My children are growing up so fast! Dallas is driving now and midway through highschool! Mei Mei will soon be in school too! I can't believe that I will be 40 years old soon! How amazing is that?! I remember when my PARENTS were talking about the very same subject! They are now just past the 60 year mark and doing just fine, thank you. Life is amazing and I cherish every single day and thank God for it. I am so thankful for my wonderful family. My supportive wife is truly special. Dallas, past the 6'4" mark, is not into smoking, drugs, gangs or otherwise selfdestructive behaviour! Just has a tough time doing homework and what teenage boy doesn't? It's just no fun. He loves snowboarding though and purchased his own recently! Soon he'll even hold a job. Good times. We are working on Mei Mei's ABC's and proper pronunciation of words like 'teeth' (not TEEF). Tricky things for a 4 year old! Such great kids. I'm blessed.
My photography is something that I have taken up in full force! I take my Canon XSi everywhere that I go because one just never knows what is going to happen around you! My crazy kids, zippy dogs and beautiful wife are all game to my lens. I upload pictures to Flickr every single day, some silly and some serious. I submitted a photograph to Calumet Photo for their Time Frames series commemorating the inauguration of Barack Obama and guess what? The photograph made it into their online video! YAY!! See it, and the other amazing photographs that made it into their video at www.calumetphoto.com/p/timeframes?a=CM01
I am so lucky...
Friday, January 30, 2009
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Mei Mei's first dance recital!
So I had the good fortune to take Mei Mei to her dance show at a local nursing home today! What fun! It was so cute to watch all of these local kids putting on a heck of a show for these folks! Some of the residents were falling asleep, one that I know of could not hear the music though it was pretty loud and the rest enjoyed the show thoroughly! The dance instructor made sure that some of the Christmas songs that were sung/performed would be familiar to the elderly as songs that they sang when they were kids too! This was just too much fun.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Tender Love
Wilbur passed away on Monday, 2 days after Meeshee did. Though Meeshee was struck by a car, Wilbur had cancer. Two dogs in as many days was extraordinarily tough on Kim and myself. Wow.
On a better note, Dallas turns 16 soon! He passed his driving school test and so Kim took him to get his temporary permit, which he received with flying colors too! Kim let him drive home, which was about 20 miles, mostly rural roads but it took 45 minutes and was a white knuckle ride! Breath Dallas! Breath! He's very cautious! For now...
We are getting our first snow/flurries of the season finally! Day time temps are now in the 40's! Most of the leaves have dropped from the trees now and Old Man Winter is settling in nicely.
My dad is doing great! He plans on visiting us here in Wisconsin in the spring or early summer! Yippeee! Amen too! Wow.
Don't forget to drop by to my Flickr website to see the family! ;-)
On a better note, Dallas turns 16 soon! He passed his driving school test and so Kim took him to get his temporary permit, which he received with flying colors too! Kim let him drive home, which was about 20 miles, mostly rural roads but it took 45 minutes and was a white knuckle ride! Breath Dallas! Breath! He's very cautious! For now...
We are getting our first snow/flurries of the season finally! Day time temps are now in the 40's! Most of the leaves have dropped from the trees now and Old Man Winter is settling in nicely.
My dad is doing great! He plans on visiting us here in Wisconsin in the spring or early summer! Yippeee! Amen too! Wow.
Don't forget to drop by to my Flickr website to see the family! ;-)
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Rest in Peace Meesheebelle!
A truly amazing dog. My mom picked up this mutt in Puerto Rico as a puppy and was not expected to live long. 10 years later and thousands of miles under her collar, she was hit by a car and died as a result of a head injury. This warm weather, Puerto Rican Sato dog has been with us throught the thick and thin of everything! Fiercely loyal and protective of us all, she would nip at the heals of anyone that she did not know if they came into our yard. Funny thing about this dog is that she would always dance with her paws spread out wide! She would spin clockwise only and absolutely loved to spend all her time with us no matter what we were doing. Heck, she made it through three cold Kansas winters and three Wisconsin winters too! This tropical short haired dog did it all! She is being sorely missed by us all.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
A Perfect Day
Today was perfect in almost every way... I've been waiting for this day for a few weeks now and it all came together perfectly! Almost. Kim went to Michigan to p/u a Chow puppy and was therefore not w/us today. No, we did not get another dog! She was picking up and delivering said puppy to her good friend Meredyth. Happy girl.
We all got up around 6 A.M. to let out the dogs, have breakfast and coffee, and load up the cars for our various trips. I hate waking up before 8 or so on the weekends but today was special. Though Kim would be heading on a long two day journey, I would have both of our children w/me and we had plans man! We had plans! I had made sure that both of our cameras had fully charged batteries and that we had plenty of snacks and drinkables for the day. We all said our good bye's, hugs and kisses and well wishes and departed at 7. I have never been to the town of Navarino but that was not going to dampen my mood! I was very optimistic and a blackberry device w/gps! No problem. Various members of the Flickr community had also written out instructions on how to arrive at the Navarino Nature Center, I simply had no idea how long it would take and we had an 8 o'clock appointment! Too bad that I did not leave earlier as the morning was foggy everywhere! I just love fog. Everything takes on a different cast and feel to it that I just itch to photograph. Speaking of photography, that was the thrust of our journey today! Dallas and I, armed with digital cameras, were going to go and shoot up a storm! We have been unable to go hunting w/our bows and arrows but by golly we can sure hunt with our Canons! Well, my Canon and our Kodak actually but who cares! The day was young...
As the miles wore on, I became increasingly worried that I would not make it in time and that whoever was waiting for us at the center, would either leave, or take a hike without us! What would I do then? I hate missing appointments no matter what the reason. We passed many spectacular sights along the way, considering that we were driving through beautiful undeveloped Wisconsin! I absolutely love the country! The forests in the fall? Simply awe inspiring. Well, I finally saw a sign that pointed to Navarino and it was just 18 miles away and I figured that we would make it just fine but as we got within a few miles of our destination, another thought hit me... I don't carry cash! What if the center charges admission? Now THAT thought gave me goosebumps! So close and yet so far? Hey Dallas, do YOU have any money on you? NO???? Ouch. This was going to hurt. Wait a minute though. Since when does a nature center charge admission anyway? We weren't going to a national park! Whew! Sure enough, as I wound through the streets, following the signs, I knew that we would be fine and OOPS! I nearly passed the entrance as the native grasses were so tall and frosty that I did not expect the sign and entrance to be inconspicuous! Stomping on the brakes and causing some of our cargo and my children to tip forward, I turned into the road that led into the nature center. Hmmm... Looks bare. I passed a lady by the side of the road but she was not holding a camera as I expected so I drove on and parked the truck. There was only one other vehicle there and I figured that it belonged to the person that were going to meet at 8! That also meant that it was the same person that I passed just a few seconds ago! As I am unloading Mei Mei and our camera gear, the same friendly looking lady walked up to us and I immediately knew that this was Dawn, whom had set this whole trip up and had driven from Oshkosh (an hour and a half!) to be here this crispy morning! Perfect! We made it. Now what? No one else was there but I did not see anything either in the immediate vicinity that indicated a center of any sort! Trust Dawn, she knows what she is talking about and had made this place sound good earlier and even posted links for fall foliage reports! Let's go take a hike.
After introductions and some small talk, we veered off into the woods, following a track that had been made by some heavy equipment and we wandered off into the woods. Did I mention that it was a 'crispy' morning?! The thermometer in the truck indicated 27 degrees fahrenheit! I had not bundled Mei Mei up enough so I put my fleece sweater and scarf on her. There is no cuter 4 year old anywhere! Anyway, we could hear many Sandhill Crane in and around the area and I was happy to hear Dawn talking about the birds and local plants. This gal is passionate about the outdoors! I certainly hope that we can meet again.
It seemed like we had not been walking for more than 10 or 15 minutes when Mei Mei started complaining that it was cold and that her feet hurt! Uh oh daddy. What do you do now in the middle of nowhere and no other plan to fall back on? Dallas to the rescue! He wrapped her up a little better in the sweater and picked her up for awhile! Good job brother! What a great bunch of kids! We continued walking and talking and occasionally snapping a shot of leaves and trees and before we knew it, we had arrived back at the start! Not only had the temperature come up but we had warmed up due to the hike also and I was bummed to be finished so soon! Only an hour? Wow. Dawn then mentioned that she had passed an interesting cemetary on the way in so we drove over to explore it and learn a little history.
A couple of miles later we arrived at the location and once again we piled out of our vehicles, camera in hand. A quaint little cemetary greeted us. Rather lonely and forlorn, really. You could tell that it had been there a long time by the way that the headstones teetered this way and that. The layout of the place also indicated that much time had passed between the initial use of the parcel for interrment and the final stone placement. The oldest stones, which had been layed flat in the ground, had been worn out to the point that you could not tell what was inscribed on them anymore. The stone face was simply cratered with age. As I took a look around and Dawn pointed to the huge, majestic trees overlooking the plot, I noticed that there did not seem to be a sense of direction either. There would be a few stones placed in a row in one place but there would be another one or two placed seemingly at random elsewhere. Fascinating. As we started to read the inscriptions, I was startled by the shear age, late 1800's and also by the fact that these were children! The youngest was perhaps one year old! How tragic and sad! If these stones could talk to us today, what kind of story would they tell? What happened back then? Who were these people? I paused for a moment to contemplate the lives of these individuals before photographing their final resting places. It was a little sobering, as any cemetary is.
That marked the end of our photowalk with Dawn and I told her that it would be fun to meet again! I really enjoyed our time together as she is very knowledgeable and likeable. Check out her blog at www.wheretogowisconsin.com or at Flickr, where we all meet, at www.flickr.com/people/wheretogowisconsin/ I absolutely love this kind of activity! It's a huge reason why I've wanted to move back to the north! I love the change of seasons! Love the vast forests! Streams, lakes and wildlife galore! Bear, deer, badger, rabbits and squirrel everywhere! Well, sort of everywhere but you get my point! you simply don't get any of this in the city.
Yup. I am a happy camper. Dallas, Mei Mei and I walked a lot today, took lots of pictures and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I only wish that Kim could have been here too! I've only skimmed on what we did today but I am tired and it is late for me. Not even the American Lemans race that is on SPEED TV is going to keep me up. I have plenty to do tomorrow before Kim arrives! I need to start getting ready for winter too! Putting away the summer clothes, rearranging the garage to suit our winter needs and cleaning out the barn are just a few items on our collective agenda. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Life is good! ;-)
G'night all...
We all got up around 6 A.M. to let out the dogs, have breakfast and coffee, and load up the cars for our various trips. I hate waking up before 8 or so on the weekends but today was special. Though Kim would be heading on a long two day journey, I would have both of our children w/me and we had plans man! We had plans! I had made sure that both of our cameras had fully charged batteries and that we had plenty of snacks and drinkables for the day. We all said our good bye's, hugs and kisses and well wishes and departed at 7. I have never been to the town of Navarino but that was not going to dampen my mood! I was very optimistic and a blackberry device w/gps! No problem. Various members of the Flickr community had also written out instructions on how to arrive at the Navarino Nature Center, I simply had no idea how long it would take and we had an 8 o'clock appointment! Too bad that I did not leave earlier as the morning was foggy everywhere! I just love fog. Everything takes on a different cast and feel to it that I just itch to photograph. Speaking of photography, that was the thrust of our journey today! Dallas and I, armed with digital cameras, were going to go and shoot up a storm! We have been unable to go hunting w/our bows and arrows but by golly we can sure hunt with our Canons! Well, my Canon and our Kodak actually but who cares! The day was young...
As the miles wore on, I became increasingly worried that I would not make it in time and that whoever was waiting for us at the center, would either leave, or take a hike without us! What would I do then? I hate missing appointments no matter what the reason. We passed many spectacular sights along the way, considering that we were driving through beautiful undeveloped Wisconsin! I absolutely love the country! The forests in the fall? Simply awe inspiring. Well, I finally saw a sign that pointed to Navarino and it was just 18 miles away and I figured that we would make it just fine but as we got within a few miles of our destination, another thought hit me... I don't carry cash! What if the center charges admission? Now THAT thought gave me goosebumps! So close and yet so far? Hey Dallas, do YOU have any money on you? NO???? Ouch. This was going to hurt. Wait a minute though. Since when does a nature center charge admission anyway? We weren't going to a national park! Whew! Sure enough, as I wound through the streets, following the signs, I knew that we would be fine and OOPS! I nearly passed the entrance as the native grasses were so tall and frosty that I did not expect the sign and entrance to be inconspicuous! Stomping on the brakes and causing some of our cargo and my children to tip forward, I turned into the road that led into the nature center. Hmmm... Looks bare. I passed a lady by the side of the road but she was not holding a camera as I expected so I drove on and parked the truck. There was only one other vehicle there and I figured that it belonged to the person that were going to meet at 8! That also meant that it was the same person that I passed just a few seconds ago! As I am unloading Mei Mei and our camera gear, the same friendly looking lady walked up to us and I immediately knew that this was Dawn, whom had set this whole trip up and had driven from Oshkosh (an hour and a half!) to be here this crispy morning! Perfect! We made it. Now what? No one else was there but I did not see anything either in the immediate vicinity that indicated a center of any sort! Trust Dawn, she knows what she is talking about and had made this place sound good earlier and even posted links for fall foliage reports! Let's go take a hike.
After introductions and some small talk, we veered off into the woods, following a track that had been made by some heavy equipment and we wandered off into the woods. Did I mention that it was a 'crispy' morning?! The thermometer in the truck indicated 27 degrees fahrenheit! I had not bundled Mei Mei up enough so I put my fleece sweater and scarf on her. There is no cuter 4 year old anywhere! Anyway, we could hear many Sandhill Crane in and around the area and I was happy to hear Dawn talking about the birds and local plants. This gal is passionate about the outdoors! I certainly hope that we can meet again.
It seemed like we had not been walking for more than 10 or 15 minutes when Mei Mei started complaining that it was cold and that her feet hurt! Uh oh daddy. What do you do now in the middle of nowhere and no other plan to fall back on? Dallas to the rescue! He wrapped her up a little better in the sweater and picked her up for awhile! Good job brother! What a great bunch of kids! We continued walking and talking and occasionally snapping a shot of leaves and trees and before we knew it, we had arrived back at the start! Not only had the temperature come up but we had warmed up due to the hike also and I was bummed to be finished so soon! Only an hour? Wow. Dawn then mentioned that she had passed an interesting cemetary on the way in so we drove over to explore it and learn a little history.
A couple of miles later we arrived at the location and once again we piled out of our vehicles, camera in hand. A quaint little cemetary greeted us. Rather lonely and forlorn, really. You could tell that it had been there a long time by the way that the headstones teetered this way and that. The layout of the place also indicated that much time had passed between the initial use of the parcel for interrment and the final stone placement. The oldest stones, which had been layed flat in the ground, had been worn out to the point that you could not tell what was inscribed on them anymore. The stone face was simply cratered with age. As I took a look around and Dawn pointed to the huge, majestic trees overlooking the plot, I noticed that there did not seem to be a sense of direction either. There would be a few stones placed in a row in one place but there would be another one or two placed seemingly at random elsewhere. Fascinating. As we started to read the inscriptions, I was startled by the shear age, late 1800's and also by the fact that these were children! The youngest was perhaps one year old! How tragic and sad! If these stones could talk to us today, what kind of story would they tell? What happened back then? Who were these people? I paused for a moment to contemplate the lives of these individuals before photographing their final resting places. It was a little sobering, as any cemetary is.
That marked the end of our photowalk with Dawn and I told her that it would be fun to meet again! I really enjoyed our time together as she is very knowledgeable and likeable. Check out her blog at www.wheretogowisconsin.com or at Flickr, where we all meet, at www.flickr.com/people/wheretogowisconsin/ I absolutely love this kind of activity! It's a huge reason why I've wanted to move back to the north! I love the change of seasons! Love the vast forests! Streams, lakes and wildlife galore! Bear, deer, badger, rabbits and squirrel everywhere! Well, sort of everywhere but you get my point! you simply don't get any of this in the city.
Yup. I am a happy camper. Dallas, Mei Mei and I walked a lot today, took lots of pictures and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I only wish that Kim could have been here too! I've only skimmed on what we did today but I am tired and it is late for me. Not even the American Lemans race that is on SPEED TV is going to keep me up. I have plenty to do tomorrow before Kim arrives! I need to start getting ready for winter too! Putting away the summer clothes, rearranging the garage to suit our winter needs and cleaning out the barn are just a few items on our collective agenda. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Life is good! ;-)
G'night all...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
