Thirty Seconds of Pure Genius

Brooke Elizabeth's first video performance. Isn't she lovely?

Say Yes to the Dress

Linda and Erik were in Green Bay, WI to spend the holiday with Linda's family. While there, Linda went with her mom, sister, and bridesmaids to shop for a wedding dress. Her mom sent me pics of some beautiful gowns, which Linda made look even more gorgeous. I'm assuming Erik isn't supposed to see the pictures so this is all I'm posting for now. Isn't she cute?

Of Gioachino Rossini and The Lone Ranger

An intellectual snob is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger. Dan Rather (1931- )

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

Carrying a 40 pound backpack in the desert heat hour after hour is an incredible challenge. But when your brother gets sick and our goal is getting to water and shade in short order you take turns helping out. Here is Dave carrying his own pack and Mark's at the same time. What a family, those Wilds. We may be crazy but we're always there for each other!

Grand Canyon, May 2005

Generations

There is nothing more sad or glorious than generations changing hands. John Mellencamp

Love

"For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart.

It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul."

Simple Pleasures #2

The first snow of the season!!

And the way the snow makes everything look like mushrooms.

Beautiful Family-Heather, Brooke, Maddie, Zach, Dave

Another Wild in the World!!

Welcome to the World, Brooke Elizabeth Wild! Born today, 11-19-08 at 5:01pm, 7lbs 15ou. Congratulations to Heather, Dave, Zach, and Maddie! I can't wait to meet you, tiny girl. I'll be there in less than a week. Love, Aunt Mary

"Everything"

An unnamed woman on the news caught my attention today. She and her husband and five children had just lost their home to the California fires. The firestorm travelled so fast on the 70 mph Santa Ana winds they had just five minutes of warning to evacuate so they took nothing with them. When asked to comment she said, "It's hard to believe that you can lose everything and still have (as she looked at her family)...everything."

I doubt she realized just how profound that statement was.

Satellite view of far reaching fires.

Papa Bear

This is what I saw from inside the Conference Center in Denver.

This is him from the outside.

Happy Birthday, Dylan James Kohler!

Welcome to the world, my first grand nephew. I'm so happy for your mom and dad, Lindsay and Dave and your very proud grandparents, Mary and Mark. I can't wait to meet you! Your great aunt Mary

There is nothing like a newborn baby to renew your spirit-and to buttress your resolve to make the world a better place.-Virginia Kelley

Firewood

Aah, the sweet, romantic smell of a roaring - cough!- fire. I no longer have a wood furnace or fireplace but I actually used to enjoy getting firewood ready for winter. We went out into the woods to cut dead trees, cut them into logs, haul them to the house, and split the logs that wouldn't fit into the firebox. I ran across these pictures from 1979. (I was 4 yrs old then : ) The other people in the photos are my in-laws, Howard and Priscilla. Get a load of that woodpile!!

Close Encounter of the Best Kind

Any HGTV or TLC fans out there? You can appreciate this one if you have eyes and like men. Erik and I were flying home from a week in Key West (Lindsay and Dave's wedding). We were waiting at DTW for our flight to TVC, Traverse City. It was late at night and we were beat but my eyes perked up when I caught a glimpse of one of the other passengers. The poor guy. The poor tall, lean, dark haired, chiseled faced beauty of a young man just wanted to get to his hometown of Traverse City but some other guy kept trying to engage him in dull conversation. If I went to rescue him surely he would be grateful! No, I would just be another interruption in his quest for peace. I said, "Erik, that's Carter Oosterhouse!" "Who?" All that talent and beauty was lost on Erik. I wanted to meet this extraordinary television carpenter with his own show, Carter Can on HGTV. I've watched him since back in the early days of Trading Spaces on TLC.
I decided in the interest of giving Carter his space and trying to avoid the label of middle-aged-lady-who-watches-home-improvement-shows, I would just leave him alone. When it was our turn to board the plane we filed in and I slowly realized I would be (gasp!) sitting directly behind the carpenter of note!! I thought it through quickly: if I were to sit behind Carter, running my fingers through that beautiful wavy hair for an hour, I should at least introduce myself. He slid into his window seat, I walked past but as I moved in behind him I asked, (in a very cool and casual manner, of course) "Carter?" His dark eyes met mine and he said, "Yes." I resisted melting as not to embarass Erik standing right beside me. I held out my hand and said, "Hi. I'm Mary from Harbor Springs, and I just want you to know I really enjoy your work." He smiled that broad, toothy and genuine smile and shook my hand and thanked me and said it was nice to meet me. All very generic words for just another fan, but I'm quite certain he really WAS happy to meet me...
Erik and I took our seats and I was proud of myself that I didn't call any attention to Carter or myself... especially when the man next to him said, "Ok, I have to ask, what kind of work do you do?" Carter's reply, "Oh, I just build stuff." He slept the rest of the way.

yummy

President Elect Barack Obama

Just a few minutes ago, Senator Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States of America. This is truly a significant moment in history. Whether or not he was your personal choice, the election of a black president says something about how far this country has come. Make no mistake we have a long way to go, but when I was growing up it was the height of the civil rights movement and this event was unimaginable. Let's stand behind our new president and hope for a better future. As I type this Senator McCain is giving his concession speech and telling the story of the controversy created by Booker T. Washington's invitation to the White House years ago. Right now Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. is expressing her thoughts on this occasion. Like I said, we've come a long way.

November Calendar Page

It's a Girl !!

After growing up with five brothers and raising two sons I'm finally going to have a girl! - By way of a daughter-in-law. Erik and Linda are engaged and I couldn't be happier for them. And for me!