Pocketful of Memory Cards

I've been keeping my eye on this stretch of Pandosy the last couple of weeks, waiting for these sunflowers to bloom.  Now that they have, they mostly have their backs to me, but I managed to get a few shots from some sneaky angles.  I was worried the home owners might think me a little suspicious, but they have excellent security.  Photobombers pulling out of Original Joe's.

Tantalus Vineyard, Southeast Kelowna What a sense of deja vu I had this morning when I headed out the front door on my way to the dog park and was met by the smell of burning forest. I was immediately sent back in time to August 2003 when the  Okanagan Mountain Park Fire  raged up the hill from our house and we were evacuated for a week. At 10:00 last evening a fire was reported in the Bear Creek area,  about 10 km north of our place, and across the lake.  The latest report on Castanet indicates difficulty fighting the fire due to smoke and terrain.  About 550 people have been evacuated include 100 campers from Bear Creek Park.  In the meantime the valley is filled with smoke, our windows are shut and we feel for the evacuees, praying that no homes or lives are lost.

A nice spot to spend a sunny summer afternoon with a good book.

For me there's a special quality of light on sunny summer days in the late afternoon.  I glimpsed a hint of it today when the sun found a patch of blue sky in all that grey, and shadows of the cottonwood trees stretched their way across my deck.  It reminded me of summers past, when I'd walk from a comfortable temperature inside, into heat laden air that wrapped itself around me, slowing my brain and my body.  Though I don't like the extreme heat, there's something comforting about that warm embrace.  I miss those lazy Saturday afternoons.  It's so relaxing to recline on the rattan sofa, while an icy drink sweats on the table beside me.  Pages turn slowly in the palpable heat until I become too drowsy to hold up my book and nod off for a while.  I haven't given up hope that we'll have a few of those days soon, after all we still have more than half the summer left!  

Looks like we skipped spring and are now into summer!  I made a quick stop on my way past Gyro Beach   to capture some of the first sunbathers of the year.  Didn't want to get too close and become known as that creepy old lady with the iPhone.

The first opportunity to use my new tomato keeper has me longing for this year’s harvest. I could easily live on those juicy red wedges dotted with fragrant basil and a liberal splash of olive oil.  And then there are days when I’d just pull them off the vine and take a bite, filling my mouth with that warm flood of flavour.  *sigh*  I’m sure that’s what sunshine tastes like.