Flag Day rolls around again

From Wikipedia

When I looked at the calendar this morning, I was reminded that it's Flag Day again here in the United States. It also reminded me that I wrote a post about it last year, with a little historical background and pictures of the flowers I took with my camera that morning. The same flowers are only now beginning to show any blooms, whereas last year they had been around for awhile. It's been a cool and cloudy springtime in the Pacific Northwest. Oh well, I'd rather have days in the sixties like we are having now than what the entire Eastern Seaboard is experiencing.

The downstairs neighbor who flew his flag last year has moved out, and the apartment is currently being rented to a short-timer. Many changes have taken place in my neck of the woods since then, too. I was writing twice as many posts on my blog, and I decided to take the internally generated pressure off by posting less often. But still, I notice that if I've written one over the weekend I begin to get a little restless by Tuesday. After all, I always write one on Thursday after the Trailblazers hike.

Some people don't like to be bound by schedules, but I find that having a scheduled morning routine is comforting to me. Wake up early and get some tea, read the news and my blogs, get dressed, have breakfast, catch the bus by 7:40 am, head to the coffee shop for my latte. Mosey out the door, say goodbye to my friends, and walk to the YMCA for my 9:00 am class. By 11:10 when the next bus goes back by my house, I've exercised, showered, shopped for any needed groceries, and am happy to have a few hours of spousal interaction, read, whatever comes up. It's a routine that makes me feel pretty darned lucky.

Sometimes I see scenes around town that make me glad to have my camera out and ready for action. When I saw this orange caterpillar, I realized my camera had to be dug out and turned on before it had gone by.

The idea of having a "leash" with little handles for the kids to hold onto never occurred to me before I began to see these scenes all around town. Usually there is an adult at either end, and the kids are usually not wearing little orange t-shirts saying "Field Trip" on them, either. I was glad there is an "auto" feature on the camera or I would never have gotten this picture at all!
:-)