The Reservation

While in the upper Carolina at the end of July, we paid a visit to Grama and Papa at "the Reservation." Since moving there seven years ago, Papa re-named Croasdaile the Reservation, because... well, because that's just how he does. Most people or things in Papa's orbit get re-named: Marsh and I are "Priss" (or Priss I and Priss II, in official terms), Helen is "Luvenia," Alex is "Leroy," Owen is "Kilroy." Even Megan has always been "Magnum." A given name is just a starting point really, a ball of fresh Play-doh that Papa picks up, reshapes, and then sets down, saying, "There. Now that's better."

Here is Papa escorting Owen down the hallway - in Papa's right hand, he is carrying a gift bag from Nana to Owen, which turned out to be a wonderful source of entertainment for our visit:
Inside Nana's gift bag was an assortment of wonderful puzzles that she had dropped off as a surprise for Owen that weekend (that Nana is always thinking up fun and thoughtful things such as this). Owen and Grama proceeded to open and play with the puzzles, and this most delightful series of photographs resulted - I love every one of these so much that I have to include all of them:
Look at Grama's face in the one below. THAT is the essence of Grama Hazel, right there.
Owen was just smitten with her:
Here, he spontaneously dives on her for a hug:
Good friends:
And here are Papa and Owen working on another one of the puzzles:
Aunt Marsh and Owen:The gang:
Until next time: we won't take any wooden nickels, we'll keep our powder dry, and we'll keep our finger on the trigger and our eye on the hog.