Slides

Do you remember when McDonald's playgrounds had equipment based on the McDonald-land characters? Like the Hamburgler and Grimace?

I'm sliding down one of those slides here. I'm not quite sure why I'm sliding like this, but we've been over the weirdness quotient.

Train depot

My great-great uncle Dwight was an artist. I just found his picture, "At the Old Depot" here. (By the way, that picture comes from the Canada Pacific archives. The internet is amazing).

Oh, and if our viewers are looking for Bradley family photos, we're working on it. I swear. We'll get some scanned in this weekend.

A potrait with a hat

This very cute picture of Jon was taken at the Meeker family reunion in 1983 (I think).

I did not go, because I had to start kindergarten. As consolation, I got to go to the waterslides instead.

Cooper family redux

We always have a few pictures in the family that refer back (perhaps to others). This is one of them. No one's quite as holy as in the earlier Cooper family photo, but this time we're in color, and we're greater in numbers.

Clockwise starting from the upper left: Kent, Barbara, Ruthe, Jonathan, Emily and Kenneth.

I want to note that I'm rockin' the Strawberry Shortcake nightgown in this shot.

The Dress Set

Ruthe, Emily, and Barbara

Grandma made us dresses -- matching dresses.

I'm not sure what I'm looking at, but obviously it's more interesting than the camera.

Will Cooper

This is my great-grandfather, Will Cooper, who lived in Atchison and Doniphan, Kansas.

(There's not much left to Doniphan anymore. The Catholic church is still there as well as the cemetery where a number of my relatives are buried. It's a nice, quiet resting place.)

Kansas -- of all places -- has really been a draw for my family for some reason or another. Many of my maternal ancestors lived there; and now my dad and step-mom live in another part of the state. Chicago is the other place like that for my family -- my dad grew up on the North side, and my mom has cousins who grew up on the South side.

Along the Santa Fe Trail

I'm preparing to teach Willa Cather's My Antonia and all this preparation reminds me of the trips through the Kansas countryside we've taken to look at the ruts. I know it's not the right state or the right trail of pioneers. But still, it does all sort of look alike at a certain point. I think that Jim Burden's statement early in the book is apt for much of the Midwest: "The only thing very noticable about Nebraska was that it was still, all day long, Nebraska."

Jim Burden does come to love the plains his grandparents live on, and the book describes the beauty of those plains.

So I thought I'd share with you a series of pictures from our second trip to Ralph's Ruts in south-central Kansas.

First, a cow in the rut:


My dad and me at the ruts.


If you really want to know, he's offering the cow a hug.

The cow did't take him up on it.

The Kiddie Car

It's a two-fer today.

This is the kiddie car. It's been in the Cooper family for generations -- my great grandfather, Will Cooper built this and we all rode on it as kids.

I also want to point out that I am wearing some great shoes in this photo.

Bad Kite

When we were kids, my brother and I improvised and created a lot of things out of household items. Including kites out of paper plates.


Obviously, it didn't fly too well.

Christmas With the Cooks, Take Two

Here's another Cook Christmas photo, just in time for... Halloween, I guess. Or maybe it's a belated Labor Day photo. Whatever.

Here we see my uncle, Brad Cook (standing) beside my other uncle, Billy Cook. The pale hairless one is my mother, Ann (Cook) Bradley.

On a visit to Japan

Barbara, Emily and Jonathan in Kakunodate

My mom and I visited my brother in Japan. This photo is in a samurai village -- one of many that claims to be just like Kyoto, but just not so famous. Or big.

It was darn cool.

It's also a little strange how much we match ... really, we don't put on a family uniform for travel.

Rocking Horse

That's my mom on the rocking horse. I think it's such a sweet picture.

Dressed to go places ...

I think this is one of the pictures that my parents sent to almost everyone we are even remotely related to. That's just how darn cute I was.



We are ready for a day at the beach -- I think we went up to Pawley's Island that day. Or else Huntington Beach, just south of Myrtle Beach.

Photos from Japan

For some cool Japan photos, go check out the photos my brother just added to his blog. I particularly like the photos from the Nebuta festival.

Something Old, Something New

So here's something a little embarrassing-- we've had this picture up on our wall for years now, right? And I always assumed that these were relatives of Emily's-- people whose names I forgot as Emily was explaining to me who they were.

So imagine my surprise earlier this week when Emily said, "I scanned in the picture of your grandfather and great-grandmother Bradley, so you can put it on the blog if you want."

"We don't have a picture of my great-grandmother Bradley," I replied. As far as I knew, no such person had ever existed, even.

"Yes we do, you cretin," Emily replied, grabbing me by my hair and forcing me into the hallway where we have all of our old family photos hanging up. "There, halfwit!" she shrieked. "Do you see? That's your great-grandmother." Then she bashed my head into the wall.

It might not have happened exactly like that. To be honest, I'd been sniffing glue the entire afternoon.

Anyway, neither of those people lived to see January 8, 2005, which was their loss because Emily and I threw an incredible party that night. I guess we had a busy afternoon, too, though I can't really remember-- I'd been sniffing glue.

Anyway, this crowd of drunkards includes (from the left) our friends Mike Kardos and Katie Pierce, my sister Molly Bradley (behind Kardos), my Aunt Cathy Baronofsky, our friend Michael Piafsky behind her talking to my mom, Ann (Cook) Bradley, my cousin Chip's wife Christie Bradley, talking to my cousin Mary Jo (Archibeck) Dawson, my cousin-in-law Danny Beets, and what looks like my second cousin Katie Jo Dawson. In the background, you can see the bride herself talking to... someone. I can't really tell if that's someone I know, or one of the many people I met that night and haven't seen since.

Georgia Meeker

My maternal grandmother's mother, Georgia (Poage) Meeker was born and raised in Bolivar, Missouri.
She married John Meeker, a Presbyterian minister who worked in mission churches throughout the US territories (like Arizona and New Mexico, before they were states). Eventually they ended up back in the Midwest, primarily in Illinois and Kansas.

This is Georgia on her wedding day -- I'll put up pictures of my grandmother in the same wedding dress later. (My great-aunt Mary also wore it ... and my mother ... and my Aunt Pat ... )

College Nicknames

Ah, college. I didn't have a nickname. And certainly not one that made it into print.

My father, however, was Rabbit.

More on chickens

That's me on the chicken horse.


I don't know either. I told you I was weird.

Graduation

Speaking of school (see Bradley's comments below), here's a picture of my grandfather, Kenneth Cooper, graduating from the College of Emporia (Kansas). He graduated in 1941 -- top of the class, of course.

Back to School

Gah. This blog has been taken over by Emily and her family. I'd better post something related to my family before I'm disowned.

By the way-- how can a woman who teaches more classes and more students than I do find the time to keep up with her blogging?

Anyway, here are two pictures for your Saturday viewing pleasure. One is a photo of my siblings, the Zuckerman kids, and me on Easter. In the front we have Matthew Zuckerman and Molly Bradley. Michael Zuckerman and Steve Bradley are in the middle. Billy Zuckerman and I are in the rear. This picture makes you wonder, doesn't it? Why are all of these kids wearing the same shoes, and would they take your children away from you today if you put them in Member's Only jackets?

The other photo, in honor of the beginning of the new school year, is my school picture from... I dunno... maybe third grade? As you can tell from both of these photos, I look good in a clip-on tie. I should wear those more often.


Hope those of you who structure your lives around "semesters" rather than "months" or "years" are off to a pleasant and productive start as you return to campus.

Jon hams it up

I like this shot of my brother. And someone's feet.