Zack and Sarah

 

I dreamt of an ocean blue
Underwater you and me
Let's not swim to shore
Just float forever more

We could hide behind the sun
Where no one will upset our fun
Let's take off our shoes
And dance away the blues

Was your sweet kiss just a dream
So real the taste of tangerine
You are my best friend
Forever, now and then

                                -Clem Snide

vanilla scones and paper snakes

I stumbled across some photographs I took exactly two years ago.  There were from a small going away party I had with my coworkers in Bowling Green before I moved up to Louisville.  Those of you who have worked with Starbucks, know how close partners can grow.  My Starbucks' partners were the best guys in the world.  We shared our uncommon lives with each other just like family.  Going to work didn't seem so bad when you knew that people were willing to share your burdens.  These people are not in my life anymore, but I think of them often and I think of them fondly.

 

family tradition

While I was growing up, it seemed completely normal for me to be taken out of school for at least one Monday and Tuesday every mid November.  It was not until I hit Junior High that I realized I was the only kid at school that thought the deer hunting season meant no school.  It made sense for education to take a backseat to the gathering, securing, and processing of food necessary for survival right?  Well, maybe not essential to my or my family's survival...but it sure was a lot more economical and healthier than buying store meat.  I have so many memories of the whole Weber clan (mom's side) gathered together to butcher the men's catch (or trophies, if you will).  As youngsters, my cousins and I took lessons from our grandfather in the art of carving meat off of a thigh bone and how to get the last bit of scrap off of a rib.  We learned how to ground meat, encase sausages, and dry jerky.  We became apprentices to a dying art, a vanishing tradition.  It did not even register as gross to us - this was food, it was art, it was natural.  This last year, only my mom, dad, my aunt and me were there to clean, carve, and process the deer.  It was bittersweet to have lost so much family, but glad to be around those who were left. 

the rock show

When I was in college, I looked forward to the annual celebration of youth and the silliness of American Culture known to us at WKU as The Rock Show.  Set near Halloween, this concert/dance party featured costumes, body paint, and eccentric behavior.  A group of man-boys would come together as a band and create a set list to inspire every type of dancer.  This involved such favorites as Bon Jovi and AC/DC.  Their outfits were usually the most intense - with the wearer embracing their character most seriously.  Usually these costumes were ultra tough (or tuff, if you will) and tried to get at the heart of Rock'n Roll personified.  As seen below, Dusty Wood was so tuff, he can't even afford to look straight at the camera.  Who said that modern America is void of Warriors?  Seems to me, they are alive and take'n names.

This is an image from the archives...it was shot with my Nikon N65 in 2005 and printed by hand in the WKU dark room. 

southern kentucky snow

This year we had a white Christmas.  Waking up to snow at the house you grew up in, somehow, will always be more special then waking up to snow anywhere else.

 

the house on park st.

Have you ever noticed that old houses always have so much more character than newer homes?  My first apartment was a house in downtown Bowling Green that dated to 1903.  A sense of history permeated the space.  My friends and I loved that house with its crazy wallpaper, drafty windows, creepy basement, and peeling paint.

the haunted bridge

There is a bridge on Old Richardsville Road in Warren Co. Kentucky that has a reputation of being haunted.  If you drive out onto the bridge at night, stop in the middle, and put your car in neutral, the ghost of creatures past will push you along, either to the other side or to your doom.  We liked doing this in college.

 

For some odd reason, we always reached the other side safely.  

A is for apple

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.
- Psalm 17:7-9

I was super-lucky to be able to go back to Jackson's Orchard this season.  Marissa and I were able to get apple slushies, fried apple pies, and caramel apples. And, just like school kids on a field trip, we became mesmerized by the apple conveyor belt.

waiting for lucy

Babies are everywhere.  It seems like everyone just had a baby, is pregnant, or talking about having a baby.  I was anticipating this time of my life to be just as depressing as when everyone was getting married and I wasn't...but surprisingly I feel wonderful about all the babies.  I really like them.  They are fun to hold.  They smell really neat.  Sometimes they smile at you.  All around, I think they are a good idea.  I am very excited about meeting Lucy - one of my best friends soon-to-be-born little girl.  Marissa, the soon-to-be-mommy, is super-crafty and has decorated Lucy's room in a very fun way.

Well, Lucy won't be able to actually see this stuff really until a few months after she is born (bc. her eyes don't quite work that far)...but when she is able to get a good look around, I think she will be very excited by all the wonderful colors.