Yesterday's trip

So this is what 7:00 a.m. looks like. I had forgotten.

Happy trails to me, till we meet again...

We're off to the airport soon. This has been the best visit, and has introduced me to several new things, including:

Wearing scarves.
Okay, not a first this trip, but I really got used to it. I like it. I was even given a handmade scarf in beautiful bright colors. Thanks Pat!

Low-rise jeans.
Really? Really. "Stretch," "Low-Rise" and "Boot Cut" are three words I never expected to see on clothing I enjoyed, but there you have it. Thanks Lisa!

Martinis. And daiquiris.
Well, it's always good to try new things. And now I'm free to go ahead and have a beer and not wonder. Thanks anyway, Scott!

Meeting strange men I hang out with on the Internet.
This went so well I might branch out next time and try some women. Some of them are pretty strange too. Thanks guys!

Okay, zipping suitcases now.

Unearthed

It's really kind of stunning that blogging works so well for me, because I have stacks and stacks of pretty, fabric-covered or cheap, department-store journals and blank books, all of them started with the best of intentions and 95% of them 90% empty.

And you can ask anyone I'm related to about letter-writing. So not my thing.

I recently came across a particularly lovely little blank book given to me by Mom. It's probably got 200 pages in it, of which three are used.

The first page is the best. It's about Robin. It says:

"As far as a leaf can blow"

- Talking about how far away Annie lives now that she moved to her new house
1/02 3 years old

Join the Fun!

This morning's topic was "leverage" and, when the Geek Squad failed to respond, Lisa stepped up and explained it admirably (with, of course, some appropriate visual aids).

We were, however, left with one bit of unfinished business. We are now accepting Internet submissions on the following topic:

Offer an example that helps illustrate the phrase "In theory, but not in practice."

Keep an eye on these two

Their father is an engineer.

They're already bilingual.

And now they're coming to terms with a family that gets excited over Venn diagrams, leaps from the dinner table to fetch visual aids, and silences hecklers with the words, "okay, heliocentrist."

All because a child uttered those fateful words..."what's an album?"

Underneath it all

You know that ad on TV? For the "recently discovered" new supply of silver coins? Morgan silver dollars or some such?

It led to a casual conversation about the price of gold which, I gather has risen rather sharply in recent years, with the decline of economies or currencies...but that's not really the point of the story.

The point is Lisa's observation that, in the end, it all just comes down to rocks.

And my counter observation that, really, what else have we got?

Furniture Building

Okay, everybody go take the Book Quiz

You're A Prayer for Owen Meany!

by John Irving

Despite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS!

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

By way of the most awesome Christina

A Flannel Among Men

Composed at a Traffic Light

There once was a blogger named Jen
Who used to just post now and then
Then Blog365
Said, "Keep NaBlo alive,
And we'll post till the ether cries 'When'."

Past Life Experience

I spent the day cleaning out a lot of items I had stored at Mom & Dad's house, which it is clear we won't be needing in the near future, and which were taking up far too much space for the value they had.

There was lots to get rid of, and a few things to keep. And something nice to share as well.

This is my wee little baby self, back in 1969.


This is my grandmother (Dad's mother) in the early 1930s. She was born in 1900, so in this picture she was a couple years younger than I am now.


Here she is at age 12. I can see myself in her here. (Click any of these for a much larger view.)


She wrote on the back of this photo: "May be my father's group before his marriage to my mother. W.E. Boyd played banjo. Don't recognize this." Still. Cool picture, no?


There is no date on this photo, but the folks are identified as Andrew Boyd and Family: Ellen Adeline Boyd, Andrew Beebe Boyd (Uncle Kit), William Edwin Boyd, Adeline Boyd Leerert (Aunt Tat), and Billy Us Dog.


And my favorite one is this. My great grandfather, William Edwin Boyd, at the age of 22 months. This photo is carefully labeled on the back with his name, birth date (December 4, 1861) and the date of the photo (October 9, 1863). This formal portrait was taken in sepia, of course, and carefully painted to show his exquisite pink dress and his luscious golden curls. I love it.

Text messaging

Mom and I wanted to stop at a particular place for lunch on our way home from the retreat this afternoon.

Unfortunately, the directions to the place weren't clear, and we ended up getting there very close to closing time (for lunch service anyway).

Knowing that we might need an alternative, I watched as we drove through the small town of Kenansville, and noticed a sign for the oh-so-suitably named "A Change of Venue" Café.

When the place we were heading for was not only closed, but locked up tight and deserted, we headed back to A Change of Venue to try our luck there.

Was it open?

Snow!

Today's soundtrack

With a side of:

Come peek into my psyche

Last night's dream:

I'm sitting outside a house, on some steps near a street, with a friend - maybe an old high school friend? We have walked out of a party or gathering in the house behind us.

He tells me to look at the moon, which is rising. It is deep orange, just coming visible through the trees. It's rising really fast. Visibly fast. Impossibly fast.

It comes up, gets larger than the moon could ever look - say, a bit larger than a hot air balloon at pretty close range. It is orange, glowing, with shreds of mist or cloud, maybe smoke surrounding it.

It moves, at this too-fast-for-a-moonrise pace, away to the left, kind of following the street. It gets down there a ways (toward a more populated part of town), then comes back toward us.

When it gets about even with us, at treetop level over the street in front of us, it begins to change, kind burning out. There is no heat or sound, but I suggest we move away a bit, and we do.

It burns out, settles to the ground. It's smaller now, about chest high. Gray, maybe still some fading color or light. There are one or two people near it, but just interested, not panicked.

A boy is near it, looking at a large eagle that is somehow a product of the whole event. The eagle is conscious, possibly injured, or maybe just weak. It is quiet and the boy is feeding it something. He offers me a piece of whatever it is to feed to the eagle, which takes it gently.

The word "phoenix" does not occur to me at any point but, duhhhh.


....No idea what any of it means, but there you have it.

And now I'm off to my quilt retreat. I'll be back Monday. I'll post from there if I can, but the Blog365 rules totally say that it's okay to write each day and then post when one is back on the grid, so it could also go that way.

Have a good weekend!

Disney Story The First: Getting There is Half the Fun

Waiting for the train!


Riding the train!


Sleeping on the train!


Eating on the train!



Getting off at a station stop with Grandpa and missing the train!


Waiting for Grandpa and Robin to catch the next train!


Meeting the train!


Robin's-eye view of "Taking the Train to Disney World"!

Teaser

Wow. Got late all of a sudden and no post yet for today. Believe it or not, I STILL have not seen the Disney photos, which is why you-all haven't seen any either.

Tell you what. I'll post the very first one tonight, and then go through them tomorrow and regale you with Disneyania tomorrow.

Here are the girls saying goodbye to me the day they left.

Okay, we have a question

So Lisa and Dad and the girls and I are sitting around talking. Robin is looking at the pictures on my blog and comes to the chocolate covered potato chips. Both girls are intrigued, and the issue is discussed. (They weren't around to experience the reality, so it's news to them.)

Inevitably, the conversation turned to food combinations that (unlike the chocolate potato chips) make you go "hmmmm."

But we're having trouble getting...disturbing enough. So, naturally, I thought of you, my dear Internet.

Here are the rules:

There's only one rule.

Identify two foods that you like, individually, but which would be disturbing if combined.

We can't find anything that doesn't work with peanut butter. Pidomon's peanut butter & bacon sandwich raised no eyebrows in this camp.

Dad's best effort is mayonnaise and orange juice, but this is my blog and I say condiments are a cop-out. He's just gone to get his Master Grocery List for inspiration.

Lisa is currently in the lead with tuna fish and pistachio pudding, but we're hoping that you, Internet, will really knock our socks off.

Haircut, park, skating

What is it with me and the captionless photos?

I do not know.

A walk in the park...and a little experimentation