Santa came to the circle...

...early last week. Here he presents a gift to Janine. John and Sarah got ones too.

Santa's visit to the circle dates back to when the houses were first built over 30 years ago. In fact some of the moms and dads were among the first to participate in this event when it first started. A family one street over started the event. Another family took it over a few years ago to keep the tradition running.

This year we had a new Santa. As you can see from the lower photo, Santa comes in a firetruck. The volunteer fireman who has been Santa for many years is now retired. I was told that he really wanted to be Santa again this year, but the cold has slowed him down. So now we have a younger and more robust Santa.

It was a good call because it was only 10 degrees when he arrived and thankfully no snow falling this year.

Christmas Meditation

The message of Good News...

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:9-14)

...Later

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:45-49)

The purpose of Christmas doesn't end the next day. You can only understand Christmas in the context of Easter. Jesus' death for our sins and his resurrection on the third day is victory over sin and death. When we accept Him we share in that victory.

We have posted the above on Christmas Eve for the past three years. For an even longer view click here to go to a Wall Street Journal editorial that has run every Christmas Eve since 1949. Still none can compare to the longevity and significance of the story behind it.

Christmas Ballet

Here's Janine at last week's parent's observation day at the ballet studio. She was very proud to wear a real tutu. Being a head taller thant the rest of her class, she was not able to wear the same costume as the other girls. So I guess this was part of the source of her pride.

(My goodness! Pardon me for a moment. My youngest is growing up and I am so pleased and proud of her.)

O Tannenbaum? "That'll be 27 bucks pal."

On an appropriately snowy late afternoon this past Friday we bought our Christmas tree at our favorite stand. As you can see from the photo, you need not ask the price because they are all $27, even the brown ones without any needles.

But ours is better than that. In fact we bought the first one the guy showed us. He brought it over from the far end of the small lot, assured us that it was a prestigious Fraser Fir and that was that. In less than two minutes he bailed it in plastic netting and placed in the back of our van. It was a much better experience than last year when they were burning some scraps, got impatient and careless with the kerosene and nearly immolated the entire lot.

After a night in a bucket of water, I put up the tree on Saturday. We allowed it to settle overnight then decorated it yesterday. It is still a work in progress and probably will be until it is on the curb waiting for the township to grind it up for mulch.

Two years ago we bought our tree at a nearby garden center. It was probably the nicest tree we have ever had, but it also was $70. For that amount of money I expect them to not only deliver it, but to check in every night to make sure it has enough water! After that, we like our $27 trees very much thank you.

Light Up Night

This past Friday evening we went down to downtown Sewickley for light up night. The main intersection of Broad and Beaver Streets was closed to cars and all the stores were open late.

As you can see from the look on Sarah's face, it was cold. About 20 degrees to be exact. The Starbucks across the street from this photo was packed! I later realized that the kids have not yet learned how to deal with the cold. Sarah though she would be warm enough with a pea coat on top of a cotton scoop neck shirt. John had the right idea with a hoodie, but he also did not have enough underneath. Janine was in good shape except for the fact that she has out grown her favorite shirt which is now too short. Bobbie was wise with a heavy coat and scarf over a sweater.

I liked it a lot because it reminded me of Minnesota. Crisp, cold, full of the attitude that we won't let the cold keep us down. Heck, we used to walk to the Nordeast White Castle from the U of M campus in January! Of course there was the promise of sliders... On second thought, Sewickley this past Friday was perhaps a bit classier.

Wizard Rock!

Here's John with some new friends at a Wizard Rock concert last week.

For the uninitiated, Wizard Rock is a new music genre devoted to fans of Harry Potter. Some clever and creative musicians have written songs about the characters and stories in the Harry Potter book series. While most of the melodies are original, they are also familiar. Some remind me of Elvis Costello and others of Buddy Holly; not bad company to be in.

Most concerts are in libraries or bookstores. This one was an exception because it was at a coffee house. There was even a cover charge. John got his hand stamped for the first time! (See bottom photo.)

I took both John and Sarah to the concert, but sat with only John. I knew that Sarah wanted to network with the other fans and didn't need Dad to help her. But she was great to check in with me every so often, and be ready to go after the concert.

John sat with me at the beginning, but then got up to dance with the kids pictured above. They were the youngest in the crowd, so they stuck together. These kids were there with their mother, with whom I spoke for a few minutes. We both agreed that the great thing was to see them trying their independence but also to be there in the same room as an anchor.

Help in the kitchen

Here's Janine helping to make her favorite Thanksgiving dish, mashed potatoes. She prepared the table with a little help from me. I suggested the glass dish to catch the peelings. She did the rest.

I wonder if she will help herself to more at dinnertime.

In the meantime Bobbie is working on the rest of the meal.


Menu:
Turkey, fresh, brined overnight
Granny's cornbread dressing
Green beans
Mashed potatoes
Pumpkin pie

Tomorrow we will turn around and do it all again when we host two families from our church. I guarantee that we will not have turkey.

New Gadget

Click for the ringtone I want on my phone.

Then sit back and enjoy an old favorite. Flaco Jimenez. I first saw the guy at the live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion in 1981. My cousin John and his wife Marti got tickets and were kind enough to invite me along. I enjoyed the show from its early days in 1974 when it originated from the Macalester College student union.

In the late '70s the show had moved to the World Theatre, a very tired place in downtown St. Paul. I had to sit on my coat on more than one night to cover the springs peaking through my seat. After PHC was done at 7 PM Saturday night, the theater showed a Vietnamese double feature. So it was a very different crowd waiting outside in the cold when you left.

For the rest of my time in the Twin Cities, PHC was a favorite date idea. The show ran from 5:00 to 7:00 PM allowing for leisurely dinner afterwards.

Live broadcasting is always lots of fun, especially radio because you are watching what the "folks at home" can't see. Flaco lived up to his name. He was skinny.

Click on the comments button and tell me what you think.

Brownie Food Drive

This past week Janine and her Brownie troop had a food drive at a local grocery store. They passed out flyers to shoppers coming in and then collected their contributions as they left.

They picked grocery prime time, Sunday afternoon a few hours before a 4 PM Steelers game. The store was packed with the black and gold faithful. (I saw one cart filled with hoagie loaves on one side and deli meats and cheeses on the other.)

If the girls look a little stiff, they were cold. They stood in an entrance with doors on either side and a cold wind blowing across. They did very well for two hours work. The food bank got three large boxes of canned and dry food including our box of Cheerios.

Milestones Passed

I found this card along with stroller instructions when I was checking our product information file the other day. The car seat and stroller are long gone, but we still had the literature in the file.

It made me stop to think about how we put Sarah in it glad that she was no longer in the "bucket" carrier.

This weekend Sarah and John both go to a church youth group retreat. Legally, Janine has not been in a car seat or booster for over a year and had been big enough not to need one for even longer.

How things change! While I am somewhat wistful, nonetheless I am happy to see them grow and encouraged by their progress.

Peak Color

Last week was the perfect time for late season leaf peeping in our neck of the woods. The weather was sunny and warm. Here are three brilliant trees at their peak. Note the tree in the background is getting close to bare. This magnificent view is from our backyard across one neighbor's to another.

This week is another story. It's cloudy and cold. Saturday was the end of the outdoor season as indicated by the fact that I put away the deck furniture until next spring. Now on to raking the leaves!

Trick or Treat

Would you give candy to these three?

Well, a bunch of other people did this past Friday. For the first time the kids did not trick or treat in our neighborhood. But boy did they have nice weather for it. Clear and about 65 at sundown, it dipped to a comfortable 55 by the time it all was over at 8:00 PM.

Sarah (the flapper) went over to her friend Caroline's house. (It's nearby, but far enough to be interesting.) They hit just about the entire sub-division, up and down the hills and back into all of the cul-de-sacs. Because Halloween was on a Friday this year, many houses were empty, their families at the game.

Janine (Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series) went to a Halloween party at a friend's house. They made crafts, ate dessert and exhausted the parents.

John (Edward Cullen of the soon-to-be-famous Twilight series) and I went to other direction and trekked to his friend Andrew's house. There, we met up with a bunch of other guys. We started in a very high-end neighborhood full of doctors. At the orthodontist's house, they all got toothbrushes. Then we cut through a yard to another neighborhood that really had the Halloween spirit. Entire families were sitting out in the driveway with tables full of candy! Other houses had some unusual decorations including the jack-o-latern featuring the number of Evegeny Malkin from the Penguins. I wonder if they trick or treat in Russia?

Janine's B-day!

Sunday was Janine's ninth birthday. Last one in single digits!

Here she is blowing out the candle on the her birthday pie. That's right, a birthday pie. Bobbie offers to make the kids the dessert of their choice and over the years we all have chosen pies. Janine chose a peach and blueberry pie. It was great. So great in fact that it didn't last past Monday lunch.

Janine got some nice gifts including an MP3 player, some new clothes and as always Grammie and Gramps came through with some neat stuff. As you can see Sarah was having fun with the chameleon toys.


Sunday morning, Janine received a bible at the morning worship service. Our church gives each third grader a new bible. Janine got the Faith Girlz Bible. While I am not exactly sure what the title means, Janine has been reading it in the mornings and evenings, so I am not complaining in the least.

Last Day - Sunday

Because we had to take care of a few things, such as returning the rented bikes, we didn't get out of town until 10 AM Sunday. The car had half a tank of gas so I calculated that we would fill up on the peninsula on the way back into Virginia.

We stopped at a truck stop that saddles the NC/VA line. Gas was $3.10 a gallon, significantly lower than the $3.89 on the Outer Banks. What's more, gas was plentiful. There were shortages in western NC the previous week.

Even though it was only 11:15, Bobbie said it was time to stop for lunch. From experience we both knew that we had almost an hour ahead of us driving on causeways, through tunnels and shipyards without anyplace to stop for food, gas, or use the bathroom. When we got inside we found a smoke shop to beat them all. We ate pulled pork barbeque in NC vinegar sauce next to this sign. There were people leaving with grocery bags full of 10 to 12 cartons of cigarettes.

There is virtually no tax on tobacco products in North Carolina and it shows.

About 10 hours later we pulled into our driveway tired, but happy we set the time aside to spend it together at the beach.

Seventh Day - Saturday

On Saturday night we drove down to Nag's Head to have dinner at one of our favorite spots, The Red Drum. (It's named for a fish, not a musical instrument.) Here's Sarah trying to take a self portrait of the table. I like the new snap brim cap.

Sarah, Bobbie and I had a good old fashioned seafood dinner of a dozen oysters (for $6.95!), a dozen steamers, then fried oysters and clams. Nana had fried shrimp while John and Janine had chicken strips.

The place is pretty basic but a lot of fun. As we have written previously, most of the restaurants are on the main highway. The Red Drum is on the old beach road where most of the vacation homes can best be described as cottages (that's cabin back in the midwest.) Everything is cheek to jowl. People staying in the house next to The Red Drum actually walk out the front door onto the parking lot.

In the back pool room, there is an item not commonly found these days. Remember North Carolina's largest crop and you will understand why...

Sixth Day, Friday

On Friday it all seemed to come together, and here's the video to prove it. The surfers really made the most of an incoming tide.

In the morning Janine and I rode our bikes to Cravings, the local coffee shop. While she sipped hot cocoa, I had a mocha and talked baseball with the shop owner.

Later we got a second almost full day on the beach. Sarah and I took a long bike ride in the afternoon. We rode several miles south into Southern Shores almost to the intersection with Croatan Highway. It was a nice ride, good and flat!

Finally, we had leftovers for dinner because we wanted to eat as much of the food as possible as well as save up for a nice final meal Saturday evening.

Fifth Day, Thursday

On Thursday everyone spent most all day at the beach. Here's Janine testing the boogie board we found at the house. Thankfully one was there because we left ours at home! All three kids tried the board, but Sarah seemed to work it best.

After a dip, we all took to our beach reading. The weather was just right, not too hot, not too cold. We were comfortable in swim suits or t-shirts as you can see below. The perfect top off of the day was a dinner boiled blue crabs. Four of us enjoyed them while John and Nana ate hot dogs.

Fourth Day, Wednesday

On Wednesday we celebrated Mommie's birthday at one of the few fine restaurants in the Outer Banks, the Celedon Cafe. Most of the restaurants and retail are along Croatan Highway the main road leading through the island.

This place is different. It is off the beaten track on the sound side of the Wright Brothers national historical site. In fact it's just a short hike to the very site where man first took to the sky over 100 years ago. As you can see it is very kid friendly in the fact that we did not have to pay for the table cloth John is writing on in the picture.

That afternoon was stormy. In fact the lighting was striking within a mile of our house. We abandoned the beach at about 11:30 when the wind picked up and well before things got rough. We got a little wet as the sky opened up when we were about 100 yards from the house. After that it was back to the books and puzzles for the rest of the afternoon.

Third day, Tuesday

Things began to calm down enough on the third day to make the beach more inviting. Here's some video of the surf as an illustration. The beach experience is different every year. In past years Nana lead the way to the beach, excited to get in the sun. This year she needed some coaxing. In fact for the first few days she preferred the gazebo at the Schooner Ridge beach access facility. It overlooks the beach where she could enjoy the view of the surf but be out of the sun.

Second Day, Monday

The first full day there we always like to go to the beach in the morning. This year however it was quite windy and rough. The conditions were pretty bad the previous week and we were dealing with the leftovers. The rip tide flags were up and the beach patrol was out in force thankfully.

So we enjoyed reading at the house. Besides, all three kids had some light school work to do to keep up. Bobbie got into a jig saw puzzle that kept her amused if not obsessed. Sarah had some biology work for school as well as the latest installment of the Twilight series to read. John make the best of it by working in the hammock on the second floor deck.

First Day, Vacation Sunday

It's a long drive down to the Outer Banks so we like to have a layover on the way down.  In past years we stopped in Richmond to visit my Aunt Mary.  Then when she moved back to Nebraska, we still liked to stop there anyway.  This year however the Richmond Residence Inn was booked, so we drove only 30 minutes more and stayed in Williamsburg.  Here's the kids on the street outside the College of William and Mary bookstore (operated by Barnes & Noble). 

Because Duck is only three hours from Williamsburg, we had all of Sunday morning to visit the historical district of Williamsburg.  We did not go to the "Historic Williamsburg" reenactment area.  It's pricey and we didn't have the time.  A nice visit to the bookstore and the farmer's market was the perfect way to see the area inexpensively.  (Also, it was nice to see men dressed in jackets and ties who had just come from church.  I guess that's honoring tradition the way they do so well in the old south.)

After a horrible lunch experience at the McDonald's next to Busch Gardens, we were on our way.  Just a few hours later we were here...

...the Food Lion in Kill Devil Hills.  It is located less than a mile from the island end of the Wright Memorial Bridge, the causeway that connects the northern Outer Banks with the mainland.  It was great to get our week's worth of food at 4 PM after just three hours in the car instead of 7 PM after 10 hours in the car.  Fitting all the grocery bags into a crowded car is always interesting.  The secret is to avoid frozen food on your lap.

Then, it was off to the real estate office to check in.  The lady at the desk was very nice to ask if we needed directions.  I thanked her, said no and nicely told her this was the fifth time we rented the same house.  "Well I guess you're OK then."  Whew!  We passed muster with her.

After putting away the groceries and our suitcases in our rooms, we were off to dinner at one of the local Mexican restaurants.  I had fish tacos since I was less than a mile from the Atlantic.  We ended the evening with the Steelers on Sunday Night Football winning a game they should have lost.  We were on vacation, travelling in an intelligent, organized manner, eating well and ending the day with a win.  Hard to ask for a better day this side of heaven.

Vacation!!! (last week)

Yesterday we returned from a week at the beach in North Carolina. In typical fashion, here we are loading the car for the trip home. Note that the Thule box is empty. Kudos to Janine, that's her pink rolling bag in there first.

It was a long drive, and everyone was very helpful. Every year Bobbie reads a young persons' book to pass the time in the car (and keep Dad from falling asleep at the wheel). This year's book was the Teetoncey Outer Banks trilogy by Theodore Taylor. Each book is about 125 pages, so it was just about the right length. All three move pretty fast telling the tale of a young boy coming of age on the Outer Banks in 1899. Raised by a widowed mother, one night he helps the Heron Point life saving crew with a shipwreck. The sole survivor is a young girl in a state of catatonia after loosing her parents as the ship is dashed on the shoals. The boy and his mother take care of the girl and become attached to her.

It may not be Tolstoy, but it helped keep me going for 12 hours yesterday through North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland (at it narrowest point), back into Pennsylvania. Bobbie even was reading by flashlight on the s-curves in the PA Turnpike just east of the Allegheny tunnel. I know my wife loves me when she does that.

Take me out to the ballgame...

This past Wednesday John and I went to see the Pirates play the Dodgers at PNC Park. As you can see, the crowd was a bit sparse, but we had a lot of fun. The seats were perfect to see the plays develop including a grand slam home run by Adam LaRoche. (Click here for the highlight.)

John got to learn a lot about baseball, but he sure enjoyed the food and the fireworks. We had hot dogs, Dr. Pepper and cotton candy on top of dinner at Wendy's. Then we got to enjoy the center field fireworks after each home run, and there were a few. The game ended in a Pirate blowout, 15-8!


We parked in a high rise ramp between PNC Park and the Andy Warhol Museum. Each level featured a Warhol painting as a reminder. We parked on level 4, the Brillo level. It's between the Grace Jones and Bill Murray levels.

Take what you like from that fact.

Wedding Day

Here's John at a wedding we attended last week. I think he was excited to wear a suit because he was the first one dressed before we went out the door.

The wedding was great. The couple are in their fifties. It is a second marriage for both and much happiness for all.

The bride is a member of our church so the wedding was there but the pastor was from the groom's church. The pastor knew the groom only as Steve and did not know his real first name is Ralph. As a result every time he referred to the groom he said, "do your Rrrrralph take Katherine...?"

The couple will live in at the groom's house in Chagrin Falls, OH. We will miss Kathy, but we are all VERY happy for her. They both are very blessed.

"What's that Dad?"

 

A few weeks ago, John and I were at his friend Andrew's house.  Andrew's mom had redecorated their foyer with an antique sewing machine and typewriter with a sheet of paper in the platen.  John stopped at the typewriter, paused for a few seconds, and studied it.  Finally he, "Dad! Look! It's a keyboard/printer."

I then explained that it is called a typewriter and it is the way people wrote things neatly B.C. (before computers).  He understood that fact, then said, "Wow, there isn't a screen at all!"

At that point I was relieved that Andrew took John into the family room.  Otherwise I would have started to bore John with tired old stories of college reporting classes in which I sat in a room full of typewriters much like the one above tapping out stories to meet the the end of class deadline.

Big Party

 

Here's Andy, Betty and Bobbie at the big christening party this past weekend.  One of the Ballet Ladies had a baby back in May.  Little Natalie was baptized this past Saturday in an outdoor ceremony with a full contingent of family from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Mexico City.

While any occasion suits the Ballet Ladies, this one was extra special.

Everything must change...

...or at least get updated. This is the Taco Bell location on the main drag in my hometown. When I was in high school it was much smaller and very different. First, the store was originally called Taco Joe's and featured a fiberglass statue of a surfer in front. Naturally after being frequently vandalized, they gave up on the statue. The entire chain followed "Surfer Joe" to the dustbin soon thereafter. Taco Bell moved in a few months later in 1970. It was the taco stand of the future. Avacado green bricks formed an arch for the front window with an abundance of stainless steel lighted by buzzing florescent lamps inside. I think you can understand the update.

Tacos were $0.21. Bean Burritos were $0.19. It was fashionable to ask for green sauce instead of red. At that time they also had extra hot picante sauce by special request. With a medium Dr. Pepper it was a decent midnight meal for under a buck. You just couldn't eat it while driving...they still need to work on that one.

Then sometimes things disappear altogether. This Bank of the West branch is on the hallowed McDonald's site. It had the original golden arches and Mr. Hamburger sign and a tiny parking lot that held perhaps a dozen cars. It was too popular for its location. At closing time, 10 PM on weeknights, the parking lot was still choked with high school kids cruising for burgers. It's central location ensured that kids from all five high schools in town could share a common repast of greasy food. French fries - the common unifier of man!

The area fell on hard times in the mid 1980s and was declared a "disadvantaged" area in the late 1990s. In this decade the area has come back thanks to the legitimizing effect of this California based bank and a Barnes and Noble across the street on a bulldozed Mr. Donut location. Now that's progress!

Speaking of the Past

This past week I was in my hometown visiting my parents. During a free moment I drove past my high school and took this shot. From the looks of things, I guess it is under construction. Either that or the school is now accomodating the smokers - making things more comfortable for them.

In reality, the school has expanded extensively and is now twice as large as it was when I attended it so many years ago. The senior parking lot is now an athletic center with an olympic sized swimming pool. The courtyard has been covered over to create a new lunchroom and gathering center. Many of my friends' kids now attend the school or graduated. I know my friends are careful not to become too nostalgic and bore their kids with stories of the hardship of walking in the snow across the baseball fields from the underclassman parking lot over on 40th Street.

I enjoyed high school and it's fun to visit, but it's really the friendships that developed there that are much more important than the building.

Hope it's better now...

Every so often I reminisce about Minneapolis, then quickly get over it. So just allow me this reverie and then I will be done.

At the dawning of the 1980s, I lived in the building pictured below in a studio apartment that was...well let's just say "rough around the edges." But it was mine. The first place I ever lived alone, no roommates, just me to blame for all the dirty dishes in the sink. Besides, the location was great, situated between Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis' trendy Uptown neighborhood.

My Mom and Dad saw it once. God bless them. I don't think I would have their wisdom and patience say nothing while my kids willingly lived in a...well, let's call it and "urban experience."

Nonetheless, when I am restless and trying to fall asleep, I still think about how I would remodel this place, but instead of a crappy Pier One location on Excelsior Boulevard and Knox Lumber in Hopkins, I would use IKEA and Lowe's. The thought is so remote, I usually go to sleep right away!


View Larger Map

I paid eight bucks for this picture...

...that's the toll for the George Washington Bridge. This photo was taken on the eastbound lanes. That's the first bridge pier up ahead. I took this shot this past Wednesday afternoon while on a business trip to New Jersey and Connecticut. It's about 4:10 PM at this point and traffic was pretty good except for the truck that broke down at the other end of the bridge. After a pretty drive on the Merritt Parkway, we got to our destination in eastern Fairfield county Connecticut at about 5:20 PM.

It was a humid day and I was driving, so NY skyline photos were not worth the bother. We could see the Empire State, Chrysler Building etc. but not very well. No skyline on the return trip. We stayed north taking I-287 crossing the Hudson at the Tappen Zee bridge and heading home on I-80. Overall it was a good trip, but one I am glad not to have to make every week.

200th Post!!!

This is the 200th post to the Little House! Thanks for reading and coming back!

To mark this event, we have redesigned the site!

Please keep coming back and as always feel free to share what you think.

Festival Time

Here's Janine and Nana, hand in hand at last week's festival at Nana's church. We all enjoyed eating dinner and playing some of the games. It was a more subdued time this year than last. Click here to compare. This year we stayed close to Nana who did not venture from the picnic tables.

The "rides" at this year's festival were rented giant inflatables manned by teenage volunteers. When I said same to the parish priest, he replied, "Nicer than the carnies last year. Right?" Funny, I felt the same way. Here is John on the slide. The new Lumix did a good job here. I held the shutter button down half way. The camera readied itself and took the shot exactly at the right moment...however blurred.

Gitty-up

Saturday we went to a picnic at North Park when we heard voices from the trees from the trees up the hill. Then we saw people seemingly floating along behind a hedge. As they reached the clearing we finally understood they were on horses!

The group took a break before reaching the bottom of the hill and crossing the intersection. It was quite a sight to see the cars next to the horses. Thankfully the drivers were patient and so were the horses.

Summer Flashback

Here's one from last summer. That's our friend Sue Harris with the kids at the marina in Gloucester, MA. This photo was on a roll of film that languished until recently.

Bobbie and the kids went up there last July for a week's visit. It was a great break for them. As usual they fit in an historical stop at the USS Constitution and a brief walk past the Old North Church on the way to an Italian restaurant. Great photo. It's about time it got on the blog.

John Test Photos

Here are some photos of John that I took with the new camera. The first one is a keeper. The rest are testing the forced flash on different ISO settings as well as some tests of the Intelligent Auto function. The flash setting seems to add a lot of contrast and does not fill as well as I thought. But I have found myself putting my finger over it when I hold the camera awkwardly.

But that's the point of testing the camera out. Trying and learning is part of the fun.

Sunday note: What a difference a monitor makes! I am posting this note on the iMac and all the photos look better. The LCD display must have a softer contrast than the old Dell CRT.

Girl Scout Camp

This was day camp week for Janine's Girl Scout troop. They had a great time in the rain and the sun. The camp site was only 10 minutes away in North Park, but it is so heavily wooded it might as well have been deep in the forest.

Sarah's leadership skills and sense of responsibility impressed Janine's group leaders so they invited her to be a teen helper despite the fact that she has never been a Girl Scout. I guess they viewed her as a legacy because her mom was one as well as her sister.

She took along the camera only for the first day which was humid and rainy. Yesterday they missed the storm that soaked the rest of the city. Of the photos she took these are the best. Of course there is a self portrait as well as one of her new friends, the troop leader's older daughter. As you can tell, it's pretty steep terrain.

I had to drop by today with beach towels for water day, but forgot my camera, but no worries, Sarah did a good job of capturing the moments.

DC Trip

Everyone enjoyed their trip to Washington DC two weeks ago. Even though I was left behind, I did enjoy the quiet for the first few days. But after that, I was glad to have everyone home last Monday.

Here's a slideshow of the cousins and the monuments, and the cousins having a great time together.

Found at last

Ever since Youtube came on the scene a few years ago I have been looking for commercials from my high school years and this series specifically. I found it earlier this week. I hope that you can appreciate this slice of early 1970s life along Interstate 80 in the middle of the USA.

As you can tell from the list of links next to this post we appreciate food along the road. This place stands beside the shiny metallic streamlined diners in New Jersey and the road side taco stands in California. In fact it once had mythic status in what some people mistakenly call fly-over land. Enjoy!

This video has been hard to find, so please let me know if you find it no longer active.

John's Birthday

John celebrated his birthday on the road in Washington DC last week. His mom, sisters, cousins Biz and Grace as well as Aunt Barb and Uncle Steve took him to Clyde's, a pizza restaurant in Georgetown. For more about Clyde's click here.

Bobbie tells me they were all so full they all split John's dessert pictured here.

The entire Goodbarn/Paulson crew walked all over Washington during their visit. I think their feet are still recovering! Look for more about DC in the coming days.