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Jeff and I spent our Saturday running errands for our vacation, which starts on Wednesday. Naturally, a portion of the preparations was in the garden. Most everything in the garden is watered by a drip irrigation system that I installed last summer, but when we buy new plants, they tend to sit in pots for a couple of weeks while we decide where to put them. So, today, we ran drip lines to all of the new plants.

During our garden time, Jeff noticed a visiting butterfly. He flitted around the garden, following the intermittent sunbeams. I caught a couple of photos, including one of him sitting on our snowball bush.

The butterfly has the colors of a Monarch, but the patterns don’t match any photo that I can find. So, a free latte for anyone who can name this guy correctly. (I’m guessing that either Buddy or my dad will have the edge on this one.)

[FYI, in the spirit of full disclosure, I discovered that our snowball bush is NOT a Japanese Snowball as I announced a few weeks ago. Instead, I believe it is a Common Snowball.]

Well, I’m back from the Land of Tassel Loafers. Something about a conference brings out the worst in fashion. But no, I did NOT take any more photos of bad shoes…although these would have been even better. It seems that when it’s 90+ degrees outside, the leather tassel loafers are worn with shorts and without socks. Lovely.

So, I amused myself in the waning parts of the conference trying to find the oddest give-away at the show. Light up pens and kitchy paperweights are the norm (and people line up 10-15 deep for a tee shirt)…but those are boring.

So my choice for Best in Show was the Waste Alleviation and Gel kit. I think everyone on my flight home had one, since the plane smelled like a men’s room.

Anyhow, I am home. The air was cool and refreshing last night as I slept. Today, we had an odd May visitor: a light rain. (This will ready us for Europe next week, where there are scattered showers all over the forecast.)

This was a day on my feet. I got out for lunch and made a daytime trip to the Alamo. The harsh afternoon sunlight made for horrible photos of the building, so I stuck to some of the plants in the partial shade.

Tomorrow, I fly home. I am homesick and ready to return to normalcy. I am also just worn out and tired…good night 🙂

If things just don’t work out with my current line of work, there is always the Texas Jail Association next door in the convention center. I’m SURE there is a satisfying option for me there!

Other than hedging my career bets, it was a normal day here in San Antonio. Show prep. Hobnobbing. Making the world safe for the next generation. (Cliff, that’s for you! 🙂

I snapped a couple more shots of the Riverwalk. How serene. My coworkers and I had dinner and drinks along the river.

Oh, and my quote of the day (overheard at dinner): “What? You have never been to P.F. Changs? You have GOT to go to P.F. Changs. We HAVE to go while we are here.” Now, I have eaten at P.F. Changs. The food is very tasty. But it is NOT acceptable to hop in a car and leave unique local cuisine behind to find the nearest P.F. Changs.

This is for those of you who are curious which photos sold in the photo show this weekend: one from my latest Bayshore series and one from my Venice series. Two of my very favorite images ever. Its flattering that someone else agrees 🙂