Now that title sounds trite. Judy had gone to the lot next door to check on the status of the ripening wild blackberries. They are big and juicy and the crop is begging to be picked. But she also came back to the house to report that there was Passion Flower blooming "everywhere." Who can miss a photo opportunity like that?

The funny thing is that we grew Passion Flower in our flower boxes on the shed last year, but this year was not going well. And here they were on the other side of the fence blooming in numerous places. And large bumblebees were busy gathering pollen, submerging themselves in the structure of the blossom, nearly hidden from view. Milkweed, among other flowers, is also blooming next door and attracting the attention of bees.

The bees didn't notice me, although I had the camera quite close. They were busy with their task, and rarely sat still. While I found the photography enjoyable, I suspect I'm not the only one who likes to watch someone else work.

I do not know whose job it was to drill into these rock cliffs, insert large bolts and fasten them to an iron plate.

You may not be able to see the bolts in the photo above so I have included one that is tightly cropped below.

I suspect that there was a possibility (before the unknown driller worked up the rock face) that these rocks would slide down the hillside. I suspect that it happened before. But someone got the idea that gravity could be challenged a bolt and a nut (or several). And now all kinds of traffic use this road daily, and cross their fingers, and hope the nut got it right!

Life is about balance. And some stuff just ain't important...

I've got a storage problem. I've been taking photos a long time. I bought my first camera in college. I used film. So I had negatives and prints. A shoebox would work for small prints and negatives. I have some old yellow Kodak photo paper boxes that hold a lot of 8x10 photos.

When I began to shoot slides, I put them in clear plastic pages in 3 ring binders. I have dozens of binders, with thousands of slides. I got my first digital camera in 2003 and had a new problem: where and how to store digital images. And the problem has compounded itself as the size of the image has grown. I've also been advised to keep multiple copies of the digital images. I have more than 60,000 digital images, and now that I'm retired the number increases at more than 1,000 per month. Part of this is fun.

But in some ways, it feels like the process of storage and backup will swallow one up. But it's weird in that all of the photos I've taken for the last ten years will fit on a portable hard drive smaller than a book, much smaller than a shoebox. But that many slides fills nearly 10 feet of shelf space, and that many prints and negatives fills box after box after box. And despite what I read this week, I recall nearly every photo, if not all.

That's a lot of memories.

On our recent trip to Bryson City, NC, we took the southern route through Chattanooga and alongside the Ocoee River. The water flow is controlled by three TVA dams.

As you can see, it is popular for white-water rafting and was the site for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Sections of the rapids have interesting names such as "Broken Nose" and "Double Trouble". The young people were happy and wet. And I was happy photographing them from the river bank, and was dry. Ah, older people can be happy without getting wet.

Midway through our meal yesterday, our waitress said, "Happiness is a choice. I choose to be happy." Her affirmation caused me to remember an article I had read this week about how happiness changes as we grow older. Happiness for the young is provided by extraordinary events, such as vacations or concerts while the older folks (my age group and beyond) find happiness in ordinary times: a meal with a spouse or friend, sitting quietly in a favorite spot, or watching the birds at the feeder. I found it fascinating to consider how simple happiness can be.

I would hope that this photo (Yes, it's not possible that I took this picture, although it could be a selfie!) represents a happy time. Yes, here I have hair! and I'm working on a tan (that hasn't changed) and from the brick sidewalk in the background, this is on Eighth Street in Peru, Indiana. Different things make me happy now. It's a choice. I choose to be happy.

One Sunday morning, I arrived at this church to be the guest preacher. I've been to a lot of churches, but I had never seen this:

Of course, this is the steps to the front door of the church. I've noticed over the years, as well, that most of the regulars have a different entrance to their church. There's the door by the kitchen, and the one that goes into the fellowship hall, and the one by the classrooms, and the side entrances, and on and on. So it's the first-timers that come in the front door (I know there are a bunch of regulars that come in that way as well, but I suspect it is not the majority of the members). And here is the greeting for the first-timers, the Ten Commandments on ten steps. And I suspect further that these steps were carved with memorial money.

Now I'm a Christian that finds grace more appealing than law. I recall St. Paul addressed this as well. I think that it would be hard to climb these stairs knowing how you have failed to keep these Commandments. Some folks might even stop and turn back, thinking they didn't deserve God's love. And wouldn't even get inside to hear the Good News. I would hope they could at least hear the congregation singing "Amazing Grace"...

Disclaimer: this photo was taken two years ago.

But, this is exactly what the deck looked like on Friday afternoon. Judy and I had just talked about that the lawns were getting dry and it hadn't rained in a week. We do have sprinklers in the lawn in the back, but not the front. And some things were starting to look thirsty. And then a rather dark cloud came up over the western tree line, accompanied by thunder. A few minutes later, it was pouring.

It is good that there is rhythm to nature with sunshine and rain. Happy first day of summer!