A blue Norther came  in  and blew all the water out about 60 feet along the shoreline, so the guys decided to go explore the river bottom.

Youngsun and Carlos looked for clams in the mud

Madison and Will waded through ankle deep mud.

Jerome looked like some lost Robinson Crusoe on a lonely pebble strewn beach.

He finally decided to make a mud pie.

all the guys stylin their mudgear after their riverbottom adventure

We will miss you, Carlos! 
Until we meet again, vaya con Dios!

sometimes the world engulfs you, leaving you feeling lost and breathless, wondering what happened to the times when everything seemed so clear, and your direction and purpose was solid and unassailable. 

sometimes I wonder if that is just the chant of the niads and sirens that try to divert focus and increase uncertainty.  I just thought of that right now.  I try so hard, and it seems like I'm in slomo -- going nowhere, wading through slowy solidifying cement. I pour out my whole heart just to try to get through to some people, but it's like they are deaf, or just don't care. I feel like my heart is going to burst.   But maybe it's a seed planted, or a thought sewn.  Thoughts take time to grow.  When a seed is buried in dirt and gets lots of shit, it really grows well.

Maybe that is what is happening to me! Oh joy.

playing: nowhere man -- the beatles

I got a Canon Powershot S3 IS for my birthday.  My mom got it for me.  I was pretty shocked.  It was an expensive birthday present.  The camera is pretty damn sweet.  This is the supermacro mode.

It's hard to learn to focus it -- it's got a lot more manual controls than my Z3.  It also shoots at higher resolution. It's a 6 megapixel and the Z3 is a 5.  I don't have the money for a Digital Rebel, so I am not going to have any 8 megapixel shots for a while.

The Z3 can shoot 11 megabyte pictures while the Canon Powershot S3 IS shoots 17 megabyte pictures.  Jin and Sara took a zillion pictures with my camera over the last two days.  I took pictures of the moon and a mouse ball (sounds terrible, I know -- mooning and mouse balls).

Here is the Z3 in supermacro mode.  It is a lot easier to focus than the Canon -- but that could just be because I am used to it.

Anyway, the lighting was different -- these two shots were taken months apart.  But anyway, the Canon S3 is pretty sweet. I'll have to see what it can do.

Ten Thousand Soldiers guard the tomb of Emperor Qin of China.  Each terracotta soldier is handsculpted, with individually different features, armor, weapons and hairstyle.

The Forbidden Gardens is a miniature replica of the entire 18 square
mile Forbidden City of the Emperor of China.  Every building and garden
is replicated with intricate detail.

I just got back from Korea two weeks ago; my husband is in Japan. Yet ironically, all
the above photos were taken in Katy Texas today, about 40 minutes from my
home.

Here are some of the strange people from the Forbidden Gardens, found in the giftshop.

Needless to say, we did not purchase them or bring them home.

My dad dressed as a cowboy and his lil brother dressed as an Indian
Childress Texas circa 1926

My hubby at Mt. Fuji in Japan.

He went to Japan for 10 days. He'll be back on Sunday.

I recently returned from Cheong Pyeong, where there was a Special Wish Paper ceremony.  I attended the first Special Wishes Ceremony back in 2004 where 22,000 people attended. (That was one LOOOOOOOOOOONG lunch line, I can tell you!)

Recently, as I read people's prayer wording in an email list I belong to, I find the prayers are worded as wishes. Such wording inspires my heart.

As a child, I loved movies about wishes, and whenever I saw the
first star of the evening sky, I wished for Peace on Earth, Goodwill to all.
I always wished I had Alladin's lamp to rub, and I already had a wish

developed if perchance I caught a leprachaun who would grant me only ONE wish:

I wish that every wish
I wished would come true

 Wishes are powerful. It is as though hope is
born anew in a wish.
Perhaps we all really have the power to make our wishes
come true, and don't
need a genie in a lamp to make it so

Therefore,
I wish for every blessed husband and wife to fall deeply in love
with one
another, and teach their children the right way to live, so that
they will
never deviate from the truth, but will forever pursue True Parents
vision
and establish it as a reality on earth.

That is my prayer wish

In
True Parents heart of love
Aju

I love trees.

Where would we be without them?

No shade, no oxygen, no place to put our treehouses and rope swings.

Yep. I love trees.

i'm sorry Ares. I will leave it for God to sort out.  but some serious shit went down this summer so i was majorly pissed you weren't there to protect her. check it.  she needs a friend for realz right now.