Evening In the Crump House

This feels like a momentous night here in the Crump House. Josh and I both are preparing for our first "real" day of work tomorrow. For him, this entails office hours and teaching photojournalism courses in the afternoons. I will fill my time with advising for a design agency run by students on the campus of WKU, called Imagewest. I will also teach a course on web and print design for journalism majors. We both have been reading, web researching and writing, occasionally passing one another in the kitchen for a water or snack break. It's back to reality.

Last week I met the staff that I will be advising. The agency consists of student designers, account managers, and PR reps. They are great kids, and really enthusiastic about what is to come. The agency is touted as the only student-run agency in the nation... all of their projects are for profit, and entail work for the university, Bowling Green and beyond. I am trying to limit the number of times I tell the students that they are lucky, and that I wish I had an opportunity like this when I was in school.

I am starting to feel like I am settling in here. I know my way to Home Depot. We've already come up with a couple of pretty biking routes. I look forward to the lonely whistle from the trains passing through town. I got some rug backers down so we'll quit slipping in the hallways. We've let the neighbor students know that the party has to move inside if it's after midnight. I know which boards creak and which cupboard the plates are in.

It is good to be home.

The Stiles Wedding

As promised, here is part two of the Washougal adventure. On Kate and Alex's wedding day I took a run on Marble Road and soaked in the views of the mountains surrounding Kate and Alex's piece of land. On the way back I stopped to pick blackberries and then brought them in to contribute to the big egg breakfast that was being produced. We then got to work on our various tasks... creating Dahlia corsages and boutonnieres, making name boards, hanging ivy and giving Pepper the dog a bath. The wedding was to begin at 3:30 at their place, and Kate and Alex seemed so relaxed about the whole ordeal.

Kate and her mom toasting just before the ceremony

We were quite proud of the flower arrangements that we created, and Kate embellished the tables further with her honey in tiny jars.

Kate, Pepper and the bees

Gary prepping the backgrounds for portrait-taking

Jacquie took portraits of everyone who attended the wedding

There are a large number of photos of Jacquie, Kate and me... college buddies.
These are my favorites

This is the very best.

Kate's mom, her brother, and her best woman, Stephanie

A visit to the chicken coop

We drank home brew and local wine, ate salmon and cupcakes, and danced in the old gym late into the evening. The celebration went without a hitch, and it was very hard to pack up and leave the place the following morning. As I write, Kate and Alex are most likely out on a lake in a canoe in the great northwoods of Minnesota, enjoying the tranquility after such a terrific hoedown. I wish them all the best and look forward to the next trip out west again to see them.

***

And then I was Kentucky bound. I drove 860 miles from Minneapolis to Bowling Green and am now back to the world of waking up to an alarm and rushing off to work. I will lend an exciting synopsis of my new jobs in Bowling Green in upcoming posts.

Washougal

Onward from my trip to Minnesota I flew out to Portland for my dear friend Kate's wedding. She and her now husband Alex bought a place about a half hour outside of Portland along the Columbia River in Washougal, Washington. Their new old house is a converted school with a little old gym and barn. They have settled in nicely with chickens and roosters, a dog and cats, a large and fruitful garden, and beautiful renovations. Their views all around are gorgeous, looking down to the river or out to Mount Baker and surrounding mountains.

Blackberry bushes surround their property

Pepper the dog on the upper deck

Kate reeling Pepper in

Hops (Alex is a beer brewer)

Bee hives (Kate is a beekeeper)

Back view of the barn

The old gym

Looking down to the dining room and kitchen

Our friend Jacquie and I stayed at Kate and Alex's place and helped with wedding preparations. The day before the wedding we visited a dahlia farm and picked 30 dozen dahlias.

Later that evening we rode to a beautiful lodge on the river for dinner. I will be working on part two, "The Wedding" to post in the coming days...

Gone Again

After a short week of settling in to the Colonel Crump house, I flew north to see family and pick up my car. During this time my good friend Jacquie was also visiting her family so I went to visit her and more friends at her folks' cabin on Deer Lake in Wisconsin. It is the quintessential cabin, one like many to be found on lakes in Minnesota and Wisconsin... with wooden decorations, bunk beds, wood stove, a small kitchen... and of course, a portable dock out to the lake, and a pontoon. We cruised the lake at night and had a dinner picnic under the starry sky (I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true!). The following morning we were awakened by the bang of a gun roar of motors to mark the start of the Muskie fishing tournament. The lake is known for its Muskie fish, which are gigantic!

In the morning Jacquie produced "egg bake," and excitement to us all.

***

I have come full circle. When first beginning this blog I remember posting photos from a visit to the Carlton County Fair. Here we are again, and this time I have photos taken by my nephew Casey.








One of my favorite aspects of the county fair is that they judge just about everything you can imagine... pies, vegetables, hay, flowers, quilts, chickens. I am hoping that a fair like this one never dies out; A place where small farms and locally produced goods are celebrated.