Our Tree...

After the tree had been staked and planted, we applied the label with the name of the tree to the side braces. According to the Friends of the Urban Forest, that's the christening.

General state of things

I am still recuperating from the accident. Thank you everyone who wrote to me- It was really nice to hear from you. My neck is doing much better and the pain has migrated down to the bottom of my spine. I am coping and as you can see, my sun observances have been modest: people I know, wherever I happen to be. For a little extra excitement, this week, I went back east for a wedding. Norman's nephew got married and the family converged on the Amish country. Check out the sites of Hershey, Lebanon, Quentin, Harrisburg and Philadelphia.

Second week of July

7/7 AM What Do They Use to Put Out The Fires?
This morning was not so foggy, but it smelled odd. Not like smoke, but like fertilizer. I wonder if the chemicals they are using to fight the fires have saturated the air enough to carry along with the rest of the airborne residue. Does the moisture from the fog somehow obscure the detection of scent. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t smelled like chemicals until now: a combination of long term use of chemicals sprayed on the fires and an absence of the usual heavy moisture. Any ideas about this?

7/7 PM Car Alarm and Cowbells Duet
This recording is from the backyard. It’s a warm evening, and although you can hear foghorns in the distance, it’s clear here for a change.

7/8 AM Not Ready to Get Up?
I had just finished the morning ringing when I heard a window slam down two doors away. The bells are not an unpleasant sound, but the timing is not so good if you are not ready to get up.

7/8 PM Sunset in the Parking Lot
Driving home just about sundown, we detoured by the beach. Since we couldn’t quite make it to the shoreline, we pulled into the parking lot across the street and rang from there. A noisy little corner in the world.

7/9 AM Cymbal Phrases
It really felt like a conversation between that little bird and me this morning. He was great! (That's my comfy new "Miami-J" neck brace)

7/9 PM The Air is the Wrong Color
Our friend, Paul is Malcolm’s best friend and he is coming to stay with Malcolm for a few days while we go to a wedding. So after dinner this evening, we went up to the corner and walked around with the bells. The air is still very smoky, and everything is the wrong color.
Some updates as of today:
Big Sur
Butte County
General Northern California

7/10 AM Bells, then Airport
Today was the first day this year that we actually had to wake up at sunrise for some other reason than to ring bells. After ringing at sunrise, we continued on to the airport and flew to Philadelphia to go to a wedding and visit family. I wonder if there will be many bells at the wedding?

7/10 PM United Took my Pills
That was the most on time, uneventful, no-need-for-excuses flight I’ve been on in a few years. We left on time, and we arrived on time. No waiting on the tarmac, no weather reports, no scripted apologies. I had forgotten what it had been like to travel before 9/11. The one thing post 9/11 has made easier was for people to go through your bags and remove items. Which they did. When I arrived, I went to take a pill for the pain in my back, which was excruciating after sitting for 6 hours. Someone had taken them. I’m glad I only packed two pills. I only hope that whoever took them needs them more than I did. Now or sometime in the future.

7/11 AM If the Sun Rises Upside Down, is it Still A Sunrise?
There is a leaking pipe out in the parking lot in front of the hotel. At first we thought it had rained, but after returning from the wedding, the puddle was still there. This 90º heat would have dried up any standing water. The wedding was in the backyard and it was as cool as it could be under a canopy. It was a short, quiet ceremony uniting 2 families of five daughters and one son. It was an honor to be there- difficult to sit- but worth the trip. They didn’t have any bells by the way, but people sang.

7/11 PM Go Phillies?
What a crew! This is the cheering section for the Phillies taking a break at sunset to ring bells together. What we lack in agility, we make up for in spirit.

7/12 AM Staying at the Four Seasons Hotel

Another morning in Quentin, PA.

7/12 PM Congratulations Kris and Steven!
As we were listening to the pre-dinner wedding speeches, the sun was setting. So all of us at Table 12 rang very quietly. The PA was so loud, we just sparkled over the top of the general noise.