I survived the summer of '17

That was a very full summer. Travel to Amsterdam, Munich, Montreal, Seattle, the Sierras, and the north country. Visitors from Amsterdam, Tenerife, and Seattle in return, and that much understates things. A lot of time at the beach and in the water (usually unrelated activities, not so this summer!). A great deal of camping, some of it while in our own home. And for that home, too, a fair share of changes, with a new performance stage built down below, repainting and projects up above, and many hours of planning, perhaps even preparing, for the rains to come. Challenging, stressful, wonderful, beautiful, a summer none of us will ever forget.  Some photos here.

Betcha all that makes you want to visit, too, but consider what the photos do not show:

• It was not sunny all the time.
• Every one of these photos was separated by a 4-hour drive from every other photo, except where they were separated by a 14-hour plane flight.
• Some people slept in a barn.
• None of the water was really warm.  Often the air was too warm.  Also, sometimes, too cold.
• We ate sand.
• The supply of ice in the ice maker is not infinite and replenishes only slowly.
• There was a fair amount of screaming for a wide variety of reasons.
• Many people were dirty much of the time.
• There were tears.
• The eating of hot dog buns in the absence of hot dogs brought with it derision.
• Things are stupid expensive, including hot dog buns.
• You all got poison oak, even if you didn't know it.
• People fell from heights, though no one got hurt.
• Try as you might, you didn't eat all, or even the best, Scoop flavors.
• In the end, you had to say goodbye.

Whatever the fall brings, I promise to blog more often.