Tag: Photographs
Precious Pets
Inspired by Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Precious Pets
…We have a dog. Her name is Kaki. She is a beagle…
That was the grand announcement in my diary for January 1, 1965 for the first (and last) dog to appear during my childhood. Three scrawled blue ink sentences interspersed between waxing my new white bike, describing my parents’ Open House and watching The Addams Family and Gomer Pyle that night on television.
Kaki’s arrival actually happened on Christmas Eve 1964. I imagine she was supposed to be a Christmas present for me and my 3 younger siblings…
…We have a surprise for you all!
The front door opened and a small dog broke loose from my father’s grip. She started running – taking off down the hall through the kitchen and into the dining room. From there she ran straight into the 4 of us waiting in the living room. Where a fully decorated Christmas tree was standing in the corner. All hell broke loose.
We all chased her. She ran faster. Repeating the circular path around the main floor of the house. Kitchen-Dining Room-Living Room. My parents yelled. The next thing I remember, our new dog ran into the tree and grabbed ornaments in her mouth. Glass ornaments. The tree may have tipped over. I was petrified. She’s swallowed glass. She might die!
My remembering gets murky after that. I think my father finally caught her and checked her mouth. Gave her bread to eat, which was supposed to stick to the shards from the ornament. Perhaps the actual drama was shorter lived, but it was scary for all of us – Kaki (named for her brown colored ears) was probably the most scared.
It was my mother’s well meaning idea to give us a dog. I think it completed her dream of the ideal family unit: mother, father, 4 kids and a dog. In her dream we would all help take care of it. Without complaint. The dog would, of course, behave perfectly. There would be no peeing on the floor. No chewing on furniture. Eating the pompoms off the tablecloth. Throwing up on the rug.
Unfortunately for Kaki, she behaved about as perfectly as the imperfect children in this less than ideal household. She was a sweet dog, though. I enjoyed walking her around the block. Searching the neighborhood (repeatedly) for her when she escaped out the front door…not so much. I wonder now if my parents ever brought her to obedience school.
Several years later (4 or 5?) my parents gave her away to a single guy (I think he was a veteran) who wanted a dog. I don’t remember why or when or how.
When I had a family of my own – including a daughter and a son – the subject of getting a dog came up a few times. My husband and I decided we had enough to do with jobs, a house, kids and activities. I saw first hand as a child…dogs are a lot of work and take a lot of time. And sometimes it doesn’t go according to plan.
When you grow up, you can have your own dog!…was our standard answer.
And they did.
My daughter and her husband adopted a rescue dog in 2014. Lutra is a well loved (and well trained!) member of the family. She loves squeaky chew toys, cheese and helping out with crumbs below the chair belonging to the newest human member of the family. She does not like squirrels or cats and lets them know it too.
My 3 year old grandson considers Lutra to be his dog.
My son finally got a dog of his own this past February. He and his girlfriend also adopted a rescue dog. It had been found lost on a highway in Arkansas with no chip or ID. They discovered him on an adoption site online and he arrived via a freight truck at a rest area nearby. We went with them to pick up their new pet.
They were understandably a bit nervous – after all they lived in a small 4th floor walkup apartment in Boston. A high strung barking dog would be a challenge. The agreement included a 2 week trial period, but as it turned out…they had nothing to worry about. It was a perfect match. We could see it that cold day in the parking lot as they met for the first time….
Taco is the most chill and relaxed dog ever.
My children have grown up.
They have their own dogs, just as I predicted.
Life is good.
Wordless Wednesday
Photo a Week: What’s for Dinner
Inspired by Nancy Merrill’s Photo a Week Challenge: What’s for Dinner
IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF A FAVORITE MEAL.
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In my family, there has never been such a thing as too much cheese. If a recipe called for 1 Cup, it would be a…very…heaping cup. Or let’s just sprinkle on some extra. Or use up the rest of the hunk.
My baked macaroni and cheese recipe – revised over the years – was a family favorite. My daughter has since tweaked it and made it her own; offering it to college friends and now her own family. Probably with even more cheese.
I had to change it up when I was diagnosed with celiac disease 10 years ago. Not because of the cheese (phew!), but the pasta. That was a challenge, as anyone who has cooked with gluten free pasta knows. I experimented with a few different pastas and cooking times until the recipe worked…complete with the bread crumb topping that – of course – is as important as the rest.
A recent dinner:
Gluten free macaroni and cheese
Green beans and a side of leftover chicken.
Tossed salad – including home grown tomatoes from a friend’s garden.
Macaroni & Cheese Final Prep
Step 1: Sprinkle liberally with extra cheese
Step 2: Cover with buttered GF bread crumbs and crushed potato chips. Bake.
Step 3: Remove from oven
Extra Cheese
Add topping
Fully baked & ready to eat!
Dinner Time!
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Fire Hydrants
A surprise find for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Fire Hydrants
I was walking downtown yesterday – making my way back from a huge outdoor flea market – on a splintery “boardwalk” along the river. It was low tide in this tidal river and I noticed a huge pipe sticking out of the water. It snaked under the boardwalk path and out to a strip of grass bordering a parking lot.
Much to my surprise…this is what the pipe led to.
If it hadn’t been labeled, I may not have guessed what it was.
Have you ever seen one like this?
Mystery Keys
Inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo. This week’s prompt: Key
Twenty years ago, my husband and I cleared out my in-laws’ home, barn and workshop – to prepare the property for sale. It was a long, labor intensive and sometimes emotionally exhausting process. The home and out-buildings were at least 60 years old, predating my in-laws’ ownership.
The workshop (or “shop” as they called it) was attached to the old style garage and contained all my father-in-law’s tools. As well as the freezer that held blueberries & strawberries left over from his massive summer gardens. That my mother-in-law had prepared and labeled in identical plastic storage containers. Neatly stacked and ready for her cobblers and pies.
My father-in-law was not one for organization. And the shop was no exception. Tools were mixed in with nuts, bolts and nails. Stored in rusty coffee cans and mayonnaise jars on a long homemade wooden workbench. Stacks of ancient National Geographic magazines grew musty inside an old cabinet. Dozens of hammers, screwdrivers and wrenches hung on a pegboard attached to wall studs. Lumber scraps were stacked along one wall…covered with cobwebs. Right next to 3 metal garbage cans.
We found new homes for most of these treasures, but a ring of skeleton keys caught my husband’s eye. He had no idea where they came from or why his dad kept them.
But we both agreed they were very cool.
We never found anything on the property with locks that fit.
However, we held on to them…just in case.
In the meantime…the mystery continues.
Airport Angles
Inspired by Lens-Artist Challenge #59: Angles
During a recent trip home from Washington DC we flew out of Reagan National Airport. The interior of Terminal B caught my eye as I walked from one end to the other before going to the gate. I was intrigued by the amount of artwork and use of the color yellow throughout the architecture. Perhaps for yellow’s calming effect?
Angles…everywhere! At every angle.
I took the first photo at one end of the very long hall looking up at the ceiling.
The second photo…pivoting to the right, facing the windows and blue sky.
It was a very picturesque day for flying.
Wordless Wednesday
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Any Topic
Inspired by Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge: Any Topic
When we downsized in 2016 one of the many things eliminated was more than half of our record collection. Vinyl records…LPs and 45’s. We sold some to a local antique dealer. We sold some at a garage sale. We gave some away. Most we don’t miss. Some we do.
We saved two cabinets’ worth. No way was I parting with my collection of Carole King records or the “Three Bs” Barbra, Bonnie and Bette. Or classic Original Movie and Broadway Cast Recordings…Hello Dolly, West Side Story, Porgy and Bess, Saturday Night Fever…to name just a few. My tattered 4 record set 97 WWDJ/TOP HITS made the cut. My husband and I combined our Beatles collections via negotiating sentimental value of each. My beer stained copies of Meet the Beatles and The Beatles’ Second Album won out. My collections of The Carpenters, Herman’s Hermits and The Moody Blues did not.
Fortunately we still own our original turntable from the 1970s. My musician husband has maintained it meticulously over the years, along with the receiver and multiple wires and jacks and whatever. Including a cassette deck. And a CD player. No wireless mp3 system for us!
He also alphabetized all our music. The records are organized first by genre and then by last name or group. We have a zillion CDs alphabetized the same way. Phew.
One of the two record cabinets sits under the window in the living room area of our condo. Never mind that I flashback to dorm life.
A reminder of when rock was young…and when we were young as well.
(D. Ackles to B. Springsteen)
[We are also well aware that this collection will be the only thing our daughter and son will probably fight over when we are long gone. I doubt they’ll wish I had saved Close to You or Days of Future Passed….so I can rest easy]
Yellow
Inspired by Nancy Merrill’s Photo a Week: Yellow
IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO FEATURING YELLOW.
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Yellow brightens my day.
Forsythia bushes are my favorite yellow. We had two at our former home…one in each corner of the front yard next to the street. Mother’s Day gifts from my husband and kids. The spot for photos during the few weeks each Spring when they were in full bloom.
I often remember the forsythia from my childhood. It had also marked one corner of the front yard at the house I lived in until I was eleven. I think it actually belonged to the neighbor next door, but its massive branches stretched in all directions…providing the perfect backdrop for family photos of squirmy kids in their Easter finery.
This past Spring my husband and I planted a small forsythia on the edge of the condo property. Within sight of our living room windows.
We also planted a few daffodil bulbs last Fall. What a delight to see flashes of yellow once again…still brightening my days.
one letter UP ~ diary 2.0 