Thursday, November 15, 2007

A Sunrise to See

What do you see in this black and white photograph? What is the subject?
In the era of black and white photographs, the burst of the sun rising and the pink and blue sky wasn't captured in color palette. See how easily we find the subject when color is added.

The experiment was simple, step out on the front step and snap the picture which I saw from the sun room while on the computer recently. It is home like. It is not professional. I did not play with the light and enhance the area over the tops of the houses to bring your sight to the morning sun.

There are hundreds of thousands of professional black and white photographs available to view and buy on the Internet. They offer a dramatic look of any subject one can name. Pine Forest in Snow, Yosemite National Park, 1932 by Ansel Adams comes to mind.


Adams invented the zone system which is a technique for photographers to translate the light they see into specific densities on negatives and paper, thus giving them better control over finished photographs. Adams also pioneered the idea of visualization of the finished print based upon the measured light values in the scene being photographed. One sees this in his work. He was a master of photography and alternated two professions, one as a photographer and the other as a concert pianist. Obviously he had someone nurturing his talents!

Do you, as a photographer visualize your finished product? Do you think about the backgrounds and what they are telling us about the picture? Certainly my friend Ellen was dating the season when she emailed pictures of her grand children sitting in maple tree framed in red leaves. Show Tom a picture of a person holding a fish and he can tell you where and when.

Check the backgrounds of your old pictures. Look for puffs of clouds captured. Enjoy their beauty. We don't know if it was accidental, we just know that clouds, wind, and sunshine make an interesting picture beyond the subject of two people standing next to an old car from California.

The question is, who's car is it?

e



Wednesday, November 14, 2007

MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS



Do we have an ability to think about our children's needs and wants as a parent without even seeing Maslow's Theory? I just wonder if the parents of our parents, or the parents of our grandparents gave the concept any thought in a structured way. Where on this pyramid does the parent responsibility stop and the child take over? Or do we find the railing on the way because of our upbringing or memories from our childhood that make us move toward the light without even knowing way we do it. Does it matter if we know?


We can be certain the need for an occupation was taught, or expected. For a few, like Olaf A Anderson, he may have had a vision to become a minister. Or, as it is said, "Had the calling". Our grand parents may never have heard: "This is your destiny". My dad became a carpenter because he was taught how; he became a contractor because he had inner vision to put it on paper for someone else to see. When he was less than ten and herding cows for money one can be assured he was not thinking about this as a life project, (although he had a beautiful herd of Hereford's much later).

Did our ancestors teach us that life is precious, that there is joy to be experienced in life. Did you hear this at home? Or did you hear it in church?


Did you feel you were accepted for what you where? Was this vocalized or did you just know it because you didn't get in trouble? Were you ever praised? By whom and what for? If not at home, then where?

Do you think your ancestors thought about watching your inner nature and nurturing you to see and follow your birth gifts while helping you develop other parts of yourself which would be needed skills? Did they know the difference? Was there enough variation in your parents to make this work? If you, right now, had a list of skills and gifts which humans may develop though out their lives, what areas are weak? Is it that you just don't think you will need them? Or is the goal not something you care to reach at this time?

We know that grandparents and their grandparents provided snared rabbits and a sod house for food and shelter. Have you heard country songs which state "we were poor but their was a lot of love?"


Have you ever said, "Oh that is beautiful about a sunrise, a sunset, or a flower?" Is that taught or do you just know it because you were born with inner joy which is protected?

While your parent's were teaching you that discipline is necessary, did you understand that meant the same whether you were swinging at a baseball, doing homework, or being yourself?

Where you taught to be a good chooser? How did you come to the best decisions? Is it all gut? Do you play left brain and right brain with yourself? Are you around a lot of left brain people? Shocking as it may sound, isn't the idea to try to develop the other side and do your own Q and A? If your mate is left and you are right, does it harmonize? Or do you feel you are being pulled over the line?

It is not the wish for me to resurrect a personality for Grandma. I do know this: While sitting in her lap she would hum as she rocked her chair. It was a safe place and her inner contentment corded to me. I heard her laugh. Daddy said she was kind. He said she was good. He was right.

Maslow was born in 1908, his paper on Hierarchy of Needs was published in 1943. Old Trunks learned of it in a trade school class in the eighties and again while taking college credits several years ago. The idea was to get to the top and stay there while maintaining the base.

Think about it

e

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Pinned Money

Shall we imagine that when grandparents were young and raising children that most financial decisions where made by the male in the family? Shall it be considered that most accounts where in the husband's name even though the wife paid the bills out of a check book at the kitchen table and was responsible for getting the payments in the mail on time?


Shall we consider that grandparents had joint checking accounts and the grandmother signed the checks as Mrs.? If women sold eggs, worked outside the home, or did fancy work for neighbors and friends, did she consider that money hers? Was this pin money? Did it derive from 14th and 15th centuries when pins were very expensive and were only allowed to be sold on the first two days of each January?


Did the term stick? Pun intended. Did it, in grandmother's day, mean an allowance of money given by a husband to his wife for private and personal expenditures? Did she off set this meager amount with egg money?


Do you, as a person who works in a single OR double income family set aside some of your own pin money for your private wishes? Do husbands do this? What do you rat away money for? One reader is going to say quilting supplies.


A few years ago, Tom took me shopping for a down winter coat. The sales lady stated what the garment cost and if we opened a charge account; we could save an additional 20%. We stood at the counter and filled out the paperwork; the card was in his name. My name was approved for charging on the card. I have found brands at that store that fit. I like the store. I have shopped there often. Every month there is a statement, I pay it out of a separate account which I will point out is not pin money given to me by him. When the store sent a letter stating our credit was excellent and an elite card was available to us with lots of bells and whistles, my sweet Thomas laughed, because other than the coat, he had never paid the bill.


I went to that store recently because I knew I would be able to match place mats and napkins to go with a piece of tapestry-turned-table- cloth I had bought at the mill end store. I knew that because the store has a standard of excellence. I also went because it was senior citizen's day and there was an additional savings for age and even more WHEN YOU USED YOUR CARD!
Now, imagine my disappointment when the clerk stated I was not able to use the card. It was not in my name. She made a phone call and the person on the other end said my name was not on the list of people that could charge on it. It didn't help my case to tell her I had been using the card since the beginning without anyone questioning that my name was not on the front. I did ask her if this was a new policy and she said it had always been like that.



You may be saying, "I would have left the stuff on the counter." Well, that is always an option but, I had been to other stores and the color in the placements was a match. We have all carried a swatch or worn a jacket to match; one can't rely on perfect match without it. We all know how close and far away coloring matching can be.


My other plan was to buy a new red wool coat to replace the old red wool coat. The outwear was on sale for 50% off with an additional 20% on the card OR 15% if you were a senior.
When I got home, I started to think about what I wanted the store to know. I wanted them to know that if the card holder must be the purchaser, then it needed to be stated. If this was always the rule, then why had I slipped under the clothes rack so many times? I asked them to review the original paper work. I don't think I was upset, I think I was looking at a principle. I emailed. I suspect that since the card was not in my name, I did not get an answer.



Would the solution have been to just get a card in my name ?


I wondered how grandma would react. Would she have told Benhard about it after supper? What would his reaction be? Did Benhard hold the reins so tight on spending that he really did squeeze a penny until it turned into a nickel? Had he said it costs too much too many times and made Grandma a price tag shopper without even looking at was available first? Did Grandma ever have want she dreamed for rather than what she could afford? Would this be an 'era stamp"?


My sweet Thomas was not pleased that I was denied to use the card. He called the company. Although the savings I had lost could not be realized; I was put back on his card.
There is much to be said about quality verses quantity. Will I shop at that store again? Yes. It offers quality. There is much to be said about getting what you pay for. That is, if they will take the card!



Pin money
Cookie jars
Coffee cans
Rat hole for something for yourself, you are worth it.
e

Monday, November 12, 2007

The Rye Family Part Four


Back Row L to R: Henry T., Cleo, Dorothy, Julia O
Second Row L to R: Bob Anderson, Harold, Dick, Irene holding Donna
Third Row L to R: Judy, Jeannie, Linda Rye
Front: Gladys


Irene 1933
Cleo 1939
Harold 1943
Jean 1944
Gladys 1946
Donna 1949
Bruce 1951
Patty Jo 1954



Anderson children:
Dorothy 1938
Dick 1940
Bob 1941
Judy 1944
Shirley 1951

Cliff Rye Child
Linda 1945

Oliver, Ralph, Ella, Henry, Julia, Alice, Cliff, and Murvin.


Children not in picture: Nora and Ilene







I just love this picture!!! It looks like it was a fun day!!! We don't see many pictures of Alice or Murvin so this makes this extra special. It is special too, because Henry T is up and about.


For those who knew Henry, it is known he was bedridden the last years of his life. It is said that he became bedridden sometime after a severe surgery when seven eighths of his stomach was removed to rid him of ulcers. After the surgery, he became a very light eater and the food did not nourish his body properly. When his son, Cliff, had the same surgery years later, he stretched his stomach to eat normal size meals. In both cases, the part of the digestive system which controls B 12 was cut out. Cliff took B 12 shots; that therapy was not known at the time of Henry's surgery. It is believed that Ilene, (not pictured), also had ulcers.

What treasures these pictures are!





Sunday, November 11, 2007

A Rye Family Portrait Part Three







Pictured: Ralph , (15); Oliver , (35); Alice Steinhauer, ( 32 and mother of four); Murvin, (23); Ilene, (18 and working in Thief River Falls; Ella Anderson, (29 and mother of four); Henry T, (65); Julia, (55); Cliff, (21); and Nora Cloutier, (26).

By now, Alice, Ella, and Nora were married. Between the three of them, there were eight grandchildren. Alice would total eight grandchildren and Ella would have six babies, one who died as an infant; Nora and Louis would have no children. Cliff would marry the next month. Murvin and Oliver would never marry. Ralph at 15 in 1944, would enlist, marry, and have children of his own. Ilene would marry and have children.

Ralph and Ella will both celebrate birthdays in December. Ella will be 92 on the third and Ralph will turn 78 on the fifth. The other children have all died.

Cliff was only 21 when he RETURNED from the service.

Let's go back in time and look at the Rosewood News and look at the happenings of the extended family in 1944.


JANUARY 1944

1 6 Mrs. Walter Steinhauer of Holt can’t be blamed for smiling in the picture above, taken at a local hospital, for her infant daughter was born at 5:20 A.M. on New Years Day has the distinction of being the first baby born in Thief River Falls in 1944, thereby winning numerous valuable prizes in a contest conducted by the local businesses. This would be Jeannie. She was Alice's fourth child.



106 Lloyd Anderson is having a week’s vacation from the section work. He plans to cut his next winter supply of wood during this time.


Mrs. Lloyd Anderson visited with her sister, Mrs. W. Steinhauer at the St. Luke’s hospital on Saturday.


Sgt. Clifford Rye left Wednesday from Grand Forks to Salt Lake City, Utah where he will continue his work.


T. Mellem and Mrs. Lloyd Anderson and children where supper guests at the H. Rye home.


1 27 Murvin Rye is home while healing his hand from a wood chopping accident


FEBRUARY 1944

2 3 Word has been received from Sgt. Clifford Rye that he is now stationed at Airdrome, Okla.
Mr. And Mrs. Walker Steinhauer and children Harold, Jeanette, Lois, Irene, and Cleo were visitors at the H. Rye home Sunday.



2 10 Mr. H. Rye sought medical attention in Thief River Falls on Thursday.



2 24 LaVerne Bloom hurt his arm in an accident while stationed in New Guinea.

MARCH 1944

3 16 Word was received from Sgt. Clifford Rye of Ardmore, Okla. that he had been in an accident while landing an airplane. Something went wrong with the landing gear, so they couldn’t get it down and in that way the plane had to be landed without a landing gear. Nine crew members gathered din the radio room, which is only about five feet square. The pilot being the only one not in the radio room. The plane was damaged quite a bit but the crew was lucky not to have anyone seriously hurt. Sgt. Rye was the only one who was hurt in the accident and he received a cut above the right eye but reports that is healing nicely.
Visitors at the H Rye home Sunday afternoon were Mr. And Mrs. Walter Steinhauer, Irene, Cleo, Harold, Janet Louis, Murvin Rye, Mr. And Mrs. L Anderson, Dorothy, Richard, and Robert.


Mrs. Carl Bloom received letters from her son, Cpl. Laverne Bloom of New Guinea that he is still in the hospital but is getting along nicely. He had received a cut on his right arm.

MARCH 1944
3 30 Miss Dorothy Anderson returned home from the hospital Sunday night after being there since Thursday.


AUGUST 1944
8 10 Birth section of the TIMES. Mr. And Mrs. Stanley Ranum, city, a girl Aug. 5, (This is Elodee Mae)


Birth section of the TIMES, Mr. And Mrs. Lloyd Anderson, Rosewood, a girl, Aug. 7 (This is Judy Lee).


822 Sgt. Clifford Rye, stationed somewhere in England, has received another promotion, he is now a staff sergeant.


8 24 Mr. And Mrs. B Ranum spent Sunday at their home here. They returned the same evening to Warren, where Mr. Ranum is employed.



Mrs. Lloyd Anderson and infant daughter returned home from the hospital Tuesday evening



S/Sgt. Clifford Rye who is stationed somewhere in England, has been awarded the Oak Leaf Cluster medal. He was given this medal July 17.


8 31 Mr. And Mrs. Lloyd Anderson and children and Mrs. Martin Swenson attended to business matters in Thief River Falls on Thursday afternoon.


Mrs. H Rye returned home from the hospital Wednesday afternoon after being a patient there since Sunday.


Mr. And Mrs. Walter Steinhauer and family and Murvin Rye visited at the H. Rye and L. Anderson homes on Sunday.


Mr. And Mrs. Stanley Ranum, Gregory and Elodee Mae, and Peggy Olson all of Thief River Falls visited at the B. Ranum home on Monday.



Mr. And Mrs. Lloyd Anderson, Dorothy, Richard, Robert, and Judy Lee were supper guests at the home of Mary Wagner Sunday.


OCTOBER 1944

10 12 T Mellem surprise birthday party.
Murvin Rye of Holt visiting with his folks on Sunday
Mr. and Mrs. Benhard Ranum of Warren stayed at their home over the weekend.


10 19 Guests at the Lloyd Anderson home Sunday were Mr. and Mrs. Jorgenson, Arloine, Jerrol, Wendell, and Harriet. Mr. and Mr. Bruce Blazer of Goodridge. Mr. Jorgenson is a cousin of Mrs. Anderson


NOVEMBER 1944

11 2 Shoe rationing must continue!

11 9 Clifford on front page; he received the Flying Cross

Mrs. Carl Bloom and Mrs. Lloyd Anderson visited at the Oakland Park Sanatorium Sunday

S/Sgt Clifford Rye, who is an aerial gunner on a B 17 somewhere in England has completed his missions and will return to the States, according to news received by relatives here last week.

11 23 S/Sgt Clifford Rye spent the weekend at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Steinhauer with Murvin Rye.

Miss Ilene Rye left home on Monday to be employed at the Berge home in Thief River Falls

Lightening struck at the Minnie Mellem home last Monday night. The first started in an upstairs bedroom and Mrs. Mellem was able to put it out.

Mrs. Louis Cloutier of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho arrived at her parental home, Mr. and Mrs. H Rye Sunday morning where she visited until Thursday

Mrs. Lloyd Anderson, Mrs. Louis Cloutier, S/Sgt. Clifford Rye, Ilene Rye, Oliver and Ralph Rye were callers at Thief River Falls on Monday afternoon

Lunch guests at the home of Mrs. Carl Bloom on Sunday were Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Anderson, Dorothy, Richard, Robert, and Judy Lee.

Sunday evening callers at the Lloyd Anderson home were S/Sgt. Clifford Rye, Oliver and Ralph Rye and Miss Ilene Rye and Melvina “Luckseer”.

Clifford Rye, who has spent about six and a half months overseas returned to the states November 4. He arrived at his parental home Friday, November 10. He will spend a 21 day furlough with relatives and then will report to Santa Ana, California.


DECEMBER 1944
12 7 Wedding write up for Cliff and Mel

Melvina LaCoursiere Exchanges Vows with S-Sgt. Clifford Rye


Saturday, November 10, 2007

Part Two ~~The Rye Family

This is another in the series of pictures of the Henry T and Julia O Rye Family. This picture was taken in about 1924; the time is formulated based on the age of the baby, held by his sister. He was born in 1923. It would have been taken in Riener Township, as that is where the Rye's were living at the time. They did not move to Rosewood until 1931.


Back Row: Henry T. , it is believed the man in the center is Henry's brother, and Julia.
Second Row: Hilda holding Clifford, Alice, and Oliver.
Front Row: Nora with arms crossed, Murvin, and Ella.


Not yet born: Ilene and Ralph.

If you could pick one person from the expression on the picture, who would you pick?

Friday, November 9, 2007

Part One Rye Family Picture Series


Henry Thomas Rye and Julia Olette Olson were married in December of 1908. At the time of this photograph, they had five children. Nora, sitting on her mother's lap, was born in June of 1918.
Rye's had been married 10 years. Compare the pictures of Julia, the bride at 19, and Julia the mother of five, at 29. Look at Henry T at 29 on the wedding picture then at the family picture at 39.
Oliver would turn nine in December
Hilda would turn seven in November
Alice would have turned six in July
Ella would turn three in December
Julia and Henry would extend their family with four more children. Would there be a picture with all of the children with their parent's? Old Trunks does not have a photograph to support it.
As we view the pictures, we will talk about which children are missing.
e