13: Rhododendron Road
1. We named our road Morning Dew after the Jerry Garcia song, but we should have called it Rhododendron Road.
2. I think of the below as wallpaper
3. Off the grid or off the wall?
4. Oh, Obama.
5. This (on the right) is my 18 year-old grandson Bryce pointing at Bryce Canyon with his uncle Josh. Joe took him and his brother Liam on an epic monthlong cross country road and camping trip.
6. Their dad Dylan and their Uncle Josh flew out to meet up with them on the last week of the trip.
7. I just came across this June 2009 blog post from when Bryce was 1-year-old: My one year old grandson likes me. He holds out his arms now for me to pick him up. He’s not big on waving bye-bye but he likes to point. Whada? Means “What’s that?” and Getah means “get that.” Every week when I see him there’s a new discovery to make. Today I discovered that he likes blueberries more than any boy I’ve known. He can also hear NO from me now without it breaking his heart and he lets me wash his face after breakfast. June 2009
8. It’s a wildlife in Floyd. That’s the name of the band. Our friend Richie sang about getting his smile back. We got plenty of smiles dancing that night. More HERE.
9. Back in the day, we had one smiley face. Now there are 100s of smiley face emojis expressions, and I have face recognition disorder when it comes to recognizing their various emotions.
10. This made me smile too. “I find myself watching something that feels increasingly rare in modern America: a public event centered on community, education, culture, and hope. As the opening ceremonies of the Obama Presidential Center unfolded in Chicago, I realized I wasn’t simply watching the dedication of a museum. I was watching a reminder of what leadership can look like when it is rooted in service rather than self-promotion, and what a presidential legacy can become when it is designed to outlive the person whose name appears on the building.” – Michael Jochum
11. Era or error?
12. I watched the perennial flowers bloom / one species after another / I watched the corn tassel / and ate greens by the bowlful everyday / I heard the windchimes sing / and fed my neighborhood birds / I met fireflies at dusk / sewed clothes on the porch / and washed the kitchen curtains… Read “I Did What I Wanted To” in its entirety HERE.
13. THIS short video got me some kind of award badge at Youtube for receiving 500 views in four days.
__________Thirteen Thursday
June 24th, 2026 4:17 pm
The Camping trip is truly a wonder TRIP!
I like #10 too!
# 13 is special & it’s in 3D format, no wonder it got over 500 views! I can’t seem to recognize the animal either?( ? gopher) And is that Joe’s voice in the background?
June 24th, 2026 5:54 pm
Congratulations on your YouTube badge. They grow up so fast, don’t they?
June 24th, 2026 8:41 pm
It’s a marmot. Kind of a rodent squirrel from the mountains out west. Joe made the video and Bryce made one too. I didn’t know the video was 3D and wonder how that happend. I think Joe just took it with his phone and texted it to me. I saw nothing on the video that said 3D.
June 25th, 2026 2:41 pm
I thought it was a groundhog at first. I don’t think I’ve ever had a video hit even 100 hits, much less 500, so good on you.