For Char On Her Birthday…
Char gardening on the back deck, May 24, 2011
I hope this Spring will bring to you: Plants and flowers; rain showers and dew. Our brown yard: dry, hard; ready to bloom, will green and grow as we till and mow; rake and groom. The Summer sun will shine over your designs Pots and beds, buds and vines, Awards and ribbons, and tour signs It all begins and wins with you. My gardening mother no other would do.
Ray would have been 75 today. I can’t help but miss him every time I look over at his empty desk. Every time I saw something funny or interesting, I would bring it up and we would talk about it for a couple minutes or a couple hours. We shared many common interests and he was generally interested in everything and everyone. We also had complimentary skill sets. He could do those things I couldn’t or didn’t want to.
Ray and Char Maas at a Japanese restaurant in Bush Gardens, circa 1968
Recently I scanned a box of mom’s APS cartridges. (It was a slow process and I haven’t cleaned them up yet.) While I was waiting for my friend’s Canon FS2710 film scanner, I scanned some prints mom had filed away. One thing I noticed from both the negatives and prints- Ray and Char went on a lot of vacations together, and most of them were work related. I don’t think dad cared were he went as long as mom was along he was sure to have a good time.
Char and Ray Maas at a Creative Circle banquet, circa 1988
As a young man Ray was interested in photography. Unfortunately his budget didn’t support his level of enthusiasm, but in later years we always had a good 35mm camera. When I showed interest in getting a SLR in 1975 he was gun-ho and made sure I got one.
He was just as supportive when I got my first digital SLR in 2008 and posed for this frame.
Ray at the breakfast table, July 9, 2008
Ray left us in 2010, but he left us with a lot of fond memories.
I was reminded that my grandmother would have been 107 today. I fondly remember her working in her tiny Sydney store in the 1960s and early 1970s. The store was closed in 1973 (age 68) and she moved to Jamestown.
Grandma Anna on auction day. 10/15/1973
Our family would drive to Jamestown for Thanksgiving and other family events, and she would visit us for Christmas. As she approached 100 the holes in her memory became larger, but she still had a warm smile for us and could remember events in her own childhood.
Anna Maas with Marilyn West, March 13, 2005
Ray Maas would have been 74 today. In honor of his birthday, Paul and Suzanne made a banana cream pie, one of dad’s favorites. I went over to share a piece and think about what else we’re missing. Continue reading
Ray Maas had a write up in the NDSU Ag Engineering Department newsletter.
It’s found on page 2 in the “Obituaries- Department Alumni” section. Nothing new but it was nice to see him honored again by the Ag Eng. Department. Ray had a strong relationship with the department and they awarded him an honorary Alpha Epsilon membership in 2008.
In 2010 I managed to read 63 books in 2010 for a total of 20,229 pages. Here is the list.
By comparison my sister Suzanne read 47 books for a total of 18,248 pages. As you can see we’re a bookish family. So much so, Suzanne asked me to set up a book review blog. Check out Cold Read- it gets updated at least once a week; usually more.
I’ve cut back on my on-line activities. I’ve replace my homepage with this blog. I hope to post more entries this year. I’m still enthusiastic about photography so those links (Zenfolio, Flickr, and Picasa) are still getting updated all the time. If you ask, I’ll send you access to the Private Photos and not just the boring Public Photos.
I put this play list together from my i-tunes library. My goal was some good performances that I haven’t listen to much. I rotated a number of obvious choices out for some new holiday music. I also included two track that aren’t Christmas songs but could be. “Holy Lamb” by Yes and “Holy Holly” by Neil Diamond. Diamond’s lyrics are vague and if you image the Holy Ghost singing to the Shepherds it makes as much sense as anything else. Continue reading
My friends and I (from Dilworth) are starting a new band.
We’re calling ourselves V1 *
I’ve already written enough songs for a dozen albums or so.
This is a list of the album titles. (In order) The list also includes some EPs and Singles. Continue reading
I’m cutting back on my web exposure this year. I thought about cutting back on the blog and using Facebook more, but instead I’ve decided to cut back on Facebook and put this blog on hiatus for a while. I continued writing my Journal in January. I got half way thought the month and decided to put that on hiatus too. I did pick up a Moleskine and have been writing daily notes in that. Going back to analog has been sort of relaxing. It helps that I’ve been disciplined enough to keep it updated every day.
