December 18

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'Tis the season to run errands, fa la la la la, la la la la..................

I tried to capture a lot of traffic, but didn't succeed.  This looks like "not much," whereas reality was -- considerably more.  I had to wait through two light changes to get through this intersection.....

I was on my way to the post office, to mail a parcel.  Then to the dealership because the car's "low tire pressure" light was on, and then to Staples to get my holiday letter copied, and then to the bookstore to pick up a present which needs to be wrapped, packed, mailed.  I have not managed to get my holiday-letter envelopes printed.  That's the only mail merge I do all year long, and every year I forget how to do it, and struggle (and struggle).  It's (MAYBE) not actually Bill's fault his stinking software causes me such aggravation, but his ears must burn every year when I can't just *do this task* without a fight.........

Cleansing breath...........................   Fa la la la la, la la la la....................


 Cool rusty grate, just outside the bookstore.

At least the 18th was a gorgeous bright blue day.

After I got home, I got a call from the guy who's going to fix the floor under the dishwasher (and get the new dishwasher hooked up).  He said he was in the neighborhood and would like to have a look, to check on the size of the job.  He was apologetic that he can't work on it until after the first.  Whatever.....  He said the job didn't look as bad as he'd thought it might be, from our description.  Yay.

Then I walked Wilbur, thinking "Let's walk in the best part of the day!  The next 42 things on my list can wait!"

You can't tell from this next image, but clouds were building up in the southwest.....

By the time I walked me (after walking Burt), not one ray of sunshine was hitting the ground.  Three-quarters of the sky was blue, with clouds, but the southwest, where the sun was low in the sky, was completely obscured by cloud cover.

What I was trying to catch, with this next image, was the way it was cloudy below, then lighter, with blue at the top.  But I was holding the camera at an angle that made it impossible to look through the view screen when I took the pic, so I didn't adjust the exposure (by focusing on the trees, then tipping the camera), and the top is all blown out.....

I've been thinking I needed a pic of these strawberry leaves, but it's been too dark to get a decent image.

The light on the 18th was just fine for this purpose:

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