Thursday, August 14, 2008

The Ohio Chronicles: Last Chapter of Book One

I call it "Book One" because all my family is still there and I'll be making another pilgramage within a year to see them; Ohio Chronicles is an ongoing story. It's about my life & theirs, places we shared, and all the memories & events in family life and growing up that intertwine and interweave to create our personal tapestry. I'll wrap up Book One with a few odds & ends and some pictures that I just kinda liked.

BITS & PIECES OF MY LIFE
These lilies used to cover the bank of hill in front of our house. It was very steep & difficult to mow, so someone planted a mass of flowers. At the time, I thought they were ugly. Now there's only a few left.
Grandpap's favorite cigar, or stogie. There was a tree behind his house that grew some kind of long string-bean-looking thing. I saw one just like it in Kansas City & snapped this picture.They called it a stogie tree. I thought Gramps plucked his right off the tree. I suppose that ranks up there with the dog on the bridge story.
The building on the left used to be the dance studio where I spent many, many happy hours learning modern jazz - real dance, Bob Fosse stuff - not the gymnastic-aerobic-hiphop hybrid choreography done today. (Granted, the contemporary style takes great talent & athletic ability. But, it's just not .... jazzy)The mini-park fountain the town council had built when Uncle Bud was a councilman. I called him Uncle "Fudgie" because I loved fudge and he was my favorite uncle - as good as fudge. But something happened along the way and sadly, he died a lonely, crotchety man.
The church Joe's entire family attended, where he was an altar boy, where we were married, where our baby son was christened. It was a classic village parish. But time took it's toll. The village aged and died off, the young families moved away, and the diocese shut the doors a couple years ago. A non-denominational congregation bought the building.

CLOSING SHOTS


We've come to the close of this particular journey. I hope you enjoyed our little trip back in time. Thank you for coming along.

1 comment:

WIDNEY WOMAN said...

Love the metal watering cans. J was looking for one earlier this summer. He couldn't find the right sized can. We stopped looking after a month or so.