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	Clear Lake This is Clear Lake from the top of Hopland in the early evening in late May. The hills are still greenish and all sorts of bushes and plants are in bloom.
	Cow Field Winter is a beautiful time in Lakeport. The fields are dark gold and the mist hangs low over the hills. This picture was taken Thanksgiving weekend 1998 around noon. One of our typical "early starts" back to the Bay Area. The dark lumps are cows.
	Hill with Oaks Across the road from the cows in the golden field is this hill with oaks wearing leaves in the subtle color palette of Northern California winter.
	Wine Field A year has passed and the cows have been replaced by wine grapes. It’s still a pretty picture, but I miss the cows.
	Road off Hopland Road I love the way this road heads off through the shaggy winter trees. Spanish Moss is a parasite, but a lovely one. The road and the surrounding land was for sale.
	State Rocks We have no idea why the State is keeping this pile of rocks on top of the Hopland grade, but we drove ceremoniously around them anyway.

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	Main Street I didn’t appreciate Main Street much when I was growing up, but now I think the old buildings are quite beautiful, especially against the dark winter sky.
	Landco Building One of these days we’ll get around to researching the history of nifty places like this Landco Building.
	The Park One of my favorite things to do as a kid was come to the park to swim or swing or feed the ducks. I still don’t know if this park has an actual name.

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	Our House in Lakeport We moved into this house when I was about six months old. I don't remember living anywhere else. My three sisters and I slept in a large room above the living room and my brother had his own room on the side of the house. Our room is the bit above the porch and his is the bit sticking out on the right side. My parents still live in the same house. One of my jobs was mowing the lawn, which took a long time!
	Roses My mother loves to garden and roses grow all around the house. We always saved the coffee grounds in a special container to feed the roses. These yellow ones are especially nice against the peeling paint on an afternoon in May.
	Bumblebee on Rhododendron I always liked the insects as much as the flowers. Here is a bumblebee busily gathering rhododendron pollen by the back stairs.
	Wood Stove In the winter most of the heat comes from this wood stove in the kitchen. We spend a lot of time angling for the stool next to the stove, even though it does place us in prime dish drying territory.
	Wood Pile Keeping the stove fed is a major winter task. Pamie and Ian are experts at stacking cords of wood to cure. I learned to make corner stacks, but am really much better at taking pictures.
	Splitting Wood Vincent is learning the split the logs that are too fat to fit into the stove. I’m not allowed to use the axe or I would be helping.
	Ian’s Wood Pile Ian demonstrates the proper height for the third cord of oak.
	Oak With a little tweaking, this could be a nice desktop pattern. That’s probably a job I am suited for.

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	Thanksgiving 1998 Here are some of us gathered at the Klier’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Some folks are ready to eat, but about half of us are still milling about taking pictures and trying to avoid being in the pictures.
	Taking over the Universe Ian is showing me his new computer game in which we get to create a new life form and try to take over the universe. Our first attempt is a total failure and most of our colonies starve to death. (Our life form was really cute, though.) I am concerned enough to actually read part of the instruction manual.
	Them in Charge? Marty ponders what life would be like if his son and crazy sister-in-law were really in charge of the universe.
	The Klier’s Shed I love this little shed behind the Klier’s house. It looks perfect for storing the winter rutabaga crop.
	The Klier’s Back Yard This actually might be partly their neighbor’s back yard, but it is a wonderful view anyway.
	The Klier’s Mysterious Appliance The nice thing about other people’s back yards is that their old stuff always looks more picturesque than the junk we have in our own back yard. I have no idea what this is, but it looks good!
	Computer Repair Stan and Ian figure out how to open the Klier’s computer, but not how to fix it. Here Stan is explaining some mysterious inside bits that do something very important.
	File Sharing Ian discovers the beauty of local talk connections and talks Stan into giving him copies of some computer games nearly as old as he is.
	Digital Tour I capture Daddy and convince him to sit through the entire Santa Fe vacation digital slide show. Lucky for him I still haven't finished cropping the last few digital rolls.
	Distracting the Baby Mama tries to interest Leon in something other than the programmer's switch on the front of the Quadra. Board games aren't nearly as fascinating as buttons, though, and he is clearly contemplating making a break for it.

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Copyright © 1998-2003 Lucinda Surber. All Rights Reserved.