Sometimes you have to get away

It has been an intense summer.

We needed a break.

Our usual summer holiday with cousins became a fall visit.

It was different to be in Northern Ohio in the fall,

 when buckeye trees are heavy with buckeyes.

 We explored a changing landscape, half late summer and half early fall.

 There were adventures,

some of which involved being really high up.

There were expeditions to see interesting things.

There were fine meals and euchre games on the porch of the lakehouse.

 But mostly there was the lake.

The early morning walk

 wandering wet-footed down the sand,

And the afternoon sitting on the beach 

being soothed by waves.

Morning at the Lake House

The sun is just coming up when I leave the lovely Lake House

 where everyone else is still sleeping.

 I can't resist the call of the lake at the end of the street.

 I want to put my feet in the cool water and have waves wash against my ankles.

 It's a lovely morning to walk along the beach.

The "Blue Moon" from last night's beach walk is still in the morning sky.

After I admire the various shells, feathers, driftwood and stones that the waves splash against, I look up

and there is someone who has come to tell me that  everyone else is now awake 

and it is time for the activities of the day to begin!

Wetland Walking

A visit to the Bloomingtonauts invariably involves interesting walks.

 There is a near-by park

 where our knowledgeable guide

 introduces us to the disappearing Lake Jackson.

There are birds and frogs and turtles and alligators 

and the morning is full of songs and calls.

 Another morning we walk through a swamp

 where trees grow straight out of the water

 and from our elevated walkway we can spot sleeping bears...

and panthers and wolves and foxes,

 and even more exotic characters.

 When it rains, we find a wet walk inside

at the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory.

Here one can plunge a hand into a tank and touch weird life forms

although some are marked "Do Not Touch".

 The Bloomingtonauts have given us a view of a fantastically

different ecosystem from our Indiana home.

Somehow the spring turtles in the water retention pond at the retirement home 

aren't quite as exciting as they used to be.

Going to Nashville

 Brand new shoes?
Must be going somewhere?


Yes, a weekend trip to Nashville, Tennessee

to meet up with these folks:

some of whom we hadn't seen in about 47 years.

And since we were in "Music City"

 we naturally checked out guitars

 at the world famous Gruhn's guitar store.

 With great restraint, this guitarist only played one of the fabulous instruments there.

After all, we had more to see and do!

Dinners! Excursions! Tours!

The Pledge Class of 1965, along with a couple of Big Brothers, had a fine time.

(This picture taken just before the portrait of Roy Acuff fell off the mantle on their heads.)

Couldn't visit Nashville without going to the Opry, right?

 Wooooheeee!

You will be glad to know that these are the souvenirs I didn't bring back for you. 

(But if you really want one,  let me know...)

All it takes to make me happy...

It's really very easy to make me happy. It doesn't take much. Let's see...

there should be a lovely condo on an island,

pleasant company to share it,

lots of good food to eat,

oh, and cake!  Birthday cake!

And don't forget something fizzy to drink.

There should be an ocean with a beach and bare feet to feel the sand and the water.

AND there should be music,

lots and lots of music!

And we need a picture of everyone all together!

Get over there on the balcony, everyone.

I'll just put the camera up here...oops...

it fell over that time.

Let's try again.

I'll just get a little help setting it up.

Yup, this'll work.

See?  Everyone all together!

Happy Mother's Day weekend!

Happy birthday weekend!

I'm happy.

Wasn't that easy?

Where it all began

More years ago than you can believe, I was a young college graduate without a clue what I wanted to do.

By sheer happenstance I ended up in Louisville Kentucky with a job at the Louisville Free Public Library.

It just so happened that LFPL was the last of the great apprenticeship libraries.  This means that they hired clueless young people and TRAINED them to be librarians.  

I was incredibly fortunate.

My boss and teacher and mentor was one of the giants of the children's librarianship field.   Barbara S. Miller    was an incredible lady who inspired me to get my MLS and spend my working career in the field of children's services.  She introduced me to storytelling, which has been one of the most rewarding and continuing aspects of my work.  I am still inspired and instructed by the precepts she taught me, and if you ever would like to hear more about that and have a few hours to spare just ask...

So, forty-some years later The Incredible Accommodating Man and I took a quick day trip back to Louisville and stopped by the main branch of the library where I worked.

 Much has changed, both in the library and in the inner city around it, but these are still the steps I climbed every morning to go to work.

 And then these stairs to the old old children's room.

But it all has changed.

The "new" children's room which opened  on the main level just before I left LFPL was flooded and the area is now an auditorium.

The current children's room and collection is all new-new since the forced remodeling and is in the opposite wing.  

We didn't have time to go up to the history collection to look for old photos and records. 

It was still somehow very satisfying to return to the place where my career began.