The Mother of all Winds

Last Thursday Omaha had a windstorm that brought the city up short. Our power was off three nights and two and a half days. The calm came both before and after the gale. With no electricity the house was blessedly quiet. About four in the afternoon, I went out to take a few flower photos and before I was done the tornado sirens began to blow. In less than a half an hour the wind began to blow. It was mesmerizing to watch the limbs fly off the big maple tree in the front yard and sail down the street.
Here is what the back yard looked like before the petals flew off the flowers.

More Sofa Saga

This morning while I was in the dental chair, HWMBO was checking on the progress of the sofa. Our skilled craftsman thought that perhaps by the end of the week he could have it back to us. I will have had enough furniture rearrangement to keep me happy for some time to come.

Louis L'Amour,General Custer, and the Inkslinger

A dear and dedicated "Inkslinger," once the owner and editor of my home town newspaper, The Buffalo Times-Herald, now lives in Arco Idaho and writes a column in the paper there. His sons carry on the dedication of their father.

Not long ago he wrote the following:
"Among the good books loaned by friends is a magnificent book on hunting experiences in areas like Arizona brought by Glenn Phillips, and one in particular by a daughter-in-law, the early seafaring stories by Louis L’Amour.

L’Amour, a native of Jamestown, North Dakota, became one of the very leaders of all the writers of western pioneer life, and it was a fortunate day some fifty years ago when the old Inkslinger had the opportunity and the honor of assisting him in gathering on-the-scene history of the exploration of the Custer Expedition in what is now northwestern South Dakota, where the old Inkslinger had spent every available spare weekend day following and tracking the historical expedition which led to the claiming of the Black Hills of South Dakota back in 1976 and starting one of the famous gold rushes in the country.

In the North and South Cave Hills in Harding County, back in the late 1930s and 1940s, it was discovered the Custer Expedition had left their names and initials and dates carved in the scoria of what was known as Thumb Butte and in the Ludlow Cave, as well as other evidence of their journey, and the petroglyphs carved by the Sioux Indian Tribes in the sandstone rimrock of the Cave Hills. Much of this early history, of course, had been destroyed or defaced over the years by other initial carvers and vandals.

Louis L’Amour was a very interesting man to visit with and was an avid student of the building and “taming” of the American West.

The Inkslinger had always known L’Amour’s stories of the West, but this latest gift book was the first we knew of his life as a seaman and a world-wide gold hunter."

Thanks for that interesting bit of information, Mr. Cammack.

Family to the 4th Generation

Travelers with a Camera


















Ethan Axel Olson and Mommy

Washington Wedding

A Beautiful Bride and Her Parents
The Happy Couple

Thanks to the aunt and uncle who attended the wedding and emailed the photos!

1946

Original Oil by J. Axel Sacrison. 1946. 18 1/2" x 42"

Sofa Saga

No, not a tornado, just the first stages of work on our antique couch.

The Sound of Sirens

Last night we went to bed to the sounds of sirens and rain/small hail on the roof and the news that a tornado had hit the Little Sioux Boy Scout Ranch. Before we switched off the television we knew that four youngsters had died but we didn't know all the details until this morning.

Last fall He Who Must Be Obeyed drove over to that campground and we saw the beauty of the place. The company he worked for had designed all of the facilities. When we first came to Omaha, he was an assistant Scout Master for the troop that met at our children's elementary school. Some time during the early '70's he took a group of Scouts there to earn orienteering and other merit badges. When I saw the Google Earth pictures on CNN I realized how terribly rugged the terrain was. Today the Nation shares the grief of those young boys, their leaders, and parents.

The first few years we were married he took Rapid City Boy Scouts out for a winter survival in the Black Hills. One year they got snowed in and endured living off the land in a blizzard. Survival is just that. Some of his boys requisitioned a couple of chickens from a ranch nearby, leaving money on the table as no one was home. Be Prepared.

Uranium!

Our in house Geological Engineer has a job with a fine salary offer and wonderful benefits. From famine to feast and feast to retirement. He has 20 years to put together a retirement and he is glad he is so close to the Black Hills that he can think about land and a permanent home.

We have a small home and with three adults, none of whom think alike, we have restrained ourselves from behaving like trapped animals. Today we are all on the same page, rejoicing over his employment. His salary package is almost too good to be true. Today I am thinking on the spring day I dropped him off at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology for a meeting with the Registrar, a kind man from my home town.

His career began with the Homestake Gold Mine near Deadwood calling him to do surface gold exploration for them. His experiences over the years between then and now are what have him anticipating ending his career with a Canadian Mining Company working in Nebraska.

We are so very happy that we don't even think about radiation exposure. Dangerous Duty Pay? At least he won't have to think about land mines of the explosive kind.

Allegiances

Helsinki, Finland, Sibelius Park Sculpture, 1980, Photo of the Day, National Geographic. How amazing that I was on lying on my back on the rock outcrop under the same sculpture that same summer. I would love to dig out my own photo for a comparison.

Some of us who were raised by two generations of women with fierce love for their country of origin, feel as much allegiance to it, as to this adopted land we were born into.

I found a wonderful web site of national anthems and was dismayed to find that Finland had adopted the music of their infringing neighbor, Sweden, instead of Sibelius, their own fierce composer. Biafra used the familiar "Finlandia" tune by Sibelius.

One of the retired pastors at Holy Cross wrote words of the Lord's Prayer that go with the music of 'Finlandia.' His men's choir sang it it services one week and it drew me to tears. He generously shared the sheet music with me a few weeks later.

A Day in June

And what is so rare as a day in June?

Then, if ever, come perfect days;

Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune, and over it softly her warm ear lays;





Whether we look or whether we listen, We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;...

Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how, Everything is happy now, Everything is upward striving,


'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true As for grass to be green or skies to be blue,

'Tis for the natural way of living. " James Russel Lowell

Center of the Nation

We all like to be the in the center of things. This beautiful photo is from the New York Times. There are a few more where that came from. The photo is captioned: "Where the Grass Meets the Sky." The article is titled "This Land
In the Middle of Nowhere, a Nation’s Center." Someone coming from that high plains area might contest that statement. I think on it as the middle of everywhere and I am honored and pleased to have come from the center of it all. I love this land and there is more than might meet the untrained eye here.

Finding my way in Finnish: Aakkoset

Finding my way in Finnish: Aakkoset

Memorial Weekend

A cousin wrote asking where our Uncle Eric is interred. He is one of many of his brothers that were in WWI, as well as some of his brothers in law. Looking through two cemetery records online, my mind goes back to those vibrant pioneer homesteaders in northwestern South Dakota. It is a time of remembrance, a time to honor all of those war heroes, all of those that came before us to open the way for our good lives. It is humbling to think about the things they endured; their good lives so well lived and their love of this country, this family, their community, and each of us born while they yet lived gives us pause to honor each of them. I was born into a legacy that remains with me with the best of memories.

Books!

Sorting and organizing book cases has been an all day ordeal. Even the ones I will never pick up are difficult to put in a recycle pile. One comes across a treasure or two and there is always the warm sweet feeling when meeting a once read friend again.

I found "With My Own Eyes: A Lakota Woman Tells Her People's History." Susan Bordeaux Bettelyoun and Josephine Waggoner. I didn't even remember ordering it. Having read the "Ben Arnold..." (actually by Josephine Waggoner, as she interviewed him prior to his death and then sold her notes for a paltry sum)I am very excited about this find of today. The Berlin Journal article on the Sioux and Custer quotes Josephine Waggoner. It is a sad and heartbreaking account of the situation in the 1870's.

Feeding Babies

Yesterday as I was in the back yard weeding, I happened to notice a blackbird parent on top of the grape fence feeding a fledgling. At first I thought she was cutting up a rather large earth worm but on a closer look, I saw that she was tearing a small snake into bite sized pieces. The food was none too happy about the situation and tried to get away. After a few bites pushed into the open beak of the baby bird, big blackbird grabbed the snake by the head and flew off to the neighbor's yard. Sometimes one has to get their feet on the ground to do a task well.

We have a robin family in the curly willow. They have nested close enough to the ground that we will have to hand water instead of let the sprinkler fly for another week or so.

Be Presentable

We attend Saturday Evening church services. It occurs at a time of day that is manageable, pain-wise. The small congregation is cozy and warm. HWMBO always maneuvers our dear E in her chariot to the rail for communion while I fetch the glasses for us. It is a predictable little routine, lovely, fulfilling, "bread for the journey," so to speak.

Last night I was met at the door by the pastor asking if I would read, with him, the Lesson, which was the First Creation Story. Of course I would. He had marked the paragraphs that I would read. It was very enjoyable. After reading aloud all winter the five tomes of history and one Afghanistan novel, I could take on two pages of Scripture. I am glad I was 'presentable.'

The preaching was on the text we read together. God can create order out of chaos was the theme so we have hope today. No it isn't a science lesson, nor a history lesson. It is a story to let the Isrealistes in Babylonian captivity know that God is with them/us and can order whatever chaos we experience. Thank God.

You Know It's Going to be a Bad Day..

I should have seen it coming. The same day He Who Must Be Obeyed purchased a couple lottery tickets at the grocery store, I stuffed his shirt in the washing machine without checking the pockets. You know the old saw: you know it is going to be a bad day when... There was a time in my Stepford Wife days that in my haste to do it all, I washed a few of his paychecks.

He has purchased lottery tickets occasionally. Never have we expected a return on them but he did make a hundred dollars once, but he checked the numbers never the less. The minute he discovered that there were nothing left of them but a few shreds of white fluff, he was sure he must have won and hoped I had learned to look in pockets and not wash things in such haste. He didn't use quite those words. I detected a bit of blue in the air.

And the monitor went out. We were warned when we bought the large flat screen that when it died, there would be no bringing it back to life. So we waited for a little bitty baby monitor to be delivered just to check if that was it. It was.

With grass to be mowed, dandelions to be dug, a short reunion with a dear cousin's family, and the things of spring yard work, I didn't experience computer withdrawal, much.

We are swimming again, and trying to judge when the cold wind goes down enough to dash from the pool to the outdoor shower and back inside. It is such a luxury. The payback is going to happen when we get our first gas bill for the heating.

Baby Sitting

We put our daily newspaper delivery on "vacation hold" while we take care of spring yard business. Because I miss knowing what is going on, I web surf the newspapers around the world. I still don't know if the Chilean Volcano is near our Vocations for Orphans building project of our Boe brother. The photos on this web site are worth a visit. The sweet couple on the FVO video are the beloved youngest brother of the ten, and his bride.

One thing leads to another, and I checked out Ice News from Iceland, and landed on the Bismark Tribune (North Dakota) article: Woman takes car, kids for a ride. This could be the latest thing in creative business; a person to drive kids around the parking lot while Mom shops. The impromptu sitter probably should have charged a per minute rate for the service. It would beat an arrest for the mother and the foster system for the kids.


May 07, 2008 - 04:05:24 CDT
DICKINSON (AP) - Authorities in Dickinson are looking into a report of a woman getting in a car occupied by three children and driving it around a store parking lot.

The children were ages 3, 4 and 6. Their mother, Lacey Cox, says the strange woman told the children that their mother shouldn't leave them alone.

Cox says she was inside Kmart at the time. She says her grandmother had parked the car in front of Kmart and gone to the outdoor garden center for a few minutes when the incident happened Saturday.

Cox says her grandmother later found the car in a parking space in the lot. The children were unharmed.

Men in Trees

Marge came here as we were eating lunch today. She brought me a May Basket. It was a lovely begonia that I can put outside. She joined us at the table and we enjoyed homemade chicken soup that HWMBO made while I mowed the front lawn with my little simple reel, push mower.

It made me happy to be able to mow again. I enjoy it as much as I do vacuuming. The finished result is so apparent and rewarding. And we both love drop in company.

May Day brought another unexpected delight. A company called Omaha Trees had men working in the neighborhood this morning. I called the company from the phone number on the truck. The estimator was here within the hour and the crew moved to our yard and trimmed the maple tree that has shaded us every summer for probably 30 years.

Another elderly neighbor planted it for us from a volunteer sapling shortly after we moved here It has endured as many storms as we have. They did a beautiful job and I am happy. I love watching men work. These young dads were skilled and eager to please. They did an artistic job on our old tree and it looks young and lively again.

Once again I have high hopes for pears. The tree is in full bloom and I am so hoping for bees. The pool is holding water...with the exception of four inches leaking out from somewhere. And the flower pots await their new bloomers. My curly willow is my spring delight. It is the first to green up as its red winter branches turn yellow again as the sap slowly rises to the top. It is that compact little tree at the end of the diving board. Life is Good.