getting my attention

The following excerpt is from Alice Walker's The Color Purple.
Celie and Shug are talking about God and how He is all around us. And that giving Him a face - the face of a man - confuses things because God isn't a he or a she. When they speak of it, they're speaking about God. Our narrator is Celie.

Listen, God love everything you love--and a mess of stuff you don't. But more than anything else, God love admiration.
You saying God vain? I ast.
Naw, she say. Not vain, just wanting to share a good thing. I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.
What it do when it pissed off? I ast.
Oh, it make something else. People think pleasing God is all God care about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.
Yeah? I say.
Yeah, she say. It always making little surprises and springing them on us when us least expect.
You mean it want to be loved, just like the bible say.
Yes, Celie, she say. Everything want to be loved. Us sing and dance, make faces and give flower bouquets, trying to be loved. You ever notice that trees do everything to git attention we do, except walk?

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This is the yellow tree in the photo on this post. But I took this photo many years ago at my parent's house. I remember raking leaves (see my rake laying on the fence corner?) and looking up and seeing this gorgeous hickory tree - showing off, wanting to be loved and admired. I took this picture so I could remember the exact color of the leaves.

Turns out, I don't need the picture.

I recall the afternoon of this photo perfectly. I remember that one of the neighbors was burning leaves and another was using a chainsaw. And that I explored my dad's barn (I was looking for barn-cat kittens) before coming back to rake the leaves you see just outside the fence there. And I recall, perfectly, looking up, seeing this tree, and stopping. Stopping raking, stopping breathing, stopping thinking about anything but the awesome color of those leaves. It was a perfect moment. And this tree was perfect beauty.

Each autumn since then, when I'm at my folks' house, I make sure to admire the hickory. That's why we took pictures of the old car in front of it. That tree grabbed my attention and love years ago and hasn't let go yet.

WW: An Autumn Day & an Old Car

See you

Did I do it too soon?
Are you happier where you are now?
Could I have nursed you along for another few months?

Are you somewhere chasing bunnies? Barking at the mailman?

No more needles, baby. No more bland diet. No more blindness. No more weak legs.

I miss you so much, Sculls.

Please come visit me in my dreams. Please.

This is my hardest day.

Vintage at the Drive-in

Date: Friday, October 17, 2008
Location: Capri Drive-In, Coldwater, Michigan
Transportation: '61 Impala
Purpose: For the fun of it.

Much to our disappointment the marquee lights weren't on when we took our pics. They came on after dark and only stayed on for about 15 minutes.

Screen 1 - no playground like at Miss Night Owl's local drive-in.

The movies playing that evening were not what we'd normally go to a theater to see.

But this trip wasn't about the movie.

It was about taking this car on a two-hours-one-way road trip to this drive-in.

And we had a fabulous time.

Blogging By Mail

I received my 10 Favorite Things package today for the Blogging By Mail swap. I took a photo of all my goodies with the last bit of juice left in my camera batteries. Once they charge up, I'll post the picture. Until then, here's a list:

1. Virginia Peanuts (YUM. I'm going to have to fight S for these. Seriously.)
2. Raspberry Chipotle dip mix (I can't wait to try this. I bet it's fantastic.)
3. Baba ganoush dip (LOVE the eggplant. Score!)
4. Marshmallow Fluff (my sender said, "add peanut butter for a New England staple - the fluffernutter." Yes, yes I will.)
5. Apple Soda (from Mexico and can't wait to try this!)
6. Pepero (chocolate covered biscuit sticks. I bet this will be yummy with #10)
7. Halvah bar (chocolate covered sesame candy bar. Again, I bet this will be yummy with #10)
8. Bath confetti (coconut smoothie scent - oh yeah!)
9. Jornal (my sender said "for ideas, inspiration, & general venting." I will use this for those purposes!)
10. PINK HOT CHOCOLATE!!! (Ha! It's mine. Jealous much?)

Thanks so much for everything, Dear Package Sender! I can't wait to try everything and am ready to guard those peanuts from my precious S - who could eat the whole bag in one sitting!


*12:04 a.m. 10/26 - edited to add link to Package Sender - Hutch over at C'est La Vie!

The Summer's Final Pleasure Cruise

Welcome back to the White Lodge. Let's begin the final Pleasure Cruise of the summer by taking a look at the back yard of the cottage. We don't have a large yard but it is cozy and, when entertaining in the summer, creates a very intimate atmosphere. Especially when you add swarms of mosquitoes.

Anyway. The windows up top are the sleeping porch windows. The bottom windows lead to the back porch (which is used primarily for our summer buffets - helps keep the flies (and dogs!) away from the food).

As you can see, the yard slopes towards the lake. I'm trying to talk S into building a free-standing deck so we've got a bit of a level surface back there. Maybe some day.


The only good picture of the Party Barge that I have is when it is all decked out in it's Tiki-wear for the 4th of July party this summer. On this Pleasure Cruise, we're going with the bare-bones hot green with blue astro-turf carpeting. Welcome aboard!


As you can see, we don't have a lot of lake frontage. So our various toys provide a measure of privacy from other Pleasure Cruisers. (S's sailboat is a Flying Dutchman. I do not like this boat at all and have not set foot on it since last October when we capsized it. S has had to find other crew when he wants to sail. I have guilt over this but I am scared of this [highly unstable to the novice sailor] boat. [I'm the novice, not S.])

In this picture, we're about 50 yards off dock. This is the view to the east.

Captain Russ is looking for fish. As you can see he is quite wet from the two times he FELL IN THE LAKE off docks. Once of ours, once of the neighbor's. He really is a clumsy oaf sometimes. Anyway, towards the right of this picture, you can see the point that protects our little cove from all the water-skiers, jet-skiers, and fishermen in high-speed bass boats.


Here we are just past the point, looking back towards our little cove. The big white house you see is the neighbor's. Our cottage is just to the right of it, hidden from view by the trees.


Here's the point and the view to the west towards the far end of the lake. The lake is 240 acres.


Russ has mutinied and gained control of the boat. Here he is in full Captain mode with his first-mate, Chewie.


Captain Russ on the look-out for fish, swans, iceburgs, and other at-sea dangers.


A couple of the the swans that call our lake home. They're fantastic birds. And mean.


It's very calm today. Since it's mid-October, all the water-skiers are long gone. We only saw one other boat on our Pleasure Cruise today.


I hope you enjoyed your Pleasure Cruise! Please come visit us again soon.

Welcome to the White Lodge* (picture heavy post)

Welcome, friend! Let me get you a glass of wine before we take a tour of the most charming cottage every built. White or red?


The room you entered is the master bedroom. Two of those windows face full west so this is the bed to sleep in if you don't want a sunrise wake-up call. The windows also provide a lovely breeze on warm summer nights.



Right off the master bedroom is the bathroom. Rather large isn't it? (Well, since the only photogenic thing in the room is the shower and the lamp, that's all I'm showing. You'll have to trust your hostess when she tells you it's a very large bathroom. To the right of the shower stall is the "laundry room" - a little cubby set behind a set of lovingly restored French doors.)


On the south wall of the master bedroom, through this door:


is the best place to sleep in Washtenaw County:

(We've since hung vintage tablecloths over the windows to act as curtains. But this cottage dweller isn't happy with them and would prefer some redwork curtains.) This is the view from the right side of that bed at 8:30 in the morning. A lovely sight indeed:


These are probably the most comfortable seats in the cottage. But we never use them. Shame on us, I know, but in the summer the lake view is obstructed by tree. Anyway, weather permitting, we drink our morning coffee on the pontoon boat - a sort of floating deck - the sleeping porch gets too much direct sun to be a truly enjoyable relaxation spot on a hot summer day.


Let's head downstairs now. But before we go, here's the master bedroom from the other corner:


Watch your step! The stairs are narrow and very steep. If you're tall, duck towards the bottom! Ah, here we are, in the cool of the half-basement. Here's our kitchen:

Here's the living room:


The floor is heated which all three of the dogs love in winter.

Come back soon as next we're going to take a pontoon ride around the lake.



*Kudos to anyone who knows what TV Series the White Lodge refers to.

A sample of what's to come

This was taken yesterday afternoon:


Our peak color will be here in two short weeks.

Can't wait!

Thrifty Thursday

Picked this little doily-type thing a few weeks ago.

This little spot on the right side is a drop of condensation from the Bushmills & water I was drinking. hee! Must be more careful in future.

All the little hand-made flowers are attached with snaps. The petals and the centers of the flowers are not attached (obviously since it's missing a set of petals!).


Super cheap at $1.50. I think I'm going to eventually put it under my flower lamp.

Friends, cottages, and old books

Sometimes life gets going so fast it's hard to slow down and enjoy it. This past weekend was a little of both - busy and relaxing. C & C were here for U of M's Homecoming game and it is always a joy to spend time with them. We spent Friday and Saturday evenings at S's cottage.


Saturday was spent at a tailgate party - the weather was beautiful and the people were wonderful. Since parking was limited at the tailgate location, I parked at S's house and walked the mile and a half or so to the tailgate location. (My nephew's birthday party was that day, too, so I went to it while S, C & C went to the tailgate to get the party started.) On the way there, I walked past this:

The tailgate was close enough to the stadium that we could hear the roar of the crowd.


As the Pythons say, and now for something completely different:

Recently picked up a copy of Winnie the Pooh that is filled with delightful illustrations. Here are a few of my favorites. (They're nothing like the illustrations in the books in Eleanor's library, though. Seriously, go visit her library!)

Save the Boobies!

Listen up, people!

I am a poor college student and can not donate much - so I do my part to make OTHERS donate. In this instance, it's Ree the Hotfessional. Because I commented on her Save the Boobies post and linked to it (it's right here people!), she's going to donate $2. That might not sound like much but if 74 other folks do it, she'll donate $150! So go! MAKE REE DONATE to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

She's also giving away Save the Boobies pink prizes there. So go visit her, leave a comment and link to her post so she'll donate more to this worthy cause.