Beauty in unexpected places

Looks like it could be shown on that Astronomy picture of the day site, but this was in the parking lot at the drugstore yesterday. Somebody has a car leaking oil..... a sort of perfect storm of a light rain, an old car, and perfect light. Moments later it was gone, a tiny oil slick heading for Lake Ontario via the storm drain a couple of feet away. Multiply by millions of tiny drips, and you begin to realize why the planet is in trouble. (click on picture for a bigger image)

Maya Thursday

We played "hide Maya under the blanket" today. That's the blanket flying in from the right. And below, after she pulls off the blanket, Maya is very pleased. How wonderful that kids can turn us back into kids ourselves!

Spring!

This year's daffodils are emerging! Click on the picture for a closer view!

Easter

I've often said to people who ask what kind of wooden toys I made ------ "think of a wooden toy --- I probably made my own version". About 30 years ago, give or take a year or 3, I made wooden rattles. Several different versions, including the wooden ring with a sliding bead teething/rattle toy shown above in Maya's mouth. Little did I know that one of those rattles would end up being happily "chewed" on many years later by my own granddaughter! Cheryl found it around the house somewhere, and put it in Maya's Easter basket.

And, as shows better in the image below, Maya is wearing one of Casey's old t-shirts..... one he wore around the same time that I made the rattle! How cool is life!

Come into the light!

I'm often drawn to light and shadow patterns. Reflections, projections, light that has passed through something colorful, reflected from the side of a moving truck onto the cement median - hard to photograph that one, but I remember it vividly - on the way back from Detroit last summer.

The above is light that has passed through a wonderful piece of hand blown glass created by Matt Seasholtz . I'm sure Matt would be happier if I took pictures of his wonderful glass, but I really like the light on the pedestal under the glass --- go figure.

For Maeve and Wyatt who think I'm pretty old!

I can remember sitting in the auditorium at Fairport High an incredibly long time ago, being told we needed to make plans for a 5 year reunion! Five years??? We'll be done with college by then! I'll be 22 or something! Who cares? Mr. Witty wasn't going to let us leave until somebody raised their hand and volunteered to plan and execute the all important 5 year reunion. Somehow, my level of discomfort sitting there in silence, must have been greater than all the other members of my class..... the social ones who usually orgainzed the pep rallies, etc. Where were the cheerleaders, and the team captains? Why was the first hand to go up, after what seemed like at least 2 hours, mine? The very same hand that finally went up after a similar long silence when the Civil Air Patrol guy asked us to sign up after another event in that same auditorium. ( I actually joined the Civil Air Patrol, and un-joined after a few weeks of marching and watching films about the joys of military service )

The five years went by. The Vietnam war was on ...... I was a pretty hard core activist by then. A lot of things seemed a lot more important than a 5 year high school reunion! I felt pretty guilty, but I never did organize that first reunion. As far as I know, nobody else stepped into the breech either. The 10 year reunion happened --- I didn't go ---- I figured somebody would probably remember that I had messed up the first one. Sort of the same misfit, nerdy, socially inept feeling that had characterized most of my school years. Why did I raise my hand that day? Mary Ellen and I did go to the 20th ( I think it was the 20th ) We enjoyed each other's company, but our few favorite folks from High School weren't there.

Now I'm 62 years old --- grey bearded ---- my baby brother has died --- I'm a cancer survivor. I think I actually turned out pretty cool. I've owned my own business for 36 years, made lots of great stuff, and made a lot of true friends. I'm a father, a grandfather, an uncle, a husband, a son, and a friend many times over!

Why does that silly post card from Angie and Sue bring up all those old feelings of sitting there in that auditorium trying so hard to keep my hand from going up?

Maybe I'll go and see how many Barack Obama pins I can sell! Or just walk around with a picture of Maya pinned to my vest? Or tell everybody to get their PSA checked, and to go ahead with that long put off colonoscopy! Mine came back negative yesterday by the way! Or just maybe, if we can all put aside those old high school feelings, some of us would discover that we turned out to be pretty decent folks who might like each other!

The family cat

Meo resting on the bed..... one of many favorite places around the house. I've had cats as part of my life as long as I can remember. Ethel, Martin, Shalom, Willow, etc. Meo is the current favorite. She came to us after wandering into a bar one night....there must be a punch line there somewhere?

First evidence of spring outside our back door

I've seen fresh green earlier this spring, but I was a bit further south --- Philly and DC, but here is what I found hiding behind the snow shovel when we got home yesterday afternoon! It won't be long and I will be able to post a picture of the daffodils. The following was posted 369 days ago.....http://louisesdaughter.blogspot.com/2007/03/blog-post.html

Famous Urinals!

I'm not sure why I so often find bathrooms interesting...... regulars may remember my "electric toilet seat" entry not too long ago........http://louisesdaughter.blogspot.com/2008/02/odd-uses-for-electricity.html . Here is another interesting bathroom shot. The men's room this past weekend was probably the cleanest I've ever encountered..... so clean in fact that in 3 days I waited about 6 times while the attendant finished her job, so that I could do mine. My slower than expected recovery from prostate surgery finds me visiting these porcelain beauties more often than I would like, but these were worth the visit! I'll label this entry with my "Thank You" label!

Paradise City

The love of my life!
Another close-up of a new piece!
A view of our booth while booth sitting in the booth across the aisle from ours!

Happy Birthday on the road in Marlborough, MA

A colorful new piece adds a bright spot to our booth in Marlborough, MA this weeked. If you see this, and are in the area, stop by and check us out.... go to Paradise City website for how to find us! And ---- Happy Birthday to Cheryl!!!!!

Snow Geese

While on the way home last weekend from Philly, we saw that appeared to be several thousand white geese with black wings. I had never seen that many geese, nor had I seen white geese with black wings. My friend Marty Schlabach suggested they were probably snow geese, and a search of the internet showed our birds! Also seen on the trip home --- a lone Bald Eagle.... my first definite sighting outside a zoo! My apologies for the borrowed picture.... didn't seem safe to stop on an interstate for a picture of my own!

No picture on this one for obvious reasons!

This would fall under a new category I guess. My blog mentor/friend Salena of The Daily Rant would love this one.

Actual weather report heard on the radio --- "Cloudy tonight, but you won't notice because it will be dark"

And ---- another --- since we are on the topic ---- Sign we drove by on a trip to Washington DC ---- "George Bush Center for Intelligence"

Lisa Rawleigh

Lisa has been our angel for a week shy of 2 years! She kept us organized. She packed and shipped, and kept track of who owed us money. She could do most anything, do it right, and do it quickly...... we learned not to speculate about something we might like to do, because Lisa would probably have it done the next morning! If we weren't really serious????? --- too bad! She was pretty much always cheerful --- always ready with a smile and a hug!

Somebody else found out about her, and she now has a new job! She left us for better pay, benefits, and a shorter comute! (30 minutes instead of 75?) Now why would she do that?

We wish her all the best that life has to offer! That is us in the front row, and Lisa in the back with Jim --- her wild and crazy really cool guy! We're smiling because of the great barbeque we had for lunch - not because she was leaving!

We love you Lisa!

Maya Wednesday

Maya in her bouncy thing - notice the smile! And notice the fancy foot work! And that is Grandma Cheryl urging her on in the background! The Maya skeptical look seemed to be missing today too!

This might be useful, or just silly???

It looks like you can now call me for free by clicking on the blue "Grand Central" phone box right below the Flickr pictures to the right --- you will need to scroll down a bit. Looks like it might take a double click? Enter your name and phone number in the spaces that will appear, click the call me box, and they will call you, and me, and connect us at no charge, or you can leave a message. We will have to see how this works, or if I will need to remove it? Could be a neat way to communicate? Just keep the calls to 8am to 9pm Eastern time?????

5 Days without a computer!

True we were a bit south, but a bit of green showed up! On the road again..... pretty good sales at the Germantown Friends School 24th annual craft show in Philadelphia. Lots of new friends, connections with some old ones, over $600 raised for Obama! And below, I love odd patterns of light and shadow. Some of our wooden spirals leaning on the other side of the wall, created a neat picture..... I also discovered that using the flash pretty well ruins a picture of some shadows!