Football Storm

Spartan Stadium was evacuated shortly after the beginning of the second quarter in East Lansing last night due a heavy thunderstorm with frequent lightning activity. Our seats are close to the south end zone and we, along with close to 60,000 other Spartan fans, were drenched in the downpour that preceded the emptying of the stadium.

The game resumed after an hour with the band taking the field late at night for their first halftime show of the fall football season.

The image above was taken about ten minutes before we left the stadium for cover in the hallways underneath the stands. The orange clouds billowed with activity as the storm made its way across the skies.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

The SMB Bandos

Oh how I love this photo of all the Spartan Marching Band "bandos" from our family. Taken in the fall of 2002 when Peter was marching mellophones, here are Pete and Wendy and Will and Liesl.

The first game is tonight and the SMB will be there in full force, doing a Michigan themed rock show for the half time. Think Eminem (Warren) and Bob Segar (Dearborn) and Kid Rock (Romeo) and Stevie Wonder (Saginaw. Very cool.

March to the stadium is at 7:15 pm from Adams Field and, yes, I am on my way to the game, 'cause, yes, we are Spartan fans, and especially SMB fans, in this household.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Summer's End

At the end of a Thursday that felt like a Friday, it feels like the end of the summer. At work today I finally wrapped up some things that have been hanging over my head. That always feels good. 

The lawn is mowed. The guest rooms are ready. The frig is stocked. There is a raft of company coming for the holiday weekend.

College and high school football is starting. Yellow and orange and burgundy chrysanthemum plants appear for sale. The days get shorter. The tomatoes ripen. 

At the end of summer there is such a nostalgic tinge to life. You want to hang on to what has been, yet it is time to let go and move on. 

In the almost dark of a warm night in late summer, even the crickets sing their bittersweet song of farewell. . .to summer. 

Copyright 2013

Wanda Hayes Eichler

Canada Thistle

Canada Thistle is the bane of crop farming. Weed that this plant is, it grows tall and sharp, filled with spines and prickles. One weed identification book that I use says that this plant is capable of reducing crop yields by 100% due to an underground rhizome that grows below normal tillage depth.

Yet there is a beauty in the purple flower with its spiny bracts. Contrasted with green, the pink-purple blossom is a showy flower in August.

I photographed this thistle, shoulder high, while out for a walk. Then I took the image to my computer's darkroom and brought out the gray green background using sketching tools and some cropping and dodging. I rather like the result, even though the plant is basically a weed.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Time To Go Green

After a summer of gardening and weeding and other assorted digging duties, it is time to spiff up my nails. 

So here are the choices for this Friday's first home game in Spartan Stadium at Michigan State. Left to right: Revlon "Emerald," L'Oreal "Lickety Split," Maybelline "Two Timer," OPI "Don't Mess With OPI," or SC "Last Chance." I'm leaning toward the OPI color and thinking "Don't mess with those Spartans!"

Copyright 2013

Wanda Hayes Eichler

 

Garden Girls

Big sis and little sis found the zinnias. "Grandma, can we pick flowers?"

"Yep, go ahead," was the reply.

The row of zinnias, late bloomers in my garden, will thrive more for having had their red, pink, and orange button tops snapped off by my two little garden girls.

Just for the record, that's basil and kale and zucchini on the left. The mound of foliage in the right background is a morning glory "pile" and in the right foreground are butternut squash leaves.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Primping

Even Grandpa Ed got in on the primping act when all three of us girls got to fixing our hair this morning. Miss Val, holding the comb, liked the look of her upright pigtail. She stood patiently while I combed her hair and removed the little band that holds her locks.

The band flew away and broke, so Grandpa came and steadied her on the step stool while I hunted up another rubber band. What a trooper! She is already a Primper Extraordinaire!

Big Sis Hannah caught me twirling and curling. "Grandma, can I have some curls, too?"

So we added some soft swirls to Hannah's long tresses. "Grandma, it's hot!"

Yep, that's how curling irons work, and that's part of the primping process when the girls get going at Grandma's house.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler