Dan Antion

Red Things – CFFC

According to Cee:

“This week our topic is Apple Red Colors. Remember apples come in a lot of shades of red. Have lots of fun with this color.”This week our topic is Apple Red Colors. Remember apples come in a lot of shades of red. Have lots of fun with this color.”

I have a couple red things related to the preparations for winter that has consumed several days during the past two weeks. First is the snow blower I will walk behind this morning. As I prepare this post on Sunday night, it is snowing. According to the forecast, we could have anywhere between 3″(8cm) and 7″(18cm). Three inches, I could push around with a shovel, but I just heard the snow plow drive by. The pile of snow it pushes up onto our driveway will require the machine.

The other recent red item is the snow shovel I will use to clear the snow from our front porch and ramp. Those surfaces are Trex, and Trex requires a plastic shovel. We have several, Trex surfaces so we have several shovels (I don’t like trudging through the snow to get from surface to surface. The shovel in the front stays behind our mailbox during the winter. This past year, I neglected to move it in the spring. Over the course of the summer, the plastic coating of the handle was consumed by Virginia Creeper. The vine wrapped around the shovel handle and literally ripped the plastic off. I removed the ‘D’ handle at the top and painted the metal red.

Warning – I had to include a picture of my favorite red head – I miss her very much, but she was the best and she deserves to be included today.

Santa. Spotted during our recent visit to Old Sturbridge Village’s Christmas by Candlelight event
Tuned up and ready to work
Not a bad paint job, if I do say so myself
Model train display at Old Sturbridge Village
For David
Not part of either of the featured mill buildings, but I like this door.
This bush in our yard turns red every fall. The color change has begun.
We don’t get many red leaves, so I take the pictures even if they’re on the ground
It’s raining a little, but Maddie’s porch is covered. We were always good.
There’s something about white wood against red brick.
A few inches of snow mixed with freezing rain required the snowblower.
Red doors. Wreaths. Lamp. Brick work. This has everything.
Breakfast at Maddie’s. No donut required.
Hartford has a number of smaller fire houses scattered throughout the city.
“Red sky at morning…”
I like the contrast of the blue with the red house.


If you like speculative fiction with suspense, action and a bit of family sarcasm, you will enjoy these books:

Knuckleheads
The Evil You Choose
When Evil Chooses You

Series page on Amazon

My profile page (and books) on Lulu

76 comments

  2. It is in my genes that I love red; my dad wanted everything to be red. So I love your photos. Santa with the electric train is the best! There are few things more fabled than an electric train at Christmas, and I’m probably not the only one with sudden memories of some long-gone department store, just from looking at that. That breakfast is a work of art. And Maddie looks queenly (I think she knew that).

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    • It’s funny seeing an electric train display at an 1830s village. The trains are setup by a nearby model train club, and not affiliated with OSV, but they’re there because of the connection of trains and Christmas. We always stop. Maddie did know exactly how good she looked, even when she was a few brush strokes off her game.

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  3. Snow on the ground here too, and I’ll need to get my red push shovel out. I like the color red. Our front door is red, and one of our entry walls is painted a maroon red. Your photos are really good, but Maddie is perfect. As Maureen said, she looks queenly. She is gone but not forgotten.

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    • I think there’s enough snow out there to fire up the machine, you know, a test run. Actually, the plow left a nice mess at the end of the driveway and across the sidewalk. “Red” turned up too many pictures of Maddie to ignore. I miss her, but she will never be forgotten.

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  5. Love the “red sky at morning “ photo and that single red leaf. Santa and the trains is great as are the red doors and brick buildings.

    But Maddie takes the prize as always. I can’t ever look at your photo galleries Dan without looking for the redhead and deeply missing her absence. She won my heart. She is physically gone but will never be forgotten.
    Ginger

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    • I find truly red skies to be amazing, Ginger. More than any dog we had, we miss Maddie’s (often annoying) presence in our lives. She needed us so much, that one of us was with her whenever she was awake. I guess we didn’t realize how much we needed her. I think of the hours I spent sitting with her on the porch she claimed, and I miss that. Her coats are still hanging near the door.

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      • Dan, I know exactly what you mean. As you know, Murphy crossed The Rainbow Bridge one week before Maddie.

        Murphy was also a very hands on dog. So many issues. I never realized how much time was devoted to her. All my pets were special, but Murphy was the most special.

        I choose to believe that Maddie and Murphy met and became fast friends.
        They are running around together gossiping about us!

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  9. Fine job with the prompt Dan. And Maddie… ❤️ I think red leaves are my favorite then yellow. I’ve only lived one place where I could see the leaves turn colors before dying. It was so brilliant. That snowblower is a red beast and, yes, you did a fine paint job. Christmas makes sharing ready even easier. I can’t believe you don’t have train running around your own Christmas tree!

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  13. Love the reds but of course Maddie wins the day and hearts. I remember vividly the snow at the bottom of the driveway that was packed by the snowplow!! We had that a lot back in Ohio. In Illinois we didn’t get nearly as much snow so it wasn’t usually bad although it did tend to get hard and icy.

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  15. Hi Dan – it seems we’re all in agreement with you … we miss Maddie – the best red-head … my brother and SIL had a red-headed standard poodle … she was great when her hair was long! My cheeks are matching red today in our chilly world – nothing like it used to be when I was a kid … cheers Hilary

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    • I was out with the snow blower today, Hilary. I was sad not to have to plow the “Maddie paths” and the “rest areas” where she liked to do her business. I remember the look I’d get when I forgot one. The things we miss…

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  17. I never had a snow blower when we lived in Colorado. There were times it would have come in handy. Your reds are absolutely spectacular for this week. I like you got a photo of your snowblower in action. :D :D

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    • That’s interesting, Pam. I like the color red, but I don’t think I’ve ever associated it with hope. I have to think about that. When I searched the library for “Red” Maddie images filled the results.

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  20. Maddie always was the star of the show whenever a photo appeared here with her in it. Nothing is ever going to change that. Fired up the snow blower a couple of days ago…no snow on the way here…but it is reassuring to see its spring/summer slumber did not result in a more permanent sleep that would require mechanical intervention.

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  21. We got snow here last week. From nothing to 7 inches depending on where in the Seattle metro area you are. It’s all melted with a couple days of rain…. but it was beautiful and made us realize we needed to get a snow shovel, something we haven’t had since living in Denver and that was back in the 80’s. Not sure how much we will need it as it usually melts in a day or so, but thought we should get one. Hope all is well!!

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  25. Pretty red sky. My deck is finished and my mother was asking about rock salt on composite decking since our new deck is composite (not Trex). I googled and told her yes and learned that would need a plastic shovel too. We don’t get alot of snow, but we do get ice sometimes.

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