The Old Man

The Old Man as he returns to mother earth

 As those who stop by here know, we spent Christmas in our beloved Columbia, MO. While it was a ~balmy~ 8º both the day we arrived and seven days later on the day we left, the time in-between were days of 40º or so weather. Perfect for hiking in the valley. Daughter Rem and I hiked down to see the turnip patch that had been planted to help over-winter the deers' food supply and, of course, to go see ~The Old Man~, (pictured above (in 2008) in the header). My brother had taken photos of him over Thanksgiving, but I just had to see for myself that the old guy had finally fallen down to the sands of time. Well...he has. A mere skeleton of his former self, he's still beautiful in his own way. Even better, even in winter, you can see evidence of his ~children~ growing all around him. 

For sure, nature renews herself. Out of death rises life. Though that beautiful old sycamore is close to being nothing more than wood dust, generations fueled by his roots will live on and on. 

And the memory of a great tree (and the family hikes we took to go see him) will stay with me forever. 

~~~

xo

Old and New Again

Old Barn on Rustic Road

An old barn that's been photographed by me (and a lot of us shutter snappers) over and over again. It's one of my very favorite images. If I look back on my old photos, it's a picture I've taken "over and over again". It's changed subtly over time - getting more worn down by time. Kind of like all of us. Falling into disrepair, but still beautiful in its own way. In another twenty years from now...will it finally fall down? All of us have a finite time to be here on earth. Not a bad thing, just what it is for all of us. A good thing? All things considered, it really is good.

And, Miss Gail? You will be missed. By me and all of us who loved you.  

xoxoxoxo 

Another Gorgeous

Norwalk River Harbor Sunset

Not sure what's up with our evening weather of late, but we've had some incredible sunsets. Fire in the sky sunsets! Gorgeous, no?

On another note, I'd like to thank my peeps (I'd like to hate that word, but not really - it's good word stuff) that have thought about me here and commented - you have no reason to, as I haven't been here for a long long time, and haven't been there for any of you in your personal spaces for a longer time. It is so wonderfully confirming to know that even when I'm neglectful I can count on those I like/love to not neglect me.

Thank you from the very bottom of my heart.

xoxoxoxo

Saugatuck Sunset

Saugatuck River Sailboat Skeleton at Sunset

Here I am once again wholly embracing the beauty of the world that surrounds me. Lame words, yup, I know, but it's been so LONG since I've allowed myself to see beauty. (An old story that all of us have been through at one time in our lives or another.) 

So...once again, I've taken camera in hand and instead of ignoring the physical beauty around me as I've been doing for the last 10 or so months, I've come to the brilliant conclusion that to once again EMBRACE is much much better than IGNORE/AVOID.

xoxoxox

So Long Since...

Autumn Evening Sky on Sasqua Pond Road

It's been forever and a day since I've had anything to say here. Suffice it to say that I've just not been in the right frame of mind to share ANYthing. Not because of anything in particular, but because...just because...OK, that's all kinds of wrong. There's a lot of "in particulars" that have been going on, but none that, until now, I've particularly wanted to share. (Just noticing now how much I seem to favor the word ~particular~ and all of it's English forms. Odd. Hmm...I also seem to like the word ~anything~. O well...) 

I think what is now snapping me out of my profound funkiness is the fact that if I can't automatically change where I am in life, (god f-ing dammit!) then I WILL make the best of what I have! And I have a lot. A lot that I've chosen - purposefully - to ignore in these last months. Stupid, no? 

Family. Friends. 

They're always there for me. 
And always forgiving even when 
I've been less than good and true to them. 

What more could this girl ask for?
Absolutely nothing!
I am blessed. 

xoxoxo

Melting

Photo captured on 1/1/13 in the morning

Sun-bright shadows, then

Melting spots on the snow...ahhh

Missourah weather!

~~~

xoabb

wishing I lived there...

Shadows

Photo captured on 12/30/12, late in the day

I love the shadows the sun makes possible.

~~~

xoabb

Hope 2013 is everything you need it to be!

Sunday Serenity

Chairs waiting for spring

And the folks who once again

Will fill all those seats.

~~~

xoabb

warmth and goodness.

This one's for you, my most dear mom.

Gourmet Magazines & Aunt Helen

Our Gourmet Group inspiration - Gourmet magazines from the '50's & '60's

Suzanne, the hostess (along with her hubby, Brian) of this 12/1/12 Gourmet gathering was at a tag sale (garage/yard sale to anyone not living in the Northeast) and found a collection of Gourmet magazines from the late '50's and early '60's and she decided that we'd all make recipes from them. (It is amazing how many liquor ads there were in those magazines - at least one per page!) We all made our dishes and had a wonderful night, as is par for our group. 

However, for me, this also brought back many memories of my mom's sis and my godmother, Aunt Helen. From the beginning of Gourmet's existence (she may have missed some of the very first years), Aunt Helen collected each month's magazine and as her collection grew, got binders to keep them all in. When she and my Uncle Sam moved from NYC to Fort Myers, she had a special shelf built in her laundry room just for her (ever-growing collection of) Gourmet magazines. I know she thought someone would want to treasure her Gourmet trove after she was gone, but the mere bulk of the collection scared off all her nieces and nephews. When we held her estate auction in 2000, we finally sold the collection for, I think, $40.00. I am SO glad she didn't see that, and THRILLED for her that the demise of the print Gourmet magazine came after she was gone. That would have killed her! Good memories, just really good memories. (xo godmother).

xoabb

good memories are just that...good!

 

Sunday Serenity

Varco/Murray/Blystone cousins gathered for our 2012 Thanksgiving feast

With the exception of two that simply couldn't be with us this Thanksgiving, above are all the cousins that belong to GB's Aunt Micki's side of the family. My three are actually second cousins, but you'd never know considering how close they all are.

What a wonderful day Thanksgiving 2012 was!

For all of us!

xoabb

good memories!