPS!
gotta stay 
"in the moment"
{instead of letting my mind race...
to the end of the work day}

REFLECTION...

Explorama - Rainforest Canopy Walk (Amazon, Peru)

"Without reflection,
we go blindly on our way,
creating more unintended consequences,
and failing to achieve anything useful."
~ Margaret J. Wheatley

MOTHER NATURE'S DIAMONDS...

"Nature never hurries.

Atom by atom,

little by little,

she achieves her work."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

someone was busy!

View

from the kitchen window 

@ 6:15am...

SOMEONE... HAD A BIRTHDAY!!

that SOMEONE is JPE!!!

He's 60 years young!

{a Virgo! born 8 - 27 - 52 in Cincinnati, OH}

loves travel

{the Peruvian dust has been cleaned off our walking shoes

& we're dreaming of our next trip... Russia? Morocco?}

is a fabulous listener

{people of all ages gravitate to JPE}

finds pleasure in puttering around the garden

{the worms in our compost love him too}

enjoys learning

{spends hours reading & researching}

has a quirky sense of humor

{sometimes causing laughter at inappropriate times}

loves his family

{scattered wide, but close in heart}

is a superior baker

{who makes time for afternoon tea, everyday}

meditates daily

{gets the kinks out by running or doing yoga stretches}

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JPE!!!

Sharing my life with you

feels like opening a BIRTHDAY present every day!

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 8.26.12

"Canopy Walk"
Amazon Rainforest, Peru

I missed SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY last week
(due to being out of town)
so, here are my photo choices for this week's words:

SCHOOL, RULE OF THIRDS, SIDE PROFILE,

SMALL & MOTION.

I'm breaking rule #3 & using previously taken photos (July trip to Peru).

(editing photos is time consuming)

SCHOOL
Indiana, Peru (Amazon River)

The Peruvian SCHOOL year was scheduled to end July 25th... Teachers from the public SCHOOL system had been "striking" for 30+ days, so our group dropped by this private SCHOOL... FYI ~ students attend SCHOOL 6 days a week ~ YES, even on Saturday!

RULE of THIRDS

At the higher elevations, we saw some incredible cloud formations... although I took this picture in color, I thought it had more visual impact in black & white. I only cropped a sliver off the left side because my photos tend to be shot using a RULE OF THIRDS. HERE'S AN EXPLANATION of what that means, with regards to photo composition.

SIDE PROFILE 

A SIDE PROFILE of JPE on the "Canopy Walk" in the Amazon Rainforest. Both of us agreed, that the canopy walk was a "highlight" of our Amazon stay... we trekked from sea level to 115 feet high, stopping at fourteen platforms to catch views at different levels of the forest. Here's a LINK to the Explorama Amazon Rainforest...

SMALL

Walking toward the covered market area in Cuzco, Peru, I saw this little boy licking the crumbs from his fingers... Everywhere we traveled, we saw women carrying SMALL children on their backs... even at his size, this little boy would have been wrapped in a blanket & tied to his mother's (or grandmother's) back. Generally, the women are carrying other bundles in their hands, so transporting children on their backs is necessary. Due to lack of child care, children accompany their mothers everywhere.

MOTION

This man was transporting his groceries home from the market place. Not a furious, fast peddling MOTION like you'd see in other countries... he moved down the  main street in the Urubamba Valley (the Incan mountain region).... at "Peruvian pace." I'll talk about "Peruvian time" in another post.

As our summer comes to an end, I anticipate more bloggers participating in SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY. Hope you'll join us. Check in with Ashley at Rambling & Photos for all the details.

FEATHERING THE NEST...

found on the patio eaves this morning...

I'd change this quote by substituting

"reading"

with the words,

blogging... 

editing photos... 

sitting on the patio with a cup of tea...

I DID accomplish

 "some" projects...

{just not enough}

wiped out the fridge...

made a grocery list...

wiped out all the kitchen drawers...

tidied the downstairs bathroom cabinet...

NOW, 

I'm washing bedding!

How did things get so out-of-control?

I checked my calendar & discovered...

I've slept in my own bed, 

TWENTY-FOUR nights

{since June 15th}

BUT,

slept elsewhere... 

{Washington DC, Peru, Mom's, Big Bear,

camping & hotels for two work meetings}

...FIFTY-FOUR nights!!!

Well... well... no wonder there are

dirty windows, blinds that need washing,

untidy bathroom cabinets...

Better get moving, eh?