This photograph was taken at Windsor Castle in May. Though it has been several months since we were all in England, the memories are still very fresh. Later . . . I’ll post the photos taken outside St. Paul’s.

Long before there was a popular VP candidate, there was Cocoa Joy and her love for lipstick! In fact every night before prayers are said and the lights are turned out, she insists on putting on her “lips.” It amounts to nothing more than a quick dab of Carmex lip gel (it must smell great) but it is enough to earn her a reputation of a dog who loves lipstick! (See Training Up Cocoa)

I took this photo in 1978 (!) while I was working for a small town newspaper. Gas prices had just started to rise severely for the first time. Notice the pump says, “Out of Reg” (or regular gas). We were in the middle of a gas shortage and my editor sent me out to get a photo of someone pumping gas. The price for premium was listed as 83.9. I know because I enlarged the photograph to double check. This weekend as prices went up once again, I thought back to this photo and evidently to a much simpler and cheaper time.

There is a law on Sanibel Island and it is a good one. You can’t remove, take home, or pack away shells that contain live animals. I took this photo of a sea urchin after it had washed ashore. It was soft to the touch, but no longer alive. 

This little guy (a Little Blue Heron) followed me and watched me taking photos of other birds. Finally, I decided to take his photo. Then he picked up and flew off. Slow and gracefully.