Pippin with Bedside Stuffed Animals and Mickey Mouse

Lately, I've been rearranging stuff from my childhood bedroom into my newer house. I took my old stuffed animals that sat in a crate beside my bed and organized them in a row on my loft bed. Among my stuff is a Mickey Mouse clock that Grandma Rose had sent to me for Christmas from Carnegie, Oklahoma. I think I was in sixth or seventh grade at the time, because I remember earlier getting a Minnie Mouse watch from her in fifth grade. I came back to school after Christmas Vacation, and found out that so many classmates had also gotten Mickey or Minnie Mouse watches for Christmas. They were a very popular present that year. This Mickey Mouse clock in the pictures below complemented my Minnie Mouse watch. Both quit operating eventually, but I loved having my Mickey Mouse clock on my bedroom wall. I'd think of Grandma Rose every time I'd see it. After Grandma Rose died on October 9, 2000, I told myself that her spirit is still smiling down from me from the Mickey Mouse clock.

It was rather hard for me when Daddy dismounted it from the wall where I had always known it to be in my childhood bedroom. I did not really know where to put it in my house now that I was on my own, but it was nice to hold Mickey Mouse in my lap a few nights ago and think of Grandma Rose. Pippin sniffed it before lying right beside me on the floor that night. I decided to take Mickey Mouse upstairs, even though there was no mount for me to hang it on right now. I thought of above the window ridge, but that was too narrow. I then discovered a nice place on the window sill right above my stuffed animals. Mickey seemed to be a very nice addition to my stuffed animals. Pippin had hurried upstairs with me, and was now resting right in front of my stuffed animals and my Mickey Mouse clock. I thought they would make a good photograph together. I had to go downstairs for my camera and thankfully Pippin remained on my bed. It was rather a challenge to take pictures without a flash without getting them too blurry or too dark, but I wanted to keep the nighttime effect. Looking at Mickey's position on my windowsill, I now imagine that Mickey was alive and whole, and had climbed up a ladder outside my house to peer into my second story window. He seemed to be enjoying having Pippin and me right there.

Back on the computer, I did plenty of photo editing to try to make the pictures light enough so people could see them better without making them too bright and changing the cozy mood of the pictures. I noticed that the brightness of the pictures changes from computer to computer, depending on the computers' brightness settings. The pictures also would appear darker in the daytime than they did at night. That has made editing a challenge. I hope the results are satisfactory. The third picture is my favorite. I think Grandma Rose would have enjoyed this scene. She had a cat of her own.

My Thanksgiving card

I just completed this drawing the evening before Thanksgiving and wanted to share this with everybody. You can click on my card to get a bigger view. The autumn leaves that I organized into letters and a smiley face were fun to draw. The S and G's did get a little challenging.There are so many people I'm thankful for, and of course pets too, like my cat Pippin. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Enjoying Late Fall

On the day before Halloween, I got Pippin inside, and while I was upstairs, I spotted him resting on the big beam that goes out over my living room. Pippin loves walking across that beam and looking out the windows. I've always enjoyed seeing him using the beam like a tightrope. I have taken several pictures of him from below, but this is the first picture looking at him from above. He is looking off to his side into the living room.


Pippin started walking back towards the railings, and I took this next picture really quick as an example of his tightrope walking skills.

I decided that while I was standing in my loft area, I would take this picture of the view that Pippin and I both enjoy. The distant foothills are slightly seen beyond the trees.

Earlier this summer, I had a physical therapy evaluation, and while it was decided I didn't need to resume physical therapy, I was now required to take walks! This was my favorite of things that I was asked to do, since I love taking walks anyway. This walking track in the picture below that goes around the old Dresser factory building is just behind my house on Harrison Road. The factory is now Berea Municipal Utilities. My family used to take walks here when I was growing up, but Daddy and Emma started taking bike rides instead and the walks mostly stopped. This hill has also been a family favorite for sledding in the wintertime, though I prefer not to sled. The garage in the distance was just built in the last few years, and I find it a bit intrusive, right next to a tree that I love to walk by. The path goes right around the tree and behind the garage. I still enjoy the beauty of the tree, even with the garage and piles of gravel right there. Since I've started taking walks here again, I've walked a few times with my family, but I've preferred to take solo walks, going at my own pace and thinking my own thoughts while enjoying the nature around me. Of course, friends would be welcome too.

This is late afternoon after I took those last pictures of Pippin and my view out my windows. It was mostly cloudy by this time. I was lucky to get the sun shining in this picture.

While walking downhill on the sidewalk to get to the track, I always pass by this birdhouse perched on a tall post. With its multiple rooms and balconies, I like to call it a bird motel, with a lovely view of the foothills beyond. Of course, birds don't have to pay to get in, and they can stay as long as they want to.

Here is the track winding around the trees on the far side of the factory. Brushy Fork Creek winds around this parts of the track, though it is mostly out of view. Where the track straightens out again in the distance, there is an opening where I can walk right up to the creek. My family had always passed this by on our earlier walks, but this summer, right after I was asked to start taking my regular walks, I joined family down there. Hazel, Aren and Sage were with us, and Sage was liking it there. Since then, I've loved being down by the creek on my own.

Here is the view looking directly across the creek. The creek was pretty low on the day before Halloween. This was the first time I had brought my camera. You can see a little bit of the near bank covered by leaves. I've enjoyed seeing leaves drifting in the water.

I looked to my left to take this picture. The creek was at a stage that it was possible to walk alongside it, though I've loved it when the creek is higher too. I've watched the change from summer to fall while standing here on different days. Many leaves have fallen in my presence.

Here I am looking the other way towards the direction the water is coming from. I'm always amused by the root sticking up into the air and coming back down again. The branches sticking up from it makes it appear that the root is pretending to become a tree!

When I finally left the creek, I went back up to the track and turned around to look at the creek behind me. The trees offer a nice frame. I just love being out on my own down there, rather uninterrupted by the few people walking along the track.

After following the track back towards the road, I left the track when it curved towards the factory, and continued on through the grass to the road. This wooden bridge was not far from me. My pastor Kent Gilbert lives in the house on the other side. The Quaker meeting house beside his house is out of view in this picture. Kent just moved in last year after living outside of Berea on Scaffold Cane Road. I love having Kent as a neighbor. His dog Murphy and my family's dog Rusty are best friends. Kent has greeted me out here on my walks.

Earlier this summer, the church gathered here to do our first creek baptism. My family and I joined many church members looking off the right side of the bridge where Kent was in the water with the guys being baptized. My family had brought Rusty with us, and after the service was over, Rusty loved running around with Murphy. Emma encouraged Rusty to go down the wooden steps with her and start swimming in the water. After some hesitation, Rusty decided he liked going swimming.

Standing on the bridge and peering into the water has become a big part of my walks. I still have to be careful when cars pass by, but I keep enjoying it here. At this time, the creek was so low that many rocks were exposed, so I decided to wait for more rainfall before I took pictures looking straight out from the bridge. However, directly below me was a beautiful view of the reflection of two trees along with the leaves in the water. I took this picture, and immediately my camera battery gave out. This was my last picture of the day.

When going out on yesterday afternoon's walk, I took my camera again, with it charged back up. It was much sunnier this time, with blue skies. The views from the bridge weren't much better, but I enjoyed this glimpse of the water through the trees when I was standing on the road.

I thought it would be nice to take a picture looking down the dead end part of Center Street where I live. This is the point after Harrison Road breaks off of Center Street, leaving the rest of the street to be quite free of traffic. My house is hidden from view. It is to the right at the end of the street. I wanted to share the fall colors on my street before the remainder of the leaves fall from the trees. Walking along this street has been a nice way to both begin and conclude my walks. I have loved living right on the edge of town.

Right after I took this picture, I started hearing my neighbor Tina's voice calling to her small white dog Gloria. I walked further, and saw Tina, her daughter Iris, and Gloria standing by the road. Iris is about 23 months old at this time, and she was very excited to see me. She happily greeted me while Tina was talking on the phone. After Tina was done with her phone call, we had fun spending time together. Iris showed me how she could push around her toddler tricycle, and I enjoyed seeing Iris leading Gloria on a leash. Gloria was ultimately confined to a post in their front yard, while Tina and Iris brought out a doll stroller to show me. Iris enjoyed sitting in the stroller even though she is a bit big for it. I took this picture of them in front of my house, while they were looking at the leaves. Iris is smiling at me and holding a leaf in her left hand. I enjoyed showing Tina and Iris this picture as well as my pictures of my walks and Pippin on my beam. Being with them was a fun conclusion to that day's walk. I like the late afternoon sun shining upon them. Tina's husband Jason came driving up soon afterwards, and I got to see Iris go running up to her daddy for a big welcome before I said goodbye.

Happy Halloween!

It was on Halloween day exactly 10 years ago when I went with my family on a visit to Cumberland Falls. Something very exciting happened to me that inspired me to write a poem about it later. Read on to see what happened.

The Rescue at Cumberland Falls

My family went down to Cumberland Falls,
As it was such a pretty day.
We hurried out there after church,
Not knowing what fate would fall our way.

We hurried out there after church.
It was as pretty as a postcard.
We watched the falls from several vantage points.
It wasn't easy to get bored.

It was at the point right next to the falls
When the excitement really began.
For I was leaning against the railing,
When my crutch fell out of my hand.

I watched it fall to the rocks below.
This accident halted the fun.
I wondered if I had to spend the rest of my life
With only one crutch on.

My daddy decided to save the day
By leaping over the railing.
But he jumped at a place where the rocks were pretty close,
So through the air he didn't go sailing.

He climbed down the rocks 'til he picked up my crutch,
And then he climbed back up again.
I'm glad my crutch didn't fall into the water,
Or Daddy might have had to take a swim.

After Daddy jumped back over the railing,
The rescue was finally done.
I could now laugh about my crutch falling over,
And get back to having more fun.

I was more careful to hold onto my crutches after that,
And never let them fall with a whack.
Or they might fall over some far higher point,
And I'll never get them back.

Daddy put music to my Cumberland Falls ballad, and he and Mommy sang it to everybody at Christmas Country Dance School that year. I was delighted as everybody laughed throughout my ballad. At the end, everybody turned to where I was sitting amongst them and gave me a standing ovation! Losing my crutch at Cumberland Falls had resulted in one of my happiest moments of my life, thanks to my ballad. I had written it because I got an English assignment that fall to write a true ballad, and that recent experience came to my mind. I had not written much poetry beforehand, but the success of that ballad has encouraged me to write more poetry and become a real poet.

Just a couple years ago on Halloween, I was washing my hair in my family's upstairs bathroom sink, when the pipes below sprouted a leak that sent water rushing out onto the bathroom floor. I immediately yelled out to Daddy, who had just come home. He had to come rushing up to try to fix that leak, which was rather out of control. Mommy reported that the water was soaking through the floor and creating a waterfall onto the piles of clean clothes in the laundry room. I don't remember exactly how the leak got resolved, but it was a crazy thing to happen right on the anniversary of me losing my crutch at Cumberland Falls. We had our own waterfall! Daddy had once again come to my rescue.

Unlike both of those Halloweens, I've been without Daddy this Halloween because he's away this weekend playing music. Nothing really dramatic has happened this time, though I've been missing him as I went out trick-or-treating with Mommy, Emma, and Emma's best friend. Having a little sister has allowed me to go trick-or-treating again, though I don't ask for candy myself. I've been enjoying wearing my Beary Potter shirt. It has a teddy bear on the front with a flower in a pot in front of him and more flowers nearby. The words "Beary Potter" are written in the same font as Harry Potter's name. I was basically being Beary Potter for Halloween. I liked seeing other children in costumes. I was able to meet up with one of my neighbors afterwards, who was having a hard time keeping a fire going at a pit in her front yard. I was spent several minutes with her by myself, and she enjoyed my company. That was a good way to conclude an evening of trick-or-treating.

Four Special Early Childhood Pictures

Hazel recently got a new scanner at her house, and these four photos are among the ones she scanned into her computer and posted on Facebook. I decided to copy them onto my blog since they are special early childhood pictures of Hazel and me. Here we are together in our front yard with our friends Georgia Rose and Susanna Park when we were little. My hair was lighter in color at this time, and this was before I had glasses. Hazel is right behind me, with Georgia Rose and Susanna on either side.


Here is a special double family portrait with me right in the middle. Hazel was acting a bit silly at the time. Fred Park and his wife Suzanne are on either side of Daddy.

The photo below shows me taking a rest after going Christmas tree hunting with Hazel watching nearby. We always went to Louis and Pauline Calico's farm outside Berea, where we had to jump across the creek, wade through tall brush, bypass an electric fence, and dodge horse poop in search for the perfect tree. At this age, I was probably being carried by Mommy. As I grew older, I got quite skilled in crossing these obstacles myself, with family members holding the lines of the electric fence so I could duck under it. I've loved leaping across the creek with my crutches. This red truck was the truck of my early childhood, before Daddy exchanged it for a green truck, and then a green Volvo, a blue Pathfinder, and now we have a blue Volvo. Our parents have secured our huge tree on top of each of our cars in turn. One of the things I remember about going tree hunting as a child is that I would rush far away whenever Daddy would start chopping down the tree, so the giant tree wouldn't fall on top of my head. The trees are high enough to be just a little short of our sixteen foot ceiling. I think I ran much further than sixteen feet.

Sadly, Louis and Pauline sold their farm several years ago, where the area is now taken over by a commercial business and suburbs of identical looking modern day houses. I still cherish the memories of the farm. We now go to another tree farm quite far away on Redlick Road. It also has a creek crossing through its property. We often walk on a narrow wooden bridge that lacks railings. One year, I had to cross it when it was completely covered in ice. That satisfied my desire to have adventure while going tree hunting. I was quite scared and certainly glad Daddy was right behind me. He was holding out his arms in case I started to slip on the ice and tumble over the side of the bridge into the freezing waters below. I got back and forth on that bridge all right that year, but I wouldn't have wanted to try it alone. Most of the times we go out there, the bridge is safer to cross. I just miss the old farm. I have grown up proud of the fact that my family would go Christmas tree hunting the old fashioned way instead of going to a commercial Christmas tree lot in the middle of a city.


Here is a winter scene back at home of Hazel and me posing with a rather short snowman that we built. The snowman was just the right height for me sitting down. I love the grin on my face. It looks like we were having fun with our new pal.

It would be nice to post more of my childhood photos if we could get them scanned into the computer. My blog is like a digital version of a scrapbook that I can share with anybody who's online. I can tell the stories of growing up too. It's a great way to share my past as well as the current times.

A Rose of Love

While I was on Facebook this morning, I discovered a Photo Effects Generator in which I could insert a photo of mine onto an image, and here is a sweet image of Pippin and me projected onto a rose. This is a nice companion to my "Revealing Myself as a Rose" poem on the sidebar. This image and the images directly following are some of the first pictures I took of Pippin. These photos are seen in their original format much further into my blog.


Photo Effects By WishAFriend.com

Beautiful Pippin Ring

Here's a Photo Effects image I love of Pippin on a ring.



Photo Effects By WishAFriend.com

Holding Pippin in a Crystal Ball

I imagine this is me holding the image of Pippin in this crystal ball.


Photo Effects By WishAFriend.com

It's Pippin Money

This is a humorous image of Pippin being pictured on money. If I had these, I wouldn't want to spend them all.


Photo Effects By WishAFriend.com

Pippin as the King of Hearts

Pippin is the King of Hearts at my house. He really loves me.


Photo Effects By WishAFriend.com

Today Has Been Pippin's Second Birthday!

Pippin turned two today, and I took pictures yesterday and today to help celebrate. While cleaning out my old childhood bedroom, I found posters lying in my walk-in closet that I had totally forgotten about. I thought these two cat posters looked great in the upstairs corner where my loft couch is. I was eager to get a picture of Pippin with them. Finally on the day before Pippin's birthday, after Pippin spent most of the day outdoors as usual, I got him to accompany me upstairs with my camera. I thought this would be good timing right before his birthday. I had to encourage Pippin to get onto the couch and stay there long enough for me to take a picture. The pillow on the couch is an old childhood pillow of mine that has a teddy bear and my name on it. The couch armrests had been torn much earlier when Hazel and Aren had rented my house with their first dog.


I wanted a close-up of Pippin and the Rachael pillow, as an example of our bond.


Pippin made a cute pose lying right beneath the cat posters, with my name peeking out from the pillow behind him. Pippin was tired out from his outdoor treks.


My name is more clearly seen in this next picture, and Pippin looks sweet right in front of my pillow.


I held my camera down low to include both posters in this next picture. Pippin was quite comfortable resting beneath them.


Pippin soon decided he wanted to be closer to me. Only his rear was near the pillow, but he was happy to be resting beside me.


Pippin changed his position again, and by holding my camera at an angle just right, I was able to take this picture. I thought this was an adorable pose, with the Rachael pillow on the other side of him.


Pippin wanted to rest with the real Rachael, not just the pillow.


This is a neat angle of Pippin lying in front of the Rachael pillow.


Pippin climbed back on the armrest, quite active again. I took this picture quick. Compared to the kittens on the posters, Pippin looks so grown up.


Partly inspired by the posters, I thought it would be great to accompany Pippin outdoors on the morning of his birthday and take birthday pictures. He absolutely loves it out here. Here he is sitting on the curb that runs in front of my house. A driveway that leads into wooded land that had been bought is in the background, and the driveway right behind Pippin leads to the house Hazel's best friend Deborah Payne just recently bought from her aunt. I'm excited about Deborah moving in next to me.


Pippin soon started playing in leaves right next to the curb. He was having some fun on his birthday, wiggling all around.


Here he paused, looking straight up at me.


He became interested in exploring the area leading off into the woods.


Pippin decided to take a rest on my curb, peering back up my nice and quiet street.


I moved where I could get a picture of my house on the other side of Pippin. I had wanted a picture of Pippin in front of my house for a long time.


Pippin quickly got up again, and I wandered around with him for a while before he came to a rest on my driveway.


Pippin was interested in the driveway leading into the woods, and I got a nice picture of him resting in front of the bushes over there.


I eventually got Pippin to return to my driveway, holding my camera down low for this picture. Pippin had just then spotted the mailman approaching my neighbors Tina and Jason's house, making him alert all of the sudden.


Pippin had a nice rest at the very end of my driveway, right next to my carport. Tina and Jason's house is visible to the right. They are very nice neighbors.


My camera battery ran out before I could get birthday pictures of Pippin in my backyard, but I love the ones I've taken. Pippin certainly liked my company. I had to leave Pippin soon afterwards because of Berea's Spoonbread Festival taking place, but I certainly continued to think of Pippin. I was eager to share these pictures on Pippin's special day.