A job worse than craft fairs?

About 30 minutes before the parade, things didn't look so good. A steady rain was coming down - see pic below. The young man above took shelter under the same awning I was under, and I asked him about his cart full of the usual parade stuff for kids, plus umbrellas usually, but somehow his cart did not have this essential item for inclement weather. Didn't really need them - a faint rainbow appeared a bit later, and the rest of the day was fine! Turns out this is a family venture...... he, along with his dad, his sister, and his brother-in-law run a full time business doing parades, festivals, etc..... traveling around the country to stay in places that are having parade weather. They are based in Elmira, so this guy spent the night in his own bed, but these folks travel more than we do! They don't have to set up a booth though, the merchandise is relatively waterproof, and the day at a parade is pretty short. They had 8 carts rolling up and down the street, and judging just from the number of Dora the Explorer balloons floating away into the sky, business must have been pretty good. There was competition however, from another outfit from Buffalo, with smaller carts - the kind you roll to the grocery store with in the city. A picture of that group packing the van after the parade is below..... yep, just like us they have to pack the van afterwards! Luckily by then the stuff was pretty dry.

Farm Days!

The Dansville Dogwood Parade featured quite a few vintage tractors. Here are a few of them especially for my Dad and my friend Bert! (As always click on the pictures for bigger clearer views) Not sure what year the Allis-Chalmers model above is from, but I suspect in my lifetime. The other 3 are a bit older than me! I remember going the the State Fair a few years back with Bert. We spent quite a bit of time in the "antique" farm equipment tent, and were a bit dismayed at how much of the stuff we had worked with in our younger days!

Dansville Dogwood Parade

Another delightful day in the annals of Unclehood! I got to deliver, feed, and generally hang out with Maeve and Wyatt on the day of the Dansville Dogwood Parade! Their school band was part of the parade, and despite their pleas to the contrary, I of course took pictures! Maeve is part of the color guard (that's her behind Wyatt on the far side near the mailbox), and Wyatt became an honorary band member, when the marching band added an electric guitar -- possibly a first. Wyatt managed the portable wireless battery operated sound system!

A closer shot of Maeve below.

Not sure if I'll get more pictures of the parade on, but there are about 175 to choose from.... actually, I need to add the two below. Boarded up windows over a law office feature some great paintings of folks in the windows! Unfortunately the flakeboard is beginning to peel badly, but the peeling adds a great texture to the images. I would guess these images will be a lot less cool after another year in the sun, rain, and snow! These are nice ones to click on for a better look.

The blades aren't up yet, but the towers of the Cohocton Wind Farm are visible all over the old neighborhood where my Dad and Mom grew up. The view above is from the front yard of a house my Dad spent part of his youth in! (click picture for a closer view) The day was a bit too cloudy to get a nice clear shot, but these towers are visible from most everywhere around Ingleside and coming down main street in Naples. The picture below was taken across the road from my Mom's childhood home! I was in Naples for the funeral of my cousin Tom's mom. She was married to my Grandpa Olney's brother's kid - Harley. They were a big part of my childhood..... hosting the huge family reunions of the day, and a big part of church and sunday school.

Life goes on, as the wind farm transforms the old neighborhood, providing clean energy, despite the protests of those who think they are the end of the world as we know it. I heard a story yesterday that someone was convinced that wind farms raise the temperature of the surrounding area! I guess warming things up by burning coal, oil, and natural gas is a better way to do it, with toxic fumes thrown in for free???????????????? Evidently epileptics can have seizures if they watch the blades spin..... any statistics on asthma available? Seems like you can fairly easily avoid looking at windmills, but it is pretty hard to stop breathing. Did anybody ever just stop and watch a nuclear power plant?

William Saroyan

Appearing amid the junk at the place mentioned yesterday, was a 1948 Sentinel Model 400 7" television...... and it turns out William Saroyan had one? At least he had the owner's manual. Stanford University Library has an extensive collection of William Saroyan's papers, including the manual for this television! Since our garage used to be a TV repair shop, I wonder if any of these came through our place? This model was evidently very popular as TVs began to be mass produced around 1948 as materials for producing consumer goods became avaliable after WWII. This "suitcase" version was marketed as a portable television. A bit bigger than an iPod! Our first TV was delivered sometime in the early 1950's. I remember my immense joy as the first show that came on was the Sealtest Big Top! Click here to see a short clip!

Miscellaneous

Another "lights and shadows" picture --- I love this one!
Private sign on a building outside of Bath, NY. I've heard about this one for a while now, but I got to see the current version on the way home from the event yesterday.

And, below, we stopped at a junk place, and I mostly collected pictures!

Stuben County Intern Legislature

Chairperson, Hannah Shippee (left), of Hammondsport, NY kept things rolling along nicely as 17 young folks ran a "mock" meeting of the Stuben County Legislature yesterday. Maeve Olney (right) served as clerk, reading off the roll, and recording the votes as they voted to approve conversion of methane to electricity at the landfill, recycling initiatives at area schools, recycling of electronic equipment at the landfill, additional efforts to reduce teen pregnancy, prohibition of all tobacco use on the Stuben County office campus and facilities, establishment of a new county park, repairs to County Route 85, and extra efforts at improving the local economy! They did narrowly vote down money to purchase additional land for expansion of the landfill.

Our world will be in good hands if the young adults at the Stuben County Legislative Chamber yesterday afternoon are any measure!

Four Generations for Mother's Day!

Maya, her Mom, and the two grandmothers!
Great Grandmother!
Maya through the condiments!

I took lots of pictures of course, but I especially liked the through the condiments ones!

Maya even won over a couple of strangers while waiting for a table at the diner.

Maya's dad was there too of course!

Great grandpa too!

The Unveiling

We got the Baobab tree installed in time, and it was "veiled". Later there was a real un - veiling, and the picture below shows the tree in the window, and one of several student Slam poets who performed as part of the program. These kids were amazing, and give me great hope for the future!

The Baobab tree

A real Baobab tree - above

A "dry-fit" of the parts for our version - below
The Baobab tree is considered sacred in the tropical belt of Africa. People gather under its branches for social and political dialogue and for building social capital. It is also a place for celebrating important events. It commands honor and respect for the ancestors. It models resilience and humility to humankind.

Cheryl and I were asked to create a colorful and joyous version of the Baobab tree to become a signature part of The Baobab Cultural Center in Rochester, NY - our home. The center is sort of a local version of a place to gather for social and political dialogue and for building social capital.

We will be installing the piece later this morning, and will post a picture later in the day, or tomorrow? There is a big celebration of spring today, and a dialog with Dr. Al Simone – Past President, RIT, and Donna Turner – Director, HR- City of Rochester. $15 for non-members. This will be our first piece ever that is actually getting an official unveiling! Event starts at 3:30 - unveiling at 5:30!

A nice reflection on me!

Just a little silliness between myself and a security mirror!

Another view without the glass!

Another view of one of our neighbors! This picture is very crisp, and I love the shadow! This is a very good one to click on for a bigger view!

By the way yesterday's wasp did escape from between the windows!

Nature between the windows

There really wasn't any way out for this bee, flying around between our window and the storm window - no way for me to let it out, but I did get a couple of amazing pictures. Sorry the window wasn't very clean, but what a chance to see what this creature looks like when we aren't running away!

Climbing Snails?

Last spring it was snails climbing the thistle in our yard, and this spring these snails have climbed higher, but did not have to figure their way around hundreds of thorns!

Spinning Top Show

One of my favorite things in the world - I seem to have several -- is doing my spinning top show for kids of all ages. Last week at the Cobblestone School, I had someone to take pictures, and she caught a moment I've never had a picture of before. We used to make tops that could be spun on top of each other. Above I try to spin a top on top of another. Below - success, and below that, a close-up!

Mom!

After we ran a couple of errands, Mom and Dad and I rode up to Cobbs Hill ..... high over our neighborhood, and enjoyed the view! A great park with a wonderful history, including the site of a sort of "rest area" on the Erie Canal - a "wide water" - place to pull over and rest, etc out of the flow of traffic on the canal. Also the site of a POW camp during WWII - seems there were Italians there first --- About 60 Italian prisoners worked on area farms, and in local food processing plants. (10 hour/6 day @ $.80 per day wages) When Italy declared war on Germany the Italians were allowed to work unguarded, out of the camp, and local citizens brought food and organized weekend dances. They were replaced with about 100 Germans in the summer of 1944 - Area folks tried to bring food, etc, and gather outside the camp to listen to the POW's nightly choir practice, but conflicts arose between the guards and the locals because the Army was worried about the prisoners causing troubles, and wanted the locals banned from the area. Additional German prisoners were housed at Edgerton Park. The prisoners were used in snow removal in the winter of 1945 when several large storms paralyzed the whole area, further improving the local feelings of sympathy and friendship with the prisoners. Only the American Legion was opposed to having the POWs around! V-E Day, May 8, 1945 ended the need for the prisoners to be in the area. The barracks became housing for returning GI's, and the area of the camp is currently a senior housing complex located inside the park!

Nature in the back yard - Vegas style!

If you can ignore the glitz and lights of Las Vegas for a while, and look down instead of up, and of course manage to find your way outside, there are a lot of pretty cool flora and fauna to be seen. My apologies for not knowing what these things are, but here are some pictures. The pigeon if course is identifiable, and the ants are ants, but who knows what species?
Just for the record, I once read that there are more pounds of ants in the world, than there are pounds of all other animals combined? Might be an urban myth, but considering that the area covered by the 4 ants in the picture is probably about 1 inch, I would guess that the section of curbing along the side of the parking lot had more ants than there were cars in all of Las Vegas. The small section in the picture was rather sparsely populated compared to other sections ..... I searched several photos for a section not blurry from the scurrying of the ants. Like cars, there where thousands going north, and equal thousands going south! On the highway, I often wonder what would happen if we just all stayed where we were instead of hurrying off to where the others are coming from?

Things that make you wonder?

Just in case there are any rogue handicapped folks out there stealing wheel chairs, the ones in the convention center last weekend were stored at the top of a flight of stairs - probably a lot cheaper than locking them in a room? And below, if you are not actually handicapped, but you get tired in Las Vegas, do not sit on the steps for a brief rest..... this is evidently illegal... see picture below.

The King

Wow! How does one describe Las Vegas? An amazing place with pretty much nothing of interest to either Cheryl or myself! A place with a carbon footprint larger than all outdoors! A place where smoking is allowed pretty much everywhere ---- not in restaurants, but the restaurants are attached to smoke filled casinos! A place where the sign in front of the Hilton that we stayed at was bigger than many complete hotels! Tonight's theme is The King, so I'll leave the picture of the sign to another day.

We really weren't there to gamble, but it sure was a gamble to do the wholesale show we were there for!

The King of course refers to Elvis.... our hotel/casino was the home of Elvis for many years evidently --- thus the statue above, with the queen of my heart next to it. Every event in Vegas pretty much has to have an Elvis impersonator, and the show promoters followed the rules. Actually a pretty good looking guy who undoubtedly made more money wandering the show for a couple of hours posing for pictures, than we did for the whole show! I was of course disappointed that the show girls I had heard about from last year's show were not there. Probably a cost cutting measure?
The King of Beasts (actually two of them) grace a huge glassed in lion "habitat" at the MGM Grand. A glass corridor through their cage allows easy access to the lion accessory gift shop! If you look closely in the picture you can see them asleep on the roof of the people tunnel! The nearest outdoor air or light is at least 500 feet away! There are signs directing the public to anything and everything inside the walls, but not a clue as to how to leave the place! After a long, long walk, a friendly staff person directed us to the outside. I will not identify her as I'm sure her pay would be docked for such a transgression! Perhaps the two men inside the habitat were there as punishment for similar behavior????
And among the many landmarks is The Excalibur (below), named for King Arthur's famed sword! The fire breathing dragon under the moat seems to have incinerated himself since my last visit for the Juggler's Convention (1995 or so?), so I was disappointed to not be able to show Cheryl. We were far to tired to make it to Treasure Island where I trust the pirates are still beaten and their ship sunk every half hour!
All in all, we are very glad to be home, a bit poorer - because of our addiction to making stuff ........ not from gambling, and ready to settle in for 3 weeks or so before the next show!

Robin

A local robin has her nest over the light on our garage! Taking advantage of a nest that has been there for some time seems like a smart plan? Not sure she will be too happy with the light going on when somebody moves nearby, or the cars coming and going, but we will think a happy thought for the young ones!

New Figures!

New figures created for a fund raiser in Detroit! A simple combination of our more complex Maya figure, with a new hairdo! They just looked so cool rolling down the hall to our shipping room!

We'll be out of computer contact for a few days, so this might be the last post till around May 1st?

Nature's First Green is Gold

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Robert Frost

http://louisesdaughter.blogspot.com/2007/04/bicycle-day.html Every spring the first two lines of this Robert Frost classic pop into my head when I see the willows, and lots of other trees suddenly turn gold, only to very quickly turn green

Another reflection

I had to hunt quickly for a place to pull over to get this shot. Fortunately a passenger drop off area was open, and this was the result. Early morning sunlight sneaking by the Xerox building in downtown Rochester - reflecting off the glass atrium of the Baucsh and Lomb building - and making a great pattern on the upper right side of the tall part of the B&L building! Another in my "patterns of light and shadow" series. Click picture for larger view.

Three very important people

Three of the most important people in my life. Maya, Maeve, and Wyatt! Got to spend most of the weekend with the neice and the nephew, and the granddaughter! Does it get any better than that! And Maya is crawling! The easy days of finding her where you left her are over! ;-)

Cooperation

A small pile of sawdust in the hall outside my office, originally designed to absorb errant rainwater, has recently become the site of an ongoing saga. An epic struggle between classic plastic cowboy and indian pieces, has evolved into a study in cooperation, with the arrival of a giant rat. Tiny army guys joined the fray, and the cowboys and indians quickly signed a treaty, and began to work together against the common enemy. I'm not sure which of our neighbors is rearranging the figures every few days in sort of a very slow "claymation" movie, but I look forward to future developments.

Passed 4000 hits on this blog yesterday!

The Moon

Anne thought maybe others would miss the moon last nite, but it was wonderful here too. Bert, Beth, and Kathy - along with Cheryl - probably thought I was crazy running around the back yard trying to get the right angle between the trees, (while they were relaxing with a glass of wine and some cheese) but here is the result. I guess the thing that amazes me most is the rapid change in shape within four days! Tomorrow night is the full moon.