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Published: October 2nd 2007
Netherland Cookies
I introduced Stroopwaffels, a cookie from the Netherlands, to my cousins kids and had a little geopgraphy lesson in the process. Food can be so educational and fattening.It felt good to be home again, but I did not sleep as well as I expected. I thought a familiar bed would put me down for the count, but I think my sleep patterns over the last 4.5 months have been in such disarray, that it will take time to get back to regular sleep patterns. For the last 4.5 months, I have slept in unfamiliar beds and couches and floors every night. It may sound a little crazy, but in all actuality it was quite fun and I have no regrets except that maybe I had not done it a little sooner in life. The value of this trip is priceless on several levels. I will never be the same person. My philosophy on life is to look at it from your last day. I will be very thankful I have taken this trip on my last day.
It was neat roaming around my parents house, seeing familiar faces, seeing the dogs although I felt like a little bit of a bad parent to abandon my dog for this length of time. Jake seemed however to be enjoying his stay and hanging out with my parents dog. I
was again amazed by my Dad’s tomato crop and disappointed in my blueberry’s and grapes. The grapes need to be sprayed and that is something Dad, does not want to do so I have made the decision to take them out. I may try and talk them into planting cherry trees in the grapes place, as cherry trees seem pretty disease resistant or maybe more berries of some sort. I think berries like boysenberries and/or huckleberries might be neat. Something a little different and of interest. The 24 blueberry bushes that we planted 3 years ago have come into there own and are doing well. Although after getting around 15 gallons off the plants last year, the yield was really bad this year due in part, to the late frost and the birds apparently hit them hard as well as described by my mom. Next year we may need to look into netting. A person, who has a large patch of blueberries, said you have to plant enough bushes to feed the birds as well. Blueberries have a somewhat demanding soil requirement, but other than that are easy to care for as no spraying is required. I personally think more
Dad's Beer Can Chicken
Green Acres is the place to be. Darling I love you, but give me Park Avenue. Actually grilling chicken like this results in a very succulent bird. I requested it another night during my stay. See the beer can in the bottom of the chicken? people should consider them in their landscape choices. The grapes however are a complete disappointment as they are just horrible, as they on the other hand takes a lot of care. It appears to a fungus called black rot just had it’s way with the plants this past year. Even the old Concord Grapes, which are pretty resistant to the fungus diseases had a horrible year. I guess it was just a bad year for grapes this year with the frost and fungus. Dad’s tomatoes were the highlight of the garden.
Back on the Farm
After lunch one day my uncle stopped by and ask if I wanted to help him, by driving the farm truck to haul round hay bales from one field to another. I had not done this kind of thing in about 16 years and thought it sounded like fun. I get concerned at times that all this vacationing is going to make me lazy, although the way I travel most people would not call this a vacation. The journaling I believe helps maintain good work ethic and discipline as I do not want to come back from this trip lazy. I am sure I
40th Wedding Anniversary Pics
Gangs all hear. My brother, parents and two sisters. I think Dad had been at the keg too long already. will not. Actually I think when I finish this trip I will be ready to work more than ever.
I jumped in the farm truck with my uncle and headed over to the field with the hay bails. He dropped me off at the location of the farm truck that I would be driving and went through some instructions on how to operate the hydraulics and the transmission as it had been may years since I last drove one of these creatures. Farm trucks are something everyone should experience someday. I call them collectively the 8th wonder of the world. After a few minutes rethinking things I was up and running or at least driving. It felt good to turn a steering wheel, that you really had to put some effort into and to ride in a vehicle that bounced you around like a clothes dryer. It was like getting a physical workout while driving a vehicle. At the hay field I backed up to the 3 bales that were positioned just so for quick loading. My cousin Tony, who I believe is 15 was loading the bales with the tractor. He had a Mohawk hair cut, which even
in my day was a common cut for football players, and was listening to his ipod, which was not present in my day. The tractor had a metal spear like object protruding from the front end loader. I assume my uncle probably made this, as he is extremely handy in fabricating these devices. Farmers are some of the most resourceful people I know. I often think about how good an engineer he could have been although a lot of engineering is not creative thinking, but just using existing designs. I suspect my kind of work would bore him but I know he would be good at it as he thinks out of the box.
After Tony loaded the bales onto the truck I was off and driving the 4 miles to the place where I was to dump the bales. To get to the barn location you had to drive across a sizable hill with many turns. As I drove over the hill I met my Uncle who was going back to get more bales with his truck. Once I got to the barn I was pleasantly surprised I still knew how to use the hoist. I saw a
Dad
Dad loves his garden. Here he is picking tomatoes. I would estimate he keeps maybe 60% of the tomatoes he grows and gives away the rest. He likes gardening. fire hydrant near the barn and was concerned about dumping the bales too close to the hydrant in case there was a fire. I rolled them off the best I could and then was off. I met my Uncle coming back with another load a little closer to the barn dumping location than I had on the trip over as he was driving a little faster than I was. It became a little bit of a race to see if I could meet him at roughly the same location, meaning we were getting our bales loaded and dumped at roughly the same speed. I know this is probably not the smartest thing to be doing, but who said I was smart. One trip I stopped and took a picture of dad who was picking tomatoes in the garden. I thought this would be a good blog picture.
I noticed a strong gas smell coming from the truck and asked Jaime, another cousin about it, he said yep it is a strong gas smell, but did not know of any problems with the truck. When I was driving I made sure the windows were rolled down to keep the fumes
Farm Hand
My job was to drive the red farm tuck about 4 miles, where I would dump the bales out. I used to help my uncle during my college years do this kind of work, but had not done this for about 15 years. I enjoyed it this day, more than I did back then. ventilated outside the truck as best as possible. It really was a quite strong smell and I was a little concerned about it. The longer I drove however, the less I smelled the gas. Maybe I was getting used to the smell. I later asked my uncle about it and he just said Dave Schleeper, who is familiar with the truck just said that means the tank is full. That made me laugh. None of the farm trucks I have ever driven had ever been new so I was used to hearing crazy stories like this. One farm truck I used to drive you could see the road through the floor. You just got used to it and really thought nothing of it thinking they all must be this way.
It seemed like we were getting the bales off the field pretty quickly, which was good as Tony our loader had to get to football practice. There were about 9 bails left when Tony asked for a ride to his house, so he could go to football practice. I offered to drop him off at the bottom of the hill to his house, but he said he wanted taken
Don Quixote ?
Farmers design these jousting spears so they can pretend they are knights in shining armor in a jousting match with another Knight. This is me on the tractor trying my hand at the ways of the Knight. Can you say Don Quixote? all the way to his house. I told him I preferred to drop off the bales at the barn first and he said that was fine. When we got back I asked him if his Dad were driving this truck would he take him all the way to his house or just drop him off at the bottom of the hill. He said he would take him to his house. I told him that’s what I will do, but I was going to pose the question to his Dad as well. If I were Tony I would have just walked up the hill, but I guess when I was 15 maybe I would have wanted driven the 0.25 mile up the hill to their house as well.
On the way back I met Uncle Bernie going back with a load of hay that he had loaded himself. When I got to the field I loaded the bales myself and was happy I still knew how to drive the tractor after 15 years. I pretended I was Don Quixote fighting dragons. I would stick the steel rod on the front-end loader of the tractor into the bale and hoist
Mooooooo
My uncle's cows. My uncle is definitely not a racist see all the skin colors. it into the truck. I was working on the third bale when my Uncle showed up. He pulled up and said after getting that load dumped, we were going to take the truck back down to Schleeper’s since it is their truck, but we needed to fill it up with gas. After dumping the bales I took the truck back up to their farm and filled it with gas. From there, we took Schleeper’s farm truck and my uncle’s truck to Brussels. I let my uncle drive the farm truck and I drove the regular truck since I was never real confident I was driving their truck correctly. I always asked myself the question, whether I was driving it too fast or at too high of rpms. After dropping off the truck, we headed back to the field and unsuccessfully tried to load a broken bale onto the pickup truck. We ended up just putting as much on the pickup truck as possible and headed back to their house. I went home for the night and felt good about the days work. I actually felt like I had done some physical work and that felt good. It resulted in a
good nights sleep as well.
The Wedding
I had to come home from my travels for two reasons. One was a cousin’s wedding and the other was a surprise 40th wedding anniversary for my parents. The wedding was special to me for two reasons. Reason number 1 is the obvious reason, the marriage, and the 2nd one is our family friends that live near Champaign, Illinois were coming down for it. Peg is the wife of my grandfather’s army buddy. They served in Africa and Italy during WWII. Peg’s daughter Laura and her husband Bob also come down. I was telling them that yes Hitler and the Nazis were bad people, but you know there was one good thing I know that came out of that war and that is our friendship. They are simply some of the nicest people you will ever meet. I just wish more of the world can be like them. I always enjoy Peg’s stories of when they gathered with my grandfather and grandmother and did things. They are the type of people who do not put money first, but instead just do the right thing, even if they lose out on a little
Tree Trimming
Dad said I had to earn my keep (not really) so he ask that I help him trim some trees. This is me running the chain saw to trim the tree. I didn't cut my leg off or anything. Everything was fine except maybe Dad's photography. extra money as a result. Man I wish there were more people like them.
They stay at my parents house and my biggest concern is that they will think they are inconveniencing us, as the house gets a little small when everyone is there for weddings. The fact is we have many places to stay and the opportunity to see them is way more valuable than any kind of momentary inconvenience. We also have plenty of other places where we can go as well. I for example went to another cousin’s Rod’s and couchsurfed with him and his wife and kids. Couchsurfing is a new word in the vocabulary of most people I know, as none of them had heard of it before I started doing it. It was neat that their kids actually seemed a little excited about me being there. It actually made me feel good. One of the days when I was leaving I asked Mitch, their oldest boy, when I needed to be back to watch the movie we planned to watch together, and he replied, “you need to be here all day.” That made me smile. Everybody in this world likes to be wanted
Former Colleagues
I met up with some people I use to work with. I had inspired one to even stay in a hostel when he was in California recently. Most Americans are not familiar with the concept of Hostels. and felt like their needed. Do things to make other people feel important and needed. It will make someone feel good by doing so, just like Mitch made me feel wanted and needed.
The wedding itself went fine and as I sat in the church, I looked around and thought about all the churches I have been to over the last 4.5 months. Even though this church did not have a Michelangelo statue, it was still very nice and served it’s purpose. A place for people to come together and hopefully be closer to God or maybe just help a person reflect. I believe churches serve a lot of valuable functions for a lot of people and are generally positive institutions. I myself always make an effort to really focus on the readings and the sermons, but often have a hard time focusing on the repetition of the rest mass. For me I think a perfect service would simply consist of a rather small group of people reading from the bible followed by active discussions on the readings. Questions like, what do you think the bible is trying to tell us and how can we integrate that into our
Former Secretary Brenda
Brenda did not want her picture taken so I told her that I am unemployed and have all day and that I was not leaving this office until she allows me to take her picture. She knew me well enough to know I would have stayed so she quickely turned around and took her medicine. Thanks Brenda! It wasn't that bad was it? daily lives. I like for people to actively discuss things, not just sit back passively and listen to the priest talk. Often a person just sits in church falling a sleep and gets nothing from it. I do not see the point of that. I think a facilitator is necessary in this perfect mass to keep the discussion focused and moving forward, but this person does not necessarily have to be a priest. For me a priest is just another human being that has went to school for his work. For me living life comes down to the Golden Rule, in that you should just treat your neighbor as you would want to be treated. We often get caught up in our daily lives and getting rich and get out of focus and coming together weekly to slow down and refocus is a good thing. I think there are lots of ways, that can be accomplished, just as long as you are doing something that leads you to living the Golden Rule.
After the wedding we went to the reception. The food was pulled pork as the bride’s parents have a big hog farm. I love pulled pork and
Carlyle Lake
Out on the Lake with some friends. this food was good as well. I looked for a seat and couldn’t find one so I just sat with the father of the groom, my uncle. This might not have been the most proper thing to do, but I think our family is tight enough and not so uptight to not think a thing of this. Lonn also sat at this same table and I always thoroughly enjoy talking to him. I remember in college I would sometimes go skiing with Lonn on a weekend and after being around him for a few hours I went back to school really enthusiastic about learning. He has a very positive infectious personality. Lonn lives the Golden Rule.
From there I got on the bus and went bar hopping. The bus went to Robbie’s in Batchtown first and was there for some quite some time. From there I went home as I just did not feel like I had my legs completely under me yet from my European adventures. I had only been home a few days and thought I needed to go to my parents and chill out a couple hours or I would never make it through the wedding
Key West Sunset
Actually no, this is a Carlyle Lake Sunset. dance.
At the wedding dance everybody was getting very light on their feet aided by the consumed alcohol. I danced for awhile and actually really enjoy dancing. I asked Peg, the wife of my grandfather’s army buddy, to dance as well and I was so happy when she accepted. Peg also said she wanted to treat everybody to a meal at the Barefoot a bar in Hardin where she has fond memories of eating with my grandparents. And to think that Peg is not even blood, at least biologically she isn’t anyway. It is such a tribute to my grandparents and all of their group of friends that they meant so much to each other to stay this close with each other. I hope someday I can make such a tight bond as they did with some really good people who live the Golden Rule who are not blood. I am confident the blood will always be there, which is a tribute to my grandparents who raised kids who know the difference between right and wrong and then passed that down to their kids (my cousins and I). I hope that does not sound like bragging, but I am
confident our family ties will always be there. I hope we can just keep them as tightly bound as what my parents do. I know there are societal changes affecting us differently than how they were influenced, so I believe we are at a little bit of a disadvantage, but I am confident we can do stay close. I just hope the values of my grandparents and their friends, like our Champaign friends, always pulsate through our veins and our kid’s veins. I will do my best to keep the tradition going. I hope I can stand tall when these bonds are challenged and ask the question, “What would my grandparents and there friends do in this situation?” I have lots of reminders in my life of people doing the right thing and that really helps me a long. People giving up money in many instances to do the right thing. I like that. As one of my favorite Bruce Springsteen’s song goes, I hope I have the strength to “Walk Like a Man.”
I left the dance around 12:00, but a lot of people were still dancing, like there was no tomorrow. Actually it already was tomorrow.
The next day was quite slow moving, which is so often the case after a big day like that. About 40 of us gathered and went to the Barefoot where Peg treated us all to a great meal. I told the waiter I wanted the most expensive thing they had on the menu as Peg was buying. No, I ordered the fritter dinner, which is what the Barefoot is known for. Even if there was a porterhouse steak on the menu for the same price, I still would have gotten the fritters. It had probably been 5 years since I had eaten here, as all the other times Peg had taken people out for this supper, I had to always leave to go back to my home in Carlyle, as I had to work the next day. Not this time as I am unemployed! It feels great to be unemployed although it will feel good again to go back to work as well.
The Anniversary and Time Spent in Carlyle
Man 40 years is a long time to be with someone. I am not sure why, but people do not typically stay married that long this day and age.
My Old stomping (sailing) grounds!
This is a great place to sail. It looks peaceful now, but it will broach a boat, which I have first hand experience of. I suspect Hollywood will not change there portrayal of alternative life styles anytime soon, which I think affects peoples thinking somewhat, but I do not blame it all on Hollywood. There are lots of factors. I think however as kids grow up in troubled households, they may say they do not want that to happen to them and maybe they will stay married longer. I do not know. I think people have, the grass is always greener phobia these days. They think things might be better with someone else. They tend to take each other for granted. They quit saying I love you. They quit being a good partner. They quit doing things for each other and quit doing things for theirself. I think at times it is good for couples to stand back and set goals on what they want out of there life. This should be done before marriage as well. Couples should make a list of what they see in the future for them as a couple. Do they want kids? Where do they want to live? What types of vacations? All kinds of things should be discussed before marriage, but a person must realize there will
Couchsurfing at Jay's
This is a picture of my couchsurfing bed in Jay's daughter's room. Becky, Jay's wife gave this room a castle theme. She made the castle wall herself. I felt like a king in his castle. be differences and all these questions do not have to be answered to each others satisfaction, but a certain number should be agreed upon. The ones that you do not agree upon should be discussed and a person must realize some of the things they will just have to accept. What do I know about marriage? Nothing. Sounds like someone who may never get married doesn’t it? Marriage is just like religion, not everything is proven and laid out for you. You just have to have faith. That’s why they call it Faith. My thoughts on marriage just seem like common sense things to me. Marriage is about a close friendship and living the Golden Rule. Yes, you should live the Golden Rule with your spouse as well.
Mom and Dad obviously had some disagreements and trying times, but when you say “I Do” your making a life time commitment. People I do not think, realize, the impact of that statement. Sure things change in a person’s life and I believe people that marry before 30 are going to have more trying times, as a person is still figuring things out. They are still working to become the person
This is a Big Lake
This is only a part of Carlyle Lake. they long to become. Anyway my parents should be commended for what they have accomplished and that warrants a celebration.
I had done virtually nothing for my parents anniversary and my sisters reminded me of that fact often, as the days drew closer. I definitely have some selfish characteristics and do not think of other people as much as I should. I do not live the Golden Rule always and take people for granted at times. I am just a preacher and do not live it. Yes I agree I should take more time thinking about helping others and less time thinking about myself. I suspect a lot of us may be a little guilty of this at times. Anyway, instead of helping my sisters, I went to Carlyle to sail and to visit friends. Preparing for a party is a woman’s job isn’t it?
As for the time sailing in Carlyle. The sailing did not happen as Jay and I went to his boat and his motor would not start. I tend to jinx that motor as Jay says it had run fine all Winter and now problems. Maybe it was the hand of God exacting some
Stuck on the Bank
My poor boat really let me have it as she, the "Midnight Sun" has not been on the water the entire year. vengeance on me on behalf of my sisters? A couple other times I was on Jay’s boat, we had problems as well.
Also during my stay in Carlyle I met some people from where I used to work for lunch. I couchsurfed with Jay and his wife, Becky as well as their kids Claire and Ben. I stayed in their daughter’s room, which Becky had decorated as a castle. I slept great there and still felt like I was getting caught up on sleep. I checked my house out one day and it looked fine and visited with a few people from Carlyle as well. One night I went out with some friends on their pontoon boat. We watched the sunset and the moon rise. I thought man I have been to all these places and this sunset right here on Carlyle Lake is amazingly impressive as well. People do not realize often, what is right in their own backyard. The whole time I was doing this, my sisters and other family members were frantically working to get this party put together. Yes I am a very bad person. That goes without saying.
Finally as we approached A-Day
New Things Since I Left.
A friend has a new baby and a new house! meaning Anniversary Day, I went to a friend’s house to see their new baby and to another friend who had been seriously hurt in a biking accident. I enjoyed immensely my time I spent with them and it was nice to catch up a little although there is never enough time. Finally around noon on A-day I made it to the location of the party. The verbal lashings commenced and I was the lowest form of living being on the planet. Ants eat me. I was told how there are lots of things to do, and reminded I had done nothing to prepare for this party. I took the medicine without much resistance knowing that arguing was not going to help matters. I left and went to Mom and Dad’s to wait for their arrival as they were at Mark’s helping him get ready to move to Denver. Mark had gotten them back home about 30 minutes late so I tried to hurry them up the best I could, to get them to Rod and Denise’s for a small barbeque at least that is how the story went. Finally out the door we went. I was instructed to drive a
Berlin Jelly
The two jars of jam on the table were from a couchsurfing host I stayed with in Berlin. She makes great jam. certain route so the cars would not be seen parked near Rod and Denise’s house. Everything worked pretty well and we walked to the garage, where everyone was waiting inside and I walked through the door first and was truly surprised at everyone who was in the garage. I had no idea who had been invited, remember I had done nothing for this party. Mom and Dad then came through the door to a loud “SURPRISE!”
As the dust settled I was still awe struck at everyone who was there. Mom and Dad sat at the table, where the wedding party sat. On the tables where everyone else sat, there were pictures of them through the years, which included pictures of various family members. Katie, my sister, had decorated a cake that actually looked pretty good. Not as well as mom could of done of course, but she is the master. It was good none the less. If I had planned the party I would have ordered a 25th wedding anniversary cake from mom and told her it was for someone I knew in Carlyle and then changed the numbers to 40 and gave it back to her. Mom
40th Weddding Anniversary Pics
Thanks to Rod and Denise, we were able to have the surprise party take place at their house. They put a lot of work and effort into making this happen and we are all very appreciative of that. would have decorated her own anniversary cake. Man I am cunning and maybe a little lazy. Hey I have been unemployed now for almost 9 months. This is the kind of thing that happens to a person.
Anyway the day was a complete hit and the party lasted until about midnight. The next day we got things cleaned up at Rod and Denise’s and talked about how well the day had gone.
On the Road Again
Man it seemed like I had just landed and it was time to go again. I headed to my brother’s and spent the night at his place as I had an early flight to Seattle, where my truck was stored. We went to a Cuban restaurant where they had swings instead of bar stools. I was thinking this would be a great place to take future couchsurfers if, when this trip is over, I land in St. Louis. It was a cousin’s Travis’s birthday so we went out to honor him.
I worked late into the evening trying to tie up lose ends before leaving. The night went fast and I did not sleep that well. You would have thought I
would have gotten good at sleeping on different beds, but I guess not. I didn’t feel as relaxed as I had hoped, but what are you going to do. Time waits for no one, nor does the aircraft industry. I seemed to have difficulty keeping my mind quiet on this night, but finally I managed to fall asleep.
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Nancy R
non-member comment
This was a nice addition to all your traveling tales. I could go for a slice of that cake.