It's Summer!

Another amazingly beautiful day here on the Southern Oregon Coast.  Warm, bright sunshine, everything sparkling, people in T-shirts, convertible tops down.  Summer.  Or so it seems.

I drove down into California and walked through some redwoods for awhile.  I need to soak those babies up as much as possible before I leave here, which, as someone reminded me this morning, is now only about 7 weeks away.  It seems like such a long time, when I'm trying to be patient -- but such a short time when I think about all I have to say goodbye to here.  Yes, I wrestled with all this last spring and, in the end, couldn't do it.  It still won't be easy, but after 6 months of intensely experiencing, appreciating and enjoying all the beauty this area has to offer, I CAN do it.  I have to admit that I felt more than a small twinge this morning walking through those trees in the quiet forest.  Let's face it -- at my age and financial circumstances, once I leave this part of the world it's highly unlikely I'll return.  But -- it's time for a new chapter and I have to believe that much good awaits me in Georgia.



I just got a nice Thanksgiving present from Nikon!  Overnight shipment, which is the first surprise.  I hadn't expected to see it until Friday, at the earliest.  And, it's a different model camera -- a P90 that's quite a bit more expensive and has lots of goodies like manual focus plus it's what's called an ultra-zoom, 24x.  Way to make an unhappy customer happy again, Nikon! It's still not a DSLR, but it's a nice toy nonetheless. Naturally, my batteries and new battery charger, and memory card, won't work with it, but I guess that's a small price to pay.  I just read a quick rating of it on-line, and while it doesn't get the best rating of its class, it didn't get the worst, either. It's also the lowest priced in the class and like the rest of them, many features rated higher or lower than others.  Worst was video, which I hardly use.  Now I need to get the battery charged and see if Fred Meyer carries a memory card for it, and I'll put it to use.  Lots of new toys to play with -- and much I don't understand but will figure out.  Can't do anything until the battery charges, so guess I'll take yet another walk down to Freddies.