This post is another in the series of pictures that were triggered by Elainie coming home back in September. However, there are no pictures of Elainie in this collection. All the pictures in this collection are of Alexis, Kupono, and Kanoa.
So much kissing!
Don’t worry, there are a ton more Stensland photos still to come!
I need to start this post by announcing that the Sharp family is making laundry detergent like crazy and donating it to area food banks like IMPACT and the Toreador Pantry.
However, they need more laundry detergent jugs, so they have set up a garbage can at the end of their driveway where people can donate jugs for them to fill. No jug is too small or too big.
You can find the donation dropoff spot at the end of their driveway.
The live at 1005 South Division Street in Boone. Basically keep going south on Division Street until you can’t go any farther. There will be some photos of their work shared at a later point.
Thanks to anybody that donates!
+++++++
Happy birthday to Kelly! She doesn’t subscribe to this blog, so she will never see this, but happy birthday anyways:
I hope it is a great birthday!
+++++++
Time for another collection of Stensland pictures I took when Elainie came home last fall:
A reminder that I love the candid pictures that I take between the posed pictures so much more than I do the posed pictures. But that is maybe just me.
So much more coming from Elainie’s homecoming.
This is a bit of a different walk down memory lane. One of the first things I did when I started working from home was cleaning out what I guess what you would call my spare desk. I didn’t want to dump a bunch of work stuff on my normal computer. The computer I do all my photo editing on. So I built a computer to me a dedicated work-from-home computer and set it up on the desk that I have had since I was a child.
This started a massive office cleaning project that was at least 7 or 8 years overdue. In fact, when it was finished, Willy couldn’t get over it. During Friday Night Skype Club, he commented on it at least 5-6 times.
I began this process by cleaning out the drawers in my old desk. One of the things I found was a disc of pictures of the work that me and a bunch of friends and family did before I moved in.
I was ecstatic when I found these pictures because I thought they were lost. While I’ve been going through and fixing old “An Artist’s Notebook” posts on these Saturdays I have come across several pictures that were certainly lost. But none that really tore a hole in my soul like losing these pictures.
Now they have been restored to me and now I get to share them with you:
I’m very thankful to all the people that helped turn my house into a home. Many of those same people also helped me move a week later. Such wonderful and tremendous people.
By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Johnathan, at least.
25 days working from home down. No clue how many are left, but I’m guessing it at least 2 more weeks. This week with my extra stay at home time, I mopped my floors. All of them. Not counting the basement. We don’t talk about the basement! I also cleaned all my blinds. Which was scarier that I thought it would be. But as it turns out, only the bathroom blinds were that scary. The kitchen blinds a little bit. I hope to do a wardrobe downsizing soon. Hopefully this weekend. We’ll see. Maybe, I’ll even start working on the basement. Maybe get a little more yard work done.
My work listening schedule didn’t change much. Streamed Life 107.1 FM from 7-9 in the morning. I had what I’m gong to consider a God Moment on Wednesday morning. I know that listening to a Christian radio station might always be a God Moment, but there is one in particular. After the Coronacat post on Tuesday night, I got my normal heat from “cat people”.
Then on Wednesday morning, Taylor and Jen (the morning hosts on Life 107.1) were interviewing the lead singer of Casting Crowns. He is was well studied theologian. For what may have seemed like no reason, he announced that “cats don’t have souls”. Then he went on to praise golden retrievers. Sorry, Alisa, them’s the facts.
I went to Amazon and immediately ordered “Thrive”, “Until the Whole World Hears”, “The Very Next Thing” and “Only Jesus”.(They will arrive promptly on May 15) I’m not a new Casting Crowns fan. “Nobody” is a flat out banger that I sometimes listen to on a loop.
Of course, this will be used to support the false narrative that I hate cats. Not true. I just report facts.
It is like Harry Truman said:
“I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.”
Then from 9 to 2 I listen to the Master Playlist. This week I made it all the way to track #1002 – “I Don’t Want to Be” by Gavin DeGraw. Probably a good song for quarantine living:
“I don’t want to be anything
Other than what I’ve been trying to be lately
All I have to do is of me and I have peace of mind
I’m tired of looking around rooms wondering what I gotta do
Or who I’m supposed to be
I don’t want to be anything other than me”
I didn’t eliminate any songs from the Master Playlist this week.
From 2-4 I still listen to Murph & Andy. Although this week I sprinkled in a podcast breaking down Iowa State’s 2020 football roster.
I don’t know if I’ve discovered any more positives with the work from home life. I recently purchased two air purifiers. I’m not sure it has kept the dust homes as much as I wanted, but I can definitely tell the air is cleaner because I could tell that Naima was really starting to get ripe. She got a bath on Wednesday night. She wasn’t a fan, but she is crazy soft right now.
+++++++
Pastor Dave reached out to me on Wednesday and wanted me to write up (or make a video) of how I’ve seen God working recently. I’m not sure how he is going to use it, but I think he will using during our church service on Sunday. Which you can hear live on KWBG at 9 AM. We still aren’t having worship services in person, obviously.
You can also stream KWBG from their website.
I went the written route because if I started making a video, it would take forever. Absolutely forever. I get too deep into those things.
+++++++
Time to start curating a collection of pictures that I’m just going to lump under the category of Elainie Homecoming. These were taken back in September when Elainie was home from San Diego. Some are family portrait type pictures. Some are more like Elainie-Sabas engagement photos.
Here is the first collection:
There is a ton more photos from Elainie’s homecoming on the way. A veritable ton!
I’ve finally got around to sharing pictures of my great-nephew Kanoa. He was born late last August and he is so cute that I wanted to keep all his pictures to myself. But I can’t keep all the cuteness to myself. What is the old saying, “Cuteness held is the seed; Cuteness shared is the flower.”
Here is cuteness shared:
If you are wondering why there aren’t any pictures of Carla and Jason here, they weren’t there. They were off doing grandparent type things.
I should start today by wising my Aunt Linda a happy birthday!
Recently I shared a collection of pictures I took of the old Boone Dump sliding into McHose Park. Aunt Linda sent me a story that I thought I would share, so you would know what kind of people I come from:
I really liked this history of the junk yard. I have fond memories of going to the junk yard as a family….my dad, mom, David, Gerald and me. Dad would take a gun in case we were attacked by rats. We often found treasures to take home for one reason or another.
I want you to think about this story the next time you even remotely think of trying to mistakenly labeling me as an elitist. I’m the guy that comes from a family that used to go to the town dump, with my Grandpa packing heat to fend off the junkyard rats! These are my people!
Happy birthday Aunt Linda!
+++++++
Time for yet another collection of images from Fly Iowa:
Only 700 more images from Fly Iowa to curate!
Buckle up Nancy, this is going to be a long one!
I need to start this post by wishing a very happy birthday to the middle child of the Bennett Sibling Triumvirate. Happy birthday Carla!
Here are some pictures of Carla:
I hope your birthday had the exact amounts of joy that you wanted!
+++++++
It is also Monica’s birthday. I think it has been a couple of years since I last saw Monica in person. But I know that she would still take a bullet for me. Small caliber. In the arm. Maybe the leg.
Happy birthday Monica! Here are some Monica pics:
I hope your birthday was absolutely wonderful!
+++++++
The Union Street Theater is pleased to announce that a date has been chosen for March Movie Night. March movie night will be Sunday, March 29. March Movie Night will be a tribute to one of my favorite actors, Kirk Douglas. Kirk was the start of a few of my favorite movies of all-time. PATHS OF GLORY, LUST FOR LIFE, and SPARTACUS. Kirk Douglas was instrumental in elevating the greatest filmmaker in history, Stanley Kubrick, to prominence. If he had done nothing else, that would have been enough.
Kirk Douglas passed away in February at the age of 103. The Union Street Theater is pleased to pay tribute to the iconic Kirk Douglas with our March Movie Night. He is only the second actor to receive such a tribute. Burt Reynolds got a similar tribute in 2018.
These are the movies that will play for the Kirk Douglas Tribute. First, the B Movie is:
Here is a synopsis of SATURN 3 from IMDB.com:
Two lovers stationed at a remote base in the asteroid fields of Saturn are intruded upon by a retentive technocrat from Earth and his charge: a malevolent eight foot robot.
The feature film will be:
Here is a synopsis of LONELY ARE THE BRAVE from IMDB.com:
A fiercely independent cowboy gets himself locked up in prison to escape with an old friend.
Anders is also providing a short film that is very intriguing. This will also be the 3rd, but hopefully not the last round of Jay’s Root Beer Symposium.
To Recap:
What: Union Street Theater Movie Night
Movies: SATURN 3 & LONELY ARE THE BRAVE
Date: Sunday, March 29, 2020
Time: 6 PM
Where: UNION STREET THEATER
TOILET PAPER SITUATION: As of right now, I still have plenty of toilet paper.
Hope to see you there!
+++++++
Might as well just get to it. This is the 4th collection of images from Fly Iowa:
Only about 800 more images to curate!
It was a bittersweet Christmas for the Bennetts. As always, there was much joy when the family gets together, but while the 2019 Christmas will always be known as the first Christmas with Kanoa. It will also be the Christmas when Amanda and Logan announced that they are expecting a new bundle of joy in 2020. It will also be known as the Christmas where Grandma passed away.
The good outweighs the bad though.
Here are some pictures from the Bennett Christmas, some are cruddy cell phone pictures that I took while experimenting with a camera phone app:
I don’t usually dwell on the names of my blog posts. I either figure that people don’t care or that they google it and figure it out. Although Google won’t always unravel the riddle.
This riddle is a reference to Ernest Tubb, who was my Grandma’s favorite musician. I’d like to share the lyrics to one of my favorite Ernest Tubb songs to close this post out:
Yesterday’s tears are still fallin’ yesterday’s dreams are still broken
Yesterday’s love is still livin’ a love that will never be spoken
I’ve tried so hard to forget dear tried not too smart everything
You are the one who has given but all you’ve received dear is pain
My life has been such a sorrow my world has crumbled like clay
My heart has slowly been dying since you told me goodbye that dayLong weary years you have suffered to keep from hurting someone
If only I could repay you for all of the kind things you’ve done
You haven’t spared me my darling everything to you I owe
All I can say is I love so much more than anyone know
So yesterday’s tears are still fallin’ yesterday’s dreams are still broken
Yesterday’s love is still livin’ a love that will never be spoken
December was a truly busy month. I actually left the state more than one. I visited places like Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida.
I feel I ended this attempt at THE SELFIE PROJECT fairly strong. Here are some of my favorite pictures from December:
December 2
December 3
December 4
December 5
December 6
December 7
December 10
December 12
December 14
December 15
December 19
December 20
December 21
December 22
December 23
December 24
December 25
December 26
December 27
December 28
December 30
December 31
January 1
I might do a year-end look at THE SELFIE PROJECT, at some point, but if I don’t, you can peruse all THE SELFIE PROJECT pictures by clicking on the link below:
I’m not duplicating this project in 2020. I might do a “selfie-type” project, but it will be completely different.
+++++++
This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is HDR:
Remember an HDR image is a combination of several images to create on image with expanded dynamic range. Pretty much every camera will have an HDR setting that will do this for you automatically. If you can find me, I can show you the setting on your camera.
Happy photo harvesting!
On Christmas Day, my family was sitting around Carla and Jason’s basement digesting a delicious meal, letting DIE HARD play in the background, playing pool, and discussing one of Amanda’s latest real estate projects.
It was not going to be a joyous Christmas. About a week before Christmas, my last living grandparent was put into hospice care at the Boone County Hospital. Grandma Paris.
Grandma had 7 children and they had been taking shifts around the clock to make sure she was never alone. My Mom’s shift was from 3:30 to 7. Mom was about an hour away from going to cover her shift when the call came that she should come immediately. The time was here.
Teresa drove the Mom to the hospital. About 10 minutes later my phone rang and it was Teresa. Grandma was gone.
She was 94 years old and while she had been suffering from the symptoms of dementia for several years, she had never lost her wit. Just a few weeks earlier, one of my aunts was grousing about family conflict and asked Grandma, “Why did you have to have all of these kids?”
Grandma shot back, “Which one of them do you think I shouldn’t have had?”
My aunt had no response.
That was Grandma.
Her obituary:
Obituary for Doris Paris
Doris Paris
August 20, 1925 – December 25, 2019Doris Irene (Majors) Paris, 94, died peacefully on Wednesday, December 25, 2019 at the Boone County Hospital in Boone, Iowa.
Doris, the daughter of Robert Lee and Goldie Faye (Patterson) Majors was born in Old Centerville, Iowa, August 20, 1925. She attended Hickory Grove School and received her GED from Des Moines Area Community College.
On March 7, 1942, she married Lyle R. Paris in Bethany, Missouri. She retired following 29 years of service with Bourns, Inc. located in Ames.
In 1937 she was baptized at the Central Christian Church and served as deacon, member of Christian Women’s Fellowship Group #1, Home Builder’s Sunday School class and choir. She also served many years as the church’s kitchen leader for its Annual Harvest Dinner, funeral luncheons and monthly lunches for senior church members. In addition to her church work, she actively participated in two quilt clubs and Jill’s craft club.
She is preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, Lyle R. Paris and by four sisters: Margaret Lykens, Gladys Paris, Betty Walker and Marjorie Lau; six brothers: Donald, Harold, James, Robert, Raymond, and Thomas; daughter-in-law Charlene Paris; two sons-in-law: Gerald Bennett and Dean Walter; granddaughter-in-law Olivia Bennett and great grandson Samuel Bennett.
Survivors include five daughters and three sons-in-law. Charlotte Bennett, Delores (Dee) and Richard VanDePol, Sheryl (Sherry) and Terry Johnson, Dianna (Annie) Walter and Lori and Roger Sebring; two sons: Lyle (Butch) Paris and Gary Paris; three sisters-in-law: Denise Majors of Ankeny, Mary Jo Woodard and Jan Pulver both of Boone; 15 grandchildren; 29 great grandchildren and 7 great-great grandchildren.
Doris’ love of God, family, sense of humor, sweet spirit, gentle nature, hard work ethic, good cooking and the kindness she showed to others will truly be missed, but never forgotten.
The family will be present to greet friends at a visitation from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Saturday, January 4, 2020 at Schroeder-Stark-Welin Funeral Home, 609 7th Street, Boone, Iowa. A private family burial will be held at Linwood Park Cemetery in Boone, Iowa at a later date.
Memorials are suggested to the family to be determined at a later date. Online condolences may be left at www.schroederfuneral.com.
To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Doris Paris please visit our Sympathy Store.
I was mercifully out of the state while the details were worked out, but I believe that memorial will go to hospice and the American Heart Association.
I’d like to share a few pictures of Grandma with you:
Grandma was a great gardener and I often would go over to her house and photograph her flowers. Here are some of her flowers:
One last thing I want to share about Grandma before I close. Grandma was an avid collector of garden statues. She had them all over the yard. Many other people in our family have shown the same affinity. My Mom does it. Teresa does it. Carla does it. You may have noticed the large collection of frog statues (and other things) strewn across my yard.
There are times that this trait is somewhat derogatorily referred to in the family as “The Doris Gene”. However, I never took it to be a negative. I actually consider it to be a blessing. The first time I buy a new statue for the yard in 2020 (and I already have my eye on one from a shop in Minnesota) and every time I buy a stature after, I will think about Grandma.
I hope you have things that you do to that help you to remember the people that you love. They are some of the greatest blessings.
