Musings & Memories Montage Telling My Stories and Discovering Your Stories
What I did on my Friend's Summer Vacation ... Episode #1 09/12/08
(This is not the first thing we did ... but in view of yesterday, this is what I choose to post first.)
Also Titled: 9/11 Watching a Friend Remember her Friends
I recently went to NYC with two friends. My friend Barb is (like me) not from New York but (unlike me) she's become fairly adept at taking her visiting friends and family to tour around NYC. My friend Linda has lived in New York City (or nearby) for about 25 years. I cannot understand the layout of New York City so I was simply enjoying following my friends around. We do not live down there and I only visit about three times a year. While we were out, Barb convinced Linda to swing by St. Paul's Chapel.
Linda admitted she had not been down there since 9/11. Barb told her there were many mementos. Linda decided that since I had my new camera with me, it would be a good photo op for me. I was snapping shots of the city and content with whatever came into view. I think they were also needing a break from the heat and from worrying over whether or not I was going to trip (again) or get run over while photographing everything in sight.
The moment we walked in, we were overcome. It was good to be cooler. We sat down. We were not ready to look at the mementos and photos but ... it was not because of the heat.
The items on display, I am certain, represent only a very small handful of the items left at and on the fence of the church in memory of friends and family. The church faced the Twin Towers. Still, no one spoke out in normal tones. Everyone was hushed. Even on a random Thursday, almost seven years later, there were people in the chapel.
Linda is a storyteller. She quietly began to tell about the day. She was at work. From her office, she could see the skyline of Manhattan (aka a part of NYC). She saw the smoke. She knew she was losing friends. She went home to be with her daughter.
I could not leave the story. I could not leave and wander about as Linda's tears began to slip down her face. They were the kind of tears that sprinkle down ... a gentle, healing sort of tears ... not the violent sobbing of first finding out. I tried to photograph the chapel's beauty while sitting there and a few of the mementos. And Linda continued with her story.
She told of her friends who were lost as they were husbands and fathers. She told of her friends as widows and mothers. She told of the care the children are receiving. She told about what it was like to wait for over a year to have just one portion of one bone bring closure.
As Linda talked, she became more beautiful with every falling tear. There was a softness in her love for them. There was beauty in the love of her friends in every role life had brought them. Her face and voice reflected their beauty, their love.
It was getting late, I needed to hurry if I was going to photograph any of the memorials. I lifted my camera again. I wanted to take a portrait of Linda. I could not, would not interrupt her to ask (she would not have said yes) and I would not just snap a shot. It would have been an invasion.
I made a quick tour but now I could not bring myself to look closely at the mementos. More, I couldn't bring myself to photograph them closely. I felt I was on sacred ground and invading everyone's intimate expression of love to/about their loved ones. Most of all, I did not trust myself to stay together if I did examine them.
We walked outside to leave. The skies were getting ready to rain on us. They tell me there's a hole in the ground. I do not need to see it. There are much larger holes in the fabric of the families and their friends. I have seen just a very very small section of that fabric. This is what it means to live in New York: Very large holes ... everywhere. Much of the fabric that holds these holes together is strong and committed to remembering the beauty of the love lost and love found ... and ... from a distance ... one could almost pretend ... it is simply a beautiful lace.
I'm either keeping secrets, not ready to reveal my plans, behind on my plans, or letting go of ideas. So in the mean time let me share with you what the side of the road has been collecting and holding on to for weeks.
Items that have been accumulating beside the road for over 6 weeks. They finally demanded to be "collaged."
Have fun, Enjoy, pam
Pam is a Texan living on the Southern fringe of Upstate New York where every day offers up a reason for meditation on my surroundings.
These little thoughts have been roaming around in my head because spring takes so long arriving here this year.
God Bless the Dandelion That fed my husband in his youth and filled mine with parachutes.
God Bless the Dandelion That heralds spring with yellow bursts and fills our mouths
At eight bucks a pound!
Wait!
Some thing's gone amiss!
~~~
This image and the image at the top of the individual blog post are part of a larger photo. I took it in a park in Rockwall, Texas two years ago. They are just as beautiful here and were, of course, Spring's first spot of color.
Rising and Falling, Sun and Earth, Bright and Dim, etc. 04/23/07
A triple punch post delivering poetry, photos, and an essay. Also it responds to two Haiku prompts from One Deep Breath and answers yet one more interview question from Atypical at Nonsensical Text. Turns out it's all about the sunrise and sunset and greenery type stuff.
First the Haiku's because they lead into my answer to Atypical's question.
Energy in Mass
Mountain wrapped up Energies glowing, fading Fires my soul in awe.
Earth's Day
Human throws up dirt Sun heats up our dirt-filled air Earth swelters away.
Atypical asks: 2. What emotions are evoked in you by sunrises and sunsets? Are they vastly different experiences to your internal and external senses?
Have you been going through my photography archives? Hmm, no, actually to see my sunset images you would have to go to my old gallery at Betterphoto.com -- something I plan to fix. I even have a meme that I plan to use to my own devices in order to accomplish this. I know -- a completely unexpected behavior from me.
Sunrise is something I saw very little of until this year -- first, because I tend to avoid getting up that early and, second, because ... well ... this use to be my tag line: "I deeply resent living in a place where man's handiwork is striving to blot out my ability to see God's glory in His creation." In other words, there was no point in getting up early to see the sunrise unless I was also willing to dress and drive and be disappointed by a limited view. Such is city life.
This year, God has blessed me with eight months of sunrises over a beautiful patch of the Great Swamp and, during the last five years, at least six months each year have been filled with sunsets. So, because of this, I can actually do a compare and contrast.
They are hugely different. My attempts to photograph them has caused me to be more focused on when and where and how the light plays. And do you know that God's creation loves light like crystals love light? It's true. The flora and fauna, the water and air, all work together to play with light's nuances. And in general, I think I love summer best because the light plays longer with the creation.
As to how they affect my attitudes and feelings, well, I've been quite surprised to find that my mind clicks on when the sun comes up -- and I can see it come up, which is rather often here. The mornings are often my most creative time. Because the sun comes up so softly, I feel myself kind of easing into the day when I allow myself to just be still and enjoy the gearing up process. Yes, I very well know that this is a luxury that is not allowed so much during the mothering years, so tuck it into your "I'm looking forward to this..." folder ... or get up realllly early on a few summer mornings and try it out.
Sunsets ... oh goodness ... now let me tell you something. I know the far left-wing weirdos are trying to turn this "global warming" thing into a platform for all manner of weirdness ... and then the far right-wing is trying to say that it's all in God's hands uhhh and we're just channeling out whatever is going to happen. But both sides are full of malarkey ...
The truth is in the middle. God is calling us to be stewards of His creation. Proper stewards do not fill the air so full of dirt and pollutants that it is dangerous to breathe.
Lets grasp hold of something that is real, and true, and now. The real truth, right this minute, is that in large cities we should not be breathing the air.
Ok. ok. Really. This has everything to do with sunsets. The sunsets up here, away from NYC, tend to be soft and gentle. I watch the sun tilt and play with the grasses and trees and hills. Usually, the sky reveals incredible blues and soft pastels. It is very different from the fiery sunsets back home. I could pass this off as the difference between being in the north and the south. In some ways it is. I'm sure latitude does play some part ... but ...
One of the longest, most color-filled sunsets I ever observed was in the desert when VioletKey and I went on our road trip. Guess what is naturally up in the air in the desert? Dirt. Yes. Really! Dirt. Remember God's creation loves light like crystals do? Dirt is full of reflectors.
In Texas, I sat on the east side of a lake that marked the demarcation line between "city and city wannabes" and "the country." My side of the lake was actually greener. They said it was due to "lake effects." Anyway, there was nothing between me and the sunset but the lake and a thin, distant horizon filled with man's buildings. But sunset revealed one other incredible thing. The Dallas air tended to stay on the west side of the lake and it could turn the sunset into a spectacular show of intense color. I will just have to show you the photos.
As much as I found this color show to be amazing, breath taking, awe inspiring, I found it equally disturbing. I found it even more disturbing when someone off-handedly mentioned that the sunsets over that lake rivaled the sunsets near Mexico City. We all know how bad the pollution there is and how long it's been a problem.
So, in a big picture way, sunsets remind me of God's grief. I don't think He is so happy with our determination to hide and destroy His creation. He's gonna let us because we are its caretakers. But that doesn't mean that the destruction of His creation in this manner is what His original goal and desire was.
On a daily basis, I have come to look at sunsets as an opportunity to purposefully shift my mindset and activities. This is to say ... I see it as an opportunity and the shift does automatically happen in one way or another ... but sometimes I grab hold of the opportunity and purposefully shift -- usually this is a much better thing.
Haiku with One Deep Breath #3 -- Spring's Song Risk 04/07/07
This week the prompt over at One Deep Breath was an encouragement to slow down and listen to spring's song.
When I finally got over there and read it, I burst out in laughter. Just the night before when I opened our door, I was accosted by spring's song. It turns out that the swamp critters took a great risk though.
Great Swamp's sweet Spring song burst forth in eve's cacophony; next night frozen mute.
This image is of a revisit of a swamp dawning at the end of last August.
(I've managed to put two images into the album so far. I want to add a few more during the week ... so feel free to ck back ... and ask for the rest if I still haven't put them up.)
The first morning of spring they showed up after being MIA all winter ... while I was just watching the pond and enjoying my coffee. I just about fell over everything that was between me and my camera.
Shelbie dog could smell them and she was busy sniffing the air and sniffing all around the door.
Of course, the images capture none of our excitement really and only one of the deer wasn't camera shy.
Tomorrow (Sunday) you can pick up the haiku prompt for this week from Susan and Jennifer at One Deep Breath.
The Weekend Words Challenge is a meme created and curated by TheOddMix. The object is to either apply the words to your weekend photography or apply your photography skills to capture the weekend words. You will be surprised what happens when you hold just a couple of words in the back of your mind and bring your camera up to your eye. But then sometimes it doesn't click until you sit down and browse through your shots. Sometimes it's a combo deal.
NO! It is not required to generate a haiku poem, also. That's just my current frame of mind.
Anyone can participate. The words for the weekend are available by Friday and often sooner. And technically it's a Monday Meme.
A story about a day at the beaches with photos. Yes. Beaches. Yes. This is where we went when we had the Zipcar in February.
Each image opens a larger image. These are a portion of a larger collection.
So, way back when, we went touring two spots on the Connecticut Beach along Long Island Sound. Our first stop was Sherwood Island State Park. As soon as I arrived I thought of daisies@pluckthepetal. This is officially the first time I've ever seen a "calm blue ocean."
A swan? In salt water? Is this right?
Yes. Of course Shelbie the bird dog went with us.
Billy is a very patient and gracious man. He did find ways to entertain himself. Check the album to see his real location. See those seashells he was holding for me?
There were seashells here, there ...
~ AND E V E R Y W H E R E ~
Then we went to Silver Sands State Park
And very reluctantly we went home.
There are 24 more photos plus the large versions of these in my Picasa Album
Links to other Thursday Thirteens! If you are participating in Thursday Thirteen, please leave a link in your comment.
What I mean is ... Please spell it out for us all that you are participating in Thursday Thirteen and leave your link.
And don't be bashful if it's already Friday or Saturday ... leave me a note anyway and I'll come visit ... especially since I do most of my Thursday Thirteen visiting on Friday since many of you post to your blog and my blog after I'm asleep for the day anyway :~)
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It's easy, and fun! Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
Weekend Words Photo Essay -- Gracious & Steadfast 03/14/07
TheOddMix's Weekend Words for last weekend were gracious and steadfast. I thought it was very excellent timing. There's a certain graveyard that I have been wanting to go photograph.
Well the weekend came and went and Monday was my absolute last chance for me to photograph this graveyard with any snow around the stones. I knew if I didn't get myself over there first thing in the morning, that there'd be a whole lot of mudding going on. And besides, it would still be timely for the Weekend Words.
This particular graveyard is in distress and I have to be careful getting in and out. The point of entry is concealed from even the most astute observer and it's at the top of a little incline. When I was going in, I thought, "I'd better be very careful coming back out this is going to be still very slick." -- it was basically ice capped -- don't ya know ... yeah ...
It soon became obvious to me that
God's gracious nature, abounding in benefits, does not also include
restricting nature from proving our mark upon earth is far from steadfast.
A few expedition notes:
Do not wear a sweater into a bramble patch.
When removing said sweater in order to extract yourself from the middle of the bramble patch, do expect the brambles to attach themselves to your skin.
Immediately upon removal of said sweater expect to hear the buzz of the first mosquito of spring ... even if it is the first day that the temp is above 45 degrees.
Do not wear a french braid int the middle of the brambles.
Do take your dog so you can crouch low and follow her lead out of the brambles.
Do know that even in the winter, poison ivy is one of the dominate ivies taking over the graveyard -- immediately return home to the shower and laundry.
And finally you should know that
God's gracious nature, abounding in benefits, does not also include
restricting nature from proving our foot upon earth is far from steadfast.
Mmm yeah ... remember the ice on the hill? I didn't. Yes. I still have a small headache. But I walk, talk, and the camera's okay.
My headache is NOT Not Not helped at all by the fact that on Tuesday Adobe Flash 9 ATE ATE ATE my Photoshop 4. No that's not Photoshop Elements 4 ... that's Photoshop 4. I'm angry. So. I will be learning Gimp.
AND today Picasa Web Albums became my personal online album of choice, definite. Why? Unlimited albums. Free. So if you click the link, there are a few more pics there.
I have had these photos stashed away inside my camera since the Valentines Snow Daze. I took them all standing at my living room window. They fit the Weekend Words (for this Past Weekend), View and Conceal, in an interesting way.
Enjoy!
Oh! Wait! With this set of images if you click on one of them, it will take you to my collection over at Flick'r. There are more photos there.
Ok, now, Enjoy!
My living room windows give me quite an amazing view ...
Looking down into The Great Swamp
Even the birds knew it was time to stock up!
But it's equally amazing when the view gives clues to what the trees are prone to conceal.
Mr. Falcon
Mr.&Mrs. Cardinal (I presume) You really will want to click and go see them in my Flick'r photos.
Ok this week once again had no web focus. I don't mean I wasn't on the Internet. I mean I was and yet had no focus. So ... you get more photos to focus on.
Each image opens a larger image. This time there is no compelling reason to open the larger image unless you want to see a little better.
At the bottom of this post you'll find a link to a photo page on my site where you can just click through the titles in order. That way you won't have to keep jumping back and forth between the images here and the larger images there.
I really know very little about the Appalachian Trail ... So again ... feel free to fill me in.
Snow Strolling
Twice now we've taken the trail west from the Appalachian Trail train platform on the Harlem Line. The trail eventually turns south over towards the Hudson River. I love this portion of the trail because even though it starts out looking rather la-de-da and oh so normal ...
Beam Balancing / Grass Stalking
It soon turns into a trek through the swamp ... designed to challenge your balance. Yes that's a balancing beam. In the fall, it's not frozen on the right side. And I also love those really tall grasses. I have no idea what they are. Do you?
Cinder Striding
Then we have cinder blocks to walk on. No, the swamp isn't frozen in that spot and, yes, one slip and it would have been very cold.
Beam Bopping / Pallet Prowling
One of my very favorite turns through the stalking grass includes a cinder block to beam to pallet transfer. Billy went in in the fall -- not so cold then but still he was glad it was on the way back to the train.
Post Meeting
White stripes like this on poles, trees, and rocks mark the trail. This pole has at least two faces. Do you see them?
Plank Walking
And then we get two planks to walk on for a distance. This trip the swamp was fairly frozen in this portion. Last trip Shelbie dog loved wading in the water.
Creek Bridging
Then we cross a little creek on a nicely maintained bridge. The light changes very rapidly up here unlike in Texas (Very bright) or in Oregon (very dim) ... so I ended up with two very dark snaps of the bridge.
Bridge Posing
Then Billy saw his chance for a shot at of me.
Green Glistening
This is an attempt to capture the creek (again). The water is only green in appearance because of the vegetation. It is actually very clear.
Twig Catching
It fascinated me how the snow could pile up like that on litttttle slender branches / twigs.
White Wandering
Oh, I forgot to tell you ... after the bridge there's a steady climb up a hill. I believe we are going to have to get a very decent map of the trail so we can talk about elevations and the like. Anyway the trees are as beautiful dressed in snow as they are in fall colors.
Winter Farming
This is the scene once you are over the top of the hill. Let me tell you ... it was Blinding White!
Hotwire Hopping
So we thought we'd only be out until the 2:41 train but we dawdled around and missed it by almost 1/2 an hour. There are two hours between trains. The only way we were going to survive well was to keep moving. So we left the train platform again but went east. It is also very pretty over that way. We had enough time to go over a few hills.
Oh that thing that Billy's standing on ... those are ladders that allow hikers to go over electric fence wires. I think we went over four going and again coming back. They are not designed for short legged people!
Locomotion Waiting
Bonus ... the one that got away! So very frustrating. We got back to the train platform and I wanted to take a pic of the train coming down the track at us. I took some test shots. The sun was starting to set a bit. It was going to be perfect. And so ... the train came into view and ... I raised my camera ... and ... I saw ... a red battery outline and then ... fade to black. sigh
Ok finally! Go see the larger images. There's a link on that photo page so you can come back and leave a comment.
Links to other Thursday Thirteens! If you are participating in Thursday Thirteen, please leave a link in your comment.
What I mean is ... Please spell it out for us all that you are participating in Thursday Thirteen and leave your link.
And don't be bashful if it's already Friday or Saturday ... leave me a note anyway and I'll come visit ... especially since I do most of my Thursday Thirteen visiting on Friday since many of you post to your blog and my blog after I'm asleep for the day anyway :~)
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It's easy, and fun! Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
MarillaAnne's Grand Central Station Thursday Thirteen #8 02/01/07
These pics are from when Billy & I went down to NYC on Christmas Eve. I figured they would be appropriate for today because I am going down to Grand Central Station today to pick up my cell phone. It has been living down there in the "Lost and Found" since ohhh ... mid December. Yes. Mid December. Yes it's still there. Billy called and checked.
I offer up my apologies to anyone who is on dial up but ... I couldn't bear to make the images any smaller because Grand Central Station is soooo beautiful. And yes I'm taking my camera with me again.
Each image opens a larger image that is usually different from the small one here. I think you would find it worth the effort. BUT, personally, if I were you, I would only look at these here (and somehow avoid the compulsion to click on an image).
Why? Because ... down at the bottom of this post you'll find a very useful link. It will take you to a photo page where you can just click through the titles in order. That way you won't have to keep jumping back and forth between the images here and the larger images there.
Basically I don't know anything about Grand Central Station except what you see here. So feel free to fill me in.
The image above and below is of the front of Grand Central. Evidently if you are going to "meet me under the clock," this is The Clock. That's Tiffany Glass in that thar face. Isn't it beautiful?
This eagle sits on the corner of 42nd and something. I don't know. I was just following Billy around and pointing the camera. A Lot.
Ok the name of this next image is "Huge is Huge." When you go look at the larger image, you will understand why when I went in for the first time I just had to stop and stare and turn and stare and turn and stare ... for at least ten minutes.
All of the lighting I noticed was incandescent. Chandeliers are everywhere and if it's not a chandelier, it is ensconced in some of the most beautiful brass work.
And let's not forget the marble ... carvings so beautiful and shineeey that I was tempted to think of them as a plastic! (How bad is that?!) It's very difficult to photograph. I'm hoping to get more of this today.
Everywhere you look there's some sort of "eye-candy" design
The image below and it's larger version are of a light show that was shown inside the building all of the Christmas season. It was like a kaleidoscope of familiar items in Grand Central and I think you'll find a very well known landmark in the large version.(But remember, don't click yet!)
We left for awhile and then came back. We had about an hour until our train. So we watched the light show and the clock upstairs (that's mother of pearl on that face!)
Then we went downstairs where we could sit down to watch the time some more
Then we got on the right track
And boarded our departing train
Ok finally! Go see the larger images. There's a link on that photo page so you can come back and leave a comment.
I'll be checking in here and there throughout the day to make sure the comments are working out for you. AND I look forward to visiting ya'll tomorrow (Are you kidding? Miss out on your lists?)
Links to other Thursday Thirteens! If you are participating in Thursday Thirteen, please leave a link in your comment.
What I mean is ... Please spell it out for us all that you are participating in Thursday Thirteen and leave your link.
And don't be bashful if it's already Friday or Saturday ... leave me a note anyway and I'll come visit ... especially since I do most of my Thursday Thirteen visiting on Friday since many of you post to your blog and my blog after I'm asleep for the day anyway :~)
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It's easy, and fun! Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
Yes you read that right. We may as well be honest about it. I don't do wordless very well.
These four photos have nothing in common ... except me, of course.
Here we have a little green bug wearing a uh er .... wiskers ... very long white wiskers ... on the opposite end from the one upon which Santa chooses to sport whiskers ... could someone please click on that image for a better view and tell me what that bug is? I've been dieing to know since August. After you figure it out, just click on the big image and it will return you to this post.
When we first arrived in New York, we camped until we found a place. Did you know that's an easy way to freak people out? It is.
Anyway ... the real reason I am showing you this pic is because God is good all the time. I left my cell phone on the train very late Thursday night -- Yes, a week ago. It was Sunday before we realized it was even MIA. (OK yes that says volumes about me.) And it was Monday evening before I filed a report. And today I called to follow up.
Would someone want to pick my phone up for me down at Grand Central Station? NO NO Really! That's a joke. We're going down on Saturday anyway!
So would anyone like to guess what I did this last weekend? This is my old pc ... you remember ... "Rebel." Seems I've been hard on the old baby. I spent the weekend defragging and making sure the file structure was semi-sound.
I still prefer to run this one around in my backpack ... but it's losing "it." Something about sloshing Coffee into it, dropping it while it was on, pouring an entire cup of scalding hot orange tea, and oh the latest ... i forgot it was only sleeping and stuck it in my backpack and basically walked around with it going in and out of sleep mode on a very impossibly old battery! I think I scratched the HD. And did you notice? That drive seems a little full, too.
The USB port can barely run my mouse, I have to wait forever for images to process, I cannot have more than two programs running, no more than three tabs open in FireFox. It's sound card only hisses. It can't power up my external drive any longer. (Suddenly remembering booster aka powered hub still helps tho!)
I think I smell change in the air. Sigh
Here's my Bible. You know, they don't make pc's like they use to and they don't make Bible's like they use to. The inscription is 1969. I used this Bible until 1976-ish. And it's still altogether! And look at that beautiful inscription page. Do they do that anymore? I can't recall one. Anyway, this is the autograph that I told ya'll about yesterday.
This is Billy's Hummer ... well it was when he was in the Army National Guard. I think the thing he misses most is driving heavy equipment ... and working on it. I bumped into it during my Christmas photos scavenger hunt for the countdown. Just couldn't quite line it up with the story :~)
You will see it again though ... in the countdown ... but you may or may not notice it.
The story of a photography blessing for which I am very thankful ... ok and maybe a little more ...
The weekend words from TheOddMix were Thankful and Blessing. I'm going to admit that I went into a food coma and didn't actually take fresh images. Which probably breaks the rules ... but ... I only have 3000 images already so I wasn't worried about being short on supply.
I did get all mushy and nostalgic for a time when we were able to with our families ... for the holidays so ... I went looking through those old images. Since I value my life ... I chose none that held the images of family members -- save one particular person -- my husband.
He was the one who decided I had to have a camera. He was the one who orchestrated the selection and rounding up of the money ... and he was the one who had to break down and tell me early what my Christmas gift was so that I wouldn't buy a cheepie off of ebay.
So ... Thankful was my 19th image and Blessing was my 410-ish image. The snow was from 2000 ... the last time Dallas saw any decent amounts of just snow. Usually they do ice.
Oh yeah the little more ... I'm just plain blessed all the time to have Billy for my husband and I am very Thankful that God sent Billy along on his borrowed stead (aka car), in his beat-up, rusty, but still highly effective armor. Well that's his version of the story ... I thought the armor was gleaming.
A story of children growing up and time for change.
Tis the season of change for many of my friends as children leave from our nests. So, there are two homes for sale in North Texas. I have been a guest for several nights in each home. I can tell you I will miss having them in my list of options for over night resting places. But, they very well may represent an opportunity to someone who stops by here to read. Both families are the original owners / builders of these homes. They have been carefully built and maintained.
The home above is in Collinsville, TX. The photos are from my visit a year and a half ago. You can read more by visiting the listing at ReMax.com If you are looking for a quiet place to live and raise a family, this is a most excellent spot. The quiet is good for the soul. Did I mention there's also 28 acres?
The second home is in Plano, TX on the east side of I-75. If you believe that being in a metro area is the only way to go, this one is for you. If I discover I have images from the second home, I'll post them later. You can read more about it at the listing at Realtor.com.
Ok this is cutting this deadline thing just a wee bit close. But it's worth it is worth it. My husband took me shopping for a new outfit for Thanksgiving!
(Image links to Flick'r and my photos from our hike.) What happens when we miss the train and the next train to come along isn't for two more hours? Well ... we go out wandering down winding roads. What else would we do? We did first step off at the deli for sandwiches and eclairs ... and some water to go in the backpack!
Since we hadn't planned to hike, we didn't know where good trials were. Basically, we picked a road and said, "Let's see what's around that next bend in the road." Perhaps it is a little reflective of our life perspective: If we go a little further, try a little experiment, what will happen?
We found out a lot about our little community. We went past three parks full of people all revolving around some family outing ... school fair, little league baseball, and I'm fairly sure the last park was a wedding.
We passed a cemetery and I was surprised to find myself standing in front of Pecks! Peck is a family name in the tree. But I checked online today and I can see no way for these Pecks to be related to my Pecks. Wouldn't it have been funny?!
And we saw a lot of signs that told us about our new home: There's a rock quarry somewhere that has some people upset. There's a development going in with each plot being 4 acres. There's another cute little slice of land that is for sale. Oh and there's a shopping center going in somewhere that has the community quite up in arms and divided.
We observed that rock walls are very popular. Some seem to have been around for a long time. Clueless on that. Also, it is very difficult to see the hills for the trees. We had to wait for breaks in the trees in order to be able to see across the valley and over to the neighboring hills. The trees are starting to think about turning colors. I keep hearing I'm in for quite an experience. Blazing orange everywhere.
Eventually we had to admit it was time to turn back towards home. We also had to admit that we weren't overly sure where we were ... since we also took off without a map. Oh we knew how to go home. We just didn't know where we were. Turns out that we were nearly half way to the next town.
Oh, and how do we finish off a five mile hike? We stopped off at the deli to pick up some ravioli and the owner very enthusiastically suggested options for our next hike. Well, of course, we always go there for our little bits of this and that. They even know our names. "Hey! Billy from Texas! How's it going? Where did ya'll go today?" Yes, it's true. People will come back and wait in very long lines (sometimes daily even) just to buy in a place where people know their names.
Well, go and see my photos and see the fun we had. And when was the last time you went out just wandering?
(Image links to my photos on Flick'r.) This is my Shelbie dog one yr ago. Right now she is in Portland, OR with my daughter. On Oct 7, I get to ship her here! For her sake and our sakes pray everything goes smoothly!
This has also been a test of Flick'r/ Flock/ MarillaAnne interaction.
Yes. Well. I signed up for a Flick'r account (MarillaAnne of course). And then it was time to upload images. I could do it one by one straight off my harddrive--tedious. Or I could upload multiple images with a tool I download from Flick'r that only uploads. Or I could download a browser and an upload tool combo called Flock. No brainer ... two tools in one download ... yep!
The download and install was smooth and sweet. There's a little image bar that runs accross the top of Flock that displays your images or your friends' images that are located on Flick'r or PhotoBucket. If I drag an image from that bar into an "html friendly text box" anywhere on the web, Flock creates the code that displays the image!
Who are You? 08/18/06 I am me ... I run around with my long hair in a French braid. I camp and hike (often in the city). I live in Upstate NY right on the very edge of The Great Swamp. Continue...
Why does this Site Exist? 10/26/06 My website is largely my memoir ... my musings, photos, encounters, life's stories.
But what really thrills me is that when I let go of my stories, it's like sending out little sail boats out on expeditions. Very often they come back to me filled with other people's stories. Continue...
Respecting your Privacy 10/25/06 I do not collect your private info unless ... Continue...
Telling My Stories and Discovering Your Stories
