Happy birthday, Dad!

Dad would have been 82 today.

He's the little guy front right. Johnny's big brother Bill is to the left. That's probably grandma with her arm around Uncle Bill. And, I'm guessing it's Aunt Helen with her arm on dad. I have no idea who the other ladies are.

I'll bet they are at the old Muckian house in Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin. I was up there a few years ago and it's still standing, though barely.

Cheers, dad. Maybe some birthday cake tonight...

Bike Trail

Terri and I refer to this type of shot as a Journey picture because they remind us to enjoy the time on the path as well as at the destination.

We're lucky. We have some very nice bike trails in our area. On Sunday, we went for a short ride on one of them. We had perfect weather for the ride, made a stop at a local pub, and saw a young deer on the way home.

One thing I wonder about: Why spend the money to paint a stripe down the center of the trail? Is that really necessary?

Lincoln Mall: 1973-2017

There isn't much left of Matteson's Lincoln Mall. Only the Carson's building is still standing. The remainder of the mall is just piles of rock, waiting to be hauled away. Soon there will be only a vacant lot.

Purple

Yes, purple can be polarizing. Many hate it, but we love its blend of regal and whimsy. As you can see here, one of Terri's suns blends and contrasts quite well with the purple walls in our upstairs bathroom.

Treasures

We love our pottery and supporting potters. The town next door has Frankfort Fall Festival every Labor Day weekend. It is a huge draw and we look forward to adding to our collection of decorative and functional pottery each year. This year was the first without the couple who got us started collecting-- Betsy and Tom, whose beautiful items had gorgeous glazes. Thankfully, we found Clement Clay Works from Missouri and were happy they returned this year. The two pieces on the left are Clement's. The mug on the right was from Schmidt-Marken designs from La Porte, Indiana.

Long shadows