Photos from Home

Mom sent me some photos she took over the holidays, and with her permission I've scanned in some of them, of the house in which I grew up, and of her cat Jenny. So, without further ado, click on a photo to see it en large:

	The approach to the house; the front is around the left-hand corner, but this approach is perhaps most used. The window on the right in the middle floor is my old bedroom. The pine tree on the right is quite tall, for that part of the country. (156k)
	A closer view, under the pine tree, of the porch outside the back door. We've all had lots of fun sitting on the porch in the summer over the last 12 years or so. As I mentioned in my requiem for William, Mom's other cat, William, also loved to sit on the porch, on someone's lap, and watch the world go by. (140k)
	Mom hangs a bird feeder on the apple tree in the yard, and I think she wanted the binoculars I gave her for Christmas to watch birds (and those pesky squirrels) when they came to feed. (136k)
	This house across the street was where my good friend Rob lived from about 1981 until college. When we moved in, some elderly lady lived there, and the house was painted gray and ringed with pine trees. When Rob's family moved in, they cut down most of the trees, and gutted the house to remodel it. It remained gray, though. Rob's family has since moved away, and the current owners have painted it this nice shade of red. (148k)
	When we moved into our house, back in 1972, the back yard had several neat trees, including a birch tree, which was sucking up many of the nutrients and stunting the growth of this blue spruce. I'm not certain, but I think this tree was about eight feet tall when we moved in. (I, of course, was about three feet tall, so my judgment was not the best.) The birch tree died sometime in the 80s of a disease, and the spruce has taken off since then. The cars in the background are just across the street, so judge for yourself. (112k) The other thing I like in this photo is the nice layer of snow. Snow is really very pretty, and I miss it.
	Jenny loves fires. I also love fires, and made many of them while I was home for the holidays. (128k)
	Jenny isn't wild about being picked up, though. Here she is choosing the spot that works best for her. (100k)
	Have I mentioned that I'm growing my hair out? I don't know how long I'll grow it, but I've always wanted to see what I'd look like with longer hair. My hair is very fine and I think it might be nice long. Or maybe I'd just look like a dork. Anyway, here's a slightly-too-bright photo of me over the holidays, with my beard and all. I'm getting a tad tired of the beard, but I'd probably look like even more of a dork with long hair and no beard. Of course, maybe I just can't win... (112k)