Oh, Deer!

Last Sunday/ Monday we were down at the cabin. It was absolutely gorgeous down there because there was no nasty inversion. Ed, Colby, and Brayden R. were hanging out on the deck with no jackets. We noticed that we had some deer that kept appearing in the back driveway, so I started watching for them. It turns out that there was a four point buck and two does. I noticed one of the does eating some of the spilled birdseed off the surface of the snow. Then the buck climbed the two or three stairs to get on the other side of the feeder. He started nudging the feeder so that he could eat the bird seed. He even spilled some for the ladies! I took this picture from inside the kitchen, but it tell the tale. No wonder we are going through so much bird seed!!!

Reed was really excited that he got to have a friend at the cabin. This is Reed with Brayden C. hanging out watching TV!

Hope and Fear

This morning I had to do something that I have been putting off for several weeks. I needed to go to WalMart. I used to love WalMart, but it is so crowded and I buy so much stuff that I don't really need that I have been practicing avoidance. Today the streak had to end. I drove through the fog of the inversion to WalMart where the parking lot was surprisingly empty. As I easily navigated the store, I was struck by the fact that there was almost no one shopping. One lady commented to me about how quiet it was and I remarked that it was "scary quiet."

Our family is suffering the effects of a slow economy- complete with a pay cut. I know that many families across the country and in my own neighborhood are being affected by job loss. As a news junkie, I realize that the economy is in bad shape. But fear overcame me this morning when I realized the scope of the problem- as evidenced by a WalMart that was eerily empty. If the daddy of all big box stores is suffering to that extent, how will the smaller stores survive? How can it be turned around?

As I am generally a positive-minded person, hope resurfaced in short order. What a wonderful thing it was to watch as the Presidency of our great nation was handed over with grace and peace. This was the 44th time that we have had a peaceful transfer of power. How amazing! And how much more amazing that this time, the new President is African-American? It was not that long ago that blacks were enslaved as property and even more recent that they were harrassed and terrorized for wanting equal rights. I have hope that if we can change that much as a nation, we can do what it takes to come out of this recession. It is a new day and I hope that America is ready for change. I know that I am.

The Lost Years

Edward M. Collins (Ed's dad) in the mid 1940's

As an avid digital scrapbooker who is pretty much caught up with present photos, I have been looking for heritage projects to do. Ed thinks I should make book about the boys' grandparents- especially since they have all died and that's a little hard on our kids. We were talking about how to format the project when I realized that we have no photographs of Ed's dad before he was 27 or so. This is one of those times when a simple project turns into a nightmare.

I started looking for some of Ed's relatives (not a close family) in hopes that they might have boxes of old photographs tucked away somewhere. Genealogical research is tricky anyway, but it is really hard when the people are living or have died in the fairly recent past. There are laws that protect our information, so I haven't been too successful. But, I will keep looking. In the mean time, I guess that I will just have to start from the end and work backwards!

So, if anyone has earlier photos of Edward Michael Collins (1913-1994), please let me know!

Pet Peeve for Today: Almost every piece of information has a price tag attached to it! Aarrrggh. I remember the good old days when you could join Ancestry.com for three months at a time.

A Pretty Fair View

Yesterday was a beautiful day at the cabin. It was relatively warm and a good day to have fun in the snow! Just before the snowstorm blew in we were treated to this beautiful sunset. I took the picture from the deck of the cabin in Fairview. Aptly named, eh?