Shadows of the Autumn equinox

Every morning, the shadows come a little later. And every evening, a little sooner.

The days are getting shorter, folks, the air, cooler, and sun races toward its winter solstice. I love to watch the changing patterns of sun and shadow. Here are my favorite evening and morning scenes.

Do you see the deer nibbling over there in Sadie's field? She's long since pretended that she can't see them; therefore, they're not actually trespassing. Same with birds; they fly out of her reach too quickly. But squirrels is another matter. She's never caught one yet, but hasn't stopped trying.

Looking at the pictures, can you tell whether the sun is shining from the east or the west?

25 and going strong

Why are we looking so happy?









because it was our 25th anniversary and Ben and Lizz gave us a surprise party.

Shadows of the Autumn equinox

Every morning, the shadows come a little later. And every evening, a little sooner.

The days are getting shorter, folks, the air, cooler, and sun races toward its winter solstice. I love to watch the changing patterns of sun and shadow. Here are my favorite evening and morning scenes.

Do you see the deer nibbling over there in Sadie's field? She's long since pretended that she can't see them; therefore, they're not actually trespassing. Same with birds; they fly out of her reach too quickly. But squirrels is another matter. She's never caught one yet, but hasn't stopped trying.

Looking at the pictures, can you tell whether the sun is shining from the east or the west?

Double party

Here is a picture from the 'welcome home from Ecuador' / 'good luck at Johns Hopkins' party that Christina and Jon threw for me and Buller.

I think that I shall never see

Little house on the prairie? No, a room with a view - Sadie's!

Mom's tree looks like a weeping willow.

Lizz's tree has fingers of delicate glass.

Once again, the ice weighs heavily on Ben's tree.


Up close, Ben's tee is a work of art.

Alan says that Pat Whetstone was going to cut his tree down anyway - less to cut now!


Across the street, the Prater's tree dropped several branches too.

Fall to winter

Once upon a time, we had color















But today we're having an icestorm and most everything is white












No birds at the feeder























The rain pees down and freezes.



















But outside, even without sun, its a cold crystal beauty.















Alan's tree brushed against our roof before cracking. Fortunately Dad's new car is fine.




















Yes, once upon a time we had color!

Getting Defiant ready for winter

Bob and I spent all of last week in Vermilion, Ohio, getting Defiant II ready for winter.

Ah, Vermilion, otherwise known as The Fort Lauderdale on Lake Erie, or if you prefer, The Venice of the Buckeye State.

(I tied up in Vermilion long ago in Tristan, so that's how I knew it would be a good place to put the new Beneteau for winter storage and spring-time launch.)



But first, underneath the boat (which is hoisted up and resting in a cradle in a storage yard of the Don Parsons Marina: miter saw, tape measures, lengths of PVC pipe and fittings, etc.










And here's the framework of PVC pipe and fittings, each frame carried up a ladder and placed two and half feet apart stem to stern.











The finished framework. Looks good, yes?













And finally tarps wrapped over the whole structure making Defiant look like a beached whale. We trust this will protect her against all winter hazards, of which we got a good taste on Thursday.
On that day it rained, it was cold, and wind blew at 30 to 35 mpg--not making it easy to hoist those 30 by 20 foot lengths of plastic into the air, over the top, and then tied down to the cradle.
But there she is, ready for spring launching.