We check on the piano

Destruction is not so slow and quite deliberate.

Then we walk home through the planted woods.

We go for a walk in the woods, because that is what we are good at.

We stop for a photograph to prove that we have been here.

Ari makes sure her dog is nice & calm and relaxed & smiling in a natural manner for the photo.

Then Ari and I trade places and she takes a picture with me in it!

It takes a while, but at last we succeed in getting Iris to almost smile.

We just go down to the dam behind the house.

We watch the water freeze and flow.

Iris shows off the place where her first two teeth came out.

Two new teeth have come in already.

We had to go to the dentist to have the teeth removed. There, we finally discovered what had caused Iris’s jaw to be in such pain after her accident: she chipped two molars! One was broken in half & we had it capped. The other was only slightly chipped. The sharpness has been filed off. After so many months, her jaw is no longer in pain!

There was a handsome prince. You see?

One day, when he was walking through the forest, he heard a voice singing lovely as the birds.

It was a maiden, trapped in a high tower.

The prince circled the tower ten times, twenty times, but found no entrance.

The prince returned each night to listen to the maiden’s beautiful voice.

Eventually he saw an old woman climb the maiden’s long, long hair to enter through the high window.

What a great idea! The prince followed suit.

At first, the maiden was afraid, but soon she found the prince to be quite charming!

The prince and the maiden held a secret wedding in the tower.

After much trial and tribulation, they eventually lived happily ever after.

Perfect feet on perfect legs.

Perfect toes in perfect snow.

Perfect.

…books to kids.

Actually, he is quite good at it. He is a wonderful reader.

During our visit to my parents house, Iris was finally able to put on a boot.

She learned to walk again.

It irks me that I cannot take a good photograph of my grandmother. The problem is, I am afraid to. I cannot explain myself to her. I cannot explain why I want to take a photograph of her. She expresses such a negative image of herself. I do not know how to argue with her. Even if she could hear, would she listen?

My mother knows I love to photograph her because I love her.

I think she is beautiful.

My daughter knows I love to photograph her because I love her.

I think she is beautiful.

My grandmother asked if I could please photograph the clay pots she made all those many years ago.

Their beauty is cold and unchanging. They are easy to photograph.

They do not move. They do not look at me askance.

Unable to walk or even put a boot on her still-painful foot, Iris plays outside, right outside the front door. Akiva, ever-faithful, watches as she uses one piano key to dig another piano key out of the ice.

Exactly one month and many, many x-rays after the break, the cast is scheduled to come off.

The saw is very scary. I take one photo, but then I have to hug Iris.

It is good to be hugged when one is scared.