La Danse des Canards

August 3, 2013 Photo of the day: "Mama & her babies"

This family of mallards reminds me of the French version 
of The Chicken Dance, La Danse des canards. 
In France, its the ducks that dance 
and go "coin coin" ("quack quack" en français). 


C'est la danse des canards
Qui en sortant de la mare
Se secouent le bas des reins
Et font coin-coin
Fait's comme les petits canards
Et pour que tout l'monde se marre
Remuez le popotin
En f'sant coin-coin
A présent claquez du bec
En secouant vos plumes, avec
Avec beaucoup plus d'entrain
Et des coin-coin
Allez mettez-en un coup
Maintenant pliez les g'noux
Redressez-vous...

Tournez c'est la fête
Bras dessus-dessous
Comm' des girouettes
C'est super chouette
C'est extra-fou...

C'est la danse des canards
Les gamins comme les loubards
Vont danser ce gai refrain
Dans tous les coins
Ne soyez pas en retard
Car la danse des canards
C'est le tube de demain
Coin-coin, coin-coin
Il suffit d'fermer le bec
En mettant ses plumes au sec
Pliez les genoux c'est bien
Et faites coin-coin
Ca y est vous avez compris
Attention c'n'est pas fini
Nous allons jusqu'au matin
Faire des coin-coin

Tournez c'est la fête
Bras dessus-dessous
Comm' des girouettes
C'est super chouette
C'est extra-fou...

Let it Grow

August 2, 2013 Photo of the day: "Let it Grow"

Alec & Chase are spending the weekend at "Auntie Camp!"
We have a lot of fun activities planned.
This evening, they watched The Lorax on the iPad.

"Let it grow
Let it grow
Like it did so long ago
Maybe it's just one tiny seed
But it's all we really need
It's time to change the life we lead
Time to let it grow."

Hydrangeas

Photo of the day: "Hydrangeas"

Although common, heavily laden, snowball bushes
 aren't my favorite, they remind me of a great scene 
in my favorite movie It's a Wonderful Life:
  • George: Mary... [picks up Mary's robe lying on the ground] Okay, I give up. Where are you?
  • Mary: Over here in the hydrangea bushes.
  • George: Here you are. Catch. [He is about to throw her the robe, but reconsiders mischievously] Wait a minute. What am I doing? This is a very interesting situation.
  • Mary: Please give me my robe.
  • George: Hmmm...A man doesn't get in a situation like this every day.
  • Mary: [Getting annoyed] I'd like to have my robe.
  • George: Not in Bedford Falls, anyway.
  • Mary: [thrashing around in the bushes, sneezes] Ouch!
  • George: Gesundheit. This requires a little thought here.
  • Mary: George Bailey! Give me my robe!
  • George: I've heard about things like this, but I've never...
  • Mary: Shame on you. I'm going to tell your mother on you.
  • George: Oh, my mother's way up the corner there.
  • Mary: I'll call the police!
  • George: They're way downtown. They'd be on my side, too.
 Classic! 

*
I prefer the gorgeous spectrum created by
different species & soil PH in different regions:

Ice Blue and White

Green & Powder Blue

Preppy Pink & Green (at Marquette)

Pink & Yellow (at Marquette)

Purple (Niagara-on-the-Lake)

Pink & White (in Sturgeon Bay)

& of course, my favorite:
Iconic Blue in Cape Cod
(Photo taken in Chatham, MA - Summer 2010)

316 S. 3rd Avenue

316 South 3rd Avenue, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235

This is my grandparents' house in Sturgeon Bay where my dad, his two brothers (Buzz & Jack), and three sisters (Edith, Marion, & Bertine) grew up. Along with the L.A. Larson & Co. building next door, this house has been in the family since the late 1800's. My dad was the baby, and when he left home in 1942 to join the Navy, an addition was built upstairs to provide housing for shipyard workers during World War II. After the war, my Uncle Jack moved back in and subsequently bought the house. My maternal grandmother, Dodo, rented the apartment upstairs for several years, and lived here when I was adopted in 1968. I still have a tiny scar on my upper lip where I fell on the second step from the top, going from Granny's house downstairs to Grandma's apartment upstairs.

I have so many fond memories here! There used to be 100 year-old maple trees in front of the house, but they were removed when the street was widened in the 1980's. In fall, we used to rake the leaves and jump in them. We played flashlight tag at night and "statue" on the two pillars near the sidewalk. We would strike a pose and freeze when cars drove by, absolutely certain that everyone believed that we were sculptures! I would hide in the "secret room" behind the wooden mantle in an upstairs bedroom where I once found a china doll that must have belonged to one of my aunties (probably Bertine - she was the girliest). I used to love the lilies of the valley that grew along the foundation of the house, and Granny's peonies and poppies. Sadly, along with the maple trees, they are long gone. Also gone, is my dad's "shop" — a barn-like building across the alley where my dad posted comic strips and photos, and cleaned many, many fish and ducks!

The house is for sale. Uncle Jack is 91 and splits his time between Sturgeon Bay and Colorado. It is sad to think that for the first time in over 120 years, there might not be a Larson living here. It has been neglected over the years and would require a lot of work to restore, but this house has so much character and so many amazing memories for the whole Larson family!  

Click here for a virtual tour.

Update 2015: The house was sold to the family after Uncle Jack passed away. We all continue to enjoy our family home and the next generation of Larsons have already started to make new memories here.

306 S. 3rd next door, built in 1875, was my great-grandfather's furniture store, (on the registry of historic places in Wisconsin). 306 is now Mel's Café. How ironic: my grandfather's name was Melbourne Elmer Larson My brother and lots of my friends call me Mel too!