Moon rising over Jonesboro.

This week's column!

Click here for this week's column!

The annual trip to Jonesboro with Ellen to the National Storytelling Festival!!

Snapshot

It is a rainy morning here in Indiana. I took this photo out my back kitchen window (through the screen and glass), thinking it was a lovely site for a Monday morning.

My garden is small, but large enough for folks to gather to have dinner or tea or wine late at night by candlelight. Flowers, red raspberries, and leaves adorn the yard as does the pumpkin growing in the tree. (See yesterday's post!)

The garden is quiet this morning with the cool rain. It is a good day to light candles and work in the studio all day answering emails and writing small missives to publish or to not.

"The Silence of Autumn comes so gradually that we are scarcely aware of it until we hear one lone katydid scratching at the evening, and not a tree cricket making a sound. There is no denying that we are on the verge of October and November."

Hill Country Harvest

Hal Borland

This week's column is a writing contest for kids...wherever you live!

Pumpking Writing Contest  (Click on the left for the column!)

This week's column with photos from Arizona!

This week's column!  (Click on the link on the left!)

Early morning sunrise.

Enjoying the cupcakes!

Mountains behind Abe and Kristin's house.

We walked over to see the ponies every day!

Another view from their house.

"Ring around the rosy"....lots of pool games with the girls!

Under the big sun, we spent lots of time learning about

our shadows!

Next stop...Arizona!

A late night flight brought me into Arizona on Friday to visit Abe and Kristin and to care for the girls during his conference.

It is my first time to Arizona since I was a little girl, and I really wasn't prepared for this stark beauty. (And I am visiting at the end of a very hot, dry summer.)

The mountain ranges surround this Mesa Valley which includes a sprawling new area of homes and families. From all directions of their house, I can see the mountain ranges, yet a clear big sky overhead! (Except I brought the monsoon season!)

Abe and Kristin left the cool, damp climate of Portland to experience something new. My kids have always had the wanderlust...traveling, moving...so here we go again.

The house is lovely with a pool to cool away the summer heat.

When Abe lost his job a few years ago, he decided the only thing he could really do would be to start his own company, and that he did.

He is his own President and CEO of the Machaon Company. He hosts two technology conferences a year, at least for now. One is in Phoenix and the other, in the spring, in Houston.

This week is his Phoenix conference. Abe and Kristin were at the convention center yesterday setting up, and today is the big event. I am watching Channel 12 early morning TV here in Phoenix as they are covering the conference.

As to my antics with the girls? That will come tomorrow!!

Abe and Kristin at 4:00 a.m. this morning getting ready to leave.

I got up early to make coffee and send them off! My apologies to Kristin as she didn't want her picture taken without her make-up! (It was too early and she

was going to put it on in the car!)

Chopping down one tree isn't really about chopping down one tree!

This week's article is for all of us...but the challenge to become a better friend, neighbor and American is up to me!


This week's column!

Kendallville Blue Grass Festival

Westbound Rangers!

Kathy and I spent Sunday at the 35th annual Tri-State Bluegrass Festival.  The day was perfect with temperatures in the high 60's with scattered clouds giving way to a shower or two.

Folks were encouraged to bring their own chairs, but we became squatters and found seats down front to enjoy the day. We never actually left our seats except to buy popcorn or take a stroll through the booths set up by the artists.

The featured musicians were absolutely the best in the world:  The Stockdale Family Band, the Wolfe Brothers, Art Stevenson and High Water, Mississippi Sawyers, and Monroe Crossing.

Our favorite for this year was the Westbound Rangers from Tennessee. The Rangers are a group of 'just out of college musicians' who built this band while at Belmont College in Tennessee. They were funny and talented and received great approval from the audience!

They ended with the song 'Gentle on my Mind' which was made famous by Glen Campbell. A spell, a hush, a sweetness fell on the audience as they sang and the rain actually poured down upon the metal roof. That alone was worth the price of the admission.

I am glad I was able to attend, even if just for a day, as the memories will linger on into the fall season.

Thanks to the town of Kendallville for hosting this tradition for 35 years!

Farewell to a good man...

My mom's good friend, Stan, died on Monday. She was able to spend time with him in the early afternoon of that day.

Stan and his wife, Eunice, were friends of my parents for years. We always visited when we went to Texas.

When Eunice died, my mom and dad included Stan on all their events and took care of him through his grief. He did the same for my mom when my dad died.

No, Stan was not a relative, nor was someone I saw every day or even every month for that matter; but he was a good man who fought to live. One day he wrote my mom a song and played it for her on the guitar.

She can't remember it now. I wish I had the song.

I don't understand life and death...how can we?

This is all I know...each day is incredibly important...what we do, who we see, whose life we influence and being with those we love. Time is short.

Farewell Stan, thank you for being friends with my family.

Texas and Back Again....

Here are a few photos and my weekly column on traveling to Texas with my mom! It was a quick trip, but it was good to share this experience with her!

Crossing the Mississippi River!



Another view of the bridge!



Crop dusting in Texas!



Stopping for lunch for a ten inch barbecue!!

(Really I got Cole slaw!)

Click here for the weekly column! Enjoy!



This week's column on a quick road trip to Texas!

Morning News

Good Morning Friends,

On my way to Texas with my mom as she needs to visit an ill friend. For the moment, just click on Philip's blog! I have been writing for him since the hurricane.

What a whirlwind these past few weeks have been!

Will try and post photos and summary of the Fringe from wherever the wind blows tonight!

Lou Ann

Philip's Blog

Irene and the Fringe!

Dear Folks,

Wow,  what a week this has been! I spent the past 11 days in Indianapolis at the Fringe Festival with my new show! I loved it, although I can see there is always much work to do on a production. (More on that later!!)

Of course, Hurricane Irene came into play and when I was not Fringing, I was being updated on Ocracoke and writing Philip's blog to keep folks informed.

Thanks for your patience with my blog, perhaps you checked in on his.

So, I am back in Northern Indiana where the weather is stunning. The chores ahead of me are big, as always....the unpacking, the Studio work for new shows, gardening, and catching up with family and friends.

Here is this week's article. Enjoy. Tomorrow I will put photos in of the Fringe as well as my thoughts.

Lou Ann


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This week's column!

Hurricane Irene

Hi Folks,

I have been asked by several people to keep them updated on Hurricane Irene. I decided to just post Philip's blog. He will keep everyone updated for as long as he can. Tourists left today and many local families with children will be leaving tomorrow. Philip will not be leaving. I am in the middle of the IndyFringe, but I am thinking of Philip and Ocracoke. I know this sounds strange, but I wish I could be there with him now. Thanks for all your thoughts. Please check his blog for the most current information.

Ocracoke has become a wonderful place for me and for my readers as well.

Thank you.

Lou Ann

Just click on here:  Philip's Blog for Hurricane Updates