4th of July

Happy Independence Day!

Ice cold

The other day, as sunlight was streaming into the kitchen, I had some photography fun with light, shadows, and Coca-Cola. The small round bottle was a Christmas edition. The other is a regular year round 2-liter version. And, the glass in the middle was the ice cold refreshing Coca-Cola I was about to drink.

Speaking of ice cold - Wichita got coated with a thin layer of ice. It made for some slippery driving conditions. Most of the main roads were treated with salt or sand, and clear. But, some of the side roads and driveways were like ice rinks. It's times like this, that I'm glad I live in the flat lands of Kansas. I'd rather slide over into a curb, than off the side of a mountain.

It was hard to walk on, and hard to drive on - traffic crept slowly, as people were going to and from work. Kansas gets all kinds of weather, from hot to cold, wet to dry, windy to calm, cloudy to sunny - a smorgasborg of weather conditions. I accept them all, but favor warm sunshine with cool gentle breezes.

What's your favorite weather?

Let's go shopping!

While out taking pictures of the buildings in yesterday's photo, I caught sight of this sign.

I think it was put up by a hardware store, nearby.

I liked the carefree way it was designed and painted, looks like the painter almost ran out of room - but the main point comes across loud and clear - 75% OFF! It's time to go buy next years decorations, wrapping paper, and ribbon.

There he is!

Listening to the child's request, and kindly reminding her to do as her parents tell her to do. He also told her "I'll see you, but you won't see me". Tonight's the night, when many children around the world will try to stay awake, in hopes of seeing Santa Claus placing their present under the tree.

Snowflakes

Do you see Santa?

Santa Claus

Santa was at Botanica,

delighting children as they lined up to tell him what they'd like for Christmas.

Chiminea

Nature's Way provided quite a few chimineas for warm stops along the illimunated paths of Botanica. I don't know what kind of wood was burning in them, but it sure smelled good. In this photo, you can also see the sacks with lights in them - these lined all the paths and sidewalks.

Glass carrots

A four year olds description of the Christmas Tree: "It has pink balls, bows, candy canes, lights, beads.......... and glass carrots!"

Kids say the darndest things.

When I was a four year old - these were better known as icicles.


Wishing each of you a happy and healthy holiday season - enjoyed in the ways and values, of your tradition and culture.