developed

Here are the photos that have been in the Pentax camera that I mentioned in my previous post. They've been there for about 4 years -- since the year that everyone traveled east for Thanksgiving at the farm, and Nick brought friend Josh along. The photo taken at the dinner table looks a bit like The Hippie Family Robinson -- a scary bunch! Nick, Josh, and Hannah all have much shorter hair now. I love the one of Sara and Grant at Sandy Neck beach. It was such a grey day and the colors were so dull that I played a little bit with black and white editing. So, we travel back to 2004....

Grant plays with GPS

Sandy Neck looking west (above) and east (below)

Grant and Sara

Who ARE these people and why are they sitting at my table?

Grandma Susie suspects Matt of cheating at cards

Aunt Junie, hoping for a quiet moment to herself

Nicholas van Beethoven

Josh

Miss Hannah

the gesture

Sara and I noticed that Mom makes a certain gesture while she's talking, and we've captured evidence of it in several recent photos. You be the judge.

No gesturing. Hands at rest.

There it is!

There it is again! And behind my back, no less!

And there!

Well, I guess I make certain gestures too. Peace!

sara's visit back east

Here are a few photos of Sara's visit to the east coast. Check Sara's blog in the next few weeks for more photos. We had a great time catching up on each other's lives and thoughts and feelings. We talked non-stop and, of course, solved all the problems of the world. We spent a day at Heritage Gardens in Sandwich with Mom and Aunt Biddy, and had a really fun visit with Ben in Newport -- got to see where he works and where he lives. And we had a morning on Long Beach right here in Centerville, walking and wading. We saw an unusual fish that I have yet to identify, and the little sand crabs that dig their holes and create little balls of sand outside of the opening. Scroll down for a really bad (and blessedly short) video of the little crabs in action.

Susan, Biddy, and Sara, Heritage Gardens, Sandwich, MA

From Behind

Sara on the Carousel, Heritage Gardens

Kites along Ocean Drive, Newport, RI

Sara and Ben, Ocean Drive

Sara, Ben, Grandma Susie

Silliness

Hannah graduates from 8th grade (Aunt Sara attended the ceremony)

Sara admires the shell tree, Long Beach, Centerville

Terrible crab video; nice butt

WARNING -- Graphic scene of crab abuse

Sara the bathing beauty

Piping plover

Long Beach, Centerville, looking west to Osterville

Sara and Grandma, Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, MA

ghosts of christmas past

Nick at Grandma Susie's house, East Bridgewater, 1993

Hannah in Middleboro, 1997 or 98

Lucy in Towson, Maryland, 1958

Dorothy, Lucy, Sara in Hyattsville, Maryland, 1960

happy birthday

In a previous post I mentioned cousin Jon Loomis' new novel, and his brother Dana's move to Nevada. Well, here is a photo of us Loomis cousins, being "arranged" by our fathers for a nice photo in Grandma's Ruxton garden -- dated June 1961. Uncle Dana is clearly trying to force Jon and Sara to hold hands against their will. Young Dana is politely standing by, holding his little car. Dorothy has her squinty mad face on. And Dad is trying to keep me from escaping with a death-grip to my head. I guess the photographer gave up trying to wait for a better shot. "I'm taking the damned picture now!"

Dad's birthday is coming up on November 2nd. He would have been 78. The year before he died, he told me that he didn't care if Brud and I got married (we'd been living together for 6 years at that point) -- he just wanted more grandchildren. So for my birthday he gave me glow-in-the-dark sheets (I guess to get that baby-making action going), and a copy of Dr. Spock's Guide to Baby Care. Thanks to those sheets, Nick was born the year after Dad died, and I kept the Dr. Spock guide on my bedside table for instant consultation every time that poor child made so much as a peep. So, happy birthday, Dad, and thanks for your help in getting my family started.

Here's that favorite picture of Dad, Uncle Dana, and Aunt Esther -- brothers and sister / 3 monkeys -- circa 1989.