Taking A Sunday Drive #32

Reading has introduced me to many places I would like to visit. With my interest in history, the First North Americans series by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear, were books just made for me. It was through their books I learned about, or more about, many of our country's Native American archaeological sites. Once we began traveling more, I put some of those sites on my 'to see' list. Moundville, Alabama was such a site. It was my main focus of what I wanted to see/visit in Alabama on our way to Florida to visit Christine and Dale in 2014. I have already shared much about our trip there in my April 16, 18, 21 and 23, 2014 blogs, so I will try to use different photos here.

Making it to the top of the largest mound at Moundville.

The largest mound from a distance. The building is supposed to be a replica, in size and shape, not materials, of a structure thought to be atop the mound when the village was inhabited.

In the Gears' book, they talked about the warriors and visitors paddling up Black Warrior River. In my mind's eye, I could see their canoes on the river.

Rabbits aren't the only thing we have at home, Jean. We also have kitties. This little one was so friendly I could have brought it home with me. I thought about it!

Hawk carving atop one of the poles at the entrance to Jones Archaeological Museum

Diorama inside the museum depicting the people of Moundville. (Yes, they matched my book-reading imagination of them.)

One of the many artifacts recovered at Moundville and on view in the museum. This one fascinated me.

On the beach after leaving Moundville and arriving on Dauphin Island in Mobile Bay. We had missed the off-season motel rates by, I think, one day. But even paying more was so worth it to stay on this island gem.

Gulls flying around with one heron on the ground in the distance. This was outside of the golf club restaurant where we had a most delicious (and reasonably priced) breakfast.

Waiting for the ferry to take us from Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island across Mobile Bay to Fort Morgan.

Last stop before leaving Alabama and entering Florida - Orange Beach and it's soft white sand.

Because I lost all my photos of the first time we were in Alabama during our 2008 trip, I almost forgot about it. After leaving Shiloh National Military Park in Tennessee, we dipped down into Mississippi and over to the very Northwest corner of Alabama in order to drive on the Natchez Trace Parkway. You guessed it, another one of those places I had read about!

(If interested, the Moundville Archaeological Park site can be found here.)

My 1000th Blog Post

As I approached my 1000th blogspot post, I mentioned it on Facebook and asked for topic ideas. I got a few: "Birds." (Julie) "Me." (Granddaughter, Deise) "Best of blog posts." (Doug) "Topics with mille (Latin for 1000) in the name: Millennium Falcon, Millefiori Glass, etc." (Kari) "The journey of 1000 blogposts begins with one story." (Les)

My 700th blog was posted on my 70th birthday. I went looking for images of 700 and of 70 and wrote about the ones which appealed to me and what they meant to me. I did briefly think about doing the same using images of 1000, but the only of those I found appealing were the ones of $1000 bill, 1000 Euro and a real estate listing for 1000 Venetian Way in Miami Beach.

But another of those Facebook suggestions, I think, suits the best - the one from my son-in-law, Ken: "How I feel about my blog and what has changed since I started it." (With his fall-back idea being "pics of flowers.")

So, here goes, for Les, The story of the beginning: I started my blog August 12, 2009. The title was Firsts and I intended writing about it being my first blog and about being a mother for the first time. (It was two days after Doug's birthday.) I had no idea what I was doing and accidentally hit 'publish' after only the first paragraph. At that time I did not know how to go back into it and continue. It stood as it was. The next day, Second,  continued my intentions of day one and went on to tell about my second son, Preston, whose birthday was the 2nd of August.

I didn't have a scanner yet for those old photos that would go along with my memories. And since my main goal was to preserve those childhood memories, I sometimes found photos on the internet to embellish my words. (The sixth blog, The Light of the Sun, was the first time I did that.)
By September I was getting better at downloading pictures from my digital camera and incorporating them into my blog posts. Then in January, 2010, I got a scanner. The old photos could begin illustrating my memories. (Finding the photo I want is sometimes frustrating, however. I have boxes and boxes of pictures to look through. If I could just get those organized!)

Writing my blog has been almost exclusively for the purpose of leaving something behind for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren (and beyond?) to have a sense of who I am/was. (To paraphrase Descartes, I write, therefore I am. I wasn't even going to make my blog public when I first started it and I have never tried to be interesting to the masses. My thoughts, my memories, what is going on in my life, those have been the gist of my posts.

How I feel about my blog and what has changed since I started it? Mostly I feel satisfied with what I've written and shared. What has changed? It seems to me that I don't write as well as I did when I first started. To wit, and for Doug, one of the posts I would nominate for best: "The Deserted Desert Dessert Spoon" (March 6, 2010)

A bird picture for Julie - Two of my favorites - the Ringneck Doves - with the male displaying full courtship feathers.

For Deise, the photo of "me" standing between her and her boyfriend, Jeb, at Devin's graduation party.

For Kari - Millefiori glass is too colorful for my taste but I did find something 'mille' I do like:

Lemon Millefleur Sable Poots. (Dutch Booted Bantams) I would have these in my chicken coop run anytime!

Lastly, again, for Ken, some NPS (not previously shared) flower pics.

 Golden yellow celosia (plumed cockscomb).

 In the tall planter on the right, lemon yellow, double calibrachoa (million bells).

 A bowl of yellow portulaca (moss rose).

 Peach colored impatiens.

 I will once again have a cardinal climber. (Remember the ones climbing on the old windmill tower we used for our TV antenna on the farm?) If you look closely you will see a little hint of red showing already.

This photo is one of the very first pictures I took when I got my first digital camera in 2009 - crown vetch at the roadside park along Hwy 34 west of Glenwood.

I had thought I might quit blogging when I reached 1000 posts but I still have a few states to cover in my Sunday Drives and I will still have a monthly book round-up to report. There are bound to be some old photos I haven't shown yet.

And maybe, just maybe, a few more of those old memories I will want to share.....

Taking A Sunday Drive #31

I pretty well covered our trip to South Carolina in my May 1, 2014 blog. As I said then, strolling along the battery in Charleston was always a dream of mine. To do it with my honey made it all the more sweet.
I'll try to use pictures different than the ones in that blog, but all are from our April, 2014 trip to the Southeast.

One of the beautiful old mansions along East Battery.

This one I took from the car as we were leaving, thus the reflection of the radar detector in the windshield.

View of the Ravenel Bridge we'd soon be crossing from Charleston to Mt. Pleasant.

On our way to Sullivan's Island - just another one of those places I'd always dreamed of seeing.

Beach houses.

I don't know what this plant is called, but I was drawn to its beautiful form.

More beach flora. Looks something like vetch to me.

From Sullivan's Island we crossed over to the Isle of Palms and then across the intracoastal waterway back to the mainland. From here on we were more or less headed home.

I'll never see all the places I've read about and *wanted* to see, but experiencing some of them for myself is 'a dream come true'.

Cruizin' On A Sunny Afternoon

Earlier this week, when I saw that the second annual Cruizin' Clarinda was going to be taking place this afternoon, I saw an opportunity to combine three things into one trip. All I had to do was suggest to Bud that we hadn't been to a car show in quite awhile - two years? or more?

First stop was at Oakland (Quincy) Cemetery to pick up grave decorations. Sometime during the past week, this large old cedar tree came down. (We did have some strong winds Thursday night. Perhaps then?) Fortunately it seems to have missed hitting any grave markers. This is in the Northeast corner of the cemetery on the south side of the road; East of my grandparents' and aunts' graves.

Next a stop at the Corning Library to return two very good books then to Prairie Rose and Maple Grove (Guss) Cemeteries to retrieve decorations before driving on to Clarinda and lunch at the Ice House in its new location. This is the first time we've been there since they moved into their new building. (We noted many changes in that area.) Bud had his favorite Philly Cheesesteak with really good french fries while I had the daily special, southwest steak salad - like a southwest chicken salad except with steak. Oh my gawd. You should have seen the serving size - enough for two people. So, of course, I asked for a box. The steak was so good. Yum!

With full tummies we headed downtown to the square to sate our appetites for old cars. This was my first - a gorgeous old '53 Chevy Bel Air. Definitely my color for a car and you can see what a pretty day it was. Blue skies, white clouds and the rebuilt Page County Courthouse after the 1991 fire. Private donations contributed to the rebuilding of the clock tower.

I'm kind'a partial to Fords. Falcons weren't too popular in my day, but I would certainly take this sweet convertible. As well as that dark green 1940? coupe.

A Nash Rambler station wagon was another car that got no respect. I'm sure this color was not available in 1962 but so pretty now. (I have to guess on the year of these cars because unlike most car shows we've been to, the information about them was not posted on the vehicles.)

Bud with a '56 Ford just like one he used to have - only a slightly different color of green. Oh, the memories.

A 50's green Oldsmobile accessorized with a window tray from the local drive-in eatery and a really nice '54 Chevy Deluxe Panel.

Even a Rolls Royce.

With Coachwork by Barker, South Audley Street, London, England.

The grille of this Hudson Terraplane caught my eye. I believe these were only manufactured during the 30's.

Clarinda was one of the big shopping trips so memorable from my youth.

Today as I looked around the square, I could hardly name any of the stores from the 50's and 60's, but I could not resist taking a picture of some of the ones on the south side. C.W. Foster on the grey, Dunlap on the red, intricate work on them all.

I suggested we stop in Bedford for ice cream on the way home. There is the best little shop there on old Highway 2. Seems like it has been there forever.

Well, it has been almost forever....there was such a crowd of people, several bounce houses and a DJ on the roof. What was going on? Their 65th Anniversary Celebration! Frosty Trete since 1951! These young women in their Frosty Trete shirts were posing for someone else but I snapped them, too.

It really was a gorgeous day, perfect for a little road trip which turned into a trip down some memory lanes. One final picture:

On the grave at Quincy, of my Dad's baby sister, Evelyn Lois Lynam, May 8-12, 1923, is a white peony bush. It has been there as long as I can remember.
There is just a hint of red on the petals in the heart of the blooms.
The fragrance is ..... heavenly.

May Book List

My favorite read this month was Laurie R. King's 14th in her Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series, The Murder of Mary Russell. Fans are not going to like that King has apparently killed off the delightful Mary Russell!
The best part of this book was learning Mrs. Hudson's (Holmes' landlady/housekeeper) back story.
Of the nine books read this month, this one was my only 4.5 rating.


After reading Jacquelyn Mitchard's Still Summer last month I knew I wanted to read more of her novels. First I read Second Nature which is about a young girl's struggle to live her life after she is severely burned in the fire that killed her firefighter father. After many surgeries her face is still horribly disfigured. Then she becomes one of the first successful face transplant recipients.

It was after reading this book and learning that many of the characters were years later versions introduced in Mitchard's first book that I decided to reread The Deep End of the Ocean which was the first book chosen by Oprah when she began her book club.
I'm sure I read it at that time but had forgotten about the little three year old boy who was kidnapped while his seven year old brother was supposed to be watching him and how it tore the family apart. It was his amazing return ten years later that added another dimension to what should have been a happy reunion. I gave both these books 4.0's.

My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout is a sparely written story of the relationship between a mother and daughter. I would like to have had the story be a little more informative instead of having to try to guess at what the author wanted me to understand. Still it was good; thought provoking; complex; subtle. Another 4.0.

As is Rhys Bowen's 9th Royal Spyness Mystery, Malice At The Palace. How I adore these fun little mysteries featuring Lady Georgina Rannoch, 35th in line for the British Throne.
What I especially liked about this one was learning about Prince George, Duke of Kent. I hadn't even realized that Edward and Albert had a younger brother*, most likely because he was killed in an airplane crash during WWII. One of the rumors about Prince George's many affairs was that he fathered a 'love child' who was adopted by Americans and later married Lee Bouvier. Reading novels = learning history in an effortless and entertaining way. (*They had three younger brothers and one sister.)

Sharyn McCrumb has long been one of my favorite authors. Prayers The Devil Answers is set in Depression era Appalachia. When the sheriff dies, his widow convinces the county commissioners to let her fill out her husband's unexpired term. One of her duties as sheriff is to carry out the execution of a convicted killer.
The idea for this novel is from a true story. I gave this book a 3.5 just because it did not quite seem up to McCrumb's usual fine story telling.

My final three May reads are all 3.0's. The Apprentice is Tess Gerritsen's follow up book to The Surgeon which I read last month and the 2nd book in her Rizzoli and Isles series. This time Rizzoli makes sure the Surgeon and his Apprentice won't be getting out of prison and terrorizing her or anyone else again.

Summer Secrets by Jane Green is touted as the 'perfect summer beach read'. I decided not to wait until summer - or the beach. This book was okay. It is mostly about a woman's struggle to overcome alcoholism using the 12-step program. She makes a lot of mistakes in her 20's and tries to make amends in her 40's. If one of the settings hadn't been Nantucket, I probably would not have read it.

When The Handmaid's Tale came out in 1985 and everyone was reading it, I resisted. I did not care for the premise of women being used as baby factories and I was not a fan of dystopian fiction. Then last year I started reading Margaret Atwood and discovered I really like her writing. It was time for me to finally read The Handmaid's Tale.

I like Atwood's writing. I still don't like to read about the subjugation of women. I still don't like dystopian fiction.

Taking A Sunday Drive #30

♪ I'm in a New York state of mind...♪
I've already shared almost all the details of our trip to New York last fall in my blogs of the last two weeks in October, so I'll share some of Bud's photos from that trip.
Beginning with....

......interesting rock along the trail to the water fall in Little Falls, New York.

The Dakota Apartments, upper West Side, Manhattan. Home of John Lennon at the time of his death. The front of the building was under renovation, thus the side view.

The Sphere by German sculpture Fritz Koenig which now stands in Battery Park.

And the story of The Sphere - where it once stood and what it now symbolizes.

Albino Manca's bronze eagle statue part of the East Coast Memorial honoring the 4,601 missing American servicemen who lost their lives in the Atlantic Ocean while engaged in combat during WWII. The monument was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy on May 23, 1963.

Obligatory photo of Central Park carriages. There was a time, many, many years ago when I would have wanted to take one of these rides through the park.

Mark and Juliet with the Bull of Wall Street on our way to see Mark's office building.

A different view of the Bull of Wall Street in Bowling Green Park. From the number of people lined up to take a picture like this and how shiny this part of the bull's anatomy was, I got the impression this was another one of those quintessential Manhattan photos.

 As though he wasn't already getting enough attention....The Trump Building near Mark's office building.

Central Park as seen from the top of the Rockefeller Center. I did not think I would go to the top, but I'm so glad I did - amazing sites from there.

Lincoln Tunnel into New Jersey. No photos in New Jersey. And just a side trip of a few miles into Delaware so we could say we'd been there and cross it off the list, too. Our lower 48 was complete.