Blog number 3000

 This is the 3000th, at least in this blog series, not counting my other blogs!

Someone might say I have a lot to say...

Rabbit Rabbit! Wishing good things come in this new beginning of a month!

---------------------

How about "Portraits, old and new"

Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O’Keeffe, 1939 Photo by Ansel Adams

Frida Kahlo's painting, Diego and me. It shows exactly how much he was on her mind.

-------

Please forgive me for family portraits...they are what's in the files!

Cinnamon, the mother of two of my grandchildren. I still count her as a good friend, though she and my son, Marty, divorced several years ago.

More "Way Back" photos. Here we lived in Thompsonville CT, and my young sailor Marty was about 4, while little Russ was at least 13 months old, with my husband Doug, and myself getting leafy knees.

A bit later, son Marty sported a crew cut, I had some blond highlights, and Russ had most of his glorious blond curls cut off (which didn't last long!)

Fast forward to after my 1971 divorce from Doug, and here's Russ (around 5-6) in front of our mobile home. Below he's on Doug's lap as the 70s hairstyles allowed long locks for boys and men. Russ may have had a comb and brush, but a lot of good it did!

And yes, Russ is the son who grew up to have the wedding portrait leaning into a kiss and holding up his bride Michelle (used as header for the week of July 13)

Marty's second wife is Barbara, and here's their wedding picture. (used as header the week of July 20) (I don't have a photo of his wedding to Cinnamon, as it was before digital cameras!)

A young man (my youngest son Tai) that doesn't mind wearing a flower crown. They were making these. Not sure what the fair/function might have been, but flowers are always uplifting!

--------------

Today's quote:

“Every important social movement reconfigures the world in the imagination. What was obscure comes forward, lies are revealed, memory shaken, new delineations drawn over the old maps: it is from this new way of seeing the present that hope emerges for the future...Let us begin to imagine the worlds we would like to inhabit, the long lives we will share, and the many futures in our hands.” ― Susan Griffin

Painting by Helena Nelson Reed

Happy Lammas, first harvest gives grains for bread making!

---------------

Sharing with Sepia Saturday for tomorrow. A big thank you to Alan who puts together this meme. Stop on over to add your own old favorite photos, or just check out those who do!

Sepia Saturday says:

It is summer. We are sat on the pier. We have our overcoats on because it is Britain and it is cold. Everything is all right and everything is as it should be .... except the world seems to be tilting to the left. For those who like to look for themes for their Sepia Saturday offerings, there are themes a plenty here - from flat caps to straw baskets. For those who just like sharing old photographs why not get yourself off your seat and share your photos on or around Saturday 2nd August 2025 and add a link to the list below. 

Some historic views

 

1914 - a few months before it burnt down.

Springtime in Black Mountain...an ornamental  cherry tree gave beautiful blossoms. The birdbath was a leaky gift, so I stuck an old sculpture in it. This was my rental house on Beech St.

Enjoying my son Marty's family at my last Mother's Day in Tampa before I retired in 2007. Marty, Cayenne, Cinnamon, and William, with me standing!

William achieved his AA, and sister Cayenne her High School degree and enough honors classes she entered college as a sophomore (or maybe a junior!) 

I love seeing what women can do with their hair these days, and most of them say yes when I ask if I can take a photo of them.

Before Sept. 27, 2024, when many of the tracks were washed out along the route through the mountains over the continental divide, there would be one or two trains a day from the east going to Asheville. Tracks have apparently been repaired going west from Asheville to Tennessee, but not going east. We're not sure they will be. This engine is crossing US 70 to deliver supplies to an outfit near Swannanoa, perhaps the most eastern business the trains are doing at this time from Asheville.

Some interesting art...

From the Asheville Art Museum

I still can't see any recycled cans in the finished products!

---------------

Environmental news:

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a landmark opinion this past Wednesday, stating that countries have a legal duty to protect people and ecosystems from the "urgent and existential threat" posed by climate change. It’s true that the ruling is an advisory opinion with no legal mechanism for enforcement. However, it represents important precedent that will have weight in other courts as litigation continues. 

For example, it means that the countries most impacted by rising temperatures – typically poorer countries who’ve contributed least to the problem in the first place - may be entitled to reparations from the world's top emitters. “This ruling is a powerful tool we can use to demand that those most responsible for this climate crisis be held accountable,” said Flora Vano, Vanuatu country manager for the non-profit ActionAid. “As the planet’s weather becomes more chaotic, this ruling paves the way for the protections and reparations we desperately need to rebuild our lives and secure a just future.”

The litigation was dreamed up by law students from the Pacific island nation of Tonga in 2019. One of those students, Siosiua Veikune, was at the ICJ in the Hague this week to hear the opinion, telling the BBC, "I'm lost for words. This is so exciting. This is a win we take proudly back home to our communities." And I agree: this ruling is yet more proof that ordinary people, when they use their voices, can change the world.

Thanks Katharine Hayhoe!

------------

Today's quote

Surrender isn’t a sacrifice of the known, but rather a celebration of the infinite. NIPUN MEHTA My old photos: Tai proposing to Kendra with garlic, around 2013, used as header the week of July 23, 2025

Cinnamon Kathleen Happy Birthday

Most of these photos were shared on FaceBook.  I'm so glad to see Cinnamon's life with her friends and family there!  Glad you're my friend, Cinn!  And you're a wonderful mother for my grandchildren too!