Grandsons

Grandson James holding brandy-new grandson Daniel.
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Looking Through the Christmas Tree

My Grandson James was lying on his back and looking up into the Christmas tree. My first inclination as a Grandpa was to to tell him, "Get out of there before you to tip over the tree." Then I thought - I was a kid once too - so, I managed to get myself (mostly my head) under the tree (with a camera of course) and took a look at the view. Here's the view... it was cool.
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My Mother - A Photographer?

Yellowstone Lake Circa 1948

It's unfortunate that I am just discovering that my mother was quite the photographer. As I go through her albums there are a lot of good photographs. I always knew that my Aunt Mary took and developed her own photos, and I recently discover that my Grandmother Myers did the same thing. As I think back my mother did seem to have a camera in her hands a lot. I don't think she developed her own (I would have remembered that I think). She was great at labeling and dating - something I think I'll try to do better at so that when my kids and grand kids look at my photos 50 years from now they won't say who's that or what's that, or why did he take that picture? - they'll probably say that anyway -


Moon on Yellowstone Lake Circa 1948

Kooking, Karing and Konversation

Kooking, Karing and Konversation - it all happens in our Kitchen - the hub of all the activity...
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Happy Thanksgiving!!

Stuffed and ready to go - I am thankfull for this turkey who gave his life so that we may feast!!
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Grandma's Elves

Grandma's Elf James...


Grandma's Ef Katharine...
Grandma gets a lot of help this time of year as Thanksgiving and Christmas draw near.
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For Rent

It appears that the previous tenants of this nest are looking to rent out their digs while they winter down South...
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USO

"Cigar, cigarette...cigar cigarette?"


In true USO fashion local celebrities were in attendance at the 1st Anniversary celebration of the opening of the Sullivan Brothers Museum. Manning the serving line are KWWL (NBC) local anchorman Ron Steele, and Betty Grable impersonator waving as they noticed I was taking pictures. To Ron's right is a Clark Gable impersonator - I believe his moustache was from an eyebrow pencil. My favorite - the "Cigarette Lady" -

A Night at the Hollywood Canteen

The Liberty Bells as seen on a video feed to a large screen in the lobby of the Grout Museum.


One of the Singers.

We attend an event last night, A Night at the Hollywood Canteen, at the Grout Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. This event was in celebration of the 1st anniversary of the opening of the Sullivan Brothers Veterans Museum. As part of the entertainment a group of performers, The Liberty Bells, came in from New York to put on an USO Show.

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Remaining Color

As we get closer to the snow falling the colors are turning shades of brown. Every once in a while though you can spot a touch of red.
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Combines

You see a lot of these in Iowa this time of year. This is a smaller model - I swear there are some that are so large you could sleep a family of 4 in them.
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Lights

What more can I say? They're lights... Ok, I'll try - we went to a 6th Grade Band Concert at Roosevelt Middle School in Cedar Rapids. The cornerstone was laid in 1921 and the school opened as a Junior High in 1923. It was built in an era when they built school buildings that looked like a school building. The auditorium spanned 2 floors and was equipped with a sound booth and several of these lights. They reminded me of some of my old theatre days so I took the photo. I knew I could say more...
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Cornet Player

Grandson James (the young man in the middle) playing his cornet at his 8th grade concert. The music was good - and, they DID NOT play Twinkle, Twinkle...
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Mother and Son

Daniel with his mother Cheri...
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Interesting Lines

I was sitting in my son's apartment and just happen to notice these shapes and lines and how they just seemed to fit together - so, I took a photograph...
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Brandy New Toes

These brandy new toes belong to Daniel Mason... who was born on 11/7/2009. The photograph makes them look huge when in reality they are teeny tiny toes...
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Daniel Mason

Granddaughter Katharine is coaxing our newest grandson (grandchild #7) to take a bottle. She was successful. We have 5 granddaughters and now 2 grandsons. Our grandson James is estatic because now he has an ally... Welcome to the world Daniel Mason...
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Walk in the Woods

Helen and I went to visit my cousin Tom in Webster City, Iowa before he returned to California (he had come back to Iowa for my mother's funeral) - and he took us on a walk along the river. In the middle of no where (woods wise) stood a lone chimney. Tom had done a bit of reseach and found out that this had been a rendering plant a long time ago - long before laws existed about thowing "stuff" [I won't describe] into the river. The chimney and a broken up foundation is all that remains.


A titlting chimney...
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Ethanol Plant

Ethanol Plant in full production.
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Sunrise On Veteran's Day

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Shreaded Wheat

It's not really shredded wheat - but, I always thought it looked like giant shredded wheat.
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Why I Carry A Camera

People often ask me why I always carry a camera. I kid around and say that if an alien space craft lands in front of me I want to be able to record the moment. Well, an alien didn't appear in front of me, but there was a barn fire along the interstate. My wife and I were coming home from Webster City and noticed the billowing smoke. As we got closer it was evident that it was a barn on fire - since I had a camera - I pulled over along the highway (to my wife's dismay) and took these pictures...






Took this one with my 100-400 MM Lens. If you click on the photo you can see a larger version and can almost [almost] feel the heat.
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Bean Harvest

We have had good weather and all of the farmers are harvesting like mad men to get the crops in before it gets wet and/or snows...
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Gotta Go...Gotta Go...Gotta Go...

A Photo my mother took of her niece in 1948...


My version 2009...
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Loving Couple

Mother and Daughter

Mom and Dad

I had a portrait session last night and these are 2 of the 266+ photos that were taken. My son-in-law, Tom, daughter Jessica and my wife Helen were my crew. I appreciated the help toting all the the stuff and Tom and Jessica shot some pictures...

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Fire Bush

The fire bush in front of our house is losing its leaves and we noticed that there is a birds nest in the middle. Sure was a good place for a bird motel as we never knew it was there...
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Who Pulled the Plug?

They have lower the Iowa River in Iowa Falls to make some repairs on a sewer pipe which runs beneath the river. I guess it's easier if they drain the water first.
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Young Photographer

A young photographer in the making checks the results of a photo....
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Bird Buffet

The birds love harvest time in Iowa because once a field is cleared they have their own (very large) buffet. There seems to be a disagreement with the 2 birds in the foreground.
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Squeezed In

American Legion Post 191 - Webster City, Iowa. It looks like it was squeezed in between the two larger buildings.
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A Few Remaining Leaves

A few leaves remain....

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Jessica

Son-in-law Tom used my camera to photograph my youngest daughter..over 30, but still my baby...
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