meet Viz

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This afternoon a few of us ventured out to Camas, Washington for a communications planning retreat on a colleague’s ranch. I had never been to Camas before – or frankly, even remotely close to Camas – but once I got over the initial shock of just how long the commute is, I found it quite lovely. So pretty and peaceful; I can see the appeal for sure. She has this amazing barn on her property, which she calls her “dream come true” and this is her beloved horse, Viz, short for Visible Difference. As you can see, Viz gave us a warm greeting when we arrived before heading out to the pasture to relax for the afternoon while we worked out on the patio. And yes, we actually did get something done.

weekend goodness

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This was a good weekend. First of all, as stated on Friday, the weather was amazing. Finally. Second, as also stated on Friday, we had a lovely evening out Friday night. Third of all, as not yet stated, our Saturday was quite nice, too.

Maria came to watch Elena and Ian in the afternoon so that Jeff and I could do a bit more camera research and actually have a chance to focus on talking to someone. Jeff bit the bullet last week and upgraded to a new Canon DSLR model from his six-year-old one that has been having flash and other issues for quite some time now. It was delivered a few days ago and it’s a bit like a third child just arrived. Except, thankfully it’s much lower maintenance than a third child. Now he has his eye on a new type of lens, which I will make no attempt to try to discuss here. I just know it has something to do with zoom.

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flashback friday

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I decided a few days ago that Fridays at burpobanter.com would be reserved for flashbacks – or a look back at old pictures or a repost of previous “banters,” if you will. I did this for two reasons: 1) Because I’m guessing it’s rare that I’ll be motivated to write a full post on Friday nights and 2) I thought it might be fun. For me at least.

That said, first allow me to say that today was quite a nice day. And I mean that literally, to begin with. After several days of gloomy, somewhat chilly weather, we had one of those days today that we live for in Portland…high 70s and not a cloud in the sky, and of course no humidity (sorry east coasters). Picture perfect, really. And it’s supposed to be that way through the weekend. This afternoon I was invited to spend some time out and about in the zoo touring the construction site for our new Veterinary Medical Center that is scheduled to open in December. It’s one of the first projects that has been undertaken within the bond program. And, wow. It’s going to be such a great, state-of-the-art facility that, like all else the zoo is planning for the future, is pushing the envelope in terms of how we care for the animals. It’s pretty cool.

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space ranger in training

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It all started innocently enough. I was on tap to take both Elena and Ian to daycare/school this morning. Jeff was home, so he helped load us all in the car and off we went. I had the radio tuned to NPR, which perhaps was my first mistake because there was a story on about the last flight of the space shuttle.

I recall that we were about halfway into the 10 minute drive to St. Andrews when the first question came from the back seat. Mommy? Yes. Why don’t they wear helmets in space? Well, because I guess they don’t need them. (Brilliant answer, I know.) Oh. Then, silence, except for Elena’s usual vocal inflections and exclamations of wonder at some unknown object she’s passionately pointing at out the window. Suddenly: Mommy? Yes. Does the space shuttle have a name? Yes. What is its name? Well, I believe there are two space shuttles and they both have different names: one is Atlantis, which is the one that is about to come home for the final time, and the other was Endeavour. Oh. And from Elena: Oooohhhhh….ha! So they only have two space shuttles? Why? Yes, I’m pretty sure there are only two space shuttles right now and that’s probably because they are very expensive to build and take care of, so they can’t afford to have too many of them at once.

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