Bob Jensen's Set 1 of Favorite Summer 2010 Photographs
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

Scroll down to view the von Trapp family on Hunger Mountain, Vermont

Sassy Erika returning home after spending my money
She left the heavy stuff in the car for me to carry into the cottage

Summer clouds making interesting shadows
The strange thing hanging from the top of the window is a wood carving from Germany

All of my flower pictures show real flowers.
However, having lived in Florida, Texas, and California, I do especially love bougainvillea
But bougainvillea cannot take our harsh weather
So I ordered two expensive planters that I mistakenly assumed were to be silk planters
To my surprise, the planters that were delivered contained live bougainvillea plants
They thrived until last week when our first freeze wiped them out
The planters were just too big and heavy to hall into the house for winter
I mourn their death, and if I have any next summer they will be instead be silk

In Summer 2010 my all-time favorite flowers changed from bougainvilleas to "impatience for the sun"
Impatience for the sun have larger blossoms and will grow magnificently in bright sunlight
They bloomed like this from late June until the middle of October when the freezing nights set in

Erika's favorite flowers are roses, and she grows some beauties
But she has to go out every day and pluck off Japanese beetles
I will never grow domestic roses on my own (only heartier and easy care wild roses)

I planted lavender alyssum under around Erika's roses
Alyssum will continue to bloom after heavy freezes
Although billed as an "annual" plant
Allysum seeds itself wonderfully and will return in the spring

My easy-care wild roses

A sunrise working its way out of the summer darkness

I love my clematis vine

If you're ever in the White Mountains, feel free to make a wish in my wishing well

We attended the American Accounting Association Annual Meetings July 31-August 4
The Headquarters Hotel was the Hilton on O'Farrell Street
With 2,000 rooms it is the highest building in San Francisco
But the food is terrible via room service or in its only restaurant/bar (a windowless, dreary, and tiny room)
The best things to eat in the hotel are the Starbucks' snacks in the lobby
Aside from the Hilton Hotel food, it was a great set of AAA annual meetings
This is our first trip to San Francisco in which we did not dine out in my favorite restaurant (Scomas)
Erika hurts more in the cold, and it was an abnormally cold week even for San Francisco
And she forgot to pack a coat or warm clothes
Here she's trying to stay warm high up in Hilton Tower 1

Paul Golliher asked how Erika can thrive in our mountain winters when San Francisco's cold winds in August got to her. In the mountains we have the clothing for all seasons. Our cottage has cute propane stoves in all fireplaces to supplement the furnace. They each have their own thermostats on the wall. Sometimes Erika even takes the chill out of our den in summertime. And I warm up the car inside the garage before we venture out on cold days. In SF she did not have a coat, long underwear, or other suitable clothing for exceptionally cold SF days even for August in SF. After the conference we drove to the Sacramento Valley where two of our sons live. The temperature in the valley was about 100 degrees, San Francisco like Mt. Washington is an outlier in August, although not usually as cold as the week we spent in the Hilton.

Looking across at San Francisco Bay

Erika has a lot of pain after 12 back surgeries, but she refuses to give up

We had house guests (back in our NH cottage) from San Antonio in early October
Sybil Wolff and her granddaughter Alex
Alex maintains a barn with 28 horses on a ranch (soon to be her ranch) near College Station, Texas
It's a lot of work, but she actually makes money in the horse business
When they left our cottage, they headed for the von Trapp's Hunger Mountain Inn near Waterbury, Vermont --- Click Here
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g57439-d1176736-Reviews-Von_Trapp_s_Hunger_Mountain_Inn-Waterbury_Center_Vermont.html

Maria (Julie Andrews) von Trap Family --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Trapp_family

The real von Trapp family (with Julie Andrews today)

I see from my house by the side of the road
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife,
But I turn not away from their smiles and tears,
Both parts of an infinite plan-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911)

More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

All my online pictures --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/PictureHistory/

On May 14, 2006 I retired from Trinity University after a long and wonderful career as an accounting professor in four universities. I was generously granted "Emeritus" status by the Trustees of Trinity University. My wife and I now live in a cottage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm

Bob Jensen's threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Threads.htm

Bob Jensen's Home Page --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/