Saturday, May 31, 2014

1931; No no you naughty; From his window; Grace; The Congo; Random parade shots

1931


This was my mother's graduation pin made for her friends
when she was prom queen at Sun Prairie WI high school -
a one and a half inch long item
starting with the back of the pin above
showing the simple 1931 fsstening method

Press down on the brass wire
and voila! it opens by moving the wire to the bottom
of the comma-shaped opening.

Put it on the garment you wish
and it is easy to close and lock it in place
without having to see behind it.

^.^

Memorial Day
we remember our mother, Ruth Elies (Dix, Hale)
who has appeared under that name in the Raccoon before.
(search R-u-t-h)
She is the one who formed her own dance band
at age thirteen (13).....

^.^

and we remember her this Memorial Day
as a wife of a soldier away fighting WW II
in France and Germany
because she is honorable on this particular holiday -
those who sat and waited did their war time too.

The late Ruth, organist at one time at the Congo

and many etcs...




.......










pip pip pip!
no no you naughty pussy
no no you naughty pussy!
no no you naughty pussy!

Up on the dining room table
you know you aren't supposed to be there
such a good kitty
in most every way

but now I will have to squirt you
and gutsy you, you are posing
right next to the ever-ready water bottle/
plant mister





You run when I grab it

.......

Monet, Van Gogh, at Home

The wonder that Monet
had time to paint, the vast
size of the garden and across
the road, the Japanese pond,
a man enchanted with nature—
flowers, water, haystacks, and
light! A blind man's obsession
with light, every slant of the sundial
documented, time filtering
light.

What a life! Two wives
the second with six children!
No wonder the huge table
in the dining room, fourteen chairs,
all canary yellow; the blue-
and white-tiled kitchen, large
and commodious, festooned
with copper pots;
the large bedroom overlooking
the garden: to throw open
these shutters in the morning!
So much life!

Modest, difficult, van Gogh
thought himself one link in the chain
and took the yellow house at Arles,
on Place Lamartine, hoping
others would come. A table
and two chairs and just enough
left for broth and coffee.

Gauguin fled after two months
when Vincent chased him
with a razor. He painted
"Gauguin's Chair" empty except
for a lit candle, in memory
of the failure.

Toward the end, he painted
the vestibule near his room,
the yard where he was confined,
night sky from his window.


"Monet, Van Gogh, at Home" by Norita Dittberner-Jax from The Watch. © Whistling Shade Press

\



.......





Grace

When the young professor folded
his hands at dinner and spoke to God
about my safe arrival
through the snow, thanking Him also
for the food we were about to eat,
it was in the tone of voice I use
to speak to friends when I call
and get their answering machines,
chatting about this and that
in a casual voice,
picturing them listening
but too busy to pick up the phone,
or out taking care of important
business somewhere else.

The next day, flying home
through a windy
and overwhelming sky, I knew
I envied his rapport with God
and hoped his prayers
would keep my plane aloft.

"Grace" by Linda Pastan from The Last Uncle. © W.W. Norton, 2002.

.......

The Raccoon News
of Waukesha

rarely recommends particular foodstuffs but
an exception is being made here.
The 'special company' mentioned in last week's
Saturday edition brought their orchard's
un-Pasteurized (keep refrigerated) apple cider 
as a get acquainted gift for us.

Their third generation orchard in Rochester WI
has several websites.  It is known as the 
Ela Apple Orchard.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60241-d2285682-Reviews-Ela_Orchard-Rochester_Wisconsin.html

Never have I tasted cider more delicious than this.
Dee and I are sure to make the drive to the orchard
to get some more of this product!




.......



From our patio
aka: the parking garage roof


Redbud tree in bloom


The church is affectionately called "THE CONGO"
1st Congregational UCC
100 E. Broadway, Waukesha

Leave your guns at home


.......

Random Memorial Day parade pix


Politicians may come....


politicians may go....

Yes, but....









..... the public ye shall have with you ever 






and the SOUTH land will rise again:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b99rslWeEWM