This Warm Week

Warm, lazy evening on a blanket in hot sand. Clean, blue skies cut by sails on Lake Michigan. A dog beach, a green hike. The comfort of family and friends who make me laugh. This was a great last week in May.

Creepy Door...

On a good day...

...I get to meet and photograph people who make me smile and never cease to surprise me with their gifts and contributions to the community. An art teacher retiring after 25 years of teaching kindergartens to sculpt clay into gleaming pottery. Teenage girls, whirling Double Dutch jump faster than my eyes can follow, flashing white teeth to the sound of gospel music. (Grand Rapids Press Photos)

Mother Mary

Lucy Cusack, 5, of Cascade and her mom Dianne scoop planting soil into the flower pots surrounding the Mother Mary statue outside Immaculate Heart of Mary School on Thursday, May 20 at the corner of Plymouth Ave. SE and Burton Street SE. "This is so dear to our hears," Dianne Cusack said, "this school." Lucy attends preschool at Immaculate Heart and Dianne volunteers to help with little things when needed. The statue is a place where athletic teams come to say a Hail Mary before games and where students gather at the beginning of every school year to pray. (Grand Rapids Press Photo)

Wandering the Conservatory

Our Oak Tree in my Coffee Cup (and a few others from the front yard)

Chris and I spread two yards of soil in our front yard yesterday and laid about 25 pounds of grass seed. The battle to grow shade friendly grass beneath our massive oak tree continues.

Reptile Reaction

On Tuesday I got to hang out with a third grade class at Martin Luther King Leadership Academy during a special visit from a reptile sanctuary. The kids' reaction to the toad, snake, and tortoise were classic. (Grand Rapids Press Photos)