Good Morning!

I don't know if these guys are going to bed or trying to wake up. They sat through eight flashes and then like phantoms were gone. Silently and in unison they lifted off and settled in the next tree.

Owls, Owls, Owls

I should have put one more 'Owls' in my title. As He Who Must Be Obeyed and I were having our evening swim, we detected some soft fluttering in a pine tree near the pool. There in the branches were four small owls just spreading their wings for the first time. This is the first time we have noticed them, anyway.

They seemed to have no fear of us and I walked right under them before I came into the house. One opened its eyes and blinked at me a couple of times before it nodded off again.

Owls! How fun! I hope their mama gets the moles that are burrowing around under the pear tree. We have our own little ecosystem right out the back door.

Transylvania: farmers used to scare away Owls by walking round their fields naked. We are not going to be scaring the owls away soon.

Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary

A couple of weeks ago He Who Must Be Obeyed took me along with him on a trip to the Black Hills. On our way home we caved in to the tourist 'thing' and went for a two hour tour of the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. It was truly horse heaven.

This lonely mare is rejected by the stallion and his herd of mares in the background. Every time she comes a little too close to them, he runs her off. Even then she doggedly continues to follow them, grazing on the periphery.
Here are a group of newcomers to the ranch, some Spanish Mustang decendants and their foals. Their coloring is unique and they have a black mane and tail connected by a stripe down their backs.

This was a wonderful time of the year; nearly every mare had a very young foal.

FinnFest 2006

I read that procrastination is a good thing on Maeda's Blog Simplicity. It can make for more stress than a person can endure, sometimes. When one completes one of those lines on the TO DO list, the relief creates enough endorpines to make it worth the waiting.

I registered for FinnFest2006 yesterday. The plane tickets are purchased, the lists of events for four days is stapled together, and I am set to go. It is during the last week in July. As I look over the Cultural Programming
Series, I wonder how I can possibly take it all in. Every topic interests me.

"Finns, Saamis, and Laestadians: Delving into our Past." Those Laestadians have a way of edging into our history one way or another. My mother visited the Saamis (Lapps) in Finnish, near lake Inari, while I eyed the raindeer ambling down the street too near for comfort, about arm's length it seemed.

Even Chihuly, who put blown glass orbs in a Finnish river with Finnish glass blowers has a spot with the films.

Not only will the Helsinki Police Choir sing but I see they will also have a panel discussion comparing Police Work in Finland and the USA. After nearly a lifetime of hearing about it, I will hear the kantele played.

There wil be all of this and added to it will be the opportunity to spend a week with my only remaining aunt,my mother's youngest sister and her family.