Dànaidh’s Attic

Sunlit attic with ivy, keepsake boxes and a black fretless bass with a natural wood headstock in its open case; a brass bass-clef key and violet ribbon rest on a trunk.
Come upstairs. Select the artwork for a closer look, then open the keepsake boxes below.

URBAN LEMONADE · BETWEEN THE NOTES

Dànaidh’s Attic

Where memories, photographs, treasured objects, and love still remain.

You found the key.

Come upstairs. The step near the top creaks, and the light takes a moment.

There are photographs here. Letters. Christmas boxes. Small things that would mean very little to someone clearing a room, and everything to someone who remembers.

Some things aren’t stored here because they’re old.
They’re here because they’re loved.

You don’t need to know everyone in the photographs to spend a little time with them. Start wherever something catches your eye.

The boxes upstairs

We’re beginning to unpack. Open a label for a first look; the photographs, letters, and music will join their boxes as we gather them.

I Once Had a Great Love

Our own fairytale. We were so happy.

A smiling couple seated together at a table in an older framed photograph.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A couple taking a selfie beside an outdoor stadium.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A smiling couple posing in front of a colorful Capital City sign.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A couple smiling cheek to cheek beneath an ornate ceiling.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A couple standing together in a kitchen, wearing purple and a colorful paisley shirt.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A couple seated at a table beside a swimming pool.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A couple sitting together with a friend beside a pool.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
Friends relaxing on chairs and in a swimming pool.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A group gathered around a poolside table.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A smiling couple leaning their heads together for a selfie.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A couple dressed up together outside a house, one wearing a red dress and the other a dark jacket.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A couple taking a selfie in stadium seats.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
An older photograph of a man kissing a smiling woman on the cheek.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
Our Family
Three people seated together on a sofa behind a coffee table.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
Three family members smiling together in a restaurant booth.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
Five family members gathered around a table in a bright room.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
Family members playing a board game with a tall black tower at the dining table.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A man in a red robe cuddling a small spotted cat on the sofa.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
A spotted cat and a large brown rabbit resting together on bedding.
Select to view the original photograph full size.
The Bass Player
A young bass player practicing in a living room beside an amplifier, with a dog near the couch. Photograph edited to remove a seated person.
Where it all began. Where the bass player learned to play his bass. · Edited photograph. Select to view full size.
Black-and-white photograph of a musician holding an upright bass in a dimly lit room.

Some people carry an instrument. Others carry the room.

Original photograph of a black four-string fretless bass with a natural wood headstock resting against a sofa and colorful blanket.
His bass · Select to view the original photograph.

The Trying Season

His first gigging band, stepping out of the garages.

Black-and-white band photograph of three members of The Trying Season leaning together toward the camera.
The Trying Season — Henry Meyer, Dan Stewart, and Ed Voyles. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Photograph of a couple at Bea Stewart’s house, with The Trying Season logo digitally restored on his white hat.
At Bea Stewart’s house — photograph with the hat logo digitally restored. Select to view full size.
Clear CD jewel case with The Trying Season red, black and white logo and two dancing stick figures on the cover.
The Trying Season — keepsake CD case design. Select to view full size.

More from The Trying Season years

Three musicians performing with guitar, drums and bass on a brick-walled stage.
The Trying Season at Club DaDa, Deep Ellum. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Bassist playing a black electric bass beside the drummer onstage.
At Club DaDa, Deep Ellum. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Smiling musician onstage at Club DaDa.
At Club DaDa, Deep Ellum. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Three friends laughing and embracing indoors.
Dan’s 21st surprise Frank Zappa “Beat the Boots” party. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Black-and-white photograph of friends arranging their faces in a circle around the camera.
Friends together. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Six people gathered in a kitchen, holding a small pot-bellied pig.
The day the band brought a pot-bellied pig to rehearsal. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Two women seated together near the stage.
The girlfriends. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Black-and-white promotional portrait of three band members posed with instruments in front of newspaper pages.
The Trying Season — another PR packet photograph. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Black-and-white photograph of a musician playing an upright bass in a dim room.
Another string bass photograph. Select to view the original photograph full size.
A couple leaning close together and smiling in a kitchen.
In Bea’s kitchen. Select to view the original photograph full size.

The band ski trip to Steamboat Springs

A framed photograph of two people posing beside a skier statue and skis.
Steamboat Springs · Photograph 1 of 5. Select to view the original full size.
A smiling man in sunglasses and a leather jacket seated inside a vehicle.
Steamboat Springs · Photograph 2 of 5. Select to view the original full size.
A man wearing a brimmed hat and leather jacket inside a shop.
Steamboat Springs · Photograph 3 of 5. Select to view the original full size.
A man in a brimmed hat, sunglasses and leather jacket standing beside skis.
Steamboat Springs · Photograph 4 of 5. Select to view the original full size.
Three people with shopping bags standing outside storefronts on a snowy street.
Steamboat Springs · Photograph 5 of 5. Select to view the original full size.

Always creating and building

The Tullycaster, named after our cat, Tullemore Dew.

An unfinished wooden electric guitar body on a worktable surrounded by tools and components.
The Tullycaster taking shape. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Dan holding the finished wooden electric guitar on a sofa beside the cat Tullemore Dew.
The Tullycaster and its namesake, Tullemore Dew. Select to view the original photograph full size.

Music at home

A man seated on a red sofa playing a wooden stringed instrument on his lap.
Music on the sofa. Select to view the original photograph full size.
A banjo and several guitars arranged together in a stand beside a bookshelf.
The instruments at home. Select to view the original photograph full size.
A man holding a brightly colored small guitar-shaped instrument on a red sofa, with a cat resting beside him.
A little music, with company. Select to view the original photograph full size.
A black accordion with piano keys and buttons resting in its open carrying case on a wooden floor.
Accordion in its case. Select to view the original photograph full size.
The Ghost of JStone

After Trying Season came Jasper Stone. Dan. Henry. Ed.

The band is gone. The music isn’t.

Recreated display of the Jasper Stone Shoot the Moon jewel case and CD on a wooden shelf.Open the jewel case →

Shoot the Moon

Press play, or choose a song. Twelve tracks, in the original digital album order.

Inside the album

Open a panel for a closer look. Each image also opens full-size.

1. Front cover
Jasper Stone Shoot the Moon — front cover, cropped from the original photograph.
2. Opening photo panel
Jasper Stone Shoot the Moon — opening photo panel, cropped from the original photograph.
3. Lyrics — beginning
Jasper Stone Shoot the Moon — lyrics — beginning, cropped from the original photograph.
4. Lyrics and credits — continued
Jasper Stone Shoot the Moon — lyrics and credits — continued, cropped from the original photograph.
5. Signed photo spread
Jasper Stone Shoot the Moon — signed photo spread, cropped from the original photograph.
6. The disc
Jasper Stone Shoot the Moon — the disc, cropped from the original photograph.

The shelf display is a recreated image based on the album artwork.

Wedding Day

The day we chose forever.

A photograph can hold a whole day. Sometimes it holds all the days that followed, too.

Marriage license for Daniel Morgan Stewart and Kimberly Mae Bottenfield, oriented upright for reading.
Our wedding license. Select to read full size.
A smiling couple facing their officiant outdoors; the bride holds a bouquet.
Our wedding ceremony. Select to view the original photograph full size.
The couple embracing outdoors, with the bride’s floral shawl and bouquet in the foreground.
An embrace. Select to view the original photograph full size.
A smiling couple leaning together at an outdoor restaurant table, wearing character T-shirts.
Together. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Portrait of Danny smiling by a window, resting his chin on his hand.
Danny. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Handwritten marriage proposal addressed to Kimberly and signed Danny, asking her to be his wife in heart and soul.
His handwritten proposal. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Songs from the Passenger Seat

Music for the miles.

For the moments that come back when a song begins.

A man standing beside a dark Jeep Wrangler on a residential street.
Beside the Jeep. Select to view the original photograph full size.
View from the passenger seat of a man in sunglasses driving past a snowy landscape.
From the passenger seat. Select to view the original photograph full size.
A smiling man in a brimmed hat and patterned shirt sitting in the driver’s seat.
That smile from the driver’s seat. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Two people in a white Corvette with its roof panels removed; the passenger raises a peace sign.
Out in the Corvette. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Letters

Words kept close.

A familiar hand on an envelope. Something worth reading again.

Before we knew the rest of the story

I remember meeting him when we were seven, in Sunday school at First United Methodist Church in Arlington, Texas. My Aunt Lannie Bottenfield Forbes taught our class. His grandparents, Professor Basil Wall and Margaret Wall, attended the church, as did Aunt Lannie.

Among the papers kept through the years are his baptismal certificate and a letter from the minister, both dated January 2, 1971. The certificate records his baptism at that church; the letter mentions Grandmother and Grandfather Wall among those present. These pages preserve his family’s connection to the place where I remember our story beginning.

— KimberlyMae

Baptism certificate recording Daniel Morgan Stewart’s baptism at First United Methodist Church in Arlington, Texas, on January 2, 1971, signed by minister Jack Payne.
Baptismal certificate · January 2, 1971 · Select to read the original full size.
Letter dated January 2, 1971, from minister Jack Payne of First United Methodist Church in Arlington, Texas, describing the infant baptism and naming Grandmother and Grandfather Wall among those present.
A letter from the minister · January 2, 1971 · Select to read the original full size.

Hope and Love

Dan was a Universal Life minister. He believed in hope and love.

Universal Life Church certificate of ordination for Rev. Daniel Morgan Stewart.
Universal Life Church ordination certificate. Select to read the original full size.

Postcards from Germany and France

Handwritten postcard from Germany to Kimberly, with stamps and a blue airmail label.
Postcard from Germany. Select to read the original full size.
Handwritten postcard from France to Kimberly, mentioning a visit to France and francs, with stamps and blue airmail labels.
Postcard from France. Select to read the original full size.
Little Miracles
Two people standing together in a field of purple-blue flowers; the original photograph is tilted.
Among the flowers · Select to view full size.

Small things, quietly extraordinary.

A place for the moments we might otherwise forget.

1989 & 2021

Thirty-two years between these photographs.

1989: a couple crouching together outdoors among trees, with a dog partly visible between them.
1989 · Select to view the original photograph full size.
2021: a couple sitting close together in a field of purple-blue flowers.
2021 · Select to view the original photograph full size.
Danny, Kimberly, and Tommy sitting together on a patterned sofa.
Danny, Kimberly, and Tommy. Select to view the original photograph full size.
Celebrations
Celebratory illustration of a couple embracing beneath a Happy Valenversary banner, with a colorful performer, hearts and a Love Wins penguin.
Happy Valenversary · Select to view full size.
Illustrated couple beside an upright bass, surrounded by books, flowers, cameras and a typewriter beneath the words Always Better Together.
Always Better Together · Select to view full size.

A small antique brass key with a bass clef formed from curled metal inside its open circular bow rests beside the boxes. Someone has tied a violet ribbon through its bow.

See where it belongs →

There’s no need to put everything back just yet.

Return to Violet Street Station → · Choose another stop