Sunday, November 30, 2008

Sunday Serenity


To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill and a time to heal ...
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance ...
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Not a religious statement on my part - 
Just a passage I feel resonates so very well for all of  humanity.

~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

Blessings, Aunt Margie!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

It's Never Really Expected.....

Glory Over
Photo taken at 5:33pm, September 29, 2008
Mom just called to let us know that my dad's youngest sister has died. Aunt Margie hadn't been well for the last several years, but it's still hard to believe she's gone. She had a life very well lived, and though she was in her 80's, it seems her time here was too short. 

One of my very favorite humans. 
My Aunt Margie.
Godspeed...

~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

Friday, November 28, 2008

Back Yard Brillance...


The end of autumn...
What kind of winter prevails?
Snowy? I hope so!

~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving...

May yours be wonderful and filled with the people you love.....


Personally speaking...
May my wild turkeys live to see a future Thanksgiving unscathed...


Sooo lucky, those turkeys of mine!!!
~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Sphagnum


Scientist's Sphagnum...
It is moss to you and me.
Pretty, either name.


Is all this Sphagnum?
I haven't a clue. Do you?
No? Didn't think so!

~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

My World, My Water



My pond in our backyard...


My Saugatuck River...


Our pond at my (parent's) Missourahhh home...


My Long Island Sound...

It gets no better than these four bodies of water....

xoabb
expect anything!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Once Again, Bloomage Reigns!

My Christmas/Easter/Thanksgiving cactus 
is once again blooming in all her glory! 
Beautiful! 
Not to be outdone by the other bloomage happenings...my floor cactus is blooming hot pink with a touch of red, and then there's hibiscus in bright red and all the three 25 year old geraniums in their various shades of reds, pinks and corals. 

Might be Winter-like outside, but it's Spring-like inside!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Sunday Serenity...DENIED!

"Deny me??? I stick my tongue out at you, Serenity!!"

As I write this, it is 12:50 am, (early on Sunday morning). We've just gotten back from the movie "Changeling". As any of my friends know, hell itself needs to be freezing over before I go to a movie. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that there's so many other things I like a little more. Well, hell nearly froze over last night! 
Last evening around 9:15 pm we'd just finished dinner and GB, our eldest Rem, her two friends, and I were variously playing cards, watching TV, etc. I'd noticed the lights flickering every once and a while, but really didn't think anything of it. Then...the lights went out. Along with the lights went the heat. It's 25º outside. It was not good. 
We found the candles and flashlights (the card game then continued on) and I got on the phone with our electric company. Of course they didn't know what the problem was, but they were on it, and promised all would be just peachy in an hour or two. 
Conversation among us then ensued and it was decided we (even me!!) would go to the movies while our electric/heat problem was being corrected so we'd stay warm (and be entertained - 2 hours without TV?? Are you kidding me?). The only movie starting after 9:15 was "Changeling", and tho none of us were overly excited to see it, at least we'd be warm, and so off we went.
When we arrived, GB got in line to get the tickets and the rest of us went to get snacks. When we met to go into the show, GB informed us to keep our coats on because tho the heat in the lobby was just hunky-dory, it didn't extend to the screening rooms. No heat to be had while watching the movie, not one little bit! (Oh, did I mention "Changeling" is just shy of two and a half hours long???) Half way through the movie, GB took my hand in his, (dang!, I'm thinking, how romantic!) He then proceeded to put the back of my hand on his nose. Let's just say, if he were a dog, he'd be extremely healthy - his nose was an icicle!
So, this Sunday there is no Serenity, but it's the first for the entire year, so not too bad. It's 1:30 and my pillow is promising me all kinds of serenity, so I'll leave you until the next time....(yawn). 

~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

10:50 am:  P.S. Oops! Sorry! I need to add that we had heat and electricity upon our return home. And about the movie...not sure how much I liked it (I'm a happily ever after kind of movie-watching gal), but it has Oscar written all over it, from the acting to the directing to the cinematography. Typical Eastwood. Changeling is beautifully done on all levels. Believe it or not, this is the very first time I've seen Angelina in a movie. She's really a decent actress, (tho so skinny it's distracting, and not in a good way). Looong movie, but entertaining in a disturbing way - it's hard enough to swallow this movie is non-fiction, let alone that some of the events/actions portrayed were considered ok to do back then. Thank GOD we've changed the way things are done in our psychiatric hospitals!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Fall ColorsN

Add caption

Nothing prettier than fall leaves before they...fall

~~~
xoabb

Turkey Strut Interrupted


Some Very Safe from the Thanksgiving Table 
Turkeys Struttin' their Stuff

The seasons have finally and completely changed here in CT. The leaves are all off the trees and once more the turkeys are gathering in our backyard as they do yearly to harvest the hickory pignuts. If the unbelievable overabundance of the crop this year is a precursor of a big bad winter....well, all I can say is...people...we're in big trouble! 

The turkeys tend to ~strut their stuff~ more this time of year than any other, and today I finally thought to take a photo of them doing just that after I wandered downstairs with the intention of letting Miss Stella out (and it really doesn't do them justice - the light at 6:30am in CT just isn't that good). Much to Stella's consternation, I made her wait inside while I took the above photo. After yelling and flapping (a very attractive sight) at them to try to give fair warning that Stella was soon to be let loose... 

...I let Miss Stella-Bella out......Uh-oh....big trouble for turkeys...


OK, I'm not really awake, don't have the camera set on anything close to what it should be, but the blurs you see are the turkeys high-tailing it over the pond, and Stella in the background pretending she's looking for squirrels since she wasn't turkey-catching-victorious.

The turkey tree of safety
(and also of nighttime roosting sleep.) 

~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

Friday, November 21, 2008

I'm Goin' Home


I-95 South, Norwalk, CT
11/20/08, 5:15pm

With seemingly everything in this world of ours awry,
at the end of the day home is the place 
each of us need to travel to.
Whether after a day's work or a longer journey, 
going home to those we love, and who love us
 is the safe haven our hearts desire...and deserve...



~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Same Name Conumdrum...

Boy duck, quackin' away, as you can see - (so typical) -
while girl duck listens intently to him - (so typical): 

"Hi, I'm Jamie and this is  Jamie!" or
"Hi, I'm Chris and this is  Chris!" or
"Hi, I'm Lou and this is  Lou!" or
Hi, I'm Dale and this is Dale!" or
"Hi, I'm".....etc., etc., etc....

We have five kindergarten and 4th grade classes, then four of all the other grades (through 5th) at our elementary school. The powers that be are very careful to separate all twin and triplet units - never will any of them be in the same class. Understood. Could somebody then please explain to me the philosophy behind having two kids with the same first name in the same classroom??? Excuse me, there are at least four classes to disperse kids throughout but the two with the same first name end up in the same classroom?? Just how does that make any kind of sense?
 
We screened the kindergartners yesterday. There were 3 pairs of kids sharing the same first name in the same class. Now doesn't that just make a kindergarten teacher's job way too easy? O bother!

~~~
xoabb
expect anything!



Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Rays Reflected on Ripples



or
Remnants of the Storm


Above is the setting sun's rays reflected and shimmering on the ripples of Lake Champlain. I spent a weekend there last Spring and during the time I was there, a large thunderstorm passed over the lake just before sunset. The remnants of that storm left the most spectacular skies! And I happened to be in the right place at the right time! The only thing that could have made it even more perfect is if I could have caught a photo of Champy (think the Loch Ness Monster's first cousin) as well. Maybe next time!


~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

My World & Welcome To It!


The children's play field
Soon covered with snow. So why
Are they still in shorts?

The field behind the school where I work. Snowy clouds billowing in, but no snow quite yet! Our principal sent a memo to the teachers yesterday to ask that they strongly encourage their classroom kids to wear "seasonally appropriate clothing".  30º outside and the girls are in sleeveless tops, the boys in shorts and tee-shirts. 

"WHAT?? You want us to wear a coat out to recess?? No way!"
I freeze just looking at them!

~

Now a bit of My World, the Dog Edition

Stella's volleyball
The love of her life right now
Must replace it soon!


She dances, prances
I try to take a movie
And down Stella flops!

Another day maybe I'll catch her in all her prancing glory!



xoabb
expect anything!

Monday, November 17, 2008

What's THAT Doing There???


Driving along a rural road in Vermont....we came upon this Harley in the middle of a field. Just loved it!  Such a random, well, thing!  As I'm carrying on and on about it, Sheila (our weekend hostess) informs us that Harley has been in said field for at least the last six years, and is always decorated appropriately for all holidays. All I can think to say is:

Really???

But it does present a most excellent photo op, don't cha think? ;-)

xoabb
expect anything!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Friday, November 14, 2008

WELL, FOR GOODNESS SAKE!!!


My parents could easily, if pushed just a little, attest to the fact I've never stuck to anything for a very long period of time...it's that old "good at a lot, master of none" thing...BUT...this is my 300th post! Can't believe it myself, but it's the truth! Yippee!!! I've finally stuck, and it's been good, yes it has!!! Thank you to all of all of you - love your support and YOU!
~~~
xoabb
expect anything!
(Sure do love you, mom & dad!) 

Sky Watch Friday - With Hints of Winter Skies...



As I've waxed long and not so eloquently about, this fall has been one of magnificence. Mother Nature has certainly outdone herself this year. I guess with all the turmoil going on in our world, she's decided to give us more beauty than usual to gaze and wonder at. 
Feel better already?


Same tree from across the first fairway

Photos taken around Shorehaven Golf Club, October 21, 2008.


~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Stella Helps in the Kitchen...Or Not


Stella must always, at all times, be within inches of one of her loved ones - also touching said person if at all possible - just ask Mental P. Last night I was her chosen one (sigh). I was in the process of making dinner (Katie Couric's Lemon Chicken recipe - it's excellent, BTW) when my Stella-Bella decided to collapse as close to me as she could. Of course, this occured when I was pretty regularly moving between that proverbial stove-sink-refrigerator triangle. Perfect kitchen diagram, but set-up for we humans, and not so perfect for a Stella placement within said triangle.  I finally told her to MOVE after about the 20th time I tripped over her. She did, but with a look of total doggy hurt in her eyes. (And yes, I'm a doggy wimp.) 
~
For those of you not enamored by dogs, I bring you a photo of one of our two kousa dogwoods. They are so very beautiful in the spring when they bloom, but their true beauty shines through in the fall. They always turn multiple colors, though it usually goes from the most brilliant at the top down to green leaves at the bottom. Guess this kousa doesn't know her up from her down, let alone right from left! Isn't it amazing all the colors on this tree?? 


Same tree, a thousand colors!

~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A Q kind of day...

The Quizzical Questioner....


Under every rock 
There lurks marvelous questions
That need an answer...


I'm* the questioner...
Always seeking answers to 
What I do not know.

*Dodgie - seeker of all answers.
~

xoabb
expect anything!

Above photos from Missouri, Summer of 2004

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

My World Every Day...Especially Tuesday's

What greets me lately on my way to work...

As you know, it's fall/autumn in our CT part of the good old US of A. Each day as I go to work, I'm first greeted by this most magnificent maple tree. No matter the season, Maple greets me with loveliness - leaved, unleaved, barren or budded. Just look at the beauty she offers! Soon (very soon I would think) all her leaves will fall. Then maple tree and it's leaf-buds will go to dormancy, only to wait for the rebirth of spring. And the circle begins again.


More often than not during this fall season, this is the scene that greets me as I'm peeling out of our driveway for work. I' ve been known to be just a tad late goin' to work, and I must tell you those dang turkeys do slow my arrival time down more than I'd like! (Um, anyone want to put a tag on their Thankgiving bird??? It would certainly help my arrival time! - BTW - I want the second from the left!)

~~~
xoabb
expect anything!




xoabb
expect anything!

Monday, November 10, 2008

I'm Tombstone Annie....

Well....that's one of my nicknames....
Reverend Mather was buried more than 200 years ago, in 1806. 
The elements haven't been kind to the engraving on his stone. 
Taken in the ~Old Five Mile Cemetery~, aka Brookside Cemetery
on Rowaton Ave. in Norwalk, CT.
(backside of the tombstone in the first photo)
 Norwalk has begun to restore the old graveyards of our city
Poor restoration habits had been employed for many past years, 
not for lack of caring, but from lack of knowledge. 
Thankfully, there are now folks well taught in the best preservation methods.  
~

Enough of you have asked me why my blog is named The Tombstone Chronicler that I feel the need to explain a bit. (And, no, I don't reside in Tombstone, Arizona!) I became interested in genealogy about 15 years ago - don't really know what was the first spark, but along the way, I began wanting to know how I got here as me. Who were these people that came before me that made me who I am? 

I know from friends and family that this (read "my") genealogy thing (read "obsession") is a very personal journey/interest. Either you care or you don't. I care. Most of my family doesn't. And that's OK. It's my obsession/love not theirs. And I do love finding out about my own family and helping others (who may not even be related to me) find out about theirs. 

Out of my love of genealogy I've discovered the wonderful website www.findagrave.com.Now I spend some of my weekends traipsing through the cemeteries around here taking photos and then adding and documenting them on findagrave.com (F-A-G for short - their abbreviation, not mine:-). I try to go to the older cemeteries as those tombstones are the ones most in peril of being destroyed, by time and the elements, as you can see from the photos above (by the way, Moses Mather isn't my ancestor, just one of the tombstones I've added). I've even been the first to document several of the old cemeteries in our area. It's a good feeling to know that in some small way they've been "preserved" for the future. I also find it so very peaceful and calming to walk through these areas that are filled with so many different stories and histories. Believe it or not, when I first discovered F-A-G, there was only around 8,000 grave sites chronicled. Now there are around 27,000,000 chronicled (and counting!) - I've added 1,109 memorials and 1,460 photos! Word of mouth truly works! Amazing isn't it? (Click on that last above link to see my F-A-G page if you're interested.)

I know this is a love of some of us and not everyone. So - I'll try to remember to fill you in on this mad persuit of mine from time to time.  Just skip those posts if this isn't your thrill.  I'll forgive you....well maybe...o come on, you love tombstones too...right??;-)

xoabb
expect anything!

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Sunday Serenity

...no it won't all go the way it should,
but I know the heart of life is good...
~j. mayer

Dodgie & me, his ~Auntie Nanas~ 
early on a Missourahhh morning
just after he'd woken up.
Missouri, Summer of 2004


xoabb
expect anything!

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Spring Peepers...NOW????

I've been hearing the wonderful sounds of spring peepers (frogs) the last two nights! And I'm having a hard time with this. While I love love love the sound of these wonderful frog beings, it worries me that they've gotten their seasons mixed up, and may not remember to finally dig down deep when our temperatures finally go to where they should be for this time of year.

Do hope froggies know or learn how to adapt to this changing world of ours. All I know is I can't wait for cold and snow. 

The seasons really do need to go round and round. The flora and fauna certainly depend upon it.

xoabb
expect anything!
even an extra post!

There IS a reason it's called ~Fall~



Our backyard this past Wednesday. 
Looks kinda leaf-free...



Our backyard yesterday...
the leaves have fallen...really really fallen...



"Driveway? Driveway? Has anyone seen the driveway???"

xoabb
expect anything!

Friday, November 07, 2008

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Painted Sky

manipulated color
~~~
xoabb

Every Girl Needs Her...

...Beauty Sleep.

xoabb
expect anything!

Not tonight...just can't do it...Pooh!!

Maybe in the morning...

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Poison Ivy!


It's Poison Ivy!
It comes in many colors
Beware! It's all bad!
But oh so very beautiful!

You may not be sensitive now...
But someday you will be!
Leaves of three, let them be!

~~~


~~~
Barak Obama has just been elected. 
concession speech was superb in its healing tone.
Blessings to both of these fine men, just blessings...
And that's as political as I'm gonna get!

~~~
xoabb
expect anything!

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Barack!!

Obama!!

History, good history is being made!
Just wait! You'll see!

A Number of Places...


'My world' encompasses more than one physical place. Tho I've lived longer in Connecticut than any other state, I am always drawn to my Missouri. This is the back yard of my parent's home, and where part of my soul will always reside. We (my sis, bro & I) grew up in a home about a half a mile from here and though I loved (still love) that home, this is my Missouri home. The memories here resonate. The family and friends that have gathered here over the years and the memories we've all made...ahhh what can I say? A more special place I just can't imagine.  

Want to come join me?
It's the edge of heaven, this
Missourah of mine.

xoabb
expect anything!


~~~

OH! AND VOTE, PEOPLE, VOTE!
MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD
WHATEVER YOUR MESSAGE MAY BE!!