A BICYCLE in Summer

As a kid summer wouldn't have been the same without a bicycle. Summer meant freedom from school. Each morning meant freedom to have an adventure.

A ride up the road to the pear orchards to where the new houses were being built, pilfering wayward nails from the building site, back home to work on the tree house.

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Or maybe it was a ride into town to check out what was new at the toy store and a stop at the deli for a sandwich.

Maybe just a ride up to the school grounds to see if anyone was hanging around the basketball courts.

Riding with friends. No helmets. No handbrakes. Just bandaids on our knees covering up the scratches that had just been sprayed with Bactine. Apparently Bactine is still made, but I haven't seen any in decades. I'd like to smell it again. It's one of those smells from childhood that I sort of miss.

This is my submission for Sepia Saturday and a wish that all fellow Sepians remember the good times a bicycle gave them.

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

COME ON IN...

it's hot outside! I'm not kidding. It was 111.4 today. Time to find a puddle or a pond to sit in. Just sit. Do nothing. Just sit. Wait for the evening when it drops down to...85. Yup, it's going to be good sleeping tonight.

But it's a dry heat.

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Just getting into the swim with this week's Sepia Saturday. Someone hand me a cold one. A block of ice would do.

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

A TREAT on a Summer Day

A cold sweet watermelon on a hot day IS summer. Sitting in the shade relaxing with family and friends after a picnic lunch is perfection.

If you've been to my site before you know I like the idea of people getting together to share food. With that sharing we create memories which will hopefully last a lifetime.

So remember to spend a few moments this summer bringing back past memories and be thankful for them.


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This is a recently purchased photo; bought it for a buck. I wish I'd had it when I put together Tattered and Lost: Cakes, Picnics, and Watermelon.
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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

SUMMER at the Lake

Maybe it's just me, but I'm convinced there was a lake nearby. I'd like to think it was Tahoe or Donner because they're both very important in my life. The reality is that this could be anywhere pines grow. Vintage images travel long distances once released from their original owners. So if it makes you feel better to think they were in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York go for it. We each bring what we want to vintage snapshots.


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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

An AFTERNOON READ with Momma

My dad used to read to me every night when he was home. The first few years of my life he was gone a lot during the Korean war. Then for many years he was traveling making training films. But when he was home bedtime meant story time. I don't remember my mom reading to me, but she probably did.


Click on image to see it larger.

I love this photo of the woman and child snug in the hammock on a summer day. Close your eyes and imagine the sounds of her voice and the birds in the trees, the feeling of a breeze lightly touching your skin, and the warmth of the child's body next to yours.

I was thrilled when I found this photo. It is featured in Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading.

This my contribution to Sepia Saturday this week.
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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

The Boys of SUMMER

Summer isn't officially here, but the weather outside would beg to differ. And this week's Sepia Saturday image has that wonderful carefree summer feeling to it.

The strange photo below is my response. I actually have never been able to figure out if this is a double or triple exposure. There's so much going on in front of the young fellas standing by the river. Someone flies through the air while someone below takes a running stance about to charge towards the photographer. Heatstroke. That's what caused this image. No other explanation. Someone forgot to advance the film.



Saddened to hear of the passing of one of our fellow Sepians. Thanks to the net Barbara's hard work will live on.
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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

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On a SUMMER DAY…It Might Be Nice to Eat Watermelon Standing Up

Stop mowing the lawn and eat some cool refreshing sweet watermelon. The grass will still be there when you're done and it won't have grown much. Take the time to enjoy a few moments with family and friends. Sometimes work can wait.


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You can see in this shot that we have two seed pickers on the left. The other three either don't care about the seeds and simply swallow them or are faster pickers.

Of course, here in California my lawn is a thing of the past. It is dead and parched. Some of it will grow back if we get rain this winter, but if not it's not something I'm going to need to mow. So it's full on watermelon time!
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Available at Amazon:
Tattered and Lost: Cakes, Picnics, and Watermelon

On a SUMMER DAY…You Might Cross from One Season to Another

For those of us in the US this weekend we celebrate Labor Day. The first Monday of every September is a national holiday. Sadly we've strayed from the initial intent. Instead of celebrating the hard workers who built this country we now celebrate ostentatious wealth and the handful of people who now pull all the strings.

Shouldn't businesses be closed on such a holiday allowing workers to actually spend some time with family? Apparently not since the newspapers are filled with advertising for Labor Day sales.

So here's to the folks who must work next Monday, many at minimum wage. I'm sure they'd rather spend the day with family and friends having a picnic in the shade of a big tree along a gently flowing river.


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Labor Day is also an unofficial bridge between summer and fall. Though technically summer doesn't end until later in September, the Labor Day holiday is always the last hurrah. Kids are back to school, workers are remembering their summer vacations, and Christmas decorations start showing up in stores. Wait, I think Christmas decorations started a few months ago.

This is my submission for this weeks Sepia Saturday theme, bridges.
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Available at Amazon:
Tattered and Lost: Cakes, Picnics, and Watermelon

On a SUMMER DAY...

While others liked to slowly meander down the river in a canoe…


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Edna preferred to poke sticks down an ant hole.
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Available at Amazon:
Tattered and Lost: Cakes, Picnics, and Watermelon

SIAMESE CAT predicts no more days of summer

For some reason a groundhog is used to predict spring. Seriously, I'm not going to look up the history of it. It is what it is and it doesn't factor into my life. However...what about summer? Wouldn't we all like to know how much summer is left before fall arrives?

I give you the Siamese Cat in a Bucket. Your guess is as good as mine as to what it's predicting. I just know it's warm here and the wind is blowing like there's a blackhole nearby sucking everything into it.

WHAT DID YOU DO this weekend?

Oh, nothing much. Just hung around.

TOM and BECKY

It really is summer. Sometimes I don't seem to find the time to really enjoy summer. If I get the opportunity to go swimming I can sometimes catch a glimmer of childhood and what it was like to just float without a worry in the world.

The other day while waiting for a medication to be filled at a pharmacy I wandered around wasting time looking at all the junk they had and I came across the toy aisle. It was full of junk from China, but amongst all of it I saw a package of brightly colored plastic boats. It was one of those moments when a spark from the past flickers by. I wanted those little plastic boats. I wanted to sail them down the street gutter following a rain storm. I wanted to put them in the little lake I'd made in my sandbox until the water seeped away leaving them high and dry in the desert. Yes, those stupid little plastic boats reminded me it was summer.

It's that time of year when I should be reading Huckleberry Finn; traveling down the Mississippi watching the lights at night flicker along the shoreline.

I love summer when I remember to enjoy it.