Month: July 2011

  • Lucy and Her Camera

    Bringing my camera with me everywhere I go has made even a simply trip to the super market fun and very enjoyable
    .
      
    I’ve passed by this abandoned gas station hundreds of times. Yes, it is on highway 69 and sun bleached and in disrepair. But in days gone by it was a major stopping point for a fill up,windshield wash, oil check and an ice cold bottle of Orange Crush.
    The only evidence of where the gas pumps once stood:

    What really caught the camera’s eye was this:


    Behind  and to the side of the building

    Would this be the heating system? What do you think it is?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • What is it and what will it be?

    I love garden art. I bought and sold much garden art when I was an active dealer. I was delivering some things to the Goodwill yesterday when I spied this item outside the building. I  cheerfully paid the $4 they asked for it and with much joy headed home.
     
     I have a decorative yard windmill sort of……I did straighten out the tail easily after taking this shot.

    It is well over 7 feet tall, otherwise in pretty good shape and well made.
     
    I will get a metal arrow point welded to this flag making it an arrow rather than like the fan blades and motor used on this wonderful old folk art windmill.  I also like this very much, for sure I like anything unusual.

      This over 6 foot long arrow on my living room wall

    might be my pattern. I shall give this some thought and when it is to my liking I shall post a picture of the completed piece. I need a staff, a crew of craftsmen to carry out my ideas! Help wanted! Any takers LOL.
    ~~~~~~~~
    Early this morning the sky looked promising for rain, the air smelled of rain and the thunder rumbled in the distance.

    We were hopeful for a while, a very short while as we watched the sky quickly begin to clear, the thunder ceased and the air no longer promised rain.

    We could surely use some rain here. How’s the weather where you are?
  • Taking Care Of Myself……….

    My sister Dominie and I talked about the importance of taking care of ourselves and how sometimes it is difficult to take time to do something just for our own good  with no demands on our time forgetting  the many responsibilities that often seem more important. I told her I would yield to this advice and document my success.
    I grabbed my walking shoes 
    I grabbed my walking stick 
    I remembered my cap 
    I called for my dog
    I got a camera or 2
    and went for a nice walk and saw chicory and Queen Ann’s lace and Jerusalem artichokes

     
    The golden fields of corn   
    The magnificent sky    
    So much beauty for me to see on a hot summer day
    and there is the ‘beautiful ugly’ I have developed such an interest in

    Much  fun and then the  grand finish of thinking of myself and treating myself as I download the pictures from my walk.

    Life is good
    What have you done lately just for yourself?

  • Do Not Delay………I’m A Slow Learner

    Years ago my brother-in-law captured this shot of the windmill on the family farm that had recently sold to new owners.
     
    Unknown to him at the time this lovely old windmill was scheduled to be  bulldozed down the next day. I am a slow learner this should have taught me not to delay getting that shot when something catches my eye.
    Along a route I often travel stood an old barn, showing signs of the ravages of the years but remained picturesque and in a pretty setting. . Each time I passed I thought I should stop and get a picture of that old barn. The other day I found  this new sign on a new closed gate

    and the barn had partially fallen with the wind and I would be trespassing now if I got any closer. This is certainly not the shot I had wanted to take of the old barn, I had to zoom to get this.

    This timing amazes me.Remember this shot several weeks ago?

    Today it is a pile of ashes.

    With that in mind I grabbed my camera and approached this wonderful old round barn. One of very few round barns still standing.


    I had been wanting to capture a shot of this for a long time and am certainly glad I learned my lesson not to delay.
    Kind of a lesson in life as much as in photography actually. I guess my motto can be “if not now when?” no matter if it applies to fixing broken  relationships or visiting sick friends or sending out that card or whatever,”if not now when?”
    ~~~
    Are you staying cool today?  It is 75 here at the moment and we have had an early morning sprinkle, just enough to make it like a sauna as it warms back up.

     

  • Uncle Wink

    I am posting this mainly for my family who mght want a nice recent picture of Uncle Wink, his wife and his only child.

    RIP Uncle Wink you will be sadly missed..
    ~~~~~~~

  • Beauty In The Passage Of Time

      At it’s peak it is so beautiful

    Is there not beauty here also?  

    I think there is much beauty in this same rose even if it has wilted. Don’t you? I think we are a culture that values youth way too much. There is a radio ad for an “age spot” remover where the woman says, “I thought it was the end of world when I began to notice those ugly brown age spots”. Give me a break! *groan*  If that is the biggest problem she has I suggest she get a life! The natural process is indeed the natural process. You have to die young if you do not want to grow old right?
    ~~~~~
    Excuse me as I ponder this age thing brought to mind even clearer as we say good by to our 94 year old uncle and think of his dear 93 year old widow whose life will go on without him.
    How do you feel about the ravages of getting older? I hope it is not “the end of the world” in your thinking.

  • “We Are The Old People”

    Several years ago my brother and his friend were attending a funeral. As he looked around scanning the group attending he said,”where are the old people, everyone here is our age?” His friend responded,”we are the old people.”
    With the recent death of my 94 year old, much loved and much admired uncle, I am soberly reminded that his widow is the last of that generation in our family. Fritz’s side of the house also has one remaining aunt from her generation. Thus making us pretty  much,”the old people”.
    ~~~~~
    Uncles, aunts and cousins are to me the most interesting relatives to have. All my life they have been so very special. If they were rascals or if they were heroes, you can make an amusing story out of their misadventures or claim them with pride knowing they really do not reflect directly on you like a parent or a sibling would unless it is for a noble good achievement. It’s your choice. Fritz had an uncle who amused him with his stories and his antics, the very same antics he’d look on with shame if it were his father acting like that. As a child and actually all my life I’ve enjoyed my aunts and uncles and learned much from them. Listening to them talk of the past, and for the most part admiring how they lived their lives it was all good for me.
    Friday we bury this last uncle and he was very special, highly respected and much loved by family and friends. I cherish the memories of him. His wife of 70 years is every bit as special and admirable. Indeed they are the best generation who form ‘a cloud of witnesses’ as to how I  want to live my life and to consider what legacy I will leave behind. I appreciate the influence of  my aunts and uncles on me and hope I can have some positive influence on my nieces and nephews.
    Do you have uncles and aunts you admire? Are you yet among the “old people” in your family?

  • Hot in Iowa! How hot is it?

    It is so hot and sunny in Iowa it is like living in the french fry bin at the local Dairy Queen!  
    NOAA logo - Click to go to the NOAA homepage Your National Weather Service forecast NWS logo
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    NWS Des Moines, IA
     Point Forecast: Lamoni IA
     40.62°N 93.93°W
    Mobile Weather Information | En Español
    Last Update: 8:25 pm CDT Jul 17, 2011
    Forecast Valid: 9am CDT Jul 18, 2011-6pm CDT Jul 24, 2011
    Forecast at a Glance
    Today

    Hot
    Hot

    Hi 97 °F

    Tonight

    Mostly Clear
    Mostly
    Clear
    Lo 76 °F
    Tuesday

    Hot
    Hot

    Hi 97 °F

    Tuesday
    Night

    Mostly Clear
    Mostly
    Clear
    Lo 77 °F
    Wednesday

    Hot
    Hot

    Hi 98 °F

    Wednesday
    Night

    Mostly Clear
    Mostly
    Clear
    Lo 79 °F
    Thursday

    Hot
    Hot

    Hi 97 °F

    Thursday
    Night

    Slight Chance Thunderstorms Chance for Measurable Precipitation 20%
    Slight Chc
    Tstms
    Lo 78 °F
    Friday

    Chance Thunderstorms Chance for Measurable Precipitation 30%
    Chance
    Tstms
    Hi 97 °F
    Detailed text forecast
    Hazardous weather condition(s):

    Today: Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Heat index values as high as 110. Southwest wind around 9 mph.

    Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 76. Southwest wind around 7 mph.

    Tuesday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Heat index values as high as 107. Southwest wind between 6 and 10 mph.

    Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 77. South southwest wind around 8 mph.

    Wednesday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 98. South southwest wind between 8 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

    Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 79.

    Thursday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 97.

    Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 78.

    Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97.

    Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 76.

    Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 93.

    Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 75.

    Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 94.
    What is it like where you are?

    Current Local Weather
    Move point forecast map up, and current conditions, radar, and satellite down.

    view Yesterday’s Weather

    Lamoni Municipal Airport
    Lat: 40.63   Lon: -93.9   Elev: 1122
    Last Update on Jul 18, 7:53 am CDT

    Fair

    79 °F
    (26 °C)

    Humidity: 85 %
    Wind Speed: SW 8 MPH
    Barometer: 30.09″ (1017.8 mb)
    Dewpoint: 74 °F (23 °C)
    Heat Index: 83 °F (28 °C)
    Visibility: 8.00 mi.
    More Local Wx: 3 Day History:
    Radar and Satellite (Click for larger image)
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    Lat/Lon: 40.62°N 93.93°W   Elevation:1105 ft

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  • An Email I Received From A Relative

     
    I blotted out the names of the senders of this. The 1st paragraph was written by a relative of mine and I have heard this account of gaining US citizenship before. I will not print any names.


    Good letter, *****

    This is ****** adding one more thing to this “letter”.  If you came to America in the 1960′s like my husband and his whole family did (from Finland) you had to have a “sponsor:,,,,,,someone who would GUARANTEE that you would be employed and not go on Welfare!  My husband is an legal citizen…having to go take the test when I was pregnant and sick as a dog!!!   (and nobody translated English to Swedish for them either)  Nobody printed ballots in Swedish, Finnish, German, French …. I could go on forever.  But now we’re paying for printing all these ballots, etc. in every dialect!!!   How things change in 40 years and not for the better! 
     ORANGE COUNTY ( CALIFORNIA ) NEWSPAPER-New Immigrants
    This is a very good letter to the editor. This woman made some good points….
    For some reason, people have difficulty structuring their arguments when arguing against supporting the currently proposed immigration revisions.. This lady made the argument pretty simple. NOT printed in the Orange County Paper………………


    From:
    **********
    My wife, ****** wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to “print” it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined. Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:


    Dear Editor:
    So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants.********* ***** for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren’t being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.



    Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. ****** why today’s American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when
    there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.




    They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.



    Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany , Italy , France and Japan . None
    of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan . They were defending the United States of America as one people.



    When we liberated France , no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country’s flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.



    And here we are with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the
    entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I’m sorry, that’s not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on
    Ellis Island in the early 1900′s deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.



    And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty , it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn’t start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.




    (signed)
    ************


  • Not Happy

    Not happy! As soon as she was out of her tub and escaped my clutches she rolled in the dusty gravel drive way


    But at least she smelled better for the family visiting here for the family reunion.

      Many pictures were taken at the family reunion last week. No time to even down load them from my cameras. Busy busy fun time for our family. Much good food, much visiting and a grand time. The weather favored us with no rain and no real oppressive heat, everyone had a good time. We had our main meal on the beach so the kidlets could swim and the fishermen of the family could fish. My AZ sister and her son and granddaughter remained a couple of days after the actual reunion and we enjoyed a nice time together.
    ~~~~~
    We’ve been extremely busy with little time to make a good Xanga post or to visit all the sites I usually comment on but life is good here.
    Sad to hear of the droughts and the floodings in other areas of the country. Parts of Iowa are still under flood water. Fritzie is helping Boy Genius with his haying. Trying to work around the weather reports of rain. Right in this area things are doing well, for now that is. Hopefully you are well and having a good summer..
    ~~~~~~~