Fossils | Festivals | Friends | Fireworks

My parents’ house sits on a very large, very foliage-covered piece of land. As kids, the natural place to find us was usually rustling around somewhere deep in these woods. We built forts, swung on grapevines, and fished crayfish and salamanders with our bare fingers. I decided that it was time my husband caught a glimpse of what I considered the home behind my home.

What I did NOT encounter as a kid, ever, [thank goodness] was a trail of massive bones littering the creekbed for nearly a half mile. In my adulthood, I realize that currently, I’ve seen one too many episodes of NCIS, CSI, etc. to be okay seeing things like this without the creepy suspicion that dirty business has transpired.

Relief: white tailed deer carcasses. Well, relief compared to what they could’ve been.

Disappointment: Hunters hunting, stripping, and dumping on our property = illegal. 



bones | white-tailed deer | :(

 Strange. We headed back to the house shortly after to shower and clean up.


One thing I will forever love about my hometown is its nostalgic feel and the fact that each time I visit, I uncover something or someone I’ve somehow managed to elude for more than just a few years.

Today, my parents, Joe, Syd and I headed to downtown Mt. Vernon for some sort of pre-holiday festival. I’m not exactly sure what it was technically named, but I do know there’s just something about these little events to which I’m drawn. I can’t explain it, but either way, I’m glad we went.   



jasmine

Anyone who attended St. Paul’s Episcopal Church as a kid in the mid-90’s should remember Farm Week. I know I do… well, for the most part. What I primarily recall is a hoard of youth swarming all over an outdoor haven: river and all. From the time I was finally getting all my adult teeth in, this girl has been there doing stupid and crazy things with me. She finally moved away to another bordering school district in the midst of our high school years, but we’ve managed to keep in touch and I love her to pieces.  



krystal

This is a tribute to a girl I befriended somewhere in the middle of middle school. I’ve always been fairly adaptable, but I do distinctly remember how displeased I was [ok, fine, I was actually terrified] that I had to leave elementary school and start the big bad 6^th grade in a whole new building. This girl is one of the first people I met in my quest to survive middle school. I recall she even accompanied us on a family vacation to VA Beach once. Ironically, her family moved to Missouri just as we were entering high school; now that she’s back in Ohio, I’m the one [almost] in Missouri. Timing was never our thing, but she’s still one of my oldest and dearest friends J

Oh, yeah, and there were fireworks.

Mount Vernon loves fireworks.

Sydni also loves fireworks.



family fireworks outing



Actually, this was Sydni’s first experience with fireworks. She did well, considering how loud and flashy they were at times.

Tomorrow = family picnic. I can’t wait!

xo | cmd