sisters

DSCN9649
Originally uploaded by mollypics

I like this picture of my sister. Doesn't she look great? I like the way her hair is blowing in the wind. She's always had great hair--nice color, and she can grow it long. My hair stops growing at a certain length now, most unattractive. Right now I'm wearing it in a pretty icky way, haven't found anything I like to do with it. What I really want to do is shave my head.

When we were little--and into our pre-teens (or 'tweens, in libspeak) people would ask if we were twins. duh. We NEVER looked much alike. She looks like our father, I look like our mother. or sort of.

I had beautiful long silky light blonde wavy hair when I was very young, like 2-3. Once, in Turkey, we were playing beauty parlor with friends. My friend cut my wonderful hair off. My sister's friend used pretend scissors, my friend (a realist) used real ones. I remember what happened when my mother came home that afternoon: she screamed when she saw me. She had been very proud of my beautiful hair. She said this: "Do you know what I have to do? I have to cut it to even it out. THERE'S NOT ENOUGH LEFT TO CUT!" She was actually quite nice about it. All the pictures of me after that show a big chunk taken out of the front, where most people have bangs. But I'm always smiling, a big goofy grin.

I think my parents were happy when we lived in Turkey. I don't think their children were. I remember dark haired, dark-skinned men grabbing for me (and my sister) because they never saw blue-eyed, blonde haired little girls. They liked to touch us. And they loved to jump on our car because they had NEVER seen an automobile, out in the villages where my father loved to go. Molly and I begged to ride in our friends' VW bug because the men couldn't grab onto it, the way they could our '49 Plymouth station wagon. Which was a beautiful car, by the way.

I wish I had nicer memories of Turkey.

neopolitan dog

DSCN9697
Originally uploaded by mollypics

There are healthy, happy stray dogs in my sister's neighborhood in Naples. This is one of them, taking a nap. She hangs out in front of the pastry shop. Sometimes she takes the train to another neighborhood, stays there a few hours, gets back on the train & gets off at her regular stop. I think she's a great dog.

The caption on Molly's Flickr says that this is Nerina, and the people in the neighborhood call her The Walrus. What a cutie. Nerina, not Molly. Although Molly is pretty cute, too.

"It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I’m talking about before I speak."
PRESIDENT OBAMA, defending his decision to wait a few days before expressing anger over bonuses paid to executives of the insurance giant A.I.G.


What's wrong with this picture? How do we know this man is our president? America wants someone who wants to know what he's talking about? Since when? Oh, wait, THAT one's not president any more.

ice sounds

ice sounds
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Here's a video from the weekend--the audio is the sound the ice is making right now, sounds sort of like wind or burping as it gets ready to break up. Pretty cool. Don't know what's up with the color.

driveway mar 09 004

driveway mar 09 004
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is the view my brother wanted me to have from my house. Except he would have cut down the lone pine blocking the view of the summit of the mountain (Silver Lake Mtn.) This is the end of my driveway, complete with my car. The neighborhood bully (named for my fish) has sort of clear cut the huge lot across from my land. Rumors run rampant about his plans--a trailer park, one acre lots, etc.

Anyway, I'm parking at the end of the driveway because it's mud season. Early mud season. And I need an early mud season this year. I even saw a flock of geese flying over my house yesterday.

I've had a bad morning. While Patty was helping me get my coffee I said, "You take such good care of me," then I cried because Ken would answer that with "If I don't, who will?" I cried all the way to work, knowing that of course I take care of myself, but Ken helped me in so many ways. He taught me things about life, about how to fix things, about work ethic, about how to behave (like, tact), about how to enjoy what you have ("There's people who'd pay a lot of money to have what we have here"), about caring for your tools (and belongings), about NOT procrastinating, about my neighborhood, about poverty, about how things work--it's a long list. I miss him more than I could have imagined.

who wouldn't like it?

who wouldn't like it?
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is what I see from the desk where I work in Saranac Lake. It's the "research area" in the Adirondack Room. I can't let anyone know how nice it is, and I have to pretend to complain about the things I catalog--so no one will know how much I enjoy being there. Like, this week I cataloged about 15 editions of "The Adirondacks," covering the late 1800's through 1901. Monotonous, but I could always look up and see this.

upstream

mar 18 09 016
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Looking upstream from the road. My brother took pictures from this spot. This is a sad time of year. Brother, father, Ken died around this time. swell--they all had to pick spring.

favorite view

mar 18 09 014
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

As Martha says, here's a sign of spring. Ice is out, though this is a slow, shallow brook. Alder Brook. One of my favorite views, tells me what season we're in/approaching. On my way home from Saranac Lake. Yesterday. Not too bad, not to sad. Until I got home, then I hated it, but I was lonely. I'm soooo not used to being lonely.

catch it fast

mar 18 09 020
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

All I see in these pictures is the space between my front teeth. And this is after I spent a lot of money having them bonded. Oh well, we all see things we don't like about ourselves. Figuratively and literally. I look as if I just woke up. I think I did. Messy bookcase behind me. Messy house surrounding me.

You have to be a proud citizen:

"Washington is all in a tizzy over who’s at fault. Some say it’s the Democrats’ fault, the Republicans’ fault. Listen, I’ll take responsibility, I’m the president."
PRESIDENT OBAMA, over executive bonuses at the American International Group.

This earned me a free cup of coffee at my coffee place this morning:


From the Plattsburgh Press-Republican--

Challengers victorious
Placid, Port Henry mayors defeated in Wednesday's vote

LAKE PLACID — Incumbent mayors in Lake Placid and Port Henry were defeated in village elections Wednesday night.

LAKE PLACID
In Lake Placid village elections, the Republican trio on a slate ticket won by a comfortable margin.

Republican Craig Randall, a retired NBT Bank vice president, earned the mayor's seat with 463 votes, beating incumbent Jamie Rogers with 233 votes and Peter Roy with 192, both independents.

Randall celebrated with trustee winners Republicans Zay Curtis and Art Devlin as results came in.

"It's been a long day, but a good day. It's a good day for Lake Placid," Randall said.

"I think the voters came through with what they told us they wanted over the last several months. They're interested in new leadership, and we will bring a different style to the board."

Randall said Lake Placid could look forward to having a team with financial experience on the board at a time when taxpayers are concerned about the economic future.

"Our job is to help the village get through these difficult times. There is a lot of excitement in the people around us."

Rogers was grateful for the term spent as mayor of Lake Placid.

"The first thing I want to do is thank the residents of this community for providing me with one of the greatest opportunities of my life over the last four years."

He said municipal leadership in Lake Placid is top flight.

"What I'm really going to miss about this job is working with the department heads. They care about the community, they care about their department, and they care about the employees."

Rogers said he would work steadily with Randall over the next few weeks toward a smooth transition.

"We've got to sit down together and keep the ball rolling. It's about the community."

Am I a real bitch for being happy about this? But I mean really, if you had your choice between a banker and a forester for mayor, which would you choose? I always thought it was a fluke that he was elected in the first place.

Anyway, it's hard to believe any incumbent has much of a chance for relection these days. Except in my town, inhabited by moo-moos who support idiots.

My friend

stove 001
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

You can imagine the pain and sadness I feel when I see this. I'm having a hard time, but life goes on. As my mother says, I'm a strong person.

The weekend was full of wonderful people, all feeling the same loss. The funeral was miserable and I hated leaving him behind. He looked terrible, like an oil painting, but the undertaker had his work cut out for him. Ken looked horrible in his final weeks.

Anyway, I'll surviive and I'll be fine. Eventually.

Linda and I got to spend a lot of time together--she drove from Michigan and spent several days here. I look forward to summer, when we can spend more time together.

I'm not lonely, I just miss him. Very much.

laundry

laundry
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is one of my favorite pictures. Bill, Ken and me. But what's up with my arm?

linda mar 09 004

linda mar 09 004
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

We walked down to Linda's camp (Trail's End). The snow was granular and not too deep but still a little tricky to get through, fairly deep. That's Erdvilas, with Linda doing a little dance. And BARE GROUND behind them.

linda mar 09 009

linda mar 09 009
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Linda loves being at Silver Lake, and of course especially loves being on her shoreline. The sun was a little warm but it was a cold day.

After this we went to dinner at a fancy restaurant, our first time there. It was The Brown Dog, in Lake Placid. Very funny, Linda ordered from the part of the menu that had no prices next to the meals. She and I were the only ones who laughed at the price of her meal. Let's just say the first digit was higher than a 3. It was worth it, though, as a reward for a very rough weekend.

silver lake mtn

silver lake mtn
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

It was worth the walk, though--the ice is getting dark. It was a nice "spring" day. HAH! Do not be fooled, oh grasshopper. Today it was 11 degrees, due to be -1 tonight. At least the mud froze, though spring will bring it back. Must take the good with the bad. What a beautiful day it was.

We went inside Trail's End (lower camp) and had a snort of rum, sitting in the living room. It was just like summer, as if we'd never left. Except it was 40 degrees inside. So nice to be there, sitting together and enjoying it.

white moose

white moose
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

My friend Doug sent me some pictures of these two white moose, found in the Upper Penn. of Michigan. How cool is this?

Ken died yesterday. He was in the hospital, being fed strawberry ice cream and he just stopped breathing. Eating ice cream had been the highlight of his days for the past week.