The year is 1979ish. The wallpaper is hip. The haircuts cool. The men are happy. From left to right there’s Len, Mark, and Mike (my future husband). It’s Thanksgiving and Donna (behind the camera) has worked hard to fill the table with food. That’s why they’re happy.
We all missed Mike when he’d ship out for months without communication. When he got home none of us could get enough of him. Popcorn, the cat, and Belle, the dog, would follow him everywhere. They’d wait outside the bathroom just in case he was trying to make a getaway. Here they are happily snuggling just after he returned in 1990. Nothing better than a nap with dad after a long separation.
So in June we closed on our house here in Tennessee and moved in. Then I promptly broke my foot, rather Molly did. Then as I was recovering Mom didn’t want to be topped so she broke her leg. Now, that brings us to September. I’m finally getting out and getting shots of our new community to do a post.
That’s our post office for our little unincorporated community. It doesn’t have drive thorugh drop-off boxes if you want something fancy like that you’ll have to drive to Loretto, TN to the south or Lawrenceburg, TN to the north. We don’t have a grocery store. The only gas station is a mile off on Rabbit Trail Road. Our population is a whopping 5,068. Below are the highlights of town (honestly almost all of town.)
Can you spot Aaron among Granpa Mac’s pumpkins? LOL! This was 1994 on the McAllister’s Michigan farm. Aaron’s orange jacket (his ‘go Vols clothes’ as he called them) just made it too irresistible not to put him there among the pumpkins. I think we picked the best one that year don’t you?
Looking back it looks as if I gave him a Glasgow-Heath-Ledger-Joker-Smile – I didn’t mean too. But it’s Aaron at 2 in 1995 as a Scarecrow all happy after a very successful haul of candy trick or treating.
Welcome to pre-K for Aaron in 1995. He was a scarecrow and signed up to bring the Halloween cake for his daycare class. Back then he went to Milestone EduCare in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I was more Martha Stewart-y back then so instead of doing what a sane mother with a job would do – order one from the bakery I made it. I have to say to this day I am proud of how the “Monster ARGGGHH!!” (make claw like hands beside your face while saying it) cake turned out. I do not want to know what it looked like when 8 3 yr olds and 2 teachers were finished. I like to remember it as it was. I’m sure no one else remembers, not even “Monster ARGGGHH!!” Aaron but I remember it fondly as my BOO! Cake.
We didn’t see much of New Orleans before our departure. Just dinner in the French Quarter the night before our departure. We’d saved our touring for after the cruise. It was here we used Uber for the first time. One trip was great, the other – well we wound up going the wrong way on a divided highway and miles from our hotel but he corrected and all was good. The worst trip was in a cab from the hotel to go home, so I’ll Uber again. What did we do here? We did the World War II museum, a ghost tour, ate, played with a ghost app, stayed in the House of the Rising Sun that was supposedly haunted. All I can say is I didn’t like the old elevator – it felt like a coffin… was slow and cha-kunked it’s way up. That scared me the most, I closed my eyes and clung to Mike on the way up. Then we walked our way down. What take the stairs up! Pfft you gotta be kidding and miss riding in the coffin-vator? There’s a small photo of him in it looking worried for me. Oh and the photo of Mike sitting in the sidewalk cafe looking all relaxed after breakfast is my new phone’s wallpaper. Love that man, love that photo.
Belle was our dog for 19 years. She was a sweet smart mutt that definitely had some golden Lab in her. Now that the Carolina Dog is becoming a recognized breed I have to say that Belle fit them very well and was from South Carolina. As you can tell from this photo she was game for anything – Even costumes. So kick off Halloween with the fun spirit of Belle!
In February the week of Valentine’s Day Mike and I took a cruise. With the crazy changes that hit fast and furious after mainly related to the move I didn’t get to post about it. Instead of details there will be a series of photo posts on the trip.
This time we went on a slightly smaller and older ship the Norwegian Dawn. Our last cruise had been on Norwegian Getaway. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. We had a inner lower room with no window, last time a balcony. But given we had some rough seas going out, it was good there were no windows. It wasn’t terrible and we just slept, watched a movie, and enjoyed the morning after the storm.
Here Mike’s father, Len, helps him make a Jack-O-Lantern in 1969. I have to admit I love the old dial wall phone in the back. Ours was yellow in the kitchen by the basement door. Theirs was olive and next to a door way. Then there’s Jack-O-Lanterns they are looking good don’t you think?
Mary Louise Eklund 