August

 I'm doing my best trying to keep up with this blog. The whole summer was kind of strange. I guess because of Covid, life seems like a run on sentence when we didn't plan anything. The only rain storm we had was in July and it wasn't significant. It's been so dry. We had a few clouds in July but August was so full of smoke from fierce fires around the country. Here are the two sunset evenings I captured all summer. August just felt really busy too. 

The smoke made the season almost feel apocalyptic. I know it's not good to look at the sun, but the haze made it easy to do so.......... look away! Look away! 

The garden season was good this year, even with the absence of precipitation.  

Willow was thrilled when Bryan built her some monkey bars. This girl plays hard. 

We were busy working on the cabin this summer.....

I Tom Sawyered the kids into chinking the inside of the cabin after we removed a couple of walls to expose the logs. Just like the pioneers did it. How everybody from the Babylonians to the Native Americans built enclosed structures. Clay, straw, water, and our hands! Mud Pie architecture! 

Here are my back to school photos of the kids in 2020. We decided since we had 3 kids in three different schools and things were "not normal" the kids would be homeschooled. I couldn't have done it without other parental help. 

Ava: 8th Grade

Isaac: 5th Grade

Willow: 1st Grade 

Our "little house on the prairie" school house. Thankfully, this won't make it feel like we are doing school at "home." Blessed to have this neutral place to get our creative juices flowing. 

Ava's birthday was the highlight of the month.
Our mighty girl is 13 ! She makes my heart sing. 

We had a weekend get-together to celebrate Jorja, Ava, and Addison's birthdays. 

Comet Neowise

Few occasions are so rare they happen once every 6 millennia or so. Neowise, the comet is one.  Unless you plan to be around for another 6,800 years it was one of those moments that spark "awe," curiosity, and wonder. The best part about it was that it was so bright we could see it with the naked eye! I decided that I wasn't going to let this be once-in-a-lifetime for me. I woke from my slumber for three nights of observation at 3:30 - 4:00 am. As I'm not a morning person, this was a commitment haha. I was not disappointed, just rewarded. 
These photos were taken from my yard, Silver Creek, and scenic drive. I had plans to celebrate my 40th somewhere else. But I stayed home, hugging trees and my family on crazy Covid time. Observing this amazing comet pass by earth with my naked eye in amazement. Our tiny selves in this vast universe. We continued to view the comet regularly for a week or two.
Do you know what Neowise means? 
New Wisdom. 
Is our country gaining new insight? 

 I hope my kids remember experiences like this. I guess it's one one the reasons that I love to photograph them. Documentation; do they know how fortunate they are to live under this sky?

During a pandemic and a divided nation, I wondered that perhaps this comet was the only thing bringing people together right now?  Looking at the cosmos does that. 

Grateful me ~ during a pandemic birthday. 

The comet peaked and was the brightest on Bryan's birthday, July 22nd. That's really special.

My friend, Gretchen, got some spectacular photos on her blog here.