Joan on the Road...of Life

Introducing Evan Patrick Daily, son of Naomi Juedes and Brad Daily, born September 22 and weighing in at 8 lbs. 15 oz and 22 inches long. Evan is a 5th Generation baby. His Great-great grandma is Anne Nehls of Gurnee, Illinois. Her daughter Joan (that's me) is his Great-grandma. My daughter Renee is the Grandma and her daughter is the MOM. I sure hope we can get together for a 5 generation picture. Renee and Naomi were 5th generation kids so Evan is following in their footsteps.

I got to spend the whole day with him today and had hours of cuddle time. Then he got a bit fussy, soon worked up to a scream and then I gave him to Mom to feed. That's the great thing about being a grandparent! You get all the love and not a lot of responsibility.

He's a really beautiful baby!! I'm sure I'll be writing more about him. He even has his own website at www.evanpatrickdaily.com.

Posted by Joan at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Several weeks ago I bought a cheap bird feeder to hang outside my window. Little did I know what entertainment value there was in this $3.95 feeder!

The first time I hung it, no one came. I was disappointed. But then my son told me that California birds are picky and only like sunflower seeds. So I replaced the bird seed with sunflower seeds, hulls removed, and voila! The birds came by the dozens.

Then we moved to a new site, I filled the feeder with all sunflowers and only one chickadee came. He picked out one seed, chewed it, flew at my window and beat on the glass, flew away and never returned. Failure.

Now on site 23, where we'll be for 6 weeks, the birds are going crazy again. The feeder is in a lovely tree with spreading evergreen branches. It is my personal aviary only the birds are free.

At any time I can see a dozen or more sitting in the branches waiting for their turn at the perches. They fight over spots, play chinese fire drill, hopping from one perch to another, stick their heads all the way into the feeder, drop to the ground like falling leaves, then swoop back up to sit and wait there turn again. It is constant entertainment.

Now I have a zoo as the squirrels and rabbits have found the overflow that the birds push on the ground. The squirrels fight over a particularly good seed, humping up their backs, swishing their tails and bumping butts to push each other out of the way. The rabbits are very cautious, always twitching their ears and noses, constantly worried that some enemy will come along. One bright squirrel is trying to figure out how to get down the rope to the feeder and I'm sure he'll figure that out in a couple of days.

We have chickadees, finches (mostly), scrub jays and red-headed woodpeckers visiting our feeder. The crows would love to but they're a bit too big for the perches. The jays have a hard time getting their heads turned to peck the seeds out so they too wait under the feeder for the scraps. The various finches hog the feeder so the lone chickadee jumps in quickly, grabs a seed then hides in the tree to eat. The finches hover like helicopters waiting for their turn. This activity goes on from sunrise to sunset!

Who knew that such a small investment would be such fun? Only problem is that they'll eat all the seed in the feeder in two days. Eating like a bird certainly doesn't indicate a small appetite. We may go broke keeping food on the table for the birds.

Posted by Joan at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sometimes my heart overflows with love and pride...yesterday was one of those days. The California kids have a tradition of closing out the summer, well summer vacation, with a beach party at Corona del Mar. Lucky for us that we're here this year because my emotional bank of family memories needed replenishing and I got a big deposit.

It's not that anything really spectacular happens. It's just watching the interactions, the teasing, the shared inside jokes and the love passed around that makes family times like this truly special.

We had a great fire ring spot thanks to Tom and Bryan who arrived at the beach at 6 AM or some ungodly hour. The kids had a sunshade, chairs, blankets, wood (actually half a tree) and plenty of great food and snacks. Jim outdid himself with a new pasta salad and Renee had a variety of munchies to keep us happy until the sun started to set and we broke out the hotdogs.

There is a "feel" to the beach that you don't get at a backyard party or in the park. I guess it's the sound of the ocean, the view of the water, the gulls squawking and the boats cruising by. It takes you worlds away. I noticed lots of other family groups with older folks (like us I guess) who were probably the proud grandparents of their group. At a time of so much sadness (hurricane Katrina and memories of 9/11) it is great to have the family together. We wished Brad could be with us and as always missed Laura and Steve. Here's some shots of the day...

Bryan and Zack relaxing. I think Zack was warming up from a cold swim.

Naomi is thinking, "when will this baby be born?!"...baby Evan is due in 3 weeks.

This is what happens when an extreme biker screws up...sprained foot.

The October birthday cousins share a hug before Jimbo goes off to college and Naomi becomes a Mom!

Hilly braved the cold water in her wet suit. I think she's looking forward to her first year in college!

Renee and Tom, along with son Jim, did a lot of work to make this a fun day.

The sunset set the stage for a roaring bonfire, roasting dogs and marshmallows and the end of a great day.

After Dark Beach Scenes:
* The old man standing by an abandoned fire warming his hands and staring into the flames for an hour or more. What was he thinking?
* The fire-dancing girl who swirled and twirled with her fire stick/ropes until the flames died and the beach crowd cheered.
* The lost 2 year old that Jim and Tom guarded until her ditzy family came along searching for her. This is in the dark of night with hundreds of people on the beach and bonfires roaring.
* The invitation of the preacher to join in the singing, prayer and testimonials...all are welcome.
* The biggest bonfire of all...OURS!

Posted by Joan at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)