The Big Barn

It doesn't have to be red. It can be any color really. But I especially like those big old barns. The prairie barns that have that big sweeping roof they call the Gambrel roof. I see them and I can only imagine the house that you could make out of that barn!

It would be glorious! Open from floor to ceiling with loft bedrooms and a stone fireplace reaching all the way to the top! Staircases on both sides with big arched windows and those big wood planks for flooring.

Yep! When someone asks if I was born in a barn I can just say, nope, but I'd like to live there.

Mr. (& Mrs.) Runion's Wild Ride

We are the epitome of homebodies. Usually content to just come home and sit near each other for an evening of small talk, dinner, TV and computer time. Then off to bed.

Somewhere, I got it into my brain that we should do something. Not just one night, but two nights in a row...LATE NIGHTS. With work thrown in between. Now, we're not exactly old, but we do have our needs and one of them is sleep!

On the Friday before Halloween, we took Blaine and a few of his friends to see "Rocky Horror Picture Show." They had never been. He'd never even heard of it! Just the idea that I had done something that my kid had not was almost incomprehensible. These kids do everything, see everything, go everywhere. But I digress.

Thrown rice, flying toast and toilet paper and lots of guys in drag. What were my parents thinking? I could see it in his face. But they had fun! And they want to go back with more props and more friends!

On Halloween night, we visited Highball Halloween in the Short North Arts District in Columbus. We went unprepared. There were 15,000 people crammed into a few blocks, amazing costumes, but we didn't get to see it all! We waited by the stage for nearly two hours while they got ready for the costume contest. There were some very elaborate costumes! We stopped by Marcella's (great little Italian cafe' on High Street), picked up some salads and headed back to our hotel room. At 1:00 am!!! Yes, that's right. We ate dinner at 1:00 am! Of course we had a little wine with it!

Sunday morning, we packed up and headed for Hocking Hills to do some hiking. Did I mention that we took the dogs with us? And by the way, if you are traveling with your pets, this is the best website for finding those pet-friendly hotels!

OK, just to recap...Friday night Rocky Horror Picture Show and home around 2:15 am, worked Saturday morning (both of us) and up until 2 am on Saturday night, now on to do some hiking...Thank goodness for the time-change!

We visited Hocking Hills this past spring and absolutely fell in love with it. But from what we saw this time around, there is no bad time of year to visit this place. It is absolutely amazing!

Back to work on Monday! But wait! There's more!

On Wednesday night, we drove 2 hours away to see Daughtry and Theory of a Dead Man perform at the Cavelli Center in Youngstown, Ohio.

Needless to say, by this past weekend we were exhausted! Sunday afternoon was nap time and we took full advantage of it!

Hmmmm...let's see what we can get into this weekend!

1,000 Words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...but what if you take a black and white picture? Wouldn't it take the words to give you the full effect of the photo? I've been doing a lot of reading lately, spending a lot of time looking at photos done by the masters of photography. Take someone like Ansel Adams, for example. There was no digital. There was, at first, no color photography. He shot solely in black and white. Look at some of the other famous photos and photographers. Do you notice that they mostly shoot in black and white? I know that for many, it was due to the fact that it was their only medium. But does it add impact? I mean really, what's so great about black and white photography?

As an experiment, I decided to take a walk today and shoot solely in black and white. But maybe everything wasn't meant to be shot in black and white. I don't know the answer and I know that my photos certainly don't carry much impact, but the funny thing is, even when I look at the photos in black and white, my mind still sees the colors. I know the reds, the yellows, the blues, the greens. So maybe the color doesn't matter. Maybe that's what we get from black and white photography. It's the photographers way of handing us a page from the coloring book. We just don't have to stay in the lines.

Addy do! Addy do!

Addy is about to turn two years old. I don't know where the time has gone.

Addy is really starting to develop her own personality! Her vocabulary is growing every day but she still isn't much bigger than a minute!

"Addy, I love you" I say to her. She responds "Addy love ma-ma," and she must also remind me that "Addy love papa." Like I ever doubted that!

The one phrase that she has developed very well is "Addy do!" As I'm sure you've figured out, any time she wants to do something herself, she lets you know by saying "Addy do!" Well, the last time she stayed with us, she felt she could brush her teeth by herself! So, I let "Addy do!"

She always gives me a reason to laugh and this last time she was over was no exception.

When we get to the bottom of the peanut butter jar, we always give the jar to the dogs. They are able to lick the bottom and sides of the jar and get any remnants that John may have left behind. I thought to myself, what better time to give them the jar than when Addy is here? I figured that way they'll leave her alone. Good idea!

A little while after I had given the boys the peanut butter jar, I was in the kitchen and heard Addy making a sound like she was licking the peanut butter out of the jar. I thought she was just making the noise, copying the dogs. Well imagine my surprise when she walked around the corner with the peanut butter jar in her hand! And yep, she really was licking the jar. GROSS!!! But it was pretty funny! I guess she figured if it was good enough for the boys, it was good enough for her, or maybe she just wanted to see what they were enjoying so much. Either way, she survived. A little dog slobber never hurt anybody, right? HA!

Every day I spend with her is a day full of discovery. A day full of laughter. A day filled with love. Her tiny hugs and sweet little kisses. And her favorite question..."papa?"

I can't wait to see her again!

On the way home

I guess that I am one of the fortunate ones. Even though I have a small commute to and from work, I don't have to drive in traffic jams and I'm not choked by the exhaust fumes being belched out by buses and automobiles. I get to drive through the country. Farms, fields and forests. Animals, corn and barns.

Today, I put my camera in the car with me when I left for work. Daylight is starting to leave us so much earlier these days. I hoped to be able to get some photos that were painted by the last light of day, what they call the "golden hour." "Typically, lighting is softer and warmer in hue, and shadows are longer. When the Sun is near the horizon, sunlight travels through more of the atmosphere, reducing its intensity, so that more of the illumination comes from the sky. More blue light is scattered, so that light from the Sun appears more reddish. And the Sun's small angle with the horizon produces longer shadows." Taken from Wikipedia

My definition: God puts his handiwork on display with the sun setting low in the sky, touching the fields and the trees and adding that perfect light.

I really am fortunate to get to experience this, I just need to remember to slow down and take it in every one in a while.

Falling Fast

Last week I was driving through the usual farm country on my way to and from work, noticing how yellow the soybean fields had turned and thinking to myself that I should probably take some pictures of this beautiful yellow field against the green of the surrounding trees and the blue of the sky...Little did I know that my delay in doing so has led to fields filled with drying foliage and the green trees are turning to the shades of fall; the bright yellow, orange and shades in between.

This means that fall is here. It's not just headed this way, it's full-on here. I guess if I hadn't been so busy I would have noticed that we are now in the last day of September. Tomorrow is October 1st. Granted, I've been thinking about Halloween and thinking about pulling out my decorations and John has been bouncing around the house like a school kid with the start of hunting season. All of these indicators of the season upon us. But I was too busy to notice.

Soon, those fields will be bare. Picked clean of the corn and beans that have painted the fields as I fly by from work to home and back. I do love fall with the weather beginning to cool, the orange pumpkins, the changing leaves, farmers busy in their fields. Yet, once again, I'm not ready. I didn't get done the things I needed to get done when the air was warm and the leaves were green. Once again, I'm behind the 8-ball, playing catch-up.

But for now, I will enjoy the colors of the season and try to get caught up...just in time for Winter!

Sunflowers and Sunsets

I can't seem to think of two things that could be more opposite than sunflowers and sunsets.

With sunflowers, you get that big smiling "Hey, look at me" kind of thing. Their bright yellow faces standing tall in the summer sun, beckoning you to look at them and daring you to do so without breaking into a smile. You feel almost giddy as you approach the edge of the field, looking out at all those smiling faces and realizing that you are standing there with a smile as broad as any you've seen in a long time. You're suddenly energized and you can see yourself running through the field, arms outstretched as if you are a child again!

At the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the sunset. A thing of beauty warning of the end of this day but bringing to mind the possibilities of what tomorrow will hold. You look upon the sunset with awe as you realize the colors that God has painted across the sky. It almost takes your breath away but yet you are left with a sense of peace. Calm, quiet and reflective, you think back on the things that happened today. I hope that you had a good day.

Remember to thank God for the sunflowers and the sunsets!

Hiking - On Mother's Day

Sunday, we continued our hiking adventures by visiting Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Yep, right here in Ohio, we have a national park. Although, when I picture national parks, Yosemite and Yellowstone come to mind and his was somewhat mild in comparison.

Evidently, and according to a sign near the Overlook, they saved this land back in the 60's and made it a national park because someone was going to dam the river and turn it into a lake.

The park was beautiful, but paled in comparison to our visit to Hocking Hills last week. This was more like a leisurely stroll through the woods than hiking. Again, we set off early with camera in hand and were surprised to find so many people "hiking" in flip-flops...but we found that most all of the trails were very mild. There were some steep places, but of the 3 trails we visited, only one of them was what we would call adventuresome.

We have been reading about different hiking trails here in Ohio and found that if you chose to go beyond Blue Hen falls that you would be rewarded with another water fall. We did and we were. It was a lot of fun just getting there, but of course, my husband likes to live on the edge, quite literally! There is a group of shots that he took while he was perched on a rock at the top of the waterfall, looking over and then again as he crouched near the bottom of the waterfall, he took a shot up the waterfall! Not me, I have enough trouble on dry land!

I was also amazed at the number of people who had brought with them their children, most of whom appeared to have just been released from the zoo or maybe captured in the wild after having been raised by wolves. Obviously it was the first of those two because, had they been raised in the wild, they might actually have more respect for it. Climbing all over everything, throwing rocks, screaming and hollering. All while their parents couldn't put down the cell phone long enough to ask them to stop! Don't we visit places like this to get some peace and quiet?

It was a beautiful Mother's Day. The dogs were able to get worn out again and I enjoyed another day in my husband's company. Next weekend, we won't be going hiking, it's my Coppy's 85th birthday party on Sunday and Blaine has prom on Saturday, but we'll do some reading (www.naturalbornhikers.com) and pick a place for the following weekend!!!

Our New Addiction...

OK, so yesterday morning, I wake up at 5:30 - and yes, it was on my own. By 7:15, we had packed the dogs and our gear and were headed to Hocking Hills for a day of hiking and photography. It was sprinkling a little, but we didn't let that stop us. Besides, there were only about 6 cars in the parking area of the entrance to the trails.

We started with the trail leading to Old Man's Cave which takes you immediately by the first of many waterfalls along the way. This place is beautiful. Old Man's Cave sits back under the most unbelievable outcropping. The photo I took makes the people look like minatures! The trail is one they label as "strenuous." I walk a lot, however, parts of this trail kicked my butt but it is so worth the effort! Oh, and remember I said we had the dogs with us...including Mr. Scaredy Dog (a.k.a. Laredo) who is afraid of his own shadow and as it turns out, stairs. Especially open stairs that lead straight up out of the gorge, approximately 80 feet straight up. And yes, poor John carried him! On the other hand, Stetson is trying his hand at being a mountain goat! There were several stops during the day that had me wondering what I would do if he fell (or leaped) over the edge.

They have done such an amazing job trying to camouflage the bridges and walkways so that they blend right into the surroundings. The a-frame bridge over the gorge was a little scary, though, as each time you took a step the boards gave way a litle and parts of the railing and overhead are rotted out. We didn't linger there!

We hiked about 4 hours taking in the scenic beauty and quiet of our surroundings. After a couple of hours, the sun started to come out and everything took on a new look, but still breathtaking. We hiked out of the gorge, took time for a picnic lunch and proceeded down the road to a place called Rock House. We didn't know what it was and had no clue what we were about to stumble into.

We proceeded down another steep hill, around the corner and into the most amazing thing, cave, tunnel that you have ever seen. It sat about 150 high off the forrest floor and was at least as long as a football field. There were several openings in the rocks where you could peer out over the sheer drop-off. Local lore has it that Rock House was a hide-out for criminals and there are many inscriptions in the rocks, some with dates in the 1800's.

We planned to stop at Cantwell Cliffs next. And we did stop, but I was just too exhausted for another hike. We'll save that for another day.

So we've decided...weather and schedule permitting, we're going to pick someplace new each week and hike it. There are so many places close to home that we haven't explored and why not do it while we still can! I wish we'd done this when our kids were younger. I just hope that they will continue to love nature the way we do and we plan to pass that love onto our grandchild too.

Enjoy what God has given us and treat it with respect.

To My Friends...old friends, new friends, friends I haven' yet met

I believe they call it the "Butterfly Effect." Where a small change like a butterfly flapping it's wings in one part of the world sets off a tidal wave half way around the globe.

I think that's how our lives work. Maybe not on a scale that grand, but one event always effects something bigger, something God already had in mind.

I've been doing a lot of feeling sorry for myself since I lost my job, but things could be SO much worse.

Things get put into perspective when you find out what other people are going through. The ailing health of a child. The end of a marriage. A foreclosure on your home. My "problems" pale in comparison. But maybe I was meant to lose my job so that I could spend more time being there for my friends. Or maybe it was so I could make new friends that needed something or someone in their life at that very moment.

I have always believed that God puts people into our lives for a reason. It never ceases to amaze me that you can meet someone on-line and become fast friends, even though you've never met face-to-face. How when you spend a little time chatting with someone you find out how many things that you have in common.

I don't know what God has planned for me, but I'm happy to go along for the ride. Learning along the way, taking time to "smell the flowers." And I'm always happy to be there for my friends...my old friends, my new friends and the friends I haven't yet met.