happy birthday america!

The 4th of July in Lakewood is getting off to a beautiful start - the sky is that wonderful blue that only comes after a few days of rain, the sun is filtering sweetly through the trees, and the birds are twittering merrily! According to the AccuWeather forecast this morning's beautiful weather should hold all day - and only a predicted high of the low 70s - be still my heart!

Lakewood pulls out all the stops when it comes to celebrating the 4th of July - The Lakewood Fourth of July Parade starts at 10:00 AM at Kenneth and Lake Avenues and continues east on Lake Avenue to Lakewood Park.

After the parade, festivities continue all day long in Lakewood Park with games, food, activities and information provided by several of Lakewood’s not-for-profit organizations. At 7:00 p.m., the Lakewood Project, Lakewood High School’s Youth Rock Orchestra, performs at the Bandstand at Lakewood Park. And at dusk the fireworks begin.

Today's photos are part of the continuing series of the Mission Boutique window displays

play ball

A neighboring family takes advantage of a break in the weather to get in an after dinner game of softball. If you look closely you can see a blurry Kahlua, the family dog, joining in - I bet he's great at retrieving grounders!

proof

Here lives a person with not only a green thumb but who possesses a fabulous ability to put together a celebration of color and nature! I took this snap on Monday, what is that blue sky? Okay, it only seems like it has been raining all week.

what a gas!

The other day while walking by AAA Gas Supply I caught a glimpse of this fellow - immediately I thought of him as the Propane Picasso. I know the tank he's painting is a helium tank and not a propane tank, but Propane Picasso sounds a lot better the Helium Hieronymus - and is a heck of a lot easier to pronounce!

Located at 16019 Hilliard Rd in Lakewood, AAA Gas Supply has over 45 years experience with providing a wide assortment of bottled gas (e.g. Propane Helium Oxygen Acetylene Co2 Co2 Mix Argon Argon Mix Nitrogen Nitrogen Mix) to the community. In addition the shop also sells welding accessories and repairs equipment. The store's phone number is 216-228-4800.

Yesterday I met Tucker and his humans. Tucker is a beautiful 6 week old lab, he has to be the mellowest puppy I've ever met - total Buddha energy. Tucker lives on a street that I walk down quite regularly so I am looking forward to catching glimpses of him grow into himself. The summer seems the perfect time to add a puppy to a household - more time to play and through play dogs (and people) learn and grow!

busytown 4

That must be one mighty good book this fellow is reading. Not only was he reading it while waiting for the light to change but once he got safely across the intersection he started reading it again while he was walking along the sidewalk. I was so heartened to see this young man's interest in his book, especially since I am currently reading this book - and what it has to say is quite frightening, quite frightening indeed!

No new posts until Monday. I asked this fellow if he could fill in for me while I was gone, but unfortunately his camera is in the shop!

Have a good weekend