Family Worship

Our family has produced ministers, elders, deacons and lots of people who are active in their congregations. After he'd left the area where my mother was raised one of the pastors told me, "I'd been warned about the 'family name' when I came to 'community' - they ran the church. But I never had a problem. They were good about telling me how they felt and if they opposed something everyone knew it, but once the decision was made they supported it." Currently there are two Ministers of Word and Sacrament in the PCUSA, but I have no idea how many there are other places. This photo is of the family worship we have at every reunion.

Who am I

I'm one of the two in this photo. But not the one using the computer. We had almost verbatim notes from our family meeting at the reunion. The main topic was putting people in charge of the next reunion - to be three years down the line. There's thirty-some direct descendants in my generation, some of my generation are grandparents. There's more than a little work involved.

Another elk photo

I wasn't able to get this sized larger, but it's still a great shot of the elk that was at my family reunion

Top of the mountain

A group of us who made it to the top of the mountain. And since none of the younger than eighteen crowd had to be carried I was pleased. And since the storm didn't come until after we got down I was especially pleased.

Trek to three crosses

At the top of the mountain, with a storm that didn't quite get to us until we were back down and one of the three corsses.

Trek to three crosses.

The person who took this wanted me in it so as to give the proportions of the tree. But it's still a great photo. We were trekking to the top of a mountain where there were three crosses, but enjoyed the wildlife along the way. The little red flag is one of the markers of the way to the top. And I'm the middle aged, balding, heavy-set animal.

Child and Elk

Last summer I posted a picture of child and elk from my family reunion. I sent to to David Mixner's site where it is now the picture of the week. I've seen lots of elk. I've seen lots of elk with velvet, but this is about the best view of velvet that I've seen. And the child, one of my first cousins once removed, makes it one of the best photos I've seen - of both child and elk.

Family and including others

I was looking over my family phots from the reunion this summer and realized something. The photos of my aunts and uncles - the one's that are just of the siblings - include my Aunt Pat. Aunt Pat was married to my mother's brother but he's been gone for awhile. Uncle Lyle's funeral is when I had the chicken pox. She's been married to her second husband for longer than I think Uncle Lyle was alive. I don't remember the photos of the siblings from the reunions when my dad had survivied my mother, but I suspect when I find them they'll show my dad.

That's what I call family values. The generation before me includes the spouses even after their brothre and sister have died. Another story about that inclusion is also about my Aunt Pat. When she decided to remarry they walked across the farmyard to tell his mother, then drove down the road and told my grandparents, and finally got to her parents. And when they celebrated their 25th anniversary all three sides of the family came - her side, his side, her first husband's side.

And should I mention that the youngest in this photo won an age discrimination suit, is past sixty-five and is working as a ditch rider?

The earth at night

I saw this on Living the Scientific Life (Scientist Interrupted) credited to Image: C. Mayhew & R. Simmon (NASA/GSFC), NOAA/NGDC, DMSP Digital Archive. Can you find where you live? Since I'm just on the outskirts of Denver, it's fairly quick for me.

Another Elk photo

Another picture of the elk we saw at my family reunion. I've seen elk. I've seen elk with antlers. I've seen elk with antlers and velvet. But this is the most perfect velvet I've ever seen and so close up deserves to be seen by more than just my family.

Posed

This is from the early 1960's when we lived in Cuba....

wait for it....

it's not the one that's an island...

it's the town of Cuba in Kansas where my father was one of the pastors in a five point parish. He preached in Cuba and Narka on Sundays and was primarily responsible for the youth activities. I remember playing in the light from a stained glass window that was in the manse and musty smells bring back wonderful memories of worship there. The church building had a leak that had been fixed a number of times, but somehow regularly came back and dripped into the same spot every year.

My mother's siblings.

Since seven of the nine siblings are still alive on my mother's side, and the youngest just won an age discrimination suit, while the eldest is fretting about only walking a mile a day - I hope my longevity and health take after that side of the family. Should I mention that of the two that are missing - one died in a car accident and the other from complications during surgery to correct a problem caused by one of the infectious disease for which we're vaccinated these days - didn't really die of natural causes?

Women in my family

My mother and her sisters.

My mother is the twin holding her youngest child.

Twins run in the family

For a little while we had three sets of twins in the family. My great aunts, my mother and her twin, myself and my twin. Somehow the only photo we have of all of us is from this newspaper clipping. I remember at least one other visit where all of us were present, but... no one thought to take a picture to remember it.

Valentine birthday

My mother is a twin. She's an identical twin. The girls were born on valentines day. And thus the dresses with hearts.

Family photo

These photos are from one of the many anniversary parties for relatives over the years.

Twins - August 2006

I'm the one on the east.

From the 1960's

I grew up to look like the man and the woman in the back, this is from where my mother grew up.

Grandparents

My grandparents.

I suspect one reason I've never run screaming from disabilities is that little bit of cotton in my granddad's eye. Some of my earliest memories are of seeing him change it to a fresh piece during the day. I also had an uncle who I knew we had to face in order for him to hear. Form him the high pitches just aren't there. And then there was a cousin who was one of the last people to get polio and her surgery after surgery. I just grew up with people of different abilities and learned that we worked within those different situations.

Parents and boyscouts

While the picture is fading somewhat, it is who I am or was.