Col. Gerald Meyer- The Nebraska National Guard Museum

We went down to the Senior Center at 1:00pm  today to hear Col. Jerry Meyer speak on the development of the Nebraska National Guard Museum. It will be in the old Armory that was built in 1956 here in Seward. The new Museum will replace the little 1913 building that was near the south entry to the State Fair Grounds in Lincoln. Jerry has been in the Guard for 32 years, developed the Higgins Boat Display in Columbus, been deployed to Afghanistan, and has traveled to  observe  36 Nat'l Guard State Museums. He says this will be one of the best. In addition to funds raised locally, some 3 million dollars were 

made available by Congress last fall and another 3 million is expected. The contractor doing the design is from Atlanta and has worked for the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. It will include many interactive features to depict joining the Guard and beginning basic training. There will also be a depiction of the Hedge Rows encountered by WWII soldiers in combat with the Nazis as the allies fought their way to St. Lo. It will be particularly meaningful to Elaine since she lost a cousin in that battle. In addition to a crew working on the inside, concrete was being poured today for the parking lot. 

Chicago O’Hare Airport

Since returning from our baseball trip to Miami, I have been updating my “Baseball Parks Visited” book during my spare time. It is a labor of love and enables me to really assimilate the rapidly evolving events that occurred during those 3 days. One such event involved the change of planes in Chicago from the American plane that brought us from Miami to the United Terminal and plane that took me to Lincoln, NE. Our incoming American plane unloaded in Terminal 3 (shown in black) and my United plane boarded in Terminal 1 (shown in blue). I don’t know the scale of this drawing but can attest to the  significant distance between the two gates. Tim had thoughtfully planned to follow me and the young lady providing my transportation to my boarding area at United. When she pointed out to him that his American flight on to Indianapolis was loading in the “G” concourse, he turned off and trusted her to get me to where I needed to go. I had no concept of where we were headed but after many blocks of travel, up and down elevators, tram rides we got to the United Terminal. There I was subjected to the most thorough X-ray securing check and “shake down” that I’ve ever experienced.  We finally got to the  Lincoln boarding area where I gave her an additional tip beyond what Tim had done. She has no idea how much help she was to me and also to Tim since he would not have been able to make his flight had he gone the whole way with us. God Bless Her and others who make it possible for some of us to travel. 

Happy Days

We got up to Hughes' today where Sadie was working in her kitchen.  She had dirty dishes to wash that required a lot of soap and water that ended up in her sand pile. Her arm strength amazes me the way she can pick up a big pitcher with 3 quarts of water in it and pour it into a dishpan. I think it’s an “in-born” trait of females that they don’t want anyone distracting them when they are working in their kitchen. Ben and Carolyn’s back yard has evolved considerably over the years but has become a very comfortable area for their gardening, playground for Sadie and relaxing area for all concerned. The Hammock has considerable appeal but I haven’t attempted to utilize it. 

One of the back yard features is the work train that passes through a tunnel running under the “mountain” at the top of the picture. Sadie is able to operate it and it's just another one of the many things that makes coming to Grandma and Grandpa's house special. It was a beautiful day for all of us; the  Lilac are blooming with sunshine and temperatures in the low 70’s. It’s seems that going on a trip like I did recently, helps one realize how enjoyable the very commonplace things and people are that we tend to take for granted here at home. I even enjoyed Kitone practice more last night than usual. 

Educational Kiwanis Program

Sylvana Airan, Assistant Director of Business Contracts and Student Services in the Housing Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was our speaker at Kiwanis today. She is from Pakistan where her father was a civil engineer and her mother a High School Principal. She was raised a Christian in an English speaking home and came to USA and Lincoln, NE in 1978 to attend college where she received her BA. She spoke of her native country, is shown holding a Cricket bat and showed other artifacts. In addition to her position and being part of the Lincoln Speakers Bureau, she is the director of the Passion play at a local church in Lincoln, which involves about 200 people with live animals and special effects. She also serves on the board for Back to the Bible. She quoted from the Koran and the commitment of Muslims to it’s teaching though few can read it since it is written in Arabic. It was a most enlightening presentation.

Great Trip-Great Time

I took this picture of the centerfield scoreboard at the Marlin’s park during the 6th inning of the game on Friday evening.  The amount of information included would almost keep an announcer talking. I set the camera on a solid base to use the telescopic lens which helps the stability.  I got through all our papers and mail this morning and processed pictures this afternoon after going to an Alaska program at the Library. It was put on by the John Hughes’ and Gary Rolfs’. Rolfs’  lived there for 11 years and Hughes had gone on an inside passage tour this past summer.

Processing the pictures gave me an opportunity to re-live the whole trip after a good night’s sleep in our old bed. I probably enjoyed it as much today as while we were there. (Except for the couple pictures in the plane with the Ohio State guy setting in front of me). Tim and Tony enjoyed the Bobblehead Museum with its hundreds of baseball players. They had a computer where selected players could be located. Many of them were bobbling at all times. I sold all the ones we had on eBay. I don’t know how their value has held up but has probably been better than the tractors and cars that I’ve collected. The Great Memories of the trip will far out last any others. Thanks!!!

The Miami Marlins New Baseball Park

We did it. Son Tim, his Son Tony and I saw the Florida Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 3-2 last night in the new Marlin’s Park in Miami. I can again say that I have seen games in all 30 of the current Major League Baseball Parks. I could make that statement again after going to New York in 2009 to see the Yankees and Mets  new  Stadiums but got “cancelled” in ’14 when the Marlins opened at their new Park. It has been referred to as the Crown Jewel of the parks and I agree. It was a great game as well. It was interesting to see the clocks that are used this year for the first time to speed up the game. They opened the roof and had fireworks after the game last night with a display that out-did our Seward (Nebraska's 4th of July City) usual display.

Decisions-Decisions

Elaine snapped this picture of me and the kids back in the ’60’s when we were on a Sunday afternoon sightseeing trip back in the Washington, D.C. area.  There are stories behind every picture and decisions that lead up to those stories. The decision we made for me to participate in an “Administrative Trainee” program of the USDA Soil Conservation Service is what led to this picture. Elaine and I made the decision with very little thought in comparison to its impact. Much of it was based on faith and what “seemed right” at the time. It was an opportunity to advance in my job or be content in a comfortable lower level position. We never know "what might have been” but taking advantage of going into the program, moving to the Washington, D.C. area, completing my college education and advancing into the Civil Service, Senior Executive Service, certainly has “paid off” financially for Elaine and I. We will never know what effect it had on the lives of our children. They had already adapted very well to the move from Seward to Lincoln and actually did very well in adapting to school and life in Arlington, VA. The oldest boy went off to college in Richmond and after interludes in Massachusetts and Nebraska, still calls Richmond home. The second boy came back to Nebraska for his first year of college and decided it wasn’t for him and graduated from Duke. After a stint with the Social Security Administration, he graduated from Indiana University School of Law and he and his family are in Columbus, IN. Our daughter graduated from Appalachian State University in North Carolina at Boone, worked there and got married before coming back to Nebraska. Our youngest son  went to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, married, has worked as a USDA Soil Scientist in several states and has been back in Washington for nearly 20 years. There is no way that young people can predict the effect of early decisions but must rely of best judgment and faith. And it never hurts to talk it over with parents because they, too, will be affected by the decision.