We took a walk around the ‘old neighborhood’ of Hyde Park, south side of Chicago.

The beautiful courtyard apartment buildings are typical of this area. I imagine they are condos now!

The many single-family houses are very diverse. The neighborhood was built in the late 1890’s and some of those houses are still around, with many modern houses and apartments buildings added over the years. Love this dog just watching the world go by out his window!

On Sept. 3 we got on our first flight since June, 2019! We returned to Chicago via Seattle for a family wedding!

The flight from Bend to Seattle gave us a view of the incredible amount of smoke in the air from many wildfires! And a view of the lack of snow cover on the Cascade mountains! I think this is Mt. Saint Helens in the foreground and Mt. Rainier in the background.As we approached Seattle, we got a view of the Space Needle!

I’m sharing a text sent recently from our dear friends Raymonde and Michel in Geneva, Switzerland. I was worried that something happened but I was assured everyone is fine, Raymonde just wanted to express her feelings!The translation is;

Very Beautiful Text

I dedicate it to my friends.

Life on earth is a passage.

Love is a mirage, but

friendship is a “golden thread” that

is only broken at death.

You know what I mean? Childhood passes,

youth follows, old age

replaces it and then death

picks us up. The most beautiful flower of the

world loses its beauty, but a

faithful friendship lasts for

eternity. To live without friends,

is to die without witnesses.

Now that we’re home, there’s lots of work to do! Washing all the vehicle; cars, camper, motorhome, trailers… Lots of pine needles to rake, pinecones to gather, yard debris to be yarded to the landfill for composting… Lots of salmon to smoke, corned beef to smoke, fruit & veggies to can… But we do take time off for day trips to the mountains!One of our favorite places, Lava Lake with South Sister on the left, Broken Top and a snow free Mt. Bachelor on the right.Unfortunately the low snow pack, lack of fresh water circulating and the hot temperatures have created a toxic algae problem. Good thing we didn’t bring the canoe!

We headed home!We were greeted by new neighbors! The deer are so used to the place being all theirs! This fawn didn’t realize I was sitting in the chair on the deck until I moved to take its picture! His/her twin can be seen on the right edge of the picture. Our trip, May 17 to July 28!