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More animals!  Picture by: Miah

The girls spotted another Green Anole in the yard.
Miah came running for the camera, but while they took 20 pictures, none of them was really very clear. 

365

Right out of a movie?

Mater?
I took this picture while on a field trip with Miah one year.  Somewhere in the Clarksville Tn. / Oak Grove, Ky area.
Miah got to plant beans, mash peanuts into peanut butter, and made friends with the farm's hound dog.  She tried desperately to take him home, and he was more than willing.  He followed her everywhere, and tried to get into the van when it was time to go.
Miah saw the truck, and immediately thought of Mater.  This was around the time when she made us watch this movie one hundred million times.  Ugh.
I saw a friend on facebook with a similar post today, and it made me think of this picture.
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Today is day 100 of the 365 Days of pictures!  Are you getting bored yet?  Any suggestions as to theme are welcome.  I have a few from friends saved up, so keep looking for your name for credit!

365

Expand your awareness #2

To further yesterday's post, the other big tree that grows in our yard is the Sweetgum (Liquidambar).
Do you see the spiky ball in the right bottom corner?  That is this tree's seed pod.  It is evil.  I can't tell you how many times I've stepped on one of these things and nearly twisted an ankle.  I HATE this tree.  It is for sure the only tree I'd ever consider chopping down if I found it in my yard again.  God forbid you need to run outside in a "The dog escaped" emergency with no shoes on.  These things are everywhere, and the spikes HURT.

365

Expanding your awareness

I have mentioned many times that I have a really cool back yard.  It's becasue I do!  Any time we find something of note, the kids and I look it up, identify it, and discuss.  The funny thing it that the one thing we neglected to look up are the biggest things in the back yard!
This is the flower from our Tulip tree.  The tree itself is featured on the blog many times, but I never remembered to look it up until now. Wikipedia says that this tree is the Liriodendron tree. (Click the link to read more) 
Liriodendron ( /ˌlɪri.ɵˈdɛndrən/)^[1] is a genus of two species of characteristically large deciduous trees in the magnolia family (Magnoliaceae).
These trees are widely known by the common name tulip tree or tuliptree for their large flowers superficially resembling tulips, but are closely related to magnolias rather than lilies, the plant family to which true tulips belong.

The tulip tree is sometimes called "tulip poplar" or "yellow poplar", and the wood simply "poplar," although Liriodendron is not closely related to the true poplars of the genus Populus. The tree is also called canoewood, saddle-leaf tree and white wood. The Onondaga tribe calls it Ko-yen-ta-ka-ah-tas (the white tree).
Two species of Liriodendron are known extant. Liriodendron tulipifera is native to eastern North America, while Liriodendron chinense is native to China and Vietnam. Both species often grow to great size, sometimes exceeding 32 m or 100 feet in height. The American species is commonly used horticulturally, and hybrids have been produced between these two allopatrically distributed species.

Now I know why my allergies act up so badly in the spring...I am very allergic to the magnolia pollen. This tree is beautiful, but it is also a curse.  All of that yellow green pollen, those pollen pods, and flowers fall at different times, so I'm constantly raking and sweeping the porch.  Drives me nuts!

365

It caught my eye.

I don't really have a story for this one.  I was just sitting on the front porch, watching Jay mow the yard.  I had my camera out, because you never know what goofy things one of my kids might do. I started taking pictures of random things.
I can tell you that this is the stump that Jay carried to the car for me from the beach in New York.  That's about it.  Boring, right?

365

Time

Laurel, reading the Kindle, at the Hanger.  Fort Campbell Ky.

After a fifteen month deployment, you'd think that another couple of hours isn't a big deal.  You'd be wrong.  Laurel is waiting for Jay, and she looks calm, but in reality she (and her sister and I) are all like a live wire jumping around in a pool of water.
I notice that a lot of my pictures deal with deployment, the beginning, the end, but not much in the middle.  The journey through a deployment is almost like the hour in the waiting room of the emergency room, while you are waiting to see if your friend/relative is going to make it.  You're numb for most of it.  Your head is whirring with all of the possibilities.  But afterward, you hardly remember any of it.  I seem to have huge spaces of time in my memory that are blank. So it's really the beginning and the end that are really the worst, the parts that stand out in your memory.  The hardest parts to live through.  Deployment, unlike anything else, proves that time is relative.  Look out Einstein!

Idle Wednesday

At 7am, Miah is not a willing model. 

I taught myself to knit this past week.  Like I need another way to make scarves and hats?  NO!  I started with yarn, but my goal was to be able to knit wire.  I made this scarf after three or four tries.  Dropping stiches sucks!  I finally got the hang of it.  This is an infinity scarf.  I really like 'em.
Next week I show off the results of a months worth of rock tumbling, and the week after I will have a wire sculpture necklace.  I'm knitting the first step now.  It's Sloooow going.  Wire is tougher than yarn, so my hands get tired easily, but the great thing is that you cannot drop a stitch because the wire stays where you put it.   I'm really excited about the results so far.  The week after that, I am going to have a pewter pendant that I cast myself.  I have already carved the soapstone, and made the pendant, but I'm working on a finished piece. 
So, if you can't find me, you know why! I'm busy busy busy!

365

It's a jungle out there!

The girls were doing some weeding around the trees in the back yard, when they spotted this. It's three inches long, and the poor thing is missing one of it's back legs.  The girls kept finding creatures and running for the camera.  I will miss our backyard jungle. 

I identified the grasshopper with the help of this website.

Lubber grasshoppers (Romalea microptera) are large, heavily sclerotized insects with relatively unspecialized bodies.  Like all members of the order Orthoptera, they are herbivores.  Their mouthparts are adapted for biting and chewing, and they have large powerful hind legs used for jumping.  As adults, lubber grasshoppers have short wings that are incapable of flight.  The wings are used to signal receptivity during courtship.

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Texture

Just playing with the camera!

365

Pass it on.

When I was little my mom used to tell me this funny little story. 
We lived in Indianapolis, which was a few hours from her family in Greencastle, and Rochester. On the way to visit family, we would pass a round barn (not the one pictured, I took this in Illinois when Laurel was doing the Young Scholars Program there)  The story goes something like this:

My sister Barbara used to tell me about this guy that died in that (Round) barn.  (How did he die?) Well, he really REALLY had to pee, and he was searching and searching for a place to go, and he died because he couldn't find a corner to pee in!

I know darned well that that wasn't verbatim, but that's how I remember it!  I swear to god I used to think it was a true story.  I think my mom did when she was little too, and she was passing the "duh" on.  Correct me if I'm wrong mom, how does it really go?
I took the picture as we drove by, because it reminded me of the story (joke). 

365

Happy!

This is the most excited I have ever seem Laurel.  She is presenting a school t-shirt to Dr. Arthur Demarest.
This guy has MY job!  We listened to a great lecture, and had a question and answer session about his studies in Central America, and how, sadly, Indiana Jones is a fake.  I got to speak to him alone about my aspirations, and he gave me some great advice.  Laurel didn't stop chattering about his visit for months, and was ecstatic when we got to see him on tv in  "Last Days of the Maya", a 2005 documentary in the television series Explorer, aired on the National Geographic Channel.

365

Silence

Miah, Nashville Airport, watching Jay's plane take off, on his way back to Iraq.  She was stunned into silence for a while, but before we even left the airport, she started complaining about George Bush, and how this war was all his fault.  I hope we don't have to do this again.  This picture and all it's memories, I wish I could erase them.

365

Procession

When Jay left his unit at Fort Campbell, they had a farewell ceremony for him, and a couple of other guys who were also leaving.  Miah is standing by, waiting for her daddy to be done shaking the hands of all of the guys in the company. 

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Communication.   Picture by Laurel

During Jay's second deployment to Iraq, Communication changed drastically.  We went from one or two calls in as many months, to semi regular video chats, and yahoo messenger.  In this picture Miah and I are listening to Jay, and she is talking into the mic.  We are pretty lucky, because Commo guys have more access to,  well, commo.  From what I've heard over the years, our soldier was able to talk to us a LOT more than most. 

Idle Wednesday

Sculpture by Laurel :)

Making Your Own Clay:
You will need
3 C. Flour
1 C. Salt
4 T.Vegetable oil
Food Coloring
Water
Mix the flour and salt together. Stir in oil, and just enough water to get the right consistency. If it's too wet, add flour.  If too dry, add water. Divide clay into sections and add food coloring to desired shade.

Privates suck, and almost ruin a perfectly good Saturday.

Oh, good grief.  I don't think I can live in Georgia much longer. 
This past weekend Jay and I took the kids to the dollar theater to see Rio.  About five minutes into the movie a group of seven privates walked in and sat directly in front of us.  Immediately I leaned over to Jay and informed him that if they misbehaved I was going to loose my mind.  What in the world are seven men (boys) doing in a group in a kids movie? 
It turns out that what they were doing was getting drunk.  I shit you not.  Seven privates, from Fort Gordon, Georgia, shamed themselves and the entire army by sneaking rum into a kids movie, and had the misfortune to sit directly in front of me.  The instant they started leaning over to pour the rum, I took off like a shot to find an employee.  I am sad to have to say that even though the guy I talked to said that he would be in to check on them, he NEVER did.  After a long enough time that we realized that the management wasn't coming to stop these guys from drinking in front of about twenty very small children, Jay grabbed two of them up and employed the  "Army Voice" as he calls it.  He didn't make a huge scene, he waited until two of them left the theater to go the the bathroom  (no need to interrupt the movie, and start a huge thing in front of everyone.)  Just a minute after Jay came back and sat down, the rest of the idiots got a text from the guys Jay grabbed, and they took off.  I had Laurel grab one of the guys cups for proof, and after the movie Jay and I grabbed the manager up and handed him the alcohol, pointed out the idiot I had talked to earlier, and explained to him how shameful the entire incident was.  I have no clue what happened after we left, but I can tell you that I will NOT be going back to the

GTC Masters 7 Cinemas , on Washington Rd.

ever again!

365

"Ready for Action" -Jay's suggestion

I needed a minute to myself this afternoon, so when the kids were looking the other way, I snuck out the side door to sit on the steps and wait for Jay to get home.  I saw this cute little dude sitting on the railroad tie wall in front of me, so I ran back into the house for the camera.  I knew he saw me, so I crept down the steps so slowly it was painful.  I took about twenty pictures, zooming and un-zooming as I went, just in case I couldn't get very close.  He was at attention, watching me and ready to take off the instant I made a move.  Isn't he gorgeous?

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Aftermath

Fort Campbell, Ky
Chet escaped the fenced in back yard to chase the hundreds of birds that were flocking to the back field.  He howled, the birds shrieked, the kids laughed, and I ran for my camera!

365-Uncle Kenny

Kenneth E. Rader

Monday, June 29, 2009

April 3, 1939-June 27, 2009

Kenneth E. "Kenny" Rader, 70, of Greencastle died Saturday, June 27, 2009 at the St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis.
Born April 3, 1939 in Putnam County, he was the son of Ernest V. and Mary Elizabeth Alvord Rader. He was a 1957 graduate of Greencastle High School. He married Barbara Jean Boswell on July 17, 1960 and she survives.
Mr. Rader had worked as a postal clerk with the U.S. Post Office for over 30 years, retiring in 1994. He was a member of the Moose Lodge Legion since 1972 and the Moose Lodge #1592 since 1970, where he had received the Fellowship Degree in 1991, served as the Sixth District President from 1991 to 1993, served as secretary of district from 1993 to 1995; served as governor from 1989 to 1991, received his Pilgrim Degree in 1998 and served as the coordinator of children's activities from 1983 to 1993.
He was also a member of the American Legion, Postal Workers Union and helped to organize and coach girls' softball from 1972 to 1985.
He is survived by his wife; four children, Michael Rader (Mary Beth McKean) of Monrovia, LaAnnette Cox (J.D. Peddie) of Greencastle, DeAnna Henderson (the Rev. Allen) of Richmond and Monty Rader of Greencastle; sister Edna Shillings of Greencastle; sister-in-law Hameta "Brownie" Crooks of Greencastle; brother-in-law Trevaun Sillery; six grandchildren; and four step grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers, Maurice and Vurlin Rader, sister Dorothy Sillery and sister-in-law Wilma Rader.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Moose Lodge, 212 W. Franklin St. Greencastle, IN 46135 in lieu of flowers.

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Holding Hands

Miah holding hands with my brother.  Jason was sitting in the front seat, and Miah reached up and took his hand.  Jay was deployed and so as usual Miah was starved for some male attention.  Jason spent the entire day being hugged, climbed on, and cuddled.  Not a bad day, if I do say so. 
This is one of my favorite pictures.  It's just so sweet.