That's Cool . . .

With temperatures below the norm, it is indeed cool. Well, not THAT cool, but cooler than the last several weeks. We only used the a/c a couple of times this week and it is so nice to have the air just coming through opened doors and windows. Even the nights have been better for sleeping, not perfect, but better.

And with the windows and doors open, the sounds of the newly returned school kids at recess come wafting into our space. We don't mind at all. We are glad for the school year to begin once again.

The above is "Dream Garden" by Maxfield Parrish. Beautiful and is what is in our mind's eye when referring to a garden. We do have a Maxfield Parrish -- not this one -- hanging in our "needlepoint" room.

It is nice to just envision things as Maxfield Parrish presents them. And then we see the latest news and are reminded that everyday life is not quite like that . . .

One of the things we see on the news these days is about the flooding in various parts of the country.

But of course, this sort of news has been going on forever. To the left is a blurb set in The Journal Times in Racine, Wisconsin almost 70 years ago.

The article lets folks in Racine know that some relatives connected to Racine are safe in the flooded areas of Texas.

The article does have the relationship backward though. Carrie (Martin) Palmer is the aunt to Muriel of course.
These days, social media takes care of reporting most of the who is safe type news.
Heaven help us if the internet is compromised.

To the right is some of the kind of relationships that I find throughout the week.

It is almost impossible for me at times to follow that path:  father-in-law of sister-in-law of grand nephew of husband of 1st cousin 2x removed.

That is way too far out there for my brain to deal with -- and when I think of where that possibly might be of family interest, well I get lost again.

By the time I try to sort through that, I've lost the sense of all reality and simply move on to "the low hanging fruit" that gives satisfaction.

And speaking of "puzzles", after eight grueling days Gail and I (yesterday at 3:30 pm) finally put the last remaining piece into "The Olde General Store" puzzle.

Both of us thought that it was the most difficult puzzle to date -- but then we almost always think that whatever puzzle we are currently working on "is the toughest".

There is a sense of accomplishment and reward for sticking it out and finishing even when "you know" that there are pieces missing (which there were not any missing, thank goodness).

But then the question becomes -- what next. We'll work that out after admiring this one for a couple of days. I remember working on puzzles with my mother when I was young and how fun that was too.

And then the image of "the farm" pops back into my memory bank. For some reason that still holds some space in my recalling the days when our family used to drive to Wisconsin in the quest to "buy a farm".

Of course, that did not happen but it is fun to think about it. And then thinking about it makes me think that "the farm" would make a good puzzle and then thinking even more -- "The Dream Garden" too would make a very good puzzle.

So many puzzle ideas, we'll have to see how that works out. We almost feel like artists after completing a satisfying work. So we understand a bit how some of our really talented artists in the family (Marilee) feels after completing a piece.

Lastly, later this year my daughter Lisa turns fifty -- so hard to believe that I have a child that old.
And so I have started perusing photos that I can share with her for that day:

I came across the photo above -- it was taken obviously almost 50 years ago. It was in the dining room of Lisa's Great Grandparent's home in Chicago.

In the photo are left to right:  Ruth Bumgardner Hiles, Jon Hiles, Dayton Bumgardner (Lisa's great-grandfather), Lisa & Susan Carr Hiles. I believe that I took the picture.

That is a bit of our week. Hope to see you all "in a few"! 👨👩