A Boy Doll Diary - The photo story about a man living with his boy doll

Dear Diary, J esse : You may remember some time back when I reported that all of Angelo's shoes had disappeared.  At that time I had made many thorough searches of our house, including two trips to the attic.  Sadly, I was unable to find his footwear. Last weekend, we decided that we needed to clear out some of the things in the attic before the ceiling cave in.  I brought down lots of very large plastic storage containers and we happily decided that since we had forgotten the things inside were even still around, we didn't need to keep them.  In one large box there was an assortment of things, from clothes to kitchenalia.  At the bottom was a white plastic bag and inside - Angelo's shoes! I would not have been able to see them when I looked through the sides of the clear plastic boxes.  I was delighted (and relieved to find them) but for the life of me I have absolutely no idea how this box came to be put into a plastic bag and then put into the botto...

Dear Diary, A dam :  For the past 2 1/2 years, Jesse has been a volunteer at the local Red Cross thrift shop.  Once each fortnight he pulls a shift, working in the store.  He loves doing this because he feels he is giving back to the community where we live.  In addition, he has met many people and become well-known.  The other day he went to pick up something he purchased on-line and when he arrived the woman said to him "I know you from the Red Cross shop!" A few weeks ago when he went for his shift, there was an 18" boy doll for sale.  I use the word "doll" loosely because it isn't really a doll because it could never be played with.  It's more a manikin; you know the type: ceramic head, hands and feet, cloth body and wired into a pose to represent something (like a dancer, little child, etc).  Think Franklin Mint.  Anyway, this boy doll had on an old fashioned newspaper boy outfit and Jesse thought it would probably fit me.  S...

Dear Diary, A dam : Living out in the middle of the country has one fantastic benefit – on a clear night we look up and clearly see the starry firmament. There are no big cities or towns nearby pollute the night sky with excess light. At the end of June, there was an amazing astrological phenomenon: the conjunction of the two planets Venus and Jupiter. It's said that this event hasn't happened for the past 2,000 years and won't happen again until 2023. We were very fortunate to be able to see the stars coming closer and closer. The planets at dusk The planets at twilight.  Jupiter is on the left, Venus on the right. A ngelo : Unfortunately, on the night of their actual alignment, there were too many clouds so we couldn't view it. But, it didn't stop us from waiting outside in the winter chill anyway! "Here we are, bundled up against the winter cold; staying warm under this Peggy square rug." J esse ...