Starlight Starbright...

 Did you ever sing that little diddy as a kid?

Starlight starbright
the first star I see tonight
I wish I may 
I wish I might
Have the wish
I wish tonight...

I got an Aurora Borealis alert on my phone that said I had a 20% chance of seeing the Northern Lights last night. I knew with the overcast sky that seeing anything would be slim to none.

But I decided to walk up to the meadow the other night after putting hubby to bed and do some sky gazing.

I didn't see the Aurora, but I was surprised by Fireflies flitting through the warm air current in the meadow. The sky was overcast and the Fireflies were just floating around. I used my headlamp to light up the grass in front of me a bit.

I recorded the songs of Coyotes singing for their evening hunt. It can send chills up your spine no matter how many times you hear it.

This has been another crazy busy week. Monday was quiet. Tuesday was delivery of the hospital bed and re-organizing the room with a visit from the Social Worker.

Wednesday was our mini trip with Steve. I won't bore you with the rest of the schedule. Just enough to say, I was tired most of Thursday so I laid down to read a book and took a cat nap.

I'm looking forward to a quiet Saturday to mow the yard after doing the dump thing. 

Here are some of the candle Ent Dudes I got the other day, the first shot is with Groot, the Christmas Ornament.

I did these shots in my succulent garden. I used a little light inside to light up the glass marble eyes. I use lights in these but not candles as we have oxygen in use at home.

I can see that there are some fun possibilities with these sculptures...

I'm looking forward to a clear night over the weekend so I can get out and enjoy shooting the Milky Way.

Old Friends

I've written about Rich's pal from past years. As life happens people lose touch only to get back in touch again years later.

Just before Christmas we got a call and then a visit from one of Rich's pals he hadn't seen in about 15 years. Our lives and interests had gone in different directions for a bit.

Then Steve showed up to visit. The 'boys' had an incredible time reminiscing about their days with their hound dogs and their crazy adventures while fishing together. 

Seriously, it seemed as if no time had passed and they wondered how their children grew up, got married and made them grandpas.

When Rich had his respiratory failure in February, Steve came as soon as he got the text. Steve is so kind hearted. He visited every day and spent time with him when I had to go home and do chores.

The two guys are like brothers that get along very well.

Steve called me Wednesday morning. The day was a rainy and he wanted to know what was on our schedule. 

Nothing of course.

"Well, let's go for a drive then! If we can't go fishing, we can go for a drive."

And that is what we did.

We headed over to the Mississippi River to check out sites for fishing that would accommodate a wheel chair.

We loaded up hubby and headed out with extra 02. We were going on an adventure.

Steve had thought of many things. He brought a Rollator for extra ease for Rich to get from one place to another if we were able to. He brought extra water for us [I'd packed some along with the meds] and off we went.

We spent a good part of the afternoon stopping at different boat ramps to see if they had places we could fish from. We did end up with a place that looked great with perfect wheel chair access.

Since we were in the small town of DeSoto, I suggested a stop at a place called The Bright Spot. It is a small bar with a separate room for eating. 

We were quite the sight. Steve and I walked along helping Rich manipulate the rollator up a little ramp to the dining area. 

We ordered burgers and fries and enjoyed light conversation. The waitress was fantastic. The restaurant is not fancy but well loved for its food. People come from the bordering states to eat here for this exact reason.

Steve was a great chauffer and pal.

On another odd note [seems I always have odd things happen to me]. Steve's wealthy neighbors who own second weekender homes have Steve mow their lawns and does other maintenance for them.

He helped one neighbor clean out a shed. Steve was having a large Garage Sale where one neighbor asked him to sell a bunch of 'crap' his daughter left behind when she moved away years ago.

Steve worked on helping the fellow clean out this huge shed so he could put his boats in there.

Anyway, I noticed these odd pieces in a photo that Steve showed me, I asked if I could purchase a couple. Steve brought a few of these items over to me. They were priced at $2 a piece at the garage sale.

When I got them, they were pretty dirty. So I washed them gently and found a name inside them.

Jason Christoble 1975 and Matchless Grove Tree with the their ID number and date carved inside. 

Apparently this fellow sculpted these items as candle holders with glass eyes that would light up when a light or candle was inserted. 

Jason Christoble created many 'Tree Ent' sculptures and sold them in the 1970's and 1980's. There is almost no info on this artist on the internet.

However I was intrigued by his work and recognized that some of his 'work' is now classified as Vintage Collectible.

I liked the 'Ents', they fit perfectly with one of my pretty but cheaply made 'face' pots I've had for a while.

Below is an example of one I ordered years ago. He stores my headphones and charger cords for a couple of my devices.

Imagine what I can do with these odd faces with eyes that will glow!

I found some on sale at different places like Etsy, eBay, and others. These items in very good condition and with a signature seem to hold a pretty good price. Below are my Tree Ents lined up in front of some sweet potatoes.

What a surprising and fun day we had. Rich hasn't been out to eat anywhere in more than 5 years. He hasn't left home except for his hospital stays and doctor appointments for about the same amount of time.

He was tired yesterday but happy.

Old friends can be the best.

Do you recognize this?

Email from my brother:  Artwork

Do you recognize this?

I found it buried in a box in my basement. I'd love to return it to the original artist/owner.

I opened the image and smiled with my face and my mind.

The artist was me many many years ago. I recall the art class, we were to make a sculpture of The Thinker I think. 
Well that is what I tried to do. I recall shaping the clay with my hands and being so disappointed that the clay wouldn't come to shape for me.

My hands were young and clumsy. I'd never studied human anatomy, and I felt the color and details were awful.
In fact when I brought the project home I felt embarrassed of the clunk of muddy looking clump of a human thing that I'd made.

I didn't want to show it to anyone, but I'd talked about the project at home and my dad insisted he see my sculpture.

Slowly I revealed the awful thing. I handed it to him.

My father's eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face. He claimed that it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
That couldn't be, I'd thought at the time. Yet he asked me pointedly if he could please have it to display.

I gladly handed the monstrous thing over to him.

The 'sculpture' faded from memory and until I opened the image my brother sent, I'd forgotten all about it.

As I stared at the ugly thing, waves of emotion flowed over me. Dad loved this enough to move it to his Wisconsin home, to move it to his Virginia home... he never tossed it. He never threw it out. He kept it.
He
kept
it.

The Thinker was no longer ugly in my eyes. Instead I saw the obvious. My father loved it because I made it.

I typed out a reply.
Yes please, I'd love to have it back.