Dorcas birthday

Joel fires up the grill on Mary Street and puts on the red snapper and fillet; Dorcas gets gifts, including a wrist watch, and blows out three candles for 62--well, not too far off. When the Barnstormers shoot off the Labor Day fire works the sixsome settles on the back porch to cap off a rich evening. (Dorcas photo by Joel)

bridge out

Monterey Road, which connects with Newport on the East end of downtown, is out while a narrow span from horse and buggy days is replaced. Miller Lane is the last exit. The plywood form for one of the abutments is built. The stream feeds into the Mill Stream west of here.

not a tobacco ad

It's a pretty picture, but not an ad. In the day, tobacco was harvested green and only wheat gave us a golden color in the fields. This year I'm seeing lots of yellow tobacco. This from within a one-mile radius. The sticks are laths.

late summer family

L. to R. Ryan, Sarah, Chris, and Bonnie at a late August gathering on Charlotte Street. Among those four one could talk authoritatively of Iowa, Manitoba, Oregon, Louisiana, Virginia, and Illinois, to name just the locations considered home at some point.