Catching the Wind

I guess I had just as well face that a blog about memory, won't follow any kindof sensible chronology.
When we planned to be here earlier, I signed up for a photography workshop with Monte Nagler, which took place on the very first whole day we were here, July 11th. I had some anxiety about stamina, but managed just fine. He is a really fine photographer; I am especially interested in his black and white landscapes. When we went down to the pier to see the Nina and the Pinta (honest! more about that later.) someone was parasailing with a red sail on the cold, cold waters of Little Traverse Bay. He did and lot of flips and gymnastics-type moves and we all cheered. He only ditched once while I was watching. It was really a spectacular treat! There is so much beauty to photograph around here it almost makes me dizzy!

My dolly

PICT5208dolly
Originally uploaded by jhhymas

This is my newest grandchild, treated with the Silver Efex "pinhole" filter. If they could make me a dolly just like this, I am sure it would turn up on Antique Roadshow in 100 years!
I find this almost surreally beautiful. My oldest grandson came back for a visit while we are here. Tonight we splurged on the battered and deep-fried mushrooms at the local eatery still decorated with his father's wooden wall-sculptures that were finished 20 years ago. Everything was delicious. . . Now I'm too full.

Lorinda's children; playing with photographs

The day of my sister's 70th birthday party, I took lots of pictures. This is cropped from one of them. Today, I was reading a new photography book, and the author, Ellen Anon, said ahe liked the Nik Silver Efex Pro software. I got a special offer on this months ago and bought it, but I had only tried it a few times. I have now been experimenting with all types of photos, candids, portaits, and landscapes. Glorious fun! This software isn't cheap, but it is worth every penny. I have used only the presets and have not even needed to try the sliders or change the settings.
This photo is one of my favorites. I took it on June 20th, and it looks slightly vintage, no? The sweet, sweet children. . .

King Orchards

Cherries are on in Michigan! As my daughter pulled her huge van into a parking space, I heard a merry trilling voice sing out, "Don't crunch/crash/crush our car!" I couldn't quite catch the one word, but the meaning was unmistakable. There was no crunch/crash, and while our cherries were being pitted, we fooled around together. This is my favorite picture of her; I wish I had managed to get all her fingers. The cherries are divine. We had them pitted for freezing, to use in the mirthless, fruit-deprived winter. The cherry pitter is a great old-fashioned machine--just a machine, not a computer--and there are pictures here.

Our dooryard garden

Our dooryard garden
Originally uploaded by jhhymas

Perennials have turned out to be good for us because we are not here all the time. This columbine is one of the "Origami Series" now that I have seen how floriferous they are, and how sturdy, I wouldn't geet any other kind. The daylilys are good, too--we buy them at a local place that has fields of them growing all the time--they pot some up every year, and when they they do, they are sturdy and full of vim. The cobble border is my husband's work. He's in the third year and now is almost all the way around the house. It really does look nice and makes the weeds easier to control. And since my daughter has for many years been taking cobbles out, first from her garden and then her hayfield. we have enough stone. . .

Back to July

This is what we did for the weekend of the Fourth. Riding behind a boat is big-time fun, but when you can do it in a setting of such natural beauty in such fabulous weather, with your grandmother in the boat to take your picture and your father driving, what could be any better?? At Anderson Lake Reservoir in Idaho.

My family in 1947

I was probably reading and am not in the picture. I have made this faded color photo into black and white, and cropped out the edges, so the faces can be seen better. My parents and my youngest brother (with the cast on his arm) are gone now. I feel very, very lucky to have had the family I had. And to have lived in the times that I did. It is hard to explain, but so much was just about perfect. I was protected, but not too much; I was fed, but not too much. I had what I needed and then some, but not too much.
I think this photo was taken in my Aunt Mary Lillian's back yard in Taft, California. I was shocked by the size of her gentle Doberman--I had never been around one before.