A Legacy

Last Saturday I snapped a photo of the portrait of my great-grandmother, grandmother, and great-uncle, and I mentioned that it would be the second item I would grab if we were being evacuated for fire (which has happened twice since we moved here six years ago).

Well, this is what I would pack first. This Seth Thomas clock was my grandmother's -- yes, it belonged to the little girl in the antique photograph from last weekend's post. It sat on top of her bookcase in the family room of their home, only a mile from ours as we grew up. I remember hearing the chimes so often: when I was napping on the rather scratchy sofa, when I was setting the table for dinner, as we watched the huge lit ball drop on New Year's Eve with Dick Clark's voice counting down "3... 2...1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!"

So having this clock in the center of my mantel reminds me of my grandmother on a daily, sometimes half-hourly or hourly basis, as the sound of the chimes fills our home. Having her clock maks me feel as though she were still with me a little, this woman who taught me so much, meant so much to me, did so much for me, yet never saw one of her great-grandchildren as she died while I was pregnant with E.

Friday: Foggy Freeway

We mountain-dwellers often have to deal with fog on the freeway leading down into San Diego in the winter months. However, it's highly unusual to see fog creeping across the freeway in September; it's a sight reserved mostly for November-April. I tend to slow down with fog; however, Keith has no fear and continues down the mountain at his normal speed, one which I won't reveal but is at fifteen-twenty miles per hour above the posted speed limit of 70.

Thursday: Hawk-Eye

As we came home, worn and weary from Class Day activities and an 80-mile round-trip, we stopped to get the mail at our town's post office. (Our town is too small for home mail delivery.) As I climbed out of the Corolla, keys in hand to unlock our post office box, I noticed an elderly man standing behind his car, face uplifted and eyes transfixed on something above his head. My eyes followed his line of sight, and I spied what he was so interested in: a hawk perched on the telephone wire just above the line of parked cars. Bending back into our car, I tugged my camera out of my purse and snapped a series of shots. This is full telephoto; I was hoping for more detail of the hawk's markings, but I think the clouds surrounding it are very cool, too.

Me, My Books, and I

It's about time for a self-portrait, something I don't like doing, but unfortunately, it came out best of my photos today. Keith built the bookcase; I filled it with antique editions of Shakespeare, Browning, and Dicken, among others.

Premiere Night....

NCIS and House are our favorite TV shows, and with the season premiers of both on tonight (along with Dancing with the Stars which we're recording to watch later), we're all grouped in front of the TV watching avidly.

I was so wrapped up in House that I forgot to take photos of that show until the previews for next week. But since we send the boys to bed before House, this photo of Tony, who appeared to be killed when his car exploded early in the hour, was most indicative of our TV premiere week.

And yes, we're still on pins and needles about Sarah on CSI; with the other CSI shows knocking off major characters, we're well aware of the possibility of her not making it.

Don't you love premiere week?

Leeds Castle....

I love this painting that Keith's mom painted from a photograph Keith took of Leed's Castle in County Kent during our trip to England in 1988. The watercoloring are so soft and gentle -- the pinks of sunset against the ancient stone walls, the vines and flowers clambering along the medieval stonework. I remember that as we toured the castle grounds, peacocks followed us, thinking that Keith's lens paper was popcorn as they tried to get into his camera bag.

I loved that trip to England, and several other souvenirs from that trip grace our home, constant reminders of the country of my ancestors, the country of the greatest writers and poets, the country I fell in love with nearly twenty years ago....

The Church on the Hill

On our way home from church in La Mesa and as we were beginning to ascend into Alpine, Keith informed me that he would pull over to the side of the freeway so I could capture this shot. I had tried it from the passenger seat from the van as we sailed up the hill (he drives faster than I do), and even when he has slowed down, I've never captured it. Today he thought that the clouds would add interest, which they do.

This church is where I first met Father Acker over three years ago when B and I first started attending Friday morning services. He left this beautiful little church behind when half of the church elected to leave the San Diego diocese, and the Anglican church now meets in an elementary school auditorium. But this church building still beckons to me, especially after spending over a year attending. It's such a lovely little mission-style church with its lovely blue cupola and cross and its stained glass windows depicting the life of Christ. But church is more than a building; it's God's people who gather to praise and worship. I'll gladly leave this pretty little church that I see from the freeway several times each week in order to worship in spirit and in truth in the tiny chapel Father Acker built in his garage.

Family Portrait.....

This portrait sits on our mantel, and in case of fire, it's probably the second thing I'd grab. The lady reading is my great-grandmother, Lela Mae, who dies when I was a senior in high school. She was the spunkiest lady -- I owe to her my love of gardening and of antiques; I own many of the knick-knacks that graced her little cottage. This potrait shows her reading to my grandmother, Blossom Mae and her younger brother, Robert, who died long before I was born.

I love the antique wooden frame, the delicate watercoloring added to the photograph, and that I knew and dearly loved two of these subjects. I feel their love every time I look at this portrait, sitting on my mantel where I can easily see it from anywhere in our great room.

Driving Old Highway 80

This afternoon I drove on Old Highway 80 to the next tiny town on an errand for a friend. Old Highway 80 was the main thoroughfare between San Diego and the Arizona border before the Interstate was built in the late 1960s, and the Old Highway becomes our main street as well as the main street to several small back country towns as one travels further east. As I meandered back into our town, I snapped some photos while driving back into Pine Valley. This little ol' town is so beautiful; I am so thankful it's still here after the fire scare of last week....

Mom B's Rooster

I saw the rooster painting on Becky's 365, so I took a photo of the rooster watercolor that Keith's mom painted about six years ago. Even though she dies four years ago, being surrounded by her artwork makes her feel very present to us.

Sorry for the quality -- I only took six photos today and none turned out spectacularly. I just have been so busy with school that I haven't had much time for photography.

It's a special, special day!

Today, September 19, is International Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day.

We did. Did you, me hearties?

Tuesday: Dr. Adema Talks Art

Yes, this is an old photo that I published in May. Last night Dr. Adema spoke at our creative arts meeting, and I was sooooo enthralled about what he was saying about the relationship between wellness and art that I completely forgot to take photos!

More info on what he said is on my main blog -- he's such an amazing doctor! The entire audience was as spellbound as I.

E and her Ronald...

I never thought that a rat could be such an adorable pet, but Ronald is that and more. He nibbles on her ears, hides in her sweater, and perches on her arms, with his cute little whiskers wriggling all the time.

(For video of our other pet, Dash, see my regular blog. I tried out the video component of my camera today when Dash was playing with the boys.)

Weekend: Wedding!

On Saturday, Micah and Brandie were married in a large wedding at Lake Murray (planned in only three months!) with the reception at a venue that had a dance floor (same place as Vera's reception, BTW). My little camera doesn't deal well with dim lighting, so please excuse the quality of the photos.



Remember the "Macarena"? People from our church sure did! (The groom's parents are right up front here in black -- William is my Sunday School teacher and Joan is the choir director/pianist -- next to Joan is Kim, my Bible study leader, in blue.) Even the pastor's daughters were out there macarena-ing! Later on I jumped in and danced the twist to "Love Shack" -- I'm still sore as heck but dancing is worth it!



Brandie and Micah take over the dance floor to a country-western song. (Definitely not my thing! In fact, my pastor remarked that if they played rap music all the time, I wouldn't need my cane anymore, just cuz I danced to Vanilla Ice ... imagine!)

In the Aftermath...

This is the same mountain that E snapped while it was burning in the fourth photo in the series published on the 12th. We drove by it today on our way back into town and took this photo from the freeway just before the offramp into our town. We're sad to see the mountain half-naked, but we're also thankful that no structures burned.

Tonight the fire is 95% contained, and tomorrow some of the 700 firefighters will start heading home to whereever they've come from across the state.

THANK YOU, FIREFIGHTERS!!!!!! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

Photo from Last Night

Keith took this from the meadow behind our home last night just after sunset. The fire lighting up the smoke ... cool and scary and the same time. The bright lights are from the motel and grocery store -- the focus is a little off because Keith forgot to set the camera on "inifnity focus" or some such. This was also an extended exposure -- six seconds, I think. I may not have taken it, but I did stand next to Keith as he set the tripod up and took the photo. MY camera won't do such nice long exposures....

Fire

At 1:10 this afternoon, T called us out onto the porch: a fire had started just a mile away from our home. In dry Southern California, with temperatures near 100 and humidity less than 20%, with even the offroad area closed this last weekend due to fire danger, fire is a dangerous, frightening thing. Especially with the fire so close that the smoke billowed overhead, obscuring the sun and giving off a dimmed, orange light.

So far, over 1200 acres have burned, one firefighter injured, 400 firefighters and nine aircraft, and the potential for the fire to burn 10,000 acres. We've been put on alert by the Sheriff's Department, but no evacuations yet. Even still, people are evacuating their animals and packing their things, just in case.



The smoke early in the afternoon -- photo taken from our front yard.



As we drove away to go into the city, children and animals taken with us to be on the safe side, I shot this quick photo across the meadow out the window of my car.



Coming home, driving up the freeway, this is what we saw. (Taken by E as I drove.)



As we came back into town, we looked south of the offramp and the kids began to panic a bit.... (Also taken by E.)

Tuesday: September 11

The boys and I watched footage of the events of six years ago as part of school today....

We remembered.

Cuneiform Writing

Today the boys were doing their "optional" writing exercise from their Sonlight 6 language arts program. This lesson involved writing one of the "fruit of the Spirit" (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control -- Galatians 5:22-23) in the Phoenician cuneiform alphabet. Both J and T chose the last "fruit": "self-control," and T added the extra "fruit" of "love" to his. Both boys also signed their names in cuneiform after their "fruits." Using my special dip pens and ink bottles added to the fun; the boys chose ink and pen over scraping the letters in clay with sticks as the ink would be more long-lasting and perhaps even frameable. We're really enjoying World History in every way this year, especially learning about the methods of writing in different ancient civilizations.

Keys....

In addition to my pewter cross ("With God All Things Are Possible") and my pewter Shakespeare keychain, I added this Gryffindor keychain that I received on The Night of the Seventh Release. The date will be engrained on my memory -- along with the fun we had together at B&N, waiting for midnight and booksales to finally happen....

Bridal Shower

My friend Kitty held a bridal shower for Brandie who is marrying Micah Huff next Saturday at Lake Murray. Brandie and Micah met thirteen years ago at the Lake Murray youth group, and the shower today was simply lovely.



Kitty arranged games for us which were all inside these sweet little booklets: one game involved passing around twenty photos of Brandie and guessing how old she was in each picture, the second involved labeling what Brandie was wearing after she left the room (I missed the fourteen ear piercings but got the tattoos); the third game was a multiple-choice quiz about Brandie and Micah's romance, several of which I knew since we attend the same Sunday School class which Micah's dad, William (Bill) teaches.



Brandie stops opening present in order to share a musical card with her flower girl.



The ribbon bouquet, as made by the groom's mother.

Back to Church

Father Acker was on vacation or at different meetings during August. Today was the first Healing Service in a month. This crucifix icon graces the wall behind the altar in tiny, single-pewed Victoria Chapel. I really missed my liturgy-fix and am very glad to be back to Anglican services.

Kids' Favorite Dinner

The kids loooove "snacky dinnners" in which we provide a variety of finger foods, in this case: ham and salami slices; cheddar and jack cheeses; three kinds of crackers; watermelon, cantaloup, and apple slices; baby carrots; olives, and various dips and peanut butter (for crackers, apples, and carrots). Sometimes we'll bake some frozen rolled tacos, mini-pizzas, or something similar. We don't do this dinner very often because it takes so long to prepare, but the kids ADORE it and were willing to help Keith prepare all the plates of food. The laughter and fun around the table almost makes all that chopping and slicing worth it.

"Paws Up!"

E and T have been training Dash to "put 'em up" on command. T demonstrates Dash's new trick by telling him, "Paws up!" And the doggie rolls over and puts up his teensy paws in surrender. It's the cutest thing!

J at Piano

He may not ADORE learning to play the piano, but he's amazingly good at it, and although he may not admit it, he secretly enjoys it.

Labor Day Pool Party

Keith and I attended the annual Labor Day Pool Party at the Reynolds'. Most of the core church families were there, and we spent a great deal of time in the pool and enjoying tamales and other great Mexican food, along with a spectacular sunset.



Gorgeous sunset from over the Reynolds' pool...



My two best pals from church, Kitty and Diana, who look stunning after spending most of the evening in the pool. They're always loads of fun besides being simply wonderful friends who have cleaned my toilets and cared for my kids when I've been ill. We thoroughly enjoyed the cool of the pool (photo of pool at my regular blog site) -- and with temps above 100 today, the pool was definitely the place to be.

More Puppy Love....

On the way home from church, we ventured out of the air-conditioned van into the 105 degree heat in order to get Dash more dog food. Our kids adore the Animal Jungle pet store in Alpine; it's family-owned and operated (i.e., not part of a huge chain), and the owner has been a wonderful resource for us. E purchased Ronald, her rat, here, and we are happy to spend an extra two dollars for the dog food and support a family-owned business. The store also has pets availble for adoption, and the owner always encourages us to open the cages and love on the critters. I fell for a long-haired red dachshund/cocker mix while J favored an adorable chihuahua mix. But this tri-terrier jumped right out of the cage and into E's arms. If she had had $225 in her pocket, I think we would have added a second dog to the family today....

Saturday: The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down

Finally, after three days of humidity worthy of Miami and afternoons of dry thunder and lightning, the rain poured out of the sky at last. Our front porch steps were inundated and puddles quickly formed around the yard, some of which are still here 24 hours later. And it's clouding up again this afternoon; we're keeping our fingers crossed for more of the wet stuff.

Welcome, rain!