ok, i couldn't resist...
Look here at this small sampling of the photos I have recieved this week. The story goes like this... Nana in her wisdom, and with full knowledge of the fact that A. I am doing the family history, and B. am a photographer, decided a few years back, to divest herself of some photos she aquired from Carolyn Wood after Aunt Gene died.
So, of course the obvious person to send the whole smash to was Laura Silvero. A long lost (and very lovely) cousin.
Anyway, Laura sent them my way last week and I have been scanning at 600 dpi and trying to enhance them.
How many people can you identify? Do I have anyone identified incorrectly? Please, send ANY info my way!!!!
DOUBLE CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE. Click on enlarged image to get to my Flickr account, where you can enlarge even more!
(nana) Dorothea Crouch, age 8? School picture, and age 3? at Amboy Road.
?.Taken Wed3/26/1947 ?Taken Sun.Feb 10, 1935. ---,----, Regina Frank. ---,---,Regina Frank,---(the girl holding clown doll is the same who is sitting down in the beach photo) and two people near porch.
David S. Heyman rec'd 3/1/1950. Clyde and Miriam Crouch; Regina and Everett Wood (their wedding?). All unidentified except for Gene (girl in front of man with bow tie.)
I have started back into the genealogical pursuit. A few years back, Nana had sent me a ziplock bag, in a manila envelope, full to bursting with a wide variety of unidentified photos.
No, I take that back. They WERE identified... with cryptic messages such as " Beatrice Frank. Taken on Sunday, the 24th of June, by Gene." This, on the back of a photograph with no fewer than 9 women!
Alas, no one knows the majority of the people in the picture.
However, I hadn't bothered scanning because I had an ancient, decrepit scanner. Armed now with a new, bright and shiny one, I have started scanning.
And, this example, dear family, is why I ask that if you have old photos and don't know what to do with them, ship them MY way!!! I promise to take care of them, scan them, etc. I will even send them back to you when I am finished!
This is exactly what the photo looked like when I recieved it. 2" x4" large, and exactly this shade of beige.
Who is it? Do you recognize anyone? How COULD you? Do you know WHERE it was taken? And what about that nice little family in the background, pushing a stroller?
Many mysteries are revealed after I scanned and played around with this photo!
Not the least of which is at some point someones ink pen exploded all over the image. When I scanned it in full color, there was blue EVERYWHERE. I have removed the color, and a lot of the ink marks that were criss-crossing faces.
See the family in the background? No ideas as to who they are. But this was taken at Amboy Road, in 1927 (so says the caption on the back in it's entirity. It states--"Mrs. Frank, 1927")
Mrs. (Rachel) Frank is the woman seated, wearing a light colored blouse. Directly in front of her is Clyde Crouch. The woman wearing pearls next to her is her daughter, Miriam Frank Crouch. (the man behind Miriam is Herber Frank, according to Laura Silvero.) Standing next to Miriam is Regina Frank. The three men behind her are currently unidentified, as well as the other three women. The older man on the ground is Soloman Frank and the young boy is unidentified. However, now that we can SEE them, I am sure it is only a matter of time before someone starts to recoginize them.
So, please!! If you have those old Clark, Casey, Frank, Keppler, etc photos...send them my way!!!
The following is a link to the family genealogy...if you see ommisions or errors please contact me!
http://www.clarkcaseyetal.tribalpages.com/
<------To protect the innocent, we are Wong-Woman, Thuglee, Ether, and lil' ole me.. Together for the first time since June 27, 2002...the day I moved to Virginia!(Rabinowitz, we missed ya!)
We descended on Philadelphia without even alerting them to the impending chaos on the 8th, with tickets to King Tut at the Franklin Institute. And our time together was whoafully short.
My best quilting buddy and I of course were still on a fabric shopping HIGH.... we had just completed two days of quilt store hopping in Lancaster, (we didn't warn THEM either, and they for the most part seemed to appreciate our sense of humor and fun,..) topped by the Harrisburg Quilt show. We spent two days finishing each others sentences, shopping for the same bad clothes, claiming each others fabric,sight unseen, and indeed stealing each others un-uttered quilt ideas!! (thank goodness we have different taste in MEN!!!)
--->See all the pretty fabric? All washed and dryed and piled on my bed when I got home. I have been slowly ironing it (moreso to appreciate the colors and textures and dream of a new quilt than be worried about the wrinkles, ok?)
And, now that I have OFFICIALLY finished AND mailed my Journal quilt, I can allow myself to play with it!! (no photo of the Journal qult till Halloween (thems the rules, sorry!)
Procrastination is an art form. There can be no doubt that it is a skill set that requires constant vigilance. (Or is it constantly ignoring it that causes it to flourish? Hmm... A thought to ponder.)
It will be (gasp, sputter, choke) September 2007 in a few short days. A week left to the unofficial summer calendar. Back to the serious business of life in a few short days. To the schedules of school buses and homework. (Not part of my life any longer, thank you very much.) Back to the adult responsibilities of calendars and obligations, whether or not there are children or school calendars involved. Interesting, that.
We are all out there, collectively playing hooky, on vacation. On ‘summer’ time. Whether we enjoyed the summer or worked through it; we worked at our job or at our tan. We discovered that life is fragile and miraculous. We found days lasted forever and disappeared in the snap of an eye. But enough of that; now, back to the lists of things to do! Stop in Wal-Mart to get the school supply lists! (I love school supplies. Enjoyed them as a child, as a parent and now just as a consumer! All those new sharp pencils, those wonderful boxes of crayons. And blank paper. And notebooks. I try to stay out of the school supply aisle!)
We need to get serious now. All the chores that we had all year to accomplish back in the spring, that seemingly do-able list that got set to the side as the heat index hit triple digits, well it’s back and with a vengeance. You know the ‘hunny do’ list I am referring to. The great plans that were concocted that required physical labor. Outside. They got started and abandoned; called because of heat. They are all half done folks!
The leaves will fall soon and the snow, if you are blessed with such stuff, will appear. And then we will sit cocooned, writing new lists for next year. Its over. Just like that. Once September hits, it’s all down hill. Its Christmas any time now…just watch. It’s coming!!! (Yes my jaded retail head is butting in here. The Christmas things are arriving. The glitter is again becoming airborne in the store. It’s time for a job that doesn’t require being de-glittered daily.)
That UFO quilt list I made at the beginning of the year is looking like it has been abandoned yet again. I have finished 3 of the 25 items I think. And now, with exactly one month before needing to get it into the mail, I sit and stare at the small quilt I am attempting to make for the Journal Quilt Project and find myself frozen. The time is coming that I have to just make it happen. With a rush of inspiration or desperation, get it made, write about it and get it into the mail. 30 days. The pressure is on. Mayhap that is what was missing from the project all along. A deadline I couldn’t ignore!
Funny stuff that procrastination. I just clicked “save” so I could wander off and do something else, something else that has been started, like this, and not finished. And what do I see, sitting already in my Essays folder but something called Procrastination. Must go find out what THAT’S about. I’ll get this finished and posted on the blog eventually.
You know what? What I said then (and then seems to have been around the year 1998, if I can guess correctly; I probably wrote it for publication in the newspaper and never got around to finishing or submitting) still stands. So here it is. Not my final word on the subject of procrastination by any means.
Procastination: the first time around….
I have finally found an almost foolproof way to keep my house spotless. Its not what you think either. For the past six months, I've had the opportunity of being a full time mom/ homemaker. You'd think it would have inspired Heloise or Martha-like accomplishments; that Betty Crocker’s clone would have taken up residence in my body. But, unfortunately that was not to be.
For a while there, I was good. I did all the household chores with vim and vigor. I took pride in my shiny kitchen floor. My preoccupation with large projects over the mundane quickly booted out any ideas of June Cleaver come to life. I did begin to sort photos for albums, clean out sock drawers, paint the kitchen and take over the rocky patch and claim a garden for the summer.
I have a very homey, comforting place to lay your head. It just wouldn't pass the white glove test. And the only person who would eat off the floor is the cat. But, I think I have found a way to change all of that.
It is school. I have gone back to college, to pursue another degree. Having done it once already, I know that the reading list is on the heavy side, and an insomniacs dream.
Suddenly I have found it impossible to settle in and read if I know that even 3 dishes are sitting in the sink. I find it hard to concentrate on my work if the recycling hasn't gone out. If the plants need watering, or the realization comes to me that I am almost out of eggs, I can't study.
Ah, look, my friend procrastination has come to the rescue. And the realization of this visit sent me off the PC to write about him, instead of read a chapter.
Procrastination is of course, the art of keeping up with yesterday. No Scarlet, I don't automatically think ‘Tomorrow’ when faced with deadlines. However, I work better under the pressure of a deadline. I don't ignore things like performance reviews of my staff until the day before they are due-- instead, I review the criteria, and then search my mind as I go about my business; the day before they must be done, I am frantically trying to fill in all the blanks-- knowing what to say and willing it onto the page being two separate skills.
As a way of avoiding my required reading, I have been giving procrastination quite a thinking. It seems in some way to be directly related to a civilized lifestyle. The more dependant we become on the outside to support us, the more time means. But time itself has been broken down into increments so small that we can't even judge them. Our science has made it possible to disqualify a runner at the Olympics for a false start of some amazing fraction of a second. The cameras can't record it, the runner and the judges can't witness it; all authority has been handed to a computer to say it’s possible.
Watch a driver at a red traffic light at night. So intent is he on saving time, of getting somewhere that he watches the other side turn yellow and determines to leave as the light changes green. Rudeness and selfishness aside, somewhere that driver has been programmed to beat the clock. Beat the Clock, Name that Tune. Any game show. He saves not even a second of time. If he hits ten lights on the way home, he will have gained barely 10 seconds for his evening.
Could tardiness, impatience and procrastination go hand in hand, a backlash to the increasingly minute way time has taken us prisoner? Science is now talking of a computer that can calculate a mathematical problem in seconds that would have taken humans thousands of years to figure out!! How many humans have devoted their lives to trying to figure that out, that this is such a breakthrough?
Tardiness is selfish, unthinking, and the result of time pressures. If you are being pushed and pulled every which way, with more and more demands (funny how with all of the breaking time into more segments, no one has figured out how to add more hours to the day) Studies all seem to indicate that the human body requires 6-8 hours sleep to function properly. Americans especially, have a need to prove to the world that they are above mere bodily requirements and on average seem to try and pack 20 hours of living into each day. As this overworking of the body becomes more accepted through out society, more things get packed into each day, because, if just anyone can fit 20 hours of activity into the day, super-people must strive for more.
Even those with the best of intentions can end up tardy, because every one else got on the road at the same time as you, and its taking twice as long to travel a given distance as it used to. When you add to that the fact that most people try to accomplish just one more thing before getting going, it’s easy to see everyone running late because you are late. Then there are those who truly believe that the world won't start till they arrive and they take their time about it, leaving somewhere around the time they should be arriving. A problem especially if others are waiting on you to move on with their days. Now they are running late, out on the road, trying to gain a second at a red light.
I learned how to tell time with the words a quarter to, half past, etc. Grandma said be home at a quarter past, and if I walked in the door at what we now know as 5:17, the world wouldn't end. Today, I couldn't tell you that your flight leaves at a quarter past. You need to know it leaves at 5:14. I still say to my daughter be home at half past, and she, a generally intelligent human, looks at her analog watch and replies "On the 6? Ok, see you at 5:30." Her mind thinks that way. The world runs that way. I used to get out of class at 12:22, just in time to catch the 12:31 bus. Back when digital watches were neat.
On a beautiful autumn day, that feels like summer has come back to visit, if we have a moment, what do we do? We goof around, hang out in the yard or in the park and enjoy. The moment is so important to us. And I am not saying this is a bad thing. Its healthy to kick back and relax, but what usually happens is there were nine other things you were supposed to be doing; and at least 5 you would like to do, most of which still must get done.
The pressure is on!! While you were at the park, though, I bet you noticed those scurrying squirrels, running about, collecting food. A nice day doesn't interfere with their internal calendar which pushes them to survive the winter. Never do they procrastinate. And so as the first snow falls, they lie in their burrow, dinner for the winter surrounding them and we complain the storm windows aren't all in, the patio furniture hasn't gotten put away, the garden never did get mulched properly.
When we relied on only our wits to survive, like the squirrel does, when we couldn't just turn up the thermostat, but needed to cut the tree first; before frozen veggies out of season were as near as the supermarket, we were more time aware, certainly prisoners to it, but less likely to procrastinate, less likely to be impatient, and certainly using the sun as a clock, less likely to be tardy. You got there when you did. Working sun up to sun down; making hay while the sun shines. Certainly there were more things required in the act of survival. But today, with nothing ever closing, satellite and computer access to people around the world, we put off purchasing our own food, and then put off cooking so long that we end up ordering out. We were closer to the earth once. Time was a natural state; days, weeks, moons, seasons repeating.
We chose a nice, surprisingly comfortable day back in July to go to the National Zoo. Not so much like the weather of the past few days--104???
(notice the fact i am disregarding that i haven't posted in over a month?)
Anyway, a few of the pictures from that day... and not much else to say... you'd never know I ENJOY writing, would you? Click on my friend here and go visit the photos at Flickr.com
THIRTY!
My baby brudder is thirty today! He and I are as different and as close as two somewhat related and not raised together people can be.
Here are some pictures, just to make you understand what a cutie he used to be!
Now, he is all about the attitude, and the snarl…. lol…and the tattoo…
But way back when he was all about Star Wars, and Transformers. He came to visit Daddy Gus and Grandma’s every month, and if I wasn’t there he would leave me adorable drawings. He would dictate little letters to Daddy to leave for me.
When he got old enough, he once even wrote me a love letter and mailed it, to Staten Iline., NY…It made it there too! I have it somewhere.
He has always danced to the beat of his own drum. He’s a special kid. But, if he’s thirty now, I guess he’s not a kid anymore, huh?
Ours is an odd family. Anoki lived with me only twice. The summer he was 16, he stayed on the island, took art classes at the Harbor and he traveled into often. He amazed me because each day he’d come home with these incredibly detailed diaries of his experiences that day….they were illustrated, no words. He used PEN!!! No erasures.
He now uses his body as his canvas; his tattoos all tell stories. And his jobs all help tell other peoples stories. (Anoki's website....go explore!!!) He's an incredibly gifted guy!
The other time he lived with me was for a short, can I borrow your couch while I look for work, 30 day turned into 5 month period. He moved in around September 1, 2001.
Anoki is the one who experienced that day with me. We embraced in horror as we watched the world change from the waters edge.
Now, he is thirty, living in Philly and we never see each other; but he is about to embark on a new adventure…. He has always been somewhat LEFT of center, and now he is about to become a LEFT coaster….headed off to California….
Love ya, Pokey!!! Happy Birthday,
Patti (see how much I love you??)
PS...Happy Birthday to you too, LLIZZ!
It feels good! I have so many ideas running around in my head most of the time that I am stuck standing still. Or sitting in front of the computer, doing something else, like writing. Writing has taken a great deal of my time lately and that is a fine thing. But the fabric keeps talking to you anyway, you do know that?
I am a member of a number of quilt groups online. One of them started chattering about a quilt pattern, 4 patch poseys,a few weeks back. I tried to resist, really I did, but resistance is futile. I studied the quilt for a bit and decided to attempt it sans pattern. Which is no biggie as I rarely follow the darned things anyway.
I practiced on a piece of fabric I had in my stash. I of course already altered the instructions I had created before I bought the fabric!!! I found three fabrics instead of the one fabric/ the fabric does all the work idea inherent in the block!!!
Three fabrics, plus two border/sash fabrics. Then I decided to set it on point. I have never set anything on point. But I am doing it anyway, without instruction. And of course because I had no idea what I was making or how big I wanted it, I ran out of sash fabric half way through.... I have an unwritten rule to stay out of the plaza I work in on my day off so Joanns and the remainder of the gift card from Gael and Elaine will not be spent till tomorrow!
LOOK TO THE LEFT FOR THE PHOTOS>>>>> VOX KEEPS FREEZING WHEN I TRY TO ADD THEM!
The kitchen is DONE! (Well, no, I take that back. The kitchen is done except for a bit of kick molding, some brick molding, a small strip of lattice molding, a small hole in the ceiling and some tile work on the backsplash of the new counters.)
So, I will say this instead--- the kitchen has had it's dress rehearsal, a bbq for Memorial Day, and it was a smashing success!
*The view from the Dining room. Note the incredible bar top on the brown counters in the dining room. Timmy made that for me!
*The corner of the original counter.
*The sink area, with the new light fixture installed today.
*Long view of the sink counter.
*The stove, microwave and counter area. The cast iron frying pan hanging behind the stove was my grandma Elaine's. She cooked herself a hamburger every night at around 1o pm in that frying pan!
*This is the view coming in from the deck. You can see the two heights of cabinet, and the two finishes. I painted the back of the white cabinets red to make the brown dining room cabinet feel more like a piece of furniture.
*The Bar, closed.
*The bar, opened. Look at all that extra storage space!!! The flowers ended up there in a serendipitous accident, because somewhere our measurements were a foot off! I will show you what we came up with to fix on the other side shortly.
*The kitchen Side, all new extra cabinets and counter space. I was able to make a little coffee nook and message center.
*Now the fun stuff. Rolling wire baskets in the cabinests. This is the baking area.
*One of my favorite pieces, the lazy Susan.
*The new penninsula counter area. We were able to get a 12 inch cabinet with a door and found a rolling garbage pail to insert into it. This is what we used that extra foot of mis-measured space for. The two deep drawers hold all the pots and pans.
*Same view, closed. The white backsplash here will be replaced with the same tilework as the rest of the backsplashes as soon as I can get to it.
*We put two wall cabinets onto the floor under the counter...here a corner cabinet, and a 24 in wide, 12 inch deep cabinet together, to finish off the space.
It is gorgeous, isn't it!!! Timmy worked so hard at this. It is hard to believe it's the same kitchen as a few months ago, and with all the space, it's impossible to believe the room is only 10 x 11 feet wide! Thanks for following along on our journey!
your child brings you THIS, live and in person and you don't get squeamish or grossed out...
but you just smile and nod happily when they ask if it can live in their room.
to all the Mom's in my life.... have a HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!
(the frog is another of my friendly yard critters, he was climbing my gazebo yesterday!)
to Mom!!!
and to Joe...its the big 50!
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James S. Huggins said:
Nice kitchen. But no photo of the refrigerator door?? Keep up the great work. And, by the way, what is... read more
on The Grand Unveiling....
on You know you're a mom when....