Upside Ann

I was taking the moment I had this fine Sunday morning to prepare my Monday post.  I'll PROBABLY have time on Monday, but I do have time today.  Anyway- I used the term head start (spoiler) and I was unsure whether that would be a compound word or two words.  Spell check to the rescue! (Hmmm - now I am remembering that little paperclip guy who would pop-up to give Microsoft hints - pause for google search - there he is, "Clippy"!  I wonder what became of him...) As it turns out head start can be one compound word when referencing the early education program: HeadStart.  It gets two capitalized letters - wow!  But I was not making that reference. Spell check offered a third option which I really need to find a way to use: heads tart!  I want to write about that but not eat it.  And.....why?

 

  We've gone to RMNP twice now, each summer we are in Colorado.  The top photo with the ground squirrel enjoying the view was from the first lookout we stopped at on our first visit.  Not the greatest photo in the world, but he amused me.  I was not the only tourist taking photos of him that morning.     Ground squirrels are very prevalent and along some of the hikes, especially where people might stop and have a snack to share, they are brave little fellows.  I did use my zoom lens to get the couple in the second photo.  I likely could have approached closer.   My animal bucket list did not contain rodents, however.  I wanted to see elk and moose.  Elk are not too hard to come by.  They tend to come out in herds near suppertime.  The photo of Mr. Elk with his impressive rack, however, was the first one we saw.  "Everyone" was stopping along the side of a road - something you are NOT supposed to do.  So,...

  Portrait by Zupe of his "Star Wars" Rey doll.  I think he is in love.

Our last holiday tour without Zupe last summer was the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.  Maybe it looks a little familiar?  Maybe you feel a little shiver up your spine?  Maybe the phrase "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" is intruding on your thoughts?  It was afternoon when we arrived - just in time for the daily rainstorm - which suited us fine.  We took "The Shining" tour but didn't see anything spooky that we weren't supposed to see.  I took some photos of the bathroom and the ballroom and ... to share with Marianna who I knew would appreciate it as she is a bigger Stephen King fan than even I am.  But they are not anything special to look at.  If you want to see photos of such elements, you can find better ones on the website. Here I include two shots of the exterior of the hotel - with the stormy skies - looking a bit menacing, the parking token- no free parking at the hotel, and a "Shining" related display I enjoyed.  I do not r...

I recently found my class ring. I realize now from the vantage of time that I shouldn't have had it to find.  Class rings are for giving.  I should have given my ring to the man I loved.  He should be finding it in his box of ephemera - remembering a moment from his youth - and then struggling with discarding it - or not.  The expectation was students would order a ring with their birthstone in the center -- maybe a school color -- but I loved the star-like pattern in the blue.  Blue - my favorite color - at least until the Zupe-man introduced me to Green.  He and I diverge in what makes a heart-stopping green.  He's more of a forest green man and me, you know, prefer mine on the wild side of chartreuse. And what about those veins??!  While you might point to my aging, here you would be incorrect.  OK. Yes, I'm aging - but those veins have been a hallmark of my hands throughout time. (If you're lucky, I'll look for the video of my hand under ...

Poor Zupe.  His mom thinks he needs to keep learning through the summer and even though school has not yet ended, summer school started today.  I had made plans to learn about Viking history and Nordic mythology - while watching (rewatching) Thor and Loki.  As it turns out, last night Zupe picked up the first of the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riodan - in which preteen/young teen siblings are tossed into a quest featuring Egyptian gods.  Totally unprepared I turned to YouTube to provide a little background on Egypt, Egyptian culture, history, and mythology. Zupe has now watched both "King Tut" (Steve Martin on SNL, 1978) and "Walk Like an Egyptian" (The Bangles, 1987). "He gave his life for tourism..." ...and what would we need to study to make "Turning Japanese" a requirement??

This one I dedicate to my mother.  It will be her birthday in 2 more days.  I remember her coming home from work, I suppose, having just heard this song on the radio.  Immediately touching - even if your name isn't Ann.

  My birthday was this week.  Each year Kevin takes a day off and we go "hiking" for a morning and out to lunch to celebrate.  Sometimes it is hot.  Sometimes it is wet.  Friday was "just right".  And I learned something interesting.  My camera phone will identify plants that I photograph.  Sometimes.  This is speedwell.  Maybe.   Speedwell, May 2026 - The actual color is a very intense purple which I couldn't capture.   Still I love the contrast of the yellow stamens with the petals and the drooping blossom starting to open.

 

  Kit Carson County Carousel in Kit Carson County (who would have guessed that?) Burlington, Colorado.  Beautiful carved wooden menagerie in full color.  Don't like horses? No problem. Ride a dog or a giraffe or a camel... Inside a barn-like structure with a museum chronicling the history of carousels from the turn of the past, past century next door.  Definitely worth a detour from I-70. Want to learn more? www.kitcarsoncountycarousel.com

  Considering my next career as a terra-cotta warrior.  I think I smile too much.  Need to work on that.  Fortunately, my teachers are very patient.

 I remeber the first time I heard this.  I was captivated.  The melody stole my heart.  I don't associate this song with any love I experienced - only with that drive.  Alone in my car.  Maybe because it is a memory of love song.

We have hit upon one of my favorite points in spring - the blooming of the peonies.  When I lived in Columbus and was attending vet school, I lived in a house that had a garden bed of peonies planted behind the garage.  Pink peonies.  Dark-red peonies.  Delicate white peonies tipped in pale pink.  When I had to leave that house, I attempted to dig up starts and brought them to Harrison.  I planted them near the back deck, at the back door, and in the fence row.  Zelda, in her eccentric doggy way, would meditate under the heavy blooms  or sit with a delicate bud held gently in her mouth.   Now, the only color I have is pink...though I guess you can't appreciate that from the photo above.  The plants by the deck did not survive the deep shadow that was created when the spruce trees grew.  The plants at the fence row got mowed over one-too-many times.  But the plant at the side door to the garage explodes each spring still: h...

 Because - we all can use a splash of magenta on a cool spring morning.  What makes me most happy? See that strip of near-chartreuse in the almost-center?

INTO A SOUP POT on moderate heat ADD Olive oil into bottom of pot 2-3 slices of bacon - cut up and fry ADD and sauté: 3 cloves of smashed garlic 2-3 stalks of celery chopped - I never have this and it is fine 1 zucchini - cubed 1 large onion After onion soft ADD:  1 48 oz chicken or vegetable stock  1 can of cannellini beans 1 can of garbanzo beans 1 can of green beans After it comes to a boil ADD: 1 cup of pasta Once pasta is cooked ADD: 1 bag of baby spinach - which I never have Very tasty even without spinach and celery.  Imagine what it might be like if you add them!

  UGLY GLASS & CO. Ringo couldn't make the shoot.

  We were fortunate enough to stumble into a weekend event in the West Bottoms of Kansas City, MO.  It was Saturday.  We were driving home from Colorado and I had found in my combing of Google for unusual things to do off I-70 a store/collection of weird and creepy things.  I don't recall the name - only that it wasn't to be found.  MAYBE it is available to see by appointment....but it hardly mattered because the neighborhood with its stores full of art, antiques, and collectibles was entirely worthy of a visit.  In fact, it was so worthy that if I'm in the neighborhood on the first weekend of any upcoming month, I WILL be stopping in.   The photo at the top- mural.  Sweet birds.  Wholesome. Photo 2- street lamps.   The final 2 photos are from a store that I managed with effort to treat - as Kevin would suggest- as a museum - and, in doing so, I saved a lot of money.  Ugly Glass & Co.  It was full of Halloween-esque de...

  In decluttering closets, I found I have not one, but two polaroid 600 cameras.  I also have one box of film.  I don't need two Polaroids.  (Do I even need one? but I do have that box of film and it must be less than 30 years old.  It would still be good, right?  Would young people today even understand, let alone experience, the wonder of film that develops in your hand??  And, if they would, would Zupe?) Back to the portrait.   It felt like there might be a cartridge of film already inside the green camera.  I opened the camera up.  Nothing happened.  I pushed the shutter control.  Moment.  FLASH.  BUZZ.   WHIRRRR.  I blink back the stars in my eyes as the flash had gone off in my face.  I had just succeeded in, I almost wrote "once again" but I'm sure I have never done it before, taking a polaroid selfie.  Woohoo.  I held the film and I held my breath. If I had been sincere...

  "And I'll always love you, forever...." Heatwave, Always and Forever

  Trying something new:  saxifrage   Supposedly rabbits don't like to eat this. We shall see.  Spring on Harrison, 2026

This is a photo Zupe took of the two of us.  You can see that he shares my photographic style and obviously thinks his mother is a thing of beauty.   Monument Rocks, Kansas, 2025 August  

 I really should crop this to be square.... Oh, and that dude on my shoulder?  That's Ringo.

  Hot sweaty day.  Unfortunately, the visitor's center was being remodeled so there was no opportunity to duck in for some education and air conditioning.  Zupe was reluctant to climb all the stairs to the to of this highest mound - the Monk's Mound.  Constructed by ancient people between 950 and 1200, it is the largest "prehistoric earthwork in the Western Hemisphere".* What do I like about this photo?  Not really anything - but I did want to include this site in our trip history as it is impressive and it is the site of my favorite album cover photo.  (NEXT) Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, 2025, August  Pause the video at 1:30 and find the woman climbing the steps up the Monk's Mound to get a idea of just how large this mound is. *This sort of statement is an inside joke between Kevin and me.  All over Australia we would encounter items identified as "the largest" followed bya an impressive list of qualifiers.. "the longest wooden pier on fr...

 be with you.... Zupe was a big Star War fans for a while.  (He still loves Star Wars, but is more obsessed with Ninjago and, dare I say it, Avengers Doomsday - coming to a theater near you: December 18, 2026.  Mark your calendar!)  We, however, did not have any Star War minifigures. But, at 9, Zupe was happy to make his own.  As you may be unpracticed in imagination, I will introduce you to the characters.  From RIGHT to LEFT (yes, I know that is backward... Your discomfort will be worth it.  Trust me.)  Again, from right to left: Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and..... Emperor Palpatine. Live long and prosper.... Photo: September 2020

 Finally.  Hair cut.

The past 2 summers we have driven to Colorado via Route 70.  As neither Zupe nor I want to sit in a car for 10 hours a day, I plan the trips with multiple, I-hope-to-be-fun stopping points.  I do consider what Zupe might enjoy, but I am much easier to please.  Therefore, I think many of these stops I enjoyed more than him.  In fact, I really, really liked several.  I'll kiss them with an asterisk, in case you want to be me.  All of these stops will someday get featured in Tripping Tuesdays...at least I hope so.  There is only one stop that made it on both itineraries: Lucas, Kansas.  When I grow up, I want to live there. 2025 Batman Museum - Logansport, Indiana Gemini Giant Wilmington, Illinois (Paul) Bunyan Giant (with hot dog) and more (giants)!  Atlanta, Illinois (note - home of the American Giants Museum - but it was closed when we arrived.) * Start of Lewis and Clark's expedition - Frontier Park -  St. Charles, Missouri Graham State...

 "Are you hopeful?" "I'm willing to see what will happen," I replied.  "But I'm not sure it can work." "That is a very sad truth,"  I said.  "I can't be sure of anything.  I know only what I feel." "Then you are ahead of the pack." "Whatever the pack is, if I am ahead of it, then that's another sad truth, " I admitted.