I love your photos. They are simply but beautifully composed.

When a vote, any vote, is inconsequential it's not a democracy.

You are so witty!

Thanks, Andrea. They do look like a poor house guest alright. Until it blossomed out I wondered if it might be a columbine, from the shape of its leaves.

Yes, definitely a cut above.

That is a Japanese anenome. We have found them to be super invasive but they are pretty (in somebody else's yard).

Thanks, Kathleen. We welcome all the good luck folks can send our way. We could well be needing some this time.

You’re right about the electoral college - our vote is inconsequential in anything but local issues. There’s no way on earth that our voting or not will change the national outcome. Earl Blumenauer is a shoo-in for Congress (does he even have an opponent?), Jeff Merkley will roll over that mad Q-Anon supporter from Albany, and if Oregon doesn’t go blue this year then all hope is lost anyway.

Thanks, Patrick. Hopefully this will all go well, but if not at least we can entertain our friends with updates from our self-quarantine quarters.

You feel envious? WE feel envious of you! If we had a sane leader and a country that felt safe to travel in we’d probably be staying home ourselves waiting for a vaccine.

Yes, we would like to visit Munich! Thanks for the invitation. Please contact your friends at the EU HQ and pave the way for us to cross three international borders to get there. We’ll start researching the best late-Autumn route through the Alps in the meantime.

Thanks for the reminder to pack for winter weather. Easy to forget in the heat of the moment.

Yoohoo! You got your tickets and are going on a big trip again! I bet you can't wait to get started! That's really exciting. If you get tired of the Balkans you might want to pop over to Munich for a little visit.

Remember to pack some warm clothes, it might get a little chilly in the winter months in Greece and they don't always have good heating - but you are experienced travelers and know that.

You better vote!! However your votes and mine are irrelevant in a solidly blue state such as Oregon because of the way the electoral college works (doesn't work) having given us our current President and the one who started two wars earlier this century. Sorry, a pet peeve of mine - our electoral system. It has nothing to do with cycling.

It was a lot of extra work to cut all the siding boards at an angle. Impressive barn builder - labor of love.

Glad to hear you have made the decision - must say we feel a bit envious. If we go anywhere we face 14 days isolation on our return home. Hope you can still vote in November.