The Toilet Paper Bandit Strikes Again!

Bojangles struck again in the deepest, darkest hours of the night, unrolling a Charmin Mega-Roll and stringing it through the bedroom.

It takes so little to amuse him.

Towing more than one broke car at a time

Creative solutions to hauling more than one "broke" car at a time. Not sure the Ferrari would fare well perched in the bed of his "neat truck" while the "cool car" was towed behind, but we managed to get the heavy load from one end of great-grandma's living room to the other, where the "elevantas" watched over the parked vehicles awaiting repair and Alistar conned great-grandpa out of another cookie.

Tie downs, cookies and towing cars

He spent an hour hauling an oatmeal cookie atop his "cool car" which was being towed by his "neat truck." Finally, the cookie fell to the floor and he looked at it sadly.

"Oh, no!" he said.

"Do you need a tie down, Bud?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said in a small voice.

I found a string, and with his permission, attached the cookie to the roof of the truck.

He spent the remainder of the evening hauling the cookie to feed the "elevantas" (elephants) and towing the car with the "broke brakes" around the floor. Finally, hunger won over feeding the "elevantas," and the cookie was happily devoured.

Who needs cable television when you have a wonderful grandson with a brand new vocabulary and an active imagination?

Generations

Collier family gathering to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Meet Mr. Bojangles

Meet the newest member of the animal family, Mr. Bojangles, Sam's newest friend. Sam even lets this little guy eat out of is dish, (something the other cats wouldn't dare to do), and sleep on his bed. Bo really likes napping... followed by eating, followed by intense resting, and then maybe a little nap. It's only at 3 a.m. that he and Ubu, the former youngest in the feline brigade, decide to play chase, over the bed (and me) and down the hallway. How is it such little creatures can sound like a herd of elephants???

Ewwwwww.... fall is bringing out the creepie-crawlies and this one is spinning it's web near my front door. I usually let Mother Nature's creatures do their thing unimpeded by me... but here's hoping a good hard frost will discourage these guys from building so close to the house.

Becca's visit to Pierce City

Becca at the stone bridge at Chesapeake

Becca at the stone bridge at Chesapeake

Becca in Pierce City

Becca at South Park in Pierce City

Oktoberfest in St. Louis

Vickie shopping for doo-dads at Soulard Oktoberfest in St. Louis. What a fun time! A great weekend and the weather cooperated beautifully.

A plethora of pumpkins at the Farmer's Market at Soulard Oktoberfest in St. Louis.

Vickie, my dog Sam, and a really tall guy in lederhosen at Oktoberfest in St. Louis.

The neighborhood was full of delightful surprises as well as an abundance of German food, beer, wine, music and more!

Study, study, study

Last weekend, Sam and I spent a day at my Mom's while she was having a garage sale, and he was pretty well worn out from all the attention at the end of the day. That's the spoiled baby sleeping on my couch after riding home with his head out the moon roof of my car.... so many smells...so little time.

Spent all day today studying for an upcoming paralegal exam and have made my brain completely numb. Looked outside earlier and saw storm clouds over Pierce City, MO., drifting overhead. Still have massive amounts of reading to do before Wednesday.... (sigh...) Tomorrow is another day. Anyway, it's late and I have much to do still. Trying to keep up with everything these days is being a challenge. Will try to do better with posting photos as the month progresses.

Nothing Itsy-Bitsy About This Spider!

This little lady was at my front door this morning and nearly gave me a heart attack. I had nothing to fear as she was feasting on a pesky fly. These signs of fall serve as a reminder that Halloween is not far away, along with cooler nights, frost-bitten pumpkins, hay rides, hot chocolate and a harvest moon hanging low in the night sky.

Things Remembered

Slow dancing on a dirt road in the rain...
"A bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work"...
My favorite kind of muffin left on the front seat of my car...
Long, slow, warm, wet kisses...
Dolphins leading the way to Ship Island on a beautiful summer afternoon....
Hatteras Light on a windy day....
Feeding the cat marshmallows...
Building a fire in the fireplace for the first time and forgetting about the damper! (Thanks to the responding firefighters for their quick response!)...
Road trips...
Traditional gumbo at Christmas...
"Fudge-a-lo" from Mount Rushmore...
Teaching Alexandra how to stick out her tongue when she was just a few months old...
Telling Morgan she was still a pretty kitty when she ripped the bandage off her stump at 1 a.m. to discover her tail missing.... (she was ONE UPSET kitty...)
Smiles and soft, warm, melt-into-you brown eyes...
Jimmy Buffett concerts that were an adventure in and of themselves...
Joe's Crab Shack peel and eat shrimp and horseradish....
Key West and Mallory Square.... sunsets and ships and smiles....
Biloxi, the "Mel-mobile," and meeting in the middle...
a diamond tennis bracelet hidden in a coffee grinder at Christmas...
Wine, cheese, sausage and crackers in front of the fireplace (remembering the damper!)...
Weekend get-aways to Galveston, Pike's Peak, Amarillo and other new places and spaces...
Eureka Springs and chocolate covered strawberries...
New Orleans weekends that featured beignets and gumbo right here at home...
"Grill-Master"...
Teasing Ubu with the feathers-on-a-stick routine...
Surprise lunches...
Ansel Adams...
Thunderheart...
Ghost...
Secondhand Lions...
What Dreams May Come...
"The lighthouse" that guided me home...to a safe heart and haven...

I remember...

Fall Sunflowers

Just spent a few minutes of my day trying out different PS options on these pics I took on the way home. Feeling a little melancholy, and they brightened my afternoon right up. Did I mention, I love photography???

Untitled

From somewhere beyond time
It calls to me
reaching back through the ages, to the beginning

I am an ancient in a modern world
Struggling with a dual existence
Yearning for what's past, reaching for the inevitable future

I glide on winds of dream fragments,
swirling currents of mystics and poets,
Searching for that which is within

Turning thoughts like clay in my palms
Molding myself.
I am not of this world,

Yet I blend, chameleon-skinned,
A temporary resting place in
An endless quest for the center.

12/30

Mother and Son

My best friend, Leona, and her son, Johnny, at Shorter Mansion in Eufaula, Alabama

Senior Photos

Johnny in downtown Eufaula, Alabama

At the park

In front of an office building with amazing architecture!

Alley shot

Loved the weathered door contrasted by the brick wall

Orchid

Yep... it's real. My daughter, Chandra, got it for me for Mother's Day/birthday combo. I thought it was absolutely lovely. In it I sort of see a fire-breathing dragon....

Remembrance

You know how it is when you want to write a love letter that you can never send?
Because the timing isn't right, or the circumstances aren't right or you just aren't sure the other person feels even remotely the same? When you are so full of the things that you want to say but have to hold back because fear of saying or doing the wrong thing nearly paralyzes you?

You know that feeling? The one where you just want to wrap yourself up in that special someone's arms, their dreams, their life? You want to share their thoughts, goals, hopes, touch, kiss and breath? But you just don't know what tomorrow might hold?

You know that desire? The kind that snakes through your belly and holds you, tense and quivering, for that person's touch? And they are a thousand miles away... the kind of desire that sends the thought and the smell and the feel of them ripping through your mind -- leaving you breathless -- gripping the steering wheel on your car, staring blankly at a green light and unable to move?

Do you know that gut-wrenching ache that makes you want to shelter in their arms until time stands still?

Do you know that fear? The one that wakes you, trembling, afraid that person will leave you behind -- go on with their life -- never knowing their impact on your life? The fear of nothing to hold onto in the cold, dark hours of the night? The fear that you feel yourself fading away as if you've never been?

You know those dreams? The ones of waking up to the the warmth, the scent and the feel of lying in that person's arms next to you? The aching-for-it-to-be-real kind of dreams? When a fragment of your mind breaks away to nestle quietly in the heart of that person?

Do you know that waiting feeling? Waiting for time, for touch, for warmth, for love? Waiting for the dawn to come once again and you finally know that you've made it through another night without the confort of that person's arms holding on tight and not letting go?

Do you know the fear of spilling your soul into someone else's hands?
That they can hold on or just let go -- leaving you adrift in a sea of yearning? Do you know the fear of giving someone your heart, knowing they don't even know it's theirs to hold onto?

Do you know the fear of someone being careless with your love and your heart --
The only things that you have to give?
And not knowing whether your love is a gift -- or a burden they just don't want?

I know these things well.

4/16

Key West

seagull

Railroad

flowers