Golden
Crab apples
Hungry birds
Summer fades
Last of the tomatoes.
Wordless Wednesday – officially Fall (click on photos for details)
Tag Archives: fun stuff
Music in the house
Saturday was the opening night of the 85th season for the Ann Arbor Symphony. There is something special about standing in a full house and singing the National Anthem, being supported by a full symphony orchestra, that made me realize how lucky we all were. Lucky to be in a beautiful place, lucky to be listening to such a fine orchestra, lucky to have family and friends to share it all with.
Warming up
This season will be all about contrasts, writes Maestro Arie Lipsky in the program. Opening night proved he was serious as we listened to Overture to Candide by Leonard Bernstein, with it’s full and lush orchestration bouncing between classic and crazy, to full on crazy with Commedia for (almost) 18th century orchestra by William Bolco, and back to sweet traditional sounds in the “Unfinished” Symphony No 8 in B Minor by Franz Schubert. And that was just the first half.
After intermission we were immersed in Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, a pounding, intense and relentless dance telling the story of a pagan rite; sacrificing a young girl who dances herself to death in order to placate the god of spring. The music is difficult, to play as well as to hear, yet it is also impossible not to be drawn in, not to hold your breath, not to let it sink into your being.
As I listened I thought about all the wonderful music that has been heard and absorbed in this place. And I wondered whether hints of all the music that has come before has somehow been preserved in the crevices of the ornate ceiling, in the dark corners of the upper balcony. Maybe entwined in threads of the velvet curtains up on the stage are bits of notes from past concerts. I image late at night all these remnants of concerts past mingle in the air creating a collage of sound. That makes me smile.
Ceiling art
As usual the audience was on it’s feet as the last bits of music exploded above us. We were on our feet as the season opened singing with gusto, and on our feet as the evening closed showing our appreciation. And in between we were transported; nodding our heads, tapping our feet, holding our breaths and letting them out in a big exultant sighs of joy. Yes we are so lucky.
Extraordinary.
Family
Small town
Before this week gets away from me I wanted to share a few more photos from my adventure last Sunday. Photos that are not barns. Because really there is more to life in rural Michigan.
I stopped in the small farming community of Coleman. I think it’s a farming community because right in the center of town is a grain elevator.
The working parts
I thought the whole thing was picturesque. I suppose if you’re a farmer it’s just equipment.
Buy your feed here
But to an outsider it’s all color and angles.
Years of feed sold here
Interesting. In a dusty sort of way.
At least the driver can see
I parked near a store. Can you guess what they sell?
You guessed it!
They sell auto and bicycle parts! Cool combination.
Along the way I also passed this garden. I actually turned around and went back for these photos.
So pretty
They even had a cow.
Moo!
It was a fun adventure. I’m glad I went. Hopefully I can get back on the road sometime soon!
Glory
Sunday adventure. No dog involved.
Sunday my rambling genes took over and I left the house in early morning. I took the camera, not knowing where I was going or what I was looking for. It wasn’t a pretty day; the skies were grey with low hanging clouds. Not even interesting low hanging clouds. Rain threatened.
As usual when my heart is tugging me toward the road I headed north for awhile. After an hour or so I knew I was in farm country and headed west on a smaller highway. I saw the soybean fields were turning yellow and then I knew what I’d be looking for.
You guessed it.
Red barn, green roof, yellow field.
Barns in fields of yellow soybeans. (Make sure you click on the photos to get all the detail.)
Along the way I also saw other stuff, some of which I even stopped to photograph. Those will have to be displayed in future blogs. Because this one is about barns and yellow soybean fields.
Red barn…yellow field.
Of course some of the best photos I have only in my mind as there was nowhere to stop. I was usually out on a freeway thinking “DARN! There’s another great shot!” But when I got off the freeway and meandered down dirt roads I found plenty of picturesque stuff.
Yep. It’s another barn in a soybean field. Pretty, isn’t it!
Ummm…red barn…you’ve got the rest…
Obviously I thought so.
Not a red barn, but still pretty.
Weekly photo challenge (inside)
For a long time now I’ve been getting daily prompts from WordPress providing ideas for blogs. Once a week they even provide prompts for a photo challenge. Many of the ideas have been interesting but I never quite got to any of them. I’d save the idea and then something always came up.
This week’s photo prompt is “inside.” We’re to provide a photo that shows our interpretation of that word. I’ve been thinking about it and had some ideas. I remembered when we were kids and Dad always made a big deal about the first sighting of the inside of our Halloween pumpkin. I thought about a photo of Katie inside her kennel in the back yard. I thought about a photo of the inside of my closet, but that would scare you all away.
Yesterday as I was working in the yard I looked up and saw my photo. (Click on it to see the details.)
Inside art
The dahlias I picked Friday night fearing frost were glowing in a puddle of sun inside the kitchen window, framed in reflections of outside. The whole thing was a bit of abstract art.
I smiled and went for the camera.
Fun stuff.
Wordy Wednesday
Carol commented on the last post that sometimes our pets seem to have devil horns.
I’m sure Katie isn’t one of those pets. (click on picture to make it larger…just to be sure.)
No devil horns on me!
Nope. Well. Maybe just little ones.
#1300
This is the 1300th post on the blog. I wanted to write something meaningful, heartfelt, something about one of my favorite causes. But instead let me tell you about today’s morning trip out into the 6 a.m. darkness to find the perfect spot.
I had been dreaming about my mother. I lost the dream when I woke to find Katie standing on me asking to go out. But I was thinking about mom when I clicked Katie’s leash onto her collar and we ventured out into the cool morning air. The stars were out. I glanced up and saw Orion’s belt, my representation of my mom, in the sky. I don’t think I’ve seen it all summer and it felt good to have her overhead again.
We walked down to the end of the driveway, Katie, mom and I; Katie sniffing her usual places where other dogs leave her messages. I was watching the sky and thinking about mom when I realized Katie wasn’t sniffing anymore. She was staring intently over at the neighbor’s yard. “That’s just our shadows silly girl” I told her. And I moved a little just to prove my point.
And then we heard this; you only have to hear the first few seconds to get the effect. The sound was just over our property line…perhaps 20 yards away. Katie didn’t even bark back. She looked at me. I looked at her and together we hustled back to the house.
We were creeped out, but not as much as if Katie’s dad hadn’t heard this last week when he was out with Katie around midnight. He described it and found it on youtube for us to hear. So I wasn’t so surprised once I got my heart rate back down and could think about it. I don’t think the fox would have come toward us. Katie wants to go back outside. But I’m not taking any chances.
Not till the sun is up anyway.
No adventure? REALLY?
Katie here. I just wanted to tell you guys how disgusted I am with my Mama. Yes. My Mama. She was home for three whole days and did we go on an adventure? No we did not! She sat around and said she was tired. And told me to go lie down.
Oh sure I got to go to doggie school and I love doing that. I especially like running recalls and coming in crooked. I like how that makes my Mama look all frustrated and stuff. Makes me grin, but you can’t tell cause of all my fur. And I get lots of attention from everyone else there. Sort of makes up for being ignored at home. Doesn’t make it totally OK though.
She says I should be happy that we camped out in our yard for two nights straight. B.O.R.I.N.G! I’ve graduated from the stupid back yard! Didn’t I prove that when we went camping at a real campground? There were lots more interesting sounds and smells there. At our house it just smells like grass. And sometimes a stupid bunny. Geeze. I’m not a baby anymore. I want to go on a real adventure.
Face it Mama. You let me down. I think you’re getting too old for adventures.
Geeze Mama!
Katie says
Good MORNING everybody!
Got my mama up again. Just to see this!
Happy Labor Day weekend to you all!
She’s going to work now. Me? Not so much.
Watch the space station
Husband, Katie and I just came inside after spending about 5 minutes out in the yard staring at the sky. He has a NASA app on his I phone that alerts him when there’s the potential to see the space station going by overhead.
It’s the coolest thing. You can find a list of when it will be overhead in your neck of the woods, even without an app, by checking out this NASA website. There’s an alert on that site too, I don’t know how that one works…but if you have an I phone or clone odds are you can find the app my husband uses to alert us shortly before the space station flies overhead.
Often this summer he has announced “space shuttle alert!” and we rush outside. We’ve seen some pretty spectacular flights. Earlier this week it was right over our heads. Made me want to wave, because certainly if we can see them, they can see us! Right?
What’s truly amazing to me is to know that a few minutes, sometimes moments, before we see it it will be flying over a faraway state, say Idaho..and a minute or two after it’s above us it’s out over the Atlantic. Amazing.
Check it out. Even if you don’t live out in the country I bet you can see the space station. It’s a bright clear white…like a big star…but moving, depending on the angle, pretty fast. If you’ve got kids, wake them up and go outside. Watching the space station is a family friendly activity.
Can’t think of a nicer way to spend 2 or 3 minutes on a warm summer night.
Change Is Hard 