“Auld Lang Syne… a poem written in Scotland by Robert Burns.  It is set to a traditional folk song.  We sing it on the last midnight of a year to send out the old one and usher in a new one.  It is not a song just for old people, although this afternoon it came to mind as I took pictures of favorite older friends in San Diego.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and auld lang syne*?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my jo,

for auld lang syne,

we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

                 Afternoon Delight: a visit from Kristina and Elizabeth.

Balboa Park is beautiful on any day, but on a cloudy, rainy day it is especially lovely.  The reflecting pool in front of the House of Botany is right for photography.  The fish cooperate, and somewhere on the fringes of the park are plants that invite anybody with a camera to look and snap.

Wednesday again…  While looking at the possibilities for the photo du jour, I came across this bougainvillea, the perfect choice… and for a second photograph today, I settled on one of my favorite themes, a scar on a tree.  The scarred tree is a good reminder that things need our commitment to protecting everything that lives. I’m not at all sure that all scarred trees in San Diego are violated by humans, but most of the ones I saw today, show signs of deliberate damage by people. The tree is helpless to respond. Life is good, so remember that the living part of a tree is violated by random abuse... and abuse is almost always ugly.

  

Below you find the photographs from the recent trip... after we left Berlin on the Elbe River to Prague.  The pictures are not in the order they were taken.