Arrivederci!

Its not goodbye just a brief interlude. . .

Our long awaited MOVE has become a reality! If I had a dollar for every box of books I've packed, how many times I have planted my butt at the computer playing 'therapeutic' Tetras, or how many times I've screamed ' I'M TOO OLD FOR THIS!' I'd go on a shopping spree when this nonsense is over. After 4 years of living in three rooms in the 'pet building' I serendipitously found us a duplex with two bedrooms, lots of windows, one block from the lake --all reasonably rentable--and lovable.

The movers come on Tuesday next and luckily for all involved, our move is only about three blocks away. Very soon I'll be UN-packing all these boxes. But, wow, what a trade off.

Be back soon. Will miss your visits. . .send all good wishes anyway!

Take your pick: reeds or reds, both seen on a beautiful early Autumn late August day at Como Lake in St. Paul. More (nearly 250) skies at .

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ahh, adolescence!

Remember my experience with the bird nest in my geraniums and the mother House Finch coming into my apartment during a recent storm? I took this photo recently of the three birds out of four eggs that hatched. Last week they were ready to fledge. We went away for the day and when we returned the nest was empty. But look closely and you'll see them all big beady eyed and beaked with little pinfeathers all over their heads. I miss them.
Visit Camera Critters for more delights.

'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'

See more beautiful red at Mary's meme:

'Blue sky when you gonna learn to rain?'

More Midwest blue: Iowa skies over sunflower fields bordered by corn above and down the road,

an old stone church and cemetery. Watch more clouds go by at Skywatch Friday.

[Blue Sky Blue lyrics by Ryan Adams]

D is for Duct Tape, or a lesson in style

On Erica's first day of her residency at the ER, she found her car had been broken into during the night before, and title and insurance cards stolen. She was left with a pile of glass inside and outside the car and a wounded sense of justice. We like to refer to it as 'The Army of Wrongness' on the move again--if you've read Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's you know just what I'm talking about. So, armed with a clear shower curtain and duct tape, this is how she shook her fist at stupidity. Who knew there could be such stylish duct tape!?

Or as Orson Welles said, “Create your own visual style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.” More D words to see at ABC Wednesday.

sweet prophecy of welcome

Just when I think I have a grip on summer trying to slip through my fingers, what should appear but one true red sweet pea. These are the variety, 'Erica's Favorite' which I try to grow each year in Dr. Erica's honor. This summer they have outdone themselves! Of course I am never able to quite capture this red but it makes me smile anyway. Sweet peas are my connection to my Italian heritage and in particular my dad who loved them. He didn't always love me but we could agree on our affection for their fragrance and unique blooms. So I tip my trowel to sweet peas and Today's Flowers where you can drink in fragrant flowers from all over the world.

Happy Monday!

"The Sweet Pea has a keel that was meant to seek all shores;

it has wings that were meant to fly across all continents;

it has a standard which is friendly to all nations;

and it has a fragrance like the universal gospel,

yea, a sweet prophecy of welcome everywhere that has been abundantly fulfilled"

- Rev. W. T. Hutchins 1900 (At the Sweet Pea Bi-centenary Celebration)

summer shadows

Please reconsider leaving.
I’m sorry I complained about the heat,
You know how I can be.

Once again, I’ve slept under your blanket
My fears dropped all over the floor
Your murmurings in my ear now
Sweet morning dew.

Overhead the loon calls for his mate and I know you
Are listening, not to me
But to the rhythm of change
You are quietly slipping away, until next time.

Have I mentioned that it really wouldn't be odd
For each year to have
Two Augusts?

sweet repose

On our Mississippi River tour I posted about earlier this week, we spent the night in rural Wisconsin. The next morning we got on the road just as the sun was coming up. I thought I'd heard cows lowing the evening before. . .I took this shot of the sunrise and if you look closely you can see the bovine beauties still in the shadowy dawn light.

Heading north the valley was socked in with low fog while the sun burned bright against the high ground.
Nothing compares to the smell of crops in the field covered with dew or the farm animals when you're on a motorcycle. And the sky really put on a show for us.

See more beautiful skies at Skywatch Friday.

“Praise the ripe field not the green corn.”
Irish Proverb

C is for Cousin

So, I'm noodling around in Google to find photos of my hometown, Pocatello, Idaho, when I run across this group shot from 1953. The caption read that it was taken at the old Bonneville Elementary School, where the post office now stands. It was a multi-story stone building with tall windows and trees that sat in those earlier neighborhoods full of blue collar families. Note the racial diversity in this photo.

Also turns out it was taken by my Uncle Fred who has owned a photo shop for many years in Pocatello and is the keeper of many of our family's and city's earlier photographic history. So it made sense that he would have taken a photo in his own neighborhood. On closer inspection I see my cousin Ronnie in the front row! Of course, I deduced, Uncle Fred must have taken this casual group shot of Ronnie's class. [All those Nancy Drew novels I read paid off!].
For more 'C's visit ABC Wednesday. Who knows who you'll see!

Ruby Tuesday, or why I love 'Old Man River'

Last weekend we rode our motorcycle along the Mississippi River on the Iowa side as far as Dubuque, stopping in this little town called Guttenberg. The red house above actually sits square on the lot, but me, not so much on the bike. Note the wash hanging on the line.

This is the kind of red I am fond of: a bit more primitive. This building sits right on the Mississippi and was an old warehouse in the mid 1800's but now is divided into little shops. We ate at the Picket Fence Cafe where I hooked a lovely pink glass creamer for my collection. I've not spent much time in Iowa before but was agog at all the many miles of corn fields, the wholesome looking, friendly people and roadside produce stands galore. More photos to come. . .in the meantime, visit Mary @ Ruby Tuesday.