Iris & Akiva discuss the various merits of their snowballs.
Akiva is left with the feeling of having created an inferior snowball.
We climb the lookout that I might take a fine dual portrait in front of the marsh.
Then I try individual portraits.
A wide-angle lens definitely increases goofballishness in closeup.
We have a memorable adventure.
After all these months, Iris does not get better. Tired of emergency appointments, I bring the children to my folks have Gramps look at her. As we look forward to the equinox, now just two weeks away, Iris regains her health. Three months of illnesses has made this long winter dark. I live in the shadow of a looming fear of its return.
I love these falls. I have visited them at so many different ages in my life.
When I watch their falling water or their hanging ice, I see my family.
For my birthday, Akiva shoveled a path through the Johnville Bog.
It was a lot of work!
Meanwhile, Iris & Martin played a game of snowball catch.
Later, Martin built a winding road for Akiva’s cars.
He also did some acrobatics with Iris—
at the same time!
To prove it is autumn, we went to Green Lake State Park.
The older folks thought we were slow, so they passed the time by walking rapidly—
to & fro & to & fro & to & fro.
The younger generation was considerably sower.
We pondered the things we saw in the lake.
We pondered the view of the lake.
We pondered twining roots and shapes of leaves.
We pondered the difference between lake and sky.
And we pondered wheely things. Or, at least, one of us did.
Iris has always been a people watcher. She stated this to me explicitly at age two. One of her favorite people to watch is Uncle Dan. She likes to watch him draw, especially when he is drawing landscapes. Rendering a landscape in watercolor is a magical act.
Landscape:
* * *
Later, at home, Gramma watches Iris knit.
Now & again, she lends a hand.
Knitting is not one of Iris’s favorite activities, but she is much better at it than I am!
I couldn’t carry both enough water to get us comfortably through our longest of hikes and carry Akiva, so I bought Iris a backpack. It gives her superpowers— the most wonderful of which is the super power to enable us to carry enough water.
