07-05-13 Glenyce Times Two

This is the doting great mother and namesake of our new grand daughter, Glenyce Jane. And GJ is worth doting over. :-)

06-06-13 The Indignity!

Glenyce Jane isn't even 12 hours old in this photo, which documents GJ's first serious bath. And serious is a good word for it - the health care worker, who was very good at what she did, didn't exactly treat our new grand daughter like fine china.

In this photo, GJ is getting her right arm pit scrubbed and I suspect that years from now, she will either be grateful for the documentation of such moments in her early life. Or she will be embarrassed. . . .

06-03-13 Really!

My Instagram followers will recognize this shot, which was published there yesterday. But my regular readers will know that redundancy is one of my hallmarks. So why not publish it here, as well?

The subject is, of course, our new grand daughter, Glenyce Jane S. The event was her first bath, being administered by a loving, efficient medical care expert, who did not pamper GJ.

I don't know know what kind of thought 10 hour old humans are capable of, but GJ's expression seems to be one of mild frustration mixed with resignation. She seems to be say, "If you really have to, I suppose. . . "

06-02-13 June Bug

Words fail to convey how I feel about the birth of our new grand daughter. But here she is, only three hours old. She's so new to this world that her parents (Brian and Katie) have yet to name her. But we like her nick name:"June Bug."

I suspect I will be posting a few more of this little girl from time to time. . .

04-02-13 Gentle

There is nothing particularly unique about this photo, other than the subjects, who are unique. And this is no doubt one of those photos that has much greater meaning to me and my family than it would to the casual observer. For this is my son Brian and daughter-in-law Katie. And they are expecting their first child (and our first grand child) in late May. And it's a girl!

01-09-12 Mike, Scott & Clarence in Las Vegas

I have been to Las Vegas only once, and this photo documents the highlight of that visit: our hotel had a swimming pool! That's my brother Mike and my dad sitting on the diving board. And the story I am told (because I don't remember it) is that when no one was looking, little 7-year-old Scotty went out to the edge of the board and jumped in. The problem was that Scotty really didn't know how to swim. Whether that event occurred before or after the photo was taken, I can't say.This photo doesn't pass the test as far as quality photos are concerned: it has compositional issues and the photographer (my mom?) posed us with our backs to the sun, leading to underexposed faces. But like billions of other bad vacation snap shots, it is still an important photo - at least in my personal history.This photo, incidentally, was in an album that my aunt Betty had kept. In managing her estate, we ended up with several of her photo albums and it is obvious to me that even though she lived in California, her South Dakota family was very important to her.

01-07-13 Scott & Mike

That's me on the left (sitting backwards on the big tortoise) and my brother Mike on the right. I think the photographer is our mom. And the tortoises were residents at the Reptile Gardens in the Black Hills. Or maybe they were an attraction at Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota?

12-21-12 Betty (Reprise)

I am taking a bit of a break from my blog and so I thought I'd post a few of my favorites.

12-13-12 Fairy Tale (Reprise)

I am taking a bit of a break from my blog and so I thought I'd post a few of my favorites.

12-07-12 Morning Stroll

This photo was published on Instagram a while ago but I think my audience is a little different here, so here you go. This is Katie and Brian strolling in their beautiful neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota.

11-25-12 Happiness

There are many ways to picture happiness but I would choose the look on Evie's face from this Thanksgiving's celebration to illustrate it. It's hard to know what she's thinking, but in the arms of her loving great grandmother, it can only be good things. . . .

11-24-12 Gladly Would He Teach

I have always liked Chaucer's description of Nicholas, the young scholar who stars in one of the many stories Chaucer tells in his Canterbury Tales. About Nicholas he says: "Gladly would he teach and gladly would he learn."That's a good description of my oldest son, Brian, who in this photo is seen giving his second cousin Ethan a lesson in math and English. And Ethan is clearly a willing learner. . .