Critters of the Riverwalk

A hot morning brought the inhabitants of the Riverwalk out to play. The turtle shared the footpath with us for a while. As a slow mover, he stuck around for quite a few photos. The water snake was a little more elusive, but I managed a picture in the end.

The first and only baby ducky sighted all season.

Daisies droop in the humid atmosphere.

Memorial Day Weekend

We spent the American ANZAC day + weekend in Connecticut. This marks the start of summer here and I managed an admirable start to my summer tan, spending a significant amount of time in the pool. It's also a weekend for grilling (bbq) - 3 bbq's in 3 days.

ja073791e Submitted

Words, 1459. Characters, 8905. Sentences, 41. Completing a paper, priceless.
While I'm at it, here are some other fascinating statistics:

Sentences per paragraph	5.1
Words per Sentence	31.9
Characters per word	5.8
Passive Sentences	9%
Flesch-reading ease	0.3
Flesch-Kincaid grade level	12.0

So its is a little harder to read than Green Eggs and Ham (-1.3 grade level), but I don't expect pre-schoolers to be picking it up any time soon. Maybe in 12 years or so.

Starved Rock State Park

On a warm Saturday, we headed to the shady trails of Starved Rock State Park with Peter L and co. Apparently the difference between a state forest and a state park is that in the latter you struggle to make out the trail markings scratched into trees and rocks. In a park the paths are more well defined.

Red Hot Chili Pepper

Proof of my green thumb is a shiny almost red Serrano chili pepper. Note added in proof: Greg has green thumbs too, taking excellent care of the chili during that critical ripening period. Thanks Greg.

Cinco de Mayo

The Mexican version of St Patrick's day seemed like a great reason to feast on salsa, guacamole, enchiladas and Mexican flan (thanks Greg!) all while sipping margaritas.

Spring Tulips

Cold winters = fantastic spring bulbs.

Ben Graduates

The Case of the Missing Suitcase

I beat my bag to Chicago by a significant margin yesterday, with only 1 of our 2 bags waiting on the carousel. An early morning call - my bag was to be delivered while I was at work. Well... either my bag shrank or this is NOT my bag.

Sydney Aquarium

-the largest collection of Australian aquatic life in the WORLD

Canberra Cycling

A weekend in Canberra to catch up with rellies. We managed to fit in a nice bike ride around Lake Burley Griffin in a slight drizzle. It's the ride I missed on a second grade school excursion because I hadn't yet learned to stay on a bike

Jenolan & the Blue Mountains

A day drive (in the shiny new car) with the parental units to Jenolan Caves. We descended through the Orient cave (the one that goes through to China?).
We stopped by the Katoomba on the way home, just in time for a stunning view of the three sisters in the late afternoon sun. This was quite an improvement over our last attempt to see the sisters which was a total white out - if you held out your hand you could barely see your fingertips.

Visa Ready

I'm visa'ed up and ready to go back to work in the US (after a decent holiday). The consulate now appears to take the perfectly sharp photos submitted and extrapolate to how you look at immigration after a 14 hour flight - somewhat out of focus.

Dad's new toys

Dad went on a shopping spree while I've been gone. Not only is he the proud owner of a shiny new car but he's got the big TV he always wanted. Just some of the perks of being semi-retired.

via SFO

We're flying home for a 2 weeks break. For the first time we're going through SFO which is a big improvement on LAX - cleaner, brighter, better food and enough art displays to keep you entertained during a 5 hr stopover.

Sharks sighted near Lake Michigan

SNAP

We're down in Oak Ridge, Tennessee at the new Spallation Neutron Source for a fun little meeting. After a few weeks brushing up on where neutrons come from, everything is making a lot more sense.

Most of the instruments are still under construction and full PPE was required in the experimental hall.

NaperDucks

The ducks have paired-off in time for spring. With any luck we'll be seeing fluffy yellow ducklings sometime soon.