Did You See That? and Vacation Blues

Did you see that? Did you see Chris Froome take control of Mont Ventoux on Sunday? Ricky Porte got him up to within seven miles of the summit of this monster mountain, only Qintana was dancing ahead of him and then Froome turned on the gas. OMG. He started accelerating up that massive slope and passed everyone else like they were standing still. Left, astonished, in his wake were experienced mountain people such as Alberto Contador , Andy Schleck and Cadel Evans. By the end of the stage he had increased his lead by over one minute! Fabulous! Today is an off-day and then we will have two days in the foothills of the Alps before we hit them hard on Thursday. This is the final week of Le Tour and it's proving to be one of the most exciting Tours EVER.

Chris Froome blew the rest of the riders away, cresting
Mont Ventoux in front of everyone else. Magnificant!

Le Tour up Mont Ventoux. What a way to celebrate Bastille Day!
Just look at this monster. It was estimated that 300,000 people lined
the road to the summit to watch the riders pass.

So, that's the positive. The negative is that Chickie is on vacation for the next ten days and I'll be working only with my Manager. Now he's not a bad guy at all, but he can't bounce between customers easily and his hearing is challenged. So having him work the sales floor is difficult. Additionally, he has a very poor habit of tunnel vision - thinking that if you're not actively doing something that he would equate with work, then you are not working. Screw that. I'm working whether I'm packing, counting and labeling materials or just thinking about my latest story or art project. I also rarely get lunch breaks when he works. So this will be an interesting and semi-frustrating week of work.

Glacier National Park is Chickie's favorite park. She'll be close to there
for her family reunion later this week. Maybe she'll get a chance to
kidnap the car and visit the park for a day.

But Chickie deserves her vacation. Have fun, Chickie!

The Dutch Masters is one of Rembrandt's famous paintings. Love the
depth of color in the faces and the rich browns.

The Night Watch is also very well known. Just look at the play
of light, the rich cloth and again, the use of browns. Fabulous!

And, as a final thought, Rembrandt was born on this date 407 years ago. So here's two paintings by Rembrandt because great artists never truly die - they live on in their work for many, many years.