what goes up...

...must come down. This explains all the rain we've been having! Remember the water cycle? Ah, yes. Evaporation. Condensation. Precipitation.

julius moore

I didn't know him, but I stood for hours in the cold outside the church where his funeral was held. The air was brisk, but the sun was shining. During the last funeral I went to, it poured. I had never met her either. I didn't go into the church for his service nor hers. I waited with my camera, both times, meters away from the entrance that friends, family and clergy walk through to remember the life of their friend, coworker, husband, wife, brother, sister, daughter, son, come as it may. They were both young. She was 34. He was 23. She had two kids. He had three. She was a nurse. He was a police officer. Julius and Gina, may you rest in peace. I wish I could have met you both.

4th annual

This week it dawned on me that I was hosting a pumpkin carving party for the fourth year in a row. Whoa. I don't know if there are many things I've done in my life for four consecutive years besides the mandatories, such as school. I must say, it's fun to have a holiday tradition all of my own. And the carving gets better every year!

See photos from the 2008 and 2006 festivities! (The hands in this year's photo belong to the same person featured from 2006. Go Laura!)

for sale

This is the second "bike-for-sale" photograph I've posted this year. Guess there must be something special about bicycles for sale...

comida boliviana

Salteñas


Mate


Cuñapes

A beautiful evening of little girl giggles and delicious food. I don't think you've lived until you experience the texture of a cuñape...asombroso. ¡Muchas gracias a la cocinera!

citygarden morning with mom

Citygarden

telefériqo

Quito


My lovelies, Jes and Alex. Les extraño tanto...

A trip to a major South American city cannot be taken without a ride up a gondola lift!

old town quito

Narrow streets. Spanish colonial architecture. Beauty. Old Town was the first city named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I took this picture as a policeman 10 feet away clubbed a belligerent drunk man, right on those old brick streets that hold so many of history's footsteps.

words of wanderlust...

On occasion, I used to post passages from books I read. One is resonating tonight that I thought I'd share, from The Geography of Bliss, which I recently completed.

One way Americans pursue happiness is by physically moving. Indeed, ours is a nation founded on restlessness. What were the pilgrims if not hedonic refugees, searching for happiness someplace else? And what is our much-heralded "frontier spirit" if not a yearning for a happier place? "In American, getting on in the world means getting out of the world we have known before," wrote the editor and teacher Ellery Sedgwick in his autobiography, The Happy Profession.

As I type my sister and her husband are apartment hunting in Lausanne, Switzerland, where they will move in January. Lucky for them, Switzerland ranks high in happiness.

una familia bonita

And the man behind the ladies...

birds anyone?

Just some friends we met on the Jacks Fork during our kayak trip. They were huddled up under the bridge in Eminence and didn't flinch as we paddled by.

Eminence: standing above others in quality or position

I think these birds got the memo. The one in the center was especially eminent and, though you can't tell from the picture, he only had one leg.

29 seconds apart

13:39:03


13:39:32

First came the sun. Then came the ducks. Which do you like better? Wish I could have captured them both at once.

behind the plate

Scored a magical ticket to Friday night's Cardinals game. Unfortunately, the Cardinals themselves were not magical. It looked like Wainwright was going to win his 20th...until the 6th inning, when things got a little out of hand. Sitting behind home plate was a great place to be when the wild pitches started. I think we counted six. The Chardonnay and pretzel combo helped to ease the pain.

eggplant

Kruse Gardens at the Best of Missouri Market