Thursday, October 19, 2023

"It's So Good To Be Home"

I'm sitting in Lynette's house on Lynette's couch looking over some photos of the last couple of months. Lynette and Calla made a visit to our house in September while Anthony and his dad went out to Idaho elk hunting. No elks were harmed in the process. 

Since Calla is numero uno around here, we just about had to take numbers. We held her, played with her and spoiled her. 




 We had family dinner and we spent the evening outside, doting on Calla. We've taken a lot of photos our our front stoop, but this time we forgot to take into account the shadows. We have to be judicious in these cases. The older the cousins get, the fewer photos they want to sit for. k







That's a kitty.



Here is a better photo of the grands, but not as nice a setting.





We gave this pound-a-ball toy to Lorene on her first "gotcha day". It has seen hard use with all the kids that have gone through our house. Calla figured it out pretty quickly, push a ball in and it comes out.


I took photos of all our kids looking out the front door waiting for Daddy to come home. I don't have a picture of all of the grands, but here's Calla. 






Thursday, October 12, 2023

Road Trip and More

A couple of weeks ago, Jim and I took off across Nebraska into Colorado to pick up a trailer to make it into a boring trailer, which hauls a boring machine and a mix system. Since it was a 4-hour drive, Jim likes me to come along. It makes the drive more interesting and helps him stay awake. 
Several years ago before we became empty nesters, Jim and I started to do a few more things together. It made easier the transition from having a houseful to just the two of us. 
It also helped that Lynette went college in Kearney so for those years she was in and out. Also, our other two kids live close enough to see often. 

The trailer dealership was right next to the sale barn in Brush, Colorado, so after we inspected the trailer (Jim) and paid the check (me), we asked for recommendations for a good place to eat. 
We were told the sale barn cafe was as good as any and better than most, so we went and enjoyed our meal very much. So much, in fact, a couple days ago, Jim was wishing to go back. A bit far, of course, but perhaps there's a plain ol' cafe closer, that sells good ordinary food. 
The decor was metal signs over the whole of it. These were by our table, and I would have loved to go around and read and photograph them all, but that wasn't practical. 
I read the first one to Jim in the way a woman would say it and, well, all my women friends will likely understand why I liked the other. 


On the way home, an hour away, I guess, we overtook or were overtaken by a rainstorm. It rained so hard we couldn't see and everyone on the interstate had slowed down using flashers. Then everyone started moving on to the shoulder. It was a bit surreal to see vehicles lined up on the shoulder, lights on and flashers going and no traffic. Then it started to hail, so we sat while the thumping went on overhead. The largest hailstone I saw was walnut sized. As if things weren't bad enough, I got a tornado warning on my phone. Well, what to do now? Can't get in the ditch, might drown. Too rainy to drive away. So, we sat. I felt a curious sort of calm come over me.  There wasn't anything I could do about the situation I was in and I knew it. 
After a bit, the rain let up and all the traffic started up again. We drove along watching the weather radar on our phones and realizing in less than a half hour we were going to meet up with another storm and sure enough, same song, second verse. We waited again by the side of the road. Not as long this time. and when we got to the shop to drop off the trailer it started raining. We only got .80" at our place.
It took us an hour to drive the last 20 minutes.

These next photos have nothing to do with Colorado, cafes, or storms.
Barry got a bearded dragon lizard for his birthday. It's cute now. I'm not sure how "cute" they are when they are 2 ft. long. 


This really is the same person, Barry just had a haircut in betwen.


 One thing Jim likes to do is go 4-wheeling at the farm. We spent an hour roaming about and being bounced to death over hill and dale and creek crossings. At least, I was. I was very ready to be off and back in the pickup. I don't know why it seemed worse bouncing than usual this time. 

Friday, September 15, 2023

Old News Made New

Family resemblances aren't everything. 
Families are made in a multitude of ways and a multitude of looks, but when resemblances do happen, it's very interesting.

Top: Lynette, Bottom: Calla

Uncle Lowell

Lynette and Calla as babies look very much alike.
I always thought Uncle Lowell's head shape is like both of theirs.

Resemblances change as babies change into toddlers, then little kids, then big kids.
I have a photo of Zane at 3 where he looks just like Lorene at that age. 




 

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Reading--It's Made Me Who I Am

 Someday I would like to write a post about how certain beloved books have defined the way I think about things. Two that come to mind are the "Little House" books and the "Anne" books. That would take the time that I haven't had or prioritized this summer.

I just finished reading "The Questions That Matter Most", by Jane Smiley, or rather most of it. 
This Jane Smiley has written loads of novels and I have never heard of her. I mostly read non-fiction and this one was in the new non-fiction shelf in the library. It's a book of 'essays', and the ones I enjoyed where of authors or books that I knew. I didn't read the ones that I had never heard of. 

There are a few pieces of the book that resonate with my feelings of books and I want to keep them...

Quotes from "The Questions That Matter Most": 

Page 232..."The moments are what come to mind when I think about thee books I like best --moments that stick in my mind as pictures. When you're deep into reading a book that you're very fond of, the images pass through your mind and leave a permanent impression."

Page 233..."The reader has to have images to feel oriented in the world of the novel....Your images may not be the same as my images--different readers will perceive a novel's world differently depending on what they notice and respond to in the descriptions--..."

Page 238..."To read a book is...an act of freedom--at any point I could say, I'm done with (whatever book I'm reading), I'm moving on to (another one). As long as you're reading you're there voluntarily." 

There is another piece of this book that I liked on page 74, but not because of what is written down. The paragraph is about the author's take on the difference between movies and books.
I don't make a habit of watching movies, and after the few I have seen about some favorite books that don't match up with what I have in my head, I'm not interested in seeing anymore of those. 

Friday, July 14, 2023

A Trip Around The World...


Last year Jim decided we would take Zane on a trip this summer, with his input on places he would like to go. One of those places was the Holiday World amusement Park in Santa Claus, Indiana, so since we wanted to head east, there were other possibilities like visiting Lynette and going to the Classic Green Reunion in Tennessee. 

Leaving Sunday afternoon we made our first stop in Hutchinson, Kansas to go see the Cosmosphere the next day. 

This is an American Mercury Redstone rocket outside the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, KS. The Redstone ballistic missile was repurposed to lauch Mercury astronauts into space in the early 1960s.





We spent most of our time reading about the history of the space program, which was very interesting to me and we found that Zane knew most of it already. He was telling us about things, before we read about them. I didn't take any photos inside because the SR71 Blackbird hanging from the ceiling, the lunar module that we looked down on, and the space shuttle where we stood on the wing, were too vast to get decent photos. It was fascinating. 

Zane tried out this wind machine with 70 mph tornado winds.  



From there we heading toward Missouri and stayed the night in Olathe, Kansas and had supper at Chick-fil-A's because Zane wanted to. 

...or rather around part of the country. 

I was feeling pretty sorry for myself because 5 days ago I had esophageal dilation, that I wasn't going to mention, but it was so much a part of my days at the time, that I must. This time the dilation was so painful I couldn't eat for two days and then I had liquids and by the time we left, the pain was dulled by taking Tylenol and eating miniscule bites of things, and preferably soft. So, I had soup 
for supper that night. 

Day 2 

Jim and I visited the "Treasures of the Arabia" Steamboat museum two years ago. Jim was fascinated by it, so we visited again. I spent my time reading about westward expansion, while the others looked at the machinery and the stuff that was unearthed. 


The following paragraph is from the Arabia website. 


The Steamboat Arabia was one of many casualties of the perilous Missouri River—the longest river in the United States that claimed nearly 400 other steamboats over its 2,500-mile course. In September 1856, the Arabia was carrying over 200 tons of cargo intended for general stores and homes in 16 midwestern frontier towns. The steamer was still fully loaded when it hit a tree snag and sank just 6 miles west of Kansas City. Due to erosion, the Missouri River changed course over time, and the Arabia was buried underground for over a century – along with all of its precious cargo. Lying 45 feet deep beneath a Kansas cornfield, the Arabia’s payload was protected from light and oxygen and, thus, was remarkably well preserved.


There are more artifacts being cleaned every day and added to the museum.
We don't like driving all around in big cities even with GPS, so someone directed us to the "City Diner" across the street. It looked like something left over from the 50s, and not updated since.
The food was good and the prices reasonable. 
Jim had a port tenderloin sandwich. The pork was three times the size of the bun. I had grits because I went for something easy to eat. I enjoyed them, too.
I hope Zane really likes the omelets, since he had them more than once. 




After lunch we went to the LEGO store which was fun, because I like LEGOs, too. We enjoyed looking at all the sets and other things they had for sale. It would have been a lot more fun if we had several hundreds to spend, but we didn't. It was rather a shock after we left the parking garage that we couldn't leave without paying the $11 fee!! We were there for 45 minutes. That was the hourly fee, I'm glad we got out in time. 
From there we tootled over to St. Louis and exhausted, we found an exotic pizza place, ordered a half cheese, half sausage pizza and ate it in our hotel room. I was able to eat a whole piece, taking miniscule bites with hot water to wash it down. My throat is finally feeling like I will be back to normal soon.

We left for the Gateway Arch at 8:30 for our 10:00 "ride to the top",  planning for rush hour slow spots and construction. It's a good thing we did since we didn't know where to go when we got there. Getting to the parking lot was the easy part and after wandering around awhile under the arch and watching other people, we found our way to the underground entrance where the museum, theater, café, and gift shop ... (I would have liked to spend time in the museum, but this wasn't my trip.)



And ... the "ride to the top" entrance.
Now, that was fun. 
When our time came we lined up where we were supposed to and received a number. Each group got a number. Groups being people coming in together so we weren't put with strangers. Then we went to an open place with screens and numbers on the floor, stood on our number and watched a video with highlights from the 50s and 60s. Think MLK, Elvis, psychedelic colors and patterns, cars, and what have you. I wonder how many people standing there remember any of that. I think we were the oldest in the group and  WE were hardly around in those years.
Next, we file out, number by number, pausing for them to take a photo, (always looking for money), and then on down some stairs to our number again. We were number 8, which was at the bottom, so we went first. 

Here we waited, in front of this door, which was our way into the tram. I couldn't get a very good photo. If you look closely you can see the outline. That 4 ft. indention in the wall before us, which we guessed was the door, opened into a very small space with 5 seats, close enough to bump knees.  It was too small to get a picture of, well, of the smalless. Since we've never been, and this was all new, it was fascinating and interesting. (The space is lit, by the way. We weren't riding in darkness.) And, then, the doors close and up we go. The doors of our capsule are glass (or see through anyway, who knows if glass is used anymore) and we were whisked up 600+ feet inside the arch seeing wires, pipes, stairs and whatnot, feeling the shift as the car adjusts to the curve of the arch. 
When we stop, the 4 ft. door opens, our "glass" doors open and we sstep out and stand on another flight of stairs, the bottom, since we are number 8, wait until the previous group descends, we ascend (ha, I was just going to use 'go up', but decided to be funny), they get on, and away they go and we are at the top of the arch. 





It feels like a room up there. It is carpeted, has information posters, and small windows and a bench sort of thing to lean on to look out the windows. I didn't feel "up in the air" at all. 



There's our car!!, if you can see the blue arrow at the right lower corner.





It's hard to realize we were 630' above street level at the apex. After 10 minutes we were set to stand on the stairs in front of our car until the next group coming up got out. We get in and away we went, down. It's 4 minutes up, 3 minutes down. Don't ask me why. 
We also watched a video about the building of the arch. I wanted to say film or movie, maybe I fit in the 50s and 60s after all. 
We had lunch at the Gateway Café then at the gift shop bought all the things we looked at while we were waiting. I really had fun there and bought more than I usually do.





There's something really neat about this bridge, but I can't remember. And the parking lot really looks like this. 


On the road again, to Indiana and Lynette's house where we were warmly welcomed with Calla and broccoli cheese soup.


We left Zane in Indiana to entertain and be entertained with the Troyer's while  we went on to Classic Green in Tennessee. 
Zane went to Holiday World with Anthony and they did some other things like play video games and miniature golf, and swim, but, I have no photos of that time. 

Classic Green, the John Deere Show that started in Grand Island, Nebraska was held in Lebanon, Tennessee this year. It is an every other year event to complement the Gathering of the Green Show in Davenport, IA on the other years. The last Classic Green was in Columbus, OH, and we were there. 

I didn't take many photos. There are only so many photos of green tractors I want in my library. "You've seen one you've seen them all." I could get in trouble for that statement. And really, there are a lot, a really lot, of different kinds, and it is interesting, but I'm not into making a photo book of them. 

This shirt really says. "I LOVE when MY WIFE lets me work on tractors", or close enough anyway. Jim got a lot of stares, laughs and questions on where to buy one. They bought them two years ago, in Ohio.


This is scale model of a huge 8020, a picture of which is at the bottom of this blog.


This took place at the State Fairgrounds and there were tractors everywhere, inside the many buildings and outside. This year's "features" were D's, Generation II's and 110 lawn tractors. Of course, they welcome all kinds of "classics" restored or not. 



It's not the sort of place you can look at everything in one day. We were there parts of two days and the whole of one. One day we sat in on a "seminar" about cotton. It was interesting and would have been more so if I could have heard what they were saying. After awhile I got bored with trying and looked at my phone.

Cotton machine mounted on a 3010



This GP resembles the one Jim's dad had. His had steel wheels.


Friday was our full day at the show. We arrived at 9:10, just before the flag raising. A hush fell over the grounds and people took off their hats while the National Anthem played. Patriotism and honoring the flag is still among tractor enthusiasts. Is it because they are older, more conservative, more respectful? People of all ages come. There are young people who love old tractors and children that are learning to. There are mothers and fathers and grandparents. All here, because Old John Deere Tractors mean something to them or to someone they love. Maybe appreciation for what has gone before helps us appreciate what we have now. 

JD 8020
This may be the only one left. There aren't any parts anymore to be found for these.
(I think)



The Abraham Lincoln Bridge at I-65 over the Ohio River going into Kentucky.
It was a toll bridge supposedly by camera. I haven't got a bill yet. 
Old on left, new on right.


After our stint in Tennessee we spent Saturday evening and Sunday with Lynette. 
Calla is the star of the show there. 




It has taken me a long time to get this written up. The internet at our house is a joke at the moment. I had this partly done, and lost my progress. 
We enjoyed our trip.