Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Walking In The Woods


On Tuesday we took an hour off from working in the house and went exploring on the property.
Jim drove the truck along the edge of the cornfield, where we left it to walk along Spruce Pine Creek.
The  slanting winter sun cast long shadows across the water.

The creek has a gravel bottom.

Walking in a westerly direction.

There is a tangle of brush along the bank and above the water.
Jim is contemplating how he can use the tractor and 'bush hog' in the spring to clear the area.

Fungi on a broken tree stump.

Back at the farmhouse we replenished the  fire in the big stove, then set out again, into the woods beyond the carriage barn. I have found the spiky seed balls from a sweet gum tree just past the  first gate. The battered sweet gum tree near the side porch of the Gradyville house was a favorite--I'm glad there is one near our new house.
The creek winds through a long draw with hillsides rearing steeply on either side. There is a logging operation in progress on an adjoining property beyond the high ridge visible at the left side of the photo. As we walked up the stream bank we could hear the whine of chainsaws and the occasional crack and crash of a falling tree.


This little doorway at the base of a tree reminded me of the animal houses in 'Wind in the Willows' or perhaps a home for one of Winne-the Pooh's many friends.

When we turned back toward the house the sun was already disappearing behind the ridge.
Here on the eastern edge of the time zone, the daylight is waning by 3 P. M.
At the gate, the transplanted barn cats were waiting for us. 
Jim decided to follow a track that slants around the hill; one of these days I will explore that route.
For the moment I was happy to go inside, pull the red kettle to the hottest place on the range top and make a mug of tea. 

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Farmhouse Renovation, Progress Report



I have been spending my days at the farmhouse, helping Jim in whatever ways I can.
The farm is a 25 minute drive from our current house, by whichever of the several 
possible country roads we take.
It has become routine to have breakfast at 'home', deal with phone calls which need to be made, tend the cats, load up whatever we anticipate needing for the day.
We work until shortly after dark--which admittedly comes early.

Note the heavy-duty extension cord running overhead to the fridge and the big clamp-on light in the open cupboard. There is live power to the shop building a few yards behind the house--Jim has to run temporary power into the house while he installs the permanent wiring.
This is the only approved way to install electricity in an existing house in this area.
Fortunately, Jim has done similarly in new construction and still has miles of heavy cord, the movable lamps, and the skills to go ahead.

We purchased the large black fridge/freezer from an area dealer in second-hand 
furniture and appliances. 
Initially the Millers [the Amish couple who made the property swap with us] suggested that they wouldn't use our 4 year old appliances--the refrigerator, the electric range and the water heater--and that we could remove them from the yellow house.
The timeline for removal became very fuzzy.

It seems that when an Amish couple purchase an "Englisher" house, they are 'allowed' to use the existing modern appliances and the electric for a year--during this time they are meant to convert the home to comply with their non-electric lifestyle.
Thus we might have waited a year to retrieve the appliances. 
[And, I ask you, what woman after having 'modern' conveniences for a year, including a flush toilet and running hot water, would wish to return to a harder way of keeping house?]
It is a rhetorical question, of course, and one that I won't ask!

I have stocked the fridge and the pantry with the basic supplies for making simple meals, taken kettles, my cast iron pans, and utensils.
I heat water in an enameled dish pan on the stove or draw it from the reservoir on the back of the range to do the washing up.
This is a bit of a novelty at present--but my wish for a fairly frugal and simple way of keeping house
 does not run to the primitive!
One of Jim's first priorities was to install a flush toilet in the newly created bathroom space.


Since we are repurposing the cabinetry from our niece's kitchen we've had to configure the units to fit a different floor plan.
I was quite upset when Jim positioned the sink cabinet off-center to the windows!
The wretched man didn't mention that this wasn't the final arrangement, but allowed me to stew over this for a week!
Having gotten several other tasks settled he turned his attention to the kitchen; after considerable measuring and shoving things about we have devised a workable arrangement which utilizes the countertop with only one end piece needing to be cut off.
The sink is centered under one of the two windows--and with that I must be content. 



We have moved Howard's table and chairs into the alcove to the left of the kitchen range.
This makes a cozy place to eat our lunch.
I have brought some magazines and writing materials for the times when I have a moment to sit with a mug of tea.
At home in the evenings, I've been stitching curtains--which will have to be taken down when we are ready to paint.


December 17th was a mild and sunny day.
I found excuses to go outside and explore.
We are delighted to have some acreage that is wooded.
Common sense suggests that at this point in my life I don't 'take off' on my own in unfamiliar territory.
My sense of direction is nearly non-existent--and the hills are steeper than my photos indicate. 

A dizzying glimpse of blue sky.


Willow, the very timid cat, has adjusted well to life in the small barn.
She follows me about, seems less anxious--perhaps because the 'boy cats' are not in attendance.
Sadly, we have still seen nothing of Sally-Cat.
I have hoped she was being shy, hiding in the brush arbor made by a fallen tree just below the gate.
Her sister Sadie, and Willow, both spend time in the hollow under the pile of branches, often appearing from there when I go out.
I ponder why one cat of four would wander away in a new place.
Was she frightened away--killed by a predator?
The banty hen left behind by the Millers has also disappeared, leaving the rooster to fuss about alone.
It troubles me that any animal in my care should come to a bad end.
It is one of those times when I wish animals could talk--no doubt the other cats 
know what has happened. 
We do what we can for these strays that wandered into our space--spay/neuter, basic care in terms of food, shelter, flea preventative, wormer.
We can't assure them a long life.


 The unexpected acquisition of the farm property--when we had barely finished another renovation--and the decision to make our home there at the eastern end of the county, is exciting for us.
It is also a time which is stretching my physical stamina to do what needs to be accomplished to keep two houses.
While I enjoy reading about building and renovating projects, perhaps I will become tedious if I share updates of our progress.
I long for time to once again read and write creatively--surely we will eventually sort ourselves and establish and new and calmer 'normal!'




Friday, December 12, 2014

Willis in Charge


Willis and the 'girl' barn cats--Sadie, Sally, and Willow--spent about 5 days in the washroom/entry of the Pellyton farm house 'acclimating.' 
I have read that it takes a few days for a cat's internal mechanism to 'reset' in a new place, so I never let a cat outside for nearly a week when we move them.
It was a gloomy week weather-wise, so not much sun shone through the washroom windows.
The girl cats huddled on a shelf and Willis fussed about.

On Sunday--a bright, crisp day, we carried them out to the small three-sided barn where Jim had constructed a fortress of hay bales.
The cats could hop inside and be protected from cold and wind.
I dragged out a small stand which was left behind by the previous owners.
I spread an old rug on top and set a big dish of kibble there.
The small kibble dispenser and 2 water bowls are on the floor alongside.


The girl cats burrowed into the house of bales and couldn't be coaxed out.
Willis vaulted into the rafters and paraded along the narrow edges.
He found a 'platform' of sorts formed by a half sheet of OSB [fiberboard] which was laid across the rafters toward the front of the barn.
When we went up on Monday morning, he was up above viewing his new kingdom.
The girls were not to be seen although faint mews from inside the hay were heard.


Willis has had house privileges in the past, but his house manners are not reliable.
In the course of our work day he had to be firmly put outside several times--only to whisk through the door whenever we entered with an armload of wood.
He quickly gravitated to the rug in front of the wood stove.


We were away for 2 days--in Tennessee picking up the kitchen and bathroom cabinetry which our niece had removed for replacement.
When we returned on Thursday and trundled in with the loaded trailer, Willis flung himself at the door.  He got underfoot as we moved in the cabinets, sniffing at each as it was deposited in the kitchen. As the warmth from the freshly kindled fire seeped through the house, Willis made himself a bed on a blanket in the living room.
He wasn't pleased when we turfed him out when we left for the day.
Today--Friday--was another sunny day.
Willis appeared, tail in the air, as soon as he heard the truck lumbering up the drive. 
I made a fire while Jim carried in tools.
I headed for the barn, trailed by Willis.
Today Willow was eager to come out of the hay house and twine about my ankles.
I opened the gate into the wooded area beyond the barn and set about collecting dry twigs to store as 
fire starters.
Although we had repeatedly called all the cats by name, there had been no sign of Sadie or Sally.
I began to believe that they had run away.
There is a large uprooted tree a short way from the barn--a sprawl of roots, a thicket of branches.
Sadie emerged from the heap of branches, marched along the fallen trunk, meowing in greeting.  She rubbed against me, purring loudly.
When Jim came out she made a production of greeting him also.
We feel certain that Sally is lurking in the twiggy hide-away--safe and well, but reluctant to 
come out.
[It was Sally who declined to present herself when I moved the other barn cats to this house--the interim stay on their journey of relocation, necessitating 3 tries to locate her!]

I feel that the barn cats are at least as safe in their new location as during their 4 year tenure at the Gradyville property.
They have a barn, acres of land at the end of our lane, they have a sure supply of food and water, and our company nearly every day as we work at refurbishing the house.

When we drove away today we noted that Willis--apparently resigned to being put out of the house--had stationed himself on the south-facing side of the barn.
He lay with his paws neatly tucked in front of him, eyes half-closed, face turned up to the low slanting rays of the sun.
For 'barn cats' these four felines have a fairly luxurious lifestyle!




Friday, December 5, 2014

Bleak


A full week of grey weather--noon looking nearly the same in terms of the absence of light as at daybreak or at evening.
The air has been thick with moisture--a mizzle-drizzle, fog, sometimes accelerating to a quarter hour of pelting cold rain.


Even on overcast mornings the backyard is busy with birds.
We have several varieties of woodpeckers who drill into dead branches --or into the yard-light post.
This is a red-bellied woodpecker--a strange name for a bird whose red coloring is displayed on his head. The markings of the back feathers resemble its larger cousin, the flicker.
Blue jays hoot and dive, prodding at the pecans which litter the ground beneath the tree.
The gentle and beautiful cardinals bounce over the ground.
Always there are sparrows.
I chopped down sunflowers on one of the last bright days in November, working only part way up the row before it was time to come inside and prepare lunch.
Although the standing sunflower stalks are untidy, the finches are happy to alight and 
pluck out the seeds.


Bird-watching, greeting the day, assuring that I am out of bed in a timely way, consumes a good deal of feline energy first thing in the morning.
It is necessary to crash on a bed for a mid-morning nap.

The hitching rail at the Mustard Seed Store--to accommodate Amish customers. 

I had plans--a mental list of 'things to do' during this week with Jim away.
Most of my plans were shoved aside by necessary tasks.
A house showing appointment has been arranged for early on Sunday afternoon.
I decided that various oddments would be best moved to the Pellyton farm rather than trying to tidy around them.
I spent several hours sorting the dozens of CD's which have lived in an old dresser.
Some went into a box for the charity shop, most were arranged in plastic storage boxes.
I removed the drawers one by one from the dresser, hauled it out to the garage/entry, freeing up space in the guest room.
The boxes, along with other items, went into the van.
I stopped at the courthouse before heading to the farm on Monday, needing to inquire why we hadn't received a property tax billing.
This inquiry used up over an hour as I traipsed to various offices, gave addresses of past and present property and finally succeeded in handing over a fairly large amount to satisfy our obligations.

At the farm, I found Pebbles the Horse in a poor way.
She has had so many bad turns during the past two years, has rallied, even been coaxed into sometimes swallowing her Cushings  meds.
Her condition has deteriorated swiftly this autumn and I begged Jim to put her down rather than move her. For whatever reason, he couldn't bring himself to do that.

My heart ached for the elderly mare as she lurched down the hill, whickering to me in greeting.
I ranted aloud my protests that she should have come to this.
I refilled the manger with hay--hoped that she would be sensible and stay in the big stall out of the wet, but by the time I had unloaded the van and drove back down the lane she was out on the 
hillside again.
It was not a surprise to find her down on Wednesday morning.
Mose Miller was at the farm before me with a 'driver' loading yet more of the machinery and tools from the lower leather shop.

"I thought the horse was dead when I got here," he told me.
Mose had taken hay to where Pebs had fallen near the fence.
She couldn't get up, but raised her head to snatch at wisps of the hay.

I knew what needed to be done--but how?
The details are too harrowing to write--too painful for an animal lover to read.

Mose sent me to a compassionate neighbor who came and with quiet kindness ended the life of the old horse. I sat on the ground, holding her head and stroking her face, until this fine gentleman asked me to go to the house and wait until it was over.
Several men at the Mustard Seed rallied round, helped me contact yet another area man with a backhoe.
Arrangements were made to bury Pebbles there in the pasture, her last home.
The man, Steve, phoned me next morning when it was done to let me know that he had accomplished the task 
'with respect for the animal.'

It was a difficult and exhausting day--made bearable by the kindness and practical help of our new neighbors.
A last sad footnote on returning 'home' was the discovery of Mamma Hiss-Hiss, the feral cat we've been feeding, lying dead in the road.
 I slept little that night, beset by gruesome images--wondering how those who endure the blood and horror of war are ever able to sleep again!


I was back at the farm again this morning.
Did I mention that along with various and sundry household plunder I conveyed the four barn cats to the farm on Wednesday.
I installed them in the back entry/washroom with a big bowl of kibble, two bowls of water--and a litter box. 
I dragged in two small wooden stands left behind by the Millers and positioned them under windows so that the cats could look out at their new world.
Willis dealt with this move with his usual aplomb; the girl cats huddled in distress on a shelf.
On Monday I will let them out to explore the yard and the little barn.
Their internal 'bearings' should have reset by then.

We persuaded Howard that his bits of furniture moved from Wyoming would be safely stored in the farmhouse until he needs them.
He and Jim positioned the table and chairs in the dining area with the hutch on the wall at the left.
I took up a checked cloth--and happened to spy a Christmas basket centerpiece in the top of a box I had put in the basement.

I took my red teakettle to place on the warming shelf of the wood range.

Howard's lodgepole bed and the two undistinguished dressers he found after moving here have been set up in the downstairs bedroom.
I brought bedding on Wednesday and later added the quilt.
Jim will begin the work of installing electricity in the house next week.
He has suggested that he may stay there some nights rather than make the 40 mile round trip 
each day.
I paced through the house, upstairs and down--thinking how we may arrange furniture, partition the space to install bathrooms.
Although there was nothing I could do there, no task I could undertake without electric power, I wished I could stay, make a fire in the big black range, listen for the hum of the kettle 
coming to the boil. 
I placed a battery-operated clock on the top shelf of the hutch, unpacked the few bowls and plates I had brought with me.
Next week I will locate mugs, bring teabags and instant coffee, perhaps some canned soup and a box of crackers to place on the pantry shelves.
I want to live in this house, learn how the sun shines through the windows in all seasons; 


Reluctantly, I said goodby to the barn cats, assured them I would return.
Down the basement stairs and out under the sun room, to stand for a moment looking 
into the misty woods. 

Looking north toward the carriage shed.
"Home" again, tires swishing on wet pavement--adjusting the windshield wipers to deal with varying amounts of rain. 
Home to make up the wood fire in the basement, trundle the vacuum cleaner about, tidy the 
laundry room.
The cats reminded me it was time for their 'tea'--milling about as I took an apple pie from the freezer and popped it in the oven.
I peeled potatoes, sliced celery and onion, made a cheese sauce for a hearty casserole.
The boy cats jumped into the sink, forked potato peelings out of my waste bucket.
Expectant feline faces, cats sitting in a row--waiting.
'Right,' I announced.  "We'll all have our 'tea!'
I switched on the electric kettle, took down a mug.
Out with the cat dishes, snap the top from the tin of fish-y food.
Dole out dollops of cat food, referee so that the greedy ones don't push aside the slower eaters.
Tea and a grilled cheese sandwich for me; a few minutes spent planning for new curtains, measuring fabric, plotting how to make that bought for three windows suffice for four at the farmhouse.

A long week--weather that does nothing to lift a weary heart or restore a tired body.
An exchange of 'messages' with my sister, a phone call from Howard.
A glance around at what I have accomplished to make the house presentable.
The sound of rain beating down outside. 
Nellie-Cat pads down the hallway, reminding me that it is late and time for bed.
Jim will be home tomorrow evening.
We will get through the house showing on Sunday.
Next week work can begin on the farmhouse.
We will build a fire in the black range and the kettle will hum.
Perhaps the sun will shine!

Pebbles in Wyoming


Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Faces Captured In Time

Handwritten on the back is a date in the late 1890's, and the fact that the gentleman pictured was of an age to place his birthday circa 1840. 
He neglected to sign his name--surely the recipient of the photo knew him well.
The portrait was taken at a studio in the nearest 'city'  30 miles from my home town.

A youthful dandy, posed in his finest, hat at a jaunty angle.
The photo is undated, unsigned.
The young man's dark curling hair and square chin don't bring to mind any face I have known.


The background of hewn rock in this photo suggests a quarry.
Although no details are included, the man's stance, the set of his shoulders bears a resemblance to my  Uncle Bill.
I like to imagine that this is a photo of his grandfather for whom he was named, William "Bill" Lewis, whose family connections have proved so elusive.
We know that g-grandfather Lewis worked as a young man, barely out of his teens, on the construction of the Union-Pacific Railroad.
He returned to upstate New York where he worked as a foreman in the open pit graphite mines.




This portrait has a name inscribed on the back:
Harry Sisson.
I was able to discover that Harry was a contemporary of my grandmother, Helene, and that for a season or two he taught in one of the rural schools in her hometown.
Harry, who was raised in a neighboring village, became the head of household after the death of his parents, making a home for his siblings, as well as several nieces and nephews.
My inventive imagination toys with the possibility that perhaps Harry cherished a fondness for Helene.
He may well have boarded [as was the custom] with her family, one of the most prosperous in the district.

This photo poses a conundrum of a unique sort: I've never determined if the subject is a rather plain, heavy-featured woman--or a smooth-faced man.
My g-grandmother Eliza's name appears on the back, and a set of scribbled directions for various roads in the town which has been home to my mother's families for more than 200 years.
When I transcribed the directions for my Cousin Bruce, he astonished me by replying that the roads to be followed would lead from the village of Hague directly to the dooryard of the ancestral home!
Perhaps this was a member of Eliza's family.

Nearly every family at some time finds themselves in possession, by default, of a collection of lumpy photo albums, or vintage shoe boxes which when opened disgorge a tumble of shiny Kodak photos, scalloped edges crumbling, creases distorting a face or a landscape.

The first such album which I recall lived in the parlor cupboard of my grandfather's farmhouse--the house to which he had come upon his marriage, the newly purchased home of his wife's parents.

The album cover had gone soft with time, the lacing which held the black pages in place 
had come  loose.
A few pages had torn free, shedding the triangular 'corners' meant to secure the photos.

The cupboard shelf was high, meaning that I had to carry the piano stool to wedge inside the door and clamber up to pull down the album.

Rarely, I could interest Grampa Mac or my Uncle Bill in paging through the photos with me.
Some of the photos bore on their edges a scrawling handwriting which I was told belonged to my grandmother, Helene, who had died when my Mother was a few months short of her 10th birthday.
Her notations were brief, identifying persons and times.
A small boy, bundled to the ears in winter clothes, held on a sled by a white-moustached man who knelt in the deep snow beside him.
"Dad with Billy" was her caption.
Another, taken in nearly the same spot, barns in the background, shows my great grandfather with his hand resting against a shaggy dog: 
"Dad with Old Shep."

Other photos captured family gatherings--folks posed around an automobile of the early 1920's--the family assembled for a 4th of July picnic.
My mother at about 5 years old, hair clipped in a neat bob, clothed in a middy blouse and bloomers, her brother Bill in tweedy knickers and a tie.

My Grampa Mac seems not to have enjoyed photo ops--he is usually caught standing at the back of the group, looking anywhere but at the photographer--anxious perhaps to return to the farm chores of the day and be done with the fuss of company.
He looks at ease in a photo where he stands at the heads of his beloved team of work horses.

When my late Mother was a few years older than I am now, she spent a snow-bound January going through the old album, sorted photos from the jumbled piles in the boxes.
She brought out her own albums--the photos she and my Father had taken during their courtship and later as they built their home and recorded the special moments of their three daughters.
Dividing the  vintage photos according to our special interests and including those which marked such individual events as our graduations, weddings, our children as they arrived, she lovingly created a memory album for each of us.

Shortly there-after a cross-country move took Jim and me to the unfamiliar [and sometimes forbidding] landscape of Wyoming.  Feeling rather dislocated and with gardening not an option,  I determined to begin compiling a legacy of family history.

I remembered many of  the stories Grampa Mac loved to tell; I had been 'all ears' as a child whenever there was a family gathering of my Mother's aunts and uncles.  I had listened as she read aloud the letters from her cousins, who vividly shared the details of family life.

Most of them had passed away, and Mother's grip on day to day existence was slipping by the time I began to organize family lore.
I purchased a membership in ancestry.com and began plowing laboriously through the pages of the census, often stopping to boil a kettle and brew a mug of tea while my infinitely slow dial up connection loaded yet another image of cramped and faded script.

I filled pages of notebooks with information; amateur that I was, I often neglected to note sources.
I scribbled in margins, crossed out wrong information.
I wasted hours on peripheral searches that drew me down side roads and into the families that had lived alongside my own.

I typed up questionnaires, mailed them to Mother hoping she could fill in the blanks.
On a flying visit home she presented me with a box of vintage photos, many of them studio portraits.
Many of the faces looking back at me from the stiff cardboard folders were younger versions of those I had known and loved.
Some were faces which Mother couldn't identify.

I learned through my research that my great-great grandfather, dead in his 37th year, was buried with a gathering of his kinfolk in a small graveyard a few miles from the homes my Mother had 
known so well.
When questioned, she couldn't recall having gone to the cemetery, although she had many times accompanied her grandparents on visits back 'across the lake' to the family stronghold.
Before her death she bequeathed yet more photos to my Nephew the History Teacher--the one who will carry on the love for family research.

Through the marvel of the internet I connected with a courtesy "cousin" whose families have been in the upstate New York hamlet as long as had been my mother's people.
"Cousin Bruce" has years of research published on his web pages and a fingertip away in his 
PC files.
Our emails flew back and forth.
I had progressed from wanting merely to share stories to a deep interest in the facts and vital statistics of generations past.
Cousin Bruce put me in touch with my own second cousin, a woman who shares my passion for family lore.
Barbara has her grandmother's scrapbooks--photos and clippings, a wealth of details.
Together we puzzle over the album of 'miniatures'--tiny formal cameos of bearded men in high collars, women in bustled gowns.
We can name less than half a dozen of those who must be of our blood or of our great-great grandparent's circle of friends.

I delight in the copies of old photos which have been shared with me.
Before her death last year my Dad's younger sister passed along photos I didn't know existed.
Her son, Cousin Tom, scanned and shared them along with his mother's surprisingly accurate family details. Tom typed notes scribbled down as Aunt Liz related stories of youthful escapades--giving me a view of my Dad's childhood which he had never shared. "Here's the outline," Tom would message, "You write the story."
Aunt Liz was into her 90's before I unearthed the family background hinted at by her notes, made more difficult as I struggled to decipher French Canadian names phonetically spelled on birth and death certificates and census listings. 
A lively correspondence began with a 'cousin' on my father's side--one who has been a leader in her local genealogical society.
Cousin Pat is also a gifted story-teller.

We hit 'brick walls', those of us who become entranced with family history.
We shuffle through the unidentified photos, we puzzle over a generation that seemingly 'disappears' from record.
Sometimes there are those 'eureka' moments: the scrap of information, the missing fact which suddenly makes sense and connects the dots.

As more archival hometown newspapers are digitized and published on the internet, the available resources expand.
Some photos shared , some information discovered come burdened with fore-knowledge.

I gaze at the family portrait of my maternal great-grandparents with a pang.
In it my grandmother, Helene, stands beside her father's chair, her hand on his sleeve. My slender great-grandmother, Minnie Jane, holds on her lap their son, Lawrence. The full skirt of her foulard printed gown is rumpled as though toddler Lawrence had squirmed at being held.
Minnie Jane was likely already a few weeks pregnant with her third child. She would die in childbirth on her 26th birthday within that year.

Lawrence would meet death in the Second Battle of the Marne, never returning home to wed his financee, to pick up his fiddle and make music.
Helene, the grandmother I never knew, would die of leukemia at age 44.



My home state of Vermont several years ago made available to ancestry members digitized images of vital stats from the mid 1800's to within a few years of the present.
Hours of trawling through them confirmed the six stillbirths endured by my paternal grandmother and the loss of her two younger brothers, a sister, and a beloved sister-in-law during the flu epidemic of 1918.
If my father knew of these sad facts, he chose not to speak of them.

There have been delightful finds as well: the description of Grampa Mac and Helene's wedding--so detailed that I can visualize the familiar dining room and the parlour of the old farmhouse dressed with 'choice plants' for the occasion.
The same newspaper archives have yielded in their local columns the details of church gatherings, school outings, road building, weather and farm reports, all sprinkled with names I recognize.

Often after hours of peering at the screen, scribbling notes, I return to the present in a daze, suddenly realizing that I need to prepare a meal or fetch the wash in from the clothesline.

I look with interest at the photos which others post, whether in the local online gazette or on a favorite blog; I want to learn more about the young soldier in his stiff uniform, or the elderly couple seated in the porch swing, the children straggling in untidy lines in front of the one room schoolhouse.
Photos and tidbits of information continue to come to me, sometimes shared from surprising sources--shared by those who recognize the value of heritage, those who also want names to match the faces captured on film in some long ago moment.