Montecito Mama

Nine hours of Shakespeare in three days, and still thirsting for more. Images above were from the weekend finale, Midsummer Night's Dream, hilariously staged in the 60s and 80s. Comedy of Errors and Othello weren't bad either, but the 8:30pm start time required Starbucks fortification.

The view from Hobart's Bluff, high atop the Pacific Crest Trail near Ashland, Oregon. (Pregnancy disclaimer.) You should have seen the dandelions -- they were the size of dinner plates!

I have the worst luck with dogs. There's the three or four who've tried to make our home their own. And failed. Most memorable is the time Rob drove me two hours to test drive a 65 Chevy pick-up truck, and while the men did the proverbial "kicking of the tires," the pooch owner did some territory marking of his own -- on my pant leg. Rob, who saw the offense take place, gave a gruff reprimand to its owner: "Your dog just pissed on my wife!" Which is, to this day, one of my favorite quotes and, no, Rob did not buy the truck. Now after a day of delayed flights and missed connections and quick re-routing, I found myself starving and driving through the sleepy town of Klamath Falls, Oregon. There wasn't a Mc-anything in sight - only a tractor repair shop connected to a 6-patron grill. While the hamburgers were sizzling on the grill, I checked out the latest in John Deere. The guard dog greeted me at the entrance with a cursory crotch sniff and then climbed ...

Highlights from the Herrema family reunion in Yosemite ... (1) The view from Glacier Point. (2) Rocks that were just MADE for climbing up to Bridalveil Falls. (3) The talent show. (4) We saw deer; Lucie saw giraffes. (5) Noah's affection for Lucie's pink purse, and her evil revenge with his blankie. (6) Winning at Uno. (7) Brian's barbecue'd stirfry. (8) Grayson's countless pool tournaments.

I'm jealous of all the unique experiences that Grayson is having this summer in camps. Long jump, hula hoops, pogo sticks, basketball, soccer, and two weeks ago it was archery. Now he'd like a bow and arrow for his birthday. I fear too much for Lucie's safety to honor that request, but still think his 'hockey smile' is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen ...

Since we had to be home by 4pm to avoid the road closures, Fourth of July activities this year were restricted to a morning parade and carnival in Montecito (where the air was a little bit cleaner), followed by a barbecue no-electricity-needed dinner with neighborhood friends.

While they haven't sounded the all clear yet, we are certainly feeling a lot safer these past two days. Some of the evacuation orders have been downgraded, the sky is more gray than black, and the wall of ash has turned into a light dusting. Even the electricity spends more time on than off - although tonight we are barbecuing pizza due to the outage. Lucie laughed to see Rob mowing the lawn in a face mask and goggles (I guess he wanted the house to appear inhabited to firefighters): "My daddy's nose is funny!" Now the clean-up begins...