All spring long, Johnny babied our rose bushes and waited for them to bloom. Lately, he's been gone a lot for training for his up-coming deployment. While he's been gone, the rose bushes are finally blooming, so I've been taking pictures for him:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 3

Day 4

Day 4

OK... So there's a reason why these "day 4" photos were taken in the dark. We have swallows (birds) living on our porch. They built a nest and now have babies. In order to protect their babies, the birds have become kamikaze pilots. They dive at my head (and the neighbors' heads) every time I go outside during the day and it's getting worse every day. They've made it very clear that they're not afraid of humans and come within INCHES of our heads (No, I'm NOT exaggerating).

So, by the 4th day of taking pictures of the roses, which are in very close proximity to the birds' nest, I had to go out after dark to take the photos; I'm not sure where the birds go at night, maybe they're asleep.

Now, I have to take an umbrella with me to get the mail to avoid being attacked by the birds! I'll bet everyone in my neighborhood thinks I'm crazy. A recording of my daily trip to the mailbox would make a great America's Funniest Home Videos contestant!