Forever and a dog's day...

Boy life can really turn itself right upside down and slap you silly in the face before you can even begin to comprehend what is happening. The past couple of months that I've had has been testimonial to that fact...more so than any other time period in my life I do believe.

This past Columbus Day marks the 1 year anniversary to the biggest wake up call that I've ever had...my then one year old son was kidnapped by his own father. The Tuesday after Columbus Day last year I spent the entire day in court doing something that I'd never, ever thought I'd have to be doing. And at 7pm that evening I got the call I was waiting for all day, the police knew the location of my then one year old baby and even though he was a three hour drive from me, I felt the most thankful than I ever have before. My son was ok, and in a mere three hours (compared to the previous 5 days of not knowing where he was period - yes those 3 hours were in fact mere) I would be holding my baby in my arms again.

As of this week, one entire year has passed from those horrid moments in time. I have used this year to grow, learn, and figure myself out. I have accomplished a LOT in that year! And I have changed even more. Things I thought that mattered, I've found, really don't. And things that I never thought mattered...really do. My way of thinking and how I process situations in my life have all changed, for the better. I've gone from being a chaotic mess, to a woman who has organization, purpose, and most importantly, stability.

All day Monday, I walked around with a dead feeling in the pit of my stomach. But near the end of the day I realized that I was getting sick to my stomach over an event that had happened in the past, and I was letting a little part of it effect me now. Of all the lessons that I have learned this past year, the greatest one is this, "Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, and Today is a gift, that is why it is called the Present."

Owning A Vehicle Equals Loss Of Life

"When producing without a car becomes impossible, equally becomes a productive life."

The subject of many of my thoughts recently have turned around this topic. I have come to realize how true it is that society is cruelly calculated to deny mobility alternatives.

Why does the court system even consider allowing one of the child's parents to move more than an hour's reach away while still trying to attempt a shared physical custody of said child? Even worse is when one parent doesn't have a vehicle and there is no such public transportation to said place to be able to access the child in his or her other environment. I can't even begin to understand how this is positive for a child?

Imagine if you will, a 5 hour drive to drop off a child to your co-parenting partner and getting back home to your own life. How do they even expect said parent to spend any time with these children without being in a car?

In my opinion, the children in the backseat are just as deprived as the driver. Being transported everywhere these kids will eventually loose independence. While being dominated by road boredom, the television and video games call. Do the courts really consider this to be ok? I can't believe people of the court system are promoting socialism and learning in one breath, then are promoting a DVD player in the vehicle in the next. These parents could spend more time playing with their children, or hell, get them involved in a science group if they didn't have to spend 5 hours in one day driving to pick up their kids because one parent wants to go live in the rolling hills somewhere. In fact - in a situation like that - the children are the biggest losers.

Welcome to the life strangled by the umbilical cord of the car while hearing the love song of freedom, although, that is hardly being free.

Fake? Not fake? You mean that peacock?

"Did you see that parakeet?!"

John asked me this question as we were driving down the road yesterday from a BBQ. I had to laugh as if he was referring to the bird that I saw, a parakeet was far from what it was.

"Do you mean that peacock?!" I asked John as I was laughing as I knew in my head that it was some plastic bird that was sitting there on the front entrance to the church we just passed in Scarborough. He agreed with me that he said parakeet instead of peacock, but he insisted on that bird being real as he saw it's head turn. I had to laugh at him as I thought he was trying to pull my leg. Tyler asked him if he would swear on his life that the bird was real, and John told him that he would in fact swear on his life that this peacock was real. He even pulled over to turn around to show us all that he was right. I was smiling as I honestly thought this was one of his little jokes to get us all laughing.

This was no joke!

I had my camera in my hands when we pulled over and the minute I opened the door to step out that bird looked right at me. It took me a few seconds to wake up and tell myself to get a photo of the elegance that I was staring at. It was perched upon a railing to an entrance to a local church as if it lived there. So regal. So stunning.

By the time I got one photo however, it got irritated with me and the large black thing I was holding up to my face. He started to get off his perch to go back into the woods. Man, that bird can RUN! I tried to walk after it as calmly and swiftly as I could an an attempt of being allowed another photo opportunity or two. But, this bird doesn't like being a model apparently. He ran into the woods and then started yelling out, either for me to leave him alone, or to warn his other peacock friends, so I decided to leave him alone and I walked back to the truck.

"Nice fake bird huh?" John asks in an attempt to make a joke when I get back to the truck. I replied with a laugh and the eye roll. What a stinker John is. I shouldn't complain, I got an excellent shot of that bird thanks to him.



All Photos © 2010 Ren Michele Photography

In Honor of Mother's Day

MamaKat will succeed yet again with making me cry before I am done writing for one of her prompts. Just thinking of the 5 prompts makes me get a little teary eyed...but here I go, I'm choosing "Open letter to new Moms."


Dear New Mom,

I don't know if you are married, single, divorced, or widowed. Or even if the father of your precious little son or daughter will play a part in your child's life. But first and foremost I will begin this all with one simple statement. While you are considering the many, many needs of that little person, do not forget the needs of yourself in the process. Above all else, you need to be happy and healthy in order for your little boy or girl to be the same.

You are completely responsible for another human being, while at the same time you are also responsible for yourself and your own actions, or worse, your own inaction. Your perspective will be completely different, toss the idea of having an uninterrupted coffee right out that window Missy! It's totally worth it to be able just to sit in a rocker with them, holding them, rocking them, and enjoying that newborn smell while it lasts. Believe me, it doesn't last for too long! They are walking, talking and throwing food at the dog before you know it!

Many families have made the following mistake, myself included. Do not feel as though you have to keep up with the Jones' in order to have a happy child. The economy is changing and money is already tight. If you have cable, cancel it! It is ok if you never get to Disneyland. Are having cable or going to Disneyland really needs? The sooner you and your child understand that needs come way before wants, the happier you both will be! I've found that walks in the stroller not only help soothe a crying baby, but myself as well! Going camping in your own backyard, when your child is older of course, is a blast! There are many things you can do with your child that either are free or costs very little and will give you more for the things you and your child need. Debt is not worth it just to feed into greedy pleasures!

In close, just be happy with your child, laugh as often as you can! But, don't forget that you are human too, when you are ready, get a sitter and take a nice relaxing 2 or 3 hour break. You will be so glad that you did!

Renee

Forgotten About?

Name a person who you have forgotten about until right now? Is one of the 5 prompts that was given to us to write about by MamaKat. So this is the first time that I've decided to bite on one of her prompts and I'm choosing this one because there is someone near and dear to my heart who I never really got to tell how very important he was to me.

This person whom I speak of is my Uncle Terry, who passed away a few years ago due to colon cancer. My Uncle Terry was my father figure when my own father didn't know how to be one. He gave me things to look forward to, showed me happiness in a world of sorrow, and most importantly gave me as an 8 year old girl someone to look 'up' to.

Growing up my parents were alcoholics, they fought all of the time, and from what I remember most days consisted of my Mom kicking me outside and telling me not to come in till dusk. My father worked long hours in the construction field and I don't remember even seeing a whole lot of him, that is, unless he was sitting on the love seat that was pulled in front of our TV so he could watch whatever Baseball, Basketball or Football game that was playing.

One day, my Father never came home from work. My Mom stayed at home, she never really worked a day in her life. We had nowhere to go until Mom called my Grandmother, Nana Holcomb, and she agreed to take us in for a while. It was the day after Halloween 1986 (give or take) and my Uncle Terry showed up at our door with his pickup truck. I remember his truck fondly. It was a Red Ford, that was nothing fancy, and it smelled like a true Fisherman's truck would smell like, FISH! Mom and I packed up whatever we could fit in the truck to make the 2 hour drive to my new home in Belfast, ME.

I never really saw or even heard from my Father for the year or so that I lived here in Belfast. My Uncle Terry made sure that I laughed a little every time he was around me. He took me out in the snowmobile in the winter time. He took me Strawberry picking in the summer. He even would show up at our door once in a while just to see if I wanted to go out for an Ice Cream. Which, by the way, was my absolute favorite thing to do with him. Every time I got into his smelly truck, I smiled a smile that was a least a mile long, and it would stay with me for the entire day.

My Uncle was a lobster fisherman who sold fresh lobster and crab meat right out of his house. I used to love seeing the lobster in the tank, they were the most unusual creatures to me then. He even showed me how to help him pick crabs so the meat could be packaged up and waited to be sold.

Before I started the 4th grade my Mom and I moved back to Portland. She never drove, never even had her driver's license so we didn't get a lot of chances to visit my Uncle after we moved back. Then when he became sick, I was afraid to see him. I don't even know why. I wanted to see him so badly, I wanted to be able to tell him exactly how much he meant to me as a kid who didn't have a Dad (I never really saw my father again until he was sober and I was about 16).

My Uncle Terry passed away before I could even say goodbye. I miss him terribly. He's been gone for years and his death still stings my heart.

I will...

When a child is constantly defined by a parent (ie. You're so stupid.), he or she endures an ongoing sense of rejection. Because this abuse is so painful, and the child's need to be accepted is so great, he or she may try to gain the rejecting parent's love and acceptance by emulating his or her behavior. If this occurs, the child will TRY not to feel, not only to escape his or her painful feelings of total rejection, but also to be acceptable to the parent who doesn't show feelings or who puts down people who do show them.

Did you know that if we are taught to doubt ourselves, or to distrust inner knowledge in general, we may pay no attention to this knowledge? We may hardly notice sensate experience: "How did I get that bruise?" Or block our feelings: "I've never liked this kind of work, so why did I take this job?" Or disregard an intuitive warning: "I knew I shouldn't have gone in there."

The above are excerpts from the most recent book that I am reading, titled, "Controlling People." Tragically, the above is the training that I have received while growing up as a child. I am now 31 years old, and I am just now realizing how "backwards" I really am. I'm realizing that I never really and truly knew myself. I didn't know my own feelings, intuitions or even sensations. I never felt strong, in fact I always found myself searching for people who made that seem more real to me.

People who have been treated in ways like this, being told what they want, what they feel, and so on, are usually unsure of themselves, their experience and what all of that means to them. I felt totally and completely disconnected from myself. That is the best explanation of how I was. I felt like a walking robot who, instead of making myself happy, did things to make everyone else happy with me or at least happy enough to avoid a confrontation.

This year has been a year of self-realization for me. I'm sure it is the first year of many, as I know that it will be a long journey. I am here now, holding my head high, and more confident about myself than I ever have been. I am learning how to have feelings other than just anger. For a long, long time, anger is the only feeling that felt real to me. Who wouldn't feel anger, if they weren't doing what made themselves happy? Or even better, who wouldn't feel anger if you didn't even KNOW what it was that made yourself happy?

I will no longer hold back my tears when I am sad. I will no longer hide my laughter or enthusiasm when I am happy. More importantly, I will no longer live how someone else wants me to be. I want to be me, I want to be a great Mom, a great friend, and a great partner. I want to have hobbies, skills, and things that I'd like to have skill in but am too darn clumsy to be able to have skill in - but be OK with and accept that.

Most of all, I will be true. It is the most AMAZING feeling to actually know what that all means.

It's AWESOME to find little notes like this on my fridge to help lift my spirits and see my goal staring me right in the face!

Magazine Street Designs

I know everyone has made a collage of some sort, whether it was in school for a project, taping up tons of posters of new Kids on the Block to their walls (maybe that was just me?), or even of some of your favorite photos in those neat little collage frames.

Samantha of Magazine Street Designs, has mastered this art, I believe. She started with her room (even had items on her ceiling!), then a desk, and even her little brothers arm!

Samantha grew up right here in Maine and now attends college in New Orleans at Loyola University and makes these wonderful collage Eyeglass Cases, Tote Bags, Mirrors, Dishware and even SHOES!!! These creations come straight out of her dorm room!

I sooo want a pair of shoes.

Check her out here at Magazine Street Designs!!

Storytime!

If someone told me yesterday that I will have the time of my life if I took my 1 1/2 year old son to the local library for story time accompanied by singing and dancing, I don't quite know how I would have taken it.

Probably with a slightly confused look on my face while thinking to myself, "Were they serious?" "Nah, they must have been joking." "Yeah, they were totally joking."

Our local library has story time for 1-2 year old children on Wednesdays from 10:30am to 11. And today was my first time bringing Owen. I've been "thinking" about bringing him to one of these playgroups forever. I finally got off my tookus and brought him to one.

I haven't sang "The Wheels on the Bus", "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" or have even done the "Ring Around the Rosie" in a few years. It's just not my thing. I'd rather read to my children or build stuff with them...sitting...alone...in my house...not in public. (Have I made my fear of people and public places clear enough to you yet?!)

I feel great! I'm really, really glad I finally took him! He loved it, and even though not for me, I loved it as well. Even the librarian who ran the story time seemed to enjoy Owens antics. His "Ohhh Wow!" as she turned the pages to her story for this week seemed almost to make her enjoy her half an hour being there too.

We went back to the library later that day, although this time to the main branch. As Cameron and I wanted to check out the books there. And guess who we ran into? Yep, the story teller was there looking for her book for next week. She told me that if Owen was there next week, she really wanted HIM to read the story as she loves him enthusiasm!

Nothing better than a compliment on your child (or children) to make a Mother's heart go 'pitter pat'.

I pray he's treated right
and protected from all that gives him fright.
Protect his heart from kids who make fun
because he's too fat or too dumb.
If he's too skinny or too smart,
please still, protect his heart.
He's so happy and free with joy,
I'd hate to see that be destroyed.
Help him learn from his mistakes,
and never give him more then he can take.
Give him all the love he needs
and bless him with the joy that makes him free.
Save him from the pain life brings,
and make his little heart sing.
Please don't let the world take it away
It’s to precious to let decay.
So I beg please,
Protect him from what he sees
Let him see life in a different light,
Let him see darkness as a starry night.
So please make his heart very strong,
and spread to the world his happy song.

© Amy S. Huston

Hypnotism - My New Daily Cup of Coffee

I've always been a firm believer in trying something out before deciding how I feel about a particular topic. So I guess you can say that I 'sit on the fence' in many areas. One area of psychological treatment that I have sat on the fence with is hypnosis.

Hypnosis, or a hypnotic state, is a temporary condition of altered attention in an individual. A hypnotist is a person who uses hypnotism. Scientific evidence suggests that hypnotism is useful when it is practiced by qualified professionals. For example, some professionals use hypnotism to treat patients who have certain medical or psychological problems.

Today, I had my first experience with hypnotism. And I must begin by telling you, it's not a bad treatment, as suggested by the media. I was asked if it was like sleeping, and yes, I suppose it could be compared to sleeping. Although, hypnotism does require more active mental concentration than sleeping. Hypnotized people can walk. write, and walk about. Usually they are fully aware of what is happening around them.

According to my therapist, I was hypnotized for approximately 20 minutes. It really only felt like 5. Near the end of the session, I felt like I was in a deep state of hypnosis. It was almost like I was there physically, but I couldn't feel my body. I couldn't really move, nor did I even want to. I felt like someone could have hit me in the head with a brick and I wouldn't have felt a thing.

When I opened my eyes I remember smiling. It was such a 'feel good' moment for me - I had hoped that the feeling I had then would last forever. I left her office with a CD of our session in my hands, and later that day I was told, "You're glowing."

I want to listen to my new CD every night before I go to bed, I'm going to call it my 'Evening Cup O' Joe.'

We Heart Record Store Day!

Record Store Day is the celebration of the unique culture surrounding independently owned record stores in the USA, and similar stores internationally. Record Store Day is celebrated the third Saturday in April. This year it's April 17th.

This is a day where all independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. I think it's celebrated almost everyday in some shape or form here in our house! I think it would in almost any house that had a bass player, a trumpet player, an acoustic player, AND a piano player all under ONE roof!! Of course you will find a few other instruments here in our house as well, but those are just for fun!

The festivities for this celebration vary by store, but usually consist of performances, cookouts, meet and greets with artists and many more.

Be sure to visit your local INDEPENDENT Music Store on this day! Celebrate Music!

Photo © 2009 Ren Michele Photography

I'm starting to get bloggy excited over here!

I've decided that my original blog (http://renmichelephotography.blogspot.com/) was getting a little jumbled. I had posts about my photography, then I had posts with my little stories (about my adventures, my kids, my life in general). Today I started to wonder if I was getting sidetracked? As I have a passion for photography, but then I also like to TALK too!

I noticed that some folks have 2 blogs, some a lot more! And I wondered if I should do that as well. Could I REALLY have enough of interest for TWO blogs?

I sure hope so because I just created my newest addition to my bloggy family!

The original blog will be used as strictly all things photography. Photos of my kids, my friends, how I managed to get that shot, what I'm learning, and even how I'm pushing myself to have my own (GASP) photography business/gallery. As YES, that IS MY PLAN!!

Wanna come along for the ride? :) I sure hope so! This page is where I plan on talking about anything and everything about life in general - being a parent, pets, politics, bizzaro things that I've ran into, you NAME it!! :) Introducing, "Wake Up and Smell The Coffee - Thoughts Written and Pictures Taken While Half Awake."

Here's to Happy Reading!

Renee

Pillow Fight...

Who knew that there was such a thing as "International Pillow Fight Day?!?" I sure didn't know about it! Well, just so you are all aware, Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 was International Pillow Fight Day. I don't think that anywhere in Maine participated in this event. But boy I sure wish we had!

As part of the 'Urban Playground Movement', the goal is to make unique happenings in public space become a significant part of popular culture, partially replacing passive, non-social, branded consumption experiences like watching television, and consciously rejecting the blight on our cities caused by the endless creep of advertising into public space.

This is all done in the hopes that it will result in a global community of participants, not consumers, in a world where people are constantly organizing and attending these happenings in every major city in the world.

So next year, I want to make this happen!! How many of y'all are with me?! There will be few rules:

1. Hide your pillow until the fight begins

2. Don't make it obvious that you are there waiting for the fight to begin, sit in your car, pretend you are waiting for the bus, whatever floats your boat.

3. ONLY soft pillows!

4. Swing lightly! (C'mon no one wants to get HURT - we just wanna have fun!)

Yeah! I can just see this happening now! :) I'm laughing just thinking about it!

Move over ladies, I wanna knit too!

"Click-clack, click-clack."

Recently, I have grown accustomed to hearing the subtle sound of knitting needles tapping each other back and forth. Knitting seems to have become a new pastime for hip young women seeking a fun and positive stress-reliever.

But men? Better yet, boys?

My son Cameron just turned 9 years old in February. He enjoys skateboarding, riding his bike, building ships with his Legos, and most recently, he has added knitting to this list!

When Cameron came home from school one day and told me how one of his teachers showed him how to knit, I never thought it would become what it is now. I guess I just simply thought that he would create one thing to try it and he would move on. I mean, c'mon, his classmates will give him a hard time about this for sure, won't they?

Guess again! Last week we took Cameron to the craft store and he purchased a bright orange set of knitting needles with his $5 allowance money. He has taken these to school with him so he could work on his projects during some of the free time that he has in school. He has said that some of the other kids in his class, girls and boys, have come to school with a set of their own needles and they are knitting as well! What a trend to start! Last year Cam was reading in class when he wasn't supposed to be, and it's knitting this year!

In the past 2 weeks alone Cameron has made a scarf for his brother Owen, two other scarves, a baby blanket and has just finished his birthday present for John III.

Apparently, knitting helps to calm the nerves, organize one's thinking and to help relax a person. Never mind the self esteem it gives someone when you see a finished product and you can say to yourself, "I created this."

The best part about Cameron's knitting passion for me, is the fact that it's turning his head, even if only for a minute, from the corporate, computer age junk. It's teaching him an economic and socially responsible way to make his own stuff when he can. It makes me proud that instead of begging for an expensive toy that he'll only play with for half a minute, he chooses to savor a $7 ball of yarn that can entertain him for a week, well almost a week at the rate he's going with it!

I guess now I should ask him if he'll teach his Mom how to knit as well! :)

April Showers Blog Design Giveaway

I learned from a fellow blogger, Ericka at alabaster cow that April Showers Blog Design is having giveaway with 3 prizes!

Why I feel that I already need a blog overhaul when I just started blogging very recently...but...start out with a bang? Yeah, that's what I'm thinking! :D



Good luck and have fun! I will say however, I'm beginning to feel a little like a stalker as I entered like 5 times! Yes! You can enter that many times, check it out for yourself!

Cheers!

Love in 1775 -- Part Two

I don't care what you believe in or what you don't. There is something to be said when you have an experience when you walk into a room or touch a door or smell a particular smell and it just makes you feel "off" so to speak. You feel so "off" that it leaves you scratching your head for either the rest of the day or even the rest of the week, if not longer. Have you ever felt something that touched you so much that made you feel that intense and you had no idea how or why?

Me either. Well, not until Friday that is.

Yesterday John wanted to show me an old one room schoolhouse that was left behind in the area where he grew up. We drove down the street to find that it was no longer there. But there was a peculiar barn house just behind on the same road that looked interesting and I asked John to stop there so I could take my camera and check it out.

He went on to tell me that this particular barn house was rumored to be haunted. A couple of kids tried spending the night there back when he was in High School and apparently they didn't even make it through half of the night. They gave "too many mosquitoes" as their reason for not staying. Kids have repeatedly been kicked off the property for snooping around by the neighbors (whom we assume owns the property) but even when I was there yesterday there is not a single "No Trespassing" sign posted.

What was visibly odd about this house, though, is the fact that it appeared as though there were some minor repairs to the house done. But only enough to keep the house STANDING versus crumbling to the ground. So if the neighbors own this property, why keep it up if they are so annoyed by curious passerby? My theory? There is 'something' about this house that they just aren't going to let on to anyone. Which, by the way, make me all the more curious!

We parked by the barn house and I walked over to it. Since the whole rear wall has crumbled, I had a wide open area just inviting me in to come and take a peek. At first, all I could think was, “this is so darn cool!” Then I got to an area that appeared to be the living room and my curiosity turned into an odd feeling in the pit of my core, and then that turned into this strange, almost panicky, “I've got to get the heck out of this house.”

Right when I started to feel this strange feeling, I took some pictures of one of the rooms just to get some last shots before I left. I didn't realize it at the time, but here is one of the shots that I took, almost looks a little eerie. I'm not sure if this is a mistake on my part, or something "there" but either way, it gives me the chills.





Here is the exact same angle of the exact same room about 30 seconds later.









Looking at the first picture, it almost looks like a female figure, walking away into the far left corner of the room. Before this, I remember being frustrated that there were NO doorknobs in any of the doors for me to get some nice details shots of one of the doors. Notice in this picture there is a doorknob left on the door to that closet...I really wanted to go to that closet. But this feeling that I felt, wouldn't let me bring my feet to walk over to it. I almost felt as though something was being protected in that corner, either a memory of the house, something sentimental, and no one, even before me as all the knobs were stolen except for this one, was going to be allowed over there.

I sure as heck wasn't going to attempt to piss anyone, or anything off during my first visit. So this is when I left the house and went to visit the cemetery out back. At first glance of he cemetery, it was uninteresting. About 20 people buried there (I later found out my internet research there is exactly 24 people buried there) and on the cemetery sign there is the number 1785, which at first I assumed to be a street number. I later found out that the very first person buried at this location was a 3 year old girl, who died on Christmas Day, 1785. She was buried there by both her surviving parents. Dad died 44 years later 1 week before the anniversary of his daughters death. Mom died 9 years after dad, right around the anniversary of her daughter and husbands death. They are all three buried at this location, along with 21 other family members.

Who were Mom and Dad?? You got it...Mr. And Mrs. William and Sarah Dearing the first owners of this massive barn house that is still standing (albeit barely) today. Amazing isn't it?

Here is the grave sites of William Dearing and Sarah Dearing the original owners of this spectacular house.

Here is Mary Dearing, the daughter of William and Sarah who died at just three years of age. She was the very first person to be buried here.

Here is the entrance to the cemetery, the "Dearing" family later became the "Deering" family. And I'll save THAT story for a little later, that is the best one yet! :)

Love in 1775

The year is on or around 1765 and young William Dearing and two of his friends sent off with guns and provisions for several days. They are looking for adventure, they are looking to create their life as they are fine and old enough now to break away and create names for themselves.

Crossing the Saco River, then heading towards Alfred, they spend their first night at Mast Camp. Greedily, William's two friends find and stake a claim on their first sights nearby. Patient William goes off to find something more suitable . He wants to “see” the land and notices a hill, continuing to the top of of the hill so he may get a better view of his surroundings. This hill I write of is known to us today as Ossippee Hill. Still, not yet finding the land suitable for him, he spends another night here, keeping the wolves and other animals at bay with a fire.

William finally settles on a piece of land which appears to have already been cleared by the Indians on the high part of the ridge. He eventually is bothered by the lack of water high up on this ridge and he builds a camp on the lower side, which today is known as “Deerings Ridge.”

Needing supplies and food, William travels to Biddeford on occasion. Jonathan Rummery and his family who lived in “the last house in Biddeford” became accustomed to young William. They graciously opened their doors to him, allowing him to spend nights there on his journeys back and forth. Curious, Mrs. Rummery inquired as to if he was married, and was happy to hear that he was not as their 19 year old daughter, Sarah, had taken quite a fancy to young William.

Sarah later questioned William as to how many cattle he had and made it quite clear to him that she thought that they should be married. Well, William was young and free as a bird, he wasn't so sure that marriage was quite the thing for him. William thought Sarah's proposal over and then accepted. He announced that they were to be married on his next trip to Biddeford.

William Dearing and Sarah Rummery were married on April 3, 1775, with the ceremony being performed by Rev. Peletiah Tingley, a Baptist minister. Sarah was escorted by William to his home by horseback after the ceremony. Shortly thereafter, he built them a new home of logs in her honor which was built on Deerings Ridge Road, being over Deerings Ridge.




I tell you this story today with research that was done and it is told according to family tradition. It is here, with William bringing Sarah back to his home by horseback and building her a new home of logs in her honor, where MY photographic story begins.

To be continued...but here is a teaser photo below.





Renée

Spring is in the air...FINALLY!

Not that it's LATE or anything! But man this spring (at least for me) was more awaited than the day I was to go on my trip to Puerto Rico in 2005. (I'll post pics of that another time!) The weather is starting to brighten, and the amazing awakening of nature is beginning! I have been able to open my windows (a couple of times) already to let the fresh air in. I have even begun some yard work preps and dreaming of having a beautiful flower garden (a small one!) in my back yard this year! Even Jovi, my pug, is glad to see the nicer weather and not have Mom (me) garb her up to go outside. I don't do that all of the time, but it sure is awful darn cute to see! This year I'm thinking Jovi needs a pretty little sundress...I seriously hope that she didn't hear that!!

Well, cheers for spring. Here's to a healthy, happy one for all of you! :D

Just in case you needed a smile today...here is a pic I took of my 19 month old son yesterday. He is rockin' his rockin' glasses for sure!
















Cheers!
Renée