Sisters

Currently on opposite edges of the continental US

Slabtown

the last place on earth

Now

Christmas card is on the list of undone things. Once upon a time I mailed out a multi-page tabloid, loaded with photos. Nowadays, one image. Distilled. Here. We are.

my tribe

sisters

3x3x3. Happy birthday!

missing

missing

wendy

Pensacola

on the path to ambulation again, thanks to the many who make this happen

broken creek

all the king's horses

all the king's men

in the instant

Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
(twenty years)

nine

Ibhar, and Elishama, and Eliphelet, and Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia, and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet.
In Sophia's case, nine years.

auricle

VMT-4

Helen came through CHO, cross country training flight with an instructor.

Augusta County, Virginia

december 23, 2007, walking in the rain

15 minutes

City Councilor Dave Norris invited three of us from the neighborhood to talk about the Woolen Mills Village National Historic District on his show "Postcards From Charlottesville".
The other Woolies had pre-existing plans.
I joined Dave, carrying audio-visual aids which producer David Dillehunt edited into the 15 minutes.
The show runs 30 minutes. 1st fifteen, Dave talks to councilor elect Holly Edwards, 2nd 15 minutes, all about the Woolen Mills Village.
The show is online.
(accessible if you have broadband and a Windows Media Viewer compatible machine)

good girls

E & H, Charlottesville 250 bypass, 1987

How much does parenting contribute to the person who emerges from childhood? I hope that playing late at night next to Route 250 was good prep for Emma.
Regarding her whereabouts, generally I know she is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.
Recent fires and earthquakes (really the fires, she slept through the earthquake) have flushed her out of the back country. She phoned home. Playing on the side of the Ten, ready to dive into the city of angels.
Good girls.

helen

Sisters

scanning a negative for Paolo in Rome, previous scan was from a contact sheet.

on the range

sisters

family

take me back, for a half hour, take me back

orthodontics

My people are home. Sat on the porch in the twilight. Helen is in flight school, Emma saving dollars, ramping up for a 2,600 mile walkabout.

downs

near Lewes

day of rest

range 14

Oz

I need to watch the Wizard of Oz. Which shoes are adequate? Where a heel-click is sufficient to restore order?
Take me back to Kansas!

dorse and rider

closed track, professional drivers and stunt canid, do not attempt, danger of orthopedic injury (to the dorse!)

summer

cover

Emma is back from Senegal, on the cover of the Sun this month.
Founded in 1974, The Sun is a non-profit, ad-free monthly magazine that publishes an eclectic mix of personal essays, fiction, interviews, poetry, and photographs.
Black and white.
Thanks Julie, Sy, Robert and Andrew.

family

mask

sleep

231

the force

There is a disturbance in the force.
The color to b&w ratio on dave's blog is teetering toward color.
The sisters are on different continents.
There are Nukes on the Korean peninsula.
Not necessarily in that order.

gifts

Coolest thing yesterday, I received a huge beautiful print from South Carolina A.C.E. Basin artist Ken Mayes. BAM! Showed up. And so it is with the gifts from God.

where are they now

Emma is in Senegal teaching English to French speakers.
Line is behind my kitchen door, powering an acer palmatum.

abecedarians

new worlds this week, old world end, again beginning

Lt Emory

report

Emory E hung with the OCC-192 Charlie Company 1st Platoon for five weeks. She decided the military was not for her. Maybe the hardest decision ever, leaving her friends.

report

Emma and Helen are in their 5th week at Quantico.

report

Quantico week 3, recovered from fx of a year ago, making another run

summertime

There is a party on the River today. People recreating in canoes, kayaks and maybe a few inner tubes. In the days gone by, children from the Woolen Mills Village swam in the Rivanna above the dam, never below.
Never below? In the first half of the 20th Century the City of Charlottesville had a straight-pipe that emptied into the River near its intersection with Moore's Creek. Brown trout swam below the dam. Flush hard! Richmond needs the drinking water.
To learn more about Rivanna water quality visit StreamWatch.

"The ultimate purpose of StreamWatch is to help maintain and improve the health of streams and rivers in the Rivanna basin. Many organizations and agencies share this goal, and a key principle of StreamWatch is the recognition that conservation is a community effort?that close cooperation between individuals and groups is essential to successful watershed management."

Westport River

WHEREAS, the Purchasers hope their actions with the subject property will encourage the City of Charlottesville to engage in similar efforts to preserve urban green space, the current quality of life, and cultural tourism in the Woolen Mills Village

firewatch

firewatch takes on a new meaning

WHEREAS, the Purchasers wish to purchase the subject property to preserve the fabric of history of this area, formerly known as the Woolen Mills Village, to help preserve the natural habitat of the Woolen Mills Village, to help protect the riverine environment of the Woolen Mills Village, to preserve the viewshed of Monticello, and

uncertain future

Dear Charlottesville Residents,
Please join me at the Planning Commission's June 13 meeting. Developers are petitioning the Commission to upzone the backyard of a historic home in the mill-village district. Currently the land in question is dense with flora and fauna. The developers envision the land dense with dwelling units, driveways, automobiles and rain-gardens.
The meeting is at 6:30P.M. City Council Chambers.
Help us preserve the fabric of history.

1988

Life is rich with alliances.

how long

Started working at the farm thirty-one years ago today. Fourteen stairs going up, house four strides by seven.
I always did like to count.
Three hundred and sixty seven days ago we met with our neighborhood planner, and compared notes about the traffic that is battering the heart of our neighborhood.
I am counting vehicles today. Sitting motionless for twenty four hours putting numbers to a problem.

Dear City,
One decision and two signs would vastly improve our quality of life.
Is 23 years of asking for help long enough?
Thanks,
Bill