Wrapping up the Summer Tour

On the last day of summer, or the first day of fall, however you look at it, I went to see U2 at Gillette Stadium for my birthday. Really, what can I say?

Should I say that Bono is awesome and cute and that hearing him sing "With or Without You" live in person made my insides go weak? That I could not believe all of the mad crunching guitars and drums coming from just 4 guys? That it was not just a rock show with one #1 hit after another followed by enormous applause (even though that's true, too) but more of a ride, up and down, slow and fast, beautiful and moving, happy and wistful? It's nothing new, nothing fans don't already know. I won't miss a chance to see them again. Happy Birthday to me and thank you Cindy, it was a "Beautiful Day".

Cindy in front of their spaceship right out a Rugrats episode.

This was cool, though. It was a honeycomb video screen that shrunk and grew. Here it did look like it was about to launch!

proof I was in attendance ; )

Bono as he should be - bathed in a golden light.
"I am a Golden God"... what movie is that from? Betcha lunch.

Pocketful of Posies

My mother and her friend, Mrs. Hagan, always had lovely flower gardens and I always remember these little bunches of flowers that would be put together in a coffee mug or little cute vase. They'd be refreshed every couple of weeks for the coffee table. They'd have a little bit of everything. I knew they were from the garden, but really it seemed like they were from a florist they way all of the colors splashed up against each other. Once winter came, they'd have pine branches, berries and white carnations.
Whatever was around, whatever they could share.

Once I gave myself "permission" to use my scissors in my garden (what the heck was I waiting for???) I re-created those lovely little arrangements. Everything here is from my own garden...taken separately, they look o-kay, but together completely charming. Now I see that all of those little bunches on my mother's big old wooden storage box used as a country coffee table without a doubt planted the seeds for my own interest in art, painting flowers, and a love of color theory~

The Mending Wall

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast..."

but like Mr. Frost, I say
"good fences make good neighbors"

Privacy is a huge issue for me. Maybe having 4 brothers and, yes, a room to myself, but not much else. Especially since moving from a town that had a lot of green space where everybody had a yard you could have a touch football game in more or less; to a town where the lots were a wee bit bigger than a postage stamp.

Well, in our current yard we had a 40 foot row of hedges that had been left untended by the previous owner. Overgrown on top was a tangled mess of grapevine leaves. To my country soul, I loved it. It was a home for the bunnies and protected the birds in winter. They had overgrown somewhat into my neighbors yard. We have opposite tastes on what to do with our postage stamps. She is not a gardener and likes her space flat and green. She said "I will put up a fence if you take the hedges down." We took them out 2 weeks after her proposal; 4 months later no fence. So all summer I didn't use my deck because I felt like I was on stage when I was out there, as if the neighborhood was watching my every move. Rationally, I know that they had better things to do with their time.

Finally, I could take it no more and hired a nice carpenter, Dave, to put up a "privacy screen" on the end of our deck. Boy does this piece of wood make me happy. I think it makes the puppy happy, too.

Autumn Light

 

Traveling Man

Husband traveling
how I hate it
All that driving
and feeding kids
and laundry
and dog walking
now I am sure
that those who
do it alone everyday
have no sympathy for me
and I get that
but I was not designed
to carry the spear
not I
Seattle, now England
10 long days
6 more to go
I may perish
be found in a bowl of dust
at the end of the journey.

We Remember

These photos I found in sequential order more or less, taken within 4 or 5 shots of each other and I thought they'd be appropriate for today. I am proud to be an American and wish I could erase the sorrow this day causes so many.


Memorial Day Weekend - putting up a new flag in Reading Square. I love how the school bus is in the background. This is my town.

The Wilson's annual bbq. Games on the front lawn, elementary school next door, hamburgers on the grill, taking time to connect with friends and come together. This is my neighborhood.

Old Glory against a summer sky. This is my country.

how did your garden grow?

June, 2009...we did get started a little late this year...but there was a sunny spot in the yard, not big, but the right size for us to have a little garden. This spot took Rich about an hour to dig out!

In went the tomato plants one by one.

and a few flowers...

big brother got into the act

this was taken today, September 11. We did it! It worked!

that is not a biscuit ; )

granted, it's not the prettiest looking thing in the world, but we feel very proud of ourselves and have many sauces to make with our dozens of tomatoes. Next year, pumpkins? And maybe I'll throw in a little picket fence to "Martha" it up next season.