Jill Flusemann Photography

My dad, alone and 67 years old continues to trudge through his daily chores. For many years, it has been difficult to find help. The days of working hard seem to have long died away and high school students would rather pump gas than spend hours of hard labor early in the morning long into the evening. Family farms are disappearing like any small business in corporate America. Corporate farms have made their mark in the industry. As lower prices for dairy and crops continue to fall through the floor, high gas prices and flooding take their toll on the slim profit margin. I say frequently my dad has more lives than a herd of cats since he has survived countless "incidents". He loves the life, and even though his joints pain him greatly, he forces through it. As long as he can still walk, he will continue on.

This weekend I was out at my dad's farm shooting some agricultural stock shots. On my way home that evening I pulled off onto a gravel road to shoot a great sunset sky. Remember that famous phrase of once shooting, turn around and look behind you? As I did, I saw the beginning of a fabulous full moon only enhanced by the haze. Feeling satisfied having shot the moon as well, I got back in the car, drove down the gravel road to the first driveway to turn around and pulled in. As I was checking my sides to back out, I saw THIS - the cornstalks perfectly silhouetted by the moon w/a huge glow around it that just seemed to get bigger. I jumped out of my car, grabbed the tripod and went to town!!! The approximately 10,000 mosquitoes I fed doing so crawling through the ditch and field were thrilled - dinner was served!! Thank God no one drove by as seeing my wild swattings, swinging my arms and jumping around waiting for the long exposure would be sure to alarm anyone! But man, what a shot!

French Cat doing the splits... Ooh la la??? Yikes! This image has evoked many varied responses from wild humor to utter disgust. Personally, I thought it outrageously funny. I managed to capture this little gem stalking a cat while meandering the backstreets of Old Lyon in old Francais (France). I love cats, and what could be better than a European cat! Full of arrogance, personality and all-out felineness, they seem as if the world is theirs and we are simply here to serve them. So when I travel and come upon such a creature, it is they who are stalked!

After the loss of my beloved BeBe in February (my blue-point Himalayan cat) who was my long-time companion for 8 years, I have 2 new additions. A tortie-point himalayan (Bella) and silver shaded tabby persian (Carina) kittens.

It has been a long time since I have had kittens. Like, 30 years long.

So a few weekends ago, I road-tripped down to Des Moines to meet the breeder from Cozy Kittens Cattery in Missouri (home of baby Mr. Bigglesworth from the Austin Powers 3 movie). Fortunately this was the weekend before the horrible flooding. Just drove back through a few severe storms to get them home. I always wanted to go on one of those tornado-chasing tours! Bring it on!

Needless to say my oh-so-elegantly decorated home could not have possibly been prepared for the maelstrom that was about to descend upon it. Welcome to my home you two little tasmanian devil decorators!!! Heaven help me. My garage is now stock and barrel full of floral arrangements. This last Saturday evening at 10:00 pm I was vacuuming up the glass shards from a shattered very large, very expensive and very new floral centerpiece. Everyone tells me I have about 2 years of this... We are all adapting and growing together...me a little more shredded than I used to be :)