That's the way it was...

My brother was so kind as to scan so many slides that my father had created over the years. I picked a few fun ones to highlight here.

The one below is from the early 1960's when we used to travel 'up' north to Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving.
Can you see why I like winter???

We spent summers in this tiny cottage which had two rooms and a bathroom. We had cold running water but no tub or shower. If I recall, the tiny house was built for my Grandmother's parents to live out their elder years. 

[I don't know the person on the bench with the dog...but that is the only shot I found of the little house]

My dad stayed in the 'city' working while we lived in the cottage all summer. He'd come up for his vacation and stay with us. I wonder how hard it was to not see his family for months on end. Mom would go to Grandpa's house for a weekly phone call from Dad [I think]. 

We spent a lot of time with our cousins whose father had horses. This is where we learned to ride and where we learned not to fear falling off. 

These two horses were my Uncle's best animals. The mother is on the right. She was named Babe. On the left was Dusty, her daughter. I'm in the front and my sister is behind me.

We were probably in the wooden round pen where Lyle trained horses.

We also spent quite a bit of time at my other Uncle's house. He was a dairy farmer among other things. The experiences of living two separate lives really shaped how I feel about city and rural living.

Our summer time did not include TV, phones, or obviously the internet. We played, we rode our bikes to the lake, went swimming, played cards, fought, and worked in the garden. We were kids. We rarely wore shoes in the summer. Shoes were saved for 'good' and for school when we were required to wear them.

Our lives were divided between the North Shore of Chicago and NW Wisconsin.

I may have mentioned somewhere before that I had an eye/vision issue. I still do, but here I am at 16 years old with my birthday gifts from mom. Just what I wanted! Once a Tomboy, always a Tomboy.

Since my eyes don't work together, I don't have normal depth perception like other people. I often had to wear an eye patch to try and make the weaker eye much stronger. I wore glasses since I was very young and by this age, I could see pretty well thanks to the efforts of my parents who paid for eye surgery when I was a little kid.

I learned a different way of telling distances from how things moved. Don't ask me how, but I was pretty good at softball!

In the mid 1960's my dad rented a house from a friend at work and our lives changed again. We stayed in a house on the Big Island of Hawaii in a place called Puako. We scrimped and saved each year for this opportunity. We got to spend up to a month on the island for several summers.

Below is a shot of myself and my sister sitting out on the lava flow watching the ocean and probably imagining things.

My mom loved fishing so she took up a part time job so we could charter a boat during our vacations. I don't know how many times we went out on the Spooky Luki, but eventually Zander Budge, the captain, did allow me to drive along the Kona Coast. I'm sure each of us took a turn in the calm waters we were in, but I recall this vividly. I loved being out on the ocean.

There was nothing quite like it.

What can I say? My parents were pretty awesome.

In 2001, I had the wonderful opportunity to go back to the Big Island with Dad for two weeks.

That trip was amazing. 

Photo of Dad in Kona in front of the King Kam Hotel.

And now? I'm still that adventurous kid at heart. 

Well...for as long as I can be....

Missing Dad

Fathers Day came.
Fathers Day went.

I had a hard time with Father's Day.
I lost my dad shortly after Father's Day in 2005.

He was a character. A different sort of a fellow, I guess.
He had an enormous sense of humor and was willing to always help me with photography.

He came up with this wonderful pose of himself talking to a statue on a bench in Hawaii during our 2001 visit.
*Wouldn't it be quite funny if you took a photo of me talking with this fellow?* he'd asked, *People will think I'm quite dotty in the head won't they?*
Dad promptly sat down and began to appear as if he were talking with the statue.
Charmed and embarrassed, I took the photo.
At the time I was grateful that the streets were fairly deserted as it was early morning.

Another time we were watching a sunset near the very 'primo' Kona Village Resort...Dad asked that I take a photo of him.
He told me, *Make me look noble!*

He crossed his arms and took a stance.
Indeed he did look noble.

In 2000, when I visited him in the Spring [I think that date is correct], we went up into the Blue Ridge Mountains where he had me take a photo of him...
'heaving a rock'.
I wear that vest now. Dad gave it to me after that trip. He felt it would be used often by me.
Indeed it is. It is a vest with tons of pockets, perfect for a photographer.

I miss him.
I think about him often.
I wish often to speak with him and show him my work and what I have accomplished.

But, I think he knows somehow.

So here is to you Dad.
Better late than never, eh?
Happy Father's Day.
You look Noble!!