VacaDude here--just catching my breath. I spent the morning in the back yard, where I felled my first tree. Okay, so it was a pretty small tree--about five inches in diameter and thirty feet tall. But still... It was growing right in front of our satellite dish and its base was right up against the neighbor's fence, so if it grew any more, it was going to start destroying the fence. So I took it out.

It was my first chance to hook up and try out the chainsaw we bought over Memorial Day. We got a small electric saw, and also bought a Little Giant ladder, so now I can finally get some serious tree-trimming done. Taking that tree out was my first step in that direction. It felt good to do this on Father's Day, as I was using techniques I learned when I used a chainsaw for the first time--when I helped my Dad take down our weeping willow tree. Still remembered how to do it, and the tree fell exactly where I wanted it to. Good thing, too--because we had the orange tree five feet to one side, and the south side of the house about five feet to the other side. So I needed to drop that baby right where it landed!

I'm in the heart of the fair and festival season. On Thursday I delivered six framed photos to the Napa County fairgrounds in Calistoga, CA. (That made for a lovely drive--it was cloudy and cool, and the hills around Calistoga and St. Helena were lovely and covered in pines...that's a very nice part of the state. Kind of the northern end of the Napa Valley.) Then yesterday I drove to Sacramento to drop off the five matted photos to the Cal Expo grounds for the State Fair. This whole last week I felt I was running a framing shop--I cut eleven mattes and assembled six frames. Now I have a little break before early July when I need to deliver eight framed pieces to the Solano County fair (that's the county Vacaville is in). But I get to use whatever photos don't sell at the Napa Fair for Solano, so I shouldn't have to come up with too many. Basically, I have a bit of a break until July 4th, when we will drive to Calistoga to attend the Fair (and see if I managed to win any ribbons!), and we'll stay for their great fireworks display at night. Then the next day I drive back to Calistoga to pick up the photos. Then on the 8th I need to deliver the framed photos to the Solano County Fair, so I have a couple of days to put those together. Also on the 8th the California State Fair begins. The Solano Fair starts about a week later, so those go on at the same time.

I have never been to the State Fair in California, despite having lived here my entire life! And I must say, I'm getting pretty excited about it. They have these season pass deals that look pretty good, so I think I'm going to go for that. With them, you get reserved seats for the horse and harness racing. Mary and I really want to watch some horse racing. Also, I hadn't known it before, but apparently the admission tickets are also good for admission to Raging Waters, the water slide park. That sounds like a terrific way to cool down (Sacramento gets extremely hot in July) while attending the fair. I don't think I have been to a water park since the late 1980s, so I would LOVE to do that! Suddenly July is looking like it is going to be really fun.

Well, I have just about caught my breath, so now I need to work my way through the rest of my to-do list. I need to sit down and finish an article I am writing for the local Vacaville magazine about our photography club. I have a first draft--I just need to polish it up!

Have a great Father's Day, everyone!!