It is no longer raining

and 

Rather, we had a nice sunset:

Also, I finished a nice sycamore bowl:

Frankie improves everything.

Evening update

The storm continues, but it is taking it easy around these parts. Folks down east are in bad shape - my friends who bailed out and drove up here are glad they did - while their house is still above water, power is out and many of their neighbors have water in their homes or are trapped by rising water. Their town has been all over the news and my friends were able to point out local landmarks in the news videos.

We are getting some rain right this minute but as is often the case with hurricanes the rain comes and goes as the rain bands move through the area.

Here is a picture I took just before sunset:

The clouds were racing by and the sun broke through for just a moment.

Hurricane.

Five years, eh?

I have certainly had my moments here, but now I want to focus on the "Levity" part of this blog. I don't always succeed, but it's good to have goals.

Based on Chicklet's comment earlier I took a look at pictures from five years ago and found some pictures of a couple of sweetgum (Liquidambar styracaflua) burls that I sawed in 2013. They weren't exactly anniversary ready at that point, but I did turn one giant bowl out of the largest burl and sold it to a woman who lives in Dublin Ireland.

It was a beautiful bowl and I doubt if I will ever find another burl like that one.

I finish turned it after it had dried for two years. It really was a stunning piece of work.

Today's sunset:

It was a great day, I got a surprise visit from a couple of friends who live far away and I even took a road trip to Capital City. How about that, eh?

Oh yeah, I woke up at 4:30 this morning and while I was out in the backyard I heard barred owls for the first time this season - perhaps they have been here the whole time and I just slept through their hooting.

Not sure we should be triumphal but we are here regardless.

Today's pictures

Many subjects, many pictures. I will try to limit how many I post.

First up, sunrise - looks ominous:

My leopard lilies (Lilium pardalinum) are starting to bloom. My attempts to propagate them over the winter failed. I have the same number of plants I had last year, so maybe this year I will do some research on how best to produce more of them.

And while walking one of my dogs this afternoon and saw a turkey tail fungus:

A storm moved through this evening, I looked out the window and saw a rainbow. It is a double rainbow but the outer one is very faint.

Then we had a groovy sunset. 

That's is all.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Another wonderful day wrapped up

Sunset:

Got some work done, got covered with white oak sawdust which is always a great experience.

Here is a nice tune, I have posted it before, but it works for this time of day:

Bark or roll.

Sunset

Did someone say "Japanese flag"?

This evening's sunset had a bit of that going on.

It's been a long day.

Time to wrap it up.

Another day's labor is complete

Let us be thankful and dance:

Release your inner Calabrese!

My Day in Pictures

First there was a sunrise:

We went for a short walk:

Then it got cloudy:

(The sky said "Hey, whachu lookin' at?)

 We got a minuscule amount of rain - far less than we need:

Then the storm blew over:

Then we got a sunset that was photo-worthy:

All the while I was making pieces parts and gittin' 'er done. All in all, a good day.

Seems topical.

Whose Those Bad Actors?

I am of the opinion that Dick Tracy, the version made in 1990, is one of the most beautiful movies ever made. Why do you think that, 60? I will tell you why, but first, have you ever seen it? If so, imagine how all those primary colors look to someone who is colorblind. They look beautiful, that's how they look. So other than the bad acting, the moronic script, the mediocre musical score and grotesque corruption of astronomical mechanics, it is a very good looking film. To me.

I say it is time for a sequel, something like Dick Tracy II - The City Depends On You!

Speaking of colors - after the storm, such as it was, blew through we got a nice sunset:

Sunset

After way too long with too few or too many clouds to produce interesting photos, here is today's sunset picture -- how about that -- two days in a row with interesting sunsets.

Click to enlarge.

Some days nature makes you feel as if you are in a Chagall painting

Sunset.

It's a family tradition.

The gates of Mortar

Today I bricked up some holes in a friend's foundation. A smart aleck asked if that's what we youngsters are calling it these days. Nope, not a euphemism, an actual job. Animals were getting in and they ate holes in her duct work. Once again, that's what really happened.

It's been a few years since I have done any masonry work, and it didn't turn out so pretty, but once the mortar sets it will be functional.

Nice sunset this evening, unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of it. This was the best I could manage:

Among family and friends...

sunset, moonset, time lapse, July 9th, 2016

I looked out and saw gold, ew, ew, set the thing up, just in time. There is one frame of deep color near the start apart from the rest that is genuinely remarkable.

I notice a big difference each day when the moon appears later and later at night in rather large chunks, and drops through my area of viewing more to the south  each day in rather large increments. Within days it will move out of my area of view completely. Maybe even before it becomes full.

The moon is partial and the image is false that way. The sensor collects more light than it should and it bleeds to neighboring sensors making it appear full.

The battery had 2 bars remaining and I could switch it out anytime but then fell asleep so the moon did not complete setting. It looked odd just stopping that way near the bottom and I felt some urgency to fix it to force the moon to make sense.

Unusually agitated sunset

Sunset blanket for Sarah Palin

Fires in western states affect sunsets and sunrises weirdly