Karen's Day Off

We started the day dropping kids off at school, and Karen attending a meeting at Katelyn's school. I chatted with one of the staff who, like me, pioneered bringing computers into the schools in the '70's and '80's, teaching their use, and becoming the all around IT person wherever we worked. It was a blast to chat about 4K Atari with a cassette tape drive, Commodore 64, TRS80, and Apple 2e computers.

Then my daughter and I went to do some grocery shopping especially for Katelyn's birthday party coming up on Saturday, took a nice walk along the Burke-Gilman Trail that runs along the ship canal, and to one of our favorite places for brunch: Silence-Heart-Nest. YUM!

Home to do some chores and cooking, and it was already time to pick up the kids. Once home, we needed to enjoy more of the sunshine. Karen drew a cat face while I worked on a rainbow. Katelyn made a crazy hopscotch. Travis played in the puddle. Then Katelyn and I turned the cat face into a giant picture of my cat, Itty-Bitty.

Dinner, books, and bed. Good night.

Yes, It Is Spring...

but, oh, is it wet!

Seattle is bursting with color! And soon after I walked to the market in wind and rain, the sun emerged and the day became gorgeous. But here are some of the very-wet-but-full-of-color pictures I collected on my walk:

In the afternoon, I hopped a couple of buses and met Karen and Travis on their way to pick up Katelyn for a trip to the dentist.

Clean teeth!

Then out to play a while...

Tonight is the musical performance by the first graders at Katelyn's school: The Bears Went Over the Mountain. The kid's teachers were the bears, and the children were white bunnies, blue raccoons, yellow deer, green birds, red foxes, and gray squirrels that all assisted the bears to get over the mountain. How fun!

Here is my green bird!

Watching his sister's performance intently...

 Well past bedtime for us all, a little green smoothie and oatmeal snack before bed

Nighty-night!

"Here Comes The Sun, and I Say, 'It's Alright!'"

Chugging toward spring weather little by little. I was delighted by a bit of sun:

 Hazy at times...

...bright at others.

The Red Dogwood was a special treat in contrast to the gray/straw/brown-ness of everything else.

Come on, Spring!

Slowly...

Last week's ice is now mostly water!

Less ice? How nice!

Yeay for Spring!

I had a couple of appointments in Big Rapids today. As I was leaving town for home, I stopped at the north portion of the Big Rapids Riverwalk. What a treat for the first day of Spring!

I met some camera shy goose friends.

But once they "disappeared" they had plenty to say:

The Riverwalk has some public art:

Breathe

Cool! But I like Mother Nature's art even better!

Happy first day of Spring!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig

A very dreary day to drive home, but good roads and no incidents. I took no pictures. 

I did arrive home early enough to take a walk. The wetlands are struggling toward spring. I am leaning into it, too.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I took a slow morning today, then headed out for a walk and a little exploring. First, I headed back to Presque Isle.

It was a great walk, but not the best day for being at the beach. Cold, snowy, and blustery, but as always, beautiful!

As I was leaving the park, I just had to stop to take a picture of the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad engine, iron pellet car, and caboose...no reason except...

I LOVE TRAINS!

Then I headed to downtown Marquette to see what was new: an art studio called Hotplate. They had pottery blanks (mugs, plates, figurines, etc.) which you could paint or glaze and they would fire them for you.

And some old buildings for reminiscing:

Washington Shoe Store where each of my kids got her and his first pair of shoes...

And the old First National Bank building, now Wells Fargo. I would have loved to show you the tellers' cages (all black granite and shiny bronze) and the bank vault gate (wildly ornate), but was told that it wasn't allowed. Even if I don't fit the profile of a typical bank robber, I suppose one can't be too safe.  ;-)  So you only get the fabulous old windows and the iconic clock and chandelier.

I also found a couple more great posters/hangings to share...

I finished the day with Joe and friends at a meal of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and lots of laughter. Perfect!

Play Day

We started with a lovey walk along the Carp River. Sorry, no pictures, but lovely! Then to breakfast, a short shopping trip, and a run to Ishpeming to see some of Joe's handiwork from previous house repair and improvement jobs.

Later we headed to the Dead River. We couldn't make it to the waterfall: too much ice and snow. But the river was gorgeous! Treacherous to get down to; hilarious to get back up! I am grateful for no pictures of that!

And, again, my attraction to moving water...

And tomorrow, St. Patty's Day!

A Quick Trip North

My son, Joe, who is working as a truck driver in North Dakota, had an opportunity to be in the UP this week. He invited me to come up and catch a visit. It's been a long time since I've been over the bridge. I have missed it a lot.

First stop in Marquette was to check out the house Greg, my ex, and I built in 1978. It's changing hands again, but looks great.

Then out to Presque Isle to see all the beauty.

It was amazing to see the force of the wind and waves.

And tomorrow, a play day with Joe!