petal pusher

Let's see whether we can I.D. these here...  I think that's a Drone Fly perched on a Shasta Daisy.  It looked like a bee from behind, but the eyes and wings are clearly not bee-like.  Then, we have a Hibiscus flower.  This one was an interesting shot for me, because it had strong backlighting, and I used a white board to reflect light back on to the front of the flower.  Finally, we have a bunch of Daisy Fleabane.  Again, there was strong backlighting, but the angle of the sun put these flowers in bright light, and the Juniper bush behind them was completely in the shade.

On another note that is not entirely unrelated, I would like to offer a tutorial on my special grilling technique.  If you want your hamburgers to turn out like mine, you will need to let yourself be distracted and keep walking away from whatever you're cooking.  I know that is unorthodox, but it is a critical component to my method, and it is how I end up serving those nice, dark biscuits that taste remarkably like charcoal.  So throw those formed patties on the hot grill, and walk around the yard with your camera!  You'll know when to grab the spatula by the smoke signals, which are easy to spot from virtually anywhere on the property.

where there's smoke...

We did a lot more entertaining last year than this one. For a while, it seemed that I was grilling quite a bit, and I was hoping that this year, I could diversify a little bit from the grill, instead of the same old burgers and chicken.

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The charcoal grill (last year's Father's Day present) has been such a treat, that it's been a while since I've even opened up the gas grill. I went in there yesterday, and HEY, we've got company! I grilled anyway, and I was sure that I was going to get stung, but they left me alone. Too bad I couldn't return the favor, but with some folks having allergies, I don't want to have these things swarming on my deck.

enjoying one another

Sunday's message was about the "one another" passages from Scripture. In good keeping with the theme, some of us got together ...with one another and shared a meal. In truth, the meal was planned before we heard the message, but don't hold that against us. ;-)

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A new charcoal grill and an old (refurbished) gas grill side-by-side provided an easy way to control cooking temperatures, appealing sear marks, and smokey flavor. To anybody who didn't know any better, it probably looked like I knew what I was doing. The food turned out better than anything I have grilled before. That is to say, our guests at hamburgers and chicken breasts, not hockey pucks and burnt offerings. It was nice to keep the heat (from cooking) outside, and my wife could sit in the cool living room, visiting instead of working.

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Most of all, it was a treat to spend time with people we love. If you've never done so, I'd highly recommend checking out the 50+ passages where God's Word instructs us on how to treat "one another."