@ alameda: I have Double Delight, Fragrant Cloud, Mister Lincoln, and Dolly Parton. Even though I love them all, Fragrant Cloud is totally my favorite. If you are trying to have a fragrance garden, you must have this rose. The blooms were the size of oranges and lasted a solid 7-10 days. You'll love it. @ seil: what a bummer! My FC did fine this summer and we had a record breaking, "catastrophic" summer. Maybe it's the humidity from the lake? @ roseseek: Great suggestion putting Fragrant Cloud and Miss All American Beauty next to each other. That's what I did in my garden and I have to say the colors are great next to each other-- a fireworks display of roses. When the breeze is just right-- it's just heavenly.. Makes all of the extra tending worth it.

Peter: It is a whole other world taking pics like that during the day. My friend is trying to figure that out although he gets some great cloud formations before and after the storms. Nice work. I hope to see more pics by you. Jojo: I have heard the monsoons can be quite dramatic! I have even seen the storm drains dug all around the outskirts of peoples home but never saw them fill up. I can only imagine that. I have seen lightning from a distance and been very frustrated chasing them because the roads there a long and straight with no way to turn down another for miles to catch up to it..lol Been there done that. Have you ever seen lightning drop from the clouds over the prairies or horizon? It must be majestic! It is nice to meet Peter. It is always nice to see new faces. I would never come there without visiting some very nice people here if the offer is there. Going there to see people I know would be so nice. We would have to visit the Indian Reservations though, Saguaro Cactus Preserve, and look for turquoise jewelry..lol I have danced with the Navaho tribes once before! I hope many others come here with nice pictures. I would of loved to have sene the hail storm ones that some here have experienced! Mike

Ilene, Is this not the oddest of weather years? For all our drought issues here, we haven't been that hot yet either. (That's a relative statement--in that, we are very hot, but not as hot as MOST drought periods.) We have had some very, very hot days with high heat indexes up to 110-112, but we've also had plenty of days with the highs in the low to mid-90s (although the heat indexes on those days have still gone up to 100-105) and nights in the low to mid-70s, and even a few nights in the upper 60s too. If normal rainfall were occurring, overall I'd consider it a "mild" year so far. For us, the worst heat is the last week of July and first two weeks of August. We are cooler this week....expecting highs around 92-96 and lows around 70-75. Still, on the noon news, they said we could expect the heat index to be around 105 most afternoons, but I just get around that by staying inside as much as possible in the afternoon hours. Debra, We all (well, maybe not Scott over there in the rain belt) need more rain, it seems, no matter how much is falling. How in the heck did the early Oklahoma pioneers who mostly had to raise their own food manage to do it? If we had to raise all our own food now, could we? The weather certainly wouldn't make it easy. Dawn

A circular polorizing filter works very well with rainbows. You can have a rainbow that is barely visible with the naked eye and the filter will bring out tremendous detail. If you have a digital camera play with the contrast, this will also give you a brighter rainbow. I have the Minolta A-2 which is great for this. When you make adjustments you can see what you will get before you shoot. It has a 28mm to 200mm optical zoom and you can get out to 400mm with the digital zoom. You can also get an attachment that screws on the filter threads that can triple the focan lenth and get out to 1200mm. This camera is also great for copy work and close ups. This has a tremenmdouus range in a light weight package and is also very good in low light. Due to shutter lag and focus lag it is a little slow for birds in motion but acceptable. For birds in motion I prefer to use the Minolta 7d with a long telephoto lens. This camera with all the lenses in very heavy and when you play with the digital effects you don't see what you get till you veiw your picture. When you shoot you take into account what your going for and the conditions and take what you think you'll need. Can't carry everything. I wouldn't part with either camera they both have their nich.