Written In Lynden: October 2009

Football is big here in Lynden. Our high school won state last year so these 8th graders have a lot to look forward to next year. As you can see, "they grow 'em big here".

Final score - 32 -13. Of course, winning the game isn't everything - but it does make it more fun.

There's always some mom who ruins it for the rest of us by washing and, in this case, even bleaching her son's jersy. Many times I have asked Joe to bring his jersy home, but to no avail. Now I've decided to watch and see how dirty it can get.

Like I said, they grow big boys in this town. Maybe it's the milk.

Joe isn't happy about my camera but he bit his tongue. He's a good kid.

Lately, I've been admiring barns. They're both beautiful and functional. I drive by these masterpieces every day, sometimes several times a day depending on the kid's schedule.
I'm grateful to have something to see that's so pleasing on these 5 mile jaunts to and from town.

This a a shot from my patio. It was raining just a few minutes before I took this picture, then the sun broke through the clouds and highlighted this barn.

I've been here 5 years and this is a first for me. There's quite a few of these guys in front of this farm - maybe a dozen or so. Every day when I drive by I look to see if the numbers are diminishing. So far, it looks like the goats have gotten a reprieve or maybe nobody around here cares for goat. It's hard to tell.

Baa Baa ~ in your language - Bye Bye

On my way to the grocery store last Saturday, I decided to take a few pictures. It was a beautiful drive on the county road from our house into Bellingham. I got a little carried away and ended up chronicling the whole day through my camera. Here's a sampling :

I love the dairy cows. It's too bad they can't appreciate the beauty around them.
Their milk would be sweeter.

It's sunny but a chilly 50 degrees at the market this morning.

As you can see by the big clock, I got an early start.

Before shopping, I went on a run on the trail behind the store. It's easier then you may think to carry a camera running as long as you are very slow, like me.
The invention of the ipod has made my running routine a lot more pleasurable. My top 3 songs on this day were : 1. White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane) I like the way it builds up like the Rocky theme - sort of. 2. Two More Bottles of Wine (Emmy Lou Harris) - the line - "It's midnight but it's all right because I got 2 more bottles of wine", reminds me of the old days - blurry as they may be. and 3. There will come a Day (Faith Hill) An eclectic mix.

This is a view of Puget Sound and the San Juans . In the distance you can see a red brick Church. This is the Church of the Assumption, where we go to Mass and I pray for my sometimes wicked soul.

It's a beautiful trail that leads to Whatcom Falls. I would show you a picture of the falls but I didn't run that far.

But here's a little creek.

After shopping, I dashed home to get Lily and JT for Lily's soccer game. (Joe was at a friends house.) Jeri, Chris, Max and Lucy came to the game to cheer Lily and her team.

This is Lucy holding "Goldy" her dragon and Max holding "Whitey" his ghost.
They are as sweet as they are cute ~ if you can believe it. Look at those shining faces. They're scrumptious.

Chris, Max, JT and our friend, Ken on the sidelines. "The future's so bright I gotta wear shades" (Anyone remember that song? It's by Timbuktu - 1984ish)

It got a little too cold and windy for poor little Lucy, so they left the game early.

There she goes holding poor Goldy by his tail. Adios, baby.

You can see by dedicated parents bundled up in warm coats and blankets that it really was nippy. The harsh reality is that this will probably be the most pleasant day on the soccer field for the rest of the season. If the past is any indication of things to come, soon we'll be sitting in the freezing rain and ghastly winds freezing our booties off while anxiously waiting for indoor soccer to begin.

But it's worth it.

Braving the elements makes eating homemade chocolate chip cookies all the better. Can you see that Lily has picked out the gooey middle and left the crispy edges?

I love it that Lily is not ashamed to wear the hats I knit for her.

They were gone by Sunday morning. No one fessed up to eating the last one. They never do. What does it matter anyway? Someone has to eat the last one. But with every batch, after one of us reaches into the empty cookie jar, quivering with disappointment, there's always that familiar cry, "Hey! Who ate the last cookie?!" In the silence, we're looking for someone to blame.

We had terrible fruit flies this summer and fall. They are very nasty, tiny, annoying things. I hate them. It took me a couple years but I've learned to keep my fruit on the patio to avoid the kitchen becoming infested with them. This morning, however, my orange was a little slushy so the outdoor fruit days are numbered. Hopefully, fruit fly season is behind us.

As you can see, I successfully grew pumpkins this year. I had a crop of over a dozen. I'm very proud. They'll be jack-o-lantern aplenty at the Taylor house this Halloween.

Lily and I went for a walk in the afternoon. Joe allowed Lily to borrow his scooter but told her she couldn't ride it on our rock driveway because it may "hurt the wheels". ????

This summer, JT built this bench from the trunk of a tree he cut down in our yard. He put it near the fire pit. I love it.

Lily tells me this is Lucy.

All 3 of our Equine. ( Lucy, Ethel and Little Ricky)

Lily finally gets to ride down our paved road.

Take a good look at Kicks' tail.

E. 74th Street. Sounds like the big city, doesn't it?

Kicks got groomed last week. To JT's dismay, he came home with a "poodle" tail. JT is threatening to shave it but so far Kicks has kept his fancy ending.

The trees are turning their fall colors in front of the ol' homestead. Do you see the red hammock chair hanging fron the tree? That's JT's favorite reading spot. It's very comfy with a nice view of the corn field.

The corn has been harvested, once again. We can watch the crop as it grows from our front porch in the spring and watch it get chopped down in the fall. Watching the seasons come and go like this is a humbling reminder of how fast time goes by.

This was my favorite tree ~ until one day it keeled over from old age. I liked it because it stood alone and was kind of scraggly but still proud looking. It's on our neighbors property but lines up along side our road. The neighbor chopped most of the remains for fire wood but left this sad stump behind. Every time I drive up our drive I'm reminded of what was and get irritated that he didn't complete the task of removing the whole dead tree.

The days view of the Twin Sisters from our road.

Here's the whole area around the fire pit in our front yard. We had some delicious S'mores this summer.

The swings under the willow tree.

Lily looking very glad to see me. ( In another knitted hat - notice?) At least Kicks looks happy.

Punches on the prowl. She and her off spring, Po, have been quite the hunters, unfortunately. There's been plenty a mouse and mole waiting for us on the back patio in the mornings. We've grown to expect it.