End of Summer

The end of summer is almost here, but we're getting a last blast.  We've had two weeks of mid-90's with high winds and high humidity.  The ragweed is in full swing, so I spend a lot of time indoors.

My zennias (planted from seed) are pretty colorful.

We have had our very own localized grasshopper plague.  It rivals the grasshopper plague in the 1930's that I've read about.  They stripped the flowers on my front porch.  This is what I have for beans and beets.

They attacked the leaves on the tomato plants and now they are eating the tomatoes.  They love to hang out on any face of the house that has sunshine.  They are breeding like crazy.  When we step outside and walk across the grass, 5 or 6 fly up with each step.

They are often on the outside of a door, and when we open the door, they hop into the house.

THEY ARE DRIVING US CRAZY!

The grasshoppers do not seem to be as invasive in other parts of the city.  I guess we're just lucky.


On a much happier note, my cousin Linda is now touring Alaska.  We enjoyed a pre-cruise lunch with her at cousin Cheryl's house.

Linda and me.

Winston, Cheryl, Linda and me.

Rusty's daughter, Lindsay, and boyfriend, Jeff, and Celeste moved into a lovely duplex.  We are very happy for them in their new digs!

My good friend, Sissy, and I attended a fund-raiser dinner celebrating 75 years for The Sunken Gardens, one of Lincoln's gems.

Mayor Beutler spoke and reminded us that these grounds started as a dump sight.  During the depression, the gardens became a city program to help unemployed men earn money.  E.M. Bair hired crew members to work eight-hour shifts, two days a week for a total of $6.40 per week.

A 1.7 million dollar renovation was completed in 2005; one of the renovations was making the garden handicapped accessible.  It was named as one of the "300 Best Gardens to Visit in the U.S. and Canada" in the National Geographic Guide to America's Public Gardens.

I remember coming here with my grandma in the 1950's.

The Fisher family joined us for the Frank Fowler, Sr. funeral this month.
I love having the boys come to visit!

Silly guys!

Our Great Plains Bicycle Club puts on a ride each August called the Heatstroke 100.  Although it has a 100+ mile option, it also has many shorter rides.  Rusty and I volunteered to do registration the morning of the ride and then rode 25 miles.  The ride started at the SAC Museum and if you look carefully you'll see a camouflaged B-1 Bomber in the background.

We had a lovely evening with Jeff and Karen White on their semi-annual trek through Lincoln.  Why can I never remember to take a picture when they are here?  Guess we're too busy catching up and enjoying their company.

Rusty and I decided to go back to school.  Although there were many confusing steps to the process, eventually we became registered as "graduate non-degree students".  We now have more websites (each with a different login and password) than I ever thought was possible; each website is critical to one's ability to function as a student at UNL.  (one for admissions, one for student payment and fees, one for learning about class assignments, grades, and communication with classmates, one for ordering or renting books, and even one for verifying that you are actually you in case your records are hacked.)

Rusty's first day.  He's taking oil painting, which meets two days a week for 3 hours each.

My first day.  I'm taking videography, which meets one day a week for four hours.

I believe both of our classes are going well.  We enjoy being challenged and also finding the experience of being on campus with many young people to be truly exciting.  I have lots of filming to do, but lucky for me, I'm married to a performer.

As I struggled to learn the rhythm of being a student, I clearly remembered the financial woes of begin a freshman many years ago.  Money for tuition, money for books, money for parking, money for lunch, money for coffee, and money for snacks ($1.00 for an apple!).  I'll quickly learn to bring coffee and snacks from home.