Conversations With an Almost 4 Year Old

One day Warren and I took a walk to the south lot. The south lot is about a ¼ mile down the gravel road and is separated from his house by a corn field. It was a very hot day, but the wind had died down to a mild 15 mph after 3 days of steady winds in the high 30’s.

We started out.

“It’s a gravel road, Granberry…”

“Um-hmm”

“Why is it gravel, Granberry?”

“That’s how it was made.”

“Oh. Look at the rocks!"

“That’s why it’s called gravel. Because a gravel road is made of rocks and dirt.”

We walk on. Maggie stops to sniff.

“What’s she doing?”

“What does it look like?”

"Sniffing."

"Um-hmm."

"Why?"

"Another animal walked there and she’s trying to sniff to see what kind it was.”
“What kind was it?"

"I don’t know."

"Why?"

"Because my nose doesn’t tell me."

"Why?"

And so it goes…..

We walk further.

“There’s a hole, Granberry!” He pulls to a stop.

“Yes there is. You have to watch for holes so you don’t walk in one and get hurt.”

“Why? “

“Because you wouldn’t want to be hurt.”

“Oh….where did the hole come from?”

“I don’t know. A small animal made it.”

We walk on. Warren pulls to a stop.

“Look, ANOTHER hole!!”

“Yep.”

“Who made that one?”

“I don’t know.”

A sudden yank as Warren pulls me backward and says in delight and awe…

“Granberry! Look! DIRT!” he says pointing to a small pile of dark dirt on the road.

Did I mention we are walking on a gravel (dirt) road?

And Now the Rest of the Story!

Yesterday's Blog post shared the dreams and frustrations of creating a book. The book was ready, but printing it had turned out to be a challenge.

On Friday I went 'back to market'. This time I hit the jackpot. Warren and I were doing some errands in Ft. Dodge and our first stop was the Office Max. It was my last chance. If this didn't work I would have to start from scratch and this would end up a Christmas present. (I wasn't prepared to quit after all the time I've put in already!)

The book still didn't print out quite right the first time and I was feeling defeated but this girl wasn't ready to give up. I showed her what I had done and how I did it on the printer at home. 'We'll figure it' out was her attitude. (Isn't it great when someone really helps you?) It took her several tries, but (Oh Happy Days) finally IT WORKED!!!! A short time later Warren and I walked out of Office Max with a book, complete with color pictures, printed on cardstock and spiral bound. My project was complete! I had written my first book.

In the car I told Warren about the book and showed it to him. Great kid that he is, he wanted me to read it right there, so I did. As we did the rest of our errands "Warren's First Bird Book" went everywhere we did. But the best reward of all was after we climbed back in the car at the end of our errands. "Thank you for my book, Granberry. I really love it." Wow! Special moments don't come much better than that.

Oh yeah. At his house he carries my Field Guide to Birds outside when we go out, so for his birthday I DID give him the simple photo book of bird pictures (titled "Warren's Field Guide to Birds") that was the original seed for the whole project. Little seeds to big turnips. It was all good. I'm just glad I got the whole turnip to market.

And now you know the whole story of what I've been up to!

What I've Been Up To

My daughter commented recently that I hadn't been posting much lately. So true, but it was nice knowing someone was checking to see, and that meant hopefully they were interested in my comings and goings.

I've been busy on a project, but I wasn't in a position to talk about it until now. My oldest grandson is celebrating his 4th birthday. He has acquired 2 new things that are great for 4 year-olds. 1) A huge new playground and 2) a bird feeder.

A birdfeeder is a wonderful way for a little boy to see the world from the sofa, and will be especially nice in the winter when he can't go out to play. And a birdfeeder is MUCH easier to care for than an aquarium which is also a great thing for a little boy to watch.

For Warren's 4th birthday I decided I wanted to make him a bird book. My original idea was simple. Print out some of the pictures of birds I've taken at our feeder. Label the bird names. Put them into a little photo album. Give it to him as a little present from Granberry. So Simple and Easy.

Have you ever had a project start small and then begin to grow? This one reminds me of one of those folk tales where the turnip was so big that once it was pulled out of the ground no one could get it to market....Ah, what an analogy!

After identifying the bird pictures I would print, I wanted to add a few identifying traits. Suddenly I had the makings of a book. Someone suggested I print it out like a book. I checked with a local printing place.

Put it into Publisher, and convert it to Adobe they suggested. My experience with Publisher is limited, but I did it. I shared it with a few people who are either in publishing or work with young children. They gave suggestions. I edited it some more. I got very positive feedback...but more work with each step.

My simple idea had ballooned. A few hours here, several more hours there....the turnip was getting very big. And now to market.... I took the final draft to Office Max.  The weirdest thing happened. The first person who looked at it got it to print in book form and in the proper page order, but the format came out very small. A different person tried to print it and it came out perfectly formatted (it was actually kind of exciting to see it) but in the wrong page order! No one could explain what was happening, but all agreed I had set it up in Publisher the wrong way. (Did I mention I have only a little experience with Publisher?)

I shared the book with my daughter and she really liked it so I have spent the better part of a day re-ordering the pages. It's time for the final effort to get this turnip to market. This time it had better work!

Where Did July Go?

July lived up to its reputation as being the middle of summer; hot and dry. We celebrated the 4th with a picnic at a neighbor's. As the sun set we roasted marshmallows, and downed sticky s'mores to the snap, crackle, and pop of fireworks set off by others around our neighborhood.
My favorite part of the month, though, began on July 14 when I drove to Connecticut. My sister Jean and her husband celebrated their 50th anniversary! Wow! What an event! It has been their tradition over the last 51 years to celebrate by going to Chauncey Creek Lobster Pound in Kittery Point, Maine and eating fresh lobster on the docks. Many years ago we had the opportunity to join this ritual when our first born was only 4 months old and the whole family drove from Connecticut to Maine for 'dinner'. It was different and fun and I throughly enjoyed it. Jenny spent most of the visit sitting in her carseat at different tables as volunteer strangers offered to entertain her while my elbows dripped melted butter.


For their 50th Anniversary, Jean and Lee's kids planned a party at Chauncey Creek. Larry flew into Boston on Friday and I picked him up. Later we picked up my sister, Mary and Saturday we drove to Kittery. The party was fun, the lobster delicious and catching up with my nieces and nephews was great. As wonderful as the party was the best part was yet to come.

Sunday I dropped Larry at the airport and Mary and I drove back to Connecticut and spent 4 days on Jean's boat. Lee was gracious enough to go stay with their son for 4 days so we could have our annual Sister's Reunion. We began this tradition after our parents were gone as a way to keep in touch. Mary was in Canada, I was in Florida, Jean was in Connecticut and Sue was in Virginia. Sister's Reunion had 1 basic requirement: no kids, no husbands. (In other words... no distractions, no obligations)! It has become a favorite event. It is now just Mary, Jean and I, and since Jean moved onto the boat, it has become a bit more difficult to find a way to get together, so this year was especially great. Here are just a couple of photos of our trip.

Miss Ruby

The Salon, or main living area inside

The cove on the Connecticut River where Miss Ruby was moored.

Swimming! Early morning, middle of day, at night. Anytime.

A beautiful sailboat moored near us.

Breakfast. Mmmm

Theater where we saw Showboat. Fantastic production!

Osprey nest on the river with both parents on watch!

August is here with more trips, and more project. Stay tuned. I'll try to keep you posted!