Rope Ladder
You call out from the island of your sleep,
each word at first garbled,
as though caught in quicksand.
Beside you in this room,
I waken to your shouted words:
“Is there any window in this room?”
and I am given ingress to your dreams,
even as each new early morning declaration
becomes a strong sure stroke towards your escape from them.
Tonight marked the end of our two day family reunion with my mother’s side of the family. The matriarch is Jane, 90 years old, and the youngest was Maddie the miracle baby, age 9 months. I am somewhere in the middle, but closer to Jane by one year as of midnight. I unfortunately don’t see these lovely people often enough, but every time I am around them I’m appreciative of their closeness and acceptance of either others’ differences.
I had a wonderful time, as you might be able to gather from these photos. (You might want to click on them to enlarge them.) The statue of Lincoln marks the highest point on the Lincoln Highway. We passed it this morning as we drove from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Laramie to visit Jane in her daughter Sara’s house. In college, the art class I was in came up on a cold blustery day to scrub him down with acid. Yesterday, we just stopped to admire him in his new spot next to the new wider interstate road. He’s been raised up a good deal on a very high pedestal, so I wouldn’t relish giving him a scrub now.
The other photos were taken in three different locations as different events were held in three different homes. Representing my mother’s branch of the family were my niece Cindy, my sister Patti and I. All of the rest were descendants of my mother’s sister Peggy and their spouses. Lots of laughter, fun, memories, discoveries and great food.
Water-logged or sun-dried, this hibiscus is one of my favorite sights of the day.
https://ceenphotography.com/2016/07/02/flower-of-the-day-july-3-2016-day-lilies/
Observing the burning off the hugely overgrown lot next door was a bit like viewing burning tea leaves. I saw a woman in a turban riding a giant frog among a hundred other images over the three nights it took to complete the burn. What do you see? Yes, it did get scary. And very very smoky. I especially like the shot of the LED lights on the plants next to my pool with the glow from the burn behind them.
More buds from the Budweiser Brewery gardens.
Cee’s challenge this week was for storefront signs. Here are a few I’ve been saving for a special occasion that seem to fit as well as some I’ve very recently taken. Lately I’ve been lucking out on the prompts. It seems as soon as I take a number of photos of a certain topic, the prompt the next day fits it to a “T.” Thanks for reading my mind this time, Cee. These will look better if you click on them to enlarge them. The guy in the big snowdrift is my dad after the big snow of ’53.
https://ceenphotography.com/2016/06/30/cees-black-white-photo-challenge-store-front-signs/
This is one of the flower boxes at the Budweiser Brewery in Ft. Collins, CO that we toured today. The clydesdales were out on tour, but the flowers were present and out in full force. These were my favorites, but elsewhere there were day lilies, alyssum, cannas, roses and a number of other flowers.
https://ceenphotography.com/2016/06/29/flower-of-the-day-june-30-2016-dahlia/
Thanks for the one word prompt “Clouds” today, WordPress! Guess who got a window seat on her flight between Guadalajara and Phoenix yesterday and took 206 photos of clouds? The ride, especially the landing, was bumpy but well worth it!
I was walking by my friend Isidro’s studio/gallery one day when I saw these little paws sticking out from under his door. Very shortly thereafter, this little boy came by and the rest of the story took place. So touching. He knew right where to stick his finger in the kitty’s underside of his paw to bring obvious pleasure to his friend. Had to add a shot of my kitty Annie as well..waiting on the wall to be fed. I think more photos will follow, but I have to catch a plane now..See you later.
https://jennifernicholewells.com/2016/06/28/one-word-photo-challenge-cat/
