Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to two of the best!

(You know you're a grammar nerd when you start wondering about an apostrophe--Father's, Fathers', or just plain Fathers?  There are good arguments for each as elucidated HERE.)

Solstice--The Sun Stands Still

Summer solstice and the sun rises so far to the north that I can't catch the moment it clears the mountains. Now it will begin its stately southerly progress till, come the Fall Equinox, it's smack dab in the center of our view.

In our current suspended state of semi-lockdown, one could almost believe the sun is standing still. I look at my empty calendar and feel something between unreality and relief.  It's  just as well that I have my days with Josie to lend a sense of purpose and structure to my life. 

It would be easy to drift . . .

Brown Dog by Jim Harrison

                                                   

I just spent a couple of days in the company of one of the most likeable characters since The Dude in The Big Lebowski. There are so many similarities in these two feckless yet charming guys that I really suspect that the Coen brothers may have had Brown Dog in mind when they created The Dude. There's a touch of Huck Finn too.

Brown Dog, commonly known as BD, is an easy-going fella who supports himself by odd jobs and cutting pulp wood in the backwoods of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He may or may not be part Chippewa--he doesn't remember his parents and his grandpa was silent on the subject.

BD is motivated by three things: women, fishing, and booze--not always in that order. He also has a Thoreau-like appreciation for Nature and solitude--he out-Thoreau's Thoreau, however, as has spent his whole life living simply, not just a few years. 

Living simply in terms of material possesions, that is. BD's life is complicated, mainly because of the above-mentioned predilictions. He falls in love (or lust) at the drop of a hat--or the sight of some skin--and a surprising percentage of the women that arouse him respond favorably--mainly because he's so so goofy and, fundamentally, so sweet. He's not so much a lecher as a passionate devotee of Woman--pretty much any woman.

 This collection of novellas follows BD's peregrinations to escape the law, to recover a bearskin for a friend, to save a mentally disabled child he has been caring for from being put in an institution, to protect an ancient burial site, to win the love of the woman of his dreams--who happens to be a lesbian--and so much more.

Charming, laugh-out-loud funny, bawdy, and philosophical by turns, Brown Dog also features some fine nature writing. Now I'm curious about the Upper Peninsula. And Montana. And Harrison's best known work, Legends of the Fall. 

Very highly recommended.

If you're intrigued, a  nice review HERE will tell you more.

Wednesday with Josie

It wasWednesday at Meema and Grumpy's and there were pancakes, of course.

I had to check on my bean plants. They are taller than me.

It was chilly outside and we spent a lot of time in The Room.

 

I am getting ready for a party. I put on pretend makeup. Later I will polish my toes.

Meema's chapstick is my lipstick. Also, I use the silver-backed hairbrush to brush my hair. It belonged to Meema's grandmother who is my great great grandmother. Her name was Ruby and Meema showed me her picture when she was little.

There is a blue hippotamus named William and a cat with an earring and a tiny mouse up here too. I feed and water them.

Then it is time to go on a trip and I have to get my suitcase out. All my friends are going too.  We were going on an airplane but it got a flat tire and so we took the bus. 

The kids were very rambunctious and I told them BE QUIET while I finish getting ready.

We had a tea party while we waited for the bus.

The kids were so noisy that I had to get in the fort for a little peace and quiet.

Then Meema made Rainbow Fairies out of my scarves. I decorated the room with them and then we went outside. 

There was a bat. We did not touch it. It didn't know what to do and Meema swept it gently off the porch where it hung on to some vines and then went away.

I took a picture of a frog and then Corycat came out and rubbed against Bobadog. He gets embarassed when she does this because he thinks Layla will make fun of him.   

Later there was Family Dinner Up and I said a blessing that I made up. And I had a long deep bath and put on my pajamas and then Daddy and I played soccer in the living room till he got tired and we all went home.

The END.

The Copper Beech

For several months I was mildly obsessed with what seemed to be a large dark tree in a meadow across the river.  Even from a good distance (a mile or more,) it just didn't look like our native species. I know who owns the property but didn't feel up to calling and inquiring about the large dark tree. How creepy to think a neighbor is keeping an eye on one's vegetation.

The picture with the blue arrow pointing to the mystery tree is an early attempt with my little camera, which doesn't have the range of the new Sony. (The dark blob is visible to the inquiring eye in the first picture but you'd have to embiggen and know where to look. )

Imagine my delight when a Facebook friend who lives on that property across the river posted a picture of a magnificent Copper Beech on the edge of a meadow. I asked her at once if that was on Grill Hill (the name of the meadow) and she said it was. 

So now I know. It's quite satisfying to feel a connection with a tree in our faraway view. 

I'll be keeping an eye on it.

Taking Pictures Elsewhere

Borage

Our friends' (Bob and Sue) garden is a target rich environment for taking pictues. It's always beautiful but between the stay-at-home mandate and the upcoming wedding, it's at its best, manicured and mulched to a fare-thee-well. If the rock work looks familiar, it's because Justin learned from Bob and Bob helped build many of the walls at our place.

Feverfew

Borage

Work Weekend--with Social Distancing

 

Reconstruction on the shop has been languishing, what with one thing and another, but this weekend, Justin's longtime friend Josh was in town and a plan was hatched.

Josh and his fiancee, having scrapped plans for a big wedding due to Covid-19, are having a small family wedding at his folks' house next week and Claui's dad (a Presbyterian minister) is officiating.  So what could be more natural than that all these folks spend three days laying block? 

A goodly amount got done on Friday and we gathered in Justin and Claui's front yard for burgers and hot dogs and lots of good salads. 

Chairs were scattered to enable distancing.

On Saturday, the work proceeded apace. The women were there too, front and center. 

That's Lisa,the bride-to-be, pushing the wheelbarrow.

She mixed all the mortar/concrete both Friday and Saturday.

Note that the hydrangea is doing its thing. Sue, the mother of the groom plans to come pick some for the wedding.

There's Claui in the black shirt, laying block like a good un!

Justin's friend and co-worker Doug and Doug's wife Shayne worked and cooked. 

 

Doctor Bob, aka Bobaguy--father of the groom.

We are so fortunate in our friends.

Real progress!

And another distanced supper

Josie loves quesadillas!

And she's dreaming of becoming a Big Girl like Mama and Shayne and Lisa.

Work continued on Sunday--and all the block was used up before the crew got rained out in mid-afternoon.  Once again we gthered for an outdoor supper, but this time at Bob and Sue's house. (I felt almost giddy--this being my first time somewhere else since March. I don't count my two trips to help John get his truck to and from the mechanic as I never got out of the car.)

It was another lovely evening and the crew is planning to gather again for another workday next Saturday. As I said, we are so fortunate to have such friends.