Great Day in the Morning..and all day.

Top: After the 4th of July fireworks Cheryl and Audrey are "being Fireworks." I always like seeing pictures of my kids and grandkid.
Below: The pictures are starting to come in from Europe. Lori posted several Albums and it looks like it was a great time. This one is from the island of Santorini. I blatantly stole it. I will see if Lori will let me post links of Paris, Naples, Pompeii, Santorini...

Today I met early with the Appraiser, his assistant, the Project Engineer. and a representative of the Highway Department from Cheyenne about my trees and property. The Surveyor, bless his heart, was true to his word. The road is moving 12 feet further from my house but is being widened. I will lose trees that volunteered in the borrow ditch but my old growth will be spared. I will get a new approach, a new fence, a new gate and maybe a little cash. Now I have to decide if I will continue my forestry project in the yard. The effect of losing the borrow ditch trees will be pretty severe. A lot of the screening will be gone but a lot has also been spared. I am so relieved. I can live with this and since the project won't begin until 2010 or 11, I can start mitigation right now. Evidently others are complaining about road noise because the engineer attempted to shoot down the "sound barrier fence," before we got very far into the discussion-before it even came up.

The appraiser had an Eckankar sticker on his SUV. He was amazed I knew what it was. I was into Eckankar in the 1960's and the Cosmology was very inclusive-the organization has had its problems as all church organizations do but I am probably as much an Eck-ist as anything. I read the Wikipedia entry on it today and there were some fantastical beginnings but not any crazier than the the Mo's.

Janet is coaching me on the Fair photo contest. I think this will be fun.

I put up a temporary fence today. The puppies across the way bark and play and my dogs race over to, and Thayne told me ON the road. I had some chicken wire. I think I have them slowed down as of tonight and by tomorrow I will have them stopped from heading on that path anyway.