Granddad's month

It's been a fine month for Granddad.

 He harvested a handful of vegetables.

 Between the drought and the heat and the confinement of containers, his entire crop became miniatures.

Tiny but tasty.

 He got to watch people work.  Lots of people.  Many of them more than once.

Some had to come back to undo the damage the next one had done.

 He had puzzles to work, thanks to a nephew he hadn't heard from in years who sent some tricky ones.

Best of all - he had his own company - his brother, brother's son and brother's son-in-law.

Lots of good food and conversation.

We all heard some stories we hadn't heard before and some new versions of ones we had heard.

Yup.  All in all it was a good month for Granddad.

Lotus weekend

It is a special time, the annual Lotus World Music Festival.

One that we are delighted to share with company.

 We were thrilled to have cousins here for this musical weekend.

It wasn't all music.

 We also had fresh corn from the Farmer's Market.

And fantastic dinners downtown.

But it also wasn't all eating.

What else?

Shopping - there was a shopping trip to Brown County.

Talking - lots of conversation.

Of course there were two nights of music.

And very fine music it was, too.

Another note to the universe

Dear Universe,

There is a small matter I would like to bring up.

Don't think I'm complaining.   Haven't I been a good sport all day dealing with no running water?  A day with no water is just a minor inconvenience after all.  Didn't I plan ahead when it rained yesterday and catch all the drips from the broken gutter in a bucket?   Wasn't I clever in using the water from the dehumidifier to clean up that little accident on the floor? 

So what were you thinking when you arranged for the incident with the toilet?  Actually I thought  "exploding toilet" was just a colorful expression.   Ha.  (You can insert some colorful expressions here)

Tell you what.  Let's assume that I pass the stress test and lay off it for a while, okay?  At least until the walls and floor and basement ceiling and carpet dry off.

Respectfully,
TL

"Going through" a house

The cousins met to "go through" Edie's house.

This is a traditional activity following a funeral, and like the funeral it was an occasion to swap stories and catch up.

With all of us together we could discuss the old photo albums and establish who was who in the family.

 Each of us wanted some of the old pictures that graced the stairway.

 So we talked about Edie and the family and collected bits and pieces to carry away.

 "Going through" is a pretty accurate descriptor.  Besides the pictures, we went through drawers and closets.

I was impressed with Edie's organization and neatness. 

Hope I get things in as good an order before anyone looks through my things!

 We found old letters and read them.

 We went through old books, and here two cousins are surprised to find both their father's names inscribed in the same engineering text.  

Mindful of the next generation "going through" my house, I only carried home a few treasures.

Small things, but they will be indeed treasured, along with my memories of Edie.

Standing on the porch

For years we've taken pictures on the steps and porch of this house:

It was the home of Fellmer and Caroline, my great aunt and uncle, and their daughter Edie.

After about 1982, it was just Edie's house.

We all loved the address number: 2222.

Might have been the easiest one in the whole family to remember.

We gathered there for many occasions.

Sometimes the group was too big to fit on the porch, and we spilled out onto the front yard, and sometimes out of the picture.

We took pictures after sad occasions and happy ones.

Every visit called for a picture.

We all had our picture taken on the porch. Taken with Edie - who didn't really like having her picture taken. Still, she gamely posed for picture after picture on the porch. Then she carefully put each picture in an album.

Last fall we took this one with Edie when she invited cousins from her father's side of the family for a mini-reunion.

The Huntington cousin from her mother's side took this one in November.

We didn't know these would be the last ones with Edie.

This weekend we took some more pictures on the porch.

Four cousins from each side of Edie's family...but no Edie.

Four cousins who had NEVER all been together before, all with stories to tell and family histories to recount. So it was sad, but also happy.

We'll miss the house. We'll miss the porch. We'll miss our funny, eccentric Edie.

But the pictures and stories will go on.

This weekend will take its place in family accounts.