memories | Change Is Hard

December 23, 2016
by dawnkinster 10 Comments

12 years ago today.

Dad's favorite place to be was on a boat.

Dad’s favorite place to be — on a boat.

I wasn’t going to write about this. That today is another anniversary of the semitruck crash that took our remaining parent.

Big brother

But today I seem to be blocked and unable to write about anything else.

One of my favorite of his childhood pictures.

One of my favorites of his childhood pictures.

And so I will mark the day so that I can move forward. Not move on, because that implies that I leave him behind, but forward.

Young man growing up to be a dad.

Today I am moving forward with him, and mom, always with me.

Merry Christmas you two.

October 4, 2016
by dawnkinster 8 Comments

Happy Anniversary

Point Betsie Lighthouse stands in for my folks.

My parents’ 1952 honeymoon was spent camping in northern Michigan. One of their favorite places was near Frankfort — Point Betsie and it’s beautiful lighthouse.

And so, over the years, it has become one of my favorite places too. I visit when I’m up in that part of the country, sometimes for only a minute or two, sometimes for a longer walk.

Before kids.

I stopped on my way home from Northport last week. It was a pretty day with blue skies and high white clouds. The waves lapped peacefully, the sun made the red roof glow. As always I spent a few moments imaging my parents there, years before I was born, enjoying each other and the beautiful lake.

I thought about how young they were, how they had no idea they’d have four children or that they’d run a small business. They didn’t know that someday they’d move away from the lakes and the state they loved, far from their family, and that they’d settle on another pretty lake in a faraway state and enjoy it almost as much. Way back then they never dreamed they’d live in the South or that most of their children would follow them there.

But I know they hoped they would live happy, contented and fulfilled lives.

Empty nesters back at their favorite lake.

And they did.

Today is their 64th wedding anniversary. I like to think they’re enjoying each other and a beautiful view — maybe even a gorgeous lake with a lighthouse standing tall behind them.

And I like to think they are happy with the way things turned out even though their lives were shorter than any of us wished. I know they are proud of us and happiest when we are happy. So I guess the best anniversary gift we can give them is to enjoy and be content with the lives we are living today.

And to make every day count. Because you just never know.

Happy 64th anniversary Mom and Dad.

We miss you.

Always there.

September 19, 2016
by dawnkinster 14 Comments

Orphan car show

Husband and I wandered through an “Orphan” car show this weekend down in Ypsilanti Michigan. No, these aren’t cars that were abandoned on firehouse steps, these are cars that are no longer produced. The Edsel, the Hudson, the AMC Rambler, the Studebaker and so many more.

Lots of cars!

Old cars from before I was born, and cars I remember from my teenage years. I learned to drive a stick shift in one like this years ago.

The AMC Pacer…lots of glass!

There were so many beautiful cars. The lines and details were amazing.

Studebaker

And that’s mostly what I focused my camera on. If you want to see whole cars you should stop by my Facebook page where my husband posted loads of beautiful photos.

Here I’m going to show you details. There are so many it’s hard to know where to start. So I’ll just put together a slideshow of some of my favorite colors and shapes. And the chrome! Oh my the chrome!

I hope you enjoy:

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We had such a good time!

And then we walked back through the historic district and found a Hudson museum! It was originally a dealership for Hudson automobiles and stayed open until after the car was no longer being built, selling used Hudsons for years.

The door slides into the frame!!

There were more beautiful cars there! And featured was a 1955 Hudson Italia built in Milan Italy, #20 of only 26 ever built. It’s the color of rich butter pecan ice cream and simply beautiful. Look at the lines, the shapes, the details.

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I wonder. In 100 years, which of our cars will be sitting in museums for people to enjoy? Which ones will look like art?

I didn’t grow up as a ‘car person’ but over the years I’ve learned to appreciate beautiful design combined with quality function. I hope you enjoyed the tour, and maybe it will inspire you to stop by a car show near you.

Tucker hotrod

September 11, 2016
by dawnkinster 7 Comments

Happy Birthday Brother!

Adventuring.

Today’s your birthday, and I thought I’d take a moment to remember some of the fun stuff we did while growing up together.

Cute!

You know…the swimming and skiing. Tree climbing and building forts. Chasing Sam the dog around the neighborhood when he worked himself off his leash. Planting the garden, mowing the grass, playing kick-the-can late into the evening.

Climbing a mountain.

Visiting the farm for a few days in the summer, playing with the barn cats, scratching pigs’ backs, driving the tractor. Seeing the country from the family camper, canoeing down rivers, climbing up mountains, crawling into kivas.

A boy and his dog.

We had a lot of fun way back then…and lucky us, we’re still having a lot of fun when we get together these days! We’re even doing some of the same things! Well, not the kick-the-can. Guess we’re getting a little too old for that, but we’re still skiing and swimming and climbing mountains.

Catching some air.

Have a wonderful birthday today! I wish we could all be together, but you know we’ll be thinking about you.

Happy Birthday brother!

Cooking together.

September 9, 2016
by dawnkinster 8 Comments

Food relationships unrelated

I suppose one of the downfalls of a vegan wantabe is learning what all this stuff is. At the beginning of the experiment I enthusiastically roamed a health food grocery store, buying this and that, scooping things into plastic bags, filling out the tags on the twist ties with product numbers so the cashier could ring them up. Odds are the cashiers didn’t need the numbers, but I should have written the names on the tags. For me.

Wonder what these are?

Weeks later I know that the dark one is chia seeds but I don’t remember if those little white things were in there before or if they are…ummm…eggs? And the lighter brown I know is steel cut oatmeal that I keep meaning to try. But the medium brown? I went to my regular grocery store, located much closer to home than the natural store where these were purchased, and I think that brown stuff is ground flax. Maybe.

I visited Aunt Vi this week. She’ll be 101 at the end of September. She was feeling OK but not great. I took her homemade cream of broccoli soup because she loves brocolli. We laughed about how few people like the little green trees, including the first President Bush. I noted as I was leaving that she didn’t have anything sweet to eat. No cookies, no cake. No pie. She likes something sweet at night.

I believe a woman who is almost 101 deserves to have something sweet available. So this morning I got out the bowl and my grandmother’s spoon and made old fashioned molasses cookies, thinking about Aunt Vi and my own grandmother. I’ll take them to her this afternoon on my way down to that natural food store for more healthy stuff.

Yum. Ginger and cloves and cinnamon. And molasses. Of course.

And while I was making the cookies I reached into the silverware drawer for a smaller spoon, something to scoop a little sugar into a bowl to roll the cookies in before baking. My fingers closed around my mom’s spoon, one of several she had with a distinctive corn motif. They’re split up among all of us ‘kids’ now.

Hey Mom.

As I looked at the spoon I paused, the loss suddenly so overwhelming that breathing was all I could do. And then it was OK again and I finished rolling the cookies. They’re cooling now, getting ready to make a 101 year young lady smile tonight.

Food and relationships and memories all moving forward into my new world of unidentifiable ingredients. Food. It’s not just for eating. Sometimes it’s for reminiscing.

August 11, 2016
by dawnkinster 6 Comments

Happy Birthday Mom

At Gulf Shores AL

Your birthday snuck up on me again this year. I used to know it was coming, used to shop for the perfect card to send, used to plan exactly which day to drop it in the mail so that it arrived on your day.

Used to.

Now I’m more likely to realize it’s August 11 when I hear on the news about the Perseid meteor showers which always lit up the sky on your birthday. Like your own personal fireworks.

Happy 88th birthday Mom. It’s been twelve years since I’ve mailed a card to you. But I’m sure you know that we’re thinking about you on this and every day. I bet you knew we were all together last week at the home you and Dad built. We had a good time at the lake.

But it would have been better if you’d both been there too.

High School Senior

August 3, 2016
by dawnkinster 11 Comments

Wordless Wednesday

July 18, 2016
by dawnkinster 22 Comments

Paying our respects at the Freedom Tower

Pools and names.

There are no words adequate to describe the sheer size while looking up at the tower gleaming against the bright blue sky. No words to describe the deep emotion running through a crowd that stands mostly silent around the perimeter of the two pools ringed with names of the nearly three thousand that died.

Reflecting somber thoughts.

No words.

Each day memorial staff place white roses in the names of those victims who would have been celebrating birthdays. Their lives are remembered by their families still and now complete strangers linger to gently touch the letters of the names cut into the smooth stone. Showing respect. Honoring.

Inside the museum our tour guide provides detailed history. She is careful of our feelings, telling us it’s a difficult story to hear, to have experienced, to remember.

Fire truck. Cab is destroyed. All died.

She reminds us that there are those among us that were not yet alive on that day and that it is important to tell the story. To not forget. To pass the lessons on.

Part of the antenna from atop one of the towers.

In the great hall there stands the last piece of formative steel to be removed from the site. Taped to it are pictures of some of those that died, put there by the construction crews and city employees working on the cleanup. A makeshift memorial captured and preserved forever.

Back wall is the original footings of the tower. Last formative steel removed covered in heartfelt graffiti.

A long wall is covered in tiles, each of the 2,996 a different shade of blue, no two alike, because each of the 2,996 victims was unique. Blue, because the sky on September 11, 2001 was the wonderful clear blue of a perfect autumn day.

“No day shall erase you from the memory of time.” -Virgil

There are things inside the museum that are hard to see but important to remember. There is a room with photos of each of the victims. Photos lined up, from floor to ceiling, row after row of faces smiling, eyes looking back, stories to be told, memories captured.

Hard.

But our guide reminds us that this memorial wasn’t built with hate. It was built with love. And that coming to visit is an act of love and respect and honor.

Old and new can exist together in harmony.

So we swallow our tears and we promise to pass the story on to the next generation in hope and peace.

Wings of hope.

And then we move out of the museum and back onto the streets of New York City under a brilliant blue sky.

Never forget.

July 4, 2016
by dawnkinster 19 Comments

Adventure – Day 2

After our event filled first day of camping my friend had to go home. I, on the other hand, headed north. My plan was to explore Michigan’s Eastern Upper Peninsula, this time on my own. (You can click on any photo to see it larger.)

Lots of history here.

My first stop was the tip of Michigan’s mitten, at the state park that once was a campground. When I was a kid my family camped there, almost under the Mighty Mac, the five mile bridge that spans the Straights of Mackinaw between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. Whenever I can I try stop there and walk where we once walked and where people walk now days, marveling at the bridge and the water, the ferry boats and the freighters that go by.

This family reminds me a bit of us years ago.

I remember us swimming in these waters. Taking the canoe out and paddling beneath the bridge, my dad telling us we had canoed from Lake Huron all the way to Lake Michigan! It was very cool, and I think of it every time I’m up there.

My brothers in 1970 at the bridge.

Once I made it across the bridge I started toward my destination at the Tahquamenon Falls State Park. Along the way I passed beautiful beaches, but, turning inland, I also noticed my favorite things, barns….

A beautiful day on the farm.

…and farmland. You know me. I had to stop and catch a few images. No matter where I am, when I see old barns I just have to stop if there’s somewhere safe to park.

Looks like cows have moved into this house.

Once I got to the park and set up on my large campsite…

Could have set up several tents at this stie!

…I decided to take a walk. There was a one mile trail down to the lower falls. Sounded like fun and after studying the map I headed out down the trail…

Which way should I go?

…which got narrower and less obvious. It was getting late and I realized I’d have to maneuver the trail back to the camp after dark. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I scurried back feeling foolish and drove the one mile around the corner to the lower falls.

I still had a nice walk along a beautiful boardwalk back to the falls.

Evening light.

And they were pretty in the late evening light.

Lots and lots of rushing water.

I enjoyed this little girl who was talking nonstop to her dad who was listening intently. She was excited about everything. I bet she slept well that night!

Partners.

And just before I headed back a red canoe showed up for a little fishing. I thought for a bit that there was a sheltie in the boat, but I think it’s a border collie. The boat glowed in the quiet light. Most of us tourists had left and this couple had a quiet evening to enjoy.

Peaceful fishing.

I left them to it and headed back to my camp and a good night’s sleep. Right after a hot shower, one of the advantages to camping in state parks!

Lake Superior tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Light on new thistle.

June 26, 2016
by dawnkinster 12 Comments

Reminds me of mom

Happily spreading cheer.

A couple of years ago husband and I were visiting a children’s garden in Ann Arbor. There was an old pail spilling over with lantana. He stopped to admire it, and then asked if we could grow some in our garden. Sure I replied. It’s easy to grow.

And then I forgot all about it.

But this year, as he and I were perusing the local nursery, considering what to put into the pots outside the front door, I saw it again. Lantana in beautiful and cheerful colors.

Love these colors together.

And I thought of my mom who used to grow it in a small garden out by the driveway of her Alabama home. How it reseeded itself every year, tolerated drought, how deer didn’t eat it. So we bought some.

Such interesting shapes.

And now, every time I go in or out of our front door I think of my mom. I think she would have enjoyed the colors and the shapes. The interesting buds that turn into intricate blossoms. They would have made her smile.

They make me smile too.

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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