PTCPapa

A few months ago my two Farmdaughters, as I call them, signed up for the Mpls YWCA women's triathlon sprint to be held August 16, 2009. It's 500 women swimming 500 yards in Baker Lake, about 40 miles north of Minneapolis, then biking 15 miles of somewhat hilly terrain, then running 3.1 miles i.e. a 5k, also somewhat hilly. The Farmdaughters trained often and diligently leading up to the race day, and then it looked as if a large thunderstorm was going to force cancellation of the race for safety reasons. But the storm threat dissipated as race time approached, and the race began as scheduled. "Mamba", as the Farmdaughters called themselves won 3rd place out of 20 teams comprised of sisters. Team Mamba is the combination of the first initial of each of their five children. Way to go, girls!

Question: Why would I pay $139 for a used toothbrush?, (and no, it never belonged to Michael Jackson). Answer: When, without our knowledge, it got into our toilet, causing it to drain VERY slowly after each flush. Papa plunged, Sally snaked, all to no avail. In desperation Papa called Roto Rooter, and within a couple hours they identified the problem and removed the offending toothbrush. Lesson learned: Use only electric toothbrush, because it's too big to clog the toilet

Heather calls this the 70's album cover shot. It was the day she took us on a scenic walk/hike around Lily Lake, not far from Longs peak. Great vistas, plus ducks, elk, snails, big rocks to scramble up, weather-twisted trees, a couple of fishermen in bellyboats, no bugs, and just a few people besides us in that vast space. Inspiring, fun. Love it. Jake's snail collection from the Lily Lake hike. Long's Peak (Note: Big thank you to Brian D for photoshopping my pictures to improve their appearance. Snack break in downtown Estes Park. Jake, Zach, Leah in pix, Torrey away at Camp Como A couple hours of play at an Estes Fun Park included bumper boats, mini-golf water balloons and bungee/trampoline jumping. Sometimes it's safest to be the photographer. Heather, Zach, Jake along easy-walking stretch of Lily Lake Trail Lily Lake This began as my unimaginative shot of Jake,Leah, and Zach, with friends Jackson and Lily Small, in the back of Pete's old pickup , but when...

I love the textures outdoors, even just in our own back yard. This picture was taken in the early Spring, weeks after the oaks had dropped their dried leaves. You can imagine the crunch underfoot in this picture. By the way, this is a close-up shot of this 6-or- 7 inch diameter tree. I was crawling around on my belly with my camera one perfect Spring morning, trying to find interesting things that I'd normally walk past without thinking about. Getting down on the ground and close up helped me to see things in a fresh perspective. OK, for most people it's just a dead tree and a bunch of leaves, but if you slow down and think about the simple components of the picture, it might relax you, sort of like a poem. If it's still just a "whatever" experience, that's ok. Life also gives us laundry to fold, grass to mow, groceries to put away, phone calls to make, people to pray for, and really tall trees that take our breath away. Make it a good day, ptcp

It's Wednesday, Vivi and two FarmGrands arrive for our first Craft Day. It's Wednesday, the day I hang out with the Farmdaughters and the FarmGrands. Today will be Craft Day, sort of. Crafts are not my strong suit, but I contributed an idea, based on a craft our kids had brought home from school when they were young. Cut an opening into an empty round oatmeal carton and simply paste an interesting picture into the inside. It turns the carton into a kind of display box for whatever you choose to feature. Vivi pasted a car picture into Meatball's oatmeal carton; he approved, and went off to the next room to play with toy cars & trucks. Bananz eyed the princess wrapping paper, which was available, and cut a piece large enough to make a kind of curtain over the window. Then she and Meatball both moved on to painting with watercolors. It was a modest beginning for Craft Day, but that's ok, it's Wednesday.

The other day I was repairing a section of old picket fence that we had bought at a yard sale a while back. Needing a clamp to hold one of the pickets in place as I was working, I went down to the basement and brought up my Dad's old, slightly rusty, C-clamp. The heavy steel clamp was basement cold when I held it, but it warmed my heart, because I knew that it had been one of my dad's tools before his death in 1950 when I was 5. Using HIS clamp to work on MY project gave me a special physical sense of connection with him on this Fathers Day. I'm thinking about looking around the house and garage for other old things which might reconnect me with the past......for example these very old 35mm movie film cans in which my dad kept assortments of screws, nails, bolts, nuts, tacks, etc, each can carefully labeled using medical adhesive tape. To this day I have all of these 65 year-old film cans next to my toolbench with the same kinds of hardware items inside each one.

Three of Seven Grandsons A, M and B