Family – Page 13 – Dan Routh Photography

Cat Hole

My Grandfather’s house is across the road from mine. Beside the old house are several intact outbuildings, including a smoke-house. In the corner of the smoke-house door is a cat hole, which allows felines to enter at their leisure and helps keep down the rodent population.

Biscuits on Blue Willow

Family, Food

Biscuits were an everyday staple on farm tables when I was growing up in Grays Chapel, North Carolina, but these days they are more of an occasional treat. My daughter-in-law, Christine, baked these on Sunday morning for a country breakfast. My son Tristan is a lucky man.

Grandfather’s Pocket Watch

Family

Still-life photograph of the pocket watch my Grandfather carried, from the green table in my den. He (my Mother’s father) was the District Road Foreman in our area of Randolph County, North Carolina.

My Grandpa’s Pocket Knife

Family

grandpa's knife_2

A prized possession of mine is my Grandfather’s pocket knife. For a farmer, his knife is a tool he carries constantly and uses daily. It’s a history, a document of a life of work. Each spot of wear is a story in itself.

Splitting Wood on a Cold Day

Family, Portraits, Work

Spent the afternoon yesterday splitting wood with my son Tristan, his wife Christine and my other son Devin. I’ll put my wood crew up against any around. They made the chips fly and we rebuilt my mother-in-law’s supply for the winter.

The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways, Especially With Cats

Cat, Family

Last week our 16 year old cat Boots laid down on his favorite bench and went to sleep. My wife found him the next morning; he never woke up. We were devastated although thankful that he went that peacefully. Then the very next day, what appears on our back porch, but a little female kitten, full of energy and wanting to be rubbed and loved. She was obviously dumped by someone. We live out in a very rural area of Randolph County, North Carolina and we aren’t near enough to anywhere from which she could have wandered. And, she was probably raised around someone who petted her, she is entirely tame, very much so. A terrible thing for someone to do and usually tragic for the animal, because most dumped pets end up starving or hit by vehicles. This time, I guess the little girl is lucky. My wife calls her Precious.

UPDATE: A couple of days after Precious showed up, enter Spook.

And I don’t even want to talk about Dewey.

A Wild Horse Named Rienzi

Family, Farm, Horses

My wife’s wild horse Rienzi sprints from her corral to join the cows in the morning at our farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. Rienzi is a 28 year old wild Mustang mare my wife and I adopted from the BLM when she was a yearling. She came from near Lake Tahoe in California and is named for a famous horse ridden by Philip Sheridan during the Civil War (Sheridan had his Rienzi stuffed and placed on display at the Smithsonian Institute). Our Rienzi spends her days grazing with our cattle herd and her nights in her 100 year old stall originally built for mules (she comes in on her own every evening). She’s in excellent shape and very docile. She was trained to ride, but we don’t ride her anymore except for the occasional bareback jaunt by my son Devin. I think she really thinks she is a cow now; she is definitely a herd animal. Rienzi is lucky, but a lot of her cousins aren’t. Right now there are thousands of Mustangs in BLM holding pens, removed from government land. Some will be adopted, but it seems that many are to be sold for meat. Most of this removal is unnecessary and pushed by big western cattle interests. Several groups are pushing the government to stop these removals. Information on supporting wild horses and their preservation is available at http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/. Go there. Wild horses need your help.

Mom’s Pineapple

Family, Fruit

My Mom has been growing a pineapple on her back porch to see if she could produce an edible fruit. After three years of care she finally had a mature pineapple. We recently harvested and cut it, and I can honestly say it was the best pineapple I have ever tasted; sweet, moist and full of flavor. She’s got another one going,… maybe in three more years.

Devin at Dartmouth

Family, Portraits

My posts this week have been from our trip up to New Hampshire to see my son Devin who is entering graduate school at Dartmouth College. Like most students in this day and time, he’s having to figure out how to finance his education and live. So, for the time being, he’s working at a food co-op in Hanover. He’s enjoying his experience and he likes the people he works with. Just one ironic note. They’ve placed him in charge of the beer aisle, and unlike most college students, he doesn’t drink.

Below, son and mom shopping on the street.

Hospital Art

Family

My son Devin’s friend Cally (Cally and Devin are seen above during a visit) has spent most of the summer in the hospital at UNC-Chapel Hill. She hasn’t been ill though, rather she is taking part in a choline depletion study for the Nutrition Dept at UNC. That means eating food that has no choline in it, which is pretty much nothing but sugar and water and a small amount of protein. Though she does have the chance to get outside for a few hours each day, most of her existence is in a small hospital room and the adjacent hall. Being forced to live in a contained space is at the least stressful, and Cally is doing her best to cope with the situation. Stress sometimes triggers a rise in creativity, and Cally has been doing just that. She reads, writes in a journal, and most interestingly, draws on her food service placemats after each “meal”. She has created quite a portfolio of wonderful illustrations, some of which appear below. Click on the image for a larger view.