Iris once sat here & told me to take a photo of her, just her alone.
I think of it every time I pass this spot in the woods.
Photographic Journal
Bales Behind the House
(long post warning)
When we got back from camping, the field behind our house was mown. They came to turn and dry the hay, then yesterday, they baled it. The plan for today was to go down early in the morning to get photographs of the scattered bales and the children playing. But even before we sat down for breakfast, I heard the tractor’s noise. And there they were, picking up the bales! Quick! We ran outside to watch.
Akiva likes watching the tractor lift the bales to place them on the trailer.
Iris is a bit nervous that she might get squished.
Finally, all the trailers are full and off to be unloaded.
The tractor driver left a long row of waiting bales— for us!
Martin leans over to take a good sniff & Akiva steps on.
On top!
With few minor adjustments to move the bails closer—
off they go— across the bales!
Back again—
and off the top!
Back on—
and on across the bales—
and back again.
A few more adjustments to close the gaps—
and away they run.
Back up to the high end—
and jump down again!
Up, back up on top of the bales—
and running!
Back down again. Off the top.
Back on Earth, Iris discovers left-over hay. What a waste! She gathers it.
Akiva is not quite done on top. He finds it is more efficient to gather hay directly from the bales.
Meanwhile, Iris has trotted back home to get some yarn and a pair of scissors.
She has an idea.
Akiva gathers hay directly from the bales—
(which is bothersome to Iris, because her project was to glean the field)—
he hands it to Martin—
and Iris ties it into smaller round bales.
Martin ends up with big muscles from rolling bales and lifting kiddos before changing out of his pyjamas—
Akiva ends up covered in hay scratches—
Iris ends up with some lovely, small round bales to feed our prospective bunny—
and I end up with over a hundred photographs to sort and process! How lovely!
The end.
Camping du Pont Couvert, day 2
Girls Bathing
Boys Playing
Camping du Pont Couvert
Camping du Pont Couvert is only 15 minutes from home.
Martin passes by each night for dinner on his way home from work.
* * *
Tabea, looking like the little girl she is.
Inside this little girl is a magnificent brain, re-inventing the future as she sucks her thumb.
Akiva, looking like the little boy he is.
Inside this little boy is endless charm and fledgling mastery. Women swoon. Strong men tremble.
Ashes to Ashes
All ashes to ashes,
All ashes to dust.
All ashes, all ashes,
All ashes to dust.
The Buried Boy
She buried him alive
in the sandbox,
one shovelful at a time,
and slowly.
She watched him writhe—
and laughed with glee when he broke free.
The Piano Obsession.
There was an old woman tossed up in a basket
Seventeen times as high as the moon
And where she was going, I couldn’t help ask it
For under her arm, she carried a broom.
“Old woman, old woman, old woman,” quoth I,
“Where are you going, up so high?”
“To sweep the cobwebs off the sky—
And I’ll be with you, by and by.”
—M. Goose
We saw her yesterday in Compton. A woman— destined to be an old woman if all goes well— with a broom under her arm. Or over her head. Well, anyhow, she was making brooms. She remembered Iris from last year. She remembered the tiny veggie scrubber they had worked on together. She remembered how much of it they had made and she said to Iris, “This year, you are old enough to make your own broom.” She sat Iris in front of her on her broom-maker’s bench and made a broom with her. She was absolutely delightful and I didn’t say thank you nearly enough.
When we walked down to the school today, we took the broom so that I could carve Iris’s name & yesterday’s date on it, as Madame KeeVanne (a.k.a. Julie Jo) had said to do.
I took my camera with me, as you can tell. That’s becoming a rare event these days. I used to take it everywhere! I’m not sure what happened. Perhaps I got disgruntled with the quality of the lighting at the apartment. Perhaps I got distracted my a myriad of things to do. But I did take my camera. I like to document my children, to prove their youth and beauty.
On the way back, we stopped at the woods piano. These days, one has to hunt for piano keys on the ground if one wishes to play the piano with piano keys.
Akiva is my main piano player. He appreciates all pianos.
This was once an integral part of a once-beautiful upright grand piano.
Iris & Akiva play a duet.
Akiva bangs out a solo.
Keys. There once were keys.
Brief photographic timeline of the woods piano:
Broken Down Piano: September 11, 2017
How Fares the Piano? April 9, 2018
Val-Estrie Piano (again): May 30, 2018
Decline of the Woods Piano (Winter): January 1, 2019
Walk to the Island
We walk through the woods to the island for the first time in a very long time.
I have not been sleeping well lately, & I have no energy to go in the water.