Catchin' UP!

It's been quite a while since I've seriously taken any flower photos. Sunday morning as I passed the room that JoAnne uses for computing and various other officelike duties, I noticed that our foster flower (an orchid that we adopted from the "Lands' End Lobby Beautification System" aka LELBS). The early sunlight filtered though the lace curtains creating such lovely lighting that I couldn't resist running (walking a little quicker) to fetch me trusty Canon. I had to share the results with you. So, as they say, "Here Tis!". Now to the catchin' up.
On my last post I was busy bragging about the Cubs' sweep over the dreaded Brewers. Since then, the Baseball Gods have, to put it mildly, frowned upon our "Boys in Blue". The straws from that celebratory broom have been stuffed up their dragging butts. We even sent our cutie pie mascot, Saffron, to a game hoping to get a winning streak going. She came away with a win and a Dora the Explorer doll clad in a Cub's shirt. The winning streak was short lived. Even Dora got demoted to becoming a plaything for the doggie duo, Tina and Snoopy. Saffie decided that running up and down the aisles and ramps at Wrigley Ballyard was more fun than watching the struggling team on the field. Meanwhile the Grandma bug struck our household. Terminex, Raid and Black Flag didn't seem to help. The only remedy was a face to face "Grandkid Fix". So it was off to "The Cities" (Minneapolis/St. Paul) to check on Little Eddie who was already 6 weeks old and had only been exposed to intensive Grandmothering from Jo for one week. It was a great weekend, Jo Grandmothered, Reid messed with a newly acquired outboard motor, Summer got a well deserved break from nightly 3AM chats with Eddie and I....was forced to keep an eye on the TV and sample various desserts and cakes that Summer baked. A visit to the local Farmer's Market yielded a nice bunch of rhubarb that was quickly transformed into a delicious pie which in truth was my prize for winning the highly touted, very complicated baby pool.
Another highlight since my last post was my Big Springs waterfall quest. In the past I had heard of Big Spring and even seen a road named for it but just couldn't locate it. So on a nice Spring day, I set out with my goal being to find the Big Spring. To make things even more interesting was that Kim, one of Jo's coworkers, mentioned how the Big Springs Waterfall was really gushing this time of year. Wow! Not only a spring but a waterfall too. Off I went. My superior intelligence told me that a good place to start would be . . . Big Springs Road. I drove the road from one end the what I guessed to be the other end. I found Big Springs Creek, a number of wild turkeys, a couple of deer, an eagle nest complete with a pair of eagles and a pair of Wood ducks but no Spring or Waterfall. I even found a discarded 1963 Corvair that was almost completely hidden by foliage. After Jo questioned her friend Kim about the whereabouts of "The Spring" she learned that it was necessary to hike in off the road to find the source of Big Springs Creek and the waterfall that it created. Back to the car and in no time I was trekking down a path along the creek and eventually came upon "The Source". I must admit that on a list of the vast number of waterfalls that Jo and I have hunted down over the years, this one ranked fairly low. But, it was a waterfall and it was only a few miles from home. I took a few mediocre photos and headed home victoriously.We have since celebrated Mother's day with a big dose of Saffie for Grandma Jo. We are presently awaiting a surgical procedure that Jo is to undergo tomorrow and I look forward to her spending more time at home with me recovering. Maybe some soothing rides through the lush green countryside will help the healing process.

Are you glad to see us or is it just gas?

Now that makes Grandpa smile!

I'm not sure what this face means.
Could be Saffie giving The Cubs the "raspberries".

Big Springs Creek.

The heart of it all. Big Spring - "The Falls".

I forgot to mention, there's a lot of these Trout creatures swimming around in that creek.
Must like the clear, fresh, cold water.

Ma and Pa Eagle spending a quiet afternoon at home.

Ma and Pa Wood Duck jus coolin' it. Not much of a photo but,
it's the first time I ever saw Wood Ducks in the wild.

Memory car. Above: The woods version in 2010.
I actually had two of these in the sixties.
A '61 coupe and a '63 convertible. Loved them, in spite of Ralph Nadar!
Below: The street version in 1961