Mother's Day 2021

My mother, when she was pregnant with me, can be seen in the color snapshot featured atop this post. She can also be seen (pregnant with me) in the picture directly below.

My mother looks radiant and dad seems happy too, but even after having two more daughters, their marriage fell apart when I was in grade school. He moved out of the house and she was inconsolable.

Perhaps because I'm the eldest child, she turned to me with her heavy heart and everything that was on her mind. For much of the time I felt like I was her mother on many levels.

Memorial Day 2020

A BRAMHALL CARTOON

As many know, Memorial Day (which is being celebrated today), was first widely observed on May 30, 1868 to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union sailors and soldiers.

But in 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees; the change went into effect in 1971.

According to Wikipedia, "The law took effect at the federal level in 1971. After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all 50 states adopted Congress' change of date within a few years.

"Memorial Day endures as a holiday which most businesses observe because it marks the unofficial beginning of summer. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) advocate returning to the original date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address:

"Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.

"Starting in 1987 Hawaii's Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, introduced a measure to return Memorial Day to its traditional date. Inouye continued introducing the resolution until his death in 2012."

This fact re switching the date of the holiday may be the reason that a number of Americans seem to have forgotten the true meaning of this solemn day; as poignantly illustrated in the cartoon by Bramhall, seen in the image atop this entry.

In Memory of my Maternal Grandfather

MY GRANDFATHER MAKES A WISH

I'm thinking of my dearly departed grandfather, Albert Elmer Herman Louis Melahn, who was born on this day in 1903 (he died in the late 1970s.) The image atop this entry was taken on one of his birthdays in the early 1970's.

My grandmother can be seen helping him blow out his candles and my next youngest sister and I are behind them. We were told to "pose laughing," by my mother, who took the snap-shot when his cake caught on fire. (Our cousin Karl, who is for the most part of camera, is to my left).

Mother's Day 2020

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOK SERIES

Mother's Day is for the birds, as evidenced by these pigeons in my garden featured in the image directly atop this entry.

Monday's Musings: Session 34 (5/3/2020)

Yesterday afternoon the temperatures were higher than they have been for quite some time causing people to want to get outside but restrictions to do so (because of the coronavirus pandemic) are still in place and people are still encouraged to stay home and shelter in place as much as possible.

I have been following those guidelines since the evening of 3/21/2020 and have only gone out about four times for a two-four block distance.

The lockdown is easier for me to follow because I have a garden, but, truly up until yesterday I have not been able to sit in it very long as it has been either raining or too cold.

BUT yesterday, as I've said, the temperatures were warm.

Therefore I sat in my garden (which is the setting for my book series Words In Our Beak*) ) and noticed that a man across the courtyard had found a work around to shelter in place yet enjoy the sunshine: He stuck his feet out his window (as seen in the image atop this entry).

Over the past several evenings I've seen him participate in #ClapBecauseWeCare sessions so I amused myself with the thought that maybe he would clap with his feet during our evening session but alas when evening came, he did not clap with his feet, or even participate, but others did.

National Camera Day 2019

IMAGE CREDIT

According to a number of web-pages, including, National Day Calendar, (AKA NDC), June 29th (which is today) is National Camera Day. One of the things NDC states is "... This day commemorates photographs, the camera, and their invention. A camera is an irreplaceable tool used to record and replicate memories, events, and people/places..." I find it interesting that NDC considers one of the purposes of is to "replicate memories..."

Many of my childhood experiences of being photographed for a family picture seemed be that the intent behind the camera wasn't replicating a memory of what was occurring, rather, it was to creatue  an ideal which wasn't there.

Remembering my Mom on June 7th

I can't let this day pass without mentioning the fact that I am thinking of my mother as I always often do; but especially on this day of June 7th for it the day she married my father. The marriage did not work out which was understandably hard for her to handle.

Years upon years later, she would still talk about it and when I took a Visual Art Bookmaking class in college I created a book based on this fact.

It can be seen in the image atop this entry. The cover of the book features an image of her that was placed a little above the surface to indicate her attempts to rise above the situation. Inside the book is her torn wedding picture.

Monday's Musings

A Northern mockingbird, who appears to be checking out a ball-shaped terra-cotta object which is on the floor of my rooftop garden, is featured in the two images atop this entry.

The object of this bird's interest is an upside down planter that is better suited as an outdoor sculpture than the planter it is supposed to be. This is because it is very difficult to plant flora inside of it. You might suspect this from seeing the next image, which was taken in 2011, and features creeping thyme attempting to thrive in the round container.

In any event, to the mockingbird's right (or left in the first two photos) is a grape that has rolled off a saucer of grapes (which can be seen near to the container).

An imaginative person, upon seeing the mocker staring at the terra-cotta object, might envision that the mocker thinks the round structure is a huge grape. Whatever this bird may or may not be thinking, remains private with him/her, for he/she has not revealed any thoughts on the matter.

Admittedly, the two top photographs are quite similar, but they are not identical. The gaze of this mocker is slightly different from picture to picture, the same holds true for the next sets of photos.

Remembering my Dad: Albert Loth Youngquist

In honor of what would have been my dad's 82nd birthday (had he not died at age 69 in 1995), I am posting this image of him with my mother when she was pregnant with me. (I featured the image in a prior entry here on Blogger.)

Unfortunately, they divorced when I was in elementary school, so he was not as involved in my life as I had wanted him to be. But I do seem to have inherited his quick wit for which I am most grateful.

Thoughts on the Creators of Photo-Albums

If you have been following this blog, you know that I create, produce and sell greeting cards for all occasions that are about more than communication. 

Many of these works are based on my original prints and all of these items can be viewed on my web-site where purchase information is available. Perhaps my inclination to design cards comes from my mother, who for the first nine years of my life designed our family's Christmas cards beginning with the one of yours truly posted above this entry.