When We Were Very Young

There were still five of us in the spring of 1936 -- ages 9, 8, 6, 5, and 2 -- before the scarlet fever struck three of the stair-steps sisters in November and Raudolyn died less than a week short of her seventh birthday.

Despite the Great Depression's hard times, our parents had a studio portrait made of us that spring, which was later, some time after Raudolyn's death, enlarged, tinted, and framed. This hung on the living room wall until Hurricane Celia inundated it with water in 1970.

Also hanging on the living room wall. in a formal grouping with the studio portrait, were two tinted portraits of Raudolyn.

One of them was a detail of the studio portrait and the other an enlarged, tinted picture from a 1935 black-and-white snapshot of Raudolyn sitting by the oleander bush in the side yard, posed with one of our mother's summer zinnias in her hand.

Changed template

I've changed my blog's appearance by applying the template named "Awesome" in Google's offerings of blog designs. I find that the black background displays the images of my pictures to better effect. And, for me, the white on black text is more legible. I'm leaving my other blog in its black on white template style, to accommodate some readers, like "Sis" and "Carla," who have told me that the black text font on the creamy-white background is easier on their eyes.

To begin the present blog's July posts with and demonstrate the advantages of viewing my images on a black background, here's a favorite photo of a rose. I made this picture on September 11, 2010.