The Home Front

MAN WALKS ON MOON!

2010-07-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

Look what I found! Compare this to Megan's blog and her pictures from the Kennedy Space Center. I remember seeing the front page of the Des Moines Register (among all the other front pages) on the wall at the space center and thinking Grandpa probably would have saved that since we lived in Des Moines at the time.

Today since it is too hot to do much else, I decided to retrieve some of the papers I brought home from Grandma's house and go through them in our air-conditioned bedroom. Lo and behold, here is what I came across. Grandma has written across the top of it "of great interest to Henry".

Also of interest on the back of this page is an article about whether Ted Kennedy will be charged in the accident on Chappaquiddick that occurred two days before the moon landing. Didn't realize these event happened about the same time.

The End of an Era

2009-11-27T07:22:00.000-08:00

Astro is gone. She passed this morning around 10:00. She will leave a void in our hearts and in our yard.

Now if only the Neon and Nikki would follow suit.

And here is a picture of our lonely little 3-person dinner yesterday on our Thanksiversary.

You'd think I would have moved the chair out of the way and taken the aluminum foil off the stuffing. Oh well.

Finally, this is the tree Millane's is supposed to be holding for us till spring.

Columbus Day Weekend

2009-10-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

Dad and I were supposed to leave for Arkansas on Saturday but Dad decided he didn't want to drive that far. So we found cheap airfares at the end of the month and are going to go then. In the meantime we had a problem. We had been asked to speak at church on Sunday and had declined because we were going to be out of town. It was going to be a little awkward to show up. We decided to use the three-day weekend and go to upstate New York. I found a hotel on Hotwire in Glens Falls, New York. We threw some clothes in a suitcase, grabbed some money and the GPS and off we went.

First stop was Granville, MA where we went last weekend between Conference sessions. They had said to come back the next week because they were having a festival, so we did. They had vendors and booths in the green across from the country store and in a couple of other locations to which you were shuttled on a school bus.

When we first arrived, the fife and drum corps was performing.

Here's the green with the Granville Country Store in the background.We took the shuttle up the hill to the orchard where we bought cider and donuts last week. This time they were demonstrating how they make cider.

Dad sitting outside the cider shop:
They had some old tractors on display so Dad played farmer.

As we were leaving town, we went by the old drum factory. We have been by there quite a few times and we always thought it was closed down. This time a door was standing open and a sign said there was a gift shop so of course I went in. I found out that the drum factory had never shut down although its operations had been scaled back over the years. We got a tour and saw how they make toy drums.

This machine applies the paint.

He's about to run this sheet of painted metal through a machine that will turn it into a cylinder.

Besides toy drums, they also make professional drums but in their heyday they made drums of all sorts. They had one of their civil war drums on display along with a picture of President Eisenhower's son with his Noble and Cooley drum.

Then we were off on the backroads to our hotel in Glens Falls, NY. The next morning we were on our way to the garnet mine when we passed a sign that said "gondola open". We turned around and went back to ride the ski lift. Grandma liked to do this at Sundance for her birthday. I wished she could have gone with us. It was gorgeous.

The sky cleared later and the foliage was even more spectacular with a bright blue backdrop.

Next we were off to the garnet mine. It was well off the beaten path and just when you thought you must have gone wrong somewhere, there would be a sign telling you just one more mile or half mile or whatever. Finally we made it to the office/shop where you pay for your tour.

The tour consisted of following the guide in your own car up the mountain a little ways and then getting out and being told that this was where they mined garnet until they hit the water table and the pit filled up with water. Now they mine in a different area. Then you got to spend a half hour looking for your own garnets. They weren't hard to find. The ground glistened with the red crystals. But they were much too small to be good for anything. They use them to make sandpaper but occasionally someone has found a gem-quality stone there. We had about as much luck as we did hunting for diamonds in Arkansas last fall.

If you look carefully at this picture, you can see the large rocks in the foreground almost look polka-dotted. The red spots are the garnets.

We still planned to get to Fort Ticonderoga that day so we needed to be moving on. We drove through the woods on lovely country roads that we had all to ourselves while we sang along to the greatest hits of John Denver. I know it sounds corny but it was very pleasant.

Unfortunately it was 4:30 by the time we got to Fort Ticonderoga and it closed at 5:00 so we didn't pay the $15 each to go in. But we could get the idea from outside anyway. As we were leaving a whole flock of turkeys went running by. You have to look closely to see them because it was getting dark and the light wasn't great.

Now back to our hotel in hopes they had moved us to a non-smoking room. We got put in a stinking smoking room the first night and they were booked up and couldn't move us. They said the reservation requested a smoking room. I said I never requested that and they said that when you reserve on-line, they sometimes automatically put in for a smoking room. I wasn't happy about that Hotwire. I guess not everyone got Columbus Day off because the hotel was practically empty Sunday night so there was no problem moving us to another room. In fact the whole Lake George area was filled with little independent motels and cabins which is where I would rather have stayed but I couldn't find them online and didn't want to take a chance on getting up there and finding out everything was booked. Oh well, the Ramada Inn was OK.

Monday morning we opted to take the backroads toward Albany and see what we found along the way. (We were going to stop in to see Joyce and Jerry in Albany on our way home.) We found that the Champlain canal boat tour was not operating. It takes you through the locks - at least it does when it's operating. Then we came upon a sign for apples and cider and cider donuts so we headed that way. It was a rip-off. You had to pay $4.50 each just to go out and pick your own apples. It must be the only orchard in the area because no one in CT would pay $4.50 just to be allowed into the orchard to pick their own and they had people streaming in like crazy.

From there we could see a big obelisk on the horizon so we set off in search of that. It turned out to mark the spot where the British laid down their arms after the battle of Saratoga which was fought nearby. It was open for Columbus Day (It's a national monument) so we went in. You can walk to the top if you dare. I didn't. As you are aware, I have a thing about heights and it had the kind of open stairs that you can see through. I went up the first five or six flights that each had a landing at the top. Even that I could only do if I made a point of not looking through the stairs to the ground below. But about halfway up the landings ended and the stairs were just suspended from the wall and went up and up and up and up. Dad was ahead of me going up the stairs and when he reached that point he just laughed. I asked what was funny and he said, "You'll see." When I saw, I told him to take a picture from the top for me because I wasn't going any further. I waited there with a kid who wouldn't go up either.

Trust me, these pictures don't do it justice. Even Dad thought it was a little creepy towards the top where the stairs got narrower. This is looking up.

And here's Dad on his way down.

From there we went to the actual battleground and took the driving tour after watching a movie and posing with the Redcoats.
I'm out of pictures now. Dad took more but his memory card is too big for the computer to recognize. We found Joyce and Jerry's apartment in Albany and went to Fuddruckers with them and then on home.

I decided I like the East. There's a lot to do here and it's pretty. Why don't you all move back this way?

TIMBERRR!

2009-10-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

It's a sad day at 2 Shanley Court. Our maple tree came down today. It has been dying for years and had been dropping branches in every storm so we figured we better take it down before it fell on the house or cars or somebody. Mollie wanted photographic documentation so here it is.

I seem to have done whatever makes me type underlined again. Kyle tried to explain what I was doing wrong but I still don't get it.

Pretty sad.

All these years I thought we had a Norway maple but turns out it was a sugar maple. My research had shown that Norway maples just turn yellow in the fall (like ours always did) whereas the sugar maples produce the brilliant colors New England is known for. But the arborist who took the tree down and Michael Millane both agreed that it was a sugar maple. An underachiever, I guess.

I actually kind of like how the house looks without a tree blocking its nice lines although I think we need to cut the hedge about a foot lower.

But we still plan to plant a replacement tree. I'm supposed to have the wood tested to make sure the tree didn't die from verticillium wilt because that is caused by a fungus in the soil which maples (and quite a few other trees) are susceptible to and if we planted another maple it would just die. They didn't think that was what it was but we'll see. What are your votes for what we should plant?

A Sunday drive between Conference sessions

2009-10-08T14:26:00.000-07:00

After reading all your blogs about missing New England in the fall, Dad decided we should be out enjoying autumn and not sitting home watching TV. Since it rained all day Saturday, we went in search of some fall color between sessions of conference on Sunday. Things haven't really turned here so we headed north. Guess where we ended up. If you guessed Granville, you were right. Even in Massachusetts the leaves weren't at their peak yet but we found a couple of nice spots and got a cider donut and some cider at an apple orchard.

This is where we got our cider and donut. I wished I could send some real cider to Michael so he can show his California friends the difference between cider and apple juice.
You all know what this is.And this is a far cry from the prettiest New-England-church-with-fall- foliage picture but it was right across from the Granville country store so I took it anyway.
We may go back this weekend as they told us they had some kind of festival going on and the color should be better by now. Wish you could come along.

The Big E

2009-10-08T14:08:00.000-07:00

What's September without a trip to the Big E?!

Here are a few pictures from our Opening Day 2009 trip to the Big E.

This is me with the Big E mascot. Not sure what he's supposed to be.

Dad tried out a new Camaro. (We didn't buy one.)

Dad tried out a Little Giant Ladder. (We did buy one.)
And here is the famous bacon cheeseburger served between grilled donuts!
Dad actually ate this and said it wasn't bad - sort of like kettle corn - a mix of sweet and salty.

This one is for Meg who brought her quarters to the fair in Idaho and couldn't find a Footsie Wootsie.
We didn't have funnel cakes. It was just a colorful shot.

And finally off to the Midway to see the rides we will never, ever go on again as long as we live. I believe the last ride Dad went on was with Evan on the Zipper in New Hampshire or somewhere up that direction See you next year!

HOME FROM WALES

2009-09-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

HOME FROM WALES

I got home Sunday night from my whirlwind tour of Wales with Liz and Michael. Here is what we did.
Liz and I had a little time to kill between when we flew into Heathrow on the morning of September 6th, and when our train left for Wales, so we did a little sightseeing in London. We walked past Parliament and Westminster Abbey and on over to Buckingham Palace. It was a gorgeous warm day and the walk through St. James Park was beautiful. We saw pelicans there which reminded me of Megan feeding them at Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake a few weeks ago.

Our first morning in Bangor, we took the bus out to Penrhyn Castle, with the help of some friendly natives who helped us navigate the bus system. Penrhyn Castle was beautiful, but not a true castle - more of a Newport summer- cottage- castle. It has built only in the mid 1800s by a sugar and slate magnate who wanted to build himself a showy castle-like estate to live in a few weeks a year. Unfortunately, we could only take pictures outside but the grounds were marvelou -especially the hidden door into the walled garden which reminded us both of The Secret Garden.

Can you find Liz in the picture down near the door? They had plants there with leaves 6 feet across and weird spiky growths and pink fuzzy stuff. Someone told us what they were but I don't remember other than it started with a "g".

Here are some more pictures of the view from the castle grounds.
We liked how the ivy had turned red.

We would have liked to have spent more time there, but Liz needed to get back to Bangor to register for her conference. I decided while she was doing that, I would be brave and take the bus to Inigo Jones. This was something I had a brochure for that was going to explain the slate industry in Wales for me. Unfortunately, the bus driver forgot to tell me when to get off, so some nice Welsh woman who knew where I was trying to go, came and told me I had missed the stop. So I rang the bell for the next stop and got off there and tried to make my way back. Eventually I got there and this is what I paid 4.50 GBP to see:

If it looks like an old workshop someone forgot to clean up, I think that's exactly what it was. Not exactly sure why it is billed as a tourist attraction.

The great thing about it was that it was in the middle of nowhere and I couldn't find my way back to Bangor. I found a bus stop but the bus that came flew by without even slowing down which I found distressing since I was just standing by a roadside with nothing around except the now closed-for-the day, Inigo Jones and it would be getting dark before long. I wasn't really sure what my next move would be if another bus never came. Finally, I saw another bus approaching and waved frantically. I figured even if it wasn't going where I wanted to go it could at least take me to some semblance of civilization and I could figure it out from there. I later learned that buses only stop if you signal to them. I had mistakenly thought that the fact that I was standing on a piece of asphalt labeled "Safle bws" in the middle of nowhere would indicate I was waiting for a bus (or bws, in Welsh) but apparently not. Anyway, I eventually made it back to Bangor and our hotel where I expected to find Liz waiting but she wasn't. She was having her own adventure with being sick in a foreign city where everything closes up at 5:00. Thank heavens for KFC which was open and had a public bathroom where Liz could throw up. It didn't seem our stay in Wales was off to an auspicious beginning.

The next day was Liz's presentation so I went to the campus with her and listened to some of the speakers. Her presentation went fine and she was very relieved to get it over with. She celebrated by taking the afternoon off and we went to:
(see below)
Just try telling the bus driver the name of this town!

This place's claim to fame is having the longest name. Other than to see that, there seemed to be no reason to go there. There was a gift shop next door but it sold things like Willow Tree and Yankee Candles which I didn't feel the need to bring home from Wales.

This was our only day of foul weather, but since Liz was leaving in the morning, we walked out on the pier in Bangor.

I guess the weather was bad even for Wales because we had the pier to ourselves.

In the morning, (Wednesday) we were heading back to London so Liz could fly out on Thursday morning. Michael was supposed to meet us at the train station, but since I had no way to contact him, I was nervous about things working out. I was very relieved when the train from Holyhead arrived and Michael got off and had the right tickets to travel with us.
And here they are on the train.

Michael had not reserved a room in London so I didn't know how that was going to work out but the stars favored us and we discovered that since the fine hotel we reserved didn't have a "twin" room available we had been given a "triple" for the same price. Apparently, the twin and triple etc. refer to the number of people that could actually stand in the room. It was not exactly spacious or well maintained but it did have its own bathroom which I was worried about when I saw the door marked "toilets" on the landing on the way to our room. The pictures don't really do it justice but you can see for yourself.

Anyway, it was a place to get off the street for the night. I can't imagine staying there for very long. I saw people coming out of this place with kids and I just couldn't fathom taking my family there for vacation and we've stayed some pretty crappy places. They offered a full hot breakfast but somehow I didn't want to eat anything that had been prepared there.

That evening we had tickets to Oliver. When we emerged from the underground at Covent Gardens, we were approached by a woman who wanted to give us a ride in the bicycle cab thing and since we had no idea where we were going we took her up on it. We had a map so we could have figured it out eventually but we figured "why not?"

The picture of the theater is a little blurry because I took it quickly in case I wasn't supposed to be taking pictures. Even though I bought the cheapest seats available, we ended up front row balcony which were wonderful seats and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I like the music and the sets were amazing. (Have no idea why I'm suddenly typing in blue and with underlines)

Liz had to get up and get to the airport the next morning, so then Michael and I were on our own. Our train back to Wales wasn't until 1:00 so I had booked tickets for the first tour of the day of Buckingham Palace. It is only open to the public during the time the Queen is on vacation which happened to be when we were there so I decided we should take advantage of that. Here are pictures of the back of Buckingham Palace along with preparations for the changing of the guards which we couldn't stay for or we would have missed our train to Wales.

Will you just look at that sky! I think London has gotten a bad rap for its weather. It's been beautiful when I've been there!

This is a picture of Michael at the King's Cross tube station. I hear it figures prominently in Harry Potter. I wouldn't know.

Then it was back to Wales. By the time we got back it was too late to do much besides walk out on the same pier Liz and I had walked out on. This time the weather was better. I thought I had pictures but I don't see any.

The next morning (Friday, Sept 11) we took the bus to Llaberis where there was lots to do. On our way to the Welsh Slate Museum we found an intriguing little bridge and path that led to the ruins of a castle.
They take their sheep seriously in Wales.
The Slate Museum was lots better than Inigo Jones and it was free. Wales supplied the slate for all the roofs in England during the Victorian age and continued to produce it until the 1960s when falling demand and rising costs forced the closing of the quarries and mines.

This is the giant water wheel that powered the operations.
Here you can see a gouge in the mountainside where the slate has been removed.

From there we took a tour of Electric Mountain where they generate electricity during periods of peak usage. They do this by releasing water from a large lake which powers turbines as it falls down into a lower lake. At night when power demand is lower, they pump the water back up to the upper lake so it can be used again the next day. So, they actually use more electricity than they generate, but they provide additional power during the day when other sources are inadequate. It was interesting but they didn't allow photography.

On to the Snowdon Mountain Railway. This was a cog-type railroad, not unlike the one we took up Mt. Washington years ago, that took us to the top of Mt Snowdon which is the highest point in the UK (or maybe just Wales -not sure)
Here are some more pictures taken from the train.A Welsh schoolgirl who switched easily between Welsh and English as circumstances demanded, helped us find the right bus to get us back home. It was a long, fun-filled day!

Saturday was the final day of our adventure. We were heading for Conwy to see the castle there and Plas Mawr which is probably the best-preserved home in the country from Elizabethan times.

The castle was very interesting but it made me nervous just thinking of taking small children there.As you can see in this photo, the city on Conwy is surrounded by a stone wall.
The picture above is of the chapel in the castle.
Once again, look at the weather we were enjoying!
On to Plas Mawr.

We ate lunch upstairs in a fish and chips shop.And we saw the smallest house in Britain down by the ocean

Then it was back on the bus to Bangor.
Here is the bus stop in Bangor where we spent considerable time.And here is the house that we looked for to know when to get off the bus for our hotel.
And here is Michael in the hotel relaxing until it was time to catch his train (which was actually a bus) back to Holyhead so he could catch the ferry to Ireland and then his plane back home.
He left just after midnight and I took a cab to the train station the next morning for the four hour train ride back to London where I had to take the tube from Euston to Paddington and then another train to Heathrow. Luckily the plane wasn't full and I had two seats to myself and was able to sleep a little on the flight back.

I was very happy to find Allan waiting for me at JFK. I had thought I would have to take a bus to Grand Central and then the train to New Haven where he would pick me up. The traffic was terrible but it was wonderful to be out of public transportation and no longer need to drag my suitcase and other belongings around with me amid the constant jostling of strangers.

And that, dear readers, sums up my trip to Wales.

2009-09-03T14:19:00.001-07:00

TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY!

You may have seen a video in my earlier blog. It was supposed to be Kyle receiving his diploma but didn't turn out that way. I thought I was being so clever to figure out how to put a video on. If only it had been the right one. Sigh.

I wanted to show you all the picture Brother Frazier made for me of the Navajo Twins and Sunbonnnet Rock in Bluff. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out a way to take a picture straight on without getting a reflection of the flash so the picture is a little distorted but here it is. I am thrilled to have original artwork of this icon of Bluff!

2009-09-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

GRADUATION AND MEMORIAL BENCH

I am off to Wales again in two days and never even posted anything about our European trip in April. Nor did I post anything about my trip to Utah in February to testify in the preliminary hearing in the murder trial of Jerry Hicker. It's been a busy year and all I got posted was pictures of old bedroom furniture. So I shall attempt a quick update on my latest trip with the help of Uploading Pictures to a blog for Dummies.

This trip had two main purposes: 1) To attend Kyle's graduation and 2) To put up a memorial bench in my mother's honor in the Bluff cemetery. Both things were done so the trip was a success.

Kyle received his Master's Degree in Computer Science on August 14th.

On Sunday I drove Kyle and Jess to the airport and then went on to Pocatello to spend the night with Karen before driving on to Rexburg in the morning. All was going according to plan until Monday morning when I was five miles outside of Pocatello and Leonard (the '95 Subaru) gave up the ghost. Thank heavens for cell phones and AAA. Eventually Leonard was towed back to Pocatello and Megan came down from Rexburg and picked me up. A day and a thousand dollars later, Megan and I were on our way back to Provo.

Chad came down on Friday and on Saturday we went to closing night of the theater under the stars at Sundance where Chad's brother was performing in The Fantasticks.

Sunday we all went for a picnic up Provo Canyon and made s'mores.
Will and Sawyer opened some belated birthday gifts from Megan and Chad.
And Sawyer really enjoyed his corn on the cob.

Monday night, Karen and Tom came down to Orem and on Tuesday morning we were off to Bluff. We met the rest of the family there and got busy installing the bench on Bluff's cemetery hill.

So there it is. Tangible proof that Mom was once a part of the Bluff scene. I don't know why things are now being underlined. My blog seems to have taken on a mind of it's own, so I guess I'll post this much

My Retro-Room

2009-06-29T18:42:00.001-07:00

Hi Megan,

I am trying out your Uploading Pictures to a Blog for Dummies but so far I have been unsuccessful. Everything was going so well until I got to "upload picture" and it turned out to be just a bunch of meaningless symbols. I am trying again.

I seem to have encountered something not in your script. Apparently I had to click on "compose" to see my pictures but on "Edit Html" to write. I'll see if I can add another picture. Yes, I have added another picture but not where I wanted.

This is my retro-room furnished with Grandma and Grandpa's old bedroom set c. 1940

This is the vintage bedspread that aunt Joyce sent me.

When I was walking a few weeks ago, there was a bunch of old furniture out by the curb in fronts of Vess' house and I did a double-take as I walked by. They had this exact headboard and footboard! We drove all the way to Utah to pick this up and two houses away our neighbor was throwing out the exact same thing!! I couldn't think of any reason to take it so I left it there but now am wishing I had brought it home. I might have been able to figure out a way to take the veneer off the headboard and use it to repair the top of the vanity which is in pretty rough shape.

Even though I don't plan to leave this furniture in this little room permanently, it doesn't look quite as cramped as I feared. Actually, I am quite pleased with it. I like the way Grandpa's desk fits in the bay window.

Here's the chest of drawers along with the convex picture frame I am hoping to put a picture of Grandma and Grandpa in.

I guess I did all right for my first attempt at putting my own pictures on my blog! Maybe I will get ambitious and try a post about our trip to Europe or Kyle's wedding - but not tonight.

Back To Utah

2009-02-11T07:34:00.000-08:00

After five trips to Utah last year, I was not planning to return before the end of the summer when Kyle hopes to be awarded his Masters Degree from BYU. However, the Great State of Utah sent me greetings last month in the form of a subpoena and requires my presence from the 24th to the 26th of February.

I am scheduled to testify in a preliminary hearing for the trial of Jerry Hicker who is accused of murdering my former roommate, Barbara Rocky. (See earlier post) I really don't know what information I have that is worth the $1080 the are paying for my airfare (they won't reimburse me if I buy my own ticket on Southwest for $240) along with my hotel expense and food vouchers. I think my testimony helps to establish a time-line and points out some inconsistencies in the defendant's story but I really don't know much. I had been waiting to hear if the hearing was going forward because the defendant had health problems, but my ticket and hotel room have now been reserved.

The hearing could still be postponed, but I am committed to going out now because my sisters are planning to meet me in Utah for some sisters' time. It may turn out to be a good thing that I was forced back since it appears there may be a buyer for my mother's house. This will give us one last chance to go through her things and save or make copies of any documents and paperwork we are interested in before the house is cleaned out. It will also likely be my last chance to spend time in Utah with free housing. I've been able to stay at my parents' home for the last 34 years so it will be strange to find someone else living there. (Of course, I can stay with Erin but her accommodations have less privacy and a lot more commotion and I feel like I am intruding on their family.)

I thought my story about testifying in a murder trial was pretty out of the ordinary, but I recently talked to someone whose story was lots more interesting than mine. He was an actual suspect in the Boston Strangler murders! I won't give his name here because I don't want him to be led to my blog if he decides to google his name, but his initials are K.R. and he hangs around with Guido at church. He told me that his name was mentioned in the Boston Strangler book so I googled him and he was right about that. He said he has never read the book and it took a long time for him to quit having nightmares about the whole thing.

Apparently while he was a student in Boston some guy came to his door asking where Joann Graff lived and he told them she lived down a floor. The next day he came home to a flurry of police activity and his wife told him that Joanna Graff had been murdered. I could understand why police would want to question him but didn't understand why he would have been considered a suspect until I did a little more on-line research and discovered that at the time of the first murder he had lived across the street from that victim. I suppose when you move around and just happen to live right by two of the victims it might seem a little fishy. He said they hauled him in and after hours of questioning tried to convince him that he had murdered these women but just didn't remember doing it. (Even after all this time, it was clearly not something he wanted to talk about - but, inquiring minds want to know). He felt that the police were under so much pressure to arrest someone by then (Joann was the 12th victim) that they really weren't as interested in finding the right guy as they were in just making an arrest. They never did solve the case. It was just closed when Albert DeSalvo who was already in jail on other charges admitted to the murders. Many remain unconvinced that he actually committed the murders as there was no evidence to tie him to any of the crimes other than his own admission of guilt. Hard to imagine someone wanting to take credit for murdering a bunch of people but I guess there are people like that. Anyway, many investigators feel the real Boston Strangler was never caught.

Well, that is my story for today.

Christmas in Idaho

2009-01-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

This is the poem I read on Christmas Eve that I wrote while still safely home in Connecticut before we left on our Christmas odyssey. I could update it but Megan has written a version reflecting what really happened in Idaho.

CHRISTMAS IN IDAHO

"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the cabin
The family was waiting to see what would happen.

The stockings were hung on the railing with care,
In hopes that Saint Nicholas would know we were there.

The children were restless in rented-out beds
While thoughts of Connecticut danced in their heads.

And I in my bathrobe and Dad in his garments
Were praying for safety from grizzly bear varmints.

When out by the chimney there rose such clatter
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the stairway I flew in a flash,
To find out the source of that terrible crash.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a three-yr-old boy with his eyes wide with fear.

He'd snuck out of bed 'cause he couldn't wait longer
But now wished his wee, little hands had been stronger.

The damage was done now and he had been caught
Dropping a truck labeled "Sawyer J. Ott".

I sent him to bed with a threat of no presents
Then wished that I hadn't been quite so unpleasant.

I lay down again but still sleep wouldn't come.
The upstairs emitted a rather strange hum.

I trudged up the stairs till I got to the loft
But nobody noticed until I had coughed.

And then there were Evan, and Michael, and Kyle,
Each looking up with a mischievous smile.

Their laptops were humming and clicking and tapping
When I had supposed they were all upstairs napping.

"Get to sleep", I admonished, "for dawn will come early
"Without proper rest you are apt to be surly."

I dragged back toward bed, but I wasn't there yet
When I found still another one hooked to the 'net.

Mollie was woefully writing a post
About how this Christmas was prob'bly the most
Inadequate holiday she'd ever had
And it all was because of twin, Megan, and Chad.

I told her I knew that the break from tradition
Has caused her to sink to this gloomy condition.

Next year we'd be back in our home I assured her,
And hoped that my promise of Cromwell had cured her.

Then back to my bed I did wearily crawl
When I found that another noise came from the hall.

What was that racket that kept me from slumber?
Why Megan was playing a clarinet number!

"Now, Megan I realize that practice you must
But it's quarter to four!" I fumed and I fussed.

"I'm old and I'm tired and I must have my sleep
But the spirit of Christmas I'm trying to keep."

Then back to my bedroom I dragged o'er the flooring
To find that my husband was blissfully snoring.

And finally my head on my pillow I laid
And stewed about holiday bills to be paid.

And was just dropping off when I jerked back awake.
Something was wrong. There could be no mistake.

Someone was puking and retching and gagging.
This couldn't be so when my eyelids were sagging!

But it was, yes it was, oh yes, Erin was sick.
She'd returned to her yesteryears holidays trick.

She never could celebrate any event
Without her last meal being forcefully sent
Back out of her stomach and onto the floor.
But at least she could now do her own clean-up chore.

But wait, maybe this really isn't just nerves.
She's been know to throw us some Christmas Eve curves.

Maybe a new little Ott baby's forming,
And she will be breaking the news in the morning.

I pulled up my covers and laid down my head
And comfortably settled back down in my bed.

I'm fin'lly exhausted enough now to sleep,
And the cabin is quiet, I don't hear a peep.

But what is that light now beginning to glow?
Christmas is dawning? How can it be so?

Then rang through the cabin without any warning
"Get up now! It's Christmas! Please hurry. It's morning!"

And there was sweet William all raring to go
Tear open the presents he saw down below.

But first there were pictures that had to be taken.
We're still missing Evan if I'm not mistaken.

And finally we've got the whole crew on the stairs.
There really is quite a large group posing there.

There's Michael and Evan and Mollie and Kyle
All looking disgusted in Dickerson style.

There's Megan and Chad, who was added this year,
And still seems confused by the sarcasm here.

There's William and Bryce and our cute little Sawyer
And Erin, our daughter, the passed-the-bar lawyer.

And there they all are. Every face I hold dear.
The family we've raised for the last thirty years.

They're talented, witty, intelligent too
Generous, thoughtful and kind through and through.

But where are the babies that dozed on my shoulder?
And how can it be that we're all so much older?

Oh, time marches on without skipping a beat
And though we might like to, we cannot retreat.

The future is waiting. We have to move on
And cherish the memories of days that are gone.

And soon with the wrappings the house will be trashed
And we'll know that another year's Christmas has passed.

But Idaho taught us a lesson worth learning.
We don't need our house with a real wood fire burning.

We don't need a marching band hung from the mantel.
We don't need a pine-scented, green Yankee Candle.

We don't need the girl in the red velvet dress,
We really can get by with quite a bit less.

For Christmas is more than the wreath up above.
To have a great Christmas, you only need love!

Author's note. If you are a Dickerson you understand all the references in the poem. If not, I can't imagine why you'd be reading this, but you should know:
As a child, Erin got sick for pretty much every holiday
Both of Erin's pregnancies were announced on Christmas Eve
Megan is a music education major who plays clarinet and is required to practice two
hours per day.
We have an electronic, musical decoration called "Santa's Marching Band" that we
hang from the mantel every year.
The "girl in the red velvet dress" is another Christmas decoration that Mollie got
when she was three or four.
Erin passed the Utah bar in 2008.
We always have a real wood fire in our fireplace on Christmas Eve. (The fireplace in
the cabin was gas.)
We went to Idaho because Megan's new husband, Chad, didn't have any vacation time
and we wanted them to be with us for Christmas.
All children are required to pose on the stairs Christmas morning before opening
presents. Evan is usually the last one there.

HIP HIP HOORAY The house is ours today!

2008-09-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

It seems to have been a long time since I've written but it hasn't been because nothing was going on. On the contrary, there has been so much happening that there wasn't time. Here's the very abridged version of events: In February and March I was in Utah to babysit while Erin studied for the bar but ended up caring for my mother who was very ill instead. Got my mom moved into an assisted living facility. Went into high gear for wedding preparations after Megan announced her engagement in March. Went back to Utah when my mother had a stroke in May. Stayed in Utah to help with my mom until going to Idaho for Megan's wedding in June. Came home for her reception in CT and to get Mollie shipped off to England for a study abroad program Then back to Utah when my mom died in July.

It was a difficult time and I felt bad that Megan's wedding was overshadowed by my mother's impending death. The stroke left her unable to swallow (or speak) so we knew her death was not far off. (We weren't going to put a feeding tube in a 90-yr-old woman who was already in poor health.) I'm sorry Meg and I didn't get to spend more time together doing wedding things but it couldn't be helped.

But the big news today is that we got our release of mortgage and we finally own our house! We went out to eat to celebrate. We went to a Mexican restaurant where we had a buy one, get one free coupon. Do we know how to celebrate or what?

Unfortunately, now it is time to spend $10,000 for a new roof. We had monsoon-like rain last weekend and had a steady leak from the light in our bedroom onto our bed. I slept on the couch that night because I didn't want to be dripped on but Allan stuck it out in the bedroom. I've slept in tents that were drier in a downpour. What a boring thing to have to spend money on.

We're heading out to Utah via Arkansas in a couple of weeks. We will visit Allan's family in Arkansas and then drive on out to pick up some things from my mother's estate. Then we will be back out there in December. I have rented a cabin in Idaho so we can have the whole family together for Christmas. Chad will not have any time off so they wouldn't be able to come home. I have been in Utah a lot the last couple of years but this will make five trips this year which I think is a record.

That's all for now.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-31T21:12:00.000-08:00

Well, the holidays are over. You look forward to them for so long and spend so much time preparing and then suddenly they are over. It seems we are taking kids back to the airport the day after we pick them up. Anyway, Ill try to recap the Dickerson Christmas.

The weekend after we got back from being in Utah for Thanksgiving, (the first weekend in December) we went to Stockbridge. MA to see their annual re-creation of Norman Rockwell's Christmas in Stockbridge painting. Here is Dad standing in front of the Red Lion Inn with the old car as seen in the painting.

They close off Main Street to traffic and bring in the old cars and it is very festive with carolers and horse-drawn wagon rides, street performers and Santa. It started to snow while we were there which put us in a very Christmas frame of mind.

We got a couple of good snowstorms at home in mid-December which set the stage for a white Christmas. The second one left about 3/8 "of ice over the snow which kept the snow from totally melting when the weather turned warmer. Without that we would have had a brown Christmas, but see how wintry things looked when we got home from the airport with Megan and Evan. (Evan flew in from Denver around 9:00 on the 15th but Megan didn't get in til midnight so we drove around northern CT to kill time and especially enjoyed the decorations on the old New England houses in Sufiield.)

This is our front yard and the front of the house which didn't show up well in the dark

I put up lots of decorations this year to make the house seem like a Holiday Inn when the kids came home. I even put a wreath on each bedroom door to bring the festive feeling upstairs.

Mollie and Kyle both flew in on the 19th and Michael flew to New York and took the train to New Haven on the 20th. The family was home! (Erin and Bryce stayed in Utah this year and enjoyed Christmas with Bryce's family. We definitely missed Will's enthusiasm.)

Christmas Eve we had our usual program after traveling to the Clements in Berlin to have our band play a couple of carols for them. Megan even got Evan to play a guitar duet of "O Holy Night" with her. We served the usual snacks and opened the gifts from the kids which these days are getting to be better than the Santa gifts.

Then it was Christmas morning. Megan had to beat Michael and Evan with an empty tube from wrapping paper to get them up but eventually everyone assembled at the bottom of the stairs for the obligatory picture. Then on to emptying the stockings.

Evan displays his usual excitement. We all enjoyed Michael's purple and yellow "Sugar Daddy " pants.

Megan finds that people from Idaho get potatoes in the toes of their stockings instead on an orange.

On to the family room!

Mollie unwraps a chest full of Harry Potter books.

Michael received numerous books from his Amazon wishlist.

Evan got a motorcycle jack. Probably not the right one but Santa needed something for him to unwrap and Evan wouldn't provide any suggestions.

Wii at Last! Wii at last! Thank God Almighty Wii at last!

Kyle wanted this last Christmas but there were none to be had. This year I just happened to be in Wal-Mart right after they got a delivery so Kyle lucked out.

Dad tries to figure out his new SLR digital camera.

Michael got a light meter for his fancy photographic work.

Megan opens a new laptop.

Thanks to Guitar Hero III there was a little game playing before everyone returned to bed to nap away most of the day.

Well I'm going to post this now and finish later because I don't know what I'm doing and it gets more complicated to add pictures as I go. I will have to finish later.

Merry Christmas

An arrest has been made!

2007-11-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

You all remember last fall when I met with the detective in the unsolved murder case of my former roommate? Well, I just heard they made an arrest. Here are pictures of my roommate who was murdered along with her former boyfriend who was arrested. Oddly, he looks less creepy now than he did 33 years ago. Perhaps if it goes to trial I will get to be a witness. For more information google Gerald Hicker.

2007-10-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

Very funny Erin. Even old girls just wanna have fun! Now our husbands probably won't let us go away again.

The crime scene photos were taken at the Lizzie Borden house in Fall River, MA. We were the only people on the first tour of the day, (It pays to get up and get moving. The next tour was packed in case your were thinking we were probably the only people ever) so we got to do more things like recreate the crime scenes as found by investigators. Andrew Borden (Dad) was found downstairs in the sitting room reclining on the settee as shown. Abby Borden, the stepmother, as played by me was found upstairs on the guest room floor. Dad wasn't too into playing these parts but since no one else was on the tour I got him to cooperate. Actually I thought it was very interesting. Maybe I should have been a CSI.

Perhaps I need to change my password if you're going to hijack my blog.

New tricks

2007-10-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

**** Update: maybe I should mention that no real beer or cigarettes were harmed in the making of these photos...that is root beer and candy cigarettes folks!"****

Ha Ha. Mom may have thought her password strength was "strong" but it is only strong if other people don't know what you are likely to use as a password. Thus, here I (Erin) am publishing Mom's first blog entry. Victory.

Yup folks Mom has started her own blog. I guess so she can blog about all of her wild goings on since officially being an empty nester for the first time. Watch out Mom - if people see these pictures your custodian job may be in jeopardy!

As for these crime scene photos . . . well, Mom will have to explain that one.