Not exactly a festival, but

Our headbangers theme is fairs or festivals and I am- duh- headslapping- because I decided to wait till today to post and then- senior moment- forgot. I usually post Tuesday evening--early.

We have not made it to the fair, but this last Saturday evening we celebrated life by walking in the

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Light the Night Walk. Here is my husband with his white balloon. White was for survivors and patients. As a supporter I carried a red balloon.

And they did light up.

The yellow balloons were in memory of friends and family who died from blood cancers.

Headbangers--Welcome Home

This new archway--well, new to us who have been here for over 35 years, welcomes us to our town. I actually took this picture before it was completed.

This is like a welcome home when we go on a cruise. Seattle is our port of departure and return.

But this scene is the one which marks a welcome home when we've been on a road trip--much more likely than a cruise as we've cruised three times over the years but road trips? Those happen several times a year.

This is the view as we come back home into the Yakima Valley when we have been visiting relatives in the Southwest. We finish up over Satus Pass and come down here into Toppenish. Not much farther to be home. I had to go back and check the photo to make sure that this was an accurate description. It could have been coming down from Bickleton, or over the Horse Heavens from Paterson, or very similar to the view down into the Valley coming from Chinook or White Passes, or down from Ellensburg over Manashtash Ridge.  No matter which, once we come over a ridge and see the Valley, we know we are almost home.

A simple view--nothing spectacular. But it's home.

Our new headbanger Christine gave us this week's header theme. You can find her link on my sidebar, as well as links to the blogs of the other headbangers.

Headbangers--ROMANCE

Twenty six miles across the sea
Santa Catalina is awaiting for me
Santa Catalina, the island of ROMANCE,
ROMANCE, ROMANCE, RO-MANCE!!!!!!

Craver, did you do this to us? This song from before your time is running through my head worse than any other in a long time.

Yes, Craver gave us the theme of Romance for this week, and here we go seeking romance. Wonder what he had in mind--hmmm--check out his blog and the others which you will find in my sidebar to see. You will get the male version. They will have their headers and posts ready by Wednesday afternoon.

So, here, for the distaff view of romance.

I just checked on MapQuest, and it was not twenty six miles across the sea, but more like fifty across the land.

This lovely lady lived in Riverside, where she attended Riverside Junior College, edited the college yearbook, wrote college and social news for the local paper, and helped her mother run a huge boarding house.

This adventurous young red head lived in San Gabriel. He had graduated from the University of California at Davis, having studied agriculture, and returned to help his dad manage their orange grove.

Continuing his agricultural studies, he spent one or more semesters at the Irrigated Agriculture Experiment Station in Riverside. Guess where he lived when he was there.

 

 

Jane liked to say that since she was the one that brought the food to the table, Howard thought he was falling in love with the cook.

 

 

His studies over, Howard returned to his smudge pots. When he could, he made weekend visits to

Riverside. Well, it wasn't Riverside itself that was the attraction.


But since it was depression time, stamps were cheaper.


On a shelf that I can't right now reach I have a box. It contains two years worth of letters from Jane to Howard. And one or two letters from Howard to Jane.


I always thought it so very romantic of my Dad (of course, you knew this was my mother and dad, didn't you?) that he saved every letter my mother sent--sometimes two or three a week. And wondered why she didn't save his like that. I just realized that I have another box on another shelf containing all the letters I sent my sweetie when I was a student for a year in Italy, and maybe one or two from him. It wasn't that I didn't save them. He didn't send any. Was my dad that way, too?

Ah, well, romance, romance, romance, ROMANCE!!!!

1934!

A job!

My dad was offered a job managing a ranch in the California desert. I don't think I ever wondered what was growing out there at that time--except rattlesnakes. It was early in irrigated agriculture.

A job! A job meant that they could get married. Quick, before Lent starts as there were no weddings during Lent.

And the living room of that big boarding house was the setting for the nuptials.

Romance, romance, romance, ROMANCE!!!

The job at the ranch included the house, and every month or so the owner would come for the weekend and the folks could take a break, get away from the ranch, come back fresh after a few days.

Then after a while the owner started leaving his laundry--maybe some other chores for my mom to do between their visits.

It didn't take long. Dad informed the boss that he had not hired his wife as a laundress, it was not part of the bargain.  And then he quit.

I told you he was bold and adventurous.

And romantic.

Dad passed away of Parkinson's and cancer in late 1994. Mother followed twelve weeks later succumbing to her own cancer. I truly believe that they each kept going those last few years for the sake of the other.

One of my nephews spoke of going to work that January afternoon that Mother died. The sky was stormy over the Pacific, but suddenly the sun broke through the clouds displaying a beaming pathway to heaven. When he learned that she had passed right about that time, he said he just knew it was Jane on her way to join Howard in time to celebrate their 61st wedding anniversary together.

ROMANCE!

 

When I posted, I did not know that this would be the week that Christine joined our Headbanger family. So I am no longer the only representative of the female side of things. Welcome, Christine.

I is for Ice

A good place to find ice is in Alaska.

 

Where you will find icebergs  near Mendenhall Glacier.

 Ice sculptures on the cruise ships.

 Ice in the glaciers in Glacier Bay.

 More icebergs in Tracy Arm.

These ABC Wednesday I photos are from cruises in 2007 and 2009.

H is for Hike

I know that we are at H. I caught up to G last week after being absent from ABC Wednesday for a couple of weeks. So where was I? Well, at least part of that time was at Crater Lake National Park where we went on at least two hikes a day.

So H is for HIKE.

We hiked to the Pinnacles.

 We hiked to Plaikni Falls.

 We hiked through Annie Springs Canyon...

crossing Annie Creek...

 over

 

 

and over

 

 

and over

 

again.

 

 We watched this little guy for quite a while on the Castle Crest wildflower Trail.

We hiked down to the boat launch...






...so that we could travel to Wizard Island...

 

...and hike up so we could look down... 

...then got the boat again back so we could hike back up to the rim.

 

 

 

(Did this with approval from hubby's cardiologist. It is like climbing the stairs in a 75 story building.)

And on one of our leisurely final day strolls, we visited the Lady of the Woods.












So, as I said before, H is definitely for HIKE.

Thanks to Jules and Martha Z for some great camping companionship.

Look into my Eyes

Our header challenge this week is Dragonfly or Damselfly, presented to us by hmmm, can't find the list to tell who to attribute it to. We Headbangers, the others listed in my sidebar, challenge each other to a header theme each week. We have a new member joining shortly, and will be introduced as soon as he is ready.

I know I have other dragonfly/damselfly photos, but the most memorable and accessible in my files come from our Cousin Camp visit to Mt. St. Helens in 2009.

Okay, so at the moment uploading all those cute little wings and faces is not going well. I will come back later in the day to add my variety of images, as it is time for me to be heading out for my morning activities.

Okay, good to go. Uploading normal and I think the problem was that I was in html mode. Some bloggers have been having trouble with uploading and editing from there.

I controlled the urge to include a helicopter picture. They always make me think of dragonflies and vice versa.