People

Henry and Greta

Last Wednesday I posted three pictures, two of Calvin and one of Henry. All three pictures had other people with these beautiful boys. I know I’ve already posted a photo for today but I can’t resist posting this one, of Henry and his mom, Greta. It’s just too good a picture to pass up.

Generally I’ve been trying to fill this space to the left of the photograph. It isn’t necessary, I know, but it’s forcing me to write a bit more as an exercise. In this case, I’m just going to let the photo speak for itself.

Fritz

Dorothy was going out to our friends’ farm this evening and rather than let her get a ride, which would have made a lot of sense, I took her myself. Mostly it’s because I like the excuse to visit the farm. We got there just before dusk, which wasn’t the best time for pictures, but I took a few anyway, including this one of the youngest farmer, Fritz. Like most very young people, he didn’t know what to make of me at first but after a few pictures, and after I showed them to him, he warmed up to me a little. Enough for something of a smile, anyway.

I took some with Anna in them and a few with Dorothy holding Fritz but none of them are as good as this one, which I like.

Donna and Calvin

Gretchen and Henry

Katie and Calvin

Greta was at church this evening and had her two boys with her. Henry and Calvin have appeared here before but I couldn’t resist adding a few more of them.

First we have Donna with Calvin, then Gretchen and his older brother, Henry, and finally Katie with Calvin again. As you can see, Calvin hasn’t quite got “smile for the camera“ figured out, but it won’t be long, I’m sure.

Hannah

On Thursday I got a text message from Dorothy at school asking me (in all caps) why I didn’t tell her she was in town. I played dumb and pretended that I didn’t know what Dorothy was talking about. Dorothy isn’t a big fan of surprises. Still, it isn’t always about her and I had been asked to keep it quiet, so I kept it quiet.

On Saturday we were fortunate enough to have Hannah visit us for a while. Not long enough for Dorothy, but we’ll take what we can get. During the day I decided the red leaves of this dogwood tree would make a good backdrop for Hannah’s flaxen hair. She was nice enough to let me take a few pictures of her and this is one of my favorites.

It was nice to see you, not-daughter.

Donna and Preston

When the only pictures I have for a particular day are taken at church or school or another “gathering” event, I often go through them with Cathy and Dorothy to select the best picture to post here. It’s fun, of course, to take pictures of people making funny faces but in general (and this isn’t a hard and fast rule) I try to post pictures here that are not going to embarrass anyone. That’s not to say that the people in them are going to like the pictures, of course. If that was my criteria, I’d often have a hard time posting pictures of some people because some (or many) people don’t like pictures of themselves as a matter of policy.

Donna generally doesn’t like having her picture taken but was happy to pose with Preston her son, who is one of those people always happy to have his picture taken as long as he can make a face or strike a pose. In this case, they were both relaxed and happy and I think you’ll agree, it’s a pretty good picture.

Dorothy at Maureen’s

With Cathy away for a few days, we had to make special arrangements for Dorothy’s after-school pick-up for some of this week. Tuesday’s, however, are relatively easy. Starting sometime last year, Dorothy would go to her friend Julia’s house after her piano lesson on Tuesday and they would work on homework together. Well, this year, Julia is away at college. Also, Dorothy isn’t taking piano this year, because she needs as many evenings free as possible for homework. If you think these changes have altered Dorothy’s schedule significantly, you’d be wrong, however. Julia’s mom, our wonderful friend, Maureen, has been picking Dorothy up many Tuesday’s and she spends the evening with her other family, working on homework, ready assigned reading, and otherwise enjoying herself. So, this picture is of Dorothy when I went to pick her up later this evening.

Fiona Grace

Her big brother Orion has appeared here, almost a year ago (October 26, 2012) and now I’d like to introduce Fiona Grace to you. She was born less than four weeks ago and I got to meet her for the first time today (at Mike’s retirement breakfast party). She actually slept most of the time, which most will agree is a good trait in a baby. But she woke up long enough for me to get a few pictures of her with her eyes open. This photo doesn’t really do her justice. What a beautiful little thing she is.

Mike at His Retirement

I have three pictures to post for today. I’m going to start with how I spent my morning. My boss of about 11 years is retiring and tomorrow is his last “official” day. He will be in the office from time to time but won’t be working full time any more and is done supervising me.

Kathy planned a farewell breakfast for Mike this morning for those of us working on the current project with him. It was a nice time of visiting with coworkers whom I also consider friends. I’m not much for “the best this” or “the most that” but I don’t have any qualms about saying that Mike has been a great boss and a great coworker. I’m going to miss him.

Thank you, Mike.

Dorothy and Sarah

It’s not terribly uncommon for me to take pictures at church. Most everyone seems to have become used to seeing me with a camera and for the most part they humor me and pretend they don’t mind, which is nice of them. This morning I only took a few but this one, I think, is quite nice.

On a somewhat random note, these two girls have birthdays on each other’s half birthday. That is, their birthdays are exactly six month’s apart.

Dorothy and Kato

When Cathy and I were in high school (and starting long before we were) a wonderful couple from our church opened their home on a regular basis to high school kids. The K’s open house was definitely a highlight of those years. They aren’t opening their home any more but the tradition lives on in two homes next to each other in the same general part of the county. Thank’s Kato and Doug, Kathy and Michael for doing for Dorothy what the K’s did for us. They’re big shoes to fill but you’re doing a great job.

Corinne and J.J.

Today markes a milestone of sorts. I suppose all days are milestones, if we think about it. But today is the one thousandth consecutive day on which I’ve taken at least one photograph. Technically, the milestone was reached three days ago but it was 1,000 days ago today, January 1, 2011, that I began the conscious effort of taking photographs every day. I happen to have taken photographs on December 29, 30, and 31 of 2010, but those just happen to have been taken. Whatever. Actually, the photos here only start at the end of 2011 because the first year they were posted on Facebook. I’m in the process of importing them into this site, so eventually they’ll all be here.

For today’s photo, we have two of our next door neighbors, Corinne and J.J. who are 4½ and 2½ respectively. As you can see, they are out for a ride being pulled by their dad. Their little brother was on the back of Katie’s (their mom’s) bike. As it happens, today is another milestone. Happy birthday, Katie.

Cathy, Dorothy, and Margaret

Yesterday’s birthday party for Keith was a bigger gathering and there was a lot more food. Nevertheless, today’s birthday bash, with just the three of us plus the guest of honor, was just as important. Cathy’s mom turned 87 today and we celebrated in quiet fashion at her house. The light bulb is a little out of place but Cathy was changing a few that had burned out and just happened to have it in her hand.

We had a small gathering for our friend Keith today, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his birth. We had delicious beef barbecue, collard greens, salad, cornbread, potato salad, etc. as well as cake and ice cream. It was a good time of fellowship with good friends. This isn’t the best possible picture of Keith but it’s the best I got on the day. Happy Birthday, brother!

Donna, Maureen, D,, and Donna

The church youth team met this evening to make plans for the fall. Since I didn’t really have much time to get out and take pictures today, I took a few pictures of the team. We had a nice dinner together and planned all the details of our X-Factor kick-off. I think it’s going to be fun.

From left to right, we have Donna, Maureen, D., and Donna.

Dorothy and Duke

Dorothy had a day off from school today and we decided, sort of at the last minute, to take a trip down to James Madison University. We saw the campus in July of 2012 but it wasn’t an “official” visit and we didn’t take a tour. Last night we signed up for a tour today at 10:00 AM. We left home at about 7:30 and got there in good time. We saw what was to be seen and ate lunch in the dining hall before driving home. Dorothy agreed to sit with Duke before we left.

Spencer

It’s a little surprising that Spencer’s picture hasn’t appeared here before now. He was mentioned in a post, when he gave some cookies to Dorothy and I took a picture of the cookies, but there hasn’t been a picture of him. So, here he is. Granted, this isn’t the best picture of him I’ve ever taken, but I think it does him justice.

Dorothy Driving

Dorothy’s had her learner’s permit since the middle of October, last year. She drove a few times, starting out staying in our neighborhood and then venturing out onto larger and busier roads. She hasn’t driven since December, though. It’s been a combination of her not caring and us not pushing it. Today, we went out driving again. having been out of the driver’s seat so long, it was a little like starting over but she regained her confidence fairly quickly and she did quite well.