Heathrow T3 from our hotel — The hotel’s sound insulation was very impressive. 2

To all appearances, we might still be flying — Good flights, an excellent connection, and we zipped through border control in the UK in minutes. Down in Baggage Reclaim our bags were first on the carousel, and our hotel was just a short (inside) walk from Heathrow T3 Arrivals.

Ginger watching the dawn at 30,000 feet. We are off on the first leg of a visit to the UK. Our first since 2019.

Early evening on an Ozarks farm road — It’s all looking very lush and green. Nowadays this road has a lot more traffic than it used to. One-minute read.

Last of the sun — The last of the sun was catching the trees behind the house.

Four deer — They were about 100 yards away and very interested in what we were doing, which just happened to be, watching them.

Another Hat — I bought myself something with a large brim that was also lightweight and airy for the summer.

Cleome houtteana – Spider Plant — Last year, less than half a dozen of these plants appeared in the front yard flower bed. Ginger collected the seeds and sowed them. This year we have been rewarded by this spectacular display.

Photograph of four leather journals with fountain pens and ink.

Journals and Ink — Four journals, four pens, one pencil, and three bottles of ink. I felt the need to take a picture, and this is what I came up with.

I’ve been shopping — It looks like a lot, but at 2-300 rounds per trip to the range it won’t last long. Now I’ve just got to find space to store it all in the gun safe.

Mammatus clouds over Springfield — We’ve had some weird weather lately. I heard about a house being hit by three tornadoes in the past month (around 30 miles from us). This week, we were on the edge of a storm that, according to the radar, was dumping twenty-five inches of rain per hour. +2

Journal: Two days solo backpacking in Hercules Glades Wilderness, April 2024 — I decided to get out for a one-night trip to Hercules Glades. Apart from our Eclipse Trip I’ve not been out this month. An overnight stop at my camping spot near Deep Hollow would be just what the doctor ordered. Journal: 2   8

It’s that trail cairn again — By one-thirty I had camp squared away, and I started an uneventful hike back to the trailhead. +2

Jus’ Chilling — The six-mile hike back to the trailhead should only take three to four hours (depending on if I stop for lunch), so I can sit back, take it easy, and enjoy the forest for a while. +1

Day Two. Late Breakfast — Biscuits and Gravy, and a cup of Rosie Lee.

The pollen was prodigious — As the green-yellow dusting of pollen on my feet attests, the pollen was indeed prodigious. No wonder I was coughing and sneezing.

There was a trickle of water coming from the spring — With camp set up I headed off down into ‘Deep Hollow’ to see if the spring was running. Much to my surprise it was — just a trickle but enough to have saved me from having to lug in three liters of water! Not to worry, I need the exercise!

Day One. Back at ‘Deep Hollow,’ Hercules Glades Wilderness — I decided to get out for a one-night trip to Hercules Glades. Apart from our Eclipse Trip I’ve not been out this month. An overnight stop at my camping spot near Deep Hollow would be just what the doctor ordered. One-minute read.

Morning tea on an old stool — At some point in life, we learn the value of eschewing the bright, shiny, and new for the well-worn, used, and patinaed that does its job, and does it well enough.

Cocking a snoot — Actually, I was making a snoot to test out a hair light for Ginger’s video setup in her office.

Upon Reflection — I grabbed the camera after the play of light on the bathroom mirrors caught my attention. To quote Ginger, “It’s a very Gary photograph.”

Journal: 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. Ginger, Lanie and I camped in Mark Twain National Forest to see this, my third and (most likely) last total solar eclipse. 1999 in France and 2017 in Missouri being the first two. Journal: 5 12

All over — That’s it for twenty years. 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. Now for the long drive home.

2024 Total Eclipse — Not too bad for crop of a hand-held picture taken with a seven-year-old mirrorless camera, using the kit lens.

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