Brothers and Sisters

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Last week, my Uncle Gene passed away. He was one of my Dad's brothers. In the past 1 1/2 years, three of the brothers have passed away.

This is a picture of the brothers and sisters - my dad is front and center with the suspenders on! Too cute!

This is a very close family - and the fact that the next time I go to the reunion in Estes Park there will be three less brothers is very sad for all of us.

This picture was taken in 2008 - and now Uncle Gene, top left, Uncle Bob, in wheelchair, and Uncle Bill (not present as he was very ill) are gone.

Family is so precious - and we are so blessed with this wonderful family. All of the cousins are very close and we will continue the family reunion tradition.




Here are the 1st cousins - the ones that were at the last reunion. I am very anxious for next May to come - so that we can gather again and talk - and remember - and "be closer" to those who have gone before us.

Introducing God - This is so good!

Things in my yard this September

By the calendar, it is fall. I do admit that the temperatures are dropping a bit - but I've not even remotely ever needed a jacket yet, little alone real shoes or long sleeves. All that said, the yard and surrounding area is beginning to show signs of fall.

This is my bird feeder - ready for the birds and also "ready" for the squirrels. They are huge culprits of food, as are the dear. This feeder is good because A. it is high enough off of the ground that deer can't reach it and B. it has a squirrel guard on it.



The plants in the yard are looking nice right now. Since it hasn't been quite as hot, they are having a chance to flourish. Also - we've had quite a bit of rain.







This is the humming bird feeder and the beautiful plant around it. I don't get many humming birds at this point. I do see one now and then, but we're new on the block and they apparently haven't found us yet. Maybe next year....



This is a random cactus in the front yard. I don't know why it's there - or why it's staying. Very random.



And speaking of rain, we have had quite a bit. Because of that, we have lots of mushrooms showing up in the grass.







This one isn't real - it's made out of concrete I believe. Kinda cute though, huh?

Patiently Waiting

This is just an update of sorts - to let you know that both Jay and I are waiting. Patiently. Sort of.

What are we waiting for? Job notification.

Jay is waiting on the Department of Energy to let them know about a contract. If the contract is approved, he will be working much closer to home. As it is now, he works in Augusta - which is nearly an hour's drive each way. We've been waiting for news of this contract since March.

I am waiting to see if I will be hired at the Community Medical Clinic. I have been volunteering there for a couple of months now - and really enjoy it. They have some hours available to hire me and my resume etc. has been presented to the board - and supposedly everyone is "on board" with hiring me - but the final decision hasn't been made yet. So I continue to volunteer.

So - here we are. Kind of in limbo - but both of us putting in our time. We're both content with what we're doing (though volunteering doesn't really bring in a paycheck, if you know what I mean). It will just be nice when both decisions are made and revealed to us.

So the foot tapping you hear...........its me. Being patient.

Fall

So, we've been in South Carolina now for 2 months but for the most part, it seems a lot longer. And now, it is fall - so I'm curious what fall is like in this area. Certainly already the mornings are much cooler. At the beginning of my walk, I almost need a jacket. I don't take one of course because my hands are already full of things: a tissue, my MP3 player and a little sack of dog biscuits. You absolutely HAVE to take dog biscuits with you if you intend to make friends. Almost everyone has a dog that they walk in the mornings - and you get to know their names (the dogs, that is) and if you offer them a biscuit, they are your friend for life. So now, as I meet them on the street, their tails start to wag and they approach you with those eyes that say "HEY LADY - WHERE'S THE DOG BISCUIT?" As a way of introduction then, you eventually meet their owners and develop new friendships. Some people, I actually only see on my morning walk - but a few I've met in other places around town as well.

OK - back to fall.

I haven't seen any leaves changing colors yet -but it is a little early. We still have the Farmers Market - but the summer concerts in the park are over. The Halloween decorations are out at various places (as are the Christmast decorations. Don't get me started.)

So all in all, fall seems to be "in the air" and I'm very excited to see the changes around here. I'll post some pictures when as visual aids when that time arrives.

For now though, I'm just enjoying the southern hospitality and new friendships.

Journal notation

I'm copying a journal notation from a freebie newspaper called Skirt. I loved it so much - and it could be adapted to just about anyone really. So I'm copying it for a reason. I think that in me, and maybe in a lot of people, there is a dichotomy of "lifestyles" that we'd like. See if you agree.


I want to wake up and walk out my door to a coffee shop on the corner. I want to drop off my dry cleaning on my way to the subway or tube stop. I want to have a book store and a movie theater in my neighborhood. I want to sit in a local bar and have a glass of wine and write in my journal. I want to know the bartender's name and have a bowl of mussels with butter and herbs in broth. i want to wear black and high heels and fake pearls.

On the other hand, I want to own a farm in Kentucky, grow limestone lettuce, adopt a dog and let him run and hunt, listen to rain on a tin roof, raise chickens, drive a pickup truck, sit on the porch at the end of the day and sleep like a baby in a four poster bed that belonged to my grandmother.
Except those two sides of my self will never be fully reconciled, so I live in the between-spaces.


I truly feel about the say way - there are so many cool things about the city that I like (mobs of cars and people aside) but the contrary lifestyle of country living makes me so content and happy.

More Battlefields

Over the weekend we went on a little drive to look at some Civil War battlefields. We had been to several battlefields when we were in Virginia, but the two we saw on Saturday showed us some very different terrain than Gettysburg or Bull Run.



Imagine having to carry your gun and other equipment high up over your head as you go through rivers and swamps. Imagine what you'd feel like when you got to the other side - did they take the time to remove their boots before they went in?



There were lots of trees. The raised areas where they hid behind were still there. It was really interesting - not to mention quieting to remember that men died where we stood. Men fought for what they believed was the right thing to do. Men died for their homes.



There weren't any other people out at the battlefields the day we visited. It was very quiet and almost somber. Once again, it's a part of history that I really never had thought much about, being from Kansas. That's not much of an excuse, but it's the truth.



Saturday evening we watched The Patriot with Mel Gibson. It was just an interesting comparison as the battlegrounds really looked quite similar.

In a few weeks, we're going to see a new local movie called "The Battle of Aiken" - it should be very interesting as well. I am very much enjoying getting to know more about the local history.