Turn Your Face Towards the Sun

Photo by Chad Minnick

Our sunflowers are blooming! Many of them are taller than either of us and beaming their tremendous sunny yellowness. You can almost hear them shout "Summer!"

“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows follow behind you.”~ Maori Proverb

Wild Turkeys

I wouldn't consider myself a great wildlife photographer. Aside from the gear, wildlife photographers enjoy a great deal more patience than I. Nonetheless, these first two snaps excite me because this turkey family was in our yard, pecking for food and chilling out near the cool spray of the sprinkler. The second reason these excite me is simply because I used my camera gear for a shoot this weekend and it was ready to go...the way camera gear should be! When I came around the corner of the building and saw this family, I snuck backwards into the house, grabbed my camera, switched to the telephoto lens really quick and ran back outside to be with the turkeys. So simple and satisfying! 

This also points to the mixed blessing of having the animals discover our yard as a lush place full of food. Now we are back to warding off the deer and rabbits. 

I thought I'd throw in a couple more turkey snaps from this last winter at the canyon. This flock had maybe 30 turkeys, all of whom launched themselves into the cabin at roughly the same time. It was quite dramatic. 

Sand Flat School

So much going on! so much we could blog about!

We ordered a couple prints from the Lincoln County Museum (please like them on Facebook). This is an iPhone snap of a long horizontal print at the museum dated 1920. 

Yay! 

We *love* this stuff! 

We are still in the process of nailing down the specifics, but the paperwork says this building was erected in 1900. Ostensibly for the school...? 

I love knowing that this fellow shared our space a century ago. Later he became a charter member of the North Star Grange! 

Lang, Herbert R.,  Jan 3, 1974

"Services were held in CA last week for Herbert R. Lang, who died in Cambria Dec 24. Born in Keller in 1907, Lang later attended Sand Flat and Davenport schools when his parents, Frank and Caroline Lang, farmed north of Davenport. A charter member of North Star Grange, he later owned and operated the Gerome ferry, store and post office and then the Gifford ferry, which he built. Survivors include three daughters, 5 grandchildren and two sisters, Margaretta Adams, Davenport, and Frances Duckey, Mercer Island." (Dav. Times: 1-03-1974)

More info and details to come, consider this a teaser. The friendly folks at the museum are looking for more tidbits, old ads and what not generated from this building. It's very exciting! 

If YOU know anything about Sand Flat School or the North Star Grange, or anything else about this building, please contact us! 

Field of Iris

There are a ton of flowers around the Northstar left over from long-gone years of gardening. My iPhone wasn't doing this field of iris justice. However, if you look close you'll see there are pink wild rose interspersed with the purple iris. Beautiful. You'll have to see it in person to really appreciate what we're seeing. 

Lawn Maintenance

Freshly mowed, thanks to Chad's newly repaired, awesome self-propelled lawn mower.

Lilacs

The several bushes of lilacs in our yard opened up tremendously. I wish you could smell them up close and personal. Their light purpleness smells beautiful, lush...a deep smooth springy smell.