Tonight in Santa Clara

I finished the book I've been reading the other day so when I went out for a walk tonight I grabbed my camera in hopes of finding something to shoot.  Here's my walk in chronological order.  Santa Clara did not disappoint.

Beside my driveway the Agapanthas are blooming and beautiful.

Around the corner is this beautiful tree.  I'm not exactly sure what type of tree it is - but it explodes for a couple weeks a year with these gorgeous purple bouquets!

As I approached the Central Park gazebo I started hearing some music blaring from the speakers.  I went to investigate and found a crowd had gathered to enjoy some ethnic entertainment.

In this case.. it was belly dancers!

Here's a possible future performer getting in some practice.

There were also some beautiful animals along the way.  Check out this greyhound enjoying the performance with his owner.

As I was walking away from the gazebo I saw this couple out for a walk.  Check out the man's left shoulder.

When I got a little closer I realized he didn't have just one bird on his shoulder - but two.  Check out the little guy on his right side.   That's him.

After leaving the park I headed back home.  I passed this lonely swing in the front yard of one of our neighbors;  just waiting for tomorrow and more fun.

And as I came round the corner for the home stretch I snapped these.  The palm trees were hanging on to the last bit of light while swaying in the breeze.

Santa Clara on a Monday night.  Can't hardly wait to go walking tomorrow night.

Hannah's Pad

We're so proud of Hannah as she has graduated and is transitioning into the next phase of her life. One step along that transition was to move into a house in San Jose with friends.  And, yikes,  pay rent!

 The girls are combining free craigslist.com and friend's furniture - with some of their very own first purchases.  We had great fun going shopping with Hannah at IKEA a week or so ago where she bought a bed frame and some decorations for her new room.

After utilizing my LEGO skills (thanks Joel!) we had the frame together and her mattress setup!  Here's Hannah modeling.

Next Hannah went to work setting up her nightstand (a craigslist feeby!).  Check out her new light and decorations.  She is developing a great little decorator eye.

Add a new, color coordinated carpet.. and you're in great shape.

Yeah,  it looks good Hannah!  Congrats and enjoy your new pad!

Julie the Rock Star

Last Friday Julie was invited to provide a presentation at Bayshore Christian Ministries.  BCM serves underprivileged East Palo Alto youths in a variety of ways including a Summer program.  One aspect of this program is to have guest speakers expose the children to a wide variety of vocational opportunities.  Julie was asked to come in and talk about life as an Animal Technician.

I can tell you that she was a bit intimidated as she prepared;  although I wasn't worried in the least.  I mean, kids and animals?  Come on.  No sweat.  Her angst was driven in part by knowing she would be sharing the day with a presentation by the Fire Department.  The funny thing was that as soon as the fire fighter saw Julie traipsing in a bunch of animals into the building she said to Julie "ahh! you have animals!!  all i've got is a 20 minute canned video about making an escape plan. I'm dead!".

In actuality, Julie did a great job of preparing and was a natural in front of the kids.  The kids came in two groups; one hour each.  Julie brought five animals with her and started her presentation by showing the kids the different animals she brought and telling them a little bit about each.  First up was a bearded dragon with a missing foot and tail section. 

Next was Summer (our old Cockatiel) followed closely by a big, fat rabbit and a snake.

And of course we brought Indy - who was the hit of the show!  The kids couldn't get enough of her.  Indy was having fun... but she was so exhausted by the end of the presentations she slept all the way home in the car.

Julie also took in a bunch of her 'tools of the trade' to show the kids.  Any quess as to what Julie considers her most valuable tool at work?  Please leave your guess as a comment and Julie will let you know the correct answer!

After the informal presentation she let the kids do one of three stations.  The first was to touch and feel the animals that she had brought.  I think the snake (thank you Brandon!) was the biggest hit.  The line was certainly long for that one.

She also brought along some xrays and a viewer.  The xrays ranged from a big snake to a dog with 8 puppies in her belly.  Some of the kids were entirely mesmerized by the different animals.  Some of the images were of 'stuff gone wrong';  a frog that ate pebbles and broken bones!  Here's a few of the kids checking out a surgically repaired broken leg.

The other station was a series of foods that various animals eat.  There was even a worksheet where the kids could guess which animals ate which foods.  Clever.  Then, Julie walked them through the various foods and gave the the right answers.  Needless to say, the snake was the one that ate the frozen mice babies ;)

For all her nervousness Julie did an amazing job.  She was a real rock star.  As we were heading out the door I could hear the fire fighter muttering.. "no fair!  she had animals!".