In the rare instances that they surface, I enjoy seeing pictures from the daily lives of my fellow AGHS dwellers.

Did you go somewhere, do something, or make something cool recently? Got a picture? Show us!

Yesterday, I finished building this Lego model of our dog, Finny.

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In other news, my friend and neighbor, an avid runner, had seen me going for bike rides every day and finally decided that it's something he has to do. We've ridden a few times together so far. Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so we rode 26 miles on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. He's trading in his flat bar bike for a 'proper road bike' and I'm really excited to have a new and enthusiastic and ambitious riding buddy living right across the street.

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And here's one from a ride with a different friend from a couple of days ago. I'm the photographer, not the photographee. I love this little valley area in the national forest, one of my favorite 1ish mile stretches of road that I've ever ridden on! Creek on one side, usually rife with fisherpeople, rocks on the other side, on weekends crawling with climbers, and mountains rising up ahead as you gently but hastily descend on the bike.
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This is a great idea for a thread, and these are lovely photos.

What a great thread! And as Mosey said, lovely photos. Actually for me yesterday was my last day teaching English to kids and adults at a school I've worked at for 9 years. My favorite adult group gave me flowers and necklaces made out of snacks, so here I am tearing up. I'm sad, but now I'll have some free time to work on Estória 2 ;-) 

   

BB, you have the cutest dog ever! Estória, you have the cutest sunglasses ever!

   Thanks Jen! Here they are in all their glory. Finny is pretty cute!

   

Dazzling! What’s your necklace made from? It looks like snacks :-p

It's all different kinds of snacks. Chips, chocolates, cheese snacks, shrimp crackers, candy, you name it. The one closest to the camera next to that ring of m&ms is gummy. It's fun grazing at it, like some kind of weird dog ;-) The students took turns putting them around my neck

These pictures are terrific! I like your enthusiasms, BB, and your sweet powder puff Finny is adorable!

Estória, your necklace made me raid my snack stash. (I just ate a chocolate bunny I was saving for next weekend.) It sounds like you have mixed feelings about leaving your job, but it's good to know that you were important to your students. Best of luck with your next endeavor!

Thank you very much LadyKestrel.

It was a really hard decision to leave. Some of my students have been with me 6, 7, 8, or even 9 years. I've watched kids go from elementary school to college, and adults get married and start families. I have a lesson with two 80 year old men who got teary eyed when I told them I was quitting.

My leaving came down to having to sign a new contract which I wasn't comfortable with, but I plan to keep in touch with all my adult students, and I told the parents of the kids that I'm always around to support them and want to hear about their futures.

Anyway, it's been a pretty emotional few weeks, so thank you for your message. I really appreciate it! Enjoy your snacks ;-)

Teaching English in Japan is one of my daydream jobs, as is living in a very rural mountainous area of Japan. It's amazing that you've done it for so long, Estoria. I've got some questions...but will have to save them for another time.

Here's cows at sunrise from yesterday. This shot is taken from a narrow twisty country road that's slightly elevated from the rest of the narrow valley. Later in the ride I went up into those mountains out yonder in the distance. It's neat to see the countryside from both the high and low perspectives in one ride. One gives you detailed views of life and nature, and the other gives you big grand sweeping views in a more-but-also-less kind of way.

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