Mother's Day Adventure, 2013, at Wapsipinicon, Part II

Okay, here are the remaining photos I'd promised to share. (You can click on any of the photos to get a somewhat larger view of each photo.) And if you missed yesterday's post, you can see Part I by clicking here.

 After looking at moss and running around in an open field, we got into the car and drove a little further. When we saw that the creek had "grown" into a substantial river, we stopped again to look around. Livie's asking if we can actually see the bottom? No.

 

 She is so hyped up about being at a state park, she is yelling, "I need a plan, and a gorilla!!" (I don't know where she got THAT idea!)

 

 At this point, we saw some birds of prey flying around. It was cool! Livie had actually found some sort of hawk feather on the ground, which she was very curious about. One bird overhead looked like a bald eagle! (And some crows/ravens circling around, too.) I tried getting a photo of the eagle, but it had landed in the trees across the river, and my little camera wasn't zooming in clearly. You can see its blurry image in the center of the photo.

 

 I'd gotten a blurry image of the eagle as it flew away. Bird watchers, is that a bald eagle?!! So cool! (Sorry it's so blurry. Again, it was across the river and high up, so I couldn't get a good shot with my little, bitty camera.)

 

 And then we saw another bird swooping down to, presumably, fish in the river. Again, it was on the other side, so I didn't get a non-blurry shot. I'm assuming it's some sort of heron? (I'm hoping TexWisGirl or Nancy will stop by and be able to make an educated guess.)

 On the other side of the "access" road/driveway (whatever you want to call the road), we saw these stairs. We decided to go up to explore. It was a good cardio workout, I can tell you that! It didn't faze Livie, though. She just charged right up.

 

 I, on the other hand, stopped to take photos. Oh, and see that "peak" behind the trees? Livie wanted to get up there. Okay. Let's go!

 

 Oh, here's the view from about 3/4 of the way up.

 We finally got to the top (we had to do a kind of curly-cue up at the top to get to that "overlook.") Livie proclaimed the view to be "extraordinary!!" And, "Why haven't we come here before?!" Good question. I assured her it wouldn't be the last time.

And here's our view as we left the park.

Mother's Day 2013 Adventure: Wapsipinicon State Park, Part I

On Sunday, Andrew, Livie, and I went on a special Mother's Day adventure. We went to Wapsipinicon State Park. Livie is a Girl Scout and is going to her first overnight "camping" trip this summer, so she's now excited about finding other camping opportunities. When I'd ordered sleeping bags for the two of us (it's a girl/adult overnight thing), she really, REALLY wanted to do more camping than just the one overnight trip we have planned.

So I found that there's camping at the Wapsipinicon location (either RV or tent). Before buying a tent and deciding, "Yes, we'll do some additional camping this summer," I wanted to see what this state park was like.

My plan, which I'd not told either of them, was to drive out to the State Park after church and brunch on Mother's Day. I was just going to plug the address into the Garmin and have Andrew follow the directions. The park is just about 20 miles away from us (maybe a bit less), so it wouldn't take too long to get there. It would be a nice Sunday drive, and we'd be able to get out and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air while we were there.

Throughout the whole drive to the park, Livie was trying to guess where we were going. She kept asking, "Daddy, am I right?" but of course he didn't know. I kept giving her hints, and that kept her entertained. I think that once we were close, though, and finally arrived at the exit off U.S. 151, Andrew saw the "State Park" sign and arrow, and figured out where we were going.

Anyway, I'll let the photos do the "talking," so here they are. (Upon looking at some of them, a few look slightly blurry, so my apologies.) There are a LOT of them, so sit back and get comfy!

Here's the view from the car as we're driving into the park.

Livie's posing in front of one of many rock formations. She LOVED seeing cool geology in person!

 We pulled over to explore a bit, and walk around, because we'd seen a couple signs pointing to "Ice Cave" and "Horse Thief Cave." This photo is in front of the entrance to the "Ice Cave." As you can imagine, it's probably very cool in there. 

We didn't have flashlights, so we only went in a short distance, because it was dark. It was cool, what little we did see, though. We vowed that next time, we'd bring flashlights.

It's dark! See? You can just see to the curve in the rock and it's pitch black from there. That's about as far as we went. 

We've turned around and are looking at the cave entrance. 

Livie wanted to take one more peek in there with Daddy. They'd only gone a couple steps into the entrance when Livie decided she wanted to turn around and come back out.

 We're taking a bit of a stroll near the creek. Livie is telling us she loves nature and she wishes we could've brought a canoe. 

There's a little hole/cave type of area up towards the top of the rock formation in the distance. Andrew was sure he saw an animal (he thinks it was an owl, maybe?) peaking out momentarily before turning around and going back to sleep (or whatever it was doing). He and Livie are trying to see if they can spot it again. (No such luck.)

After investigating the moss on this rock here, Livie told me very seriously, "Moose eat moss."

And this is where I've decided to stop for the day. There are a TON of photos - too many to share in one post.  While I've chosen only about 20 photos to share (in two posts) out of the scores of photos I took, I think this is enough for now. So I think I'll go ahead and split this Mother's Day Adventure post into two, and share the rest in a second post tomorrow.

Barn Charm - Mother's Day Adventure

Hi everyone. I know my posts have been few and far between lately. I always come back, though.I'll get back into a more regular writing "groove" this fall, when I'm not taking a semester off.

Like today, as I've got a "Barn Charm" post to share.

Yesterday (Mother's Day), Andrew, Livie and I went out on a special Mother's Day adventure. After going to church and to Mother's Day brunch, we headed to the Wapsipinicon State Park, near Anamosa, IA; it was about a 20-25 minute drive from our house. (Be on the lookout within the next couple days for a post about this adventure.)

Today's "Barn Charm" entry is (yet another) drive-by shot, (again) using the Instagram app on my iPhone, taken around 2 PM on our way to Wapsipinicon State Park.

(You can click on the photo to see a somewhat enlarged version.)

As you can see, I didn't quite time it just right (at 50-55 MPH) to get the whole barn in the shot. Ah, well. There'll be other barns to shoot on other days, so I'll get another chance to get a whole barn in the shot one of these days.

(I was in the front passenger seat (Andrew was driving), by the way, so we were completely safe.)


"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to see the rest of this week's fantastic barn shots:

New Mexico Dream

Last night, I dreamed of New Mexico. I can't remember the exact details, other than I was driving somewhere sort of wooded - as though I were in the Ruidoso/Mescalero/Cloudcroft areas, up in the mountains where it's quite a bit cooler, getting a brief respite from the hot, arid desert near Alamogordo.

When I woke up, I was a bit surprised, almost unsure of where I was - just momentarily - as I found myself in my bedroom in eastern Iowa, instead of in Alamogordo. This dream left such a visceral impression of New Mexico upon me, that I guess I expected to wake up there, as though I still lived there.

Anyway, I've been kinda thinking of New Mexico all morning, which has probably been prompted by the overcast, rainy skies (as we rarely got overcast dreariness in New Mexico that lasted for any noticeable length of time), as well as the dream . Plus, while I was clearing the morning's dishes, I'd heard a song on my iPod that I actually first heard on the radio in my office (and numerous times afterward) while I was stationed in New Mexico.

So I thought I'd share a couple photos of New Mexico taken in and around Mescalero and Ruidoso. These represent the scenery I dreamed about last night.

They were both taken in 2007, when Andrew and I had spent the weekend at the Inn of the Mountain Gods, while Livie spent the weekend with her grandmother and great-grandparents in El Paso.

It had been threatening rain for a couple hours before the rain clouds had actually moved into our area; it had thunder-stormed just prior to my taking the photo of the lake.

From our room's balcony, Inn of the Mountain Gods, Mescalero, NM

On the road, somewhere between Mescalero and Ruidoso, NM

2013 Pow Wow

This past weekend, we headed to the University of Iowa's 20th Annual Pow Wow. We've been attending the University's pow wow since I started classes there in 2011, having learned in my Native American Literature class that the University holds one annually.

Here's a great explanation of what a pow wow is, as explained in this year's program (you can click on the photo to get a bigger view of the wording):

This year, Livie was really excited about attending the pow wow. Having been to the two previous years' events, she remembered all the colorful regalia, the drumming, the singing, and the food.

Plus, there's just a . . . a "vibe" about it, where you can even feel the drumming, in addition to just hearing it with your ears. It's a visceral effect, the vibrations literally resonating within your body (if you're standing in just the right spot).

I'm posting two brief clips of the Grand Entrance, in hopes that they will work (they're each just under 30 seconds).  You'll be able to see the Color Guard from the Meskwaki American Legion (from Tama, IA) with the flags in this first video clip:

 Towards the end of this second video clip, you'll be able to hear the "jingle" from the ladies who are wearing "jingle dresses":

Anyway, I'm not going to talk too much about it; instead, I'll just let the still photos do the talking.

By the way, just as a note: the lighting in the University of Iowa's Recreation Building isn't the best for either iPhones or my Canon PowerShot (something very much like this camera), and since I got the camera as a hand-me-down (my dad had gotten a new camera and handed off this little camera to me, sans instruction booklet). So instead of fiddling with my camera and trying to get the adjustments just right with the lighting and action (it would've been hit-or-miss), I just did my best with my point-and-shoot phone camera.

 Young pow wow dancers are waiting for their turn in the arena. (Instagram photo.)

Lunch! A fry bread (or "Indian"/"NDN") taco - ground beef with taco seasonings, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese on fry bread. Filling, but extremely tasty. (Instagram photo.)

Liv chose regular fry bread with a little bit of drizzled honey - very much like a Latin American sopaipilla. She couldn't wait to eat hers. They were freshly made and very hot, so she had to wait (very, VERY impatiently) for a couple minutes before digging in. (Regular iPhone photo.)

After eating our lunches, we decided to walk around the arena (inside the green "tennis/volleyball/basketball" area within the indoor track) to get closer, better views of the dancing and drumming. Also, there were vendors along the perimeter of the track, so we wanted to take a look at their wares. Obviously, there was a face painting booth. She chose a pink and black "half butterfly" pattern, which she LOVED wearing. (Regular iPhone photo.)

 This is an Instagram photo detailing some fantastic beading on a young woman's regalia. The beadwork is so detailed and intricate. I'll bet it took someone HOURS to make this - there were two (or three - I can't remember now) of these rectangular pieces as detailed in the photo above - the piece with the turquoise, cream/off-white, red, yellow, and uh, "sand"(?) colored beads.

 This is another Instagram photo of a woman's "jingle" dress. Those metallic objects are hollow cones. When the dress' wearer walks or dances, the cones clink against each other, making a jingling sound. It sounds fantastic listening to a group of women in jingle dresses dancing, especially with the drums and singing. 

This is a close-up Instagram shot of that same dress. I love the purple shiny material. This one was one of my favorite dresses. Another favorite (which I unfortunately didn't get a photo of) was a turquoise-colored jingle dress. 

 On the second day, Livie just HAD to get her face painted again. This time, as you can see, she chose a full-faced purple butterfly. (Regular iPhone photo.)

While we were still at the pow wow, I just so happened to notice I was receiving an in-coming phone call from my dad. The only reason I knew was because I was holding up my phone, ready to take a photo. This was during a dance, so the drummers were drumming and singing - with the poor acoustics causing echoing in the building, it was hard to hear, and nearly impossible to realize one's phone was ringing. 

I answered it, hoping we'd be able to hear each other. He said he was in the area and wanted to stop by to take us out to dinner. I'd mentioned we were at the pow wow and would be leaving in about 90 minutes (with a 45 minute drive home once we left). He said he was still a couple hours away, and what time did we think we'd get home? Well, it would be a while, even if he were still on the road a couple hours away - that would make planning a "what time should we meet?" tricky.

I told him we could meet in Coralville, IA, at a BBQ restaurant just off of I-80, knowing he'd be taking I-80 westbound to get home after his "Sunday drive." We were just minutes away from Coralville, and much farther away from home. 

That worked out, as he was east of us in Muscatine, IA, heading west. And he'd be in our area (Iowa City/Coralville) around the time we were planning to leave, anyway. Plus, all he'd have to do after dinner is to keep heading west and he'd be home within a couple hours. When the weather's nice, he'll occasionally take a "Sunday drive" and end up in eastern Iowa, southwestern Wisconsin, southern Minnesota, or the like - he LOVES driving the open road.

We ended up meeting him at a place called Bandana's BBQ in Coralville, IA around 5 PM. Livie chose the kids' rib basket (2 ribs, some garlic bread, corn, and BBQ beans). I chose the pulled pork sandwich and BBQ beans. My dad and Andrew both chose the BBQ sausage, beans, corn, okra and garlic bread. It hit the spot. We wrapped up with freshly made donut holes, which tasted exactly like funnel cake from the State Fair! 

As soon as we were finished, we said goodbye to my dad. Nonno (meaning "grandpa" in Italian) then headed to his car and we headed to ours. Livie immediately said, "I miss Nonno already." 

Fortunately, we'll be seeing them next month, probably. They live about 140 miles from us (about a 2.5 hour drive), and we usually make it out to their house about once a month. 

All in all it was a fantastic weekend.

If you're interested, here's our "Trip Report" from our first UI Pow Wow in 2011, as well as our "Trip Report" for the 2012 Pow Wow.

Drive-By Barn Charm

This is another "on the go" photo from our trip to the National River Museum and Aquarium a few weeks ago. We were somewhere near Anamosa, IA.

It's obviously a bit of a red barn, and a shed (or another barn?) that's seen better days. I took this photo with my iPhone, and used the Instagram app to edit it.

I'd actually wanted to get a photo of the red barn itself, but being in the car (heading down the road around 55 MPH) and trying to snap the photo at just the right time . . . well, this is what I got.

"Barn Charm" is hosted weekly by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to view the rest of this week's fantastic "Barn Charm" entries:

Red Barns, Blue Sky, Barn Charm

Here's a farm with lovely red barns. It's somewhere east of Anamosa, IA. I think it was roughly 20-25 miles east on Highway 151.

I used the Instagram app on my phone and captured this "on the go" shot as Andrew and I were driving back from a field trip with Livie's first grade class; we'd gone to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, IA. If you're ever in the Dubuque area, I would highly recommend visiting this museum/aquarium. This place is a big hit; children especially love this place.

(Click on the photo for a larger view.)

Please visit the rest of this week's "Barn Charm" entries (hosted by Bluff Area Daily) by clicking the "Barn Charm" button below:

White Barn

Here's another barn located somewhere between Des Moines and Coralville, IA. This photo was taken about a week before the first day of spring. I used the Instagram app on my phone. (I don't remember which filter I used.) It's another one of my "on the go" photos I took out the car window as we were speeding down going the speed limit on I-80.

(You can get a bigger view of this photo if you click on it.)

Please visit the rest of this week's "Barn Charm" entries by clicking the "Barn Charm" button below:

Do These Remind You of Samuel Clemens?

Last week, Livie's 1st Grade class went on a field trip. They visited the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, IA, just off the Mississippi River.

Andrew and I went along as parent helpers.

Anyway, I took a few Instagram photos on my iPhone. Here are a couple shots of a riverboat's paddle.

(You can see a better view of each photo if you click on them.)

Brown Barn Charm

I haven't been blogging much lately, so it's nice to jump back into it by participating in "Barn Charm" with my version of being creative. 

Here's a farm somewhere on the south side of I-80, somewhere in between Des Moines and Coralville, IA (we were heading east). It was about a week before the first day of "Spring" (though it seems winter's still holding on tight in Iowa).

This is one of those "on the go" photos I took out the (grimy) car window using the Instagram app on my phone. (I don't remember which filter I used.)

(You can get a better view of the photo if you click on it.)

Please visit the rest of this week's "Barn Charm" entries by clicking the "Barn Charm" button below: 

Still Life

. . . or perhaps the title should be, My Attempt at Being Artistic:

Instagram photo, "Cutie" clementine oranges, 21 Mar 2013

Just Remembering a Few Things

Hi everyone. I know, I know . . .  I've obviously been away from blog-land for a while.

First, I had to take this semester off - it was an unplanned break. (It's a complicated story . . . but in a nutshell, I was not informed my advisor had retired. I couldn't sign up for classes without my advisor's approval. For a couple weeks prior to the semester's start, I was unable to track her down, and no one thought to mention that she had retired/had a replacement until after classes had started. And of course, by this time, the ones I wanted/needed were full.)

Secondly, after a rough fall semester last year, I was completely unmotivated to write anything, either academic, or for fun (such as for this blog).

As a matter of fact, I've hardly had the motivation to read anything for fun, either.

Basically, I've had little inspiration to create anything recently.

I guess I just needed a break.

But today, I realized something: yesterday was the third anniversary of my uncle Hector's untimely death. I hadn't even realized yesterday was the anniversary until I was getting Livie ready for school this morning, and I'd glanced at the school lunch calender to tell her what her hot-lunch options were for the day.

So I guess that was inspiration enough to share a few memories.

#1

This is the house in El Paso, TX where my maternal grandparents lived for many, MANY years, as did my mom and my uncles. This first story takes place here. I wasn't there, but I've been told the story numerous times, mainly by my grandmother, Oma, (but once or twice by my uncle, and a couple times by my mom). So this is going to be my Oma's version of the story.

Some background info: before I came into existence, my mom was in nursing school. She lived at home with her parents while going to nursing school.

The story: one night, she was coming home after her shift at the hospital. On this particular evening, my uncle (7 years younger than my mom) had my grandmother's permission to spend the night at his friend's house. So he was supposedly at his friend's house.

As you may have guessed, he was NOT at his friend's house. He and his friend were at my grandparents' house. Not inside the house, but  hiding in the bushes. See where this is going?

Well, since it was night, and it was dark, my mom had pulled into the carport and was quickly walking to the door. I'm sure you can guess what happened next. My uncle and his friend were planning on jumping out to try and scare her, thinking her reaction would be hilarious. However, she had gotten SO SCARED, that she let out a blood-curdling scream.

My grandparents, who'd been in bed, but awake as they waited for my mom's safe return, had heard her terrified scream, jumped out of bed, and scurried to the door. Who do they see? My scared mom, of course. But also my scared uncle.

They were all scared at the time (except for my grandfather who was understandably very angry). But in retelling this story, my grandmother is in tears from laughing so hard. She says that my uncle had intended to scare his sister, my mom, but ended up having the tables turned, being the one who'd been frightened by her! My grandmother laughs SO HARD at the memory of his face, pale in the light of a full moon, eyes huge.

At this point in the story, my Oma is laughing so hard, she needs to stop to catch her breath. She says she was so angry at the time, that she made my uncle stay home for the rest of the night, even though she'd earlier given him permission to spend the night at his friend's. She says the funniest thing fueling her laughter is the memory of the moonlight on his face, making him look unusually pale, when he was probably already pale from having been frightened.

#2

This photo was taken at my grandparents' home (not the home pictured earlier, but the home they lived in for their remaining years together). It's obviously my uncle and baby Livie. She was about 9 months old here. We'd all been at my grandparents' for the Veterans' Day long weekend (which was also my birthday weekend). My uncle was very good at taking care of babies,and enjoyed helping out with his great-niece, Livie. So if we were all at my grandparents' at the same time, he would willingly babysit her while Andrew and I went out for a couple hours (for dinner, or Christmas shopping, or a movie or whatever).

There was a weekend we were all at my grandparents' in December; it had just so happened to be the anniversary of when Andrew and I had gotten married in the church. "UH" (as he used to sign his e-mails to me) agreed to babysit Livie while Andrew and I went out to dinner. We went to the Olive Garden at Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso. I don't remember now what I'd eaten. What I do remember is that it tasted SO GOOD, but I think it was because we had a couple hours to ourselves, knowing Livie was in good hands.

#3

This next photo is obviously a number of months later, when Livie was over a year old.With a great love of books, language, and learning, he enjoyed reading to Livie. (By the way, he was a professor in the Department of English at the University of New Mexico - I guess, once a teacher, always a teacher.) 

As you can see, he's dressed all in black, which earned him my nickname for him - "Johnny Cash." My grandmother asked him once why he always dressed in black, head to toe. He smiled, chuckled, and said, "Well, I guess it's because this way, it's just so easy to match."

#4

 

This photo is at my parents' house in Iowa. This was over Thanksgiving. Livie is being a chatterbox here, and my uncle is getting a kick out of all the funny things she was talking about (she talked a LOT then, and she talks a LOT now!). She was about 2.5 years old at this time.

This was about the time he was consistently calling her "Kitty Cat" as a nickname. She gets a kick out of this every time I remind her he used to call her that.

So there you have it. I'm gone for a few weeks and come back with a long, chatty post! Once my fingers get going over the keyboard, they get going!

Girl Scout Cookie Donation

Hi everyone! I've been kinda busy lately, but have some news that I wanted to share.

First, for those of you who don't know, Liv is a Girl Scout! This is her first year in Girl Scouts.

In her Girl Scout vest!

Anyway, it's currently Girl Scout cookie-selling season! She's VERY excited about selling Girl Scout cookies.

And it just so happens, her Abuelita is fond of buying large amounts of Girl Scout cookies from a couple Girl Scouts that she knows; her one request is that the Girl Scouts she buys cookies from will donate these cookies to local veterans.

Well, since Livie is now a Girl Scout, Abuelita has made the same request of her. Abuelita bought a nice number of cookies (saving a few boxes for herself). She had 3 boxes sent to a deployed member of our Armed Forces.

And the rest? These 13 boxes were donated to the University of Iowa Veterans Association (UIVA) on campus. This organization is comprised of students who are obviously veterans (of all branches of the US military), with a vet center located on campus. This vet center has a lot of student-friendly amenities, including computers, printers, desks, a few comfy couches, a snack area (coffee, sodas, snacks, a fridge to store your lunch, if necessary), and so forth. I've spent some time there, myself, studying and using a computer/printer to write/print papers.

She's just outside the vet center.

Anyway, my mom (and I) felt it was important for Livie to offer the cookies in person, in a sort of "ceremony," rather than have me drive to campus to drop off the cookies and leave.

So we packed up all 13 boxes of the donated cookies, grabbed her Girl Scout vest and my camera, and headed down to campus.

There were a number of student veterans in the vet center today, but the UIVA's current vice president, Mike, was available to "officially" receive the cookies.

I took a photo of her handing him one box of cookies ceremonially as they shook hands as a representation of his accepting the donation on behalf of the UIVA. 

The veterans were all very appreciative of the donation, even opening one of the boxes and taste testing them. (It was the new flavor, Mango Crème, and Mike deemed it quite tasty.) And they all wanted to thank Abuelita multiple times for her generous donation.

(And she even got one of the student vets to buy an extra 4 boxes!)