DUBUQUE, IOWA - 2008

This is the 4th Street Elevator in Dubuque. It has been running non-stop for more years than I know. As an example, my parents lived in Dubuque before they were married, attending the Dubuque Academy. They rode the 4th Street Elevator in 1920!

When you are at the top of the bluff above the elevator, you look down on this view of Dubuque.

And if you turn your head a bit, this is what you see.

2011 CRYSTAL BEACH MARDI GRAS PARADE

It was really too cold for any kind of parade, but you can always trust the loyal Crystal Beach folks to hang in there, no matter what.

We were warm and dry in our car, parked right on the road, but the float riders were mighty, mighty cold in the strong wind.

Here is a tiny pile of beautiful beads that were thrown from the floats.

Maybe the weather will be better next year, but the warmth of the community can't be matched today.

THE HERON AND THE EGRET

How many times do you find a Great Egret and a Great Blue Heron strolling along together (albeit in opposite directions...) at the same time?

So - - - Let's have a contest to see who can stretch his neck the farthest.

No contest!

1962 NIAGRA FALLS

Now don't get excited.............

We had been married for five years by the time we saw this amazing sight.

MANY FACES OF THE SEA

Living by the sea is never boring. Some days the water sparkles like diamonds; some days it roars like lions; some days it is as blue as turquoise; some days it is gray as pewter. When there are huge waves - during shrimping season - I feel the queasiness of the constant rolling. Let me show you:

IT IS SPRING IN TEXAS!

The Purple Martins are back!

NEW ORLEANS - 1964

We Northerners were amazed at scenes such as this.

Here is a place we assumed belonged to a share cropper.

My city cousin took us on a tour of the French Quarter where I remember going into a place where jazz was a way of life for them - completely foreign to me, coming from farm country in the north.

The cemeteries were so different from anything we had seen before - and to my naive and inexperienced eyes, they seemed rather frightening.

To round out the Southern experience, huge mansions and hanging moss from huge, old trees fascinated me.