Thematic Photographic # 151 Rough

Welcome to this week's Thematic Photographic theme of "rough" by Carmi from his Written Inc. Blog....Carmi enjoys our unlimited stretches into his week's theme.... and I hope you like my choice of "rough" for this week..........

If you want to add your own thoughts with a photo or more just go here
http://writteninc.blogspot.com/2011/06/thematic-photographic-151-rough.html


I was excited when I saw this "rough" theme since last week I took two of my grandsons to a place now called the Landing...... AKA Murphy's Landing.....where you go back in time beginning in 1840's to 1890's....learning how "rough" people had it when they "ROUGHED" it living in the Minnesota River Valley 150 years ago.  The Landing is ....88 acres of a living history museum, with authentic 19th century buildings nestled along a scenic river trail....come see for yourself....

A genuine Beaver hat!... at the local fur trader, at the Oliver Faribault Cabin....along side animal skins where you brought your animal skins in for payment!

No home builders here, this log house was built by one man (owner) logs on each corner cut and laid at an angle so the rain wouldn't come inside, no indoor plumbing, no electricity, and bed mattresses made of straw and rope ties, (remember, "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!")

Sorry the only means of communication arrived as a letter or package in these bags at the nearest General Store.  Twitter was for birds and sorry no telephones yet!

Ah yes, the cleaning and caring of these adorable Dorking Breed gives us eggs for breakfast, or eggs to barter at the local store! The Dorkings were popular in the 19th century, origins from Italy then the UK they have a dual purpose giving eggs and meat and typically the Dorkings have FIVE toes!

We might go back and buy that Civil war hat Jack wanted, (but I thought oh he'd never wear it")... but at another stop..... clearly Jack has a thing for hats and acting!

This is a great YouTube clip for The landing- Minnesota River Heritage Park (all the buildings are authentic and moved here from other locations in Minnesota!) Enjoy the volunteer characters!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjfLNEpVfug&feature=related

Whimsical Wednesday wk 30 - 29 June - July

Mr. Clown's first flight.....!

Welcome back to another week of whimsy on the web...with Whimsical Wednesday!

It's a funny thing about things that are whimsical, musical, or dancical, wait dancical isn't a word...today while you go about your regular business ....keep your eyes wide open ...even more than usual and who knows...you might catch a Hummingbird or a firefly...or you could discover a hot air balloon and set it free!  What ever you do...if you feel like sharing a bit of whimsy our way go here
http://dthaase-lines.blogspot.com/p/whimsical-wednesday.html

Mr. Clown went to town
One hot summer’s day
Not to play…

Oh no,

Mr. Clown found
On his trip that day
A bit of a breeze to hinder his way…

Oh no,

Mr. Clown grew a frown
The size of Texas
That just wouldn’t go away….

My oh my, Mr. Clown

Are you going to stay
Caught up in trees
And never see town?

"I get up and I bless the light thin clouds
and the first twittering of birds,
and the breathing air and smiling face of the hills." - Giacomo Leopardi

Saturday Centus - # 60 - Dear John

Good morning Saturday Centus followers...it's a new prompt of "Dear John" oh no! Poor, poor sad John or maybe not!  Jenny, at "Off on my tangent blog" has said in honor of this being the 60th Saturday Centus we have only 60 words plus two more to complete this task if you decide to take it....I must hurry as I have a very important date in a short while and poor dear sad John....won't be coming along...where or where could he be?  Read on to see and if you want to add your own 60 plus 2 words to complete this mission well then go here

http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/2011/06/saturday-centus-dear-john.html

Here is mine:

Since you disappeared again, a google search to send your Dear John letter led to Pottawattamie.  Even though you were always as friendly as a rattlesnake, and subtle as a Mack truck, your slyness let you catch any girl.  Finally it’s all caught up to you.  The search continued with section 14, Row 3, in an abandoned cemetery north of Honey Creek.

Thanks for following along again...and if you want some groovy music too, just head over to Saturday Centus!  Have fun!

Sepia Saturday 80 - Saturday 25 June 2011

Welcome to another Sepia Saturday where this week I'm leaving the lovely ladies Alan posted last week at the beach ....So in honor of Summer beginning just a few days ago...I'm posting all things SUMMER related from long ago Sepia-Land.......instead of Alan's theme this week! 

But, if it's fun in the sun or any other Sepia related moments you want to share too, then just go here

http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2011/06/sepia-saturday-80-saturday-25-june-2011.html

Welcome summer.....

Now what do you suppose these handsomely dressed gents are up to?

What would summer be without having a beer or smoking a good 5 cent cigar and dancing under the moonlight with your favorite girl ......this is a short clipping that ran in the Madison Independent Press, Aug 12, 1910.  It couldn't have been about any of the boys pictured above could it?

 It read:  Two or three brainless galoots carrying an overload of the stuff that made Milwaukee famous kept the people of the southwest corner of this city awake about all night last Saturday Night.

and of course summer time fun begins at any good lake or resort......or local watering hole .....

My aunt and uncle still live in Grand Haven, Michigan and we would go to Lake Michigan all the time, but I never saw it quite like this...this postcard reads- Automobile parking oval on beach at State Park, Grand Haven, Mich. (of course we always walked there but this would have been fun to see in real life!) This postcard was mailed in 1936 but who knows when it was actually printed or of what era ....

A favorite summer time thing is spending it on a lake- amazing most of the places on Lake Vermilion as most lakes everywhere look pretty much today as they did back then. This photo postcard is from 1958, many years later we took our children here too...this lake is unbelievable, as it is 42 miles long and at most points when you sit on the water you see nothing but trees surrounding it..no signs of life from any city..and the islands are many...some great for camping too! 

But there were other things that didn't involve swimming or fishing that kept people amused in the summer....

This is the cover for the Amateur Series...

"The Pull Back" a farce by T. S. Denison performed in Chicago and had a playing time of twenty minutes, first copyright was 1878 and this printing was 1906....the first scene opened as The Ladies' Waiting Room at a Railway Station....enters Mrs. Oldstyle and Mrs. Senseny...great names don't you think?!  (What's great is the entire play is included in this booklet!) Thank goodness someone bought it originally for 15 cents and I have it today!

I couldn't resist purchasing this...

It reads, It's coming nearer, Wow, Murder!! Police!!!  and it should add Rabbitman!!!! Dressed in a suit that nearly matches the wall paper!!!   I can bet this was one funny production of murder at it's finest and served with humor !

What would summer be if not for going to the Theatre, night or day time...

"Henpeck Holler Gossip to A Tempest in a Hat Shop" all fine productions to be seen at 623 S. Wabash Ave. Chicago...come on Minnesotans just board the train and come on over for some summer fun!   For an interesting read click to make larger and enjoy the plots!

Oh sure there was a lot of great "catch" happening......

The Minnesota Historical Society posted this photo discussing the "catch-and release" concept, although this picture pretty much appears to be (fish) almost ready for the frying pan instead of swimming for these lovely fish...a catch of about three-dozen hefty Smallmouth bass from Detroit Lake, (Mn.) in 1884.

Greetings for a summer's evening of listening to mandolins or a harp guitar...from the University of Minnesota Mandolin club about 1897 - Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society.

Sometimes summer fun meant sports, like boxing and rough housing outside ! Pictured here are the Amateurs from the Minnesota Boat Club practicing boxing, and simply fooling around for fun about 1890. - Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society.

Ah yes, the laundry is all hung nicely swaying to the gentle breeze and it's time for a quick bite of lunch before riding those great bicycles waiting just for us! Quonset huts at 1500 Buchanan St. Northeast, Minneapolis, 1946 - courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society.

Now every good upstanding person in the community must do what they have to do, before the fun begins, right? - This ad ran in the Iron Trade Journal, Two Harbors, June 9, 1898.

....So, now that all our work has been completed...let's go out and enjoy the summer!   Thanks for stopping by Sepia Saturday...once again!

Six Word Saturday - 6WS - 25 June

Oh happy day 6WS followers (a little less wisdom today, more of a celebration Saturday for a change !)   ...today is a very big day for an ecstatic group of ladies who got this invitation in the mail..............

Heather's Getting Married!  ...soon.....!

Yes, this is where you can post six words of what evers going on in your life right now....at Cate's, Show My Face Blog with Six Word Saturday.....you can throw in a photo or two or more, a video, whatever, just do it here
http://www.showmyface.com/2011/06/six-word-saturday_25.html


My Six Words are.........

HEATHER'S BACHELORETTE PARTY
             IS HAPPENING TODAY

The fun begins at 1:30 today.....to prepare Heather for  "Taking one step at a time"



Listen to this pre-getting married music video to get in the groove.....!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etptsy1q574

Whimsical Wednesday wk # 29 22 June 2011

Welcome all friends of the whimsy nature.......it's time again.....on this enchanting 2nd day of summer to play along with the delightful Whimsical Wednesday folks....if you have something, why not go here
http://dthaase.blogspot.com/2011/03/whimsical-wednesday-has-moved.html

Do you have your jar of fireflies filled yet for camping? 
Or are you still chasing that elusive dragonfly that
zooms in and zooms out again
quicker than you can say.....caught you this time!

...and Summer Unfolds

  "It's not that bad.  I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely." - Princess Bride

Seize the day, and worry not where spring went......or that it barely arrived ......today it's summer!

              Welcome to the Centennial Lakes Park, Edina, Minnesota...
A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds singing and the lawn mower is broken, - James Dent..... and there is music playing at the Maetzold Amphitheater!

Looking across the way I see a pine cone, a very large silver pine cone waiting....

                                 People are always asking about the pine cone.....

                and they wonder why it's here....

                             

The Pine cone is a vessel for the seed of the tree.  It is a Vessel of Life.
It casts the seed of Continuum......

The Pine cone at Centennial Lakes Park

It was a good day.....hope your day was too!

Saturday Centus - within the stone 18 June

Welcome to another post for Saturday Centus (actually posted today, Saturday) the day before Father's Day (in case you may have been too busy to notice) and you all know Jenny usually delivers the prompt or photo for her sweet little game of Saturday Centus......

But today she has given that privilege away again and yes in only 100 words we give our take on Jeff's prompt of "within the stone" and you can check his super blog out at Tennessee Mudbug http://tennesseemudbug.blogspot.com/

..... if you want to add in with your own idea for this awesome prompt go here
http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/2011/06/saturday-centus-within-stone.html

Okay here's mine....

Blame it on the well manicured lawns surrounding each magnificent mansion along the river. Every house reflected the owner’s personality, intensifying their appreciation and nobody denies forming this plan. Why was one particular house so peculiar? Did whoever own it really need a claw-foot tub and a wooden-tub washing machine on their front porch? This nightmare tormented them like smoldering ash long enough.

Finally someone climbed the tall black iron fence encircling this prosperous property to throw a written warning taped to a brick and it went right through a window within the stone house.
“Who attacked my house?”
Was that the Mayor screaming?

Six Word Saturday -- 6WS 18 June

Good morning.....


Good morning Six Word Saturday bloggers.....
I welcome sunshine for this day! The sun is going to shine everywhere! (Yeah I know you say it's thundering and pouring rain outside....for the moment!)


My six words for this Saturday arrives for very good reasons. ...and it has to do with why we say GOOD morning......or Good Day or Happy Birthday....Good luck.....Safe journey....


If you want to add your own thoughts for this day go here
http://www.showmyface.com/2011/06/six-word-saturday_18.html


WHAT WE TALK ABOUT OFTEN OCCURS


"If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet." - Isaac Bashevis Singer


it's kind of like whatever your belief will be......what you constantly think will be.....


So be like a postage stamp--stick to one thing until you get there...- Josh Billings


IF YOU BELIEVE IN SOMETHING, ESPECIALLY YOURSELF --YOU/it WILL BECOME SO.....
PUT YOUR POSITIVE THOUGHTS-ACTIONS-WORDS...... FORWARD........
He/she ......who seeks happiness FINDS IT!

Sepia Saturday 79 - Saturday 18 June 2011

Welcome everybody from sailing ships and waving sailors to beach side parties of one or more.....we are leaving New York City (or so Alan predicted for this day) and sailing across the great Atlantic Ocean......for Sepia Saturday. 

Alan's theme photo is of two very fashionable ladies (quite the upper crust of high society) looking far too over dressed for any beach, but people did dress classier with flair in the old days......didn't they?  Often covering much more skin than exposing it for sure!

If you want to follow along with your own creation of water, beach and sand oh my......or something else from back in the day long, long ago...then go here

http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2011/06/sepia-saturday-79-saturday-18-june-2011.html

Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis in about 1911 -courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society

When the ocean is too far away, a day at the lake will do just fine!  Everyone here is dressed as well as the ladies in Sepia Saturday's theme photo and they are all ready for fun in the sun!

Alan's Sepia Saturday photo was taken at the Atlantic City Beach in about 1905.

The Old and New Light House by night, Cape Henry, Virginia

In 1798 Benjamin Latrobe (designed United States Capital) described Cape Henry as "an octangular truncated pyramid of eight sides, rising 90 feet to the light."  The New Cape Henry built 1881 was fully automated in 1983 and remains in use today.

This Old Cape Henry Light House is less than 250 miles away from Alan's Atlantic City Beach photo and no doubt in the opposite direction of his ship.  Many majestic lighthouses have been abandoned or replaced with clever devices from the latest of technologies, and those that are lucky enough still stand tall today.  Located just down the Atlantic coast and situated (per the description on this postcard) at the entrance of Chesapeake Bay it was erected in 1690 and used about two hundred years until the new lighthouse was built in the later part of the nineteenth Century.  Surely this particular lighthouse won’t be guiding Alan’s ship by any means but in it’s glory days the Old Cape Henry Light House guided ships, saved lives, showed the way for many a stranded and weary sailor and no doubt stimulated the economy. 

I was happy to see that the person selling this postcard was kind enough to translate it for us all!
Here is the other side ...

It was written and mailed in 1919 on January 26th at 10L10 A.M. in Norfolk, VA.

This next post card comes from the same collection but I believe it was created in Verdenspostfureningen (Union Postale Universelle) Brevkort -- Carte Postale Danmark and mailed to Mrs. Carl Jensen in Hopkins, Minnesota. Per backside.

This is a true sepia post card, with a damsel in distress perhaps, or maybe not but surely a ship in the distance across this vast ocean....mailed also in 1919.

Minnesota being what it was then as well as today is known for having over 10,000 lakes, and
spending any day at the lake was heavenly..

This postcard is of "car campers" at the town's tourist park, in Ely, Minnesota about 1935.
These boys were lucky that their families owned both a fine working vehicle and a tent to soak up the summer sunshine...take in a little swimming and catch some fish too!

I know there's a lot of driving on the public beaches in Florida, but it's not so common in Minnesota, yet back in 1912 when this photo was taken at Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis
they parked their cars almost in the water.

There were many that arrived at the lake by streetcar or on foot while others drove soft-top vehicles from upscale sedans to modest Model T's where they could fit four comfortably.  Canoes and waders filled the lake and strollers with laughing babies and ladies with their large hats and parasols mingled with swimmers and youngsters on the shoreline.  - courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society.

Moving right along to a beach side resort...

Wildwood Amusement Park in Mahtomedi, Minnesota, in the background water shute and diving platform in the early 1900's.  During good weekends up to a thousand people flocked to Wildwood, located at White Bear Lake.

It wasn't always about the sandy beach and catching the incoming waves, but more for yesterday's boating and the comfort of canoeists relaxing with music from their portable phonographs handily placed "amidships" for ease of operation and hearing....it was quite a special date if you were lucky enough to be asked along!

"Anyone have an umbrella...the sun is mighty hot!"-courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

Thanks for letting me share another moment in Sepia Saturday.....

Thematic Photographic # 150 Signs that make us wonder

"The Rear End" or is it just the beginning?

Of course click on photo to make it larger!

Oh this is exciting! Carmi at Written Inc. has released his theme for Thematic Photographic and it’s “Signs that make us wonder” in whatever way you see fit to wonder or wander!



Want to join in on this excitement too?  Just go here
http://writteninc.blogspot.com/2011/06/thematic-photographic-150-signs-that.html


…..So we all know when we’re on a scavenger hunt for something in particular, that something can be quite elusive and Carmi said we can reach into our previous able-bodied goody bags of earlier photos, so I did just that…but my camera will be ready for something more current!

I hate to think how long ago I snapped this photo….and it's glued into the end of a book of poetry (Apples Over the Moon) I wrote for my father.

We were driving some where in Wisconsin, en route to Michigan or Wisconsin Dells when this sign popped out of no where….we can’t let this moment be forgotten… so pull over and shoot…. no going inside, back into the car children.....

Okay spelling is intact, (and it’s logical) but it makes one pause and wonder....to JUST wonder

I also selected this photo for TP for the same reason I shot it….aren’t you just in awe when people come up with such fitting names for their ventures? …and because very soon I’ll be attending (at a completely different location) a “Bachelorette” party at “Lady something”….where we will learn some new moves!  (All in fun) and a man’s button-up shirt is required….yes there will be pictures….but they won’t be here…sorry!

As a side note:  I checked and The Rear End still exists in Marshfield, Wisconsin....but trust me...we won't being going there!

Whimsical Wednesday - wk 28 - June 15- June 21

Greetings on this rainy Whimsical Wednesday filled with magic and surprise...just waiting for you to seize....and to note:
THE IMPORTANCE OF TODAY... which is really necessary to realize EVERYDAY!

If you feel the whimsy urge to post as well....please just go here

http://dthaase-lines.blogspot.com/p/whimsical-wednesday.html

Today: is your Present
Enjoy!

and if Puff the Magic Dragon were speaking
he'd say
"This is not a dress rehearsal!"

"You had better live your best and act your best and think your best today;
for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and all the other tomorrows that follow." -
Harriet Martineau

and of course....."Sufferin' succotash, I tawt I taw...." 

Six Word Saturday - 6WS

Happiness is another Six Word Saturday ...oh I wonder what direction we all will journey today! 

If you want to join in as well just pop over to Cate's blog at
http://www.showmyface.com/2011/06/six-word-saturday_11.html

Cate also has some exciting guessing game going on over there...so check it out!

My offering this 6WS sums up my week's recent events, although in a short while I'll be simply enjoying a "Bridal Shower for Heather".....! Can't wait!

FREEDOM ARRIVES CHOOSING RENEWAL OVER RUIN

If something is broken fix it right?  So why not do the same in our everyday life.....


"I would not sit waiting for some value tomorrow,
nor for something to happen.
One could wait a lifetime....
I would make something happen."  (now, today)  -  Louis L. Amour

Sepia Saturday 78 : 11 June 2011

Greetings as our journey begins this week in New York City.....as Sepia Saturday magically released the lovely and the boastful  photo of the "New York Skyline" with beaming buildings circling the elegant Eiffel Tower as well....

Wait....the Eiffel Tower in New York City, really?

So if you want to play along too with this theme...or some other Sepia related post just go here

http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2011/06/sepia-saturday-78-saturday-11-june-2011.html

Standing on an Island only a short distance away from Manhattan stands the most famous, Statue of Liberty

Postcard of the famous Statue of Liberty - dedicated 1886 "Liberty Enlightening the World -- a gift from France to commemorate liberty in the United States of America.

 Not all famous statues or structures built of great importance or significance still stand all these years later...like Lady Liberty does today.......skipping across the United States to Minneapolis one unique building in it's day no longer waits for company... 

The Metropolitan - Minneapolis - 1890 - 1962

Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time...this structure came down because it was built in the wrong neighborhood on the edge of the so-called Gateway District and was torn down in 1962.

Elevators within the building glided up more than 220 feet.  AKA "The Met" there were dedicated groups of citizens trying to "Save the Met" from destruction.....it was described as a "fantasia in glass and iron," until the end it was reputed to be the highest interior in the United States--like Beauvais Cathedral in France, or Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, incomparable. 



The Metropolitan - Minneapolis, Minnesota



Skipping past the theme photo of stately buildings and the Eiffel Tower for a moment please welcome Alexander Graham Bell and his never-ending quest for communication, which he took in so many directions.  Since Alan from Sepia Saturday will be doing just that in his search for a "cyber-cafe" ....it brings to mind just how and where most of our communicating with others began.  Pictured here is Alexander himself sitting on top of his own specially designed tetrahedral observation post for an excellent viewing of his tetrahedral kite flights.  He was quite fond of this creation.  Photo taken August 12, 1907 in Nova Scotia.




Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

There is a great story behind his theory and it involved wires.  These wires that came to mind from all the main pipes that already laid under the streets and they had side pipes that connected to various dwellings enabling gas or water to reach people within their houses or places of business.  Bell believed that future wires (for the telephone) would unite the head offices of telephone companies in different cities and allow people to connect with one another in other parts of the country and thus everyone could communicate by word of mouth to far away places.

Moving on you might believe newspapers were quite a source of communication, in a rather long and single manner....and there were postcards and letters if the telephone proved to be too costly for some...but what about other forms of written words like perhaps....

Writing on bark....this writer is posed to show the manner of sitting while writing on bark.  - Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society
But not just ordinary writing.  The Ojibwa usually drew their pictures on pieces of birch bark with pieces of charcoal or a sharp, pointed bone.  Often drawing them on a smooth, flat piece of cedar.  The wood was often easier to get than birch bark and was large enough for a short message.

A couple of Ojibwa sayings -

"Sometimes I go about in pity for myself, and all the while a great wind is bearing me across the sky."

In the old days our people had no education.  All their wisdom and knowledge came to them from dreams. They tested their dreams and in that way learned their own strength. - Ojibwa Elder

Thank you for stopping by another Sepia Saturday.

Thematic Photographic #149 Family an Unusual response

Hello fellow bloggers...it's time for Written Inc. and Carmi's theme of the week......hmmmm we've had this theme before....and it seems sometimes when it's this kind of theme not so many bloggers check it out..(Why is that?).......so I'm going totally different on this week's theme of "family" ...........with my unusual response!

If you feel like like playing along too just go here
http://writteninc.blogspot.com/2011/06/thematic-photographic-149-family.html

The following photos were taken on my recent vacation...(which by the way did not include any of my family...at all)....beginning in Red Rock Canyon, one of the Mojave Desert's beautiful attractions....with scenic desert cliffs, buttes, spectacular rock formations and burros....oh I so enjoy their darling little joyful faces....




Meet the Brothers.........

and because sometimes your significant other comes along in the middle of a good conversation...

"Come on honey time to come home now....."

Mommy and Daddy....pictured and their little one is grazing just behind them!

just a lovely day outside Bonnie Springs Ranch.....on the 28th May...


"This is intimacy: its touch is ever new, revealing the precious moments we have to live and to connect with things.  No love is ever lost in this universe."   - Gunilla Norris
 Lead the way so I may follow......

Father and son......(and random strangers coming up beside them)


okay and moving on

Sisters for life!  You don't believe me...well, just ask them!

Please, Let Them Eat Cake

"If you're feeling blue, you haven't tasted the right sweets...."

"A word of kindness is seldom spoken in vain, while witty sayings are as easily lost as the pearls slipping from a broken string."  - George Prentice


A kind word is like a Spring Day  -  (Russian proverb)