O and P, for the alphabet book

post #87
     This week I have a special guest staying with us, who has learned her alphabet well and is using it now to read some words.  She is visiting us on her own for the first time, staying for a week of wonderful days, so this posting will be short but very happy!  
     As for the weather, it is a super hot day even though I am including a photo of our outhouse in the snow.  We needed an outhouse briefly 35 years ago, and still having it upright makes us feel we are ready for any emergency....  Also it begins with an O, so what's not to love about it today.

O  o  --         orchid            oaks         outhouse
 

a favorite orchid --  a pink lady's slipper

our old outhouse, seen from upstairs inside the house!

P  p   --          path           pond            puddle     Papaw                        

a path in the woods

 

 our pond, and weeds

Papaw in our pond with our granddaughter

a puddle in the neighbor's driveway

    Well, I better quit for now -- while I am ahead.  As usual, I will be adding more photos to all the alphabet posts as I get the chance to do so.
     I am wishing everyone a safe weekend.   I can't resist adding "and mind your Ps and Qs...."

an interlude for some reflection on the tornado in West Liberty

post #87
     Greetings again this weekend!  I've decided to devote this post to a link for a YouTube video of a rap song that includes footage of nearby West Liberty, Kentucky, right after the terrible tornado that devastated the town on March 2, 2012.  My friend Bobbie forwarded this to me two days ago.  (I posted some of her tornado photos on this blog soon after the storm.)  Thanks so much again, Bobbie.

The title is Trapped in a Tragedy.  This is the link.

For those interested in what progress has been made in West Liberty, here is a link to a recent article by Tom Eblen in the Lexington Herald-Leader. 

I do hope you have time to watch the video. Then next week: O, P, Q and R!!

now on to M and N, in eastern Kentucky

post #86
    I have had a pensive week, but I also got carried away by M!  But, finally, today, I am sharing some of the possible photos for M and N as part of the draft of Appalachia, Bluebird, Creek.  A reminder: the words in italics are ones I have added to the original suggestions from George Ella Lyon.  Not every word has its photo yet.

M m     --       mailboxes           Mauk Ridge          mayapples           mist      mules

Can you find the second mailbox?  If not, see below, under N, below.

morning mist, on Mauk Ridge (A)

        

mist, nearby, again on Mauk Ridge (B)

mist in the mountains

morning mist, in May

morning mist, on meadows

mist after the storm, at sunset

       (I guess it is no mist-ery that I love how mist transforms where I live.  Of course, in addition to being lovely to look it -- and to photograph -- it provides health to the forests.) 

mayapple, in bloom

mule team

N n      --          neighbors                  nests                 nuts                 

where our neighbors live  (see mailbox photo!)

 

neighbors and family

nuts,  as if on a table after a feast

nuts on the walnut tree

   And, to be added later - two nests, from Counting on the Woods.  Thanks for hanging in here through the whole alphabet!  As George Ella writes, only 26 letters but Zillions of reasons to love the Appalachian Mountains.

Mother's Day distractions

post #85
       Steady rain all day today, and the chance of thunder, which meant caution with the computers.  We have lost one or two to lightning over the years, so, when in doubt, we unplug.  Also, on the way home from town just now, I was stopped in traffic for an automobile accident ahead of me that took quite a bit of time to sort out.  It is a reminder of what could happen to any of us. 

      I have had a different sort of day than I expected to have, including not being able to complete the post for this week.  I look forward to a better blog day soon!  I do hope this Sunday has had good parts for everyone. 

      I took this photo today, and, appropriately, I am calling it "a leap of faith" --  the squirrel makes it from the walnut tree to the willow tree once again! 

    
      Lastly, I can't help wondering if this a mother's day photo or not....

Back to Appalachian ABCs

post #84
       Back to the book!  Today is I, J, K, and L.   So I am searching through the photos I already have to provide some possibles.   'Tis more of a time-consuming task than I would like to admit, between the distraction of remembering where and when I was at the time of the photo -- i.e. time spent telling stories to myself --  and my imperfect labeling system.  I do know I am not the only photographer to let the number of photos get ahead of the sensible filing of them.... though the truth is I do take advantage more than I should of having a decent visual memory.
       Please note: I took the lettuce photo away from the G section to use here today, and I put a different photo in G, for garden....Remember that the section words in italics are ones I have added, with photos, for later discussions with George Ella about the book.

 I  i    --       iris                  ice

iris

ice, on the pond, and the photographer's shadow, too!

icicles, a favorite photo of mine from our waterfalls, taken by John Flavell

J  j       --         Jack-in-the-pulpit          jeans

Jack-in-the-pulpit, deep in the woods

jeans on the line

K  k     --           killdeer                   kitchen knives               kitten

                       [My slide of Killdeer eggs, from Counting on the Woods, is not filed correctly,
                         so I have not found it yet.  I WILL FIND IT EVENTUALLY, then scan it to
                         digital and post it here.  Please stay hopeful.]

kitchen knives

kitten

 

 L l    --      lady's slippers           leaves, leaves, leaves             lettuce

yellow lady's slippers, deep in the woods

leaves in the fall

tobacco leaves

maple and vine leaves

leaves in autumn, out the back door

leaves in the woods in spring

lettuce, in the cold frame

    As always, suggestions are encouraged and appreciated.  I hope others are also thinking about what photos they would show were their place to be viewed through the alphabet!