And what a summer it was. You know sometimes I look around and think about all this beauty I am seeing and I’m amazed by it all…do you guys see it? I hope you do, I really do.

“Oh yeah that?…yes…there is some pretty ugly going on with those screens, that is true”.

But if you are of the mind set and personality type that enjoys being out in the world, being in nature, conversing face to face with real people, a more positive then negative type of person…then you will know what I’m writing about.

Okay, let’s see, what has been happening lately…so much. I find myself trying to catch up all the time and this is where one of my favorite hobbies of blogging has taken the back burner as they say. I try to write as much as possible though. Sometimes I will write long letters to my friends out there in the world. We are all in different places now and to me old school letters seem more personal and just a fun way to keep in touch. I will even hand write them, now that is really old school.

I feel with all this technology we will loose those skills of using our brains to do things and in the big picture of things this will come back to bite us. This is why I love seeing art and hand made items, baking bread and building and creative…it’s all good.

We can’t loose those skills. I don’t even want to even go there, to even think about a world where a whole generation has never planted a garden, sewed a button on a shirt, or took apart something to see how it works or if they could fix it when it no longer does work…now that’s scary to me.

This was suppose to be a blog about our summer and here I am thinking about the younger generations never knowing what it’s like to build and create, everyone needs a passion. The world needs colors and joy. The whole world needs to invent and be unique in every way.

This summer was a hot one, when the heat got pretty uncomfortable out there I discovered a fun summer time project to work on, paint by number. I picked one up at my favorite thrift store. The paint was a little old but still in it’s paint stage. I just added a little water to it. These are actually fun to do. Just turn on a podcast and paint away.

We didn’t really go on any trips this summer. We took early morning walks down by the creek and I loved seeing kids out swimming and fishing. Everyone was out riding bikes and walking as well. It wasn’t a real vacation for us, but to be honest where I live now seems like being on vacation on a daily bases anyway, if you like nature and the outdoors that is, and I do.

There is always something new to see every time I’m out there. People wonder if I miss the big city and I do miss some things about my past home. I miss the desert, it’s beautiful too. I miss all the shops and museums. There were more food choices too and pick up trash days always had more to choose from for rebuilding supplies. In a city of millions when they have their large items for trash seasonal pick ups on the streets you will find all kinds of things, like old french doors, kitchen cabinets, large garden pots, dressers, chairs, old lamps…people toss so much away in those gigantic cities. I miss my repurposing of discarded vintage items.

There are more workers to hire in the big cities too. There is a shortage of help here in the country for construction and that is hard when you are working on renovations, we do what we can. And I don’t miss the noises of sirens, helicopters, loud speakers, drones and the intense traffic of big cities. There are some other things about city life that I will not write about here. It’s bad you guys.

This summer was all about The staycation of it all, we stayed put. I still worked on my hobbies like writing. but besides trying to write when I could, I also tried to just go out and take photos when I had time.

Using an actual camera tends to intimidate people I have discovered, it makes us photographers a target with things. This is hard to explain, but the camera is just like a paintbrush to a painter, or a pen to a writer, it’s just another artistic tool. But so many people out in the world have conformed to using their phones instead, that when they come across someone with a large camera out taking photos it’s almost like an ugly energy takes over the environment in that moment…”Why are you doing that, what is that you’re using?”. It’s much easier to blend in and be invisible in a city of millions taking random photos, then in the middle of the country with few people out and about. When you don’t follow the crowd, you risk the chance of becoming a target.

Anyway, I thought for my Summer update I would just add a few photos for everyone to see as photos tell stories too. I hope you all had a great summer as well. I can’t wait for warm sweaters, hot cocoa, snow, colorful leaves, road trips, baking cookies, and finishing up more home projects. Happy Fall everyone. Stay safe out there and God bless you all.

Pray updates- For everyone that was praying for Phoenix Arizona from a past prayer request from this site…Thank you. You may never know if the prayers are answered and remember that is okay, keep praying. Keep praying for strangers you see on the streets that may seem like all of a sudden need a prayer, keep praying for your love ones and friends, pray for your neighbors, pray for peace, pray for the world…just keep the prayers going. Sometimes you will be blessed to see that a prayer has been answered and I try to share that when I discover a prayer was answered with you all here. In Jesus name we pray always remember that. God is right there by your sides and He is watching out for so many. A major accident was prevented this summer in Phoenix.

New prayer request, this is for a small town, the one I live in, there are little battles everywhere right now, even here…please pray for it and the people who live here, and please include my family as well. I don’t usually ask for myself or family but this is something I am noticing here and it’s not good…thank you to all you prayer warriors out there. Again…have a beautiful Fall everyone. God bless you and yours always and keep you all safe.