Hard to believe that a week from now, I will be on Day 2 of my vacation. Hopefully I will have knocked off one or two of those vacation goals.

1. I want to visit 5 state parks I have never visited. Including Mines of Spain and Preparation Canyon.
2. I want to add at least 20 new signs to THE TOWN SIGNS PROJECT. A project I’ve mostly ignored this year, despite the fact that this would have been a good year to work on it.
3. I want to finally meet Jen and Derrick’s dog.
4. I want to finally tackle those POSTCARD PROJECT pictures that I have put off for like 3-4 years now.
5. To play with a new lens I hope to purchase between now and then, but the verdict is still out on what new lens I’m going to purchase.
6. Take some near full moon photography. The next full moon is September 2. Which is a Wednesday. But I figure there will still be plenty of moonlight left on September 4.

At least goal #6, for sure. I have purchased the lens in goal #5. It should arrive on Wednesday. I’m pretty stoked to play with the new guy. But I’ll write about that more in the future.

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A few weeks back I cracked out a flash ring that I purchased a ways back, but have never really used much I took some pictures of some flowers around the yard.

It is a very generic and low end flash ring, but that doesn’t mean it can’t create beautiful photos. I was going to do one of those equipment type posts on it, but seems like the time has passed for that.

Yes, another collection of flower pictures. Tomorrow, I’ll give you a break from flowers. A respite, if you will, but today is more flowers. Sunflowers. Moonflower. Hollyhocks!

These pictures were taken in early July. Mostly in my yard.

I do have some good news. The three collapsed shafts at the Computer Mine, well they aren’t back to being fully functional. One is. One is back to functioning part time. No word on when the other one will be repaired. But the Computer Mine is close enough to capacity that I actually get to take a week of vacation! A very, badly, needed week of vacation.

So I will be on vacation the week of Labor Day. I’ve set a few goals for my week of vacation.

1. I want to visit 5 state parks I have never visited. Including Mines of Spain and Preparation Canyon.
2. I want to add at least 20 new signs to THE TOWN SIGNS PROJECT. A project I’ve mostly ignored this year, despite the fact that this would have been a good year to work on it.
3. I want to finally meet Jen and Derrick’s dog.
4. I want to finally tackle those POSTCARD PROJECT pictures that I have put off for like 3-4 years now.
5. To play with a new lens I hope to purchase between now and then, but the verdict is still out on what new lens I’m going to purchase.
6. Take some near full moon photography. The next full moon is September 2. Which is a Wednesday. But I figure there will still be plenty of moonlight left on September 4.

Most of those goals involve actually getting out on the open road. I’ll have to stock up on the dried fruits, the trail mixes, the granola bars, and the Bai drinks. Maybe I’ll pack a lunch like we do on mision trips. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to finally use that Yeti cooler.

Those are my starter goals. I should probably set some other goals like get the yard ready for the fall. But this will work for now.

If you know of a State Park I should visit, leave your idea in the Comments section below.

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Here is another collection of pictures of flowers. These flowers are from my Mom’s flower garden.

This badly mismanaged pandemic has lead to a renaissance in my flower photography or flowertography as my book will be called someday as I don’t have people or many places to photograph. Some people consider that a good thing. Other people hate flowers. I weep for those people.

Here is a collection of flower pictures I took in early July. Gazanias. Lilies. Hollyhocks.

So many flower pictures still in the hopper.