Long Time No Blog

It has been several years since my last blog entry and of course many changes have occurred. I'm not even sure how this will turn out.  Big change, I'm older of course and now have seven grandchildren.  Jennifer (daughter) and her husband Jeff still live in Texas and have three children, Julia, J.C. and Jetta.  Susan (daughter) and husband Andrew live in Virginia with their two children Molly and Andrew.  Matt (son) and his wife live in Missouri with their two daughters, Caroline and Victoria.  There are many stories to pass on to them about grandparents and family. Hopefully I'll be able to continue this adventure.  If I'm able to connect a picture with this, you'll notice it is several years old, Caroline and Victoria have not yet had opportunity to be in a family photo.  Regardless, enjoy. -30-

AIN'T IT GRAND!

In the month of March LaDonna and I made a trip to Arizona, by way of Amtrak.  We had two destinations in Arizona; Royals Spring Training and The Grand Canyon.  Enjoy a few pictures from The Grand Canyon, but pictures do not convey the majesty and grandeur of God's handiwork.

"This is my Father's world and to my listening ears

All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres."

"This is my Father's world, I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas His hand the wonders wrought."

"Is this the place the good Lord stood, that day of creation and said, 'That's good!' " 

Bob Woolley

Grandma Rita's Christmas Tree

     "Icicles we see, on almost every Christmas tree" was the line my brother Gary had in the Church Christmas program in Riverton, Illinois.  Certainly Christmas trees like Church Christmas programs are a tradition of Christmas.  In a recently purchased Christmas CD I read this comment about the tradition of Christmas trees.

     " The decorating of trees in our homes at Christmas started in Germany during the time of Martin Luther. Luther himself was believed to have started the custom. Following a walk through the woods on Christmas Eve, with the stars shining through the evergreens, he was so impressed that he attempted to show his family what the sight looked like by cutting down an evergreen and decorating it with lighted candles."

     We'll leave the history story and continue with some "family" stories about Christmas trees.
     Growing up our family always had a real, evergreen tree for Christmas.  I remember a friend of mine in Hutchinson, Kansas who spoke of his family going to the country  looking for a tumble weed to decorate.  Interesting tradition but again, we always had a real evergreen tree.  A "new" trend when I was growing up was to have an artificial tree.  The ones I remember were silver/aluminum and had a four color rotating light focused on the tree giving it color; blue, red, green, yellow.  Grandpa and Grandma Bear had one.  It was interesting but not a real evergreen tree.

    As your Mom(LaDonna) and I started a family we had real Christmas trees.  By this time artificial trees had evolved to "more realistic" green trees but the cost was prohibitive for a young family.  As the cost of real trees rose in price (to $40) we attempted to save money by going to a "cut your own" Christmas tree farm.
On our first attempt we drove south to Harrisonville, Missouri to select and cut down our own tree. Arriving at the farm we were given a bow saw and pointed to acres and acres of Christmas trees.  We tromped through the woods with Jennifer, Susan and Matthew looking for the perfect tree.  Trying to compare trees was difficult. Moving from tree to tree we would forget where we had been and which ones we liked.  They all have a tendency to look alike.  Seems like we thought about leaving a child at trees we wanted to compare but realized our luck at looking for "a tree" in the forest might not improve when looking for a child in the forest of trees.  Several years later we gave in and bought an artificial tree figuring it would save money and time in the long run.

     Which finally brings us to the story of Grandma Rita's Christmas tree.  As I've already stated we always had a real Christmas tree in our home.  In Lebanon Dad had a friend who owned  farm acreage  outside of town. So one year Dad decided, with permission, that we would cut down our Christmas tree on his friends farms. On a Sunday afternoon Dad, Mom and my brothers loaded up into our station wagon and drove to the farm. Not being a Christmas tree farm there weren't as many trees, they were farther from each other, and mostly cedar trees. We saw a tree we liked but decided it was too big and tall for our living room. We found another slightly smaller tree that seemed agreeable to us so we cut it down, loaded it in the station wagon and drove home.  We put the tree up that evening and seems like we even started to decorate it.
     Arriving home from school the next day my brothers and I saw the tree we had thought "too big" in our living room. Yes, it was too tall but Mom had decided she liked it better. She had driven back to the farm, found the tree, cut it down AND loaded it in the station wagon herself. Needless to say we were all surprised to see the bigger tree but not nearly as surprised that Mom had gone and brought the tree back by herself.

     Merry Christmas to all and to all good memories of Christmas. (-30-)

RITA/MOM

Several years ago I began this blog as a way to tell my children about their grandfather, my dad. My children and the children of my brothers did not have the opportunity to meet him.  Dad passed away in August of 1978 before his first grandchild, my daughter Jennifer, was born on March 1, 1979.  All of Mom's grandchildren; Jennifer, Susan, Matthew, Beau, Ebbie, Bailey, Nick, Madison, Corey and Collin were fortunate to spend time with Grandma Rita. On May 5, 2012 Rita/Mom passed away.  Her life was celebrated on May 10 in Lebanon, Missouri.  It was a wonderful time to celebrate being a family and remembering Rita/Mom with family and friends.

As I continue with this blog, however inconsistent I may be, there may be occassion to add posts about Mom.  You who read this blog, I would welcome any memories you might have.  Earlier this year I met in Springfield with my brother Gregg and he spoke of the time Dad bought an old used tractor. He spoke  how Dad was proud of it, even if it only moved about 5-10 mph on the road. -30-

A NEW SEASON

First of all an apology may be necessary. I know it's been a long time since I've made a blog entry.  Everyone has two things in common; armpits and excuses. They both stink so I won't make any excuses. Just enjoy the NEW SEASON

   The 2012 Baseball season has begun. LaDonna and I have a half season ticket package (41 games) which allows us the privilege to purchase 2 All-Star game strips.  People in Kansas City are excited about this years season and team.  After a 3-3 road trip to start the season on the west coast (vs. Angels and Athletics) the Royals returned for their home opener on Friday April 13.  Several young players such as Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain along with several arms in the bullpen gave a thrill of hope and promise for AT LEAST an end to the drought of sub .500 seasons.
    If you follow baseball you know the Royals gave up 7 runs in the top of the first inning of their home opener. (Friday the 13th luck?)  They went on to lose the game 8-3 and were swept by Cleveland in the opening 3 game series.  Detroit came to town for 3 games and the result was the same, a three game sweep.  However, these games were closer, losing by one run it two games and by two in another.  So, now Toronto is in town and the Royals have lost the first two of a four games series.  In a nutshell, the Royals have lost 9 in a row, not won a home game yet and have a record of 3-12.  The slogan for the Royals this year is "This is OUR TIME".   I think they forgot to add .... to win.

   So what are LaDonna and I doing this afternoon?  Why we're going to the baseball game of course.  There's always hope the Royals will win.  One baseball old timer said that every team will win 50 games and lose 50 games. It's what they do with the other 60 games that determine the course of the year.  We just hope the Royals start winning so our grandaughter Molly won't cry at any more games. (the picture was taken last year)

A Trip to Topeka

This past weekend (October 21-23) LaDonna and I took a trip to Topeka. It was a chance to get away yet stay close enough and not spend a lot of time and money on travel. So many times there are places/things of interest in the area that we tend to overlook. Several years (many?) ago we spent 4-5 days of vacation in Kansas City with the kids. We stayed at a motel within ten miles of our house that had a pool and visited sites in the KC area such as Fort Osage and the Truman Library. Before taking our current three day get away we looked at going to Leavenworth, KS, St. Joseph, MO or Topeka, all within an hours drive.
We got to Topeka thursday evening and took a scenic day trip to Wamego, KS on Friday. Wamego is about 40 miles west of Topeka on highway 24 which happens to follow the Kansas river. It was a beautiful fall day, the colors and the Flint Hill region giving lots to look at. We passed through several small towns along the way; Silver Lake and St. Mary's which had a college with several stone buildings that one time had been an Indian mission. The purpose of our trip to Wamego was to visit the "Wizard of Oz" museum. When asking the museum host why Wamego for an Oz museum, she replied that someone in town gave a large collection of memoribilia and since no specific town in Kansas is mentioned as Dorothy's home, any town in the state could be "no place like home". Of course there were lots of movie exhibits as well as displays based on the original book, spin-offs and sequels. Next to the museum was an eatery called "Toto's Taco's" and a sewing shop called "The Wicked Stitch".

After our visit to the museum we ate a picnic lunch in the town park. The park was home to a dutch windmill moved from a farm originally built in the late 1800's outside of town. Wamego was a small town and as such had its own unique personality. Not sure we discovered it but it was fun looking at the attractions mentioned as well as several old historic homes.

Saturday found us in Topeka looking at "The Great Overland Train Station Museum" and the "Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site". Both contained exhibits and pictures to be read. The Train museum had a unique fountain and plaza outside as well as history of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad (ATSF). With Topeka as headquarters of the Railroad their historys have much in common. The Brown v.Board of Education site had a lot of pictures and videos giving history of desegragation in the United States. Lots to read and look at so we rested some in the afternoon before heading to see a movie "Moneyball". It fit well with watching the World Series game that night in our motel.

Finally on Sunday we took opportunity to walk around the state capitol building. There was work being done on the outside of the building and of course the inside was closed. Around the capitol people were setting up booths, signs, etc. for "Race for the Cure" that would take place in the afternoon. Before leaving Topeka we headed for Gage park. The park houses the Zoo, a small train, a Carousel and a Rose Garden as well as usual sports and picnic facilites. LaDonna had a great time taking pictures in the rose garden and yes, we rode the carousel. It was another beautiful fall day and great to be outdoors. It was fun to get away and enjoy exploring new places and just like the story says........"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" (fooled you didn't I?) -30-

Dad's Home Cooking

The picture is from 1957, outside of our house on Della Street in Springfield, MO. The back door leads into the kitchen. Of course my Dad spent time in the kitchen. Sometimes he would even cook. It wasn't something he did on a regular basis but he did have some "favorite" recipes he would cook from time to time. Some that I remember and want to share with you include - beef stroganoff, clam chowder and chili. He would also whip up a batch of scrambled eggs from time to time as well. He probably cooked other things but these are ones I remember.
For Beef stroganoff Dad would slice strips of beef, brown them in the skillet with some flour and butter. He would add this to a pot (this was before crock pots were famous) along with noodles, sour cream and mushrooms. He would allow this to simmer for a while on the stove. He would use the wide egg noodles and it seems like he may have used home made noodles. I'm not sure of the amounts, time cooked, etc. I mainly remember that it tasted good.
Another of his recipes was Clam Chowder. This was mainly a winter time meal. Dad would mix a can of whole clams with milk, butter, seasoning and let it simmer for a while. This was always served with oyster crackers. Chili was another dish that Dad would fix, but it didn't usually attract as much attention.
It seemed that most of Dad's cooking took place on Saturdays or Sundays, usually the evening meal. I remember one particular dish that Dad fixed on a Saturday evening when we lived in Riverton, Illinois. Dad was doing some grocery shopping one Saturday afternoon and I happened to be with him. The meat case/counter was in back of the store and Dad spotted some pork? beef? brains and got in a discussion with the meat clerk about them. As the clerk wrapped them up I remember saying something like, Yuk! I'll never eat those things. That evening for supper we had scrambled eggs as the "main" course. Knowing that Dad had fixed the eggs I commented, Gee, these eggs are pretty good. Dad replied, got those brains in them.
Because of that meal I have a lot of extra memory. (OH please!) Okay, but I do have memories of Dad cooking and from time to time have tried to duplicate some of his recipes. Just like my Dad, most of my cooking is done by the seat of my pants; add a little this, try that, see if it works, can't hurt, if it's not good I won't make it again, if it is good I'll probably never be able to duplicate it.
Some of my favorite recipes include those that Dad made (except the brains) along with Pork Steak (Brandy's fav) Toll House Pie (family fav) and Pecan Pie (my fav). Whenever you come to visit you might get something I make, but you'll never get any brains. -30-