Two cups (now empty, dirty)
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
These are, at present, my two favorite coffee cups.
Gotta wash one for tomorrow….
Musings
13 towers, 8.5 million gallons
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
“Hurry! Quick”—that’s what I was thinking as I grabbed for Blue (the point and shoot), when we came upon this monstrosity. I thought that even before I wondered what it was.
Crenelated towers with fat cylinders nestled among them. The area is called Mount Airy. Turns out these are water tanks (view from above). And donchaknow, gravity is your friend when you’re piping water hither and yon. Including in Ohio.
Keep ’em guessin’
Monday, 9 January 2012
I’m not sure why a pineapple. Except maybe that they’re not native to anyplace I’ve set foot (they’re from South America, according to WikiPee—and I did not recall even that).
Delicious turkey soup
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Very happily, we attended a quickly organized family luncheon over by Chelsea (thanks so much, Cuz). Riley was the four-foot star of the gathering, tussling here with a cousin-husband….
(Grand) River reflections
Saturday, 7 January 2012
As it turned out, the best weather came and went before noon, so that when we headed out on a wee afternoon trek, we traveled under overcast skies and shivered as a cutting breeze cooled us when we strolled the banks of the Grand River. The river was unaffected, merely dark and flowing, independent of the weather we noticed with every step.
The Guru asked if the Grand River goes through Grand Rapids, and of course it does. Its mouth is at Grand Haven. Yes, Grand Ledge is on the Grand River, too. Thoughtful naming convention…?
Honoring Mom
Friday, 6 January 2012
Today the Botanist proposed we visit the Michigan Women’s Historical Center and Hall of Fame, in Lansing, as a way to honor Mom and the equal-rights and conscientious-voter values she embraced. Specifically, he proposed we look at this display, which shows Michigan’s governor, Albert E. Sleeper, signing women’s suffrage into law in May 1917.
Behind the Governor, officiously seated at his high-top desk, among the assembled witnesses, is Mom’s grandmother, her mother’s mother, Belle Brotherton. (We differ on which one we think she is; I’m guessing she’s facing the camera behind the slope of the desk-side, with a good view of the Governor’s hand and pen.) Belle, along with many others, worked hard for this change, and, in 1919, she became the first President of the Michigan League of Women Voters. Several suffrage organizations joined together after the law was enacted and formed the League, so Belle must have been respected by her peers to become the Michigan League’s first President from, no doubt, many capable contenders.
After Mom had been a member of the Michigan League for fifty years, they conferred upon her a lifetime membership, in honor of her long participation. When I was in HS, she spent many elections at our township hall as a poll-watcher. She also was active with voter-information outreach efforts, although I don’t know exactly what that involved.
Found item 105772-M, fish
Thursday, 5 January 2012
We got out of the house this afternoon, and strolled the old fields at Fenner Arboretum (now Fenner Nature Center—sorry), which gave us a good chance to listen to small Vs and pairs of Canada geese wheeling overhead. Next, we visited the banks of the Red Cedar, and checked out (a short section of) the riverside path that connects the capitol downtown with MSU in East Lansing. There I found this carcass—looked very much like a salmon—rather strange…filets removed, remainder left to adorn the river-access area. Hrrrumph.
For Carol…
Thursday, 5 January 2012
As promised, here’s a sunrise picture…that pairs with the sunset photograph from the other day.
Ephemera
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
I admit that these are yesterday-tracks. Today’s sunshine wiped them out, but also witnessed us emptying out Mom’s room at the assisted living place, sometimes pictured in this space as having many koi in a pond in a lovely garden with a large birdhouse-apartment on a tall pole. I will miss that garden.
Eye candy, sunset variety
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Winter cold can make for dramatic dawns and dusks, but from this spot, in my experience, those events are relatively rare. Today, we had lovely pinks and golden-orange bands, honoring the last minutes of daylight.