Another October Weekend

Hello!

My sister was kind enough to send me some of the fun and expressive photos she took during our visit to Rhinelander last weekend.

I thought I'd post a few here, for those of you who don't visit her blog (though you can see it anytime, through the link on the right-hand side of my blog).

As you see, Laurie's photos have artistic merit in their own right.

They do more than just copy images that are already "out there" in the world.

Laurie actively seeks out the beauty around her.

If needed, she lays down on wet ground and gets leaves in her hair, so she can point her lens upward through a tree canopy.

Her knowledge of lenses, filters and camera settings make fall color pop.

She looks around her and makes editorial decisions... she decides whether to bring the whole landscape-- or one single plant-- into focus.

Should the background be soft and muted? Will there be a moving object in her shot? Should she show that movement or make it "freeze"?

She considers the shapes and angles of her subjects, and lines things up in a pleasing way...

or in a quirky way, depending on whether she wants harmony or humor to be the predominate mood in the photo.

She creates portraits of loved ones, by recording the facial expressions and postures she either observes or elicits from them with a little teasing or a few well chosen words.

She tells a story about people and places and natural objects that are important or beautiful to her.

She's leaving a loving record of herself and her family (at left, Mom's helping Michael pick out fabric colors for a quilt she's making him).

What do you suppose this photograph will mean to Michael someday?

Okay, okay; enough with the deep thoughts... I promise!!

The more mundane photo at right is one that I took. However it does chronicle an important event: Emma feeding Leila for the first time.

Her grandmas will be gratified to know that Leila has finally warmed up to the idea of eating baby food. She swallows well now, and most of it winds up in her belly. She has mashed food with every meal.

The taste-treat that finally won her over was oatmeal mixed with bananna and apple. I tasted it, too, and agree it IS good. I can't wait till we get to the part where she eats those groovy little hotdogs (do they still make those?). Another future highlight will be melba toast.

On a much more serious note, Monday afternoon the kids brought home notes letting us know that a Colfax kindergartner had been hit by a car while trying to cross the road to his school bus that morning. This time of year it's still dark out when some kids board their buses. You would like to think that people would slow and stop when they see a school bus's flashing lights, but that sadly doesn't always happen. I don't know exactly what happened in this particular case, but it must have been horrible for all involved.

The good news is that the little boy should be all right, though at least one bone was broken and there are hospital bills for the family. Friday of this week the school took up a collection by letting each child who brought in a dollar for the family wear a hat to school (this is normally a dress code violation, so the kids enjoyed the chance to express themselves through creative headgear, as well as feel like they were helping).

We appreciate that our bus driver does his route in such a way that our kids never have to cross the road. He passes our driveway on his way up our hill, and then picks them up on the return trip.

Jon came home Friday night driving this semi trailer, loaded with components of a large drill they use at work. Because of the difficulty of maneuvering a long vehicle like this up our little road, he actually BACKED the semi up the short stretch of road that goes right past our house (at night!), then parked it along the side of the road, in front of our house.

He told me he was going to be doing it this way, so as the hour of his arrival approached the kids and I listened excitedly for the low rumble of a semi engine. When it finally came, there was no mistaking it. We saw a long string of lights in the darkness, heard the air brakes, and then Jon blew his big horn (in case we had overlooked his arrival). We ran outside with flashlights to greet him-- I wrapped Leila up in a blanket and carried her outside, too.

Other than that, it was a pretty ordinary weekend. Emma and Jon rode the 3-wheeler over to our neighbor's farm, to pick up our week's supply of eggs, and ended up promising the farmer a wagon-load of our grass and leaf cuttings for her chickens. The farmer (a woman nicknamed "Johnny") and another neighbor who helps her out came over with a tractor, hauling a small empty trailer.

Jon and Emma helped them fill it up; here you see Emma "compressing" leaves for them before they cover it over with a tarp.

Johnny said that most of these clippings will be used as mulch, but that her chickens love to pick through them as well. They especially enjoy fresh grass cuttings. She offered us composted manure for our flower beds, which we will probably pick up later this fall.

Jon's friend Derek also came over this weekend. Derek helped Jon fix something on his Bobcat; Derek has some large-sized wrenches that Jon does not have, along with the mechanical know-how to help figure the problem out. Jon figures his friend helping out for an hour or so probably saved him $400 in repairs.

We are very fortunate that Jon has the skills and broad acquaintance to trade his work and time with so many skilled tradesmen. It really helps us out (and he helps them out, in return, as well).

Last night we had Jonathan over for a crockpot supper of stew and bread. He had come over in the afternoon first and watched the Packer game with us, so that was fun.

Prior to that, Jon and Michael watched most of the Viking - Bears game. I know I promised no more "deep thoughts", but I have to point out a touching father/son moment I observed.

Of course Jon is a life-long Packer fan-- and Michael, his erstwhile son, has recently taken up the Vikings as his new favorite team. This cannot please Jon much, though he lets Michael have his preference and watch the Viking games, etc.

Well, yesterday afternoon I heard Jon call Michael in and excitedly tell him about something great the Vikings had just done. He had a positive tone of voice about it, and high-fived with Michael.

And later, when the Packers came on, Michael helped cheer on the Packers, reminding us that they are his second favorite team.

So you see: they're reaching out to each other through sports viewing. Isn't that-- sniff-- beautiful?

To close, here is a little corner of my dining room that I rearranged this morning. It features the old rocking chair that my mother-in-law recently reupholstered for me. If I'm recalling the story right, this chair belonged to Jon's Great-Uncle Nat, and was found in their hunting shack (which was Uncle Nat's home when he was alive).

It's a good sturdy chair and has r

ocked lots of Hurlburt grandchildren, including Sally's children. I had it for Michael and Emma, as well. The bottom had gotten pretty worn and frayed, though, so Jane spiffed it up for me. It's kind of a dark blue-green color, and goes nicely with the valance I got from Sally and hung up in the dining room this weekend (unfortunately you can't see that in this picture).

Draped over the back of the rocking chair is an afghan that my dad's mother, my Grandma Bragg, knit.