new blog

Himself is fixing to publish a new blog.  It is posed, poised? set? the first entry is ready to post.  I think Himself might be waiting until after the Holidays to kick it off so as to have less distractions and more time to write. 

I'm not sure but once it goes public, he is hoping his bros and his cousins will share their memories, experiences and tall tales.  We have looked for photos of Prescott in the 1960s and 70s, we have asked around, but so far this is it.  Our one and only Main Street, Prescott pic.  This was scanned from the Prescott Centennial book.  Any other suggestions?

Country Roads

Southern Iowa, Northern Missouri. 

Pretty country and getting prettier.  

There are Amish communities springing up in several different locations in Southern Iowa and Northern Missouri.  Here, one pretty Sunday morning, the Amish gathered for a Sunday morning worship service.  There must have been 20-25 buggies.  Take that times 4 people (on the average? per buggy) and that was 100 simple folk gathered together for fellowship. 



 Himself and I were well pleased to see this many buggies in one place.  We may never see that again. 

Jamesport, Mo is a small town about the size of Afton with some old brick store buildings, businesses housed in old houses and crafts, collectibles and antiques for sale.  Outside of Jamesport on gravel and black topped roads are more Amish businesses.  There are country stores, greenhouses, horseshoe schools, bakeries and furniture stores housed in homes or on farmsteads.   Jamesport is a tourist area and not all the stores are owned by the Amish.  Some are "English" that might employ young Amish girls to bake or wait tables and to give atmosphere.  Still, the town and shops are picturesque and there are horse and buggies and farm wagons using the streets and the roads -- and little boys in straw hats and little girls in bonnets.  And the pace and the clip clop of horses plodding down the streets and byways, slows the thoughts and soothes the frenzy of folk from a different life style. 

Just east of Leon, Ia when you turn south and take the curvey, blacktop "short cut" to Lineville, Ia, there used to be a Mennonite Church sitting on the right, or the west of the county road.  This summer, the Church burned to the ground.  We aren't exactly sure when it did, but it is gone.  Could it have been burned intentionally? awaiting a bigger, better church?  That just doesn't seem right.  I don't think the Mennonites would have been so wasteful.  I think they would have taken the wooden Church down piece by piece and reused what they could.  It does seem that the Spiritual Community will rebuild on this site. 

One recent Sunday, just at noon, we were headed home and witnessed the sight of a couple of hundred of gentle folk, gathering for a funeral.  Himself had to pull to the shoulder to allow the Procession to pass and as it did, the folks to arrive first were getting out of their vehicles and walking to the grave site.  It must have been a pretty prominent person that died as it was a large funeral. 

Amish sect folks use horse and buggies for transportation.  Mennonites own cars and vans.  You might see Mennoinites in Wal-Mart in their lighter colored clothing, their tennis shoes and the women wearing the little white caps.  Mennonites are more modern than the Amish. 

We saw this hay field with Amish made hay bales in Northern Missouri.  Okay, it might have been southern Iowa.  Those two areas sort of blend together in this old one's mind.  But we can tell these bales are Amish as they are not as neat and uniform as high tech "John Deere" bales -- but they are pleasing to the eye. 

As is this huge house in western Decatur Co or eastern Ringgold.  I can look at this house all day!  At first, I supposed it was a school of some kind but I have looked all over the internet and cannot learn a thing about it.  So now I'm assuming it is a large, old farmstead house.  I may have to stop and knock at the door someday, in order to learn more.  I'll keep you posted! 

I really do enjoy my back road travels.  I just never know what I am going to find. 

Go Look It Up!

Even with spell-check and my favorite old standby, that big blue book I was always sending you to as a child, the Webster's NewWord Dictionary with Student Handbook at my left elbow, I still skip over to Dictionary.com occassionally.  I did the other evening, just to double check my definition of "consternation".  I knew how I used it.  I knew how I wanted to use it . . . just thought I better look that up real quick because once in a while, some word I think I know, I don't. 

While I was at Dictionary.com, I noticed they post a little quick question at the top of each page . . . and it hooked me.  I fell Hook, Line and Sinker and off I went surfing for 20 or 30 minutes not accomplishing much of anything but sure enjoying myself as I learned some new tidbits.  I think I only really knew the answer to one of these questions.  Here they are.  I hope you enjoy perusing these as well as I did! 




1) Did you know: Emma, the No. 2 most-popular girl's name, is a version of what less well-known name?

2) Did you know:  Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is our longest word. What does it mean?

3) Did you know: Dr. Seuss actually has a real name, and it does have a slightly wacky feel to it.

4) Did you know: You look for a Web page and it says "Error 404 Not Found." What do the numbers mean?

5) Did you know: If sleep walking is somnambulism, what is it called when you talk in your sleep?

6) Did you know: Is there a word for the individual prongs of a fork ?

7) Did you know: What does the "X" stand for in x-ray?

8) Did you know: What's the technical term for couples who call each other names like honey bunny?

9) Did you know: Scrabble is a fun game, but what is the not-so-fun definition of "to scrabble?".

10) Did you know: Pakistan, Afghanistan. What does the -stan at the end of so many countries mean?


Dictionary.com's answers are below.  If you don't like the answer, take it up with the Dictionary! 


1) Emma:  a form of Erma

2) Pneumonoultramicroscopics etc! . . . A facetious word alleged to mean 'a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust' but occurring chiefly as an instance of a very long word." [OED]

3) Dr. Seuss:  Seuss, Dr.,  pseud. of Theodor Seuss Geisel

4) four-oh-four definition or 404:  the answer to your question is unknown; the location you seek is unknown. (From the internet message: Error - 404 that is received when the internet cannot find the address you are seeking.) Q: Where's the kitchen? A: 404. You'll have to find it yourself.

5) Som*nil"o*quence\, n. The act of talking in one's sleep; somniloquism.


6)  tine:  a sharp, projecting point or prong, as of a fork. (hey, I knew this one!)

7)  1896, translation of Ger. X-strahl, from X, algebraic symbol for an unknown quantity, + Strahl (pl. Strahlen) "beam, ray." Coined 1895 by Ger. scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923), who discovered them.

8)  hy·poc·o·rism   /haɪˈpɒkəˌrɪzəm, 1. a pet name. 2. the practice of using a pet name.  3. the use of forms of speech imitative of baby talk, especially by an adult.

9)  1. to scratch or scrape, as with the claws or hands. 2. to grapple or struggle with or as if with the claws or hands. 3. to scrawl; scribble.

10)  -stan
"country," source of place names such as Afghanistan, Pakistan , etc., from Persstan "country,"  (well, I guessed "land" so I was close this time!)


Let me see, better double check a few:  peruse:  to read through with thoroughness or care: to peruse a report.  I do know this word and use it -- it just always seems wrong! 

Whoa!  Hook, Line and Sinker!  Dictionary.com, Ask.com and the Thesaurus all turned their noses up at "hook, line and sinker!  They declined to divulge.  So I Googled the expression and came up with an answer at thefreedictionary.com -- Hook, Line and Sinker:  Etymology: based on the idea of a fish so hungry it swallows the hook (the part that catches the fish), the line ( the string) and the sinker (a weight attached to the line to keep it under water)

Visitor

Nana was sitting at work after lunch today when this Dude waltzed in and gave me a handful of candy canes.  I grabbed my camera and chased down the hall after  him. . . just caught him before the big melt down! 

Some year when I'm retired, I'm going to do something like this. 

This Dude bounced through leaving smiles, questions . . . and candy canes in his wake.  What fun!

HOLY COW

Found this observation and "math" in the internet on my of my favorite blogs . . .

On average I cook dinner 6 days a week. Sometimes I even cook on vacation - now that's crazy!52 weeks x






40 years


equals ------ HOLY COW, that's 12,480 meals. 

I guess I've cooked a good HALF of these meals . . . but between Himself and I, we have cooked that many.  My Mama, before the days of restaurants and fast food places, cooked 3 squares a day, 7 days a week.  Okay, maybe every week or two they went somewhere for Sunday dinner but even then, my mother probably took a cake or a "covered dish". 

I've been married 40 years. 

Himself has been married 40 years. 

That's a whole bunch of meals!

Damm!!!!!

we sure made fine looking kids, didn't we??
Pa

12 bottles of beer on the wall . . .

This 12 pack box came from the Warehouse Market in Sioux City, Iowa.  That means it was purchased between 1970 and 1977; okay, maybe early 78.  We moved to Orient mid 1978 and it was bought earlier than that . . . and all for two dollars and fifty-one cents.  I'm thinking it was purchased while we still lived on Rebecca Street in Sioux City.  For years and years and years, this cardboard box has held little fascinating bits of doll furniture.  A little sink with a working hand pump.  An ironing board.  A sewing machine.  A wringer washing machine.  I did let my little girls look at the furniture once in a while,.  I did, didn't I?  But while browsing through the furniture this week, I was reminded of little casualities -- handles broken, legs reglued, repairs made.  It was just too delicate for ordinary play.  I guess it was doll furniture for Big People.  Meanwhile, gotta go!  gotta go grab this nostalgic old box out of the recycle pile.  It holds too many memories!

  

 

If you haven't seen it, you should!

GONE WITH THE WIND . . . Star Wars and The Sound of Music, for starters .........


Here's the Top 20 movies of all time ... by number of tickets sold according to

http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2010/01/is-avatar-blockbuster-its-claimed-to-be.html

1 "Gone With the Wind" (1939) 202,044,600

2 "Star Wars" (1977) 178,119,600

3 "The Sound of Music" (1965) 142,415,400

4 "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) 141,854,300

5 "The Ten Commandments" (1956) 131,000,000

6 "Titanic" (1997) 128,345,900

7 "Jaws" (1975) 128,078,800

8 "Doctor Zhivago" (1965) 124,135,500

9 "The Exorcist" (1973) 110,568,700

10 "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) 109,000,000

11 "101 Dalmatians" (1961) 99,917,300

12 "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) 98,180,600

13 "Ben-Hur" (1959) 98,000,000

14 "Return of the Jedi" (1983) 94,059,400

15 "The Sting" (1973) 89,142,900

16 "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) 88,141,900

17 "Jurassic Park" (1993) 86,205,800

18 "The Graduate" (1967) 85,571,400

19 "Star Wars: Episode I" (1999) 84,825,800

20 "Fantasia" (1941) 83,043,500



"Avatar," despite topping the worldwide gross list, by and by, is only No. 26 on the ticket sales list with 76,421,000 sold ... at least, so far...


Nana says "I've seen most of the top 20 . . . but not Avatar yet, nor is it on my short list.

Tales of Long Ago

Do you remember Green Stamps? At the grocery store, if you bought $1.00 worth of groceries, you got 10 green stamps. If you bought $50 worth of grocerites, you got 500 green stamps. (Is that math correct?) My Mama, I remember at my early age, had $50 a week for groceries. $50 to feed 11 of us for a week and maybe to clothe us too?  The only extra groceries to be picked up during the week might be milk or bread. Once in a while, I remember Mom sending us "uptown" to get 2 pounds of hamburger or a dozen eggs.

Anyway, Mama got her S&H green stamps every Saturday and once every month or two or more it was almost always a young girl's chore to paste them in the Green Stamp books. You had to lick the stamps. If you couldn't handle that, you got a wet washrag and lay it on the table to pat the stamps on. Each book held 1200 green stamps! At first they all came in a very small size, in sheets. Later, they made a larger stamp equal to 10 little ones so you got them in strips. You'd have to get them wet enough and slap them in the book. It was a good feeling to get a whole book filled . . . and you knew you were that much closer to getting something new for the house but even better -- some new toy or game for the children!

Wedding Anniversary

Well, Himself and I celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary this week. I, as a 19-year-old, one month short of 20 years, never, for a moment, wondered about the years between our wedding and our 37th anniversary. At 19, one just thinks of the present. A young woman can’t imagine 37 years. I thought only of today, being “in love”, being held and taken care of. When you actually do it -- be married for 37 years -- there are a lot of other milestones in between the being held and being loved. There is the alarm clock going off to get you up for work. There is the grocery shopping, the meals to prepare, the dishes to be washed, and the laundry. The babes to be conceived and born. There are the differences in child rearing theories. There are arguments, fights, sulks and pouting. Negotiating and compromise. The sleepless nights and the sleep-deprived days. There are plenty of tears for a woman, and plenty of anger and frustration if you are a man. But somehow, somewhere within us, different degrees at different times, the ol’ man and I found a determination to keep on trying.

Looking back, we both could have been more accommodating. There could have been more patience, more forgiveness and more compassion. But when you are living it, it seems so much more compelling, more important, to be right, to be the “winner”. Now I know that is not so. Looking back, who is right and who is wrong is not that important. It is the doing, the being, the loving, the rearing, the time together, the laughs and the adventure.

Listen to me, children. Living, loving and laughing is what is really important. If I could pass on one thing to my dear children and precious grandchildren, it would be to live in the moment. Enjoy! Appreciate each day and cherish your spouse, your child, your friends.

Play! Enjoy! Sing! Have fun! Love, Mama/Nana

Once upon a time . . .

there was a child ready to be born. The child asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow. How am I going to live there being so small and helpless?" God replied, "Among the angels, I'll choose one for you. Your guardian angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you." The child further inquired, "But tell me God, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will smile for you every day. And you will feel your guardian angel's love and feel very happy."

Again, the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear and, with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"I've heard that on earth there are bad people. Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your guardian angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

At that moment there was much peace in heaven, but the voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my guardian angel's name."

"Her name is not important, child. You will simply call her Nana."

(borrowed and adapted from e-mail)

Milestones

February '05: It's a month of milestones -- birthdays, really. Craig has turned 29 today. He thinks he's getting old but can't imagine old yet. He's a man, not even hit his prime. Morghan Grace is turning 6 on the 5th, eager, curious and full of enthusiasm. Morghan looks at Great Granny and is awed at the great age; she sees "almost 100". Great Granny will celebrate her 85th year on the 8th and keeps herself at home with the aid of the newspaper, long ingrained habits and her children. Uncle Dick will be 62 on the 11th; partly retired, partly golfer, husband and soon to be new grampa. All generations are represented in this eight-day span -- fresh faced youth, young man, retiree and great age; just the way it should be . . .

Many happy birthdays to you all.