To the Dam Itself

A highlight was hearing a recorded interview with one of the just-so-survivors of the flood that we had read about in David McCullough's book.

I guess that means no shooting.

We got away with it.

It's good pen-knives weren't prohibited. Dad would be lost without one.

What is left of the South Fork Dam.

For her sake, I hope that railing is more sturdy than the dam that WAS standing on this spot over a hundred years ago.

I trust it with my arm. That's as far as my faith goes.

As we learned more and more about the broken dam, Candace's faith in local structures waned.

It's raining out there.

Conrad runs a gauntlet of raindrops between our van and the restaurant.

A lecture on the long fork versus the short fork for salad.

The long and short of it is, he couldn't figure out which was which.

Did you ever notice what a phony age we live in?

Heritage Discovery Museum

I've been reading a photography book lately. The author advises taking photos of details that will suggest the whole to the viewer. I figured my part of the deal was to take photos of details; yours is to imagine the rest. :-)

She found the local gossip right off.

The whole museum was geared toward seeing things from an immigrant's perspective. Conrad did his best to see things from this little boy's point of view, but, try as he would, all he could see was the concrete floor.

Children's Museums...

...they can be dangerous places.

*scratches head* Now what could a locker be for?

To lock-her up, of course.

This children's museum was advocating letting children spray water around their museum, all in the name of teaching them plumbing. They must be plumb crazy. :)

The catch? You have to be young at heart to enjoy this place.

Last leg of our trip - a stop at the memorial to the unknown dead.

A victim of the flood being sucked to a watery grave.
________

The end of our Johnstown Trip, but not the end of this post.

April Showers

April 1st - otherwise known as April Fool's Day. It's a fairly calm, relaxing day around our house.

The joke's on you for believing me.

If you ever see that grin, grab an umbrella. Quick.

She's supposed to be washing the dishes, but I think she thought more interesting things were being washed outside.

If there's a way to do it with wheels, then do it with wheels.

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We have reached the ladder end of this post.

God Bless.

Carmen

Hello Everyone,

This post was going to be shorter than usual, but then last minute I added a section explaining why it was shorter than usual. Now, I'm not sure it's all that short anymore.

By the way, the Raines came over one evening not long ago. I was ready for them. And I hope you're ready for another story. :-)

Why This Post Is Shorter Than Usual

Candace and I have been cleaning out our room in preparation for some renovations. Seventeen years' accumulation of things! It's been a job. In the process, "Big Sister" (our over-sized rag doll) was resurrected. You see, when we were little, she was taller than we were; hence the name.

"Carmen, you don't mean to tell me you've kept this all these years?!"

(I tell you, some things I've kept so long that it's almost a pity to throw them away now. :)

So we've said goodbye to our old room with its horse-hair plaster walls and it's mysterious back staircase...

...and moved into the Land of Spare 'Oom.

Also today, we moved the kitchen and living room into the garage. It's kind of like living in a one-room log cabin, without the logs.

"A Photo Shooting"

Once upon a camera... someone was shot. *policeman holds up photo*

The charged party was searched but no evidence was found.

Puzzled, the police decided to get an angle on the crime by reconstructing the scene of the shot.

"You stand there. And you - you stand just where you were standing when it happened."

The police discovered that their suspect had been framed by the real criminal.

Their focus had been on the wrong person.

So they charged the other possible criminal.

When they searched her for evidence...

...they found it.

She was the photographer who fired that fatal shot.

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I forgot about coming up with some type of appropriate sentence for the "criminal." Any ideas? Deletion from this life maybe? Come on, help me out. :-)

(Thanks, Raines, for helping me once again. You all make great actors.)

Scenes from March

It's March 15. Candace is calmly reading Julius Caesar when she realizes... "(gasp) Today is the Ides of March!"

But her superstition was shortly lost in her indignation toward Brutus.

Clayton: The sun is in my eyes, Carmen, and it must be in yours too or you would see that telephone pole cluttering up your background.

Ah, better. No sun and no pole.

Chore Wars

Clayton: I'm so tired. This is the last diaper I'm going to fold.

Christian: Don't say that again. You have to help me finish them, you hear?

Bull fight develops.

Worse things develop.

(In the end though, they got all the diapers folded. They're good chaps.)

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The Land of Spare 'Oom is currently in need of some organization. So I'm signing off. God Bless your week.

Carmen