The Wandering Gnome Calls Home

I hope she gets a picture of these in the wild.
(Click picture for larger view)

"When the emotions are strong one should paint bamboo; in a light mood one should paint the orchid." ~ Chueh Yin

The cell phone rang; on the other end and sounding like she was in the other room, was the "hiking" girl from the Hawaiian Volcano National Park. Yes, she is still alive even after swimming in the ocean, climbing to the top of Mauna Kea and playing with hot lava. Smelling a bit rank right now after the afternoon Kilauea Caldera Death March, tired but happy. Today at 14,000 feet she found snow on the ground and cloud cover below her feet obscuring the valleys below. So far she has taken over 150 pictures..... yes, I can live the excitement through my daughter. "And what have you been doing," she wanted to know.

Well. Her Civic has a new inspection sticker, new battery and oil change. It has been hand washed, hand waxed and the mats scrubbed and dried. All of this required me to dig through the wasteland (and I mean trash) that filled the car and vacuum a thick layer of sand, rocks and dust on the mats. Her laundry is done, her fridge clean and ready to go back to school and her bedding ready. When she gets back it may take days to get the clothes clean. Oh, I am soooooo looking forward to that job!

The pictures better be spectacular Nyssa. (end of post)