Joel in Ethiopia

Recently, Joel and his parents came for a visit to Utah.

The above shot includes the five of us who went to Ethiopia,
Joel, his Ethiopian mom Iman, his Californian dad Mike, and Nancy the Grandma, and me
along with
my son-in-law and granddaughter thrown in for good measure.

I only wrote one blog post about traveling to Ethiopia and that's something I regret.

So I'm going to share the delights of experiencing Ethiopia with 5 year-old Joel as a travel mate.


Joel was beloved by just about everyone. He made friends almost instantaneously.

He loved giving out ballpoint pens to children he met on our journeys.

Pens were in short supply in Ethiopia and everybody greatly valued such a gift.

It's very hard for us to imagine, but it's true.

Joel could be hilarious and he kept us in stitches.

(BTW, these reed boats really do float.)


This little man didn't hesitate to try new things:


(Notice the little girl holding on to my hand in the background of the above shot.
Children would just find your hand and become your buddy before you even realized it!!!)


The Ethiopian Coptic priests would take great delight in giving Joel a blessing.

Literally, he was irresistible!

Like his father, he was always ready for adventure.

Of course, his grandmother and her friend were pretty great adventurers too!

But there's nothing like a radiant child to open doors when you're traveling the world.

Nothing.

Rather Random

This post is a collection of recent unrelated, random shots.

These ultra-high-top shoes are securely tied to the legs of one of my Lovely Lassies.

Bizarre fashion statement, don't you think?

(The young lassies came to my place yesterday and learned about careers from three savvy women:
a lawyer, a nurse and a business owner.)

This was bizarre, too.

I came across a unicyclist on the canyon trail. Quite unexpected.

Then, there was this decorated Christmas tree - just above the trail on US Forest Service property.

I know. The holidays are soooo over.

But the wild pine loaded with ornaments is still there, encouraging people like me to ask questions:

Who did this? Was young love involved?

Here's Duane, my son-in-law, with his younger sister on his shoulders . . .
experiencing the sensuous texture of the canyon moss.


Finally, a decent show of snow.

Shockingly late, but we didn't complain.

Still, no rules against GRILLING during the snow season.

Barbequed these yummies for some friends who gathered last weekend.

Fireside chats mixed with healthy vittles = the BEST.

Is that RANDOM enough?

asks my granddaughter, Ms. Rella, with a purple plastic necklace hanging out of her mouth.

Christmas Wrap-up

Christmas officially commenced with a family wedding.

The bride is a friend of my goddaughter Vic. The groom - first son of my youngest brother.

Took this shot last April. The bride-to-be is on the left.

After the wedding ceremony, there was a family luncheon. In the evening, a reception.

Kenneth, my highly social grandson, LOOOOOOOOVED all the partying.

My sister Tricia hosted our Christmas Eve dinner.

In our family, there's no wine or beer, but we tend to get a bit drunk on music.

As you can imagine, singing the carols was the highlight of the evening,
although my sister's cooking was a close second.

BTW, Tricia is what you'd call a professional vocalist.

You can listen (and even purchase) her music at TriciaStorey.com


After dinner was cleared, here's what remained ~

On Christmas day, there were two present opening extravaganzas at my house.

The first one @ 9 a.m. with Kelty & Duane's family,
with little Ms. Rella May modeling her mom's new fuzzy hat & scarf:

The second one took place when Arian and Jill along with their three kiddos arrived @ 4:30 p.m.

This little gal loved the delightful chaos almost as much her older brother and sister.

On Christmas night, aunts and uncles and cousins came over for a final round of celebration.

Notice the three conversations taking place in the kitchen.

What might they be saying?

The foreground = "Do you really think so?"

The guys in the middle = "No kidding! It was about this long."

In the back = A compliment followed by "Shucks" and a downward glance.

Another four knots of conversations in the living room.

I'll only guess at the fireside chat:

"You could see this ginormous elk grazing just beyond the lake."



We have taken lots of hikes up the canyon with all the visitors in town.

My granddaughter Audrey has been living in Nevada
and simply HAD to experience snow up close, REALLY CLOSE.

Her brother Kenneth found a hefty rock with a nice vein of quartz and determindly lugged it back down the canyon.

It still sits on my front porch, reminding me of that little guy and his family,
now settling into life in Oxford, England.

Truth is, there's been little snow this year.

What's fallen has mostly melted away, as you can see from this shot taken on December 23rd.

I'm not complaining. Not complaining AT ALL.

This has been a spectacular holiday season, wrapping up a banner year for my family.



As I type, I can hear Kelty and Duane packing up downstairs.

Duane's mom and sisters are doing likewise.

There are outbursts of boisterous laughter at regular intervals.

Tomorrow @ 4 a.m. I'll be driving one family to the airport, headed to Chicago.
and bidding another family farewell from my front porch later in the day, headed to Canada.

Then, I'll sit back and enjoy the quiet.

I like a strong dose of holiday pandemonium . . . followed by the restoration of orderliness.

Both are good and provide counter-balanced elements of rich living.

Cheerio!

My son had a rough time making it through junior high school.
He was NOT an optimal student.

In spite of that fact,
he just completed his first year of graduate studies @ Oxford University.


During 2011, he maintained a full-time job in the U.S. and 'commuted' to England.

But things are gonna change!

At this very moment,
Arian and his family of five are crossing the pond in a jet plane, headed to London.


The family will spend 2012 home-based in England while Arian completes his last year at Oxford.

It was tough to say "Cheerio", knowing that my older grandbabes will be coming back,
speaking the King's English.

NEVER give up on your kids as hopeless!

AND, tomorrow I'll be sending the holiday wrap-up and it's
really sweet.
Really.

Reese Noelle

This is my daughter Leah -

Great with Child.


While I was putting ornaments on the tree . . .



and welcoming her siblings and their families into my home,

she was toiling with a mighty labor.

is welcomed by her sisters,

Brinley, Avery, and Aspen -

and even by FATHER NOEL himself!

7 lbs. 6 oz. * 19.5 inches

Base Jumpers

I took this shot @ 4:30 p.m. today.

Base jumpers are becoming quite common in the canyon, even in the most unsavory weather.

They hurl themselves off the edges of the cliffs and free-fall a few hundred feet before opening their parachutes.

It's pretty thrilling to watch them navigating their descent between the natural obstacles.

My dog hates the loud crack reverberating off the canyon walls as their parachutes open.
She usually runs home at break-neck speed.

On the other hand, I usually trot over to their landing spot, wherever that may be,
and get acquainted with these jumpers who inevitably become fast friends.

Sometimes they end up enjoying a cup of herbal tea at my place.

These fascinating people who drop out of the sky,
they are among the many perks of living in the shadow of the canyon.

Bear on the Square in Georgia

Last spring, I spent some time poking around Georgia, a state which has won my heart.

In the 3rd post about that trip,
I promised that I would explain exactly WHY I spent time in the little hamlet of Dahlonega,
nestled at the base of the southern Appalachians.

It's worth sharing, even if I'm TARDY on fulfilling my promise.

(I know you weren't holding your breath. Well, maybe Jean was.)



I was interested in Dahlonega because of a small local music festival called Bear on the Square
which draws folks down out of the hollers in the Chattahoochee Mountains.

The Old Time style of music is alive and thriving there.
(Bluegrass was born out of Old Time. Frankly, I can't quite tell the difference.)



Talented groups like The Buzzard Mt. Boys played in the one tent erected for performing.

But the bigger part of the festival was more like this: "Come bring your guitars, banjos, dulcimers, fiddles, mandolins, washtubs,
scrub boards or whatever you've got and we'll JAM . . . for three days."


LEFT: Washtub Bass fiddle RIGHT: Appalachian Dulcimer

Do you know how to get different notes out of a washtub fiddle?
Pull on the stick to change the tension of the string.

Here's a guy who does rather well with his spoons, when he's not strumming his guitar.



I took this shot of a dobro guitar, also called a resonator guitar.
It's often played while being held like you see below:

(Thank you, Kristen, for properly identifying it for me.)


Go HERE if you'd like to see how it's played and how it sounds.



There are spontaneous gatherings all over the town square and surroundings.

Dozens of them.



Most of these musicians show signs of being just regular fellars who work the land.
There are lots of small farms in the nearby hills.





Yet, they get on their fanciest boots and cleanest jeans and they show up with their instruments.



This old guy (VIDEO BELOW) demonstrates how to play the fiddle (out of tune) on top of his head.
Then he tries playing it between his legs and concedes that he can no longer bend that far.
Everyone laughs in a sweet empathetic way.



Here's the last video of the music.
I liked this guy because he could really set his fiddle on fire.



As part of the festival, there was an auction with all kinds of local home-made items
. . .as well as items that might have (should have) ended up in a garage sale.

Auctioneering simply intrigues me. Fast thinkin'. Fast talkin'

I listened to this gentleman (BELOW) for a solid hour while neighbors and friends milled around chatting.

Listen to how he concludes with -

"Lord have mercy! Thank you Precious Dear!"

The whole experience was simply AMAAAAAZING to me.
With these low-quality video clips, it may not seem quite that amazing to you.

It wasn't just the music, it was the delicious combination of
the music and true Southern hospitality which I described in THIS POST.

Truth is, it was SO DELIGHTFUL that I'm planning to return in April 2013.
Let me know if you'd like to come along.

FINAL NOTE:

Do you wonder why they call this festival Bear on the Square?



In April 1996, a mama bear with two cubs made its way onto the town square, causing a big commotion.
Even brought the mayor out of his office.

The festival name is not a marketing ploy.
It's just a choice bit of history which many of the locals fondly recall.