IDoDI

Over and Rout

2010-01-11T04:53:00.001-08:00

RAVENS 33, PATRIOTS 14
Over and rout
Slow-starting Brady and Patriots lose a playoff game at Gillette to rampaging Ravens
By Adam Kilgore, Globe Staff | January 11, 2010
FOXBOROUGH - Disaster always had stayed foreign to these Patriots, some evil force that only other teams needed to worry about. They might not win. They never would collapse and embarrass themselves. They never would let five minutes unravel their entire season.

And then yesterday came, and the Baltimore Ravens swaggered into Gillette Stadium, and disaster struck. The Patriots allowed a touchdown on the first snap. Their crowd booed them. Tom Brady crumbled. In their first playoff game of the new decade, the Patriots may have lost the final bit of the dynastic mystique they created in the last one.

The Ravens ended the Patriots’ season with a 33-14 victory that will not be remembered for the final margin, but for the stunned silence at Gillette by the end of the first quarter. The Ravens outscored the Patriots, 24-0, in the opening period, overwhelming them with brute force on offense and defense. The final three quarters were little more than calisthenics.

“We didn’t come to play, point blank,’’ defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. “We never had a chance from the first play to the last play. We didn’t even play like it was a playoff game. More like a preseason game. We got beat up today. For them to come in here and do what they did, they could basically have been playing out there with a JV football team and they probably would have given a better effort than we did.’’

The mauling Ravens defense made Brady its primary target, stripping him once and intercepting three of his passes. In his return to the postseason after spending 2008 sidelined by a knee injury, Brady lost in Foxborough for the first time since Nov. 12, 2006, and lost in the playoffs at home for the first time in nine games.

The Patriots had not lost at home in the playoffs since Dec. 31, 1978, and you also would need to scour the history books to find such a thorough defeat. The Ravens held the Patriots to 196 yards while Ray Rice ran for 159 himself. Baltimore needed quarterback Joe Flacco to produce only 34 yards passing to score 33 points.

The effort underscored a trying campaign for the Patriots, who won the AFC East but endured more turmoil than in any recent season. They fought injuries, uncommon insubordination in the locker room, and won only one true road game.

“It’s not like we were 2-14,’’ Brady said. “We’re not at that stage. There’s things that show up over the course of the year that we didn’t do very well. A lot of things that are why we’ve been successful - mental toughness, and leadership, discipline, and commitment. All those things we displayed at times, and we didn’t display at other times.’’

Their play yesterday ensured they immediately could begin fixing the problems for next season. The question all week was how the Patriots would play without Wes Welker. The Ravens, not long after Welker used crutches to walk out for the coin toss, announced that New England’s problems ran much deeper than that.

On the first snap of the game, Flacco handed off to dynamite-legged Rice. He squirmed behind right guard Marshal Yanda, who collapsed linebacker Gary Guyton into a pile of bodies. Rice darted into the secondary, cut to the left, and saw only green turf ahead. He outran safety Brandon Meriweather to the pylon and then flexed his right biceps.

Things could not get worse for the Patriots, and then they did. On their third offensive play, Terrell Suggs wheeled around left tackle Matt Light and swatted at Brady’s hand as he cocked to throw. The ball popped loose, and Suggs fell on it at the Patriots’ 16. The crowd turned silent.

The Ravens ran the ball five times, Le’Ron McClain plunging through a gaping hole from the 1 to finish off the drive. Four minutes and 31 seconds into the game, the Patriots trailed, 14-0.

“We were flat,’’ running back Kevin Faulk said.

Things could not get worse for the Patriots, and then they did. Both teams went three-and-out, and the Patriots took over at their 14. Three plays into their possession, Brady scrambled to his right and fired a pass in the general direction of Sam Aiken. The only player close to the ball was Ravens safety Chris Carr, who caught it.

The Ravens needed five plays before the ball was back at the 1-yard line. This time, Rice plowed in over left guard Ben Grubbs. The Ravens had taken a 21-0 lead.

“You can’t explain it,’’ linebacker Tully Banta-Cain said. “Everything that could have went wrong for us and went right for them happened.’’

Things could not get worse for the Patriots, and then they did. On the second play of their ensuing drive, Brady threw a fade pattern to Aiken, one of the receivers charged with replacing the invaluable Welker. Aiken tipped the ball, and Ed Reed, the safety Bill Belichick regards as the NFL’s best, snared it. After a nifty lateral by Reed, the Ravens had the ball at the 9.

Billy Cundiff added a field goal to make the count an amazing 24-0. New England had allowed 24 points in a quarter, more than any Patriots team ever had in the postseason.

“You definitely don’t imagine that,’’ linebacker Adalius Thomas said.

The Patriots recaptured a sliver of hope at the beginning of the second quarter. The Ravens forced a punt, and Chris Hanson skied a kick down the right sideline. Tom Zbikowski, looking to block, let the ball bounce off his back. It rolled away, and special teams ace Kyle Arrington corralled it on the sideline. Replays seemed to show that Arrington never controlled the ball before falling out of bounds. But Ravens coach John Harbaugh did not challenge the play, and the Patriots maintained possession at the Baltimore 16.

On third and goal from the 6, Brady scrambled, pursued again by a ferocious rush. Running to his right, Brady zipped a pass to Julian Edelman in the end zone. Edelman caught it, leaped, and emphatically spiked the ball. Welker gave owner Robert Kraft a high-five in the owner’s box.

The temporary momentum could not overcome the hideous facts. At halftime, the Patriots had 61 total net yards. So did Faulk.

The Patriots injected more life into their season in third quarter, when Brady hit Edelman on a 1-yard touchdown pass, this time to the left. By reputation, the Patriots could not be counted out. At the end of the third quarter, Jets safety Kerry Rhodes tweeted that “New England is gonna make it tight.’’

Reputations don’t score points or tackle running backs. The Ravens pounded home another touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The Patriots ran no-huddle offense to the other end of the field. (Randy Moss, walking back to the line, had to be urged by a teammate to hurry up.) But Stephen Gostkowski missed a field goal, and the crowd’s exodus commenced.

“I’m disappointed the way we finished the season,’’ coach Bill Belichick said. “There really isn’t too much to say. They did everything better than we did.’’

On the game’s second-to-last play, Brady scrambled away from a rusher and threw the ball away so he wouldn’t have to take another hit. It would be the last pass he would throw this season. Brady stared off, into the offseason and a future when nothing is certain anymore for his team.

“It was a different team this year,’’ Brady said. “It was a different team.’’

Adam Kilgore can be reached at akilgore@globe.com

Local-voire

2009-07-09T10:18:00.001-07:00

The last couple years I have become more concerned with our food sources. I have read several of Michael Pollian’s books plus Barbara Kingslover. Last year, one of our young friends was the farm manager for a local organic farm and we jumped off into the organic local product with him. Now that our Farmer’s Market is open again I am trying to buy as much as I can from there for our weekly meals.

Tonight for example we had some Salmon (from the great market in Seattle hand carried back to Indiana), all the rest is local: new potatoes (just boiled with butter), zucchini, yellow squash, red onions, and eggplant roasted with some olive oil and garlic and for dessert an apricot-plum “tart”. I perused many tart recipes and finally winged it. It was beautiful to look at and to taste. Even my customers (male) could appreciate its beauty and taste.

The orchard that grew the plums (very small, sweet and lovely tasting) will have several other types of plums maturing in the next few weeks. They also have many types of apples. The very first of which we bought a week ago: Lodi. They will have apples now until late in the fall.

I have a source for locally raised/grass only bison-which makes the most wonderful guilt free hamburgers. I have a source for grass-fed: turkey (in the fall) and chicken and eggs.

Our garden is starting to put out cukes, yellow squash and scallions. The first corn has tasseled and the 2nd is about ready to be hilled.

It's that time of year again!

2009-07-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

Today we started our annual "putting away the harvest." The cucumber plants have been toying with us; lots of blossoms, lots of small baby cucumbers, but none large enough to "do up." However for the last couple days we have been picking a small amount that finally added up to enough to pickle. Yesterday we cleaned them all up and put them down in the lime. This morning Kent scrubbed them down again while the oatmeal cooked. After our morning walk, I picked dill and grape leaves. The jars were washed and ready to assemble. I recovered the peeled garlic from the freezer(left over from the last pickle party of 08), and stuffed 7 jars with dill, garlic and grape leaves. Then comes the cukes. I learned how to be an efficient jar stuffer from my dearly departed mother-in-law. Putting the pickles in the jars was one of the first things I learned from her back in 1985. She had worked at Vlasics once upon a time and talked about the foreman who would tell the ladies on the line, "one more pickle in that jar!" We did 7 quart jars of pickles and used less than 2 quarts of brine; that's a pretty good pickle to brine ratio!

The jars were processed and are now sitting on the island cooling off. There is few things as satisfying as hearing the pinging of the jars sealing.

Last bird out

2009-06-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

This morning I looked up at the nest and thought the Momma Robin was standing above her babies. When "she" never moved I took a closer look and realized that I was looking at a almost grown baby Robin. I took its picture and within the next half hour it fledged successfully as there was no body on the porch.

Changes are coming

2009-05-31T10:36:00.000-07:00

A year ago this weekend we hosted an absolutely fantastic event that started with Jake's Eagle Court of Honor and the party afterwards. On Sunday we enjoyed the company of family: Farm Grandpa and Grandma, Gaylord Grandpa and Grandma, Mark and Sam, Nano and Paul. Much of our events were centered around our patio and deck. Less then a month later, the big tree that shaded the patio lost half of itself in a wind storm, taking out the line of big old shrubs and trees that had marked the property line to the south.

Since October we have been slowly progressing towards finishing the landscaping in that area. First we had to wait for the stump grinder man to return and do the "free" grinding (he owed us for the freestanding driveway light that they knocked down when they took down the tree.) He returned at the end of April. Then we had to wait for the lawn man to come in and regrade that area of the yard ( in years past, Kent would have been doing this but he is under the whip at work and with his Dad's affairs.) Greg finally came and did the yard on Wednesday. Kent got home late Friday so we used our Saturday to go pick out trees and put them in the ground. Since Kent did all the digging by hand he has asked for at least several weeks of respite.

Where does time go?

2009-05-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast time flies by. Next weekend is the Memorial Day holiday. Jake is all done with his first year in college and Alix has finished her third. Mom and Daddy have been gone for 9 days now. And Amos is almost 3 months old.

We have a new family in our neighborhood - in our household to be exact. A pair of robins have built a nest on the edge of a porch pillar. It took them several fruitless days until we had rain and they could use mud to plaster the nest to the wall. I would have knocked it down before completion but it is too high up. So high up that I'm pretty sure they won't get any nestlings safely to the ground. I'll get a picture and post it later.

We did have some excitement a week ago. Jake discovered a football sized mass of honeybees clustered in one of our bushes about 3:00pm. It had just formed since lunch. We called our local "honey" man. He came and put out one section of a hive with some attractant in it. The next morning he came back and took the hive (with the new queen and most of her workers. He told us that what we had was a swarm of bees caused by a hive splitting into 2 hives. He was very encouraged to see a hive healthy enough to split. Since CCD (colony collapse disorder) started we have lost 1/3 of our honeybees. Improper use of pesticides is considered a major player in CCD.

Watching time march on.....

2009-03-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

A pretty day here today. I have walked the dogs, visited with my folks, finished trimming the grapevines, taken some pictures of the yard and spent over an hour on Facebook; reading new to Facebook but old friend's pages and adding pictures to my page. The morning is almost gone and I have yet to take a shower and get ready to face the rest of the world.

I had a great visit with the western kith and kin last week; saw all the younger gen, complete with dogs. Hopefully we will be able to do it again in April before our dog sitters fly the coop. The first night we spent in NYC. I was a typical tourist; spent so much time looking around that I couldn't keep up with Kent. The next time we are going to go to Central Park via the subway. Seattle was better, family and not such an intimidating city atmosphere.

This trip was sandwiched in between Jake's spring break and Alix's. They were each home only several days and they didn't overlap. But Jake had spent several days vi sting Alix. Nick was also visiting Alix and the two guys got to spend some time together as she had classes. Alix rode home with Nick to Lansing and then flew here in the middle of the week. She returned the same day we did and was able to use my car which saved a trip to the airport. When she left yesterday she rode in with Kent on his way to work so all in all a very efficient trip home. Her getting back to MSP was a nightmare though as the planes are very full on Fridays-Mondays during spring break time. After looking at full airplanes all afternoon it looked like I would be picking her up and heading for MSP. She was able to find out that the plane from Lansing to MSP on Monday had many seats; now just to get to Michigan. I was praying and an answer arrived the next time I checked the CVG to DTW (Detroit) flights for Northwest. You could get there if you flew Comair to Grand Rapids to Cleveland to Detroit. The important part of that trip was the Comair leg from CVG to GRR. She was on the phone with me when I found it and almost screamed, Grand Rapids! Thats only 90 minutes from Lansing! I checked it and it had 6 seats and she had time to catch it. She texted me this morning that she was on the plane to MSP and would arrive in time for her classes. Hallieuha!!!!

All the action and disruption of my routine was good for me. I am becoming more of a stick in the mud with each passing day. But it is good to have some time alone now and work on the things around here. Like spring cleaning everywhere.

Celebrate!

2009-02-16T06:22:00.000-08:00

So last Thursday, we had a parade and then a 30 minute ceremony downtown to honor our local celebrities: the Herbert Brothers! Who you say? How about the guys who beat out Madison Avenue Ad companies and scored the number one Super Bowl commercial!

Frazz made me cry today

2009-02-08T06:28:00.001-08:00

pictures would not load in previous blog

2009-02-03T12:49:00.000-08:00

Snow more snow

2009-02-03T11:58:00.000-08:00

Last week we received about 4 inches of snow followed by an inch of ice pellets then another 8 inches of snow in a 24 hour time frame. It has slowing been melting but only into a homogeneous sheet of 4 inches of ice. It has now snowed another 3 inches of very fluffy beautiful snow. I don't think Mom and I will be walking any time soon. This morning we drove over to the park and then skidded around the top of the reservoir for 40 minutes. Not something I want to repeat anytime soon.

Doritos anybody?

2009-02-03T03:26:00.000-08:00

So did you like the number one commercial of the Super Bowl? You know, the one with the crystal ball and the snack machine? It beat out the Bud clysdales for the first time in 10 years. It also happens to be the brainchild of two local brothers and was filmed in our YMCA. The Herbert brothers knew they were in the top 5 finishers for this years Doritos contest as they were invited to Tampa to watch the Super Bowl with the other 4 producers. But only when their commercial played did they know they had won the $25k contest. After the Super Bowl was over and the tabulations were made, their commercial was voted the number one of the night earning the two brothers a cool $1 million.

Pass down those eyes

2009-02-02T12:08:00.000-08:00

So what do you think? Is it my imagination or does Jen bear a great resemblence to Ellen?

She gave me a life

2009-01-27T14:54:00.000-08:00

"She gave me a life. I didn't have a life before I married her. I was just living day to day. She gave me this nice family. We were married 52 years. Yes, she was a good wife."
-----Max at his wife's memorial service 1-24-2009.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY A

2009-01-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

A day late but I couldn't get on the internet yesterday. While we are at the farm we have to go down to the local coffee shop (not Starbucks) to get online. the coffee is good and Kent is happy with his drink which is amazing as I don't think he has ever been happy with non-SBs ever.

Twentyone years ago on the 8th of January, Kent, Mom and I went to the hospital on base to find out that I WASN'T in labor. The Doctor told Kent not to let me drag him there again anytime soon as it would be days if not a week or so. We stopped at the Builder's Square where Kent drug us around showing Mom the air compressor he would have someday. (Still doesn't have one as big as that one was.) We ate dinner (I wasn't interested.) and then went off to bed. I got up, took a long shower and then started counting my contractions while I watched a movie. After an hour or so I got Mom up and when they were 5 minutes apart we got Kent up. He protested, quoting the Doctor. Mom told him that "if he didn't want to deliver the baby on the bridge he better get in the van." What normally took 45 minutes to drive passed in what seems like was 20 minutes or so. We walked back into the hospital to find the same Doctor on duty. He took one look at us and sighed. BUT when I got up on the table, he spazzed out: "9 centimeters, fully effaced; get her in the delivery room." And at 4:07am, a beautiful baby girl (9lbs,1oz, 21.5 inches long) made us a real family.

When I look at her today I can't believe that such a beautiful and talented person was ever a part of me. Love you Munchie!

A Sad Time

2009-01-10T07:45:00.000-08:00

Nano called about a week ago to tell us that Brother Paul was in the hospital. Bad news as he is our contact for Granpa. Well, Paul got sprung yesterday from the hospital with the stipulation that he can't drive for the next 6 months. He lives 30 miles north of where Max (Granpa, or FGP) is living now. So now there is no one to drop in on Max and make sure he is being treated well and that all is okay.

We just happen to be up here now as Kent had business to take care of. We've been here since Wednesday night and plan on leaving tomorrow. Granpa is pretty frail. He gets no mental stimulation,no radio playing, no tv, nothing. (He is almost blind.)

While we've been here I've been scanning pictures that I known there will be no copies of, ie: polaroids, old black and whites, etc. I've got some real treasures locked up in this machine. A few things have made the tears well up; like yesterday (Aix's 21st birthday) I found in a drawer that I have been in before a newspaper that had Ellen's handwriting on the top: "Today Alix was born." Just for reference the order of birth:Paul, David, Nano, Kent and Wayne.

Food Pantry

2008-12-03T18:01:00.000-08:00

Today Mom and I worked in the food pantry. As I was looking at the choices the "consumer" could make I thought if given the right decisions they could easily eat for 2 or more weeks. If they chose things like: a bag of dry beans, a bag of rice, 14 oz can of salmon vs 5 oz can of vienna sausages. The way ours works is they can get (according to number in family)a certain number of in each food group. I was A GROUP. The Hispanics (and excuse me of being racist, but if you're illegal why are you eligible for a food pantry?)tended to get the most bang for the buck - the dry beans, rice, and canned goods that would go the furtherest. About 25% of the patrons smelled of cigerette smoke which also makes you question giving them food if they can afford smokes.

Fortunately for the patrons I don't set the rules. I guess I also need to quit being so judgemental. I think this is an attitide I acquired from my father; at least I don't blurt it out to everybody within earshot.

VFW

2008-12-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

This is mostly posted so Kent can see what is going on at the VFW while he is by his mother's bedside. He has been helping plan this addition for months.

There and back again

2008-12-01T13:43:00.000-08:00

Jake, Kent and I drove up to Madison to spend Thanksgiving with Alix. We had 420 miles, she had about 300. We found a simple but clean Inn that allowed the dogs, had free wifi and free breakfast. We had a good time.

We Bought Ourselves a Bunch of Work

2008-11-21T13:42:00.000-08:00

The carpet came off the walls in the rooms in the other two photos. It's orginial color was avocado green. So far the only progress has been the removal of paneling and ceiling tiles by yours truly in the bedroom off the living room, the carpet removal, and the fillling in of the cistern in the back yard. I plan on working on the ceiling in bedroom (removing staples from the ceiling so we can drywall) tomorrow.

Farm Grandma

2008-11-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

Last week Kent's sister Nancy flew into see Farm Grandma and Grandpa. She found FGM in great abdominal pain. She took her to the ER. After tests it was determined that she had a perforated bowel. She underwent surgery and has been in critical condition until yesterday. She is out of the ICU now and on a regular ward. Kent went up the night before last and was caught up on details yesterday. It turns out that the reason for a bowel resection and colostomy is that she has colon cancer. They did a biopsy and found 13 out of 15 lymph glands to have cancer cells in them. Please pray for her, Ellen Nettnay. They don't know what type if any further treatment will be pursued yet. So I would pray for guidance and unselfishness.

On the other hand, Max (FGP) is doing much better. He has settled into the home and is one of the favorite patients.

IN MY LIFETIME

2008-11-09T11:06:00.001-08:00

With all the articles and opinion columns being written about the election results I have found myself thinking about what has happened in my lifetime. I was born the year after the Brown vs. the Board of Education ruling that overturned educational segregation. We lived in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota until I was 5, then we moved to Morrilton Arkansas. Our school was segregated, something I was aware of but had no inkling what it meant. I can remember another child telling me that this school was new and the black children went to the old school. Time passed and my sister was born. She had severe birth defects and only came home for one weekend in her entire 6 months of life. We had moved to MacAlister Oklahoma that spring. When she died that summer. Our car was not deemed road worthy so we rode the Greyhound bus to Cheyenne. We stopped (to change buses probably) in a big city, probably Oklahoma City, and got off the bus to use the bathroom. I can remember standing in this huge room looking for the loo and seeing a "Women's Restroom" sign. We entered and after we were using the facilities, Mom said, "I think we 're in the wrong restroom." I didn't understand why she would say that but I was impressed with the cockroaches and the dirtiness. We were walking back to the bus when we saw a room labeled, "Ladies." We went in and compared to the "Women's" this was the Taj Mahal. Clean, a chaise lounge to lay back on, and very pretty. Mom explained to me why this one was so nice, "this one is for whites, the other is for Negroes."

Fast forward to 1989 in New Orleans. I have driven over with Alix to attend an ALPA sponsored crawdad boil. Kent has reserved a room at the layover hotel for us. I am checking in when a very nicely dressed black couple enter the lobby and ask for a room. The manager says that he has none and that they will probably have to go as far as Baton Rouge to find one. The Jazz festival is going on and all the hotels are full. After they left he says to me, "I did have a room, but I wasn't going to rent it to them." I was so repulsed that I thought about not staying there. But in the days before cell phones you couldn't just change your plans as you had no way of communicating this to your other half.

Fast forward to the winter of 2007 and the 41st Super Bowl. History is being made as for the first time, not only is a team with a black coach competing but actually both coaches are black. It seems like such a footnote now. Now we have a black President Elect. I would rather have had someone like Colin Powell or Condelisa Rice, but I do understand what all the fuss is about. I am glad that this has happened in my lifetime. And I hope that before I die that we elect our first female President.

In My Lifetime

2008-11-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

With all the articles and opinion columens being written about the election results I have found myself thinking about what has happened in my lifetime. I was born the year after the Brown vs. the Board of Education ruling that overturned educational segregation. We lived in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota until I was 5, then we moved to Morrilton Arkansas. Our school was segregated, something I was aware of but had no inkling what it meant. I can remember another child telling me that this school was new and the black children went to the old school. Time passed and my sister was born. She had severe birth defects and only came home for one weekend in her entire 6 months of life. We had moved to MacAlister Oklahoma that spring. When she died that summer. Our car was not deemed road worthy so we rode the Greyhound bus to Cheyenne. We stopped (to change buses probably) in a big city, probably Oklahoma City, and got off the bus to use the bathroom. I can remember standing in this huge room looking for the loo and seeing a "Women's Restroom" sign. We entered and after we were using the facilities, Mom said, "I think we 're in the wrong restroom." I didn't understand why she would say that but I was impressed with the cochroaches and the dirtiness. We were walking back to the bus when we saw a room labeled, "Ladies." We went in and compared to the "Women's" this was the Taj Mahal. Clean, a chaise lounge to lay back on, and very pretty. Mom explained to me why this one was so nice, "this one is for whites, the other is for negroes."

Fast forward to 1989 in New Orleans. I have driven over with A to attend an ALPA sponsored crab boil. Kent has reserved a room at the layover hotel for us. I am checking in when a very nicely dressed black couple enter the lobby and ask for a room. The manager says that he has none and that they will probably have to go as far as Baton Rouge to find one. The Jazz festival is going on and all the hotels are full. After they left he says to me, "I did have a room, but I wasn't going to rent it to them." I was so repulsed that I thought about not staying there. But in the days before cell phones you didn't you couldn't just change your plans as you had no way of communicating this to your other half.

Fast forward to the winter of 2007 and the 41st Super Bowl. History is being made as for the first time, not only is a team with a black coach competing but actually both coaches are black. It seems like such a footnote now.

Now we have a black President Elect. I would rather have had someone like Colin Powell or Condelisa Rice, but I do understand what all the fuss is about. I am glad that this has happened in my lifetime. And I hope that before I die that we elect our first female President.

A Little Voice

2008-10-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

While Mom and I were driving today, she talked about Daddy and how he had slowed his driving down when he realized an accident could kill his baby (me). I reminded her of the time that Kent was taking baby Alix to the base in our van. (The big old blue chevy van.) He was riding on the tail of the car in front who was piddling along. Then he said, "I could hear a voice in my ear as plain as day that said, 'why are you driving like this with Alix in the car?' So I stepped off the gas and almost simultaneously the car's hood flew open. The driver slammed on his brakes and fishtailed all over the road. Thank God for guardian angels because I would have hit him for sure."

A GREAT WEEKEND

2008-10-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

Kent and I had a mini vacation this weekend. He got home from work on Saturday morning. We loaded the van kissed the dogs goodbye and headed for Crawfordsville. We enjoyed the colorful sceanery of a Indiana fall day on the 2 hour drive. When we got there, Jake met us and then took us on a tour that highlighted his classrooms and his frat. We hung out and talked of many things. Took him shopping for essentials and then out to eat. At 8:00 we watched him and about 10 other actors preform "The Government Inspector" an amazingly funny play written in Russia in 1838. It is about the corrupt dealings of all the citizens in this villiage and what happens when they think the mysterious stranger at the Inn is the Inspector General who has been sent by the Czar to investigate them. Hilliarty ensues! But that explains the beard and makeup on Jake's face in the picture.

Afterwards we drove back to Indy and spent the night. We got up to do-it-yourselves waffles. We spent the morning catching up on the news and email, then headed downtown to met Jake for lunch and the football game.

And what a game! Finally a win and not just a win, but an all out blowout in our new stadium. The old RCA stadium sits forlornly next door, domeless and soon to be imploded. We will have a great view of the skyline when it is gone. We have lots of memories from it, but my most favorite is taking a picture of Jake in 2 degree weather on the steps after we had won the SuperBowl!

Honda!

2008-10-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

Let em roll! Honda began mass production of the Honda Civic Sedan at the new Greensburg facility today.

"Today is the start of mass production for Honda of Indiana...we have begun rolling the 2009 Honda Civic, and eventually we'll be making 400 cars per shift, with 800 cars a day coming out of Greensburg," said Andrew Stoner, a spokesman for Honda of Indiana.

Stoner said they are on schedule since the 2006 announcement and 2007 groundbreaking to today." It's a wonderful opportuntity for Indiana and Greensburg."

Nearly 900 employees have been conducting trial production for several months. Today's start up culminates production in stamping, welding, painting, plastic injection molding, body assembly and other areas.

Currently, Honda is operating on one shift with plans to add a second shift in 2009, and get to 2000 employees producing 200,000 vehicles annually.

The first car rolled off the racks is kept at the plant lobby. It's painted black, called a crystal black pearl.

The rest will go to market, being transported mostly by rail.

Despite the economy, the 4 cylinder fuel efficient car is the number one seller for Honda Civic. It's an "in-demand" car and one people are turning to for fuel efficiency, as Stoner said.

The website claims the sedan gets 26 mpg in the city, 36 on the highway. The suggested sticker price is $15,400, but cost will vary on the style and features.

Honda sits on a 1700 acre parcel facing I 74 in Greensburg.

I wonder when the first train of cars will roll past us. The existing track was one of the reasons Honda decided to build in Greensburg.

Update on the "Land Grab"

2008-10-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

To bring you up to date on the controversial property lines. The lots in question actually run north and south. So although Mom's lot is oriented east and west, it is actually the south part of lots 35 and 36. When this "addition" to the city of B'ville was surveyed in 1868, Liberty street, the street that is the eastern edge of lot 36 was laid out at a 90 degree angle to Western street. Today's surveying equipment uses gps technology and lo and behold the street is 2 degrees out of "true". Which shifts all the property lines. In the 75 feet of the length of the lot it shifted it by almost 4 feet and made both of our air conditioners "encroachments". Fortunately, a deal has been struck and we should close on the property on Oct 17th. After rehabilitation and upon it's return to market the property lines will have been officially adjusted to make everything kosher for future sales.

The sad part of this is that a neighbor across the street who I have considered a "good" friend stuck her nose so far up in this business that she is not talking to me anymore. If we cross paths while walking our dogs, she will walk right by with out saying a word. I don't really understand why she is mad or upset.

The Bulls!

2008-10-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

Granpa loves the bulls. Since they have lived here we have heard a lot about the sport, one that I for one never really knew about. Apparently one of the rodeo cowboys had an "aha" moment a few years ago. The most popular part of rodeos was the bull riding. Young men would spend years roaming from rodeo to rodeo barely making a living, retiring broke in wallet and body. He thought that if they would just start a sport with just bull riding and go from venue to venue that there would be enough interest for there to be some serious cash. Think NASCAR with bulls and cowboys. Well he was right. The PBR is a very successful enterprise.

Kent brought home a brochure from work about a month ago. The PBR would be in Cincinnati on Oct 3 and 4, after the Elders returned to the cottage. We asked if they would like to go and the answer was a resounding yes. Yesterday, Mom asked Daddy if he was excited and he said "no." BUT, when we got to the arena and were working our way down the concourse to get to our aisle, Daddy was pushing his buggy as fast as his legs would carry him. I haven't seen him move so fast in a long time! We had great seats, 3 rows up from the floor of the arena. The only problem was a very steep staircase that had no handrails, but Daddy scampered down them and then back up at the end of the evening.

It was a late night by the time we arrived home. Kent had come straight from work so he and Mom rode home in the green pickup while I drove Daddy home in the Honda. We got home just in time to see Friday night's rides on the Versus channel.

New View

2008-09-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

Kent has decided that since the tree in June started a landscaping project he would finish it. Much against my wishes he has decided to take out all the cedar trees that previously blocked our southern view. For now, we can see directly into Mom and Daddy's yard. He has promised that he will replant evergreens back into that area before winter. We will see.

He had tied all the brush/slash into bundles and was dragging them out to the street when city workers came by and threw the two he had out on the curb into their truck. That filled up their load but they just came back and took all the rest of it away. The wind storm from two weeks ago has helped out as under normal circumstances your plant debris is your responsibility.

Treasures from the past

2008-09-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

When Kent has been home lately he has been doing cleanup work on the bushes next to the garage where the limb came down in June. He has accumulated a pile of old toys that got stuffed into the bushes over the years. Oh the memories!

We get to see number 2 child on Sunday for the Colts game. Number one has journeyed via a pass to see the boyfriend in Lansing. And Mom and Dad are suppose to be coming back down tomorrow.

YIKES! IT'S IKE!

2008-09-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

What was left if Ike blew through our area yesterday wrecking havoc on powerlines and trees. Schools are out in the whole area, leaving kids with nothing to do - no computers, tv or video games. They can't even go to the park as it is also closed, due to many trees down making it an unsafe place to play.

The dogs and I rode it out but I paced like Mom does in electrical storms. I couldn't figure out the best place to be in case one of our trees came down. We had sustained winds of 37mph and gusts to 50mph. There is a weather station at the Middle School which collected that information before they lost their power early in the afternoon.

Our digital camera is at the farm, so the above were taken with my camera phone. Two of them are from just down the street from us, one is from the park.

Seven years later

2008-09-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

Kent spent last night in New York City just like he did on the night of September 10th, 2001. This time his plane left NYC on time first thing this morning. Seven years ago he and his copilot were standing in line for Regis and Kelly tickets. It was his copilot's first time in the city and he wanted to go on the World Tower tour. Kent convinced him that the show was a better idea as the Tower tours happened pretty much everyday and of course the broadcast didn't. Thank God that he is a tv junkie and always is trying to get into tapings of shows. He has seen some of the strangest shows!

Starting School

2008-08-31T13:29:00.000-07:00

It's been 8 days since we accompanied J to Crawfordsville. He has been busy. The first days were spent taking placement tests, talking with his advisor, getting registered, etc. Classes started on Thursday. He tested out of several levels of Spanish and I think is already regretting that. He told us that the first class on Friday was the "worst 45 minutes of my life." He has pledged Kappa Sigma and is living in the fraternity house. (60% of the students are in fraternities) We will meet up at the Colts game on next Sunday night. We will be taking him a few things as he packed a bit light. His brothers couldn't beleive how little he brought-a footlocker, suitcase, and basket with sheets and mattress pad.

Meanwhile, K and I are dealing with living without other humans for the first time in 20 years. I have missed J tremendously at breakfast as that is when we would read the newspaper and exchange comments on articles, editorials, and some of the comics. K doesn't read the comics ever so now when I snort with laughter I have no one to ask me why I am amused. I plan on spending this fall redoing A's room (with her permission) into a sewing room and deep cleaning carpets, etc.

So, A is working in a group home for autistic boys. Her classes start on Tuesday and she will be working 2 weekends a month. She is moving this weekend into a house with several other girls. She has packed up her entire room of stuff and has it in her car and in the garage of her old house. She has a room in a new house but because the one moving isn't doing so until tomorrow A is basically without a room today.

Ringing of the Bell

2008-08-25T04:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a momentous day in our family - Jake started college. As some of our readers have learned, Wabash College is a very conservative old fashioned Liberal Arts school. Anyone who has ever watched an old "Little House on the Prairie" episode knows how school starts; the school teacher rings the bell to call the students into the schoolhouse. Wabash was established in 1832 and holds its traditions very high so it shouldn't surprise anyone to know that the young freshmen are officially the class of 2012 after the President rings them into the school.

http://www.wabash.edu/news/docs/2008%20Ringing%20In.mov

The ceremony took exactly 1 hour and featured 3 speakers. It was all very moving but hopefully 4 years from now when they graduate and are "rung out" of school they will have air conditioning in the Chapel. The day was warm-low 90s- and the building was at capacity-aprox. 1000. It was very warm to put it mildly.

So we finished the day listening to the Deans explain the rules of Wabash which can be stated in one sentence: Wabash men are expected to conduct themselves as gentlemen at all times, on campus and off. Thats it, pure and simple. No 1 inch book of conduct, no reams of rules. Just one.

Controversy

2008-08-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

While I was gone surveyors did their thing at the house that sits between the cottage and our house. The results are interesting to say the least. They have stakes and pins in the corners of the Behlmer lot that don't even come close to the where our survey (in 2001) shows the lines around our property.

A good time

2008-08-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

This has been a good time. It's the longest A and I have spent by ourselves (not counting her roommate who really doesn't react with us)pretty much doing nothing but having a good time. We did a little shopping, bought K shirts and me books. Have eaten out twice, Chinese and Thai. She is sewing a present for a pregnant friend if it turns out as nice as it is looking so far I expect that to become the A--- present for all couples expecting babies. She is sewing and talking to Nick on a headset in he room. The roomie has friends over and are watching a horror movie in the living room so I am on the back sunroom porch in the dark. There will be storm later tonight which they need for it is very dry. I am looking forward to it. It is absolutely beautiful here sunny but not too hot- 70s lower 80s, in the 50s at night. Reminds me so much of MI in the summer. I could live up here with no problem.

Renewed

2008-08-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

I'm up with Alix for several days as I act as her personel driver as she recovers from her laser surgery on her foot. Friday she said goodbye to her 3 year old "friend". Today we went to her church, the Mercy Vineyard. It followed much the same pattern as the B'ville Vineyard so I felt very comfortable. After the "sermon" we engaged in "worship" which was singing in a most awesome manner (at top of voice as was so loud knew no one else could hear me.) I could feel His power pour into me, a feeling I haven't felt in church in such a long time. Perhaps five years or since Larry came. I took communion during "How Great Thou Art" which sounds incredilble with drums, electric guitar and bass. I left feeling absolutely renewed in a way I haven't felt in forever. I have been relunctant to change churches because of Larry but I will no longer let my relationship with God take second place. Peace.

Waiting for the pot to boil

2008-08-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

We got back from our great family reunion/vacation to find the corn had come into it's own. Jake and I had our first ears last night. Right now I have a 3 gallon pail of cobs waiting for the water to boil. I will eat one and then start cutting off the kernals for the freezer and consumption later in the winter. The dogs kept me company while I shucked them under Lucy's tree. (So called as it is where Lucy hangs out when Kent is in the garden. He planted it 15 years ago but it is stunted and doesn't get any bigger.) While my back was turned Dusty helped herself to a full cob. She was one happy dog, corn milk and kernals all over her face. The tomatoes are looking good, now if they would only start to turn red. Everything is so far behind this year. we froze our first batch of corn last year on July 27, a full week earlier than I am doing this year.

cottage update

2008-07-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

What was it? The answer

2008-07-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

So on Sunday just before noon Kent was finishing up the clearing of the "slash" (the branches and small limbs of the tree debris) from the front yard so it wouldn't kill the grass. He came in the house hollering that a branch had fell on him. As I ran toward him, blood was streaming down his face. After leaning him over the sink and pouring water on his head, I gave him a clean hand towel, got my keys and said get in. After argueing with me for a few moments he got in and off to Urgent Care we went. An hour, and 6 stitches later we were on our way home. When we got home he showed me the branch and it was not very big as branches go. So my instinct to keep the kids in the house when the wind was blowing and a limb might come down was probably a good one! The doctor asked me if I wanted to see the wound beofre they stitiched it up. He lifted the "flap" caused by the half moon shape and it was pretty deep and really gross. It is healing well and the stitches come out in a week.

What is it?

2008-07-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

More flowers

2008-06-30T18:22:00.001-07:00

Flowers

2008-06-30T18:17:00.001-07:00

It is day lily time in Indiana. These are some from the backyard.

Doin's at the cottage

2008-06-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

The new garage is coming along at the cottage. The old one is gone and the new one is being laid out. Jerry is hoping to start on the new floor tomorrow.

Update

2008-06-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

Kent got home at 8:00am on Thursday. He spent his entire day cutting up the branch and clearing brush so I could get a car out of the garage. On Friday he left at 6:00am for a two day trip. When he returned on Saturday he continued to work on the tree. Today a friend picked up most of the wood.

YUM!

2008-06-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

PS

2008-06-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

We have been hearing a creaking noise from the tree in the previous blog. It was on our agenda to take down. Now I guess we won't dither about it! TG

TREE

2008-06-25T14:10:00.001-07:00

Doings at the Cottage

2008-06-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

While the Elders visit kith and kin out west their cottage is getting some new appendages. First a better porch for their back door. It is wide enough to keep the ice off of the step so there will be less chance of falling. Second they are getting a new 2 car garage. It will be as long as the house is wide. In the new space will be a second bathroom, a laundry area and some storage.

Should I wait?

2008-06-24T15:25:00.001-07:00

Awh the wisdom of planting those two tomato plants behind the garage! If Kent doesn't get home soon he won't get the first BLT!

Fruit of the Season

2008-06-24T14:17:00.002-07:00

Way back a couple months ago we decided to plant a couple big tomato plants behind the garage so we would have early tomatoes. The wisdom of that decision is evident in the pictures posted here. About the middle of May we bought 15 of the most beautiful plants from the farmers market. But because we were having record setting rainfall amounts they didn't go into the ground until May 29th. It continued to rain and it wasn't until last Saturday June 14th that Kent was able to till again and hill them up so they won't be sitting in water if it continues to be very wet. They are so stunted that who knows when we will get tomatoes from them. The 2nd picture is what our dirt looks like when it has finally dried out from standing water. (Our county is one of many in Indiana that has been declared a
federal diaster zone. Of course our water woes pale in comparison to those along the rivers.) Mom's plants are in a raised bed so even though they have been planted only since the first week of June they are much taller and more lush. Their pepper plants are also in much better shape; two of them have little peppers on them already. The one that looks like a Jalapeno but the name of it is "Fooled You". It is a non hot Jalapeno!

a Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Philmont

2008-06-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

Our guys' trip to Philmont (the great wilderness BS camp in New Mexico) was suppose to start at 4:00am today with an auto trip to the Amtrak station in Indy, then to Chicago on the train. Once in Shytown they would connect to a train that would traverse IOWA on it's journey to New Mexico. Yesterday afternoon our Scoutmaster Bill received a phone call from Amtrack announcing that the reservations were canceled as the tracks were washed out in IOWA. By 3:00 an alternate had been found: it entailed getting 15 Scouts and adult leaders and their full kit (large hiking type backpacks) to St. Louis by 8:00am today. Once there they would board a train that would connect in Kansas City to a train leaving at 11:00pm.

Sidenote: Yesterday was the start of our Music and Art festival. The first event was a 5K run/walk at 5:30pm which all three of us were signed up for. Kent arrived from the farm just in time to get the message from Bill. We finished getting all of Jake's stuff rounded up and headed for the park and our run/walk. Jake came in at 22 something minutes, Kent 37 something (he pulled his calf muscle) and me at 40:11. Not so hot , huh. BUT this was only the 2nd time I have "run" a 5k and I took 5 minutes off from the first one. As soon as I finished we headed home for showers then a meeting at 7:00 at the scout cabin to nail down the plan. It was decided that we would leave for St. Louis at 10, after the symphony. So at 10:30pm we headed out, 15 Philmont bound individuals and 6 drivers in 3 vehicles. (All the drivers had been up since morning and we wanted two each to spell them as it is a 300 mile drive in each direction.)

About halfway there we pulled into a rest stop. All was going well and we switched drivers. But when we started to pull out the big van with almost all the backpacks and 6 Philmont bound individuals started spraying brake fluid. After an hour of working on it the other 2 vans took off for St. Louis with the intent of dropping off crew and packs and returning for the rest of the party. Fortunately the van was fixed and running about 30 minutes behind us over to St. Louis. We found the train station unloaded, said our goodbyes and headed for home. It has been a long time since I was so tired. Kent got us out of St. Louis and then I drove for about 90 minutes. When I stopped Kent was so sound asleep that I crawled into the back and passed out. sometime later he took off and at 9:00am pulled into a Bob Evans in Terre Haute. We ate, then I finished the 2 hours home. That afternoon we were watching the flood coverage and realized we had been driving next to flooded fields. The coverage was all from St. Louis and East St. Louis. I guess our timing was pretty good.

That afternoon Jake called from the train. Click here for the video http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1155270018/bclid1155224715/bctid1618642083 They were stopped because the train had hit a truck! He did eventually arrive at Philmont and is out on the trail as of Sunday.

And I was chewing on a honeysuckle vine*

2008-06-14T09:51:00.000-07:00

*Jimmy Buffett is absolutely one of my favorite singer/songwriters. Too many people think that all his songs are like Margaritaville. He has albums of the most thoughtful songs, romantic, funny, ironic.

I've recently really ramped up my daily exercise, so much so that Dusty doesn't come running at the announcement of a walk. I have tried to be considerate and have moved the 5k to the morning when it is cool. With the additional milage that my feet were putting on it became clear that I needed new shoes. The new ones are like walking on air. (I hope Carrie is putting some serious miles on her feet this year as she gears up for the 3-Day. I couldn't believe how bad my feet felt after going from 1 mile a day to 4.) It has finally dried out enough that Kent and I have been able to do our lap through Bruns Woods. Everyday has its special moments, the last few days it has been the scent of honeysuckle lingering in the air. In a couple weeks there will be blackberries by the bucketful; all the rain has made them plentiful this year.

I Knew It

2008-06-08T17:59:00.000-07:00

Church was eye-opening today. We have had our current Pastor for 5 years this month. It has been a rocky 5 years with members of the church having to chose to stay with their "church family" regardless of it's dysfunction or bail to another church or sadder yet, to no church at all. The first year Larry was here we had a new directory, then again 18 months ago. The difference in the membership was remarkable.

According to Larry we have received 75 new members since he took over. No mention is ever made of those who no longer attend. But today our Financial Director laid out a case for increasing our giving. "In the last 4-5 years we have gone from 161 giving units to 112." Well there you go. So where are all those "new members"? We had 65 people in church today. More than 90% were leftovers from before, people (like us) who have refused to abandon our church, who manage to listen to the message and don't think about the person delivering it. So where are all these new people who don't attend, don't give and don't volunteer?

Larry is his own worst enemy. Kent has put it the best: "If he could drive in on Sunday morning, give his sermons, leave and let an associate Pastor do all the rest, it might work." One word used by many different and disparate people is "arrogant". He actually went to the Trustees for $6k for him and his wife to travel on the next High School trip to Germany as chaperons. He wanted the trustees to take the money from an endowment fund that is earmarked for children. Besides being totally an outrageous request, the man doesn't have any rapport with children or teenagers.

Excitiemnt Reigns

2008-05-28T05:55:00.000-07:00

Excitement reigns here in the 'ville. Jake is offically an alumni of BHS having moved the tassle from left to right last Saturday. Alix had come down on Thursday via Chicago. (ie she flew to Chicago and got rapid transit in to Oak Park where she and Sam hung out for 5 hours, then caught the train into the city where she spent the night with Chelsie. Then Thursday evening, Chelsie, Peter (C.'s boyfriend) and Alix drove down to B'ville. Grad went off without a hitch on Saturday at 11:00. Was glad we weren't doing anything except other people's open houses. Kent had been on a trip and missed the ceremony much to his unhappiness. He arrived at Taylor's party and Alix hearing his voice leapt up with, "That's my Daddy!" and gave him a big old hug.

We have spent this week getting ready for our big doings this weekend - Jake's Court of Honor, and the party that will follow at the house. Alix was suppose to leave on Monday but the thought of going home to an empty house with all her friends gone for the summer or at least the weekend overwhealmed her and she stayed here.

So we got to hear first hand when she checked her email yesterday at lunch and found out that she has been offically accepted into the fashion design program at UMN. We are so proud of them both as they both!

Another First

2008-05-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

Well I guess I can balance my life between "lasts" and "first". Or I should say balance our lives between Jake's "firsts and lasts." He scored a new first yesterday. We got up a bit early so we could all go over to our poll and vote. As we walked up to the door the candidates that were present shook our hands and asked if this was Jake's first time, he grinned and said yes. "Well vote early and often 'til you get it right!" one of them said.

Jake spent the rest of the day campaigning for a local woman who was running for the Indiana Senate. Unfortunately her district is in Franklin County so we didn't get to vote for her. Jake has helped her before when she was running a campaign for our Senator (US)2 years ago. Anyway she won! Which is so cool as the retiring Senator had endorsed her opponent. Jake said her Democratic opponent is unlikely to require much effort to beat. He is hoping she wins as he would like to be an intern during college.

Once again

2008-05-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

Once again I've come to the "last one" in our lives. Today was the last Concert Band performance for Jake and the other 11 seniors. It was awesome! I am so glad that we got at least one year of the new regime. I really liked Mr. Norton but Mr. Kruse is just so wonderful. I became aware of Adam when he was a freshman or sophmore (late 90s). The English teacher that year required her students to do an entry for the Voice of Democracy contest. Kent put in Adam's tape and almost fell over as a tape that wasn't suppose to have music or sound effects almost blasted him out of the room. I quizzed Adam on it lately and he admitted his whole purpose was to knock an old man on his ass as he didn't enjoy being required to do an entry. We were at a booster's meeting one night when we were recalling stuff and I told Adam that he had been a complete shit in High School and he agreed. He was such a stand out performer in the plays and musicals while in high school, almost the golden age while we have been here. Many of us have talked about it and we all agree that this year's "Joseph" has finally equalled that run in the mid 90s t0 '01.

New experience

2008-05-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

This morning both Jake and I had a new experience, he ran in a mini marathon and I ran in a 5K. I have walked a 5K many times, whenever Kent and I do our Bruns Woods walk that is easily over 5k.

Kent and Jake were suppose to do the mini together but the job got in the way. We both enjoyed ourselves very much and plan to do it again next year.

We parked in a lot right next to the Dome which is right across the street from the new stadium. My gosh is that a huge structure.

Spring

2008-04-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Someone once asked Ernest Hemingway how did he write his stories. He stated that first I have to clean the refriderator. I am in that mode today, my house desperately needs to be cleaned, yet here I sit at the computer!

We are having one of those freaky spring days, dropped down from the high 60s/70s to frost this morning. Had to cover the 2 tomatoe plants we bought to get early 'maters from. We have them in a sunny south location so they should flourish if they don't freeze tonight.

We have had a beauitul spring. It's been colder than usual so the spring bulbs have lasted forever. I think the tulips have been blooming since Easter. The azaleas are getting ready to bloom, the lilacs are blooming and so is the virbenaum. The later has the most fagarent smell. Just drifts on the breezes.

A Full Weekend

2008-04-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

This has been one of those go at full throttle weekends, or at least Friday and Saturday were. Thursday night Jake came home from play practice with the information that We were hosting Saturday night's cast party. We have been telling him it was okay to invite people over so couldn't really object. So Friday kent and I spent cleaning the loft and straightening up the garage which we have been doing anyway. We worked until 5:00 on Friday, got cleaned up and took Mom and Dad to the VFW (they treated) for dinner then off to the school for the first night of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. They produced this musical when Alix was in 9th grade and she had a small part. Jake was Reuban, one of the 12 sons of Jacob. This musical is reknown for being produced different everytime it is done. This time around
Reuban had an entire song to sing and Jake did an absolutely marvelous job of it. I can't count the number of people who came up to me to say what a good job he did and they didn't know he could sing so well. Well, frankly we didn't either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uZxwJd7JxY

Update

2008-04-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

Back in January I talked about working at the spagetti supper to earn money for Jake's Music Boosters account. Last week the Singers went to Chicago on a 4 day event. I didn't have to give the third payment as Jake had $260.00 in his account. All of that was earned working 2 events, Summerfest (I planned and bought all the food and worked all day) and the Spagetti Supper.

Everytime we have events like the Supper and Summerfest it is a nightmare to get volunteers. If they would only realize how much money they can make for their kids' accounts by going beyond "show up for a 2 hour shift" mode.

Eagle Scout!

2008-04-10T06:08:00.001-07:00

Last night was a landmark in our household, Jake attained the rank of Eagle Scout. This is an honor that is hard to achieve and few young men manage to do it. Since Scouting started in 1912 only 1.5 million young men have attained the rank. Jake joins the legion of such men as Sam Walton, Ozzie Nelson, Neil Armstrong and John Tesh.

Jake joined the troop in January of 2003 as a 7th grader. He turned 13 shortly afterwards. Many of our troop's Eagles have been earned by young men who started scouting at 11 years of age. They usually attain the rank as 15-17 year olds and then quit scouts shortly thereafter. Because Jake stayed active in the troop he has provided leadership to the younger scouts that previous Eagles have not. Our current Scoutmaster is so high on Jake and his leadership that it almost makes a parent blush.

This has been a good month for the boy. First he was accepted at his first choice school - an extremely prestigious selective all male college, then he scored 2/3 of the cost of attendance with a merit based scholarship. Now Eagle - life is good.

Misc.

2008-04-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

Just a catch up blog to bring you all up to speed on things here in Indiana.

Daddy fell again last week next to his pickup in the back. He tripped and fell. No bruises that I know about. I had to lift him up by his belt.
Kent is home. He spent March in ATL going thru training for a new plane, the 737-800. This plane goes all over, South America, West Coast, etc. He already loves it.
Mom and Daddy are pretty close to putting the Gaylord house on the market. The roof still leaks around the chimney so that has to be addressed. Mom was worried about the market up there but someone pointed out that you don't HAVE to sell it for less than asking if you're not in a hurry. They are settling in here very well. The cottage has been improved tremendously.
Mom has continued to walk with us in the morning around the park (1 mile). Both Mom and Daddy walk around the block (1/3 mile) with the me and the dogs in the afternoon. Daddy has been able to do the walk the last few days without stopping to rest.
Jake took 4 tests over 2 days at Wabash trying to win some Merit based scholarship money. We got a letter on Monday that gave us the great news that he had earned scholarships that will pay for about 2/3s of tuition and housing. He tested in the top 10% of the students on the Physics test and 7/25 were on a subject his Physics class hasn't studied yet.

archeologist

2008-03-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

We have had a computer armoire for many years now. We bought a "mis-assembled" one at a Romweber sale at least 12 years ago. It has housed a computer, software instructions, school supplies, printer and paper, speakers, modem and router, etc. Since it's latest inhabitant has finally died I have been cleaning it out. It will eventually go away as it is quite large and we really don't need it anymore. I am looking for a small table/console to house the printer and supplies and then when we need to print just hook up whichever laptop to it. At least that is my hope. In the course of cleaning I have unearthed some memories, mostly good ones. I found an old file folder I used to use to keep paperwork for the kids organized. It still had some old artwork and report cards in it. I shredded the one that said we needed to schedule a visit with Alix's advisory teacher in 7th grade. The spring of Alix's 7th grade was the pinnacle of her teen angst. Fortunately for all of us a guardian angel stepped in and introduced Connie into our lives. I can credit all that is good in Alix to Connie and her Bible Study.

So in addition to that type of personal stuff, I found a list of the projects, furniture and appliances purchases that Kent and I decided we needed to do the first year (1991-92) we lived in this house:

1)sidewalk in front of house and up to front door (done in the spring of 1993)
2)flat roof on kitchen, porch and bedroom (done in summer of 92 after massive leaking)
3)furnace (still haven't done it - furnace is original but has no moving parts so will live forever)
4)landscaping (done in two projects the first in 1993 the rest in spring of 1999)
5)lawn tractor (spring of 93) actually still have the original but now have a 0 turn mower too
6)sidewalk (rest of it) I think we did that in 2000
7)Garage (started in the fall of 2001 finished the exterior in spring of 02, spent the next few years finishing the interior)
8)armoire for dining room (scratched off the list as unneeded)
9)2 wing back chairs (ditto)
10)console table (ditto)
11)cabinet for Family room (to house equipment currently on 1980 entertainment center) still waiting and with the change in tvs probably won't ever get
12)bedframe (bought at Romwebers at the same time as computer armoire)
13)electrical (Kent has done most of this, all that he can reach -all of ground floor and basement-unfortuantely for us the previous owners did not upgrade all of the wires that were reachable when they remodeled the master bedroom and bathroom. If we ever rip into the 2nd floor walls it will all be upgraded - when we moved in the entire first floor, except the kitchen, was on one circuit)
14)kitchen table and chairs (the old kitchen was long and narrow - bought a table in 95 have since traded with the farm and have the old drop leaf table I had longed for - couldn't believe it when Ellen called me up and asked to trade!)
15)computer and armoire (!)

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

2008-03-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

We are part of the midwest flooding currently going on. We received 5 inches of rain in less than 24 hours on top of already saturated ground. Our yard was underwater for several days, our basement is still wet. To go into the yard, for instance to cut down last year's asparagus fronds, you really should have boots on. (We did.) The yard is like walking on a wet sponge, but if you would walk in our rice paddy of a garden you would sink to your knees. Mr. Wentz our neighbor to the west has his sump pump set up and draining the water out of his yard. When I took Alix to the airport on Thursday am we went down HWY 1 which winds down the hills towards Lawrenceburg. About 5 miles out of L. we ground to a halt behind a string of traffic that stretched as far as the eye could see. After setting there worried about the time clicking away we found a driveway and turned around. I saw a hospital sign pointing off down this little track of a road and not wanting to return 10 miles back to the interstate and still have 19 miles to go to get to where these roads meet I took a chance and went for it. We wound around 90 degree turns and 25mph speed limits for about 10 minutes before we dropped into the west side of Lawrenceburg, popped onto HWY 50 and drove 5 miles to the aforementioned intersection. There was no traffic coming from HWY 1 at all making the turnaround a great idea. After dropping her off I stayed on I-275 which loops around several river basins. First of all the Ohio River was at least 3 miles out of its banks on the east side of the road. Then a little bit further there was water to the left side of the road where I have never seen it before. The picture is from the Cincinnati Enquirer's front page today. I think that one of the roads you can see in the distance is 275.

Oh My!

2008-03-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

Jake should really be writing about his week, but if he does I won't know about it so here is what our last 7 days have been like.

Last Monday and Tuesday saw Jake and the B'ville Singers having their annual Dinner Show which showcases their competition show and about 15 solos/ensembles. Also going on was the makeup Regional Basketball games which B'ville ended up winning. So anybody in the music program was booked both days as the whole band played as a pep band during the playoffs.

Wednesday the RAA brought in the Glen Miller Orchestra for a concert.  The RAA paid for a jazz
clinic for the whole band during 4th block. That night before the GMO performed the Jazz Band (the Sportscoat Jazz Explosion) warmed up the crowd in the lobby of the school.

Thursday was the all day Ripley County Music Festival. Jake was gone from 7:30am until 9:00pm.

Friday was another clinic with a great jazz saxophone musician and then another concert. This was their annual library sponsored concert which features a guest musician who conducts a clinic with the band during the afternoon. As usual the commons at the Middle School was full and the concert was great.

Saturday saw the band attending another bb game, semi state which we lost by 4 points.

Now for the rest of the story:

Jake and I left home on Friday am at 7:30 to attend the first day of Wabash's Honor Scholarship weekend where he took 4 tests over 2 days in hopes to earn some money to pay for the school. At 4:00 when he was done with his 2nd test we booked for home (110 miles) so Jake could participate in the concert. When it was over we zoomed right back so he could spend the night in his assigned fraternity. I went to a motel as I had to be at the regional DI competition at 7:30 am about 45 miles away.

He took his remaining 2 tests on Saturday am then socialized and had fun the rest of the day.  I had a great time doing
"prep area appraiser" and then helping hand out the awards.  I got back to Crawfordsville at 8:00. pm. We got back to B'ville just in time to meet Kent and A for lunch at our local Mexican restaurant.

Priceless

2008-02-07T12:49:00.001-08:00

Another perspective

2008-02-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

Jake and I finally met someone not from the Northeast who wished that the Patriots had won. He explained himself this way: I wanted the Pats to win and shut up Mercury Morris and his whole 'my neighborhood' crap. The gentleman speaking was of an age to have been an adult football fan in 1972. Maybe we will sound like in him in 36 years!

I love my brother-in-law very much, he really is my third brother. I know he is recovering from the shock of losing on Sunday. He has my highest regards.

However, my neice, nephews and their spouses (on the west coast with no affiliation with the cursed Pats) who chose to cheer for the Patriots, YOU are cut out of the will!

Schadenfreuden

2008-02-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

Apparently there is nothing unique about going 18-1. Two other teams have done so, but their #18 was a win in the Super Bowl. The sports analysts are saying that the Patriots did not lose the game, the Giants won it. Small difference in semantics but true in the football sense of the words. The Pats had done what they do, gone ahead with very little time left on the clock. It was up to the Giants and Eli to step up and win it and they took the challenge and ran with it! The Pats went from being the "Best Team to Ever Play" to a fire hydrant in the dog park in the space of less than 3 minutes.

Enter Arlen Specter who is opening a Senate Hearing on the whole "Spygate" episode and life couldn't be much better.

WHOO-HOO! 18-1

2008-02-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

Tonight all is well in B'ville. When the Colts were knocked out of the play-offs it was a shock. I was in mourning for at least 4 days. Then having to decide who to root for now came into play. Green Bay of course because of Farve, and NEVER the Patriots. So when it turned out to be the Giants vs. the Patriots it was an easy call. The Giants had a Manning and they were playing the Patriots. What is that old saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend? But none of us really thought that the Giants could really pull it off.

Game Day-we had our neighbors Andy and MaryJo and Jake's friends, Andrew and Beck over to watch the game. We all had a great time with food, barley pops, root beer and wine. The loft was a rock'n. What a great game-especially the sacks! I'm betting it will be the best ratings ever - big market teams and that whole perfect season crap plus a close game all the way through. When the Giants went ahead we were stoked, then the final few minutes - victory!

At less then a minute the camera zoomed in on a Giants Super Bowl Victory Hat. The offical holding it was also holding the equilivent Patriots Victory Hat. Did you know that all the "incorrect clothing" (that with the wrong champion) is immediately bundled away and donated to far-away charities, like those in Africa.

So with "our team" having won, lets turn to the commercials. All of us loved the Godfather themed car commercial early in the game. We also all loved the Bud Horse commercial with the "Rocky" theme. I personally always love the Clydesdale commercials.

Catching up with the "ville

2008-01-29T19:40:00.000-08:00

So last Friday night was the Band Booster's Spaghetti Supper with music provided by the "Sportscoat Jazz Explosion". When you work it, provide a salad or dessert or are a member of the Jazz band you receive points. When the it is all over the number of points earned is divided into the profit and your band account is credited with your earnings. I spent 2.5 hours on Thursday chopping the vegetables for the Veggie sauce (minus the 15 lbs of onions which was done by MaryK), 2 hours on Friday morning helping make the sauce for 600 servings, then spent 7 hours at the school from 1:30 to 8:30 getting ready for and then actually working at the supper. I came home very tired and happy this was my very last one. I thought back and I think this was my 10th supper. Alix was in Band in 6th grade and my best friends had older kids in Band that year and would have asked for volunteer help in this new (its been going on for 11 years now) endeavor.

Our weather has been on a roller coaster. Last week we were in single digits, today it was 50. Right now it is dropping like a stone and should be in the 20s or lower in the morning. The wind is blowing 30-50 mph with gusts much higher. Today the reservoir had much open water and it was quiet. On Saturday the ice was groaning as I walked around the reservoir.

Kent has a 4:15 wakeup call in the morning. I will wake him up, go back to bed and then check the tv at 6:30 for school closings before I get Jake up.

Solitude

2008-01-16T06:33:00.000-08:00

Mom and Daddy having gone back to Michigan last Saturday and Kent at therapy this morning, I was alone with the dogs as we did our routine walk. I had the park to myself, the dogs and the squirrels. It was cold, there was a skim of ice over 95% of the water and the sky was that wintery grey, pale blue that is so distinctive. As I marched along I thought as nice as it is to have conversation while we walk its not so bad to be able to walk along and think about stuff. I thought of many things, one of which was I hoped my brother enjoyed his Tony Dungy signed book that he finally(!) received.

Today Alix is leaving to go back to school. This time at home has been good. She fit back into our lives a bit smoother than last year. Hopefully this coming and going will get to be routine and not as wrenching as it is right now.

Today also holds Mom's latest cat scan. We will all pray that it remains clear and she can continue with her healing.

Finally Fall

2007-11-08T06:36:00.000-08:00

The weather is finally appropriate for the season. After a 5 month drought we finally got some rain in October. Apparently the trees decided not to drop leaves now that they had water to use for photosynthesis. Here it is a week into Nov and most of our leaves are still green even though we've had temps in the low 30s.

We've had a hawk in our neighborhood for over a month now. One day he even sat on Mom and Dad's bird feeder for several minutes giving us a good long stare. Yesterday as I crossed the yard after our walk I saw 2 hawks in our front yard. They swooped around a bit then flew off to the trees at Liberty Park. With all the bird feeders around this neighborhood they will have plenty of prey to eat. If they would only eat the Grackles instead of the song birds! Or the rabbits of which we have an abundance

Last Saturday was Eagle Project day. It was a bit chilly to start with but got nicer as the day progressed. We had 29 helpers who worked a total of 149 hours to get the project completed. It being a picnic shelter in the little park down the street from our house. It is the original park for the city and is used mostly by the kids in the apartment building across the street. The tables serve as a lunchroom for workers from the factory on the other side of the street.

Rambles from the "ville

2007-10-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

Last night was Jake's last cross-country meet. He decided last spring to give it a try and spent the summer running to get in shape for it. He's not the fastest person but put in decent enough times to be proud of - last night's was 22:10, for 5K. It was one of the hilliest courses but the weather was beautiful - finally a day in the low 80s.

It had been 6 years and slightly less than a month since I had been at that school to see a race run. Alix did cross-country all the way through middle school and there was a meet there on September 13th, 2001. I can remember it like it was yesterday. That same brilliant blue sky as the 11th's. The sky was completely clear, not a cloud, not a contrail, not a plane. This school, South Dearborn, sits right below one of the flight paths into the Cincinnati airport. That day, long ago, there were no planes flying anywhere in the US. They were all grounded. Kent was in NYC, hoping to get out soon. And everywhere flags flew in defiance to the hurt that had come our way two days before.

Eventually Kent got out of NYC. In fact he was the captain on the first Delta jet to leave the city. We have pictures he took from the cockpit as they flew out. It took several more days for him to get home. When they landed in Atlanta their jet which was suppose to come back to CVG went somewhere else and they had to wait for another one. He was a really welcome sight to see when he finally got out of his truck.

Last night our teams did real well. It was a sectional so there were 12 schools there. The Varsity boys came in first, the Varsity girls came in 2nd and the JV boys came in first. (The JVs won't go on to regionals so Jake is done.)

2007-09-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

I got back from Minneapolis Sunday afternoon. Alix and I left B'ville on Thursday at noon and arrived at her apartment on Friday at 10:00am after spending the night at I-90. (I was glad I could fly home instead of driving back, my back is still killing me from sitting so long.) We quickly unloaded her car, even though it was completely packed but couldn't start putting things away until her roommate arrived as they hadn't settled about who got what room. One was bigger with a small closet, the other smaller with a huge closet. All the apartment had in it when we arrived was a chair we had bought at a St Vinnie's during orientation. By the time I was home from the airport on Sunday, Alix said everything including the kitchen stuff had been put away. Her room is still a bit messy as her desk (a 5 ft folding table from Staples) will be delivered on Tuesday so her printer, etc is still laying around cluttering her floor. She had found an antique brass bed on Craigslist so after buying a new mattress set on Friday afternoon we slept comfortably. The quilted duvet I (finally) got done looked nice on her bed, but then we put it away until it gets cold. She is using the quilt I made for her bed when she was a baby as her covers right now. I told her that her room reminded me of an apartment in Paris!

Her roommate, Dave, is as nice as I thought he was. He brought so much stuff! He bought the living room furniture off of Craigslist and it is really a bit big for the room but it is very comfortable. and his bedroom is as dark as her's is light. I met both his parents and step Dad, they seemed nice also.

It seems like we spent an awful lot of time driving around Minneapolis. Fortunately for us, we had given Alix a GPS unit in May to help her navigate Indianapolis, so we mostly were okay. But we had to be alert whenever we went north or west to make sure it didn't try to route us over the BRIDGE. By Sunday I (at least) was becoming familiar with some of the routes.

We did a lot of "shopping" on Craigslist. What a wonderful tool that is for poor students wishing to furnish housing as cheap as possible. In the entire apartment the only new stuff (other than the "Kitchen in a Box" that Dave brought) was Alix's mattress set, dresser and Dave's bed frame and mattress.

Minneapolis is 11 hours away according to Mapquest, but it seems closer than Marquette. Mostly because we can get there by plane. Kent is already planning a visit in a couple weeks, at her request, and he is to take some tools. I think we are going to like having her there.

PIctures of Apartment - Read the previous blog first.

2007-08-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

The U

2007-08-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

Have had a busy week. Last Friday, Jake and I drove up to Oak Park. We had planned a weekend with the ChiNussies back in June. As it worked out this was just the beginning! Jake found that his favorite band had a concert date just north of Oak Park on Friday the 10th so he and a friend chummed along with me. Meanwhile Kent had driven up to see his sister at the Farm and give her the cornhole set* he had made for her last year after she enjoyed playing it so much at Alix's graduation party. He met us in Oak Park on Friday afternoon. AND Alix got notice about the middle of July that her orientation for the University of Minnesota would be at 7:30 Monday the 13th in Minneapolis. So Jake and Taylor left for Batesville Saturday afternoon and Kent and I picked up Alix at the airport. The next morning we put Kent on the plane on our way past the airport on our way northwest to Minneapolis.

She had also recently been given the news that there would be no on-campus housing for her. So looking for a roommate and an apartment was on the top of her to do list. After culling through numerous listings she had a few possible apartments and a possible roommate. She asked if we would freak if she shared an apartment with a guy. Well I have met him and he is very nice. We met up with David about an hour before an appointment to see one of the few possible apartments. Alix was very clear with him that her budget was no more than $500 so it only being several weeks before school the pickings were limited. We saw one apartment in their price range which came equipped with a homeless man (w/ shopping cart) and a mold problem. Then we met up with Judith who attempted to show them the listing that had caught their eye for being reasonably priced and close to school. It turned out that she didn't have the right key and that apartment was only 4 blocks away from the BRIDGE. We saw it on our way to look at more listings with Judith. We saw a cute attic. Cute but small. It would have worked but they probably would have killed each other before Christmas.

Then she showed us the house next door! Wow, I kept giving David the thumbs up sign. I have never seen such a nice apartment being shown to students. When we were in school, old house apartments were common but they were like slums. The minimum upkeep for the maximum rent. All hardwood floors, high ceilings (with ceiling fans) new appliances, a glassed in porch at both doors, hard wired smoke detectors. The landlord pays for all utilities except electric. Judith had told us he paid for that too, so David negotiated that the maximum their electric bill would be was $50, then Daniel would pay the rest. It is half a block from a bus stop and only 10-15 minutes on the bus to campus.

Alix has moved home from Indy today. She is so excited about this apartment that she has already bought plain muslin to make simple curtains for the windows. She is out in the sewing room ironing the fabric!

*That IS the name of the game so no snickering from the peanut gallery.

What corn?

2007-08-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

With the excitements of last week now winding down, things should go back to normal one of these days. Jake is off at "singer's camp". He tried out for and made it in to "Batesville Singers" our high school premier choir. Today is his second day of 'camp' - it is mostly a getting to know you and team building time. Then he will run his daily cross-country practice. Kent will be home some time tonight and he will be expecting some fresh salsa. The ingredients await on the cupboard, all I need is some ambition. I am hoping that my lack of energy can be traced to the infection my body must have been fighting for awhile. Hopefully as I heal my energy levels will come back and I will feel like doing things like clean the house and weed the flower beds. (Neither of these rate real high on my give a shit list right now.)

The excitement of last week came with a high price, no corn was planted. I really don't think that there is time now to get it off before the first frost. He has a lot to do tomorrow and Saturday is booked already too.

Saturday is Jake's fundraiser for his Eagle project. It will be a car wash (free will donation) from 12-4 behind the Memorial Building. We are hoping for a good turnout. His project - a picnic shelter in the little park close to our home - is estimated to cost $1600. That's a lot of cars!

Saturday is also a race day for him. The local area high schools have a 5 race circuit through July and August that raises money for each school and gives local athletes some races to train for. He seems to enjoy running which is good. Running being one of those sports you can do just about anywhere, any when, with any who.

Well, Kent liked the salsa, after amending the seasoning. He and Jake had a munch down at 10:30 last night. I made about a quart so there will some to freeze after he gets done with the salt shaker and red hot sauce!

Just thoughts on last week

2007-07-30T04:04:00.000-07:00

The events of last week are already blurring; drugs, pain and an inability to process all the stimuli contributing I am sure. In the emergency room: kept asking where it hurt. What I told them wasn't the 'right' answer. It wasn't where you have pain in a heart attack OR gallbladder attack. But I am sorry, I was feeling it where I have always felt that pain, on my far left under the rib cage, but not UP under it. They kept telling me that I was baffling them. Blood pressure: when I went in, was some ridiculous number like 217/134. They gave me nitro to open the arteries; both for a heart attack and stroke. They must have also given me massive does of blood pressure lowering meds as the days following it was never above 100. I think on Wednesday night it was 80/50. Asked if I had reactions to meds, said no. Made me drink a bottle and whatever else I could get down out of some kind of fluid. Nasty. Took me down for a cat scan @ 9:00pm Tuesday went alright, all the normal feelings associated with one. Came back to ER and immediately started having an asthma attack. Asked for albuterol twice. Answer: the Doctor has to order it. Then came a "treatment." Had forgot how scary it is to feel your lungs filling up with fluid, each breath becoming more labored. After that was under control they took me up to a room, single thank God. The night was still full of interruptions but I didn't mind them. I hope I was a good patient. Even when they asked if I had to go to the toilet and I said no. Then I thought about how long it would take to unplug me and she was here now, I said I would try. Couldn't believe how much was there, but 'didn't have to go.'
Got back from the surgeons a little while ago. He took out the drain which was an experience in itself. But the pain only lasted a few seconds but whew! Asked what my white count had been. when I went in it was 11,000 and started me on antibiotics right away. Later it was 13,000 which even I noticed as drugged as I was that it had gone UP. He told me it had gotten to 17,000 which is when he knew I would have a date with him soon. Asked him how big a gallbladder is and how big mine was. A normal gallbladder is thumb sized, mine was as big as the palm of his hand. So the pictures we have of it are about life sized. Amazing! Thank the Lord for good hospitals and the great people who staff them.

Life in the Wind Tunnel

2007-07-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

Today when I went to take my "meds induced" - read (2) 500 vicoden pain pills- nap I told my husband that on pain of death he was not to turn down either of the fans that were blowing on me in the family room. The ac was on to a comfortable 72 degrees for everyone else but that is on the warm side for me. As NO ONE wants me to dress any skimpier than I have been the solution is to put the ceiling fan on and then posistion a fan to directly blow on me.

Just when I think I am about through the big M, a new height of hot flashes hit. Someday....

Rails to rails

2007-07-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

When we moved here 15 years, 51 weeks and 5 days ago we were told by our realtor that the railroad tracks that are slightly more than 2 blocks from our house "would never see another train." In fact the railroad company that owned them had been bankrupt for years and the next step would be converting them to "rails to trails." Several more years went by with no trains. The most exclusive subdivision built houses right up to the railroad right of way and sold those houses with the added feature of having a bike trail right off your property.

Then some company bought the defunct railroad and started using it again. Not much, not often but trains were running again. In the time that the trains didn't run there had been no upkeep of the rails. Since the time that trains have been running again there has been almost no upkeep. The railroad crossings have been maintained but the ties are rotten and actually missing in many places.

Fast forward to now. As you may recall Honda is building a new plant 18 miles to our west. One of the selling points was an existing railroad (!) to haul supplies in and cars out. One of my friends, whose brother is a train nut and knew all about the improvements, had told me quite some time ago that the rails would be upgraded to a 40 mph rail. But time had gone by with no sign of any improvements on the way. Then one day when coming home from the park, Kent and I noticed that the rails had orange hash marks on them. The marks were no further than 4 feet apart, and some were much closer. I meant to get a picture of them the next day but forgot to take the camera. Several days passed and I vowed that tomorrow would be picture day. The next day with camera in pocket and dogs on leashes I returned to find that gravel had been dumped on top of the ties deep enough to almost cover the orange marks. I was heartened though to find a place about 50 feet down the tracks where for some reason they had not dumped gravel. So that is what you are seeing in the pictures. The state of the current track, etc. Natasha told me that each tie will cost $100 to replace. Kent has seen the machine in operation on the railroad behind the farm. A machine sitting on the rail will pull up the spikes holding in the existing tie, then an articulated arm will push out the old tie (or what is left of it) push in a new one, then put down the new spikes.

Pie anyone?

2007-07-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Pickles, anyone?

2007-07-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

This was the year of the pickle. About 5 years ago, Grandma Ellen canned her last jar of pickles. We have one remaining jar, whether it will ever be opened and consumed is a question for the ages. How does one finish off the "last one" when you know it is the "last one"? Anyway we have since tried growing cucumbers every year to make our own, only being successful one time until this year.

This year Kent took to heart the advice from his father: keep them picked or they will quit growing new ones. As it has happened his trips have lined up this past month in such a way that we have canned pickles all month. Our downstairs "fruit room" is lined with shelves. On those shelves rest quarts of dill pickles. On the floor rest 2 gallons of cucumbers which will over the next week (hopefully) ferment into a crispy kosher type dill before coming to rest in the extra refrigerator. Already residing in the before mentioned fridge is a gallon of sweet refrigerator pickles. Having put my foot down about making anymore pickles last week, Kent decided to lift my foot off his neck and make just one more batch: this being the fermented ones. I conceded as the only effort on my part would be the cutting off of the blossom ends of the cukes and packing them into the jars. It was his work to pick, clean, lime and then clean once more before handing them off to me. Once packed, he got to make the brine and apply it. He set out on Saturday afternoon to glean the patch for new cukes. It had been 4 days since they had been picked. The first picture at the top shows the rejects that didn't make it into the house. After he brought in several 5 gallon buckets of possibilities I winnowed that down to just under a 5 gallon pail full which he then limed. When he took out all the rejects after we had packed the 2 one gallon jars he had an overflowing 5 gallon pail and a huge basket full. He put those in between the corn rows knowing that he was going to till the corn in last night.

Yes, sweet corn season has taken a "time out" at our house. The "second coming" will be in about 2-3 weeks according to it's planting interval. Then as an experiment, he is planting again today with a projected picking time of late September. This is a gamble because the slightest bit of cold weather will tinge the corn and make it taste like field corn or as Dorie used to put it, "horse corn." (She would NEVER buy anything but white corn as she was so afraid of having "horse corn" passed off as sweet corn.)

Sweet corn may be temporarily "out of season" but the 'maters are just starting. Usually they overlap for at least a month but not this year. At least not yet, anyway. So we won't overdose on BLTs and sweet corn for at least 2 weeks!

It's that time again!

2007-07-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

On May 1st, Kent planted his first rows of corn. We always watch with great anticipation as the first few green sprouts appear in the rows. They grow even when it is cool, but if it is warm with rain they seem to grow inches overnight. Eventually they tassel out and then the ears start to form. When the silk begins to dry, mouths are watering in anticipation of the treat to come. Every few days the ears of corn are "felt up" to see if they are big enough yet. Usually 3 or 4 ears are sacrificed when they are picked only to be found to be "too early." Finally the day arrives when the ear picked is worthy of bringing into the pot of boiling water. It is also "too early" in reality, but is close enough and anticipated enough that it is enjoyed. The next day a pot will be waiting as he comes back into the house with the first pig out of the season. Summer has truly arrived!

Art in the Woods

2007-07-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

Our favorite place to walk is seeing some improvements lately. One of the local art teachers is spearheading a project to place art in the woods. In addition to a sunflower house (which probably won't happen due to the deer), several sculptures have appeared. Also some strange snakes have made their presence known.

Why my house is never clean

2007-07-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

These two piles of hair were combed off one cat and one dog 2 days after their last brushing. Yewww!

Happy 4th of July

2007-07-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

A quiet afternoon today. The parade was it's usual B'ville self. The Honor Guards from the American Legion and VFW, the High School Band, all the politicians running for office in the fall, a whole bunch of tractors (why I don't know why but without them the parade would last about 5 minutes) some of which were antiques, a few old cars and finally the new ladder truck from the Fire Department. The American Legion hosts this parade and the festival afterwards at the Pavilion in the park. At 1:00 they rededicated a plaque in honor of the 3 men from B'ville who died in "The Great War". Of course at that time they didn't know they would be fighting again in less than 25 years. Originally there were three tress planted along with the plaque but they have been gone for years. It was just a plaque surrounded by random trees. Now three new maples surround it and it has been moved to a place along side the tree and plaque for our first soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Our town has always been appreciative of the deeds of our armed forces. From Liberty Park (the Civil and Spanish Wars) to the Memorial Pool (dedicated to those who served in the WW II) and special plaques around show this honor and respect. The Legion is even named after 2 of the young men from WWI. Down at the courthouse in our county seat stands a brick wall with the names of veterans of all the wars fought by our country. It gives me great pride to know that my husband and his father are both represented on that wall and that both of my brothers served their country too.

One of these days I'll post Jake's Voice of Democracy essay.

A map of our Walks

2007-06-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

Took the time to pick up the map that is available for our walk in the woods. I can't emphasize how much enjoyment we get out of this green cathedral as K calls it. He lets Lucy off her lead as soon as we hit the woods unless there are other people around. I do the same for Dusty after we get into the second section of the woods further away from the highway. Lucy probably puts on twice as much mileage as we do from all her toing and froing. Poor Dusty probably feels like she has done 10x as much as her poor legs are only 3 inches long!

The next time we walk the creek won't be so dry. We got some rain today for the first since Memorial Day. Probably not even an inch but even a bit helps. When you walk past established shrubs and their leaves are hanging and limp you know it is dry.

Tomorrow is the concert in the Park again. Kent will miss the 5K for the first time in 10 years, but J will take his place. J is running Cross-Country this fall and this is one of their training events.

K is heading to Boston with Brother Paul to help Wayne build a deck. J and I will join them Thursday. I will head back the soonest and J will stay with K until he comes home.

A Walk in the Woods

2007-06-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

Lately whenever K is home and it hasn't rained we take a walk through our local woods. About 10 years ago a local woman died and left her land to the city, "for the benefit of its citizen's." Our local govt decided to put the land to use as walking, biking, and horse riding trails instead of turning it into soccer fields like one person suggested. Note aside: There are plenty of corn fields just on the edges of town which would make great soccer fields and in fact have become such on the other side of the park and reservoir. I still can't believe a person I respect would have leveled these great woods for SOCCER.

We think our path is about 3.5 miles. We start at home, meander to the park and hope the doggies do their thing there so we have trash cans to throw away their product. Then its several blocks along a winding street to the edge of Lena's woods. Funny thing is that on that winding block is a recalcitrant dog with a wireless fence. That particular dog requires a collar and a belt equipped with the shocking device. Did I mention that the dog is male? When he gets too close to the wire he does a forward pawstand trying to get away from it. We referred to him one time and the person we were conversing with started laughing and said I thought that dog had a hernia!

The first part of the woods is for walkers. The path is wide, level and mulched. It pops out into a meadow where Lena's house used to be. We cross the highway then into a bigger woods where the path is really meant for bikers and hikers not walkers. The path is maintained somewhat. Where water lays after a rain, gravel has been added. But the path is much narrower, twisty and hilly. It is a wonderful place to walk on a warm mid-June day. After looping through this wood which is bordered by a farm and a sub-division, we again cross a road and head towards home. The path here is also twisty and windy, crossing a creek at one point. Lucy usually is in the creek off and on from the first time we cross it til it disappears into a culvert. It has been so dry (about 1 inch of rain in May and NONE so far in June) that we were almost through the third woods before she had water to splash in. Of course if she does find water she finds mud and that means a shower when we get home!

We walk these woods during all seasons except when there is snow and ice. We've seen deer, bluebirds, woodpeckers by the dozens, even the pilated ones. The last time we walked the honeysuckle was blooming. You could smell it well before you saw it. Today there were primroses and some swrivled black caps. What a wonderful gift Lena left to us!

90 in the shade

2007-05-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

Whew! I just came back from the cottage where the parents informed me that it was 90. I disagreed as I had been mowing and it didn't feel quite that warm. WRONG! It is that warm according to our thermometer too. Last week we had the 3 "ice men" in May. (Our old neighbor used to say not to plant until after the 3 ice men in May.) Which was her way of saying to expect at least 3 very cold (relatively) days or more typically nights during May. Well we have had nice weather, it was even dry and warm for the carnival this year. But last week it was in the low 40s 3 nights in a row. Well it got over that in a hurry!

Kent has discovered the very best clothes to wear while he is gardening. From his backpacking in NM last year he acquired a lightweight long sleeved "wicking" shirt and a hat of the same material. The hat also has a long flap on the back (think desert headgear) which covers up his neck. He knows he isn't setting any fashion statement but at least he isn't burning either.

Followup on previous blog

2007-05-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

Charles G. Martin was called "mean and evil'' before he was sentenced to life in prison today for the murder of a 15-year-old neighbor who stepped on his lawn. Martin said he was sorry but did not apologize.

A sick obsession

2007-04-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

BATAVIA - Charles G. Martin shot his 15-year-old neighbor after the boy stepped on his lawn, but the Union Township man is not guilty of aggravated murder, his defense attorney said Wednesday during the first day of a Clermont County trial.

The death of teenager Larry D. Mugrage Jr. wasn't a cold-blooded killing, said defense attorney R. Scott Croswell III. Rather, it was the culmination of five years of "systematic harassment of an old man" that boiled over on March 19 last year.

Martin, 67, was obsessive about his yard, Croswell said in an opening statement. Repeatedly, Martin asked neighborhood kids not to trespass on his lawn, which he mowed five times a week.

It was a dream house for Martin, who had previously lived in apartments, Croswell said. Martin bought the home for $84,000 in 2000 after retiring from the Ford Motor Co., where he worked for 30 years.

But neighborhood kids regarded Martin as strange. Clermont County Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Miles told jurors that about 11:55 a.m. on the day Larry was shot, Martin and the boy exchanged harsh words.

When the teenager stepped onto Martin's front yard while on his way to play basketball at a friend's house up Hawthorne Drive, Martin rushed out and yelled, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Miles said Larry replied: "(Expletive) you."

Then, Miles said, Martin told the boy: "I'm going to go load a gun and kill you."

Thomas "T.J." Ward, 15, was walking with Larry at the time, he testified Wednesday.

There was a car coming up the street, so the boys stepped into Martin's yard, T.J. said.

He recalled Martin saying to Larry: "If you want to play games, we'll play games. I'll kill you."

T.J. said Larry replied: "Bring it, old man."

About 3½ hours after the confrontation, when Larry was walking in the street on his way home, Martin emerged with a shotgun, Miles said.

Lonnie E. Hibbs Jr., 16, who lived two houses up Hawthorne Drive from Martin, testified that he heard the first shot and saw the man fire the second shotgun blast.

Larry ended up on the ground, just a few feet from the front door of the Mugrage home, Lonnie said.

"My client, Charles Martin, shot and killed a 15-year-old boy - now that's a fact," Croswell said.

A freshman at Glen Este High School, Larry was hit by two slugs from a .410 shotgun, Miles said.

The first wounded Larry, and he ran toward the home of his parents, Anita and Larry D. Mugrage Sr.

"Why did you do that ... ?" Larry said to Martin, Miles told the jurors.

The second blast proved fatal, piercing the boy's heart and lungs, Miles said.

Martin then called 911. A recording of the call was played for jurors.

"I just killed a kid," Martin told the 911 operator. "I shot him with a ... .410 shotgun twice. He's laying in the yard."

Aaron Knorr, who lived across the street from Larry, testified that after hearing the shots he ran out of his house to try to help the boy.

Larry was face down in a pool of blood, Knorr said.

"It was just an awful scene," Knorr said. "I rolled him over. ... His eyes were wide open ... and just a look of terror plastered on his face."

Knorr said he noticed Martin nearby.

"He just stood there and stared at us with no remorse," Knorr said. "An evil look."

Jurors weren't present when the judge ruled in favor of a prosecution motion to limit what the defense can say about Larry and his family.

In response to a request from Miles, the judge ruled that the defense can't mention anything about the character of Larry or his parents, or the specifics of previous disagreements the neighbors might have had.

Miles said such evidence might confuse or mislead jurors.

Croswell argued that such a ruling would hamper his defense of Martin.

Walker said he might reconsider the ruling, especially if Martin testifies on his own behalf.

In his opening statement, Croswell suggested that Martin would take the stand.

The trial is scheduled to end by Friday.

If found guilty of aggravated murder, Martin could be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for at least 20 years.

Martin is being held in the Clermont County Jail in lieu of $2 million bail.

A bitter loss

2007-04-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

While we were away from home, a dear friend in Florida passed away. We don't know all the circumstances but it "was at home." While we haven't seen each other lately we did exchange cards on birthdays and Christmas.

Ken is my first friend to die, and it still hurts like hell to even type that. My eyes are filling with tears and I can't keep from remembering all the fun and sad times from high school.

The house he lived in was a welcoming one. His parents were old compared to mine. The four of us went to several wedding receptions and Christmas parties together. They had both been in the service during WWII and had bought the brick house for $500.00 after the war. I went to my first party in that house. Later my brother and his family would live there for a time. Even stranger I would live there for 6 months while my husband was overseas during the first Gulf War. I loved that house.

Ken was my first real good friend in Gaylord. Our birthdays were 3 days apart so we had many of the same experiences. He came over from St. Mary's in 9th grade. So we were kind of "newbies" together, even though he knew most of the kids already. Afterall Gaylord wasn't that big in those days.

I will remember him always as a good and dear friend.

Back from spring break

2007-04-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

We returned from Marquette to gorgeous spring weather, actually almost too warm weather. The grass needed to be cut which I did on April 3. The very next day the weather changed and all the beautiful spring blooms took major hits. After 3 nights of hard frosts it is doubtful whether there will be any local fruit like peaches, apples or pears this year.

After the Beast died (about 60 miles south of Cincinnati) on its way to spring break at a beachside campground on the Gulf, changes were made in our plans. Kent and Jake did a "man" tour of New Orleans and then headed to NYC for 2 days. I met them at the airport and Kent and I headed to the Farm. The next day we relocated to Gaylord then left for Marquette on Friday morning. We saw the number one child and took home a load of stuff from her room. Unfortunately some of it was her heavy coats and snow boots. They had no snow last weekend, today they have over 30 inches. We took she and Nick out for supper on Friday night, saw "Wild Hogs" (good for laughing but predictable) together, then treated them to breakfast the next morning. Kent beat us all at Hearts and we all had a good time. I left him at the Marquette Airport and he was in Detroit before I was to the Bridge on Sunday. I spent the night again in Gaylord, made supper for them and then headed out on Monday morning for home. It was 720 miles from Marquette to our driveway.

The Doctor's report on the Beast, is that a transmission transplant must be performed. It will have said operation and then its head will be placed on the block. We really don't think we could come out ahead at the RV dealer if we pulled it in with a wrecker! Hopefully the good overall inside shape will cut some ice.

So that is our last 2 weeks in a nutshell.

Spring has sprung!

2007-03-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

From this to this in less than a month.

The multitude of robins, the slight green showing through the brown grass, the crocus flowers blooming around the yards must mean one thing: spring is here! After winter's last gasp: 2 weeks of snow, ice, freezing fog and 7 days out of school it is a joyous thing to walk without hat, gloves or even a heavy coat. We almost broke a record high yesterday, it was 79 in the afternoon.

Mom and Dad left for Gaylord this morning about 8:20 or so. It has been a good time, even if Daddy was in the hospital for 4.5 days. He has been much more active since coming home. Uses his buggy several times a day and has checked out the eastside of the block from alley to alley. Mom has been walking in the morning with us when we do our lap of the reservoir, which is about a mile to and from.

After the storm

2007-02-14T07:37:00.000-08:00

The kids are on their second day out of school. We lost our power for several hours yesterday. Thousands still don't have theirs back yet. Enjoy the pictures!

Better than Basketball

2007-02-09T13:42:00.000-08:00

Refer back to previous post for the explanation of the title. We in Indiana have the best football team around. We never open our newspapers to find that one of them has been arrested. Unlike our unfortnate basketball team. Gary Varvel the cartoonist for the Indy Star took the photo from the last post and gave it a very accurate takeoff. Enjoy!

Why we like football

2007-02-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

This is the picture that the cartoon in the next blog used as it's inspiration. I can't say anything else but wow! What a great picture, what a great testimony!

You can tell it's after the Super Bowl because of the trophy and the shirts.

The day after.....

2007-02-05T14:25:00.000-08:00

Wow! That's about all I can say. What a classy team with a classy owner, classy coach and classy players! We watched the game in the lobby of the Omni Hotel in Indy. Our rooms were on the 11th floor right below the penthouses. We had a great view of the old dome and part of the south western edge of town. Jake and Kent killed time before the game swimming but I hung out in the lobby trying to figure out the best place to watch the game. All seating was reserved - you had to guarantee spending hundreds of dollars in food and drink to get them. So we stood the entire game which was okay because if we were at the stadium we would have stood most of the game anyway!

We had brought the radio/tape player to record the radio broadcast. (We live too far to pick it up from home and the local announcer is the one you hear on the ESPN highlights of the end of the Patriots game screaming "We're going to the Super Bowl." ) I used a bunch of 60 minutes tapes we had on hand so that meant a trip to the room every 30 minutes to flip it. On one of those occasions ran into a woman who looked really familiar and she had that same look, "how do I know you?" When it dawned on us both at the same time that she and her husband sit in front of us at the games. And they were staying on the same floor as us so we saw them all night.

After it was over, Jake went outside to celebrate with other knuckleheads (It was 4 degrees F). He went in and out twice and then convinced us to walk over to Monument Circle where the outdoor celebrating seemed to be congregating. We were thoroughly frozen when we got back!

One of the best parts came in the morning when we checked out... the bill was $32, $23 for parking and $9 bar bill. We had stayed as a part of a promotion called "Chicago pays." The Omni in Chicago paid for all the guests in Indy on that promotion. The hotel was full.

Super Bowl Sunday

2007-02-04T04:58:00.000-08:00

It is 8:00 and I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. I'm so excited I can't hardly stand it! It's Faith Promise Mission Sunday at church today so we have lots of stuff to do. But as soon as church is over (11:00) we are bailing and heading for Indy. Don't know yet where we are watching the game, but we are staying at the Omni tonight, if the Colts win it will be free. There was an entire page in Friday's paper with all the special deals for watching tonight.

Speaking of which, can the NFL be more out of touch then going after churches for showing the game on projection tv to their congregations? It was really ironic as the bars and resturants were advertising "giant 100 inch screens" etc in their ads on Friday.