Spotty week

Ah here it is the weekend and I've only had 4 days of walking in. The long weekend we took cut into my walking schedule or at least that's what I'm blaming it on. I did try to walk a lot while we were away to make up for it.
While we were away I was amazed by the fact that even though I had taken my laptop with me I did not even unzip the bag and get it out. Didn't miss it. I did use my cell phone and text and called the family a few times (and once our friend Karla got an errant message from me) but I didn't feel the need to check email or read the news, etc. As it turned out I didn't miss much email wise because when we got home I checked it and out of 57 emails only two were from people I knew. One friend and one family member, the rest was newsletters, sales ads, and garbage...of course the spam folder was full. Gotta love that delete button.
This week we've been enjoying cooler temperatures for a couple of days. We were at 95 on Thursday, 81 on Friday before the front moved in along with some much welcome rain, and today it's nice and cool without rain.
It's fantastic that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize although it caught me by surprise. My thoughts on it are that the world was sick of us throwing our weight around and kicking sand in their faces and just were plain pleased and happy that diplomacy is back on our agenda for getting along with the rest of the earths inhabitants. I think it was a we're happy with the new path of your country award rather than an individual award. Anyway an award for peaceful endeavors is a nice thing.

The photos below were all taken in Butler Park which is located between Barton Springs Rd and Riverside. Since the recent rains the flowers have been spectacular. Click on the small pics to see the large ones. They make wonderful background photos for your desktops. :-)

Special Day Indeed

I was moved by President Obama's speech which is not unusual for he has always been a great orator and well able to move people with the power of his words.America the Beautiful has always moved me and sung by Aretha it was really memorable. I confess here that Rev. Lowry's speech made me smile and I heard myself giving him a hearty Amen for which I hope my brother will forgive me. ;-) For a moment during the singing reality reared its head when the camera panned to the men dressed in black stationed on the top tiers of the capitol building...not all of them were holding cameras. But it's a joyous time for us and I did truly feel a dark cloud lift from my heart when I saw former President Bush and his wife Laura leave. I wish them both peace. It's comforting to know too that President Obama's staff is already hard a work and that really difficult task of getting our nation now starts in earnest. I know things won't change overnight but at least now we have people who no strangers to long hours and hard work and if only two or three promises are fulfilled in the coming year that we will all be the better for it.
A non-inauguration topic here. The dreaded Cedar pollen is over 4 thousand grams per unit which means it's very high. My eyes are swollen to mere slits and doctors are warning people who are affected by this scourge to stay inside for now. I'm following their advice. The photo above shows the pollen coming off the trees be they shaken by hand or wind. I'm sure the woman doing the shaking of the tree branches is not affected by the pollen because if she was she would never, ever do such a foolish thing.