Big brother

The five kids on Christmas morning

Today is my big brother's birthday.

He's the oldest of the five of us.

To give you some idea of the kind of guy he is,
a few years ago while the family was gathered for our summer reunion,
we played the game "If - Questions for the Game of Life."
Someone chose this question for each of us to answer:
If you had to pick one person to help you
in any kind of situation,
who would it be?

We each wrote down our answers
and then revealed our choices.

Unanimous:
Big brother.

Capable.
Loving.
Resourceful.
Unflappable.

Happy birthday, Big bro.
I'm so glad you're my brother.

Love,
Ginnie

P.S. Forgot to mail your birthday card on time.

There could be consequences.

"Be careful not to crush your skulls."

Spoken by our fitness instructor during our Body Pump class tonight. It is very hot and muggy out, and at the Y, it was very hot and muggy in. So everything was damp and slippery, and the instructor was warning us to have a firm grip on the barbells during a triceps pullover move. Or there could be consequences.

Captured

I tried all week to get a picture of the hummingbirds at the feeder.

Every time I raised my camera, they would dart away and not return.
Same story at the hosta flowers.

There was even one that followed the spray of the sprinkler my dad set up,
but I wasn't quick enough for it.



Finally, just before we left for home, I got one.



Twice!

Skygazing

Courtesy of Caltech

Wednesday night I walked out of the cottage with Oscar,
one last time before bed,
and noticed how bright the stars were.
When we came back in, I told my New Orleans nephew,
and he said there is so much ambient light where they live it's hard to see the stars.
So we headed for the pier in the dark, my niece-in-law in tow,
with just the light of the stars to guide us.

The sky was glorious - thick with stars.
The air was still warm and humid, even after 11pm,
but the wind was blowing and the air felt great.

And then we saw the moon, just rising.
Not full, but big and orange and low in the eastern sky,
reflecting in the lake.

And a few minutes later in the western sky,
a huge shooting star.

We went to bed happy.

Lunch

One of our traditions during the family vacation
is having a "girls' lunch" at a small restaurant we all love.
One sister and one niece weren't able to come,
but the rest of us got to continue the tradition.

Love the women around that table (and the two who were absent).

Fauna

Part of the fun of the berry picking
is being surrounded by fauna and flora.

When I turned for a moment from the black raspberry bush in front of me,
I noticed some milkweed plants.
I thought to take a closer look -
is this the time of year Monarch butterflies feed on them?
(No idea.)

Instead, I saw a tiny frog.

Very green.

Very cute.

It's the berries

Wild black raspberries.
One past its prime,
two not yet ripe,
three at the peak of ripeness.

We used to go to a local orchard during cherry picking time.

I loved picking cherries for a few hours,
coming home to wash and pit them
(with plenty of help),
packing most in bags for later processing into preserves,
and turning some into cherry crisp or cobbler
for that night's dinner.

But the orchard was sold,
the new owner overwhelmed with upkeep,
and the cherry trees allowed to decline.

Then a couple of years ago my younger sister
offered her land for the family to go wild black raspberry picking.

Part of the land is rented to a farmer,
the rest is habitat for deer (for autumn hunting).

There are a few open areas
where wild black raspberry bushes have flourished.


Outfitted with long pants and long-sleeved shirts
to protect against the thorns,
sprayed with mosquito repellant,
one sister, one brother, and one niece-in-law, and I
spent an hour Tuesday morning in the hot sun, picking berries.

There was birdsong, occasional insect noises,
and once in a while the sound of a passing car
in accompaniment to the sound of the berries
hitting the bottom of our picking buckets.


For dessert that night:
nineteen servings
of wild black raspberry syrup over ice cream.