Eventful week

School started Wednesday so herein are posted the obligatory First Day of School photos:

Luke, now a senior


The Snoginator begins eighth grade.


No parents needed; Luke's driving to school now.

Also last week, Luke and three friends sang the National Anthem at a Dayton Dragons game.


Grandma Rose and Poppy were in the ball park, of course.


The Dragon's mascot, Heater, joined the singers for a photo.


On Friday, Luke came home from school bearing a packet from the National Merit Scholar folks that notified him he was a National Merit Scholar semi-finalist. Very exciting. Then Friday evening was the first high school football game so Luke and the marching band had their first performance.

All in all, it was an eventful, fun week.

Dog Days

The dog days of August roll on.

And school starts waaayyyy too soon.

Time, why you punish me?

Burning question 2:

How old do I have to be before my mom quits calling to tell me a storm is headed my way? I'm forty-six years old, for crying out loud! And every time it storms here, my mom, who has seen the report on the weather channel, calls to warn me.

Someday rescuers will find my cold carcass, cell phone locked in my hand. They will pry the phone out of my stiff fingers only to hear my mother giving me the details on the direction and duration of the storm and advising me of the precautions I should take for safety.

Moms.

(Any family reading this better not breathe a word of this to my mommy. I might make fun of this in public, but secretly, her calling makes me feel beloved. As a matter of fact, I wish everyone, no matter how old, had someone who called when a storm was approaching.)

The Wilds

Today Logan and I visited Ohio's best kept secret, The Wilds. Oh my gosh, what a neat place. As soon as we got there, Logan claimed the camera so these are all his photos (except the one he is in). You'll see he had a thing for asses.

For instance, the onager, an ass from...somewhere in the Middle East. Iran? Pakistan? Anyway...


And the Przewalski's horse, an ancient horse whose likeness is often depicted in cave paintings. These had been extinct in the wild but due to conservation efforts and captive breeding programs a herd of 250 animals now grazes in their native Mongolia.


The giraffes were very cool. Two of them are basking in the shade of the trees behind Logan.


This guy was up by the road, clearing standing guard...


...over this.

Notice the baby giraffe and the baby white rhino. There were an amazing number of babies throughout the park. The guide said it was rare for the giraffe parents and the rhino parents to be so close to each other's babies but they were sharing the available shade. The sun was merciless.

When I first spotted the Grevy's zebras, I gasped out loud at how perfect they were. Those stripes, that color scheme, their expressions and outrageous stuffed-animal-looking ears. They were breathtaking.


This was the only place where we didn't see any babies. They think the stud zebra is shooting blanks so they're in the process of swapping him for another stud.

They are perfect.

The bison herd tried to keep cool in the 95 degree weather. They were panting from the heat.

Our vehicle was an open-air safari bus with a canopy overhead. It was breezy and amazingly dust free even on the gravel roadway. Ours was driven by a guide who clearly had been around the place awhile. She was a good talker who liked what she was talking about.

The pin-up girls.


If you find yourself near southeast Ohio (Zanesville area) don't miss The Wilds. Even when it's hot, it's very very cool.

Snoggy turns 14

Happy Birthday to my baby Logan.

He turned fourteen yesterday. For his birthday, he went to King's Island with his friend Ryan, came home to his favorite dinner - meatloaf, baked mac and cheese, and peas - went golfing with Tim, then had four friends over to play Dungeons and Dragons all night long.

His gifts reflected the fact that golf is his latest passion.

New golf shoes.


All decked out and practicing his swing.


He might stink up the course with his playing but he sure looks good.

In case you don't know, Snoggy stands for "very beloved son."

Free Birds

So Luke got his driver's license today.

And he drove himself to marching band practice tonight.


Although he was stuck with Logan, who had plans to go to a friend's house. When it was time to go, Tim and I followed them out the driveway with our cameras.


Sometimes I feel sorry for our boys having us as parents. We are so...parental.

To freak us out, Luke goosed the gas as they headed down the street. Does Logan look scared or excited?


Earlier, at the exam station, the second Luke's license came off the press he asked me if he could drive around the block of the exam station by himself. "Sure," I said and he headed out the door. I waited a nanosecond and followed. As I watched him turn right out of the parking lot I had a teary-eyed moment when I thought my heart would break, mostly with pride at the young man he has become. I sent blessings out to him across the parking lot, blessings and prayers and wishes that he will be careful and safe and always come home in one piece.

It has been a fun time, driving him to all his piano, band, school, clarinet, soccer, etc. all these years, talking and singing in the car, hanging around while he did his thing, then driving him home. But he's ready to take off on his own life and I'm ready to have my life back. I'm ready to get serious about this horse stuff.

We both feel like free birds.

Senior photo preview

Luke had his senior pictures taken on Thursday. Here's a sneak preview:

The obligatory suit-wearing head shot.


The musician and his instrument.


Using the beautiful piano at the Presbyterian church; getting the backdrop just so.


Getting the lighting just so.


Bond. Luke Bond.

The grins on their faces are because I had to eat crow over not wanting to spring the extra moolah for black and white photos. What was I thinking? Black and white piano, black and white tux. Duh. Get the black and white photos. Our terrific photographer took B&W anyway, despite my lack of coughing up the dough, and yeah, we saw 'em on the screen; they're beautiful.

I'm eating my crow pie and thinking of my lovely young man and his perfect photo. It's all good.