Renku Persimmons

Ann's Renku Persimmons
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Before we began to eat them the persimmons looked like this. Then we wrote a 36-link December poem together. I have a very good friend that grew up in a persimmon orchard. When I first saw it I loved the way the bright fruit hangs on the branches after the leaves are gone. We came back from Michigan after autumn leaves had all fallen there. Here in California, a few of the last ones are still falling. Now the mixed passerine feeding flocks come in to feed on the small red berries of the Chinese Pistache trees that line our street. A couple of mornings ago, I saw several white-crowned sparrows, some yellow-rump warblers and some other birds (gone out to get the mail; no binoculars!) in and about the tree. Tomorow will be the last day of 2006. I'm making resolutions.

Girders and angles

Girders
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Tonight the news is full of the pending execution of Saddam Hussein. Something about the speed of this and the homely details (hanging, a green jumpsuit, an unmarked grave, we gotta get it done tonight--because tomorrow is a religious day, the volunteer Iraqi executioner, his family isn't coming, his effects have been "handed over") is profoundly shocking to me. Also, the information or public relations is being handled at a level very close to gossip and rumor. All of this contrasts so much with the excruciatingly slow formality of the process of executions in the U.S. I thought they were going to hold a trial about the Kurdish deaths; the deaths he is being executed for seem a relatively minor one of his horrible deeds. The decision and the whole process seems too hurried. The word that has just come up for me is "hugger-mugger" which in addition to hurried chaos, has an element of secrecy. I looked it up just now. I am very troubled by the haste and the sort of jury-rigged procedures. Much of the world seems out of joint to me now.
In preparation for the New Year's cleanup (garage, closets, bookshelves, 40 years of accumulation) we went out and bought some more boxes today. Those office boxes are a little small, but easier to lift when filled with books and papers. S was looking for a small pocket calendar, so we went to the second office supply store where the boxes were on sale. I bought some more. Now I have 50 boxes (ought to do it!) and a serious project ahead of me. I have 2500 books on librarything.com now. Serious fun!

Olives

I like olives
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Christmas dinner provides a favorite food! I'm thankful for the health of my family and the adundance they enjoy. It was great to spend time with them this holiday season.

The emu's luminous eyes

P1000066xx
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

If I had known that those eyes were so beautiful, I would have taken a lot more pictures of him/her to test my Christmas camera. Up close, I just noticed the drab feathers. What else have I missed by not looking carefully? The drive home today through the Canyon was bright and sunny. Because of the recent rains, all the little rivulets and waterfalls that can be seen from the road were splendid. The higher peaks had snow, which set off the pines wonderfully. I'm planning for next year to be a little more focused and productive. I'd especially like to improve this blog. The New Year is icumen in! Goodnight.

Jack Hopper, my father as a child

Young Hoppers
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

He's in the lower left. His older brother, Carr and Mary Lillian, his oldest sister, are standing. The youngest kid, Marjory Lynn, is seated next to Jack. I think they were still living in Portales, New Mexico, at this time. Dad was born there on December 19, 1906. So the hundredth anniversary of his birth has just passed. We all still miss his quiet, intelligent sensible personality all the time. I am the oldest of his seven children. He has thirty-two grandchildren and countless (at least I can't keep count) great-grandchildren
Thinking about overpopulation is a terrifying thing. Naturally, one likes having a big family; I particularly like to watch the traits of my parents re-emerge in their descendants. My mother has turned out to have a very persistant look; just today, I got a Christmas card from one of my brother John's daughters, who looks more and more like my mother. Still, I think that the world will really suffer from the excessive presence of so many human beings. I wish we could just slow down a little. Just slow down.
Happy Birthday, Dad! Youv'e been gone almost 20 years now, yet we still think of you every day.

East meets west

East meets west
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

I love this holiday juxtaposition. Thursday night there was a gathering of friends at a new studio. There was a delicious cranberry loaf and many other eatables. The studio was all decorated with lights, candles and beads; there were many wonderful things to look at.
Now, as I write a Barbra Streisand special has just turned up on TV. From the hairstyle, it looks to have been filmed on the cusp of the Seventies. Could it be new? She is wearing a simple, slender, long ivory-white dress. And she can really sing! The most beautiful, subtly altered notes, the power and emotion and delivery of the texts. Wow. Some guy in the audience is about to choke himself yelling, "Bravo, bravo, bravo!" The rest of the audience is screaming.
Now it is becoming clearer; the show is made of of clips from different shows. And the now-Barbra is talking about one of them.

This week I have been going through boxes of old papers. I have found many excellent traces of the past, like my daughter's kindergarten handprints in fingerpaint, and a picture of my son holding his first baby, who now is taking horseback riding lessons. This mixture of the past and the present is very appealing to me. But it also reminds me of the ones who are now gone, and how everything passes.

After Monet's poplars, violet

PICT0009 nik vio
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

There was a row of poplars near Monet's home; he painted them often. When they were about to be cut down, he bought the trees, or the property, so he could keep on painting them. (Once again, I am hazy on the facts!) I understand because of the poplars we can see from our house in Michigan. They are always changing. Trees are young and old. They grow in genetically identical clusters, so each group of them moves together through the seasons in a uniform way. In spring they are silvery as the buds expand. In autumn they turn various golds and then release pale yellow disks of aspen leaves to float or tumble across the landscape. The green rustle of summer aspen leaves is one of the most soothing sounds you can imagine. My photos of them are endlessly fun to play with; this one has been modified by a Nik violet filter. Not more beautiful then they were in autumn, but a pleasure to look at in winter, when they are far away from my California home.

Fun in sepia

Sepia glow
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

This is some kind of new play slime that you make with Elmer's Glue and other items. It is a lot more malleable than Playdough because it is a polymer or some such. (I should have looked this up before I began to write!) Anyway, it was a big success with my grandchild on Thanksgiving. Of course she had it in three different colors! It is shiny and sort of terrifying looking. And immensely appealing.

The Glorious Fourth

The Glorious Fourth
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

That's the head of my grandson in the lower right.
In this winter chill, it is nice to think about the warm long twilights of summer and the summer festivals, like Independence Day, half a year away. When I was a child our church group rented land and planted a "church garden" out in the country. When the corn, melons and tomatoes were ripe we had a Harvest Supper, a wonderful outdoor picnic with lots of fresh food, games and laughter. It is one of my most delightful repeated childhood memories. We had canning bees and canned food for ourselves and for families who might need food because of some catastrophe. We dried corn (cut from the cob) in the oven; I loved the chewy result. Tomorrow I'll tell you about our Victory Garden.

White church, red roof

White church, red roof
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Under the stormy sky, the village of Rome Station. Known for its coffee house built of stone that doubles as a small bookstore. When we came through recently, I bought a book on Sacajawea's people. S bought coffee, natch. This scene was across the road, and very classic Americana, I thought.
I've been working all afternoon and evening on a big mess that I should have worked on sooner. I have it all boxed and about half sorted and the kitchen is finally reassembled. Nearly everything fit in, and S cleaned out some shelves in the garage for some of the rest. Big job, dragged out. In my usual manner. Good night.

Colors of inspiration

Colors of inspiration
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

I love the pale colors of the winter desert! Sometimes a raven flies over and makes them seem even paler by its blackness. Everything is back in the kitchen now; tonight I even sorted the Junk Drawer. There was a very small, classic mouse trap in it, and a broken handle from a window we don't have any more. Lots of screwdrivers, with an emphasis on Phillips, rubber bands and clothespins to shut bags of chips or nuts. Used toothbrushes which have been run through the dishwasher--these are very handy, but I probably don't need to save any more of them. Some tape, some washers, some screws, some matchbooks, and a box of birthday candles. A treasure trove!
Last night I found an old comment on this blog from someone who visited my blog after I had commented on his. I am so used to not getting comments that I haven't looked for any for a long time. So it was great to get one.

Long lonesome highway

The long lonesome highway
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Now that we've finally made it home, I miss the open western expanses by the highway. It is wonderful that you can see so far. The magnificent clouds are ever-changing. On the dashboard, the green hat my son gave my husband. Beside me, Wolfi, the small dog.
Here at home, I have all my books. Other comforts and art supplies surround me. But I do spend too much time indoors. It's chilly in December, and other excuses.

The Smile

Smile
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Thanksgiving is over. We had a great family visit, then came home to put the kitchen back together. It's almost completely done now and will surely be worth it, just because of the reorganization. It's been hard to keep up this blog; one day passes, and then another, and I cannot think of anything to write about.
I did go to the dentist today and now have TWO temporary crowns. One for the one that fell out on the way home and one for the one the dentist had been wanting to fix for two years. I was in the chair today for over two hours. I should feel grateful for being in a world where I can get dental care, but somehow, gratitude isn't the primary emotion. Here comes Christmas!

Afternoon light today

Afternoon light
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

A lovely drive today through parts of Idaho, Oregon and Nevada. There was moisture and/or dust in the air most of the way, which made lovely effects with the bright sun. The dogs are sleeping quietly now in the motel.
Our daughter-in-law made us such generaous sandwiches for the drive that they served as both lunch and dinner. Good night.

Through Colorado

Dramatic sky
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

The storm was over when we drove from Cheyenne to Evanston today. Snow and cloud traces lingered. I took some photos through the window along Highway 80. Midway, at the Lincoln monument, Lincoln looked out over the snow (and past some rail fences) very handsomely. We ae staying in a nice older motel that has large rooms, beautiful paneling on the walls, solid stained planks on the ceilings and terazzo floors in the bathroom. There was a storm in Colorado yesterday, and we waited a day in Cheyenne for it to pass. The roads were mostly dry, but in one snowy place, we saw four vehicles just off the road. Good night.

In the purple dusk

In the purple dusk
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

For the first time, a whole blog entry refused to stick a couple of nights ago. But tonight, I need to get some momentum again. It is easy to let this slide if I miss even one day, the next one is easier to miss.
This election turned out better than I had hoped, except for some environmental protections for Santa Clara County. I don't know what the Democratic side will be able to do about Iraq, but at least the wholesale destruction of environmental protections will have to slow down. I'm hoping. But the White House's veto power will likely pevent any big changes in the status quo, or any sort of improvements for the lives of ordinary people. I am proud of Nancy Pelosi tonight. The first woman to hold that position.
Tonight my college grandsons are staying over. We plan to start the long trek back on Saturday morning.

Our View of Goatsbeard Farm

PICT0074 up2
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

One of the things I like most about living here is the spectacular and ever-moving clouds. Tonight we listened to Gotterdammerung on Vox. It also is spectacular, perhaps almost TOO spectacular, and very long. It is nice to listen to the orchestral textures and the way the themes thread together.
The little dogs enjoyed the fire tonight, turning to toast the other side, when the first one got too warm. We have about a week now to batten down the hatches here and prepare for the trip.
I have been reading some books about Basquiat and looking at reproductions of his art. I think it makes me uncomfortable because of so much clear anger. I'm not comfortable around anger, since my family had a very controlled atmosphere and it seemed like there wasn't any need or room for the expression of anger. Perhaps anger is often the very most appropriate response. I guess it scares me.

You need a strong tail for this!

You need a strong tail for this!
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Or Suet Cake II. This little guy is a daily visitor. It is quite cold at night now, but I think the woodpeckers stay throughout the winter.

There was a beautiful Schubert program on the radio tonight. It was a rebroadcast of one of the George Jellinek shows. I hadn't listened to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau for a long time. I hope I am spelling these names right. What a glorious voice for Schubert he had. Jellinek made quite a point of the information that so much of Schubert's work wasn't published until after his death at age 31. Jellinek also talked a lot about the poetry Schubert set his songs upon and the poets he responded to the most strongly. To me this program was very nourishing, like a nice suet cake. Good night.

Now November begins

Faux graveyard and conifers
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Happy Halloween! No one came down the long dirt drive. Not a single trick-or-treater. The world has changed so much. Now November begins. The winds were fierce today. The larches glow golden in the brief moments when the sun strikes them. Mostly the sun is obscured by heavy layers of cloud.
I have been reading Rumor Verified, a book of Robert Penn Warren's poems from 1980. They are quite strong and quite emotional, almost too much so for my present mood. But the the language, sound, structure and vocablulary are peerless. I have finished getting all the books here into Librarything, and feel quite virtuous, as if it were much of an accomplishment. I enjoy playing with the data. Did I tell you about Listsofbests.com? It is a great site, too, and lets you check off lists of books you have read and make comparisons. I've read a lot of Newberry Medal winners, but by no means all of them. I'm pretty poor on the Pulitzers, though. Better on the classics. I also found a list of great blogs and will look at a couple each day. I want to improve this one, but not with sound, video or things that jiggle. It's a work in progress, and still in search of a purpose.

So fond of young trees

Fantasy II
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

And soft colors at twilight.
Tonight I tried to explain to my daughter and grandson what Marie Curie actually did and why she was my childhood hero. Wikipedia imforms me that some recent forensics demonstrated that Marie probably got her excess radiation from running the World War I X-ray ambulances she set up with her daughter. Before the end of the war the two had trained 150 women to run the equipment and do the math to show where the bullet or shrapnel fragment was. The conclusion was that she was a careful scientist with the radium. Her clothes and notebooks will still set off Geiger counters after almost 100 years. She certainly had drive and focus.
I learned quite a bit by clicking on links and trying to explain to the others. My science education was a long time ago and not very thorough. At the same time we were trying to help my grandson study for his Beowulf test, when he had forgotten his text. Wikipedia is surprisingly good on kennings, too! It was a very pleasant family evening.

Poplars

PICT0009 nik ir
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

This is a nice effect, I think. Nik Infrared filter for Photoshop. Tonight there is a big wind and the golden leaves that were on this tree two days ago have flown. The chickadees are very busy carrying away the black sunflower seeds, and two pairs of woodpeckers have really eaten a lot of suet. The poplars remind me of the row of trees that Monet painted, and that he eventually had to buy to keep them from being cut down for firewood. His, of course, were one of those straight rows that line old French roads, canals and allees. But the shape of the trees and the habit of the leaves and branches are very similar. And some of the paintings have the gold against a blue sky that these had just yesterday. I love trees, the shapes, the twigs, the bark, the leaves. That rustling sound the leaves make. Good night.

The South Meadow and Pickerel Lake Clouds

Late autumn view
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Autumn won't linger much longer. I am still playing with the fisheye lens.
Today I entered more than 100 books in Librarything. I keep finding things I want to read and re-read. But now I am reading the books on Lorca. That overblown Spanish rhetoric sometimes is embarassing, but he really has a gift for image and metaphor. So I will have to look at the poetry some more, particularly the Cante Jondo and the Gypsy Ballads.
It continues wet, chilly and largely overcast. We will only be able to stay three weeks or less. I am sad. The woodpecker was back today at the suet. This one was, I think, a female Hairy Woodpecker, and most nimble.

The teacher's horse

The teacher's horse
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

More from the riding lesson. Today I spent trying to use my new Wacom tablet so I can get control over making collages and such and combining photographs digitally. Alas, it will take me a while to get used to it and I will need to shut down to switch to my regular mouse. I have a very small mouse, so the Wacom mouse seems too heavy and clunky.
K. brought over some chicken and dumplings tonight; it was very good. The weather continues very overcast and I haven't had much luck with photographs. I discovered a list site tonight: listsof bests.com -- it could be another excellent timewaster. I have already started to work on the book lists. It is extrememly interesting how the site works. Once you check off a book you have read on one list, it is automatically checked on another list you may look at. There are movie lists and lots of other stuff, too.

Autumn snowfall

Autumn snowfall
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

This is the same clump of birch as in Fog in the Morning, below. The difference a few days will make! By tonight the snow is mostly melted. It is raining--on and off, then on again.
A dog is asleep in front of the fire, and it is very quiet tonight. Chamber music is playing on the radio.
When the rain lets up, I want to mount the bird nesting boxes I got at our historic hardware store. I got one for bluebirds and one for chickadees. The bluebird one has a copper sheathed roof. Pretty swell.

Autumn is ending

Autumn is ending
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Coming back inside from photographing trees in the snow, I saw this wet leaf on the wet porch. I like the warm colors and the way the line of the stem follows the grain of the wood, as well as the waterdrops. The leaf itself is attractively battered, yet still graphic.
It is also possible to see how deep Contractor D drove the deck screws in. It makes it almost impossible to remove them if you need to replace a board.
In this photo, as in so many others, there are layers of history and memory triggers. Goodnight.

The red maple in snow

The red maple in snow
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

People have been talking about the projected snow all week. The promise came true overnight. Tonight it is still snowing. Precipitation is predicted for the next nine days, but mostly in the form of rain. All day today, the winter wonderland changed every few minutes. Overcast, patches of blue and lavendar sky, returning overcast. Wet snow which clung to the trees and then fell off in clumps, or melted, or blew away. Overcast again. Melted snow dripping from the eaves and from the trees. Sometimes there was wind, sometimes stillness. Sometimes it snowed a little, sometimes quite a bit, but the tree were never as heavily laden as they were in the early morning. Autumn leaf-fall is only about half completed, so there is stiil a lot of color set off by snow.
The wet snow reminded me of the last time I shoveled snow with my father. He had just turned 80. "Wet snow is heavy, sticks to the blade," he told me. He liked shoveling the dry powdery snow of that mid-January in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He wore an orange zippered hooded sweatshirt, which I still have. I took his photograph, but don't yet have it in digital form. He died suddenly that April.

My balcony

My balcony
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

My balcony for writing haiku and sketching is in the upper left. You can see the dog yard and the propane pig, outstanding features of our visible lifestyle. This is my new fisheye lens; I'm still trying to figure out what kinds of pictures I want to make with it. Of course the balcony isn't very useful during cold rain, which is predicted for all next week.
Right now our grandson is doing his Spanish homework, with tutoring from his grandpa. But is is late, because he went for Bible Study first. Our dogs are ready to go to bed, but they don't get to for a while yet.

Fog in the morning

Fog in the morning
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Many days here begin like this. Since T2 mowed, there is often a deer grazing in the early morning, in the fog. We have heard the turkeys, but they are not as visible as they were last year. It is very quiet. More and more leaves fall every day, yet still some trees are only beginning to show color. Some nights it freezes, some nights it does not. Days are sliding by; we get something fixed and something else needs fixing. It's a lot like life; I feel very fortunate.

Toxic beauty

Toxic beauty WSP
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Today for a leaf-peeking drive to Wilderness State Park on the Tip of the Mitt, Michigan. Some sort of oil spill had made this varicolored sheen on the beach. A woman at the Bakery said she heard there will be snow this weekend. At Good Hart Country Store we overheard a woman complaining about things being so expensive "out here in the middle of nowhere." One of those brief encounters.

His golden eye

His golden eye
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Brewer's blackbirds. It always pleases me to find one on the beach, where they were first described. We have become so used to seeing them on parking lots in town that we forget. I even know someone who calls them Parking Lot Birds. So, yes, he's common, he's vulgar, and I think he is very handsome. Try: to find more time to walk outdoors. Computers are fun, but they aren't everything.

Today to a very nice Mozart concert with my grandson. The Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra. Symphony No. 36 and a concerto for violin and viola. Well performed in the First Presbyterian Church in Harbor Springs. The maestro had rhinstones on the collar and pocket rim of his black coat. It tickled me.

Beginning of autumn

Beginning of autumn
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

The last three nights have been splendid moon nights! This is the view from the porch the day I came back from California. Overcast somewhat, but with shafts of bright sun that made the trees glow. This morning when I got up there was a small deer grazing right about where the light tan streak is in the photograph. Tonight, a young coyote strolled nonchalantly in the very foreground. He looked quite young and healthy. He was pale tan in color. He walked in that sort of tippy-toe way they have, staring ahead, jumping up slightly, starting and stopping. Trey says they are looking for rodents.
We went to the Northwoods for dinner to celebrate his visit and his brother's birthday. And to look at their father's wood sculpture, which is above the windows all around the dining room. He made these in the last year of his life more than fifteen years ago.

waters of autumn--
how quickly the time has gone
since he died so young

Asilomar sunset

Asilomar sunset
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

It was overcast much of the time at Asilomar, but we did have a night of spectacular sunsets. This time I particularly enjoyed the path at the top of the bluff, looking down at the ocean. You get such a splendid view of the dune plants, the rocks and the sea! Looking down at the sea and watching the rolling waves was really wonderful. Some of us also looked at the edge of a midden and marveled at the tiny bits of ancient shells that have just come to the surface of the sand.

autumn farewell--
the path curves through the dunes
and disappears

Suet cake

Suet cake
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

This was the fun thing today. Through the kitchen window. These little beauties love suet cakes! The autumn colors are deepening nicely. I'm back from my trip to the haiku retreat and should post about it tomorrow.

Sweep of ochre grasses

Sweep of ochre grasses
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Well, we finally made it! And found out that a lightning strike close to the house turned off the electricuty to the freezer. Horrible, but now cleaned up and the smell is almost gone. All three phones were fried, too, and we went into town yesterday and got some new ones. Except for the satellite TV repairman, all problem now fixed. Oops, also except for the rotted through board on the back porch. The weather is classic autumn, rain, clouds, touches of color beginning to change and gorgeous blue skies.

Roosevelt's badlands

Roosevelt's badlands
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

All day yesterday we saw those huge autumn wheeling flocks of blackbirds. Lift and settle, lift, wheel and settle. This morning we are getting ready to leave Moose Lake, Minnesota. Now the terrain is very much like Michigan, scrubby twiggy untidy mixed forests and open fields. More lakes here, though.
We have reserved a room in Marquette for tonight; the nice place we stayed before (with the small-scale Russian chapel and the lovely gardens) is full, but this one is supposed to have a view of Lake Superior. These views are often across a highway, making it impossible to walk there. The dogs are being pretty good and S is really enjoying their little quirks of behavior.
It's a waffle motel, now I'm going to go and bake one.

End of summer

End of summer
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

On to Valley City, North Dakota. Siince it is mid-September, we have been surprised by the necessity to get our motel reservations a full day ahead of time. Even then, they tell us, they have only one or two rooms left. This has been true all across Hwy 94.
Early in the day there were some even smaller sunflowers by the roadside; then they ceased. Soon thereafter we began to see fields of sunflowers as a crop.
The leaves are just beginning to turn gold on a few of the trees. The Theodore Roosevelt National Park (this is near the visitor center on Hwy 94) has some great scenic drives, which I hope to manage to see the next time through this way. The rocks in these badlands seem much more colorful than in the South Dakota Badlands; I hadn't known there were such extensive badlands in more than one place. The weather continues good, just some slight rain that we passed through. As always, there are strong winds here, which seem to buffet the car and make driving more noisy.

Song of the West

Concerto
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

We drove through most of Montana today. This was taken near the confluence of the Bighorn and the Yellowstone Rivers. The sunflowers today were also in full bloom, but the individual plants were much smaller. Along the road, you could see the wheat stubble and baled hay. Now we are back in the land ot the giant round bales.

We saw a small herd of pronghorn this morning. A meadowlark veered away from our car at the last moment, narrowly missing being hit. Fields were either huge, from horizon to horizon, or varied and irregular, carved out of rock-strewn or eroded terrain. There were lots of odd-shaped pastures like this, too. For much of the day rivers or creeks were visible from the road, their verdure a relief in the dry landscape, which is colored in various pale ochres, ornamented with the dull greens of the junipers and small conifers.

Tonight we are in MIles City, Montana, named after General Nelson Miles, who came here to "control" the Indians, according to the AAA handbook. We are tired and the dogs are all asleep.

Riding lessons

PICT0178 up
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Spent a lovely couple of days with Idaho grandchildren. Then, today we drove through the late summer Idaho days across the southern end of the state. Large sunflower plants were in riotous bloom along the highway for most of the way. The yellows and greens of these plants went very well with the arid, frequently golden, almost treeless landscape. Many alfalfa fields had just been cut and glorious stacks of golden bales put up. I didn't see a huge round bale all day. Most of the ones I saw were larger versions of the classic rectangular bale. Wheat has been harvested, too. Several times we passed places where the grain storage was full and tremendous heaps of grain were on the ground nearby. This wheat was a pale golden color which was very beautiful. This was a common sight to S but I had never seen it. You would have to come through just at this time, just after school has started. Tonight on the weather channel thunderstorms were predicted across Montana and Idaho. This can't be good for mounds, foothills! of wheat on the ground. We hope to avoid driving in the rain, but tomorrow we may find ourselves doing so. Goodnight, goodnight.

Swim, baby, swim!

Dynamic contrast
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

I find waiting to go on a long trip very odd. I don't feel like starting anything--don't even worry too much about finishing anything. It is like everything is oddly suspended and nothing is important. Just survival things, remembering to take your thyroid, and brushing your teeth.
There are a lot of things I would like to have accomplished before I go, and not that much left of life to do them in. 1. A book of my poems. 2. A book of my haiku. 3. My mother's book: the illustrations chosen and published. 3. Best family photos chosen and arranged. Historic family photos all labeled. 4. 1500 mostly family slides scanned, arranged and named. 5. Pictures of my haiku group printed, labeled and sent to the Haiku Archives. 6. My best pictures assembled in a notebook. 7. All books listed in Librarything. 8. Number of total books cut in half. 10. Papers and notes gone through and thrown out. Notebooks indexed and labeled.
It's mostly about stuff, isn't it? Pretty terrifying just to write it down!Mother never painted the last dozen years of her life, because she wasn't ready and didn't think she had the space. Once when R. offered to set her studio up, she couldn't OK it and he almost cried in frustration. I'd like to leave things better organized than she did. Because there isn't anyone who will deal with it later, except hiring www.gotjunk.com to bear it away. And away. And away.

Smile for me

Love in duotone
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

I have never kept a diary as long as I have been doing this blog. I wonder why I've managed this. Although I worry it is pretty dull lately. The weather is warm. I left the big suitcases in the car and so only have to pack the motel ones, the food and the camera and laptop. I hope I get to take some photographs, but it is a hot and dry time of year, and so maybe not. Here we come!

Pass the mustard

Colman's
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

I think Mom gave me this extra tin of mustard when we were moving west in 1964. Maybe I can get someone to date it. It just turned up in the big litchen cleanout. I hid it at once because of its still-life potential.
I'm up to almost 1300 books in Librarything.com. Downstairs will be done with one more shelf. Study is about half done. Then I still have the MIchigan place, the huge amount of poetry upstairs, and the spillover in the guest room. So, still not half done. It will be fun to see how this all comes out. Librarything seems to struggle sometimes to keep up with the need for computing power; I think they need some more machines.
Like Chicken LIttle, I am going along and going along. (Until I come to Ducky Lucky?) We plan now to leave Saturday morning. And we will try the regular car this time. The Bronco is a little rougher ride, and road-noisy for a long trip.But we love its roominess!

Read me a story

Read me a story
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Well, we got as far as one day out. Got a day's nice visit with our granddaughter. Then we had to turn back--after all that packing! And fussing, and mail forwarding, etc. We may be able to try again in a week or two. I have left my suitcases in the car, except for the night case I carry into motels.
The small dogs had a bath before they left the kennel. They can't visit the relatives with us because of allergies. But they still have a faint odor that I call Kennel Stench. It's a good kennel and I like the woman who runs it, but you can't help a smell in a kennel.
The leaves on the madrones and the red oaks in the Feather Canyon were pretty and very green this time of year. Wildflowers are over and most of the small waterfalls and seeps are dry. Still, it is a beautiful drive, until you get stopped waiting for roadwork (a crane on a bridge) for three-quarters of an hour.
The weather is still a little warm, just summery, really.
I got my computer back, the Norton protection made Windows unstable and then crashed. It wasn't rebootable even from the CD recue disk. I got the security the repair guy recommended: Kaspersky. So I'm back on the blog. It feels good.

Contrail

Contrail
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Tomorrow I pack, and freeze some cereal and other stuff that might get stale. Once again, I will try not to take too much stuff, and this time I might succeed.
I finished repotting and moving my cactus and succulents back onto the patio today. And there are only dribs and drabs, as S. would say, remaining of the kitchen to pack up. Last night I read an account by the military historian John Keegan about the battle of Agincourt. By any standards this is old news, but he makes it very fresh and fascinating. There were lots of things I never knew: about the low social status of archers, and how they each pounded a large sharpened stake into the ground where they took up a position before the battle. This stake could pierce the breast of a rapidly moving horse. Although, horses don't like to run into things and they particularly don't like to step on something living (or very recently dead) which factor was a problem in many battles, as soldiers fell wounded or dead. This the author makes very clear.
Apparently, at the time Keegan wrote the book, the countryside around Agincourt remained close to what it had been, with an irregularly-shaped plowed field separating two areas of woods. I am looking forward to the essays on Waterloo and the Somme, which complete the book, which begins with a fascinating essay on military history and historians. I found out about Keegan some time ago when he was interviewed on the C-Span program, In Depth, about all of his books. He was such an intelligent and articulate fellow that I ordered several of his titles. I have enjoyed and been impressed by all of them, but have not yet read the one on the Second World War.
Stay tuned, out there in blog-land, I will try to post updates during the drive across the middle of America.

Reaching for a star

Reaching for a star
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Nice weather today. Grandchildren are fun to take to see things as this aquarium photo shows. Tonight, we've been listening to Verdi's Requiem, which always reminds me how my brother went out before Dad's funeral and came back with CDs of several requiems which he played while we were planning the services. The Verdi was especially beautiful.

Run for your life

Run for your life
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Sometimes we feel like this! Art by granddaughter M.
Tonight we had our monthly poetry meeting. It is great to have a group like this to talk about writing with! It also means you work on your poems to get ready; it's a goof motivator.
Things are slowly coming together around here as we get ready to travel. I'm hoping to get Internet access along the way, so my readers, wherever you are, will know about the weather in the Dakotas. Good night.

Her delicate grace

Her delicate grace
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

She came from Indonesia. If I had seen one like her in Bali, I would have wanted to buy her and carry her home.
It's been a busy week. Every day I empty out a few shelves in the kitchen. I have found a crystal dish that was a wedding present 51 years ago and many other forgotten wonders.
Tonight we put together the anthology of haiku poems our Yuki Teikei Haiku Society publishes every year. We designed a black and white cover with purple end pages stamped with a copper spiral inside the front. It's very handsome. So that was fun.
I guess we will get to make our trip after all; we plan to leave on Saturday. It's after midnight and very quiet, a nice quiet, surprisingly, softly quiet.

The red suspenders

The red suspenders
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

In the badlands, a man and his new dog, Wolfram, look out over the palest sunbaked earth formations. I love the contrast in this picture. My brother sells these red suspenders, which have Shakespeare on them, at the Cedar City Shakespeare festival. I chose a red pair for my husband. Now he has three more of these little dogs. Barkers.

Brine shrimp

Brine shrimp
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Colors of San Francisco Bay, seen from the air. It's been a quiet Sunday, with a long phone call from my daughter. On Book TV, an enthusiastic historian talking about Benedict Arnold's navy and the Battle of Ticonderoga. He is showing slides and pointing out the errors in the history paintings. He's quite funny. A bearded bear-like guy. I often wonder if I could have been precise and disciplined enough to study and write about history. I don't think I am still deciding what to do when I grow up, but maybe so.

Strawberry square

Strawberry square
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

A fellow stands out on the corner as we turn off the expressway and sells flats of these. Inside are berry baskets, with a layer of these larger and more beautiful streawberries on the top. I needed a wife to hold a gold reflector while I took this. In a book I was looking at today, a photographer gave his wife credit for her reflector-holding on a particular photograph. I have enjoyed these berries very much, but have to admit they are not the sweetest strawberries I have ever had even though some of the most beautiful.
Today I entered books on Librarything up to 1004, so I've passed a big milestone. If I finish the job, I'm estimating the total at about 4000 including the books I keep in Michigan. I need to downsize, but have a very strong attachment to many of them. What to do? Nothing sensible, I suppose.

The lion sleeps tonight

The lion sleeps tonight
Originally uploaded by jhhymas.

Ah, weem o weh . . . I have no idea how they spelled that.
I've been playing with today's sun on hydrangea leaves. And that took me to the quiet jungle, where the lion sleeps.
Tonight we initiated the new press in the new Studio with a few monotypes. It's a beautiful press, a Whelan. Smooth and easy to print with. I'll be spending a lot of time there. I have to think about what I would like to work on and whether I want to print on whole or half sheets or continue to work on some of the partly finished monotypes I have left from the classes. I know I want to do some chine colle and work with Japanese papers. I'd also like to print some more copies of the small plates I made in the etching class. The weather is getting a little too warm again. How are you? I am fine. . .