Tharps Log

Thursday throwback taste of my life:

Writing some segments for our family foundations/legacy book today.  My Facebook feed prompted my writing when a cousin posted a picture of a fallen tree. Rains are pelting California and Oregon right now and the amount of water was just too much for the old tree with shallow roots.  It was a huge Sequoia tree in Calavaras County that was a tourist attraction.  It had a cut out in the bottom of the living tree, that you could drive a car thru! I'm sure my mom still has a picture, somewhere, of us when we visited there. I was there, with my family as a youngster, but what it reminded me of was another fallen tree in Sequoia National Park. 

I have an old photo taken in July 1959 of that tree--called Tharpes Log--with my mom and my aunt sitting on a log fence in front of the "residence" made of another huge Sequoia tree.  The photo is quite old, and you will need to look closely to see the constructed portion with a rock fireplace behind my mom.  It's butted up to the base of the fallen tree.  I have been in that summer grazing land shelter and found it fascinating!  It reminded me of all the happy hours we spent as a family, camping in the summer, and exploring the National Parks.  For the rest of the story, you will have to wait for the book to be finished!  

Thanks for visiting today!      

Photo Summary of July

Well it's August and I have not been here blogging in a while. The roller coaster ride (see previous post) is winding down and I finally feel like blogging again.  Won't go into the details, suffice it to say, the nausea is subsiding, although another ride is on the horizon. Life never stops!

So, ignoring the low points, today I just present a few photographs of the HIGH-lights of life in the last month.  First, the Fourth of July party at my daughter's house--bounce house and all:

Including the jello desserts that I made!

Then there was the berry picking trip:

Eating more than picking! :)

Then last weekend was a birthday pool party for one of my grands!  Eleven of my grands were there! Fun!

Homemade berry/nectarine Birthday Pie!

Birthday girl and mama

Well, that's my summer activities so far, 

what have you been up to?

Sunshine on my shoulders

A couple of days this week, the temps climbed to near 90 degrees! It was a glimpse of summer!

I, personally, am not a fan of summer, since I grew up in a desert valley that was extremely hot all summer! I can remember hot summer nights when it would cool off a bit, and everyone would flock outdoors to sit in the grass, go for ice cream, or just look at the stars--some of my fondest memories of summer there.

I much prefer the Pacific Northwest, where I live now, because I love the cloud cover, the rain and pleasant temps!!  Love spending quiet time on the deck in the cool evenings.

 What do you love about where you live?