Month: June 2026

Almost fifteen years ago, we bought a huge block of candy chocolate and had a grand time making all sorts of chocolate-covered things. I was in the mood for something similar, so I ordered some candy discs and today we covered a bunch of things with them.

We had caramels, raisins, nuts, Rice Krispies, marshmallows… Kyra decided to dip a few pineapple chunks, and Pepper threw some coconut into the mix. I’d forgotten how good homemade chocolate can be!

Kyra’s been visiting with us, and tonight we all sat out in the courtyard chatting and enjoying the cool summer evening. This is the view over Pepper’s shoulder at almost 10:30:

The sun had finally set, but it was still twilight well past 11:00. Love it.

It’s not truly the solstice, but I was on my way home from a big barbecue I helped organize, and decided to stop at the lake overlook and snap a selfie. It was just after 9pm, and of course the sun was still above the horizon.

I was looking through this blog and found some previous solstice posts from 2021, 2022, and 2023. And every year I marvel at how awesome it is to have such long, beautiful days…

Kyra will be moving to New Zealand in a few months, so she’s been working on some of the logistics: housing, transportation, phone service, and so on. It’s a big undertaking but she’s being thoughtful and methodical about it, and I’m sure it’ll go smoothly.

I win (and lose) quarters every week in my Mahjongg games, and I noticed at some point I’d picked up a New Zealand fifty-cent piece that’s exactly the same size as an American quarter. (As it happens, New Zealand dollars are worth roughly half what U.S. dollars are, so the value is about the same too.) I gave it to Kyra so she has a little “native” currency as she gets ready…

Our friend Kricket retired yesterday. She’s been a teacher for many years, and although she loves a lot of things about it, and has a special spot in her heart for her eighth-grade homeroom students, she felt it was time to move into a new phase of life. So naturally we threw her a (small) party.

We blew up balloons, made a banner, and even bought party hats we could wear at a “jaunty angle”. We made some homemade pizza and enjoyed a movie. And after all this partying (and relaxing) I’m excited to see what she decides to do next…

A little over two years ago I started working on a card game called Itzan, based on Mayan culture. I tested it against myself, and then with Zack’s help, and it just wasn’t very compelling. After our trip to Belize in February, I’ve been thinking about the Mayans again, and I decided to resurrect the game and re-think how it works.

The result isn’t a card game any more.

Of course this is only a prototype, and it has a long road ahead. But I’m working up a rulebook and figuring out how everything works. Will the second attempt at this game bear fruit? Time will tell…

I still love the sunsets here. Today it’s been raining a bit, and the sun slipped below the storm clouds in the northwest and treated us to quite a show.