TOTALITY

I finally put together the story of The 2017 Eclipse from our house.  Thanks to Cindy and Ann for sharing photos.

There were twenty people in our back yard -- give or take five or six – on the morning of August 21, 2017.

Gordon had a Dutch oven full of riblets he was barbecuing for lunch.

Bob had his smoker ready for another rack of ribs.

I was working on getting a once-in-a-lifetime photo or two.

And everybody had their stare-at-the-sun glasses.

EVERYBODY. Some even had more than one pair.

Then at around ten a.m. we could see the shadow of the moon cut a notch out of the sun.

It was super exciting.

The neighbors brought over a shamrock plant to see if it would fold up like it does when evening comes.

Time passed.

And the moon and sun moved more.

We continued to watch.

However, it was difficult to tell if everyone was truly focused on the event.

We put paper down on the grass so we could watch for the eclipse shadow bands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_bands

and also use it to show up the effect of our pinhole cameras.

We began to notice a weird darkness and there was a marked cooling of temperature.

The light shining through openings such as tree leaves turned from round to crescent.

Bob and Gordon kept one eye on the sky and the other on the barbecue.

Some tried looking through Gordon’s welder helmet to see what that was like.

Most were glad to pose for a “look amazed” photograph. Some, not so much.

The sky got darker and the air got cooler.

Almost totality!

Darker, colder. The shamrock started to fold up. The street light came on.

Cindy yelled, “shadow bands!” and then,

The Diamond Ring! We could see stars!

I was so excited I took two photos of total darkness before I remembered to take off the filter.

Corona

Solar flares

And in less than two minutes the sun began to reappear.

Then the sun and moon began to part ways.

The ribs were ready and so was the Dutch oven cobbler.

Warm sunshine returned.

The table was spread.

Everyone helped themselves to the picnic.

Nobody went hungry.

John and his friend stopped by. They’d chosen the rim of the Menan Butte to see the show. They’d also seen the shadow rushing across the land toward them.

After totality most out-of-towners hurried to leave hoping to beat the crowds so the highways turned into parking lots.

John, and Ann and her family tried to get to Utah but traffic south was bottle-necked into a crawl. The Simiskeys gave up and went back to stay overnight with Cindy in Idaho Falls. They made the trip to Logan the next morning just fine. 

John and his friend hung in for the duration and didn’t get to Salt Lake City until after midnight.

National Poetry Month Day Fifteen

Prompt:  Write a poem about someone or something you are longing for.  Maybe it’s a new life, a new relationship or a new president.  Maybe it’s a submarine sandwich, or a person you have a secret crush on.  Consider playing with the word “desire”—maybe repeat this word in every other line, or maybe use words that rhyme with “desire” throughout your poem.

Desire

Clean air

Clean water

Cures for disease

Enough good food
Opportunity to thrive

Possibility to succeed

Better unrestricted education

Teachers paid what they’re worth

See…

Under all our garb

We want the same things.

“Friendship is born at that moment

When one man says to another: 

‘What! You too? 

I thought that no one but myself . . .’”

C.S. Lewis

“Because in spite of everything 

I still believe that people 

Are really good at heart.” 

Anne Frank

MARBLES AND A COWBOY

Thought I'd take a moment to show off a couple of my latest watercolors.  The cold and snow is an incentive to stay inside and work on projects in a warm place.

This is "Shiny Things Three."  It's my third effort at reproducing glass and silver in watercolor.  It surprised even me on how the surfaces appear reflective even though it is just pigment on paper.

Here is a tighter shot of the 11 inch wide and 14 inch high one-of-a-kind painting.  "Shiny Things One" is still available for purchase but "Shiny Things Two" has been sold.

The process began with a sketch on Arches 140 cold press paper.  The big challenge was keeping the marble shapes round.  I masked out the places I wanted to remain white and ran a loose wash of primary colors over the rest.

Then it was a matter of slowly reproducing something similar to my reference photos using layers of transparent washes.

This is called, "Cowboy Poet."   It is a portrait of Bill Hirschi, our friend and neighbor, who manages herds of angus cattle by profession but also can entertain with his original poetry of life in the American West.

For a sample of his work, follow this link:

Both paintings and many more can be found on my Etsy Site--

Watercolors by Leenie

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE-- Day Nine

Our neighbor's brother graduated from the university today and we were invited to the after-ceremony celebration.

It was a crawfish boil.    

The main dish arrived in a cooler from Louisiana just yesterday.

They did not look like food. 

 They looked like large black scorpions with lobster tails.

I will not eat them here or there.

I do not like them anywhere!

You do not like them.

So you say.

Try them! Try them!

And you may.

Try them an you may I say.

Ooookaaay...

 I will try them, let me be.

I will try them you will see.

Hey!

They are not bad-not bad at all.

Just lots of work for something small.

And that is my photo a day for thirty days for today.

SEVEN and ALMOST A THOUSAND

Seven years ago on September 17, I created "Side Trips" and put out my words on the world wide web. It was a challenging time for me. The care of my aging parents had become my responsibility. I had to make the choice to put my father in assisted living where he later passed away. Not long after that my mother followed. The clearing out and sale of their home also fell upon my shoulders. My siblings seemed to feel the less they knew about the situation the better. It's very difficult to face the decline and death of loved ones and much easier to hold on to good memories and pass over the truth.  That reality was brought into focus when my younger brother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a few months later.  I treasure the comments he made on my blog in the time before he became ill.

  

At the time I didn't realize it but "Side Trips" was an outlet and a therapy for me. I've tried over the years to find the positive and humor in life. Focusing on bitterness and fear can make a person grumpy and is just a big waste of energy.

Since that day I've written almost a thousand posts.  I've made many friends all over the world who I'll probably never met and a few that I've talked to face to face and found to be just as welcoming and entertaining as their writing.  I like to think this little exercise has kept my own writing skills from getting too stale.  Another benefit is several three-ring binders full of memories and records of events.  I've almost always composed my blog posts first in Microsoft Word;  photos included.  When I've checked things over a couple of times I print them out and then transfer the writing and pictures to "Side Trips."  Reviewing is a real trip down a rabbit hole.

So, happy birthday, blog, and thanks to any followers who've checked in occasionally and kept me cheered and amused with your comments. 

NO ROOM FOR ALL THE CANDLES - BURN THE CAKE

DH and I both liked the fire pits at the summer camp where we were working.

 We could imagine the fun we’d have at home with our friends and family toasting marshmallows over glowing coals in a big brick fire pit.

While we were shopping for camp supplies we saw a similar fire pit for sale at one of the hardware stores.  It was set up and ready to take home.  The price was a little more than we wanted to spend so we went on our way.

A few weeks later when DH’s birthday approached I decided this would be a great gift.  Our kids were glad to help since it meant no shopping for a present and they’d get to enjoy it too.

The plan developed that Vern, our friend and fellow camp worker, would help transport the gift to camp where it could hide in plain sight in a spot where a fire pit was going to be relocated between two cabins.

Vern brought the bricks and metal ring in the back of his pickup truck and then spent the rest of the day trying to keep DH from seeing them stashed there.

Our daughter and some other leaders were at camp that week with their group of girls so they were recruited to temporarily set up the new fire pit near their cabin for the big surprise.

My job was to keep DH distracted and busy while this was going on, which turned out to be quite a chore.  Everything he wanted to do would take him past the assembly site.  I had to keep diverting his attention until I could see the coast was clear.  Then we got on our ATV and continued on our way right by the newly built birthday present.

That evening our daughter and her group cooked a fine lasagna dinner in their Dutch ovens and invited us to eat with them.  When the meal was over they sang “Happy Birthday” to DH and then the girls jumped up and ran around the side of their cabin.  DH looked super confused when we told him to follow them.

 There they were standing together posing like a bunch of fashion models.

They were doing their best to conceal the fire pit for the big reveal.

When they all moved aside and told DH this was his birthday preset he gave them a big “Thank-you.”  He thought they’d moved the other pit to that location as a service project.

It took some more explaining to help him understand that this was his very own pre-assembled fire pit which he could take home.

 Our daughter and our granddaughters got some big hugs for their part in the escapade.

 This is our daughter and two of her accomplices helping with cleanup while dessert cooked in their other Dutch ovens.

 The dessert/birthday cake was a combination of chocolate bars, cookies, marshmallows and graham crackers which the girls dubbed, “Camp Poop.”

Since no birthday candles were available they stuck some forks in the portion served to the birthday boy.

 The next day the group disassembled the birthday present and helped Vern put it back in his truck for the trip to our house.

 A day or two later while we were home, Vern and his wife delivered it to us.  Our youngest son was there and helped unload it.

Our new friends were glad to share in the fun and help out with the birthday surprise.  We made a mental note to invite them for a barbecue and/or fish fry when the fire pit was ready and we were through with camp for the season.