tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52047403451408152422024-03-17T23:03:05.167-04:00Commonplace Beauty Photographybarbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.comBlogger580125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-8032389582572715422015-11-17T13:51:00.000-05:002015-11-17T13:51:33.755-05:00What happens next?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m waiting for the dust to settle and for my life to return
to “normal” although I’m not sure that will ever really happen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More than a month ago, my husband Greg had a stroke that
caused a fall down a flight of stairs and a subsequent ambulance ride to the
hospital where he remained for almost four weeks. His condition was very complicated and while
the stroke was the immediate problem, there were other health issues that made
his treatment exceptionally difficult and, well, complicated. While it was a truly awful time for Greg, it
was also a harrowing time for me, our kids and our family and friends. When he was finally moved to a rehab
hospital, we thought that he was beginning to heal, but on November 1, he
succumbed to another stroke and passed away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We scheduled our memorials for this past weekend with
calling hours on Saturday and a memorial service at our church on Sunday
afternoon. I was astounded by the number
of people who came to offer their condolences and to share their memories of
Greg. People came from all areas of his
life, including family from near and far, high school friends, his friends and
fellow workers from New England Electric Service and National Grid, our
steadfast church friends, our Walker Pond neighbors and other local friends, his
much loved biker pals, and even a server at an area restaurant who saw the
obituary in the newspaper and wanted to let us know that she remembered that Greg
had always greeted her by name and made her feel like a friend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But that’s just the way he was. He was not a perfect man by any means and
there were times over our 35 plus years together when he drove me absolutely
nuts. But, in many ways, he was larger
than life. People mentioned over and
over that they will remember how he loved to laugh. So many mentioned that when they first met
him, they felt they were immediately in the company of a friend. He was always the life of the party, always
one of the smartest guys in the room and always careful about caring for his
family and friends and was never shy about letting them know how much they
meant to him. He was a hugger. And he loved to sing, serving as primary
tenor in the Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church choir for more than
twenty years. He will be hugely missed
by so many, not just me, Carrie, Evan and Olive, the pug.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In personality, Greg was the opposite of me as I tend to be socially awkward, introverted and shy. Maybe that’s why we
got along so well all these years. We
did complement each other in many ways.
But right now, I am keenly aware that the support and love I am feeling
from friends and family are really a gift from Greg who never hesitated to make
a friend or to celebrate with family.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am going to try to move forward, to start picking up my
camera again and to dip my toes back into the blogging world. Bear with me as I try to find my way.</span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com92tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-71448164220364155592015-10-12T10:00:00.000-04:002015-10-12T10:00:31.715-04:00Finding the New Normal…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A little over a week ago, my husband Greg became quite ill. He had been battling a couple of things, but
it seems everything came to a head on Monday morning at 1 am and we made a trip
to the Emergency Room. He remains in the
hospital at this point while the doctors try to figure out what’s going
on. While he is there, I am a little bit
lost in Limbo and my powers of concentration seem to have gone on
vacation. So, long story short, I am going
to be taking a little break from my blog until the dust settles and we find our
new normal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My best to all of you who have been following me through
these years. I hope to be back before
too long.</span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-90116405768422470052015-09-24T13:45:00.001-04:002015-09-24T13:45:37.076-04:00A Good PEI Fence Revisited… <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Around this time last year, Greg, Olive the pug and I took a
wonderful drive up to Prince Edward Island and stayed in a beautiful cottage. Behind the cottage was a field of Queen Anne’s
Lace held back by a rustic fence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After we returned to our hum-drum lives, I believe I
threatened to blog about the Queen Anne’s Lace at some length. Well, knowing how way leads on to way, I
never did manage to get back to it.
There were so many less-traveled roads to go down. (Sorry, Mr. Frost!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, because I haven’t spent a lot of time with my camera
since my return from Ohio and consequently don’t have recent fences to post, I
have gone back into my archives and am pulling out a few pics from PEI of that
fabulous field of Queen Anne’s Lace held back by that rustic fence and here they
are.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNadbYHoR0od2z268vxozpT_nSujNFmkveWrOW_9oRaNVEq71bNyPAsFDVyOC9C9oLu5G0RtDBFg96PRxk4yE4ObIRIo5UZsmfW_nfRALZZbmYIB_x5rK_YLyDGo-dy6zs-tPyl8VAlWDv/s1600/PEITrip_SD1+553pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNadbYHoR0od2z268vxozpT_nSujNFmkveWrOW_9oRaNVEq71bNyPAsFDVyOC9C9oLu5G0RtDBFg96PRxk4yE4ObIRIo5UZsmfW_nfRALZZbmYIB_x5rK_YLyDGo-dy6zs-tPyl8VAlWDv/s640/PEITrip_SD1+553pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZg_pudJ1q80Vum8XXczTM9ZcZF1JuhyphenhyphenrAbK6FKqs5cNucOZvRqWqbW4WmbCJxE7qnIYpWJ1KxRD9_C8O5jPG4cWt7vfeD3Oish0giFlHEB46jCZ0FNi-UVGYP0wLPQ7oWg5fkGgzJyzo/s1600/PEITrip_SD1+556pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZg_pudJ1q80Vum8XXczTM9ZcZF1JuhyphenhyphenrAbK6FKqs5cNucOZvRqWqbW4WmbCJxE7qnIYpWJ1KxRD9_C8O5jPG4cWt7vfeD3Oish0giFlHEB46jCZ0FNi-UVGYP0wLPQ7oWg5fkGgzJyzo/s640/PEITrip_SD1+556pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Believe it or not, I have many more photos on my
hard drive of these flowers and that fence.
It was such a beautiful sight. Well,
despite that fact that way leads onto way, I may well be unable to resist taking the road back.</span></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Linking to The Run*A*Round Ranch's <a href="http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/2015/09/good-fences-79.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;">Good Fences</span></a>!</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22%20http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/13317117563_c095d0b958_q.jpg%22/%3E%3C/a%3E" target="_blank"><a href="http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/"><img src=" http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/13317117563_c095d0b958_q.jpg" /></a></a></span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-36718574187935329602015-09-18T16:00:00.000-04:002015-09-18T16:00:11.444-04:00Willy-nilly Friday 5: Going Home...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spent last weekend in Middletown, Ohio, where I grew up. My mother was recently moved to assisted living and after a huge amount of work by my sisters and brothers, we had an estate sale last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here are some of my observations about the
event.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. My mother had a lot of stuff. Here’s a photo of a table full of her stuff
on the second day of the sale. There were other tables full of stuff throughout the house. We sold a lot of this stuff. There was
twice as much as this there the day before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the end, almost all of this kind of stuff sold, but this didn’t
sell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think that is a statement about how people
live today. An almost flawless service for 12, this china was a bargain, but
people just don’t entertain formally these days. Heck, I can’t remember ever eating off of
these dishes so we weren’t so formal either.
Or else my mother lived in fear that something might happen to them…no
clue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This didn't sell during the sale either.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can’t tell you how many people came through
and said what a nice piano this is. “It’s
yours!” I’d say. “Nah,” they’d say. “Don’t have the space for it…can’t play
anyhow… already have a keyboard.” But,
lucky for us, I believe that it has been claimed at this point. Happy playing to whoever got it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. This is the house I grew up in. We moved there from upstate New York in 1956 when I was almost three so it is really the only house I remember as a child. I have three brothers and three sisters, but
we managed to fit somehow. Well, my
father added this room and that room as the family got bigger. There is a large great room on the back that
is not visible from the street and at one time, the basement was fixed up and
my sister Cindy and I had bedrooms down there.
My nephew Neil is sprucing it up on the inside, then it is going on the
market.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we moved in, the house had no garage and
very little landscaping. In fact, the
yard was mostly mud. But over the years
and with lots of work, the yard got nicer.
That huge pine tree in the front yard was our Christmas tree that my
father planted after the holidays were over.
I don’t think he ever thought it would get that big or he would have
planted it further away from the house.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. One of the features of a ranch house is the
hallway. For whatever reason, my father
started taking pictures of us coming out of the doors in the hallway. Here are a few:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This one was probably taken in 1957. Left to right: That's me, Judy, Susan and Cindy.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-2jX78wIjYMCPpBNgvGe9nGX-ZyjAA1Ohgae5VU2Nmdn-3BTJQJ7FHxyxwm3EWf18GI1P6zPq7P3HVSuLFpTyAFOLv-TPSRPzEYrnATbU2CutTKm2WogH7azBeLUiwbOQAzZTADK7trn/s1600/125954628_6e88db3399_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-2jX78wIjYMCPpBNgvGe9nGX-ZyjAA1Ohgae5VU2Nmdn-3BTJQJ7FHxyxwm3EWf18GI1P6zPq7P3HVSuLFpTyAFOLv-TPSRPzEYrnATbU2CutTKm2WogH7azBeLUiwbOQAzZTADK7trn/s640/125954628_6e88db3399_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here we added my brother Mark to the mix. Left to right: Judy, Cindy, Mark, Susan and me looking kind of maniacal.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBkQS9KUHZdCCHfYYOCpXHh2BH5AnsLnyF17uU8w16AbVlyqgwGAKhM1AcLqtMociCOe9MNClSJcFOoGALp3KFsvS77Z7m5gnsDrcEDnnJGxU7vwos730EprxDtsbOhFqQQ9SX7U9G7Ts/s1600/125980962_72e1056dd3_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBkQS9KUHZdCCHfYYOCpXHh2BH5AnsLnyF17uU8w16AbVlyqgwGAKhM1AcLqtMociCOe9MNClSJcFOoGALp3KFsvS77Z7m5gnsDrcEDnnJGxU7vwos730EprxDtsbOhFqQQ9SX7U9G7Ts/s640/125980962_72e1056dd3_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Daddy needed to focus a little better on this one or else we weren't being cooperative, but brother Rob was added to this one. Left to right standing: Judy, Cindy, Susan (sans head) and me. Mark is on the left on the floor and there's Rob.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx21vM81wukfgtpsCT7tBFsCltTFjpT-BkPGVC6TmGpJUYB4vGjTTH-YqNW7eoljoBMzUgKaQm-wVt3QYhbp3qOfAwWu58LY6tMyQq5VwSaWZdJTFvIbZfq2SoBDCvIxCoK-ViCofC5bl/s1600/2725783285_9dd7da5142_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx21vM81wukfgtpsCT7tBFsCltTFjpT-BkPGVC6TmGpJUYB4vGjTTH-YqNW7eoljoBMzUgKaQm-wVt3QYhbp3qOfAwWu58LY6tMyQq5VwSaWZdJTFvIbZfq2SoBDCvIxCoK-ViCofC5bl/s640/2725783285_9dd7da5142_o.jpg" width="548" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This photo was taken in 2008 and is the only one that includes all of us. Any of you with large families know how hard it is to get everyone together in one spot. Left to right: Cindy, Susan, Rob, me, Jay and Judy. Mark is kneeling</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil_kGNQIYFopBIUM0Ju95EJuNDpwPBkKz2IfICg3qo7prnqEy9T0wamVBZIcM9-g2SxMGQUH6t7T6d_tkNYC-tZ8JEwc8sAWCldZuo54C8Ad3ICo8BtaL3TPUJjcLXVl8vRY4pl6oN9KW1/s1600/2008_hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil_kGNQIYFopBIUM0Ju95EJuNDpwPBkKz2IfICg3qo7prnqEy9T0wamVBZIcM9-g2SxMGQUH6t7T6d_tkNYC-tZ8JEwc8sAWCldZuo54C8Ad3ICo8BtaL3TPUJjcLXVl8vRY4pl6oN9KW1/s640/2008_hall.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And we took one last one this past weekend in the almost empty house. Unfortunately, Jay was not around. Left to right: Cindy, Rob, me, Susan, Jude and Mark.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4J7o-hz_Ij4Fq8rsKTCfIJGxnnj8IdfeMAgJW3uCppwZ98MZAmM3lNTVRbxuoKdwWzClGabau-Ekem8M-YGrR-DX1grvJV4PJ7_nXJeej5LkuCRSaAT3RNjN39fRLepjoQI4xugR6glxO/s1600/9_15_15MTown+034pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4J7o-hz_Ij4Fq8rsKTCfIJGxnnj8IdfeMAgJW3uCppwZ98MZAmM3lNTVRbxuoKdwWzClGabau-Ekem8M-YGrR-DX1grvJV4PJ7_nXJeej5LkuCRSaAT3RNjN39fRLepjoQI4xugR6glxO/s640/9_15_15MTown+034pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. As a person who really cherishes my alone time,
I spent the nights in a local hotel. It
was nice to be able to get back there and collapse on the bed at the end of the
day. But I did get the wonderful opportunity
to see my friend Gloria, who dropped by the house and brought these from the<span style="color: #f4cccc;">
<a href="http://www.bonbonerie.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #f4cccc;">BonBonerie Pastry Shop</span></a> </span>in Cincinnati so we could keep our energy levels up. As tempting as it was, I couldn't bite into that owl. My sister Judy had no such compunction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our friends Ruby and Mark brought us gourmet lunches
each day giving us a nice, relaxing break.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCNuKfvvhz3n1rcJCYIA3bTd1GZLq7h4bWxR0CqY_3h5a4fCnGOuUximuqELF6RPS-tNlzneoT41I-QEj9tAQxk6x6WBryeLI4g12K8z8OVpRMzOKhmRH2KsbQKE6KR4K5W7xoUIOrQwIM/s1600/20769533964_128927ca58_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCNuKfvvhz3n1rcJCYIA3bTd1GZLq7h4bWxR0CqY_3h5a4fCnGOuUximuqELF6RPS-tNlzneoT41I-QEj9tAQxk6x6WBryeLI4g12K8z8OVpRMzOKhmRH2KsbQKE6KR4K5W7xoUIOrQwIM/s640/20769533964_128927ca58_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And I got to see my friends Dona and Joanne who
both married men named Bob. We got some
pretty good laughs in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Seeing my mother
in her new place was not such a good time as she continues to be rather
unsettled, but we did have a pleasant visit and I am glad she is in a nice, safe place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. And finally, because this has gone on way too
long, we had fantastic weather the whole time and I had great weather to get
home. The Accuweather app on my phone didn’t agree but I have proof. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Someone suggested that I had accidentally keyed in some other Middletown, but I checked. Maybe Accuweather keyed in some other Middletown.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSfWUG1DAYvXZ_bd3uS1lf5c-XIN8h2PMeLQik652fWiCl5QwXEu-A2m7jbmz2SLv7LcUKGyC7XFXCHFlto97Kgt32wGsEpDTS-IGC26nBarovPZyzIldyGrO2bat5nNZf6ha9wjJnMQbo/s1600/WeatherAppCollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSfWUG1DAYvXZ_bd3uS1lf5c-XIN8h2PMeLQik652fWiCl5QwXEu-A2m7jbmz2SLv7LcUKGyC7XFXCHFlto97Kgt32wGsEpDTS-IGC26nBarovPZyzIldyGrO2bat5nNZf6ha9wjJnMQbo/s640/WeatherAppCollage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Linking to Tanya's <a href="http://monroega.blogspot.com/2015/09/willy-nilly-friday-5-no-53-sunset.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Willy-nilly Friday 5</span></a>!</h2>
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<div align="center">
<a href="http://monroega.blogspot.com/" title="Around Roanoke"><img alt="Around Roanoke" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a110/breese823/willnilly_zps3e671d87.jpg" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-71741204947017591252015-09-09T10:45:00.003-04:002015-09-09T10:47:44.818-04:00More of the Blues…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am continuing my 52 Week Project – 52 Weeks of Blue – but it
hasn’t always been easy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Week 31 was a challenge so out came my blue
marbles. I decided to manipulate the photo by
layering a copy of the inverted photo on top to create the bright shadows. I messed with it for quite a while, but eventually liked the way it looked.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlDis8-cfT7CZLKXbLa23fpw8boenBUeR8lCIJ5XydBVXx64kbQQOm4diWZf8Y3jSbI4L-IXNM_Q4RGHoRXOWmIpJpKvoBe25CKdPNpd2Lzin3Tdqg5IMud2-nfi6esvKX3o4vuojs3Sx/s1600/7_31_15BLue+041pic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlDis8-cfT7CZLKXbLa23fpw8boenBUeR8lCIJ5XydBVXx64kbQQOm4diWZf8Y3jSbI4L-IXNM_Q4RGHoRXOWmIpJpKvoBe25CKdPNpd2Lzin3Tdqg5IMud2-nfi6esvKX3o4vuojs3Sx/s640/7_31_15BLue+041pic1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We were in Vermont during Week 32 and I came
across this rustic old blue door in downtown Rutland. I think it has a lot of character.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We actually passed this old place in Brimfield,
Massachusetts, home of the famous <a href="https://brimfieldantiquefleamarket.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Brimfield Flea Market</span></a>, on our way home from
Vermont and I made a special trip back there to take a photo of this old door
for Week 33. This used to be Joe’s
Package Store, but it is obviously closed these days. I’m glad they didn’t tear it down until I had
a chance to snap at it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Brimfield Flea is going on as I type this right now. While it wreaks havoc in our town traffic-wise and in the local hotels and restaurants, it is a fun experience, which I often liken to going through your old aunt's attic. Not that I've ever had an old aunt with an attic full of treasures, but some of you must have.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-LZND19UOLkAY9vYiGM7ygtqKMTbz-aqKmVfDq3TZb_ljuUIKAzIytAgbVKEUa49lJhAfAqvmPrB6W12hq5f8XejoXu6Pq0AyUZSdhyMAhwQdYFdITMUN6t_jesKCxAcgGII9mIYDQzH/s1600/8_12_15Blue+005pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-LZND19UOLkAY9vYiGM7ygtqKMTbz-aqKmVfDq3TZb_ljuUIKAzIytAgbVKEUa49lJhAfAqvmPrB6W12hq5f8XejoXu6Pq0AyUZSdhyMAhwQdYFdITMUN6t_jesKCxAcgGII9mIYDQzH/s640/8_12_15Blue+005pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Week 34 was a busy one for us and it culminated
in a trip to Bangor, Maine for a wedding.
I thought it would be easy to find something blue on that trip, but when
I looked through my photos, this was the best I could come up with. It was a disappointing blue week.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtSrlpgQk8xyMLldXBvs6hQ1loEmiSfXKCSHow-TwIpvNfulN_3jFzfq3NewLB0lWC-EiO3uFN-njp2sTUUj-OQZEvbu4SBqoAlQHK9Z42y6qWcYnoP2DknCh36SGkzRUPnKvMphZxFET/s1600/8_34_15WP_Maine+242pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtSrlpgQk8xyMLldXBvs6hQ1loEmiSfXKCSHow-TwIpvNfulN_3jFzfq3NewLB0lWC-EiO3uFN-njp2sTUUj-OQZEvbu4SBqoAlQHK9Z42y6qWcYnoP2DknCh36SGkzRUPnKvMphZxFET/s640/8_34_15WP_Maine+242pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had to get creative with Week 35, too. I have a lot of blue glass and took some
pictures of a few pieces of it in the bright sunlight. I wasn’t pleased with any of the results, but
started messing with this one and layered a photo of flowers on top of it. I like the idea, but I think I will play with
it a little more in the future and see if I can do it better.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizYNAQ3wA7l8p9VX1B5kPfuEUXx8lEIhjuRuTgj0wQpPzJ6aqv8nXTuThhlywum44Vk7KVy5qf6V560_9ihUT-O_fFClw0wrnj4cAFMwObNU4b1q_TthQQN_k7a_RyFimIQcMa0zUvhPC9/s1600/8_28_15Blue+058pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizYNAQ3wA7l8p9VX1B5kPfuEUXx8lEIhjuRuTgj0wQpPzJ6aqv8nXTuThhlywum44Vk7KVy5qf6V560_9ihUT-O_fFClw0wrnj4cAFMwObNU4b1q_TthQQN_k7a_RyFimIQcMa0zUvhPC9/s640/8_28_15Blue+058pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In other news, I'm heading to Ohio tomorrow morning to help my sisters and brothers with my mother's estate sale. They have done so much work getting ready for this, that it's the least I can do. My mother, who was very reluctant to go into assisted living, seems to have settled in at this point and has not tried to escape recently. There's no doubt that getting older isn't for the fainthearted and dealing with loved ones getting older is almost as difficult, but it is the way life goes.</span></div>
</div>
barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-67477732939480963262015-09-03T16:57:00.000-04:002015-09-03T16:57:11.300-04:00The Things You See Along the Way: Bangor Edition and One Good Fence…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m feeling a bit logy today as the effects wear off from
the anesthesia that I was subjected to this morning for my colonoscopy. But I don't think they meant computer when they told me not to operate large machinery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most of you out there who have been in my
shoes know, of course, that the colonoscopy itself is far less irritating than the prep
day before. But what gets me even more
than that is, in my case, to finish off the prep, I had to take the last dose
at 1:00 am. Then, of course, it’s a good couple of hours before you can
actually get to sleep after that. Since
my procedure was at 8:00 am, I was up at the crack of dawn and out the door on
about two and a half hours sleep.
Soooooo, if I make some mistakes here today, it’s the fatigue
speaking. BUT, I will say this, it’s all
a small price to pay to make sure that there’s nothing untoward going on in the
old plumbing down there and I'm free for another five years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">***************************************************************</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we were in Bangor in August, we didn’t have a lot of
time to look around, but if you saw my last post, you know that we did spend an
hour or so driving around town looking at stuff, which is one of my favorite
things to do.</span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was very surprised to see that The World’s Best Drunken
Noodles are served in Bangor. But my surprise was mainly because I have no idea what a “drunken
noodle” is. I’d try one though.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBVfeQP8RWOmpHAf6BIW3dKxWn2VHXmxsdGj0_X29KBgBP82wmh2pZvnxYiVsMDggqjEwkLcXYJSOdelCcYjw7F_42qIhLHS84EOdPgd91gXhZmFi7zRxGWBP2WqO3zrHRAml5KYYofOR/s1600/8_34_15WP_Maine+152pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBVfeQP8RWOmpHAf6BIW3dKxWn2VHXmxsdGj0_X29KBgBP82wmh2pZvnxYiVsMDggqjEwkLcXYJSOdelCcYjw7F_42qIhLHS84EOdPgd91gXhZmFi7zRxGWBP2WqO3zrHRAml5KYYofOR/s640/8_34_15WP_Maine+152pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like looking in people’s windows while we
drive around. But I’m not a voyeur. I don’t want to see the people who live in
these places; I’m just interested in their stuff. I liked the looks of this place with the fan
and the orchids in the window. The
building itself was nice and strong looking.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifzhHeSAxVdra3ReNpFchyHTc0emXIzvmd5S5tlqd7M9AQdP6nTwc8H_H4ZUshb0PSRj9rf70Nmlye1hEmvFxfJrYfl30LcedW9mbU4ajbNqD_ZLUr9yrFdAlRO068skaXhV-rP-k-34r4/s1600/8_34_15WP_Maine+177pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifzhHeSAxVdra3ReNpFchyHTc0emXIzvmd5S5tlqd7M9AQdP6nTwc8H_H4ZUshb0PSRj9rf70Nmlye1hEmvFxfJrYfl30LcedW9mbU4ajbNqD_ZLUr9yrFdAlRO068skaXhV-rP-k-34r4/s640/8_34_15WP_Maine+177pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In case you’re driving in Bangor and forget where
you are, I recommend driving by this sign.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu9p-huUOV4CYzXecuuaGq65evZy5cJSwPXBw2g3CRxKhz47bI1Jd_1XwyFTyBeYJW92OyLaalfBEHZ78Mw38ikepLXW0iebn63hHpQRUUrjT3Tg9NqiKh0iHwUxeEXuaZYYaNbhWh2048/s1600/8_34_15WP_Maine+183pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu9p-huUOV4CYzXecuuaGq65evZy5cJSwPXBw2g3CRxKhz47bI1Jd_1XwyFTyBeYJW92OyLaalfBEHZ78Mw38ikepLXW0iebn63hHpQRUUrjT3Tg9NqiKh0iHwUxeEXuaZYYaNbhWh2048/s640/8_34_15WP_Maine+183pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is The Thomas Hill Standpipe. “Standpipe” is just a fancy way of saying “water
tower.” According to the website <a href="http://z1073.com/10-places-every-stephen-king-fan-must-stop-while-in-bangor/" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">10Places Every Stephen King Fan Must Stop While in Bangor, Maine</span></a>, “The Thomas
Hill Standpipe served as the inspiration for the haunted and dangerous water
tower in <i>It </i>and it's said King wrote
much of the book, published in 1986, on a park bench in the small park at the
base of the tower. The Standpipe was built in 1897 and holds 1.75 million
gallons of water for the city.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <i>It </i>is one of my favorite King
books. He confirms the utter and total
creepiness of clowns in this book. I
remember <i>It </i>keeping me awake at night
when I was reading it. I couldn’t get
the line, “We all float down here” out of my head for months. Well, the line is obviously still in there even now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But I would say that even if you aren’t a fan
of Mr. King's work, this is worth a stop if you’re ever in Bangor. It is one fantastic building. Made me wish I had brought my wide angle lens
along. Oh, well…</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_QLUAbsrAqV8tR8Z0oIF5iXAu9A-PNRIXgLP6yoBdIy83QcznItPwCS4JfkAXWLaf0Ce4kMIuxyqIZYfvvnPKzflfgqux8_1fWxRmlmURVl9Sbo7daY825HxbhJXjqHacKSFB3OMlWKE/s1600/8_34_15WP_Maine+205pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_QLUAbsrAqV8tR8Z0oIF5iXAu9A-PNRIXgLP6yoBdIy83QcznItPwCS4JfkAXWLaf0Ce4kMIuxyqIZYfvvnPKzflfgqux8_1fWxRmlmURVl9Sbo7daY825HxbhJXjqHacKSFB3OMlWKE/s640/8_34_15WP_Maine+205pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg86jHGqcwObPqWBoL1nrzOUDjLnqOywahkAEmlCZKYZ8N2lx6ym4PbW64XHYMhw8iFmccHI4SNdgPxiQjAATu7pT5D2mQ72mPTARCEWdZsvZPhhmyJXnI2wNPdQZehyphenhyphenNor4r4lYNN6DQ8V/s1600/8_34_15WP_Maine+217pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg86jHGqcwObPqWBoL1nrzOUDjLnqOywahkAEmlCZKYZ8N2lx6ym4PbW64XHYMhw8iFmccHI4SNdgPxiQjAATu7pT5D2mQ72mPTARCEWdZsvZPhhmyJXnI2wNPdQZehyphenhyphenNor4r4lYNN6DQ8V/s640/8_34_15WP_Maine+217pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So that I will be able to link up with Theresa’s
<i><a href="http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/2015/09/good-fences-76.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;">Good Fences</span></a></i> today, I’m throwing in this
pic. If we had had more time, it looked
like a place that would be a very nice stop for a draft beer. Well, at least it would be on a nice day,
which it wasn’t when we were in Bangor.
And that’s why my pictures of the Standpipe (above) look like they were
converted to black and white. Nope. Those shots are in living color. It was just a black and white kind of day.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWDIcXFNfvRE-OZs2ssmgiu1puICB6R_inILnY_WNkPky9R9v679ZEyDKEwnamOVNySQC9eRt8DZ1NuyIq4l99lYryQcFpzV7lwFXopiCGWkwaYnt4ngzP-55TUanM67qV85DowFr3AeQ/s1600/8_34_15WP_Maine+158pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWDIcXFNfvRE-OZs2ssmgiu1puICB6R_inILnY_WNkPky9R9v679ZEyDKEwnamOVNySQC9eRt8DZ1NuyIq4l99lYryQcFpzV7lwFXopiCGWkwaYnt4ngzP-55TUanM67qV85DowFr3AeQ/s640/8_34_15WP_Maine+158pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-17393136354954248102015-08-27T11:38:00.001-04:002015-08-27T11:38:43.986-04:00Good Bangor Fences…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We didn’t have a lot of time to tour around Bangor, Maine
while we were in the vicinity. But we did have about an hour before we had to
get gussied up for the wedding we attended, so we drove around Bangor a little
bit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There were some beautiful houses with fences along
the main drag like this one:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMqLmluIaV7WU2AAVDlr5m7Onw-jq-JpLBSS59xN8a_ZqBWEiZ3VAkqZxaKezmAInxlQY7X2tkfZdlUnyKOJyoUTIZwJ5EqDASZLQ01IzLNEJ_rb6B_Ab4SjdQC49FocdA5ajBFoEVtod/s1600/8_34_15WP_Maine+260pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMqLmluIaV7WU2AAVDlr5m7Onw-jq-JpLBSS59xN8a_ZqBWEiZ3VAkqZxaKezmAInxlQY7X2tkfZdlUnyKOJyoUTIZwJ5EqDASZLQ01IzLNEJ_rb6B_Ab4SjdQC49FocdA5ajBFoEVtod/s640/8_34_15WP_Maine+260pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But of course, the magnum opus of all fences and
houses in Bangor is this one:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMPfc4Iub38km4ywlwYciiElRdks_QXcPUb7DSt55GQlHGNIXjTOH0wIlfuRLKtttZbT7TXhX7YLh_18DPgVaAP1MuqFQ6fSV2aTppCqyOdi_XOYUWgtNYoVf_ZfdbybK1IUrb3DlkH8Mt/s1600/8_34_15WP_Maine+267pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMPfc4Iub38km4ywlwYciiElRdks_QXcPUb7DSt55GQlHGNIXjTOH0wIlfuRLKtttZbT7TXhX7YLh_18DPgVaAP1MuqFQ6fSV2aTppCqyOdi_XOYUWgtNYoVf_ZfdbybK1IUrb3DlkH8Mt/s640/8_34_15WP_Maine+267pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the house of none other than the prolific and brilliant
writer, Stephen King. Pretty neat, eh?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3Wnr9CqurfUyi8KQL6VMeTC1PUduCHdM-MrbxQt6PYUQgKrmlquKEOqcAYCBW36iMwCJAlq_bniruVmBaoNxEhPz7aw5LdLuqVM9OX6Wwf7hYWFPFdgacq9Yazgfuv_9httglRzkrZqF/s1600/8_34_15WP_Maine+263pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3Wnr9CqurfUyi8KQL6VMeTC1PUduCHdM-MrbxQt6PYUQgKrmlquKEOqcAYCBW36iMwCJAlq_bniruVmBaoNxEhPz7aw5LdLuqVM9OX6Wwf7hYWFPFdgacq9Yazgfuv_9httglRzkrZqF/s640/8_34_15WP_Maine+263pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looks like Mr. King has a pet frog.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK69CaHtw9Od9slr_THutU_PbjK7wgMVu1p7dLhBNQdXllEQ5zQYT-46Mdss-Ty7bQ6d3F5nN-1BcnrdcNLO2RjEFzcA00OdjNBWg7w3hzJt4ph1mrUl3RY1We82NUFs1_jzE6nDv8OWA1/s1600/8_34_15WP_Maine+270pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK69CaHtw9Od9slr_THutU_PbjK7wgMVu1p7dLhBNQdXllEQ5zQYT-46Mdss-Ty7bQ6d3F5nN-1BcnrdcNLO2RjEFzcA00OdjNBWg7w3hzJt4ph1mrUl3RY1We82NUFs1_jzE6nDv8OWA1/s640/8_34_15WP_Maine+270pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Linking to The Run*A*Round Ranch's <a href="http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/2015/08/good-fences-75.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">Good Fences</span></a>!</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22%20http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/13317117563_c095d0b958_q.jpg%22/%3E%3C/a%3E" target="_blank"><a href="http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/"><img src=" http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/13317117563_c095d0b958_q.jpg" /></a></a></span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-22423715328534363332015-08-24T12:38:00.000-04:002015-08-24T12:38:13.432-04:00A Concatenation of Ephemeralities and Eons…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don’t think anyone would argue with me when I say that
life can be bittersweet. This past weekend
brought it home to me in a very personal way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Saturday, Greg, Carrie and I attended the wedding of Greg’s
cousin Anne. Although I am not linked to
her by blood, I am very happy that she is also my cousin, even if only by
marriage. She is a unique and wonderful
human. It was an honor to get to spend
this special day with her and her new husband, Peter. The
service was lovely, the bride was beautiful and the reception was a truly excellent
way to spend a summer afternoon in delightful surroundings with very congenial,
laughing people gathered to celebrate this happy new phase of Anne and Peter’s life
together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We committed to this event a while back and before I knew
that a room would become available at an assisted living facility for my 87
year old mother.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The last time I saw my
mother, it seemed clear to me that it was time for her to be cared for in a way
that was not possible for me or any of my six siblings on our own and my
understanding is that things have gotten progressively worse for her since I was
there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> But dealing with the logistics of
the whole affair was left to my siblings who live near my mother in Ohio. We live almost 800 miles away in
Massachusetts, so I am not always up on what is happening on a day to day basis
or able to contribute in a concrete, everyday way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yesterday, my wonderful siblings did what was best for my
mother who was not happy or cooperative about her situation and I have an
untold amount of gratefulness for them in my heart. They are the best!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Life is often bittersweet and the moments, both the good
ones and the bad ones, are fleeting. Although
when we are experiencing the bad moments often those moments don’t seem to be so
short-lived.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alfred E. Kahn said, “Life is a concatenation of
ephemeralities” – happenings linked together that last a very short time. To me,
that seems right most of the time. Time
does fly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last weekend in Maine was
certainly over too soon for Greg, Carrie and me. Still, while this past weekend was
technically the same number of hours both in Ohio and Maine, I’m sure the weekend
must have lasted a very, very long time for my sibs.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdhriOI6zslvct2SccBB2XcepQQMwWHvOsQjYL4VXq1OLp1wD6qQDKpD6sh4iJWL8o4rliizF243WVqQajkGlccjpfILy6fST9t374M5RO3l3AXpOcbhjXff11i7bEvssGhbkK8FkB2Ku/s1600/3_17_15SmithBulbShow+038pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdhriOI6zslvct2SccBB2XcepQQMwWHvOsQjYL4VXq1OLp1wD6qQDKpD6sh4iJWL8o4rliizF243WVqQajkGlccjpfILy6fST9t374M5RO3l3AXpOcbhjXff11i7bEvssGhbkK8FkB2Ku/s640/3_17_15SmithBulbShow+038pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-69188202333454290852015-08-17T13:38:00.000-04:002015-08-17T15:53:14.110-04:00The Things You See Along the Way in Vermont…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVL5VS0IBeBsSA_JC2ex33ttd7s_Hb2Vi_UAo2eyrJ1B9QCzQoATj1OG_gEX7FLXZJj-b1oUFsRe7-fzbpAHU8PZSURgACbGmv6-SfvZ3zxTVwnqwYwLqkHNXvZAEYV24l9wU1PhN44xAT/s1600/VT_trip+008pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVL5VS0IBeBsSA_JC2ex33ttd7s_Hb2Vi_UAo2eyrJ1B9QCzQoATj1OG_gEX7FLXZJj-b1oUFsRe7-fzbpAHU8PZSURgACbGmv6-SfvZ3zxTVwnqwYwLqkHNXvZAEYV24l9wU1PhN44xAT/s640/VT_trip+008pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you were having your yard dug up, would you
want it done by the bourgeois? When I
first saw this, it occurred to me that this might not be the best name for a
company, but then I thought about it for a little longer. The word <i>bourgeois</i>
means conventional, conservative and hide-bound and the antonyms are
adventurous, inspired and original. Yes,
if I wanted someone to dig up my yard, I’d want them to be bourgeois. I don’t think we need originality in yard
digging.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3P7VLzE9_Pwsll1QGsDUKDxI6ArEg6KVNtaaSBFPWSdQM_C0BLkDzbUF1oPPmhI6u72IMcibuA3O8L7QTY0NR3P-focJnlsinOvvomXn_tkMKbInXRfxKDLIBOVpHqAVfhtJEmZqw_S0O/s1600/VT_trip+053pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3P7VLzE9_Pwsll1QGsDUKDxI6ArEg6KVNtaaSBFPWSdQM_C0BLkDzbUF1oPPmhI6u72IMcibuA3O8L7QTY0NR3P-focJnlsinOvvomXn_tkMKbInXRfxKDLIBOVpHqAVfhtJEmZqw_S0O/s640/VT_trip+053pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ever seen one of these before? Me, either. I like the originality though, don't you?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1TgW7XB0eLtKZWquk_qLPuo_VKxghzWGMiuA4RDo5pJKdML0GQosvg_70xb_o3osCK0y8OG_9KdFkSZGRGAEK_oM6P8HOhF2_mtDBXSYkwvXnwb7xAucP8po8HVH2Eo2yRlOfyWW7-RU/s1600/VT_trip+136pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1TgW7XB0eLtKZWquk_qLPuo_VKxghzWGMiuA4RDo5pJKdML0GQosvg_70xb_o3osCK0y8OG_9KdFkSZGRGAEK_oM6P8HOhF2_mtDBXSYkwvXnwb7xAucP8po8HVH2Eo2yRlOfyWW7-RU/s640/VT_trip+136pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bears in Vermont are so refined, they wear clothes and they always recycle.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX-AMqRyHgQJb-ZEctY2iHETZAQ_8aiMt1J66D3gZAc5-xamaVV0IK9deQlEGoJGlpeZG9TTSZBCOIhoZj0P1Yts5SSZUzJrXp3RdB5X0vL_jtRW7mHmTlgS0EZ-DONAGf6CUxDZcejcN6/s1600/VT_trip+226pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX-AMqRyHgQJb-ZEctY2iHETZAQ_8aiMt1J66D3gZAc5-xamaVV0IK9deQlEGoJGlpeZG9TTSZBCOIhoZj0P1Yts5SSZUzJrXp3RdB5X0vL_jtRW7mHmTlgS0EZ-DONAGf6CUxDZcejcN6/s640/VT_trip+226pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">E</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ven without the license plate, I would have a
pretty good guess where this car has its home base. My favorite of the bunch is, “Never give up
on your dreams, unless your dreams are stupid.”
Great advice! Well, I kind of
like the “Drink Vermont Beer” one, too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But seriously, I really am already against the next war.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZCFEsmNQOAbomNBChSDc_w6mJZ3EREgfPqiWSqZUZtsa_wyNhjUGZrmGFVCuqdKwgG8RLJgp_ndUZhkCFyGbIMcJddhQkhkgZcOGbU8C8amR4kyBP3YUyaUTJw3TpFbuH2-SIsLu0N1T/s1600/VT_trip+385pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZCFEsmNQOAbomNBChSDc_w6mJZ3EREgfPqiWSqZUZtsa_wyNhjUGZrmGFVCuqdKwgG8RLJgp_ndUZhkCFyGbIMcJddhQkhkgZcOGbU8C8amR4kyBP3YUyaUTJw3TpFbuH2-SIsLu0N1T/s640/VT_trip+385pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fellow blogger Nicki (<a href="http://bendedroadphotos.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Bended Road Photos</span></a>) recently posted a
gas pump similar to this one. The difference is that the one she posted has the <a href="http://bendedroadphotos.blogspot.com/2015/08/goodrandomfun-petrol.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Esso logo</span></a> on it. Seems her father was an Esso dealer back in
the day. I am sure that fans and collectors of petroliana could point out more differences between the two pumpls besides the brand name, but to me they look like they might be of similar vintage. We ran across this pump at
Calvin Coolidge’s birthplace in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. My father owned a service station in Ohio and
was a Gulf dealer so, of course, I had to take a snap.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here’s an aside about Coolidge. An interesting thing to me about him is that
before he became president, he was mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts, where
my daughter Carrie lives and Calvin’s wife, Grace Anna Goodhue, who was a graduate of
the University of Vermont, taught at the Clarke School for the Deaf that is
located down the street from Carrie’s abode.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7BTgqZp0S49hKHkcbTZRMcDot2pqBJwAWtzlWcgoAIMmOGlMztzf1G-6oA6i7Lqb1VqY-ijd5hS8LcbP_8asQU05ahVpgU_BIxNHwCEjoKE3LHGl0Vbe_tzrSH6FDubRNzkDTQBsjdKD/s1600/VT_trip+194pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7BTgqZp0S49hKHkcbTZRMcDot2pqBJwAWtzlWcgoAIMmOGlMztzf1G-6oA6i7Lqb1VqY-ijd5hS8LcbP_8asQU05ahVpgU_BIxNHwCEjoKE3LHGl0Vbe_tzrSH6FDubRNzkDTQBsjdKD/s640/VT_trip+194pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know that the above is true but is this?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqPlSHho6J6hz9_rkwwNmCql-_qyh1MZ68DorwqUV4cI-8RhaEQVSOkyZF_tNmlEYYIH92b6GjjHGX4J695JNPjpVNwSqvGbU7l-O57F9pbVkkF7rKOPTDP2pWrpJnANQUdmn8rF56Dfh/s1600/VT_trip+196pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqPlSHho6J6hz9_rkwwNmCql-_qyh1MZ68DorwqUV4cI-8RhaEQVSOkyZF_tNmlEYYIH92b6GjjHGX4J695JNPjpVNwSqvGbU7l-O57F9pbVkkF7rKOPTDP2pWrpJnANQUdmn8rF56Dfh/s640/VT_trip+196pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">OOPS! I forgot something. As we were traveling down the road, we spied this sign:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AbBLaUt6I3FqOGPekak94hL4G9WJPS8kTQEGFqwv6qHlduTU-6KilvN20H-e-oOcfpMwg7YRJc-iS8Gk4sYZwhLPQBZk8jOkTZ5vAwrTko8bZO81jZuskJtdyIFElZbDSV8P1OzZPv53/s1600/VT_trip+446pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AbBLaUt6I3FqOGPekak94hL4G9WJPS8kTQEGFqwv6qHlduTU-6KilvN20H-e-oOcfpMwg7YRJc-iS8Gk4sYZwhLPQBZk8jOkTZ5vAwrTko8bZO81jZuskJtdyIFElZbDSV8P1OzZPv53/s640/VT_trip+446pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you may know that I fell in love with Scotland when we visited a few years back. While we were there, we visited the Isle of Skye and I wanted to buy a Skye tartan scarf because I really, really liked it. Well, long story short, I didn't buy it and have regretted it ever since. When we spied this sign, Greg turned around and let me go in to look for my Skye tartan. Now, I have it and it's beautiful! Yay!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4IVzJAO-VCs3K5Zx_wC3vqEO2O-0WP3jndUbEWduWx6FiDX1Klq0N4R91KyeRL4LAssQtJNcmVHFGXI71D2MDh5seSIaf3Ai5RAku5jLohlZYXU10Q-pHKnGa5kkcyHhrFWVV4jhjJUa/s1600/8_12_15+053pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4IVzJAO-VCs3K5Zx_wC3vqEO2O-0WP3jndUbEWduWx6FiDX1Klq0N4R91KyeRL4LAssQtJNcmVHFGXI71D2MDh5seSIaf3Ai5RAku5jLohlZYXU10Q-pHKnGa5kkcyHhrFWVV4jhjJUa/s640/8_12_15+053pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<br />
Thanks, Greg!</div>
</div>
barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-78327644372549575102015-08-14T16:09:00.000-04:002015-08-14T16:09:37.265-04:00Ilovermont, Part 2…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Grandpa Lambert worked for the Rutland
Railroad in Alburgh, Vermont, about a five minute drive from the Canadian
border. That’s where my father was born
and grew up. So my ties to Vermont are
actually blood ties. I am not sure if
that has anything to do with the fact that when I cross the border into Vermont,
I tend to decompress and feel more peaceful internally.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh88Y29oxTedPwjEcH3VtozdOOK8PaOZbD7pdIvJOeuXSM0uwWkj-dVY4KUgiBcdQYMO2HybnpjRRmhg_usyXqY1W5vXWSHbyOAuD9pQOobmorjoKpJxPQC_MLXJsbHcCprIfX92ZobUAFT/s1600/GrandpaBaseball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh88Y29oxTedPwjEcH3VtozdOOK8PaOZbD7pdIvJOeuXSM0uwWkj-dVY4KUgiBcdQYMO2HybnpjRRmhg_usyXqY1W5vXWSHbyOAuD9pQOobmorjoKpJxPQC_MLXJsbHcCprIfX92ZobUAFT/s640/GrandpaBaseball.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is a photo of my Grandpa's baseball team. George is the adult sitting on the bottom step in the front on the right. <br />I come from a long line of baseball lovers, too.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most likely, this has more to do with me feeling
good about Vermont: The largest city in
Vermont is Burlington, which is located an hour due south of Alburgh. It is a city of approximately 42, 000 people,
which makes it about the same size as the city I grew up in – Middletown, Ohio –
although Middletown does have a few more people. Burlington is the most populous city in
Vermont, while there are 17 cities larger than Middletown in Ohio. That leaves room in Vermont for a lot of this:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLzv7ekE-3Unhie-yxH4tw8zEl7gYN7U-u6sxhAhypiv66x-79N33pmUQlyzw_Hb4ynppXDj6Gd4uec3n6y6P6whG5ClfKuAeMxYwk4W9fFlnRXUezKkXx5zILDkm_7ZT-39zKeVEBUSv/s1600/VT_trip+359pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLzv7ekE-3Unhie-yxH4tw8zEl7gYN7U-u6sxhAhypiv66x-79N33pmUQlyzw_Hb4ynppXDj6Gd4uec3n6y6P6whG5ClfKuAeMxYwk4W9fFlnRXUezKkXx5zILDkm_7ZT-39zKeVEBUSv/s640/VT_trip+359pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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...and this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPuhnziTYqrEb6Ngcdyox7DX8CTD3jL3I8ovPOYBJ7qQEkDuynX7ll1dwZNGpuSepxpX99iPt4bprNagcM6zLMFPgy6Js1eUf8bz628lGTMM1q1EZSPYpMbrbvNS0d9dXthonOk5nmQCa/s1600/VT_trip+118pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPuhnziTYqrEb6Ngcdyox7DX8CTD3jL3I8ovPOYBJ7qQEkDuynX7ll1dwZNGpuSepxpX99iPt4bprNagcM6zLMFPgy6Js1eUf8bz628lGTMM1q1EZSPYpMbrbvNS0d9dXthonOk5nmQCa/s640/VT_trip+118pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course, it doesn’t mean that these kind of scenes don’t
exist in Ohio. They do. But in Vermont, it's that in between those
rural scenes are just more of those rural scenes with picturesque little towns sprinkled around. I love it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Now and then you see a sign that makes a human heart and a pug heart skip a beat. It looks like this:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0qr3pgYO_bJY7UOOA-3BsrVgpuFJxvGgCkSXecWE6u3AV7Np3DNKbXn-54raxIXDelYC9CfUHKFYeHtrrDpm7GBT0RckNpwb3GjvbEnAdIO4lvh8oZjLfCeDvsWCVDVieebSeg0L3qS6/s1600/VT_trip+247pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0qr3pgYO_bJY7UOOA-3BsrVgpuFJxvGgCkSXecWE6u3AV7Np3DNKbXn-54raxIXDelYC9CfUHKFYeHtrrDpm7GBT0RckNpwb3GjvbEnAdIO4lvh8oZjLfCeDvsWCVDVieebSeg0L3qS6/s640/VT_trip+247pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our trip to Vermont this time was prompted by
Greg finding a bed & breakfast in West Rutland, Vermont, called The Paw
House Inn. The Paw House caters to dogs
and dog-people. It’s a great place to
stay if you love dogs and travel with a dog.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu79-4NzriEZvdU_2v3zK7xP2Wmi1OrA8uq6I7rJX1fK70VOqlCKzR_G6H_klAayfKm1kUlkNHtMYmI_WNkGWcB0ryCyf1h_0YGz0T1oe2HwfcUqDfkKSRB5FkKB0gB1RJbjkhn4a7LrdD/s1600/VT_trip+514pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu79-4NzriEZvdU_2v3zK7xP2Wmi1OrA8uq6I7rJX1fK70VOqlCKzR_G6H_klAayfKm1kUlkNHtMYmI_WNkGWcB0ryCyf1h_0YGz0T1oe2HwfcUqDfkKSRB5FkKB0gB1RJbjkhn4a7LrdD/s640/VT_trip+514pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFFC_xn3tzYWMtj599nuGkMCsCkWTwwSVZZ0siDkW5qkmswH3b_1avcfqa8zGFrU8_txdd9Fc_hO5_b7yz845VtIFclA-NaLqCQWpqthexiz83jJDE76OzkIbpf2xw5Fc1sIoQ-BxNomv/s1600/VT_trip+516pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFFC_xn3tzYWMtj599nuGkMCsCkWTwwSVZZ0siDkW5qkmswH3b_1avcfqa8zGFrU8_txdd9Fc_hO5_b7yz845VtIFclA-NaLqCQWpqthexiz83jJDE76OzkIbpf2xw5Fc1sIoQ-BxNomv/s640/VT_trip+516pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Olive the pug had a great time there as did
we. Unfortunately, I had a brain fart
while there and neglected to take my camera down to breakfast so I have no
photos of the Inn Dog, Stanley, a friendly, but serious little terrier mix who
helped to greet us and make us feel right at home. You can see a nice photo of Stanley sitting on a big yellow chair on the inn's website. Click <a href="http://www.pawhouseinn.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">here</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Stanley and Olive saw eye to eye and that was a
good thing. The seven other dogs who were there at the time were all
bigger than pug-sized. No matter. They all got
along fine. Well, there were a few
episodes of barking and showing off, but mostly there was a lot of face licking and butt sniffing going on. It was a peaceable kingdom of
dogs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I must have been in a haze each morning, because I got no pictures of the other
dogs either. My BAD! What was I thinking????? My only excuse is that I had to come downstairs and take Olive out before I had my coffee. But I did manage a shot of the downstairs
parlor with its doggie wallpaper.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXdfEdkobu7ixVBPxgGlCBhNOFEC6DT9jtQqQPGYq6Fya-Yn2zmTm7wU2phtYAJiAOosqr4FnlIK2F2kadhHTSGVp8oYrd3hz5JwSRDkcyhUCn5lEUq33NRgKSpdCgrAV0w8OqDiuty4Ue/s1600/VT_trip+305pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXdfEdkobu7ixVBPxgGlCBhNOFEC6DT9jtQqQPGYq6Fya-Yn2zmTm7wU2phtYAJiAOosqr4FnlIK2F2kadhHTSGVp8oYrd3hz5JwSRDkcyhUCn5lEUq33NRgKSpdCgrAV0w8OqDiuty4Ue/s640/VT_trip+305pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyhow, it’s time to call it a day here. Guess what? I have a lot more photos of Vermont and hope to go through them more thoroughly soon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I hope you all have a great weekend!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwMY2ctCMBdKSdZRDyDusHJ3l0b3bZ9ILx4NcYLJ3B-X6S114ZYAQrTiB7c8VukcQhHi65ya1DcNJ_jkzF9kQtQUWD3U9y-biZOCkiI58FvTydGmxUHrKrVd3e0iQzA57A0u77b69WMRV/s1600/VT_trip+315pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwMY2ctCMBdKSdZRDyDusHJ3l0b3bZ9ILx4NcYLJ3B-X6S114ZYAQrTiB7c8VukcQhHi65ya1DcNJ_jkzF9kQtQUWD3U9y-biZOCkiI58FvTydGmxUHrKrVd3e0iQzA57A0u77b69WMRV/s640/VT_trip+315pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-74993197967503373422015-08-13T13:19:00.000-04:002015-08-13T13:19:58.951-04:00Good Vermont Fences...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On our recent trip to Vermont, we saw town fences...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNjDp_m2DOkgGJbBYL3zO0i4ieGlzFNsxKYxPB5VEUsov_hvMBghbvuc6j02f8oodAXmm_76DaISVe0M7LBaIcyMT8HZJIvPXc9ziXp0UR0uhQ3P4LrpdoVKRL8dnsWdmY7UH9IgEbCO9/s1600/VT_trip+150pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNjDp_m2DOkgGJbBYL3zO0i4ieGlzFNsxKYxPB5VEUsov_hvMBghbvuc6j02f8oodAXmm_76DaISVe0M7LBaIcyMT8HZJIvPXc9ziXp0UR0uhQ3P4LrpdoVKRL8dnsWdmY7UH9IgEbCO9/s640/VT_trip+150pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVz50nyfPtrZ1mvjsoIFUUygHESZWXQuXtl-A7ti-Ii0lze3e4CdBS80RuSqD8E3ZWfzTet3qb9vKois1MNAX4FUv45QioYUuFPkdSRrvp3pyfKW9F_pAbvAuU9w2oG1d4bieN7KoovdFU/s1600/VT_trip+449pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVz50nyfPtrZ1mvjsoIFUUygHESZWXQuXtl-A7ti-Ii0lze3e4CdBS80RuSqD8E3ZWfzTet3qb9vKois1MNAX4FUv45QioYUuFPkdSRrvp3pyfKW9F_pAbvAuU9w2oG1d4bieN7KoovdFU/s640/VT_trip+449pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and we saw country fences.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzB1gM6ambIX1WoLU7FfdtA5kvOzFggb7ScgARIs0zi1DbiH0dL2C5ldjoyGKfT2akdjSrMXTYthy_FTA_xdfv0k05pwvvbbgW4MXkNzcxvm-sXGqSl9WubdhNRC1wt6SNUgTnuRd7Cg8/s1600/VT_trip+238pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzB1gM6ambIX1WoLU7FfdtA5kvOzFggb7ScgARIs0zi1DbiH0dL2C5ldjoyGKfT2akdjSrMXTYthy_FTA_xdfv0k05pwvvbbgW4MXkNzcxvm-sXGqSl9WubdhNRC1wt6SNUgTnuRd7Cg8/s640/VT_trip+238pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That is New York and the Adirondack Mountains in the distance.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIEOL-qdUJPZ4lk19W-qqr2qfMSNEBY6wN5Y5wBqNfv_hXQWsR_zzfGLak5Tx4TM7iR6-scHxqQQLe6xpfLLGs533KEyBqCHG7XG4VXGPoPd7TGNMrHmbmiOYxNL5ph-BV1zp8OR_cl0b/s1600/VT_trip+405pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIEOL-qdUJPZ4lk19W-qqr2qfMSNEBY6wN5Y5wBqNfv_hXQWsR_zzfGLak5Tx4TM7iR6-scHxqQQLe6xpfLLGs533KEyBqCHG7XG4VXGPoPd7TGNMrHmbmiOYxNL5ph-BV1zp8OR_cl0b/s640/VT_trip+405pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But, those parts are blessedly free of city fences.</span></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Linking up with The Run*A*Round Ranch's <a href="http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/2015/08/good-fences-73.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;">Good Fences</span></a>!</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22%20http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/13317117563_c095d0b958_q.jpg%22/%3E%3C/a%3E" target="_blank"><a href="http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/"><img src=" http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/13317117563_c095d0b958_q.jpg" /></a></a></span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-55383564809150467032015-08-11T15:19:00.000-04:002015-08-11T15:19:15.830-04:00Ilovermont…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last week Greg, Olive the pug and I took a short break and
drove up to Vermont. When I say I love
Vermont, it is a bit of an understatement.
Personally, I think Vermont might just be the most wonderful place on
earth. I’ve often fantasized about
living up there, but I don’t suppose at this point in my life, it will ever
happen. Still, I feel lucky that we live
only about three hours from one of the most beautiful places on earth – The
Republic of Vermont.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What prompted our visit this time was that Greg
heard about a bed and breakfast in West Rutland that caters to dogs and
dog-people called <a href="http://www.pawhouseinn.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">The Paw House Inn</span></a>. We
put the question to Olive and she decided that she wanted to check it out, too. I’ll blog a little more about that later, but
right now, I’m just going to post a few photos of our trip up north.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On our way, we stopped for lunch at a nice little roadside restaurant called Grandpa Joe's Fried Food somewhere in northern Massachusetts. When we travel with Olive, we love finding places where we can eat outside. At Grandpa Joe's, this little girl spied Olive and was pretty taken with her, but she wasn't allowed to come down and pet her. Isn't she cute?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX4mH86Tyw-6s5yJWagsAuZaKDIbPHCKRmTQOcAe2HIuOhPD1rxXDoN9UfCdB_wtjrftXTub2TyCiaiOw2scNnBeT6KPsKXPoRYm_hUXGLD0Io8-s-Uk5UW8bKiqdGRR5ISLQHbcCwi3by/s1600/VT_trip+030pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX4mH86Tyw-6s5yJWagsAuZaKDIbPHCKRmTQOcAe2HIuOhPD1rxXDoN9UfCdB_wtjrftXTub2TyCiaiOw2scNnBeT6KPsKXPoRYm_hUXGLD0Io8-s-Uk5UW8bKiqdGRR5ISLQHbcCwi3by/s640/VT_trip+030pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the first time in my life, I had an Elvis Sandwich. It consisted of grilled peanut butter and bananas. It was pretty good, but I don't think I'll make a habit of it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLSIwo7Yd5yCoPyFmMTbETxKdz6QZSA5up9vqb4vZ9Bbf3PxBuCkYrQoQgge9CPgyDBEhbJ1CJS7zD2MZgHLuHXXcZN7MjQLkGyArk9Eo6YIs-ztv54XFJU_qE8MNbKOy43XBO_76deJD/s1600/VT_trip+032pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLSIwo7Yd5yCoPyFmMTbETxKdz6QZSA5up9vqb4vZ9Bbf3PxBuCkYrQoQgge9CPgyDBEhbJ1CJS7zD2MZgHLuHXXcZN7MjQLkGyArk9Eo6YIs-ztv54XFJU_qE8MNbKOy43XBO_76deJD/s640/VT_trip+032pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once we were back on the road, we made it into Vermont pretty quickly.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBkSJuo2YizboLbaXq7YeQFrQCvXZ_mihxOqXKC00AdIHpq-DgIdHqtS1Ij96XsaOq4iaFiPc3l8zCkZC35JpFUx2MsvNn_kHLhHFzR2FOISULXOlgwCu9WY4H_qvW165Y9yewRthIyxgh/s1600/VT_trip+127pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBkSJuo2YizboLbaXq7YeQFrQCvXZ_mihxOqXKC00AdIHpq-DgIdHqtS1Ij96XsaOq4iaFiPc3l8zCkZC35JpFUx2MsvNn_kHLhHFzR2FOISULXOlgwCu9WY4H_qvW165Y9yewRthIyxgh/s640/VT_trip+127pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbyjnFqnyXk9XprTC3XafvilCvPDvh7FIEtpaq2dQjO4zIul2bcjcr13pWZftb2pe9bxPppchVQCgnOyphE7FpqIxfy_FSrLWkO1B0oWBaE975e1aJ1OeSnKw0xzy78xQZxhyphenhyphenDyb5hs6O/s1600/VT_trip+042pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbyjnFqnyXk9XprTC3XafvilCvPDvh7FIEtpaq2dQjO4zIul2bcjcr13pWZftb2pe9bxPppchVQCgnOyphE7FpqIxfy_FSrLWkO1B0oWBaE975e1aJ1OeSnKw0xzy78xQZxhyphenhyphenDyb5hs6O/s640/VT_trip+042pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And eventually, we ended up in West Rutland where Olive was royally greeted at The Paw House Inn.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CFFMmUxNJMo4zSNbLCyRlk_Bst4u2igdYMg6et9qsILKlEF1PL5KDzk_laeFiybJ9G0oBP9yVO0EpO3PSFznukg8Sjz_BvQ6sq9wLf-FcVtvRJwIAm2rirkePaojIE8bJ7k_WCDw-w_8/s1600/VT_trip+063pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CFFMmUxNJMo4zSNbLCyRlk_Bst4u2igdYMg6et9qsILKlEF1PL5KDzk_laeFiybJ9G0oBP9yVO0EpO3PSFznukg8Sjz_BvQ6sq9wLf-FcVtvRJwIAm2rirkePaojIE8bJ7k_WCDw-w_8/s640/VT_trip+063pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the innkeeper Mitch's suggestions for dinner was a dog-friendly place on Lake Bomoseen called The Lake House Pub & Grill. Olive was once again treated like royalty and was given many treats and pets. I got myself a treat, too.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4d-PVhl3ZudOG7q5YdctniJ6q6KCw-dlQtWlAJZp7ttU2ArONqwnRBmSViSFlUSsaT7Kr6jl2l1ZU1a9XR3W1rYusEO31uhZDEf3xyPEtO88qqwoQN-V-ARt6miKajAnJyHnXx_wxNTt7/s1600/VT_trip+075pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4d-PVhl3ZudOG7q5YdctniJ6q6KCw-dlQtWlAJZp7ttU2ArONqwnRBmSViSFlUSsaT7Kr6jl2l1ZU1a9XR3W1rYusEO31uhZDEf3xyPEtO88qqwoQN-V-ARt6miKajAnJyHnXx_wxNTt7/s640/VT_trip+075pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the sun was setting over Lake Bomoseen, we headed for our temporary home.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhamV7Vg1U3xBgDIWGnGLSf6BtzuLfUU-3bZfSdWTC7qD7pzrbVMOy3AgfV5YGhI1RM8-pPX5XhrWyg1MrpAYLRQKke_aQUTJQI6eO0Zr-1GWN3icRKNMo3z07Dz-hrwDA-9B9qyJCkjxZn/s1600/VT_trip+068pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhamV7Vg1U3xBgDIWGnGLSf6BtzuLfUU-3bZfSdWTC7qD7pzrbVMOy3AgfV5YGhI1RM8-pPX5XhrWyg1MrpAYLRQKke_aQUTJQI6eO0Zr-1GWN3icRKNMo3z07Dz-hrwDA-9B9qyJCkjxZn/s640/VT_trip+068pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And Olive enjoyed the bed that was put there just for her majesty.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vSTciGp-G7dkyQ9H_HZ8X7Yvmuzf65ho4Qpxw7Y7X_QlH7wVO7p5yQBKGCUeTstUoKfANX_BVOeQUPXanPMldwsDtc_gxxAGpOjGf07ZcPU4vTEVejDmaWr96IoJgFaexoUJ-_9tTJdI/s1600/20137701980_c272c27439_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vSTciGp-G7dkyQ9H_HZ8X7Yvmuzf65ho4Qpxw7Y7X_QlH7wVO7p5yQBKGCUeTstUoKfANX_BVOeQUPXanPMldwsDtc_gxxAGpOjGf07ZcPU4vTEVejDmaWr96IoJgFaexoUJ-_9tTJdI/s640/20137701980_c272c27439_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-37947443053548239722015-08-04T16:34:00.001-04:002015-08-04T16:34:51.529-04:00Watercolor Before and Digital After... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
One morning back in June, after I walked the dog and fixed
my coffee, I sat down at my computer to read my email. There was an email from a friend of mine,
Debbie, inviting me (along with a bunch of other people) to join her in “an
experimental, FUN, no pressure” watercolor class. I thought about it for a while and looked at
my calendar. It was scheduled for four Wednesday
evenings in July at 7 pm and I was free.
I emailed Deb back and said I had absolutely NO experience in
watercolors and had probably not picked up a brush since I was a kid in grade school.
What did she think? She said she
was in the same boat. So, sucker that I am, I signed up.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
Well, I learned a few of things about watercolor through
those classes. I learned that watercolor is both very fun and very frustrating.
I also learned that I’m not a natural with a brush. I think it would take a lot of work and a ton of lessons for me to
get anywhere near proficient. Of course,
that’s the way life is, isn’t it?
Anything worth pursuing takes work.
Regardless of that, I did have fun and I did learn a few things and spent four pleasant evenings with a bunch of congenial women.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">After I brought my work home and looked at it
for a little while, it occurred to me that I might be able to improve the
little devils if I messed with them a bit digitally. So out came my trusty Nikon and I snapped
them up. Here are some of the befores
and afters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Here's a before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTMNnYPyIEWOB0WCmVhwp7QlLZpCmOJOJViSbzaIvpMLng_D2nupbpEQitF6VSdrw5i3rajsTfyPETlGRCRnEDEDvPS_ljf1Q6Ir_Qie5_Hc4fi3szmcuBEsu7MJrh0xtMCf9Kb71Pph5c/s1600/TreesWC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTMNnYPyIEWOB0WCmVhwp7QlLZpCmOJOJViSbzaIvpMLng_D2nupbpEQitF6VSdrw5i3rajsTfyPETlGRCRnEDEDvPS_ljf1Q6Ir_Qie5_Hc4fi3szmcuBEsu7MJrh0xtMCf9Kb71Pph5c/s400/TreesWC.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And here's the after. I just decided a forest would look better than three lone trees so I copied the original , flipped it over and layered it on top.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93NjmHLQdESohusfCDhL2ScFFjFg3_ckgiskGlcZChw23m9YgLINKTW7MfLbAHr3Q8iNW2iBoV1ZVbKPg-mbZ5QYQaSVOjJA50pa7fSJptnVAnPXYvui7s_ZAemZBOpWMyOcCGDYa-C0D/s1600/7_16_15WC+022pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93NjmHLQdESohusfCDhL2ScFFjFg3_ckgiskGlcZChw23m9YgLINKTW7MfLbAHr3Q8iNW2iBoV1ZVbKPg-mbZ5QYQaSVOjJA50pa7fSJptnVAnPXYvui7s_ZAemZBOpWMyOcCGDYa-C0D/s640/7_16_15WC+022pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Here's the before. I think I was trying to make kind of another forest scene here too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdv3Ao0DTXZjY-4oTFvl1wUxjJgJzLmww2WL__mwml7-VP-EbxaUNT_aYw0WKkTRYjDrqy5QSkJFadcMrbG1PoLCYZcOgZvMQMrUMBZrXO7vrTqQTpFRnqmOzFDxCjrOYFN4LrO-VBLkc/s1600/7_16_15WC+025pic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdv3Ao0DTXZjY-4oTFvl1wUxjJgJzLmww2WL__mwml7-VP-EbxaUNT_aYw0WKkTRYjDrqy5QSkJFadcMrbG1PoLCYZcOgZvMQMrUMBZrXO7vrTqQTpFRnqmOzFDxCjrOYFN4LrO-VBLkc/s400/7_16_15WC+025pic1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But after I messed with it for a while, I decided it was really an abstract and it looked more like a bunch of women standing out in the rain. So I call it "Rainy Day Women."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRAJsvJPNuctNxbxkt24JVcvLDveiWfuzwMTqvQmGrp4WF6z0QQ06arVPlGsNLiMbzZFDWyNvDEMPcxV1vrPn2tG0MbjUc1PgDf8OlP2-AfM56lQIxq6b7JezaTs2dEWydNuZDZNxFPb5/s1600/7_16_15WC+027pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRAJsvJPNuctNxbxkt24JVcvLDveiWfuzwMTqvQmGrp4WF6z0QQ06arVPlGsNLiMbzZFDWyNvDEMPcxV1vrPn2tG0MbjUc1PgDf8OlP2-AfM56lQIxq6b7JezaTs2dEWydNuZDZNxFPb5/s640/7_16_15WC+027pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our teacher Renee Malowitz, told us about using resists in watercolor like crayon, rubber cement and frisket. I was a bit overwhelmed with this idea and the best I could come up with was this.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEZNgxbGPU41oaYNQrJiQ_imk3gSTDriP0xX11jyNtOcvrfLf5qB2ccwh5137xmhyphenhyphendVzQnFoQRhXFAPHsrpqhv8J_NP7r6BR6A3oUbSdBi_zwgiF50lehDukZr3UVg1GX3Bfw1-Sd-fGp/s1600/7_23_15+033pic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEZNgxbGPU41oaYNQrJiQ_imk3gSTDriP0xX11jyNtOcvrfLf5qB2ccwh5137xmhyphenhyphendVzQnFoQRhXFAPHsrpqhv8J_NP7r6BR6A3oUbSdBi_zwgiF50lehDukZr3UVg1GX3Bfw1-Sd-fGp/s400/7_23_15+033pic1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I looked at it for a while and decided it looked to me like a bunch of weird snakes shedding their skins. So I found the quote: </span><span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">"Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again." And this is where it took me.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_DnUw_9CQx0KVca5jw_Th5VLfU7cxgy8GL9ibkV-BYofxhqRvW6U2eQ90YAZgIJu1ILn79CFfgQ1DfRQaAdBKe25PW3Jv_yBhVVuA-uUKEzUORvEl8DdF216G_3Z0tKVKN4YeYkvb8Ts/s1600/7_23_15+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_DnUw_9CQx0KVca5jw_Th5VLfU7cxgy8GL9ibkV-BYofxhqRvW6U2eQ90YAZgIJu1ILn79CFfgQ1DfRQaAdBKe25PW3Jv_yBhVVuA-uUKEzUORvEl8DdF216G_3Z0tKVKN4YeYkvb8Ts/s640/7_23_15+008.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Renee also showed us how to do a black line drawing and fill it in with watercolor. Here's my attempt at copying the flowers she brought in for us.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7bjV_8oCim3jovRqYj5t3oS43fVaX2qvBvw_88X6AfngsRts8Z3QoyCqD8GPoKD7VSqNhSl5CKkXdZSVvOhshyphenhypheneAoxm0HZ5TYWJI_Yt1iOHRxVCp_nd_XTObK6Oa7h0dUFBt2S1u8XQGm/s1600/7_23_15+045_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7bjV_8oCim3jovRqYj5t3oS43fVaX2qvBvw_88X6AfngsRts8Z3QoyCqD8GPoKD7VSqNhSl5CKkXdZSVvOhshyphenhypheneAoxm0HZ5TYWJI_Yt1iOHRxVCp_nd_XTObK6Oa7h0dUFBt2S1u8XQGm/s400/7_23_15+045_1.jpg" width="278" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I thought the before looked a bit flat, so I added a little texture and framed it like the masterpiece that it isn't.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PUYuVx-2TIMwiUTP_s0D-JO17ZZsEYyBrhMz5FRiLU_7g0RAPGblcS1swpFTEidXIbc8FYXICB_nipk67Mu0I0Aq51R6y0x1dIF94rDeGvYnFnlq-dXMacpEpENDrsfIGSbelmz1k9aZ/s1600/7_23_15+045pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PUYuVx-2TIMwiUTP_s0D-JO17ZZsEYyBrhMz5FRiLU_7g0RAPGblcS1swpFTEidXIbc8FYXICB_nipk67Mu0I0Aq51R6y0x1dIF94rDeGvYnFnlq-dXMacpEpENDrsfIGSbelmz1k9aZ/s640/7_23_15+045pic.jpg" width="472" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">On our last day, we were supposed to do whatever popped into our heads using the techniques we were taught. For some reason, I had feathers on my mind that day so I took a couple with me to copy. Here's one of a crow feather I found in the yard. I know it's not crow-colored, but I couldn't figure out how to do a black feather.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-KR9UZWYejHY-8YevB_7oiJU1yQeBGtswVZuaw_s9GixVHh-56d9TK6KB9eX3XOjGF850kbzeuwBFmgojzca49KLKSDGT7QHW-keZoHNv-OjrAgxfGjSj3HNSdplSP_W-HOdZWMiDV1b/s1600/7_31_15BLue+018pic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-KR9UZWYejHY-8YevB_7oiJU1yQeBGtswVZuaw_s9GixVHh-56d9TK6KB9eX3XOjGF850kbzeuwBFmgojzca49KLKSDGT7QHW-keZoHNv-OjrAgxfGjSj3HNSdplSP_W-HOdZWMiDV1b/s400/7_31_15BLue+018pic1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">And here's what I decided to do with it.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRKXlVVmxiTj486NGDaZb2GAuJulXbzIFFxOmfpFhChCfAa9xacyiCzGpNxw51u0aGxQz0NiDRryb4AETGiFOIPjCJ7uEh1fFvFHPbEpDEG6hgo0-6_FmxYa6UOrXgRpfYeeDb_1q8hkCT/s1600/7_31_15BLue+018pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRKXlVVmxiTj486NGDaZb2GAuJulXbzIFFxOmfpFhChCfAa9xacyiCzGpNxw51u0aGxQz0NiDRryb4AETGiFOIPjCJ7uEh1fFvFHPbEpDEG6hgo0-6_FmxYa6UOrXgRpfYeeDb_1q8hkCT/s640/7_31_15BLue+018pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">And lastly, here's my pathetic attempt at a peacock feather. It's like I completely forgot about the rule of thirds and everything.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-IzWdxccRbSJMT7IJn-j-IYgTgF4mCmgJXhSK1A8eItu1RStrCrnGXad2oj_7nc4tZRfBm-Gy-tgpyqvuajT0-0lKLM-QLfAJ8KtZSDVLT1EHZ7aBE_Kk_A2Yvwet74oQ1OtXHT1n5NM/s1600/7_31_15BLue+021_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-IzWdxccRbSJMT7IJn-j-IYgTgF4mCmgJXhSK1A8eItu1RStrCrnGXad2oj_7nc4tZRfBm-Gy-tgpyqvuajT0-0lKLM-QLfAJ8KtZSDVLT1EHZ7aBE_Kk_A2Yvwet74oQ1OtXHT1n5NM/s400/7_31_15BLue+021_1.jpg" width="285" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">But I kind of liked it after I was done messing with its pixels.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF14ZacpJkxFhsb-YBc-RmHis7wvfn_GJQDZCInILyUlhHw5iHDwNJyXhQAD9DKevQa7-BBYwWpeV3sIjyVLph-9RwjzwhFOnesj4TcOPqnUW9EGMQGrDDcpo9NuXhGtt3B_zScSyHkn9I/s1600/7_31_15BLue+021pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF14ZacpJkxFhsb-YBc-RmHis7wvfn_GJQDZCInILyUlhHw5iHDwNJyXhQAD9DKevQa7-BBYwWpeV3sIjyVLph-9RwjzwhFOnesj4TcOPqnUW9EGMQGrDDcpo9NuXhGtt3B_zScSyHkn9I/s640/7_31_15BLue+021pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I suppose this is cheating. But I don't care. I had fun. I might just do more of these. Who knows?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> I might just learn something.</span></span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-54644571544188368952015-07-31T16:17:00.000-04:002015-07-31T16:17:12.618-04:00Time for the Blues…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are the next installments of my 52 Week Project: 52 Weeks of Blue. I think that these may show you that I’m have
had some moments of desperation with this, but I’ve managed to get something
every week. Look around the next time
you’re outside and tell me why, except for the sky (which I hope is blue where
you are), there are so few blue things in nature. Clearly, if I had been given the box of crayons when
the world came into existence, there would be way more blue out there, particularly of the Robin's Egg variety. But too late for that now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Week 26:</b>
Woohoo! Halfway through! I deserve a Blue Ribbon for that!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZYs2LFGlp_YjIp_eimsYMq5TCXrKjxngH6e5RB4cuYwW_k4_ECEbXcd-9r0YGGCcd1pjIeQrJUqagM3FlK9rdZwWESHKJB2Y85OiEKuIV9xS84OBBryTrcCqMoUz9YZthzv4sgKPo8vrF/s1600/6_27_15FriNight+060pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZYs2LFGlp_YjIp_eimsYMq5TCXrKjxngH6e5RB4cuYwW_k4_ECEbXcd-9r0YGGCcd1pjIeQrJUqagM3FlK9rdZwWESHKJB2Y85OiEKuIV9xS84OBBryTrcCqMoUz9YZthzv4sgKPo8vrF/s640/6_27_15FriNight+060pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Week 27: F</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">or Mother’s Day this year, m</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">y daughter Carrie gave me a set of origami Peace Cranes that she folded.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I tried to take their photos on a
number of occasions and finally came up with one I could live with.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love these Peace Cranes that she brings
around now and then.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They make me happy
and hopeful.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheAvxNEmNJlYSYhSL63ka98TCJsyDqqEkdAaEayxqPr8QGMILnkUxUTt1UhTKW2Yy8tb9FLr05wUoU1RQFb1AhqIWR1q3zAcPrpuB_g9e1uSEJYl-8JGG_yIXfdFnZHK3bnFPn2_mERjOM/s1600/7_3_15Blue+036pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheAvxNEmNJlYSYhSL63ka98TCJsyDqqEkdAaEayxqPr8QGMILnkUxUTt1UhTKW2Yy8tb9FLr05wUoU1RQFb1AhqIWR1q3zAcPrpuB_g9e1uSEJYl-8JGG_yIXfdFnZHK3bnFPn2_mERjOM/s640/7_3_15Blue+036pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Week 28:</b>
Truly a week of blue desperation. I
save the fortunes from the cookies when we go out to Dynasty, which is our
favorite Chinese restaurant around here.
They sit in my wallet. I find the
fortunes to be pretty funny in general and picked the one in the picture
because, on that particular day, it made the most sense of the ones I was carting around.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the ones I rejected said, “<i><b>Anything you do, do it well. The last thing you want is to be sorry for
what you didn’t do.</b></i>”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I'm thinking that maybe it should have said, <i>"<b>If</b></i><b> <i>you're going to do something, do it. The last thing you want is to be sorry for what you didn't do.</i></b>"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Or maybe it should have said, "<i><b>Any thing you do, do it well. The last thing you want is to be sorry for doing a shirty job.</b></i>"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Those original sentences seem to be disconnected to me. They should have separated
them and saved the second sentence for a different cookie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Of course, if you're one of those people who automatically add the words "IN BED" after your fortune, then they all make sense, but most especially in the third case.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> What the heck! It’s all for fun, isn’t it?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuS_T-5gRV2MKYQnj3xIfRqQSfboyCqP0w7RtcZN15BK6vN2DKdmptxVnR2D8V55RLoT7CskpMlsmD36vyRdiyosMhPRMXy40q_bf2T6Cb0jhQmnZjByDWy6BPNGQAPtTqTQFLBIJrZhP/s1600/7_11_15Blue+012pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuS_T-5gRV2MKYQnj3xIfRqQSfboyCqP0w7RtcZN15BK6vN2DKdmptxVnR2D8V55RLoT7CskpMlsmD36vyRdiyosMhPRMXy40q_bf2T6Cb0jhQmnZjByDWy6BPNGQAPtTqTQFLBIJrZhP/s640/7_11_15Blue+012pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...IN BED.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Week 29:</b>
Greg and I went out for a quick lunch at Applebee’s that week and I was
saved by this vehicle in the parking lot. Thank goodness it was blue! What a contraption! It’s a motor scooter
with a car-like body on it. I picked the
first photo for my project, but will put up another one here so you can see the
inside of this buggy. It's actually a better photo anyhow. In any case, this buggy is kind of cool!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexogBXIkIYj0tW4f00XxO-J0pMm-I9HrSElH0Dxr8ZlLq9H4uKUOs_VTM1KCpjpT1kIH7kkYft4Hx7Z-Dz4IXjFOyUOfZ-QxF42zEmV19BtZ4tSoGS4-n5jCEiPN0q4hLLgesVAW9YoYf/s1600/Scooter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexogBXIkIYj0tW4f00XxO-J0pMm-I9HrSElH0Dxr8ZlLq9H4uKUOs_VTM1KCpjpT1kIH7kkYft4Hx7Z-Dz4IXjFOyUOfZ-QxF42zEmV19BtZ4tSoGS4-n5jCEiPN0q4hLLgesVAW9YoYf/s640/Scooter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFwIR4_Wx8mu9gflrKQ59SfwpRonV6X2dobaevcBme6BVIpQegMJwYutGJeMYI2NGNrd4PD44ANQmWt_VJpQgIEyb2enQ-k84VOvkR7EkoWCr7pjZ2lpKt0uOFb4rvg9PVZ0psuL9R95P/s1600/ScooterInterior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFwIR4_Wx8mu9gflrKQ59SfwpRonV6X2dobaevcBme6BVIpQegMJwYutGJeMYI2NGNrd4PD44ANQmWt_VJpQgIEyb2enQ-k84VOvkR7EkoWCr7pjZ2lpKt0uOFb4rvg9PVZ0psuL9R95P/s640/ScooterInterior.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Week 30:</b>
had me seeing yellow, because that was the week we went down to
Griswold, Connecticut to see the sunflowers, but o</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">n the way down to Buttonwood Farm</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">we stopped at Sweet Evalina’s
Stand in Woodstock for lunch. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They have this neat old retro sign on their building and I decided
to pick out the blue elements of it and do some selective coloring.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ll post it both ways.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBQrrslQBqFPEnPjYsdyboRka8XImw4we5l5CzD-yIt6BeRJuReu1UioPiB4mvmJw8aH2B6cA6Fd_kmq8awefmUTxL1U2bzQbPjTp18MOLkgPeMq5khPZv2KfTQNwOW_R-MXrT_jMSJvlP/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+023pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBQrrslQBqFPEnPjYsdyboRka8XImw4we5l5CzD-yIt6BeRJuReu1UioPiB4mvmJw8aH2B6cA6Fd_kmq8awefmUTxL1U2bzQbPjTp18MOLkgPeMq5khPZv2KfTQNwOW_R-MXrT_jMSJvlP/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+023pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjwW9hG0Ooxoxnjx6dfYKSTF2ijEvwkjcwmtuMmNC5bT1FLIhS-wPNAWs81vI-0TpuScZIgnqkdsdBp0F3Lpy01TYf2d6_qVc5sx2Fn3UjA51-KN9kiWbFFb1PFmIT9g701ZOWblIj6RcG/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+023pic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjwW9hG0Ooxoxnjx6dfYKSTF2ijEvwkjcwmtuMmNC5bT1FLIhS-wPNAWs81vI-0TpuScZIgnqkdsdBp0F3Lpy01TYf2d6_qVc5sx2Fn3UjA51-KN9kiWbFFb1PFmIT9g701ZOWblIj6RcG/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+023pic1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So in closing: Anything you do this weekend, do it well. The last thing you want is to have a blue weekend...IN BED.</span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-29035952533753072952015-07-30T12:07:00.001-04:002015-07-30T12:07:57.514-04:00Good Fences and Green Grass…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the
other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is
greenest where it is watered.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> When crossing over fences, carry water with you
and tend the grass wherever you may be.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~Robert Fulghum</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6693fuq96YEsXr_JMS4wnqAnSrnIvqR_EOEX0YkbAdBDx2QNENfAiCIo35Ymm8mQ9VIeXRQC_4tUi5iLlkGl3DWaCfY65WUvmvylvgEn1QHycEZ_xuFnplCfshLQcjUP0LmEhMjDDlaOi/s1600/7_16_15WC+011pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6693fuq96YEsXr_JMS4wnqAnSrnIvqR_EOEX0YkbAdBDx2QNENfAiCIo35Ymm8mQ9VIeXRQC_4tUi5iLlkGl3DWaCfY65WUvmvylvgEn1QHycEZ_xuFnplCfshLQcjUP0LmEhMjDDlaOi/s640/7_16_15WC+011pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2uaLQe-5-71FbSClTz6XXpYdw0A6Xdx8orNjVUrMH8hroJ81wj0vhNNVOlUN3PlM5gFmsmMvB8JYmOmMElSq6DxDz5QX2u4Hvmdw7ECIuT9eGaMoFunnaknajaawf8C52rCIbWc_y8Ng/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+157pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2uaLQe-5-71FbSClTz6XXpYdw0A6Xdx8orNjVUrMH8hroJ81wj0vhNNVOlUN3PlM5gFmsmMvB8JYmOmMElSq6DxDz5QX2u4Hvmdw7ECIuT9eGaMoFunnaknajaawf8C52rCIbWc_y8Ng/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+157pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A couple of fences I picked up on my comings and goings this summer.</span></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Linking up with The Run*A*Round Ranch's <a href="http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/2015/07/good-fences-71.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;">Good Fences</span></a>!</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22%20http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/13317117563_c095d0b958_q.jpg%22/%3E%3C/a%3E" target="_blank"><a href="http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/"><img src=" http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/13317117563_c095d0b958_q.jpg" /></a></a></span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-21656923104347698482015-07-25T12:27:00.000-04:002015-07-25T12:27:05.421-04:00The Life and Times of Olive the Pug: Taking Time to Smell the Sunflowers.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thursday was a picture perfect summer day here
in central Massachusetts, so Greg and I asked Olive the pug if she would like
to go for a little ride. She said yes,
of course, and off we went down to Griswold, Connecticut to Buttonwood Farm to
walk amongst the sunflowers.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5tdTqOfHiMp3EwtFCHVDWSXXxJ3OmH4g235EHklDdWGX7IHG_GaGCbQ4dDV_UdRsZNrYdoJfRbzrirI2OceW987gL-XpiSQgr9CKd_wznNJq9vJvOrCZhVzkLRNyLhmfD8L2qvQsT2rm/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+007pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5tdTqOfHiMp3EwtFCHVDWSXXxJ3OmH4g235EHklDdWGX7IHG_GaGCbQ4dDV_UdRsZNrYdoJfRbzrirI2OceW987gL-XpiSQgr9CKd_wznNJq9vJvOrCZhVzkLRNyLhmfD8L2qvQsT2rm/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+007pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since 2004, the good folks at <a href="http://www.sunflowersforwishes.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Buttonwood Farm</span></a> have been planting
sunflowers in their pastures and </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">for about a week at the end of July,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> people come to view and buy the sunflowers,
take hayrides and rides on their cow train. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The donations they receive from
the visitors go to the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Connecticut.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Then, after the week is over, they open the fields to their cows. Lucky cows! I have to wonder if that's why the ice cream there is so very good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s a wonderful idea that has obviously
become very popular because when we got there, we were surprised to see that
they had a full house of people of all ages.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But that sure didn’t deter Olive from having a great time.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The kids all wanted to pet her and tell her
how cute she is.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She couldn’t wag her
tail fast enough.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5T5Hfi_UITUi_j4xmv2Rw9BWTnPAtKZWjeYHwh1yO7BCIWMyiPMgad0VYRKiqDYwt6fOuvS4M5Z6NCRdWKRYoR19aEQWwLgraqAGrQxyEp4fN08ik4eVHYDJE7mO756zcv3K6uKSQIO7/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+048pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5T5Hfi_UITUi_j4xmv2Rw9BWTnPAtKZWjeYHwh1yO7BCIWMyiPMgad0VYRKiqDYwt6fOuvS4M5Z6NCRdWKRYoR19aEQWwLgraqAGrQxyEp4fN08ik4eVHYDJE7mO756zcv3K6uKSQIO7/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+048pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We walked among the sunflowers enjoying the
cheery color.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ixmzy6WBTzn9tu5Vql2iG5qC-CmhsVmB0tCVVZkCEMblIhN_SRfEIlIBKUrQh4Tk-1dmHLoCSvZxb21H9I6vnbdQHewtk_loVCXz2xE2sCfdgB_3XWN4dGMwEdb_fZAn5hLaLpw60Zya/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+051pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ixmzy6WBTzn9tu5Vql2iG5qC-CmhsVmB0tCVVZkCEMblIhN_SRfEIlIBKUrQh4Tk-1dmHLoCSvZxb21H9I6vnbdQHewtk_loVCXz2xE2sCfdgB_3XWN4dGMwEdb_fZAn5hLaLpw60Zya/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+051pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZr760tnYDlg18yQFMybP6v6uJasfByxPwAk5Me1t84LUmdVgpjc7in8GPw6cx5glfdaSnSVH68P2JnRTwVXJQ8luC4-WQey-j4TFpD7qVYaozDK8Wtce6XM5tujQAilRYBR2QjyXzfQU/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+102pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZr760tnYDlg18yQFMybP6v6uJasfByxPwAk5Me1t84LUmdVgpjc7in8GPw6cx5glfdaSnSVH68P2JnRTwVXJQ8luC4-WQey-j4TFpD7qVYaozDK8Wtce6XM5tujQAilRYBR2QjyXzfQU/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+102pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Olive, of course, had to stop and smell at least
every other flower and she did stop to get petted a couple more times,
too. Sometimes she even multi-tasked.
She’s pretty talented that way.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLcJjjxRRCsl51_IIhtEjALUUaUrBSEB3-DzXg_mvD7EqOCVddlu9ltyJTFCt7mcOThsSzyaYrTSMTQughK0QniDfwN7uqFRV6pD01e8LywQgRKnPd8RXYGsXQ1_iIA3sqZmPAPNcB4Zp/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+095pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLcJjjxRRCsl51_IIhtEjALUUaUrBSEB3-DzXg_mvD7EqOCVddlu9ltyJTFCt7mcOThsSzyaYrTSMTQughK0QniDfwN7uqFRV6pD01e8LywQgRKnPd8RXYGsXQ1_iIA3sqZmPAPNcB4Zp/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+095pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the end of the path, we could go up on a
slight incline to see the array of sunflowers from a slightly different
perspective.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicavfCwJZDqNmgvy-IFWfwpCt3wOLgy1CWIOPJAtfjo7FY1Ip0YM0vANyFdIw7jGBLpNeFUaNsAg3_ZAum4xP7rASRtqI_m6W90VGfMxMfPCtS49hoJercr1u0n_4LIx3uVedVYqlE9tW4/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+115pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicavfCwJZDqNmgvy-IFWfwpCt3wOLgy1CWIOPJAtfjo7FY1Ip0YM0vANyFdIw7jGBLpNeFUaNsAg3_ZAum4xP7rASRtqI_m6W90VGfMxMfPCtS49hoJercr1u0n_4LIx3uVedVYqlE9tW4/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+115pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While on the hill, I spied these two little
beauties who were all decked out in their finest sunflower regalia.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg35CcjrBaztYen96BIBvPJk48j2HzWL4RdgNURBBsHzriYkTzRe6Tm3E4N1s_Nhq4nCT9fKdr5bX1aLHbYGsoB7kb6tUeSDfnq32d2yB5kMTAH_RPvu-kJvKd1PC60HfIwpQ7k90G8qy3s/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+107pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg35CcjrBaztYen96BIBvPJk48j2HzWL4RdgNURBBsHzriYkTzRe6Tm3E4N1s_Nhq4nCT9fKdr5bX1aLHbYGsoB7kb6tUeSDfnq32d2yB5kMTAH_RPvu-kJvKd1PC60HfIwpQ7k90G8qy3s/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+107pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The wait for ice cream was a little too long at
Buttonwood for a tired pug and a couple of tired people, so we continued on our
journey back home stopping at the wonderful <span style="color: orange;"><a href="http://www.ekonkhillturkeyfarm.com/index.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm</span></a>, </span>in Moosup, Connecticut, where I got
to taste cucumber ice cream for the first time, which I recommend very highly –
a refreshing, sweet taste. And Olive got
to meet a couple of little goats. They
seemed to like each other quite a lot and were disappointed that there was a fence separating them from one another.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44yW_jaSfALRlzgbXjmDeTsSVE0AkcCODTgIqVuhxp-1PqyOPE7wN2oCJnB23BL1s7vxlx2UB7cFbVK0SrLWU-ZvEkRm4nQS5D2krklyIim6LCUdjgLbbewtsu7Dj2jr4A4tDH-g0-fTj/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+197pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44yW_jaSfALRlzgbXjmDeTsSVE0AkcCODTgIqVuhxp-1PqyOPE7wN2oCJnB23BL1s7vxlx2UB7cFbVK0SrLWU-ZvEkRm4nQS5D2krklyIim6LCUdjgLbbewtsu7Dj2jr4A4tDH-g0-fTj/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+197pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Olive ended her day by obliging the photog and posing
as a purkey. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBq6ipPJ_fMVRAvj6dubC2ai0Qdmtu9uBLmkSKtSANe8qy1gHVuYMnYaFpSSUdFavkWq5l3w2ITviTca5FbsHzyVqd_caEmVUIMkSAD6UnwJdN-_5ce_MC75FMmPcPfWC9zUhgjfrM80T/s1600/7_23_15Sunflowers+208pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBq6ipPJ_fMVRAvj6dubC2ai0Qdmtu9uBLmkSKtSANe8qy1gHVuYMnYaFpSSUdFavkWq5l3w2ITviTca5FbsHzyVqd_caEmVUIMkSAD6UnwJdN-_5ce_MC75FMmPcPfWC9zUhgjfrM80T/s640/7_23_15Sunflowers+208pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How can a pug have a better
day than that, I ask you? It’s just not
possible. If you were to ask Olive about it, she would tell you that in life, it's very important to take a little time out of your busy schedules now and then to stop and smell the sunflowers.</span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-69950189278986708722015-07-19T14:37:00.000-04:002015-07-19T14:37:05.066-04:00The Life and Times of Olive the Pug: Another Friday Night...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s certainly no secret that this is what a pug loves most
in the world:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJ4r2H5lCNUYemj3w7FzCYEtKOE5umvpzpuyJMPl9KcXSPuiA1iKWC0beERmLaGyUEoooCqK6pYbGE3r6Wpa1EDGiM8vjEHKrzfwU-jUTLL8lF9RsBgCZrUnmCln-NP_weKi0CBYLS0-L/s1600/7_18_15Pug+016pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJ4r2H5lCNUYemj3w7FzCYEtKOE5umvpzpuyJMPl9KcXSPuiA1iKWC0beERmLaGyUEoooCqK6pYbGE3r6Wpa1EDGiM8vjEHKrzfwU-jUTLL8lF9RsBgCZrUnmCln-NP_weKi0CBYLS0-L/s640/7_18_15Pug+016pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But on Friday evenings, a pug will give up a nap
for a chance to spend time down at the beach.
The minute the humans start to say words like “cocktails” and “golf cart”
a pug can barely contain her excitement and she might even let out a scream or
two in exhilaration and delight. She just can't help it. After
all, going to the beach for cocktails on a Friday night pretty much trumps all
of a pug’s favorite things. She stands
at the door wishing the slow human (that would be me) would just hurry.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7rephmjdV-WX25xxin2d6L_wbyNLye3jgr7PkfSpLgSUKOq6GK4jH68hBBgqwu6N5gdcwbDa8vS3yoi6DjYmVh0N3cZy0PSHN8w8f8CEaxEJEdSOqdcsjzAfF9xwTKtWHQiOIf2l47Uh/s1600/7_18_15Pug+020pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7rephmjdV-WX25xxin2d6L_wbyNLye3jgr7PkfSpLgSUKOq6GK4jH68hBBgqwu6N5gdcwbDa8vS3yoi6DjYmVh0N3cZy0PSHN8w8f8CEaxEJEdSOqdcsjzAfF9xwTKtWHQiOIf2l47Uh/s640/7_18_15Pug+020pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Eventually, we all get there and it is a
beautiful evening with a slight cool breeze and no humidity. Lovely!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDeW8uZl2Y98DTWvyhrmd5SHOVUiJ51j1LUHWRfV12xqZ4-M5NAz7A2wp_xVlxxrYJKXCkmQ-HcdutZOaDfgX3YTPoGccY2hmPPZOVWK7US9ydjapEIXLpmQbDSIMISILiJYn5QosVxKJU/s1600/7_18_15Pug+033pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDeW8uZl2Y98DTWvyhrmd5SHOVUiJ51j1LUHWRfV12xqZ4-M5NAz7A2wp_xVlxxrYJKXCkmQ-HcdutZOaDfgX3YTPoGccY2hmPPZOVWK7US9ydjapEIXLpmQbDSIMISILiJYn5QosVxKJU/s640/7_18_15Pug+033pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, none of Olive the pug’s canine friends
are coming out this particular evening and she is stuck with just having humans for company. It's a sad fact of life that humans talk too
much to each other and don’t pay enough attention to a dog.
That means a dog might get into a little trouble by getting up on top of
the picnic tables. Of course, she doesn’t
have a clue why the humans freak out about that because she knows it’s going to
be raining cats and dogs the next day anyhow and the tables will be washed the way nature intended.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7EFAnrfbm51gQyh8Ni3YLIK-JRMXqulHilpslr-c7kyxTGBkerPoLciMZ8i0cknmDAO-5A-JpGcNjrjIaSo_zrQEeFoM6X_1YRvvvJnm4oK6NG5B5KwVE-iDkUbuMeAPY7sj49TizcSw/s1600/7_18_15Pug+042pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7EFAnrfbm51gQyh8Ni3YLIK-JRMXqulHilpslr-c7kyxTGBkerPoLciMZ8i0cknmDAO-5A-JpGcNjrjIaSo_zrQEeFoM6X_1YRvvvJnm4oK6NG5B5KwVE-iDkUbuMeAPY7sj49TizcSw/s640/7_18_15Pug+042pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then she spies a couple of lucky dogs whose
human knows how to make his dogs feel very special.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTO8dUibDu-NbUR73Au0643XYeRPHe29POYEw-gbG8EYXrw1ohnyAjvZs89OIwdL9xwqGM8duxi8gzBlfeD-pUfqYNopZcY_y83ZyNjFomZKf3iVHH1f5G_fvsRnR7qLJIKacoYx9KAcw/s1600/7_18_15Pug+037pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTO8dUibDu-NbUR73Au0643XYeRPHe29POYEw-gbG8EYXrw1ohnyAjvZs89OIwdL9xwqGM8duxi8gzBlfeD-pUfqYNopZcY_y83ZyNjFomZKf3iVHH1f5G_fvsRnR7qLJIKacoYx9KAcw/s640/7_18_15Pug+037pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But by then she’s pretty sure she wants to get back to that nap, so she heads for home with the humans to take up where she left off.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcyifmIrOBZNRfAqDmFHvAfhZEyVB54l3do74p8aGSJ_3uh7a5B39A7dHcfa1uD5dsY_roKU0ufRexnMWfnpFxLNvZ4hM50aj87zVLT0LYUlL6QrCSZcyobcEK3XrzXOaWLJQrtscUo8Iz/s1600/7_18_15Pug+008pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcyifmIrOBZNRfAqDmFHvAfhZEyVB54l3do74p8aGSJ_3uh7a5B39A7dHcfa1uD5dsY_roKU0ufRexnMWfnpFxLNvZ4hM50aj87zVLT0LYUlL6QrCSZcyobcEK3XrzXOaWLJQrtscUo8Iz/s640/7_18_15Pug+008pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-84869629198659712472015-07-13T15:40:00.000-04:002015-07-13T15:56:43.598-04:00Summer Doldrums…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There’s something about this time of year that just gets to
me. I’m already a slow-moving person,
but when it gets hot and humid, I definitely slow to a bare crawl. This year it has had a detrimental effect on
my picture taking and, consequently, my blog. I think summer always slows down my picture taking unless we’re
traveling, but this year it has been worse than usual for some reason.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been like this for me for as long as I can remember. I just really don’t like summer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I suppose there are those of you out there
who could never understand the way I feel, but searching around on the
interweb, I found that there are more people out there like me, albeit not that many. But it's a real condition called <a href="http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/05/some-people-get-sad-in-the-summer.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Summer SAD (Seasonal AffectiveDisorder)</span></a> . While I don’t
think I suffer from it in a full-blown way, I do find it much harder to sleep. The sun rises and so do I, like it or not. Yes, we need room darkening shades. I know, I know. There
are always too many blankets or sheets and not enough air. I toss and turn and turn and toss. I just can't get comfortable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Summer is rather overwhelming to me in a social
way as well. Well, I've always been socially awkward so the parties and get togethers that seem to happen more frequently in the summer cause me a fair bit of anxiety.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The truth is that I completely and thoroughly hate the heat
and humidity. To me, the best day of the
year is that first day I have to put on a sweatshirt in the morning and wear it
all day. It’s feels weird to me
that when people describe paradise, they </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">always</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">seem to be talking about
someplace in the tropics, sun-drenched, sand covered and sweat producing, while
I always dream of places north. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I most
definitely feel like a fish out of water this time of year or maybe a polar bear out of the
Arctic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Oh, well, what can I do? I have no control over it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided that what I needed to do today is make the most of
what is good about summertime, besides baseball, that is. Summertime is colorful and I do love color. So I went out and took a tour of our yard and
came back with these.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh7FY2JMgoMznZ0_g-7HeCLA0p27HKCpNAFXOaETEYi8NQYrUpA67Az4JfAOj5lXl8RWD7kbba3hngqoJhVmSLU0yymTBQK3kMKGlMgmPlf9n3lOwAfURab-HDw_2ZIJo-3sbAUTyrDjDK/s1600/7_13_14+010pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh7FY2JMgoMznZ0_g-7HeCLA0p27HKCpNAFXOaETEYi8NQYrUpA67Az4JfAOj5lXl8RWD7kbba3hngqoJhVmSLU0yymTBQK3kMKGlMgmPlf9n3lOwAfURab-HDw_2ZIJo-3sbAUTyrDjDK/s640/7_13_14+010pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dFKTdsRPnlicrfmQprT3WWhKb1dWmfbZKuVPekuGAw3-MbNbAT1LfZvgIXML1xFecz25L3tOvJpZenr2B8D92gwNks1yLAQev9YD0Gne8yNdYf_6su15dHaIeR7eX01NeRbzx6BK51Lf/s1600/7_13_14+023pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dFKTdsRPnlicrfmQprT3WWhKb1dWmfbZKuVPekuGAw3-MbNbAT1LfZvgIXML1xFecz25L3tOvJpZenr2B8D92gwNks1yLAQev9YD0Gne8yNdYf_6su15dHaIeR7eX01NeRbzx6BK51Lf/s640/7_13_14+023pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5QBoeQr63DaUxYr7bKOXN1gahKTI08yNBvBKMg0X5PiwmNGXrkTeYJHceR6x_y5GOYy216R6Iicd2XnogKLwRVdJkUN5ERs_KXjeQtOVbDISa4VZ-GZuDBCwbEQMh19Uyu0xwbTfwIFJ/s1600/7_13_14+028pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5QBoeQr63DaUxYr7bKOXN1gahKTI08yNBvBKMg0X5PiwmNGXrkTeYJHceR6x_y5GOYy216R6Iicd2XnogKLwRVdJkUN5ERs_KXjeQtOVbDISa4VZ-GZuDBCwbEQMh19Uyu0xwbTfwIFJ/s640/7_13_14+028pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did manage to accomplish something this
summer and it is colorful. Thanks to <a href="http://thecrochetcrowd.com/rich-textures-cable-tote-bag/" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;">The Crochet Crowd</span></a> for the free pattern.
This was easier than it looks and so much fun to create. I
love the pattern. I think another one
may be in my future even though I'm not sure what I'll do with it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolxZz4Y8jM267MrPUThDTDcdjYZ-qTdnj4DRHV7vAmtoVqMcX5qeqmV-1acV3rl86wRuxnjLqIha1JcA1hpWqXIUE4Yx_ulVZFWmznZ-H2B1Ui113Z43pYun1DeIX6Sp5dwj13cKf-9N7/s1600/7_12_15Bag+006pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolxZz4Y8jM267MrPUThDTDcdjYZ-qTdnj4DRHV7vAmtoVqMcX5qeqmV-1acV3rl86wRuxnjLqIha1JcA1hpWqXIUE4Yx_ulVZFWmznZ-H2B1Ui113Z43pYun1DeIX6Sp5dwj13cKf-9N7/s640/7_12_15Bag+006pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One thing that is very special about today, in particular, is
that it is my very colorful daughter Carrie’s birthday. My due date with her was June 21, but she
waited until July 13 to be born, which was a Friday with a full moon, of course. And yes, it was the hottest summer ever. Of course, it’s always the hottest summer ever
when one is greatly pregnant. But I hit
the jackpot with Number One. She’s a
wonderful, big hearted, quirky, intelligent and beautiful person. Happy birthday, Number One!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's a photo of Carrie and her brother Evan (Number Two) taken in 1990. Number Two isn't so bad either, by the way.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-caFXQjyfZYuYRXVudPwf-p2NcnEEbuiDv0iAJ59-gBisikXnbw-ip-fnq4wpUZj2F4UxYpQVJqgt6Pcs2-GrDGIFud4_9kn1is7GJP8QnwbRG1cux7fbtcPyCiJ9ag7bL301KBKS14j/s1600/Carrie_Evanpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-caFXQjyfZYuYRXVudPwf-p2NcnEEbuiDv0iAJ59-gBisikXnbw-ip-fnq4wpUZj2F4UxYpQVJqgt6Pcs2-GrDGIFud4_9kn1is7GJP8QnwbRG1cux7fbtcPyCiJ9ag7bL301KBKS14j/s640/Carrie_Evanpic.jpg" width="526" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here's how </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">she looks these days. Yes, that's a spider web in her hair. I told you she was quirky.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTzsYzam62wSzOLpHW6FOJPh94tz9iCBOtXzyagMwbQIehO23owPQ04vVDeA1F04MiPoSQn_UO1zP0HO7jOsOHiVIgnu0M9fRZKqhOthjMmhuUDzdNbrt8joLI4xuW-iZi-s3nCPw7aFS/s1600/Carrie_portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTzsYzam62wSzOLpHW6FOJPh94tz9iCBOtXzyagMwbQIehO23owPQ04vVDeA1F04MiPoSQn_UO1zP0HO7jOsOHiVIgnu0M9fRZKqhOthjMmhuUDzdNbrt8joLI4xuW-iZi-s3nCPw7aFS/s640/Carrie_portrait.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-15456130477521013322015-07-05T19:21:00.000-04:002015-07-05T19:21:42.632-04:00Celebrating Independence Day – Walker Pond Style<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yesterday was our neighborhood’s annual Fourth
of July party. We don't always hold our big party on the
actual fourth, but this year since the fourth was on a Saturday, that was the
day we picked. I heard someone say
yesterday that this was the 49<sup>th</sup> year that our neighborhood of
Walker Pond here in Sturbridge has been celebrating the Fourth of July together. I’m sure someone could verify that for me, but
it sounds about right to me.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As usual, the day starts off with a Fishing Derby. Greg used to chair that event but has turned
it over to someone with more interest in fishing. The Derby starts at 7am so I think that Greg’s
interest in sleeping in a bit had something to do with it, too. The Derby is followed by a road race at 8am. That’s an event that neither Greg nor I have
ever been witness to. But the Parade is
at 10 am and I don’t think we’ve missed it but once or twice it in the 28 years we’ve
lived here. Here are a couple of pics
from this year’s parade.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HH6SWXiqEBgDWyIqX12xKWUMOUSIlslIuD18sx6pCke5CjFBAcuBzgOVs98JRJ1dfh6Bk3BsLjAcTRxleSTSYUxkhHGuFnw44wBTAEP64bqwrtIQvLtCKr_xNDmfzdx5LRsF42ddJ_cQ/s1600/7_5_15WPFourth+054pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HH6SWXiqEBgDWyIqX12xKWUMOUSIlslIuD18sx6pCke5CjFBAcuBzgOVs98JRJ1dfh6Bk3BsLjAcTRxleSTSYUxkhHGuFnw44wBTAEP64bqwrtIQvLtCKr_xNDmfzdx5LRsF42ddJ_cQ/s640/7_5_15WPFourth+054pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner of Best in Show were this pack of
Patriots:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9hYYhVAdm2bJh3jo7nSfOHWkVs-5uMsNwjsV6-OD8khLgtMgPzs1EHACYNFzMPl6Bwd0oCcrQrpuGl0QD3rwO-hKkvcjaqCR-Da16Sa8N_w5pDYaQWFlOxabTezviNWYjqy7N2n_sh5F/s1600/7_5_15WPFourth+063pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9hYYhVAdm2bJh3jo7nSfOHWkVs-5uMsNwjsV6-OD8khLgtMgPzs1EHACYNFzMPl6Bwd0oCcrQrpuGl0QD3rwO-hKkvcjaqCR-Da16Sa8N_w5pDYaQWFlOxabTezviNWYjqy7N2n_sh5F/s640/7_5_15WPFourth+063pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We don’t have a Best Dressed Dog category, but
if we did, this handsome pooch would have gotten my vote:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIItAahoxpNDzLpYpmcfjUrLWsFVZGUAutjtOcofxFkuS2GE2BEcyVc27lXz51a2MksLmFvl_PZS-IbQQJxalPD1H9uZFn5DWypVYGEvml2UhSbF4mltoVXASSwH1DzTsOr7aMXYqu9nRq/s1600/7_5_15WPFourth+072pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIItAahoxpNDzLpYpmcfjUrLWsFVZGUAutjtOcofxFkuS2GE2BEcyVc27lXz51a2MksLmFvl_PZS-IbQQJxalPD1H9uZFn5DWypVYGEvml2UhSbF4mltoVXASSwH1DzTsOr7aMXYqu9nRq/s640/7_5_15WPFourth+072pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Olive, the pug, watched the parade closely from
the comfort of our golf cart and was pretty excited about that good-looking
bulldog, too, but she didn’t get to attend the party, poor girl. She just gets too excited among all those
people and smells. And while it’s a dogs
dream, people would give her </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">far too many</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">bites of their hot dogs than would be
good for her, so she had to go home after the parade.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyAOhgm-Gbzj1-m0oU4qQ07AUFWmq-pKc2c4Fsl3xRTR6Yv9c98c7rDPJjf1FAoy4nda6StWlM5dXsF4ebbWfIPOCwvHwIULOssG2B1uRkNT7I5dJxKsaFGOV07be4REq-XM_6gZmsll0/s1600/7_5_15WPFourth+043pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyAOhgm-Gbzj1-m0oU4qQ07AUFWmq-pKc2c4Fsl3xRTR6Yv9c98c7rDPJjf1FAoy4nda6StWlM5dXsF4ebbWfIPOCwvHwIULOssG2B1uRkNT7I5dJxKsaFGOV07be4REq-XM_6gZmsll0/s640/7_5_15WPFourth+043pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The day continued on with field games one of
which is an egg toss. We had a lot of participants.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxHoSAxEovt1yCgfxDcS8mMTfJBt_p3IVBtKw_EnC30iHjnF-zjUtwnlQ4rhmUVXQ68rv0a49Nlhbvcpk7HRNOYSPusL-zVGY3czKnAOBe-h2gtf3nhtSkS_z-p_09m3_k1sKQWJIbWfn2/s1600/7_5_15WPFourth+112pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxHoSAxEovt1yCgfxDcS8mMTfJBt_p3IVBtKw_EnC30iHjnF-zjUtwnlQ4rhmUVXQ68rv0a49Nlhbvcpk7HRNOYSPusL-zVGY3czKnAOBe-h2gtf3nhtSkS_z-p_09m3_k1sKQWJIbWfn2/s640/7_5_15WPFourth+112pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This year a new event was added. The Wellie
Wanging involves standing on a half barrel and tossing a Wellington Boot as far
as possible while maintaining your stance on the barrel. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not as easy as it sounds as it turns out.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhis-TZFQXErU6OYtXNM4Q9fwxGGkNo4dQpqwEiaLEll46LT0HGJBpyISzLxXBhSLEEdJb8LngCMk48P8GczdERbOsEjyXUhTKbsE9inF6WrMHWCXmrp1dYOckgIohFcGqj1bOb8u3yuxsG/s1600/7_5_15WPFourth+137pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhis-TZFQXErU6OYtXNM4Q9fwxGGkNo4dQpqwEiaLEll46LT0HGJBpyISzLxXBhSLEEdJb8LngCMk48P8GczdERbOsEjyXUhTKbsE9inF6WrMHWCXmrp1dYOckgIohFcGqj1bOb8u3yuxsG/s640/7_5_15WPFourth+137pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here’s a neighbor in mid-wang (?). <span style="text-align: left;">We were told that this Wellie Wanging is a
tradition across the Pond, but I’m not completely sure I believe it.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Verification needed!</span> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdYomSbAa_9KX50HGeiDbqfBZEp4U4wfgxrZaW34-ojXXe6i1Okrn9bziN9M98UAp41AU6LFKnJCKdipFZTIscJ5D2G2M8DBqomPPlxh12_9sXPC_T9mNw3FyBJzuG5zjEweQZe2fsYkEo/s1600/7_5_15WPFourth+161pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdYomSbAa_9KX50HGeiDbqfBZEp4U4wfgxrZaW34-ojXXe6i1Okrn9bziN9M98UAp41AU6LFKnJCKdipFZTIscJ5D2G2M8DBqomPPlxh12_9sXPC_T9mNw3FyBJzuG5zjEweQZe2fsYkEo/s640/7_5_15WPFourth+161pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It rained on us for a while so everyone got cozy
under the tents and had a few drinks and eats.
But it turned out to be a beautiful evening and every one, including Uncle Sam, enjoyed
the day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBFH7VZioaewG51L5pB2VklDH0mCFUN1gW6z27pcFJFjiU0swKTpc0027-5ZSj_6XLDG48x1yTYPdsO9MHzFH1Xa55VJad422GWp9c9nxj_f5nsS36-Z6YjZZ52ACoz-1uu8UYtU-J226/s1600/7_5_15WPFourth+084pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBFH7VZioaewG51L5pB2VklDH0mCFUN1gW6z27pcFJFjiU0swKTpc0027-5ZSj_6XLDG48x1yTYPdsO9MHzFH1Xa55VJad422GWp9c9nxj_f5nsS36-Z6YjZZ52ACoz-1uu8UYtU-J226/s640/7_5_15WPFourth+084pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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</div>
barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-12724232721980026542015-07-03T15:40:00.000-04:002015-07-03T15:40:18.496-04:00Blue, blue, blue…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have been continuing on with my 52 Weeks of
Blue project. Here are the next five in the
series:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Week 21:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is yet another great sign we saw on our
trip to North Carolina. I am finding it
very hard to believe that we’ve been home from there for a month already. Where does the time go??</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPtw8ZcM_nTjBfW7iEA1c8F0EzNwixkOg_qPJKj0kEFizplex2MKFt_jLRbtYcvpv0_asWPPUqP3XosSDrANxRDo_oelQCSkhw6F_rzdvSTXenufFU8Tl4-pFeORNXjz9HtCa39TvBlKn-/s1600/5_20_15NC+361pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPtw8ZcM_nTjBfW7iEA1c8F0EzNwixkOg_qPJKj0kEFizplex2MKFt_jLRbtYcvpv0_asWPPUqP3XosSDrANxRDo_oelQCSkhw6F_rzdvSTXenufFU8Tl4-pFeORNXjz9HtCa39TvBlKn-/s640/5_20_15NC+361pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Week 22:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we got home, the Bluets were in bloom. I think they are just wonderful, cheerful
little flowers. They are gone now that
it has gotten warmer, but they are not forgotten.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzvhrSXbljyGhmJ2GT1aGQjz0P3dK06fAQo8uoqW987HmI8kGInDUgYUzAb_sMCELNoBBXLboqiU5ipkLI2AXV3rgqefMTJ5suT3XyZQDKCGsdPoUiY8-s0JcYhm2TVErASiRCqVeUDUX-/s1600/5_26_15SD6+062pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzvhrSXbljyGhmJ2GT1aGQjz0P3dK06fAQo8uoqW987HmI8kGInDUgYUzAb_sMCELNoBBXLboqiU5ipkLI2AXV3rgqefMTJ5suT3XyZQDKCGsdPoUiY8-s0JcYhm2TVErASiRCqVeUDUX-/s640/5_26_15SD6+062pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Week 23:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was beginning to get desperate during Week 23
because nothing was flipping my blue switch so I decided to take a ride in the
country. I found this beautiful old colonial house, Deer
Meadow Farm, that was built circa 1780. Being close to an antique myself, I am way past wanting to live in an antique house. Our fifty year old home has enough problems, thank you very much. But it never fails to send me back to Memory Lane when I see a beautiful place like this. When we first moved up to these parts, a house like this
was just what I wanted, although I have to admit to being a bit more partial to the style of the Cape house than to the traditional Colonial. I have to admit that these days all I
want is a two bedroom condo that was built within the last ten years with all the
modern amenities and none of the work.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiriY8vAFvl1-II3cpmyZyBe4kAF6-zT_OZni7K5cyc8oTOqyS5KcwxL9rtOjaGFLPUesswGN7RlZJ3gn6lreXlDzLp4Llekr1I67p3MZNDj5cMcPTX0Db8-8jxTfi-zgkfSWaHH-PLvQJm/s1600/6_5_15Blue+017pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiriY8vAFvl1-II3cpmyZyBe4kAF6-zT_OZni7K5cyc8oTOqyS5KcwxL9rtOjaGFLPUesswGN7RlZJ3gn6lreXlDzLp4Llekr1I67p3MZNDj5cMcPTX0Db8-8jxTfi-zgkfSWaHH-PLvQJm/s640/6_5_15Blue+017pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Week 24:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“No water, no life, no blue, no green” is part
of a quote from Sylvia Earle. According
to Wikipedia, Earle “is an American Marine biologist, explorer, author, and
lecturer. Since 1998, she has been a
National Geographic explorer-in-residence.
Earle was the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, and was named by <i>Time Magazine</i> as its first Hero for the Planet in 1998.” I’ve seen two versions of this quote, the one I quoted above and used in my photo and this one: “No ocean, no life. No
blue, no green. No ocean, no us.” Regardless of Earle’s exact words, I think
the message is clear. The ocean and water,
in general, is our most precious natural resource and we need to remember that
every day.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqQHMXoikI6prU5So_63LJRXblOCertVmOslMAyTHb2jLTiIXXPl2vT7aSGkhJkPQXGUPG7DZ8kFurb1g9XeOxW2Zw4hbzJkiOERNltCFwqfAdJ4s3gqWEFBo8Z7gOzk4qqcSvVXz9yTI/s1600/6_13_15Blue+065pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqQHMXoikI6prU5So_63LJRXblOCertVmOslMAyTHb2jLTiIXXPl2vT7aSGkhJkPQXGUPG7DZ8kFurb1g9XeOxW2Zw4hbzJkiOERNltCFwqfAdJ4s3gqWEFBo8Z7gOzk4qqcSvVXz9yTI/s640/6_13_15Blue+065pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Week 25:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Isn’t it so nice when someone gives you something out of the
blue? This beautiful little vase of
flowers was a wonderful gift from the two lovely women who come to help me keep
some order in this house every other week.
The charming pink roses have gone by now, but I have vowed to fill it
with wildflowers all summer long and right now, it is filled with wild yarrow. I love it!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiceQIbUUEuZSgCTUCDhlzpm-MT3rrgxFhtRYpoREVQatrURC7AVds_Iylfoj_bgPMUNa__K9WJxjikNcVSOynheSRcTAJYD44JFty2blLnz-5yT_1hJbj15PNlZ8k5o_kJlXINxZGHwoCI/s1600/6_18_15SunsetBlue+093pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiceQIbUUEuZSgCTUCDhlzpm-MT3rrgxFhtRYpoREVQatrURC7AVds_Iylfoj_bgPMUNa__K9WJxjikNcVSOynheSRcTAJYD44JFty2blLnz-5yT_1hJbj15PNlZ8k5o_kJlXINxZGHwoCI/s640/6_18_15SunsetBlue+093pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Normally, I would be linking up on Friday with Tanya's Around Roanoke<i> Willy-nilly Friday 5</i>, but Tanya is taking a little break for the month of July to move houses. Hoping Tanya has a easy and uneventful move and that all of you in the USA have an easy and uneventful Fourth of July!</span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-26175697381171492442015-07-02T15:43:00.000-04:002015-07-02T15:43:26.685-04:00Good Country Fences...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are just a few that I've managed to pick up on my travels. Where they are no one (or at least not me) knows. They are somewhere in the eastern part of the USA.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg5nubpY8CJOVkcyEBVl8oFvSQ2nxEHv3CP6Xz2eOffQJqkoNQzInNBC6X5MAu4ZXI_HZ5n7GW86ExoujJUxgm-E81sA_fmRya8t8wUidgZwUMHteGpECBkdRNhvByPDU2ES4ZkhX-Lvl/s1600/6_5_15Blue+012pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg5nubpY8CJOVkcyEBVl8oFvSQ2nxEHv3CP6Xz2eOffQJqkoNQzInNBC6X5MAu4ZXI_HZ5n7GW86ExoujJUxgm-E81sA_fmRya8t8wUidgZwUMHteGpECBkdRNhvByPDU2ES4ZkhX-Lvl/s640/6_5_15Blue+012pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJ-xrLhBjwgu5iLAY2cuceCxRBOyz8I9apF99SlgVTiWSEPyN-1DvXQpSdvRJ-_v1dR274OfAzZalZK92-OMXJCTlOaC6uFFGdCG2Am4qjDW3tgscERC2-EQ1LOOPT_JQg4h-GlKXMg-x/s1600/5_20_15NC+072pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJ-xrLhBjwgu5iLAY2cuceCxRBOyz8I9apF99SlgVTiWSEPyN-1DvXQpSdvRJ-_v1dR274OfAzZalZK92-OMXJCTlOaC6uFFGdCG2Am4qjDW3tgscERC2-EQ1LOOPT_JQg4h-GlKXMg-x/s640/5_20_15NC+072pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbE1aohcXQkhNJatuba_VCG0pR8qH92k4I4frWMHnHRdCDq7UxHaMILXaJIqivXgAFbOB5I60q8XL85tqzN26o5qJ1HbTN_Mxo-wPDgZiI71_-sTmzqMU3Vgetsx-6njcPWlVdHucty1f/s1600/5_20_15NC+091pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbE1aohcXQkhNJatuba_VCG0pR8qH92k4I4frWMHnHRdCDq7UxHaMILXaJIqivXgAFbOB5I60q8XL85tqzN26o5qJ1HbTN_Mxo-wPDgZiI71_-sTmzqMU3Vgetsx-6njcPWlVdHucty1f/s640/5_20_15NC+091pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Linking to <a href="http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/2015/07/good-fences-67.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;">The Run*A*Round Ranches Good Fences</span></a>!</h3>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22%20http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/13317117563_c095d0b958_q.jpg%22/%3E%3C/a%3E" target="_blank"><a href="http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/"><img src=" http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/13317117563_c095d0b958_q.jpg" /></a></a></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-20915290519283987212015-06-29T19:16:00.001-04:002015-06-29T19:16:51.794-04:00Remembering Jerry Garcia and sleeping in a caboose…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Memories are funny things.
Ask any American who was alive at the time and they can probably tell
you just where they were when they heard that President Kennedy was shot and
killed in Dallas or exactly what they were doing when they learned about the 9/11
Tragedy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But how many of you can
remember the exact circumstances of where you were and what you were doing when
you learned Jerry Garcia died?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That particular memory was jogged for me this morning as I
was reading in the newspaper about the Grateful Dead’s Final Farewell Tour. You know, I’ve always liked the Grateful Dead’s
music, but I am by no means a Deadhead. During
the years when they were at the height of their popularity and Jerry Garcia was
still around, I was busy with the everyday stuff of life: getting married, working, having and raising
kids and trying, often unsuccessfully, to act like an adult. In other words, I was moving along in my life
as many people do and I just didn’t have the time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But I remember the day Jerry Garcia died better than many days
that have far more personal significance in my life. And that’s because the night of the day that he
died, Greg, Carrie, Evan and I slept in a caboose. Yes, the four of us spent a night in a
caboose at the Caboose Motel in Avoca, New York on our way home to
Massachusetts from our annual trip to Ohio AND, I must say, it was darn
cool.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> We enjoyed it thoroughly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next morning while eating breakfast at a nearby diner, I
spied the newspaper with the headlines announcing that Garcia was dead and the
Dead’s song <i>Casey Jones </i>popped into
my head – “Driving that train, high on cocaine…” The night I had just spent in the train and
Garcia’s death managed to stick together in my memory and to this day, nearly
20 years later, the association lives on in my mind. Mention Jerry Garcia and if I close my eyes,
I can see the insides of that train car, the way it felt to sleep somewhere so
unusual and the way the kid looked and acted.
Carrie had just turned 11 and Evan was soon to turn 9. They were so cute. Those are the little mundane things that are
really important to me when all is said and done – those ghosts of happy
memories.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On an everyday basis, I don’t have and never have had a good
capacity to retain memories. These days,
like a lot of people my age, I walk into a room and wonder what the heck I am
doing there. If I don’t always put my
phone in the same place, there’s a pretty good chance I will spend a lot of
time searching and searching and searching.
I don’t always remember people’s names after I’ve met them – sadly, even
after I’ve met them a number of times and truly like them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> But I bet that till the day I die, I will
remember where I was on the day that Jerry Garcia died.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are a few pics I just remembered:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxIFlXT28he1l8VLReoEpGKTuDY75vxDzILz5uDPpwqpsHglpn71B6aoSQoX7GV-J1FlMs8M3Gy_m9BLI2-Ruuo7U43k8I-znZ1YlRT7SWASiLWvVvVLQREo5KWA4EBCjJNIpl8fE2r9j/s1600/FL1_15SD2+040pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxIFlXT28he1l8VLReoEpGKTuDY75vxDzILz5uDPpwqpsHglpn71B6aoSQoX7GV-J1FlMs8M3Gy_m9BLI2-Ruuo7U43k8I-znZ1YlRT7SWASiLWvVvVLQREo5KWA4EBCjJNIpl8fE2r9j/s640/FL1_15SD2+040pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-2A9CI6Vtv05R4UeV2No3jiaUX40HDnJ_Q8ZV9AdzIT0qy-1oDEnd3EosbjPuYeOKt6Z2SAqj9lmqDA0oY-IovRkdWMOC-ZC2Xjkqp7UopaRh4WJdAftmWvmmDJXAHYCCeLrMZREWwxe/s1600/FL1_15SD7+048pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-2A9CI6Vtv05R4UeV2No3jiaUX40HDnJ_Q8ZV9AdzIT0qy-1oDEnd3EosbjPuYeOKt6Z2SAqj9lmqDA0oY-IovRkdWMOC-ZC2Xjkqp7UopaRh4WJdAftmWvmmDJXAHYCCeLrMZREWwxe/s640/FL1_15SD7+048pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwl_EEDMHOZS-XQUa4i1Z8vM1KQcntxoY5pZW9IQ369V9MW-rkeIPedQAcjjbIwTEluaLtojonLHHFg_F1lDIIdOoWJ2GNe6UEjBPqZufa-YzK7keLi1IRTaToYafPsI8aEUj7DYneXzG/s1600/FL1_15SD7+084pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwl_EEDMHOZS-XQUa4i1Z8vM1KQcntxoY5pZW9IQ369V9MW-rkeIPedQAcjjbIwTEluaLtojonLHHFg_F1lDIIdOoWJ2GNe6UEjBPqZufa-YzK7keLi1IRTaToYafPsI8aEUj7DYneXzG/s640/FL1_15SD7+084pic.jpg" width="366" /></a></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-27391861704467430732015-06-26T16:41:00.001-04:002015-06-26T16:41:43.538-04:00Willy-nilly Friday 5: Birthday Edition<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. So yesterday was my birthday – which one is not really relevant. It’s enough to say that I’m not getting any younger. We had tickets for a day game at Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox. In baseball, as in life, hope springs eternal and I was hoping for a win to add to my scorebook. (Yes, I am a baseball nerd and I do keep score when I go to the games. My scorebook is one of my favorite things in life.) Well, there was no luck at Fenway yesterday since the Sox lost 8-6, but it was a good day at the ballpark nonetheless. And as the famous line goes, “There’s no crying in baseball,” which is a damn good thing, because otherwise we’d be crying a lot this year.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5rCZYIIJhRNqUh7XIAS0Mupb3uf10fxWBE_4S3Mg6qLuICNu8RmJatLIcQeGA32IDQ9N77SAJ52z9QuWsb4692F04KFB-EFBbPRrHwaSpTxepg3P6-yKVueuvdV2L3s-g-zydKwcX4gd/s1600/FenwayPic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5rCZYIIJhRNqUh7XIAS0Mupb3uf10fxWBE_4S3Mg6qLuICNu8RmJatLIcQeGA32IDQ9N77SAJ52z9QuWsb4692F04KFB-EFBbPRrHwaSpTxepg3P6-yKVueuvdV2L3s-g-zydKwcX4gd/s640/FenwayPic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. The other day I saw on Facebook that the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts had a photography exhibit that I really wanted to see. The exhibit is called <a href="http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/in-the-wake" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><i>In the Wake</i>: <i>Japanese Photographers Respond to 3/11</i></span></a>. In case you can’t recall the date, it is the
day, March 11, 2011, that the tsunami hit the coast of Japan leaving so much
devastation behind. I was interested in
this because I recently did a bit of research on the subject for a talk I gave
in April as part of a Sunday service at our church concerning radiation in our everyday lives. The continuing damage resulting from the
meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is frightening and
horrible, but that is beside my point here.
Going to see the exhibit, which was very touching and well worth a visit, encouraged us to park at the museum and walk to Fenway. It’s a pleasant walk through a beautiful part
of Boston. On the way, I managed to snap
this picture of The Prudential building reflected in one of the fens.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9K_hXruInKDnj9w3DFxiKaZxY-HOjs7vepka-VE_G69puJ-i2dVB-oQALihxnkGNtA1NHEGzTPRptqwBUsoWKKM-oE29zS0X9QBTQKrB9fg5AK44ooYhzui7dtN6-85EBOjO3JCIUu8Uy/s1600/ThePruPic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9K_hXruInKDnj9w3DFxiKaZxY-HOjs7vepka-VE_G69puJ-i2dVB-oQALihxnkGNtA1NHEGzTPRptqwBUsoWKKM-oE29zS0X9QBTQKrB9fg5AK44ooYhzui7dtN6-85EBOjO3JCIUu8Uy/s640/ThePruPic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. After the game, while we were walking back to
the car, I noticed this plaque embedded in the sidewalk next to tables with chess boards embedded in them:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4L-wGosgdqsr-bewLwXD7FbjQfU2z5P7eA10PqiLLanO6yKyWgCjSWBoaSgM05gHwXfYo_98LN9Hz9Rnw7miTthqzmHvhe_nZ5Ng_KalSPdd_n5i-Y-3uJJDfoSdyGWZwH1TIlk0T6GC/s1600/WoodmanPic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4L-wGosgdqsr-bewLwXD7FbjQfU2z5P7eA10PqiLLanO6yKyWgCjSWBoaSgM05gHwXfYo_98LN9Hz9Rnw7miTthqzmHvhe_nZ5Ng_KalSPdd_n5i-Y-3uJJDfoSdyGWZwH1TIlk0T6GC/s640/WoodmanPic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A little research got me an explanation of why
it is there. <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/scott-herhold/ci_25948287/herhold-moving-memorial-former-san-josean-who-died" target="_blank"><span style="color: #d9ead3;">David Woodman</span></a> is a young
man who died during the celebration of the Boston Celtics winning a
championship. They say that he was
willing to give up his coat to the homeless he encountered and loved playing
chess with them. I think we would all
benefit from remembering that, at the end of the day, we do all end up in the
same box.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Speaking of boxes, on the way out of Boston we
passed by the House of the Harvard Club of Boston. There’s a box I wouldn’t fit in either now or
at the end of the day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGglNPd-u0iUjD-HGM66qVgIp3EGNqkVirssLpuHx_kPj-b4ARspFWSIa2uMvAaSSz6KvXgzO_3dJ0kiz7fo-frryl3Oh-_LcPRRMfZlw6hjVHwEGwkSG9fu3J7fKMElunwV4_WdxDLC_H/s1600/HarvardPic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGglNPd-u0iUjD-HGM66qVgIp3EGNqkVirssLpuHx_kPj-b4ARspFWSIa2uMvAaSSz6KvXgzO_3dJ0kiz7fo-frryl3Oh-_LcPRRMfZlw6hjVHwEGwkSG9fu3J7fKMElunwV4_WdxDLC_H/s640/HarvardPic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Because of some pretty nasty Boston traffic, we
got home much later than anticipated, so to cap off the night, Greg and I took
the five minute drive over to our local Uno’s Pizzeria and I celebrated getting
older with an Ultimate Margarita and half a flatbread pizza. The good thing about that is that our friend
and expert musician <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jared-Fiske/198237810249074" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Jared Fiske </span></a>was performing there that night. That was the icing on my non-existent
birthday cake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_RVA1vrGevnV8nPByYGWNm6-BifjBtppIN0uDS-t759ndopIuUaH7IinqzE-5-nyNKBsB6prekKeSS2p3cI_uq8jyRUcmr2Vz3CtHQ7rujFvGtXMFiKiynPaP__1QXEsxzttmKBlo4Q1/s1600/UltimatePic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_RVA1vrGevnV8nPByYGWNm6-BifjBtppIN0uDS-t759ndopIuUaH7IinqzE-5-nyNKBsB6prekKeSS2p3cI_uq8jyRUcmr2Vz3CtHQ7rujFvGtXMFiKiynPaP__1QXEsxzttmKBlo4Q1/s640/UltimatePic.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh, by the way, here's me in a pretty bad selfie that I took while sitting in traffic in Boston yesterday. I was pretty beat from all we did during the day so I look a little on the put-out side, but I wasn't unhappy -- just tired. But today I am a very happy person thinking about the Supreme Court ruling allowing gay marriage in this country. Even though I've been around for a good long while, I still feel that life is too short to deny all consenting adults the happiness of love and marriage if they want it. Thanks, SCOTUS!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosBgwxD5qZjG_wNQ_y8ERTSQzUYk3HtXfGOW0SlycPdCIdNbiEge5OXgoIExVTECY-XvclzJW7sRZkG4wN-Jgd4yc4CQ3W9HzrN5_kw2U3d2UbUIMRJGSbELK0xDmC7EMOupvJ6Jb9fS5/s1600/SelfiePic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosBgwxD5qZjG_wNQ_y8ERTSQzUYk3HtXfGOW0SlycPdCIdNbiEge5OXgoIExVTECY-XvclzJW7sRZkG4wN-Jgd4yc4CQ3W9HzrN5_kw2U3d2UbUIMRJGSbELK0xDmC7EMOupvJ6Jb9fS5/s320/SelfiePic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Linking up with Around Roanoke's <a href="http://monroega.blogspot.com/2015/06/willy-nilly-friday-5-no-49.html?showComment=1435350809990#c4377294415662866037" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Willy-nilly Friday 5</span></a>!</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div align="center">
<a href="http://monroega.blogspot.com/" title="Around Roanoke"><img alt="Around Roanoke" src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a110/breese823/willnilly_zps3e671d87.jpg" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
</span></div>
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</div>
barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-42582868609620882962015-06-24T16:59:00.001-04:002015-06-24T16:59:24.536-04:00Through the Smokies...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we left the cabin we called home for a week,
we motored past the kudzu-covered silos that we passed every day that week on our way out of the neighborhood. We drove down through
Cherokee, North Carolina to the Blue Ridge Parkway.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJGa2nlo29Ww3z82m76191Brn0IFVqt589L6C0vdWzA6KAe1tRGpyZ44Zimy5LNmOroUB5UEqA7UC13s1GH6cwTvbxV3e4mPa7pI4ugiYkdv-KZzWoaeg_rQWPgo_shiFYsooXSuxFpMq4/s1600/5_31_15SD7+009pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJGa2nlo29Ww3z82m76191Brn0IFVqt589L6C0vdWzA6KAe1tRGpyZ44Zimy5LNmOroUB5UEqA7UC13s1GH6cwTvbxV3e4mPa7pI4ugiYkdv-KZzWoaeg_rQWPgo_shiFYsooXSuxFpMq4/s640/5_31_15SD7+009pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The vistas were marvelous and it didn’t take
very long for us to realize that the Great Smoky Mountains are called the Great
Smoky Mountains for a reason.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1-CG6JZu1ks-Y66HMq7zon11FQLJ0GQJAPqzgpweOWmAE_rihK7oWlqdDe4O1QPbUqW1XrPZZO8bfPY99FvS4Jnn3D2IcFVRGfQ7eOaamJ5LrWaJoxShmt0AXE8G9L7gry9dbKmH29yJ6/s1600/5_31_15SD7+045pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1-CG6JZu1ks-Y66HMq7zon11FQLJ0GQJAPqzgpweOWmAE_rihK7oWlqdDe4O1QPbUqW1XrPZZO8bfPY99FvS4Jnn3D2IcFVRGfQ7eOaamJ5LrWaJoxShmt0AXE8G9L7gry9dbKmH29yJ6/s640/5_31_15SD7+045pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM9UAPpi9Qc18e3gjrZ7m7Lh49bHqjfyJTOVI26QPxb-RtAcFW08rDlq4MtN4Av7qoR7IWZyhdlyOhDYT9DIPbBsZ6xE5Gt62XlUsFcfj10Wc3Vq8Tnc1m-Qr4jGYLub-tzl1W5pWsuwm8/s1600/5_31_15SD7+061pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM9UAPpi9Qc18e3gjrZ7m7Lh49bHqjfyJTOVI26QPxb-RtAcFW08rDlq4MtN4Av7qoR7IWZyhdlyOhDYT9DIPbBsZ6xE5Gt62XlUsFcfj10Wc3Vq8Tnc1m-Qr4jGYLub-tzl1W5pWsuwm8/s640/5_31_15SD7+061pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0OVwXUEr3_ueYT-W_9bIO0b1_aRPgGdtRUuilawl9dNwCYr04O-HZzOlefYhBYB4E2Guc3evxbJeSy7kiLd4m7V0I00DfwB-09NTkGpbieYFHBRJCCw1QkkEv_endAh9S7JRFTL5n26O5/s1600/5_31_15SD7+081pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0OVwXUEr3_ueYT-W_9bIO0b1_aRPgGdtRUuilawl9dNwCYr04O-HZzOlefYhBYB4E2Guc3evxbJeSy7kiLd4m7V0I00DfwB-09NTkGpbieYFHBRJCCw1QkkEv_endAh9S7JRFTL5n26O5/s640/5_31_15SD7+081pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfy2ui-gzajVwuhCS04hoxYIvUv4jG5FyzuH6d7X8SaxserMerNl7l_1hUpckmS1-0JwbfYAItBfKzdgj9Q6FyeSpENFDleNVo8_kch_yia5fFgTBSut6ALOc5huERlS8qIhkgK3JOEXXa/s1600/5_31_15SD7+101pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfy2ui-gzajVwuhCS04hoxYIvUv4jG5FyzuH6d7X8SaxserMerNl7l_1hUpckmS1-0JwbfYAItBfKzdgj9Q6FyeSpENFDleNVo8_kch_yia5fFgTBSut6ALOc5huERlS8qIhkgK3JOEXXa/s640/5_31_15SD7+101pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a while, we got on the interstate and
headed for home. It was a wonderful week
with good friends in a very beautiful part of this country.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Can’t complain!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204740345140815242.post-82695919625960587212015-06-16T17:38:00.000-04:002015-06-16T17:39:00.303-04:00The Things You See Along the Way...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we were in North Carolina with our friends
Dona and Bob, we discovered that all four of us like train rides. As it happens, there’s a train called the
<a href="http://www.gsmr.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #d9d2e9;">Great Smoky Mountain Railroad</span></a> that leaves from Bryson City every day.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDEQ5qreu7r4C4Q70mei5OrwKuatWcF01cymgVnoZHpyjR1lMstgVKQNLuC4W0rBGoPaDjTsc9pDKQ1CsFXnX2eRNzG5t8RqOZAEvYq27djRquNTeWnuV2UirlU0GbaJgJdVwlwYRrBgAN/s1600/5_22_15Train+012pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDEQ5qreu7r4C4Q70mei5OrwKuatWcF01cymgVnoZHpyjR1lMstgVKQNLuC4W0rBGoPaDjTsc9pDKQ1CsFXnX2eRNzG5t8RqOZAEvYq27djRquNTeWnuV2UirlU0GbaJgJdVwlwYRrBgAN/s640/5_22_15Train+012pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We booked passage for the Nantahala Gorge Excursion, which “takes
you across Fontana Lake and into the beautiful Nantahala Gorge.” The train was comfortable with an attendant
who would fill your "free" mug with coffee, tea or a soft drink while the train moseyed
along. Here’s what the interior of our
car looked like.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuifWR6eudp12EEWMgRcnWrsLsONEtARkwzqBADBxO8fuT6EnMDe76rdMvOrVh45f_tWivYRyRSfuZyw6VB8L2lt3qt-RbeeZASofJyJYI8BgozEBgKiAsXX12GpClKNnd7_AFjn-D0u1/s1600/5_22_15Train+019pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuifWR6eudp12EEWMgRcnWrsLsONEtARkwzqBADBxO8fuT6EnMDe76rdMvOrVh45f_tWivYRyRSfuZyw6VB8L2lt3qt-RbeeZASofJyJYI8BgozEBgKiAsXX12GpClKNnd7_AFjn-D0u1/s640/5_22_15Train+019pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here are a few of the things we saw along
the way…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDioGZbr-vACizTJuDguvHN89-RJmOvmehyphenhypheny3ylrutvl8IHam2ENuVihY0iD-Vg7zd3WA2Mj7KdsNikXvmypZh8CfRZtn8_TP6f_4cku8lSd381jJxBmMTGP6BIduTAtOLYiW9-nqiO6gP/s1600/5_22_15Train+035pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDioGZbr-vACizTJuDguvHN89-RJmOvmehyphenhypheny3ylrutvl8IHam2ENuVihY0iD-Vg7zd3WA2Mj7KdsNikXvmypZh8CfRZtn8_TP6f_4cku8lSd381jJxBmMTGP6BIduTAtOLYiW9-nqiO6gP/s640/5_22_15Train+035pic.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo2uZ3K2FFmodHVKG9GzMoYrGaAfG00OHDtS0xT1uCcQ4_RdtIdizc4ecMG8e5a4kBkgRH3GwE03TVdS6PBFacpk85uD9hrwuuPx8k_tVncrMI-Nc7m_OrG8wTrrmwV__JK-Yxvu96mcby/s1600/5_22_15Train+053pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo2uZ3K2FFmodHVKG9GzMoYrGaAfG00OHDtS0xT1uCcQ4_RdtIdizc4ecMG8e5a4kBkgRH3GwE03TVdS6PBFacpk85uD9hrwuuPx8k_tVncrMI-Nc7m_OrG8wTrrmwV__JK-Yxvu96mcby/s640/5_22_15Train+053pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFbTuTLQjIfrmVeK3mmcMD9hwO9Q17EsUN3ZLw6c8Yssv9ErKUEm9xuqvIU4j_v_dmq2WHNutt84DV8om-cG3uaMgXm1MdZMhmZntl6_sEVRi1XgOtCK2j8IBvlsyVMitdyvOWUpu396P/s1600/5_22_15Train+066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFbTuTLQjIfrmVeK3mmcMD9hwO9Q17EsUN3ZLw6c8Yssv9ErKUEm9xuqvIU4j_v_dmq2WHNutt84DV8om-cG3uaMgXm1MdZMhmZntl6_sEVRi1XgOtCK2j8IBvlsyVMitdyvOWUpu396P/s640/5_22_15Train+066.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The train took us to the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC)
where we had an hour layover. Just
enough time to stretch our legs and have a nice glass of local ale. But we did see some interesting things during
our stop.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like these two peeps who were obviously so worn
out they were willing to nap on gravel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ5oP1tX98uFHH2192RvjxCw4QLbZ6HrqkLEkpCu8LfrL1tp4tmCIrS3pe7GHYJmD8xIKBa4oGdeuMWibKIFIdgxEM5dvvVZGg7ZXcIVWDvWkfnJ_IDvciL67dwJeoHli8I4Sq1-bw49TO/s1600/5_22_15Train+165pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ5oP1tX98uFHH2192RvjxCw4QLbZ6HrqkLEkpCu8LfrL1tp4tmCIrS3pe7GHYJmD8xIKBa4oGdeuMWibKIFIdgxEM5dvvVZGg7ZXcIVWDvWkfnJ_IDvciL67dwJeoHli8I4Sq1-bw49TO/s640/5_22_15Train+165pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And these three dogs. The two already in the truck watched with
rapt attention until dog number three was safely in the truck. They must be best friends.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kOdlWsUdU0OboUVnMEbIG4SJA9vIBOT4RKkWR0eYbspQd23FVQQ5qw7nBk6hCT1NEV3luJCAdQeYa_sMSaf6QN99VU80EDgKEEdYCzYGYZN5ibwI9Gu04g_Z8y_KBbuKo-j0eOe0cSjh/s1600/5_22_15Train+168pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kOdlWsUdU0OboUVnMEbIG4SJA9vIBOT4RKkWR0eYbspQd23FVQQ5qw7nBk6hCT1NEV3luJCAdQeYa_sMSaf6QN99VU80EDgKEEdYCzYGYZN5ibwI9Gu04g_Z8y_KBbuKo-j0eOe0cSjh/s640/5_22_15Train+168pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The scenery on the way back to Bryson City was
just wonderful.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGK5hzMWjWT46LIUvdrESjtMz8E_Hx9ZsoPAKs9IglbY-yJdrqFBKFNXUWDrtmnQrQ53gwTWfAsHf2Rr4kb0jvTVRgZSMyk0YZUJ219VKWwrG1T7Wqyiv7gAj4H7wtTmRX0g2UfDlfx0H/s1600/5_22_15Train+215pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGK5hzMWjWT46LIUvdrESjtMz8E_Hx9ZsoPAKs9IglbY-yJdrqFBKFNXUWDrtmnQrQ53gwTWfAsHf2Rr4kb0jvTVRgZSMyk0YZUJ219VKWwrG1T7Wqyiv7gAj4H7wtTmRX0g2UfDlfx0H/s640/5_22_15Train+215pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of our fellow passengers seemed to like it
quite a lot.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYYHm8z1oCXL5ITgkqvsRKimmnWmxwGi1UkfoaYAcadDmRkqm3m1wzV-LdZvqr3SBzH7v4Gw5jYLb-gG0iF-lAbAcoK2RYPlMw1eC0IAfHnZglz4AclLK3zyIHsJ0vmrDyJyvmPsFgC3pP/s1600/5_22_15Train+033pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYYHm8z1oCXL5ITgkqvsRKimmnWmxwGi1UkfoaYAcadDmRkqm3m1wzV-LdZvqr3SBzH7v4Gw5jYLb-gG0iF-lAbAcoK2RYPlMw1eC0IAfHnZglz4AclLK3zyIHsJ0vmrDyJyvmPsFgC3pP/s640/5_22_15Train+033pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A nice day was had by all.</span></div>
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barbara l. halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15251598050638810751noreply@blogger.com11