Dear Elder Ralph

1944-2015

Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord...

and say hullo to Dad for me.

For My Invisible Readers

While you and Mr. Nobody wait for me to catch up to the present in the Shotsnaps universe, here's a little something to munch on while you wait.

(Why, yes, I did!  After lying dormant for over a year, Mount Buildabelly erupts!)

Red/White/Blue

I have nothing to say.  Gray.  Rain.  It's past time to go outside to splash through the lake that used to be my garden.  I've spent the last couple of hours tacking snapshots on a wall, and I didn't even finish, but I give them to you in honor of Independence Day.

(Cue fireworks.)

 Have at it.

50 Snapshots Later

I blame it on baby kittens, their eyes barely open, and children I love watching swallows from a barn window-- one of the deadliest combinations imaginable.

I'm glad we have these pictures, at least.  John Wayne kept barreling over to their hiding place, so Fruity absconded with the kittens several weeks back, and we haven't yet found them, much to the girls' sorrow.

Oh, lovely Nixie.  Annika Arden.  You grow too big.

Piper Joy

I took this picture of Pippi on the sly, in celebration of the World's Most Awesome Outfit.  If you let your children dress themselves, every once in a while, they'll strike pure gold.

With kittens.  Does it get any better than this?

Ezekiel Walker

...was not allowed to touch the kittens without supervision.

He watched them, though.

Zeke looks like he's posing here, but I think he was in the middle of telling me an unintelligible story, probably something about the injustice meted out to three-year old boys when kittens are involved.

Lucinda Hope

She fits right in with scrawny kittens.

(She didn't dress herself in the morning. Why bother when pajamas suit so well?)

And then she noticed me, which always has disastrous consequences.

Susannah Wren

She's holding the plumpest baby kitten of the litter here.

And I only took a few pictures, because I feared this shy Bird might fly away.

Mildred Elise

There's no hope for you.  These snapshots prove you're already too big.

(And, lovely one, you're not so bad at dressing yourself in the morning, either.)

But, still, too big.

Back to the kittens!  They'll cheer us up!!!

Triple Whammy

Too many people in the barn forced the barn swallows out, and these three gathered to watch them dart and swoop outside the window.

I'm a little ashamed I took so many pictures of them in the window, but I was like one possessed.  Kittens, children I love, bird-watching from barn windows....so very deadly all together.

The last snapshot, and, possibly, my favorite.  

Oh, Ezekiel

Sometimes you're so cute I just can't stand it.

I just!

Can't!

Stand it!

Unrelated.  Here's John Wayne on the prowl for kittens.

An Ordinary Afternoon

I'm a rich, rich girl.

(I took this picture after being lured to the tree by a high-pitched, sing-songy song, "I'm at the hiiiighest height, the highest height, the hiiiiggghhest height."  To her credit, the littlest girl had climbed quite high, in her skivvies, no less.