Save on Disces

During the past several years, I have burned many pictures and various items on CD's and DVD's that had been stored on my PC computer; anticipating the day when it no longer functioned, but so pictures, etc. could still be available. I believe it's safe to say that yesterday, February 27, 2018 was that date. I didn't even attempt to bring the PC up today after the way it faded out and turned dark yesterday. Instead, I started the process of inventorying the disc that have been saved. Among them was this picture of the farm house kitchen in the fall of 1980 as we were remodeling. Interestingly, many of the things shown were sold on our recent auction. My work today brought back many pleasant memories as well. Here is one of Dad's Polled Herford cows and calf that I took back in the late '40's.

Finding Things

There is hardly a day that goes by when we don't find or come across something we have looked for after our move here to Brookdale. We remembered having the Autoharp set aside from things going on the Auction and saving it back for Jon, but couldn't remember whether he took it back to Virginia with him or what happened to it. While on the phone with Jon over the weekend, I remembered to ask him about it. He hadn't taken it with him and was quite certain the it was here in our Unit. I started checking and there it was, on the top shelf of the west closet. So tonight I pulled it down and assumed a Mother Maybelle Carter pose and had Elaine take my picture. I did push the buttons for a few cords but didn't even think of singing any of the old Carter songs. Jon and I did have the opportunity to see Mother Maybelle when some of the family played at one of the Folk Festivals on the Mall in Washington, D.C. back in the mid 70's. It was a great experience.

Dr. Fields on School Security

Dr. Josh Fields, Superintendent of Seward Public Schools presented the program this noon at the Kiwanis Club of Seward. He began by asking each table to discuss and then report what they thought was the main mission of the schools they attended as young people. He went on to talk about how much things have changed. Just one example is Social Skills, which were a significant part of education almost as a bi-product, in the past but has been affected considerably by technology. It was comforting to hear him tell of the secure entry system in the Seward Schools. Locked doors and cameras are in place to control entry. He will be having discussions with patrons on the whole problem which has become a prime level of concern with the recent events. He mentioned their relationship with the Police Department and even of a detailed inspection by folks from Homeland Security Office.

Closing of Olympic Winter Games

We are enjoying the closing ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics this evening. The photography is just fantastic. We have always enjoyed the Olympics but these seemed special. Maybe their being held in South Korea will help promote world piece. I thought the snow boarding competition was the most dramatic change over what I had remembered from the past. Right now there is a Teddy Bear projected over the stadium which is turning into a Valentine Heart. It was apparently a projection against the black night sky. I expect a certain amount of technology is developed ahead of each of the Olympic games, for the big "show"

 My memory goes back to the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, Germany where Jesse Owens broke 5 world records, much to the chagrin of Adolph Hitler. We followed it by listening to the battery powered radio and reading the Lincoln Star that came in the mail. Our travels have taken us to a location in Canada where winter games were played, and we were able to stand at the top of the ski jump structure. Just the height above where the skiers wound up was enough to scare me. We have wondered how the games, facilities and athletes are financed. I understand in Communist countries, it's all a state expense.

Jon's Grandmother Memories

Son Jon sent the following "memories of his Grandmother"(My Mother) and asked that it be put on my blog page: 

"Years ago, far too many to remember, I have a memory of a wonderful lady. She lived on a farm with her husband, a hard-working couple. While he worked hard, day in and day out, putting up the hay in the barn, the corn in the corn crib, and the seed in the ground for the next crop, this lady kept the home spick and span, preparing lunch and taking it out to the men in the field, along with thermoses of coffee.

But what I particularly remember her for was her special cooking. For each of my birthdays, she always remembered that I loved angel food cake. My best memory of her efforts to cook my cakes was when she mixed the cake, poured it into the special angel food cake pan, and carefully placed it into the oven. We were careful not to make extra noise or open the oven door while the cake was baking, for fear that it would “fall.” It never did. Well, one day, not unlike any other day, she prepared the cake and put it in the oven, as I closely watched, with great love for my Grandmother. At the appropriate time, I am sure a small kitchen timer “dinged,” though I don’t remember that. She opened the oven, as I watched. To our surprise, the cake was twice the size of the pan. She and I had never seen such a thing. But it tasted wonderful and it was our luck that we had twice as much to eat as usual.

The cake wasn’t the only thing that she would stir up and the real reason for this blog. I was researching a new exhibit yesterday on the Great War, also known as World War I, in later days. War gardens and food conservation through drying and canning was an important contribution of the home front. In a ladies magazine of the times, I came across a recipe that I hadn’t thought about for decades – Popcorn Candy.

A long time ago, my grandmother would make us popcorn candy. Actually, a very simple recipe. One cup of syrup, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, and 2 to 3 quarts of popped popcorn. When you boil the syrup and add the vinegar, it seems that magic happens and the sugar changes. How, I can’t quite say, but then you pour the mixture over the popcorn and stir together with a spatula. Just like heaven to eat.

I try not to eat as much refined sugar these days, but after reading and writing about my grandmother’s special popcorn candy, I just might have to make some tonight.

Thank God for such sweet memories".

Some Fine Lines

I have read that having at least one good laugh per day helps our mental alertness as we grow older. Laughs don't come easily some days and I wonder if just being "amused" by some things might help a least a little. At supper this evening we enjoyed our salad of Papaya, Pears, etc. and overheard  discussion at a neighboring table where ladies were apparently curious as to what all was included.  The server brought out a 1-gallon size can and let them read about the contents. I found the whole incident somewhat amusing and took this picture instead of big "belly laugh" but to me, it was one of the most humorous things I saw all day. Some may think this next item is even more amusing.

But to those of us who grew up on a farm, Rawleigh Antiseptic Salve was a necessity  and not a bit funny. The amusing part of it is that Elaine "found" it last night after thinking it was lost in the move. While we get concerned about "expiration dates" on medication today, Elaine remembers that this can of salve was bought from a traveling salesman when she still lived out on the farm with her folks. That was over 65 years ago. Now that's funny, but I did put some of it on a spot on my arm that I scratched, and it looks better tonight. Last night I was so pleased to report my PC coming back to life. After working great all day, I went to supper tonight without getting it shut down and now can't get it back up. I think our son Jon would say that my trying to keep the 10+ year old computer alive, is more amusing (or pathetic) than these other things.

Good News but...

The good news is that my old Hewett Packard PC came back to life this morning. Yesterday I did everything possible to resuscitate it to no avail. I "unplugged" it for overnight and after getting it plugged back in, signs of life slowly emerged. The first thing I did was to print out some income tax information and a couple other items. As the day went on, I was able to "burn" a disk. While it plays back on the PC, it doesn't on this laptop. During the day it has "gone to sleep" and wakes up like should, so I'm optimistic that it will come up normally tomorrow morning. If so, I plan to start doing some picture scanning. While it was down, I made some notes on what computer capability I really wanted.

My computer thoughts even continued during the February Birthday Party in the Dining room here this afternoon as we played some little "fun" games. While I certainly applaud Rose, Ellie and everyone on the staff for their efforts to keep us "happy"; I still have a way to go. Elaine is my "constant Companion" which I appreciate but maybe I need to organize a small group to drink coffee and "re-hash some of the topics of the day, such as arming school teachers, etc.

Julie and Jack

Carolyn and Jack came to visit right after our lunch and Julie came up after enjoying a Rotary Club "Raptor Recovery" program with John. Jack knows where all the toys are and has a good time when he has the living room floor to play on. He has learned to "pull up his pants" and to pull them down, which may be related to his "Potty training". I mentioned that in indexing pictures for the past few years (as I have done recently) the name Jack is listed more often than any other. I asked if he wanted to play "Pony Boy" today, and he wanted no part of it. He seems to have grown up so much since his 3rd birthday a couple months ago. My schedule for the day involved working with DVDs to record more permanently information now on the computer. I did get one file from my laptop "recorded" but couldn't bring the old PC to life. There have been times over the past couple years when I've had to "unplug it" and it would come up after plugging it back in; but not today. I tried that 3-4 times as well as everything else I could come up with without any success. I do already have a high amount on DVDs. 

Organizing my Pictures

I came across this Butcher Kettle picture this afternoon while finishing the indexing of Digital Picture Folders. It will now be 1 of 7 that come up when "Butcher Kettle" is entered into the "search box" near the top of my blog page. I have been taking digital pictures since 2002 and have continued to used a filing system on my PC for keeping them organized. It basically involved downloading, processing and putting them in folders.Typically each folder will contain 5-15 pictures. There will be 5-15 folders/Month and then the 12 months of the year. The index which I just completed list the subject matter of pictures in each folder. The next step has been to put the pictures from each year on a DVD. Our move to Brookdale has made a difference of what  pictures I take and having a cell phone with excellent picture taking capability, calls for an entirely new system of filing.  To date, I'm just dropping my processed cell phone pictures into a folder on the Desktop of my laptop. I expect to spend more time in scanning old pictures and getting them organized on to DVDs and expecting to take many new pictures.

Missed Kiwanis Meeting

I didn't go to Kiwanis this noon because of the ice on the streets and sidewalks. I don't know when the last time was that I missed a regular Monday noon meeting. In checking the Kiwanis folder on my laptop desktop, I came across this picture from the 2003 Installation of Officers. It is not only a neat picture but demonstrates the decline in formality of dress during these 15 years. While Jim might have gone a bit overboard with his bow tie, Sid's dress as incoming President, was very normal; even for a noontime installation. Today's ice probably would not have kept me inside a year ago but the move to Brookdale has made a difference.

The difference is not only in me but also the facilities. We were so very spoiled with our attached garage with remote door openers at the house. I started using my cane to go to Kiwanis a year ago in January and would not think of going without it now, even in ideal weather. Now our car is parked in the #4 garage which is one of 10 in the long, narrow building to the right side of the picture (close to 4th street). Our unit is part of the "Independent Living" area which is mainly in the lower section of the picture. The upper area is for "Assisted Living". Our Patio door is just below the "k" in the word Park at the center of the picture. When the weather was nice we would park in the lot shown and go through the Patio door. Since it is a sliding door, Elaine did some "winterizing" of it so we haven't been opening it. The distance between our unit and the garage is enough to be a factor in our use of the car even though I know the need for exercise.

Don and Archie

A picture of Tim Antes with he and Carlie's young son Archie was posted on Facebook this morning.  Someone commented that Archie looked like his Great Grandad. I dug out this picture of the Great Grandad who is my brother, and there is an interesting likeness. I can't think of anything to say about the likeness beyond wishing Archie all the success and happiness in life that Don has and still is, enjoying. It would be neat to have a picture of Archie in a similar pose to better judge the comparison. Don always did have a friendly round face that seemed to attract friendship and his personality took over from there.

Ancestry

Elaine has done a lot of work with our family history by researching family records, obituaries, pictures, etc. but has never gotten into Ancestry. com and only sightly into census records. She has worked with a friend, who turns out to be a distant relative who is obviously very proficient in tracing family ancestry. She just sent us  notebooks for both Elaine and I that contain significant new information. She has found a common ancestor in  the Watts family that connects Elaine with her. She lives in Colorado but gets back to Seward and the area where she was raised. Her Uncle and I were best friends in High School, worked road construction and as farm boys, worked and roomed together one winter in Omaha at the Swift Packing Plant. I spoke with her on the phone today to express our appreciation for her good work. She told of how much she enjoys doing it and asks that we provide her information on our children that she might get them included in her "family tree" since the linkage between our families. We will be pleased to pass this new information along to our family.

Love of Family

Julie and Carolyn came to visit this afternoon along with Sadie and Jack. It had been a while since they had been here because of the flu so we really enjoyed seeing all of them. It doesn't take very long for playthings to get pulled out of the cabinet. Some of Jack's trucks and tractors have a place with the stuffed animals and are left out for "decoration".  We are so fortunate to have Great Grandchildren living near us where we can watch changes occur in their development. They are both more "mature" every time we see them. CBS National News had a story this evening on a Father sending postcards to his children every day for the past several years. It was his way of letting them know of his love for them. 

I hope that my writing this blog has some of the same effects. It is a way of letting family, especially those who live away from here, know that we are doing O.K. and that we are thinking of them. Our generation has never felt as comfortable in expressing our love of family members as is done by younger people. That doesn't mean that we don't have very strong feelings for our kinfolks but are less likely to express them. Maybe this frequent blog page can help carry the message.

Seward Magazine Club

The Seward Magazine Club is reportedly the oldest social organization in the City. We were recently asked the date when we became members and for Elaine and I, it was November 5th, 1992. This picture was taken at the 2000 Christmas Party. Historic records indicate that the Club originated in 1898. The City population was about 1,600. The Seward County Courthouse was constructed at this same time at a cost of $87,225. The Club began when businessmen got together regularly for coffee. They would share and discuss articles from various magazines to which they subscribed. Eventually the men decided to form a club for regular evening meetings, including their wives. Meetings were scheduled from 8:00-10:00pm on the first and third Thursday of the month beginning in September and recessing for the summer in May. There were specific rules that were established for achieving new members which are still followed. Other archaic customs are still followed including men and women having lunch at separate tables. Some changes have been made, such as meeting only once a month, but it is still a very viable organization for achieving social and educational benefits.

Valentines Day Crowning at Brookdale

The Brookdale King and Queen were crowned this afternoon at a 2:00pm Valentines Day program. Marian and Gene Faszholz were the honored recipients. The folks on either side were first and second, runner ups. Nominations and final selection was done by vote of residents. This has become a custom here dating back to the initial crowning in 2010. This may be the first husband and wife crowned at the same event. The Faszholz have been very instrumental in community activity and certainly helped welcome us a few months ago. The 2010 King, continues to be a resident here in the Independent Living side, and appears to enjoy it. A Ladies Trio from Fremont, NE provided entertainment.

The Fremont Trio had recorded accompaniment and sang like the "Andrews Sisters" and others who were popular in years past. One of the ladies is the wife of Greg Spevak who had a dance band some years ago and had played at Utica among other Ballrooms. Another of the group was a music teacher who told of their setting around a kitchen table deciding whether they might reach the level of perfection to go public. They certainly have and even picked up the little nuances which emulate the Andrews Sisters. I suspect that the lady with Greg Spevak may have been a vocalist with the orchestra.

Conclusion of Home Moves

             (Continued from 2 /12/18)

My retirement and our moving back to Seward at the end of 1991 was prompted by several factors, not the least of which was my increasing PSA level. I had friends who had gone the various routes of intervention so had some idea of choices that would need to be made. John Cattle offered the opportunity for me to join the Bank's Board of Directors; I joined the Kiwanis Club of Seward, and became a full-time member of the “Little Herrods” coffee group within the first couple weeks. Dr. Hoff gave me a couple injections which enabled us to have an “around USA” Amtrak trip and a USDA Work Group trip to Budapest, Hungary, to work with former Soviet Countries. I then had a Prostatectomy at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Lincoln. In July we took Carolyn and Julie and drove the Motor Home to Yellowstone National Park. It was the beginning of many years of travel, and involvement in Religious, Environmental, Political, and Community organizations.            

Our next housing move didn't occur for nearly 25 years with the move into Rivendale; a retirement facility in Seward on September 1, 2017. Our 3 boys were back from Indiana and Virginia to assist and Carolyn provided the leadership in making this move. It involved cleaning out our house at 131 North 1^st Street in Seward that we had owned for 35 years, having an Auction and listing the house for sale. Our move to the Independent Living section of Rivendale was not prompted by any specific problem but rather by a realization that we were no longer able to take care of our house and yard and that we wanted to make the move while we were both able to enjoy it. And we do.

Back to Seward Again

              (continued from 2/11/18)
Our Condo was in Building #4 of Maplewood Village in Ankeny, IA. It was new construction  so we were able to select paint colors, etc. My first SWCS responsibility was participating in the Annual SCS State Conservationist Meeting in Traverse City, Michigan. It was great to be back amongst old friends. We got moved in and changed office locations with Larry Davis in the headquarters building. We were back to Seward for Dad's 93^rd birthday and the folks 69^th wedding anniversary in October. Dad was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia and died on December 15, 1989. We made every effort to bring the staff and Board of Directors into a unified body but the lack of continuity of leadership for some time, had led to independent activity by top staff. Elaine became a “regular volunteer” clerical worker on the 22 person staff.

I learned quite quickly that “fund raising” was one of my main responsibilities. A tornado hit our building at Maplewood destroying 1 unit in March of 1990. We dedicated the D.E.Hutchinson Prairie on Earth Day at the Headquarters location later that spring. We did a lot of official travel during the year along with 29 weekends back to Seward. Mother had a stroke on December 5^th and died the next day. I alerted our Board of Directors fairly early in '91 that we desired to return to Seward by the end of the year. We received an offer to sell our Condo in mid-summer, rented an apartment where we lived till returning to our house in Seward at the end of the year.
                                                         (To be continued)

Move back to Seward

         (continued from post of 2/10/18)

My last day of work with USDA SCS was June 27, 1980. The Van moving us to Seward left the next day as we did with Elaine and Verlon in the Pontiac, and I drove the Buick with a small trailer. We had a stop at Tim's in Indiana and got to Seward the next day. We stayed with our folks until our furniture got unloaded in the Farmhouse, but I went to work right after the 4^th of July. Elaine went to work for SCS in a computer job in the Lincoln Regional Office a bit later. Julie was born to Carolyn and Vic Beaudry on January 11, 1980 and they moved from North Carolina to Seward shortly before we moved back. Vic worked as an auto mechanic in Crete. Their marriage broke up in February of '81 and Carolyn and Julie moved in with us. Carolyn got a job at the Seward Court House in late March. With all the remodeling of the old farm house, it was not a desirable environment for a 1-year old so we began looking for a house in town. 

On May 15^th, 1981, we closed on the Brockhoff house at 131 North First Street in Seward and moved in right away. My folks did a lot of mowing, watering and yard work in general, out at the farm and enjoyed it. Elaine's last day with SCS was July 9, 1982 to be home with Julie and to get ready for the “Down on the Farm with Charley Thone” at our farm. Carolyn got her BA in education from Concordia in May of '83 and we bought a Lindy Motor home in July, and built the Deck in October. Tim and Laura were married on the last day of '83. In May of '85, Carolyn was selected as a 2^nd grade teacher in Seward. March 31, 1988 was my last day of work at the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission. We sold the west 40 acres of the farm with the buildings and pond privately and on April 15^th had a Public Farm Auction and also sold the east 40. We traveled to Alaska in our Pickup Truck in the summer of '89 and took on the Job as Executive VP of the Soil and Water Conservation Society at Ankeny, Iowa on August 3, 1989. We reported for duty on at SWCS Headquarters on September 1, and bought a Condo at Ankeny. 

                                         (To be continued)

Still More Moves

                (continued from 2/9/18 post)

 It was at this location that we spent the next 12 years and saw the kids move through Wakefield High School and go to college. Elaine began working for Civil Defense in the Pentagon and transferred to the Forest Service where she and I carpooled together. It was during these years that I completed my BBA and MBA from George Washington University. Elaine and I both advanced in our jobs, sold our Seward County farm to get the kids through college, and anticipated Federal retirement in 1980. As an economic investment and desire to get away from the buses shaking our house, we bought a 5 bedroom house in the Mantua Area of Fairfax County. 

We closed on our house at 3515 Laura Leaf Lane, Fairfax, VA on April 2, 1976. While we moved a lot of stuff with our vehicles, used Mel Davis's truck to move the bench, it wasn't until June 7^th that we rented a U-haul truck. Verlon and Vikki were major helpers with Mr. Ellis and Mel Davis helping to unload. We were down to the Davis's for supper about 9:00pm. Tim and Toni Ahl were married on August 20^th 1976 in Louisville, KY. Jon and Mary's formal wedding was on June 11, 1977 in Blacksburg, VA. Both of Jon's Grandfathers were in it. On September 15, 1977 we left with Manly and Peggy Wilder on a GWU Octoberfest trip to Germany. Carolyn and Victor Beaudry's wedding was held at our house on November 19, 1977. I participated in a 3-week training session at Harvard University in August of 1979. In February of 1980 I received a job offer from Dayle Williamson to work on his NRC staff in Lincoln and on March 21, bought the John Meyer 80-acre farm east of Seward.         (To be continued)

More of Our Moves

 During the four years we lived in Lincoln I accumulated some 70 hours of college credit, passed an FSEE exam and completed a year of Administrative Office training with the agreement of moving to any location where needed at the year's completion. It was determined to be the USDA, Soil Conservation Service headquarters personnel office in Washington, D.C. We contracted with Dudley Transfer to take our furniture to the Fairlington Apartments where we had rented a 3 bedroom unit. The move was complicated by having to be out of our house before July 1, 1962 and not able to move in to Fairlington until August 1^st. 

We spent some of the time at our folks, in our station wagon move, and at Presidential Gardens in Alexandria (near Fairlington). We were settled in, attended Church and I began writing in my Diary on August 5th for the first time since June 18^th. 

Our time in Fairlington was less than 2 years but an ideal place since the fellow I worked with, Russ Lock and wife Mary, lived across the street. He immediately got me in their car pool and when Elaine had a Hysterectomy, Mary even helped with house work. We took shelter during the Cuban Missile Crisis and mourned President Kennedy's assassination. After careful shopping, we bought a 3-bedroom brick home at 2724 South Arlington Ridge Road near the Elementary school and Gunston Junior High. On April 25, 1964 I rented a truck and Dale Ross, his son Steve and Arnold Davis helped us move. 

                                                                   (To be continued)

Anniversary of My First Move

February 8 will always be a memorable date for me since it was on that day in 1932 that we moved from our house in Seward to the Joseph J. Vrana farm north of Garland. It meant giving up electricity and going to a one-room county school. While I have kept Daily Diaries and Journals since my 15^th birthday except for the period 6/26/45-1/1/48, it was during that “gap” that we moved to the “Mak” farm north of Staplehurst. While the folks, Don, Janice, Jerry and Genie moved in the spring of 1947 to start farming the “Mak” place, Vivian and I stayed to continue farming the “Divis” and “Home” places. Elaine and I had our first date in October of '46; She graduated from Seward High School in May of '47 and came out with Dale for a picnic supper during the summer. Brother Genie died on November 18, 1947, and I know by that time Vivian and I had moved over with the folks and family. Elaine and I were married on June 5, 1949, had rented a furnished apartment on Lincoln Street here in Seward and moved in after the wedding. Verlon was born on August 17, 1950. We bought a little house on East Bradford on March 17, 1951, and moved in on May 1^st. We lived in the little house at 334 E. Bradford during which time Timothy, Carolyn, and Jon were born. Needless to say, we “outgrew” the little house and bought a 5-bedroom house at 604 N. 5^th St. in Seward and moved in on March 25^, 1955. By 1958, my career with the USDA Soil Conservation Service, provided an opportunity for promotion, take college courses and work on Watershed Dam construction. We bought a house at 6515 Hartley St. in Lincoln on June 27^th and moved in on the 29^th with Dad's farm truck, our station wagon and family help.  (This is to be continued to further moves)

The Albert and Flora (Koch) Family

I am utilizing these days to work with some pictures of family that came from various sources at different times. This Albert and Flora Flowerday family picture was taken in August of 1968. We had moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1962 but managed to get back to visit family every summer. Flora's sister Lydia Brinkmeyer, is seated next to her and Albert. Joyce, Bill, Dale and Elaine are standing behind their folks. Joyce's husband is standing in the back row behind her. Bill and his wife are standing at the left edge along with daughters Jeanie and Willa Kay between Ldia and Flora. Dale and Alice are standing between Elaine and Joyce. Their 4 boys are in the front row along with our son Jon. Verlon and Tim in the back row with Carolyn and Jon on the right edge. I took the picture. The next picture was taken just 7 years later in August of 1975 and reflects changes.

It is apparent that Dale took the later, colored picture since I'm on the right edge with Elaine and Jon. Verlon is top left and Carolyn lower left. Joyce and Les are back center and Bill is alone next to Flora with Tim between and in back of them. Alice is between Joyce and Elaine  with Charles in front of her. Stan is middle left edge, Ken in the back row between Verlon and Joyce. Richard is the little guy in the front row right. The four Flowerday boys appear to have changed the most during the 7 years. We never had the opportunity to get to know Richard very well and appreciate following him as well as the rest of the family on Facebook.

Washington State 2003

A few days ago I had a "friend" request from a lady by the name of Scrivner. While I seldom add "friends", I thought it may lead me to "Jerry" an old friend. Last night Cori called and told of Jerry having died a few years ago but remembered of our having visited them in the Spokane area back in 2003. Elaine and I had driven out for the Annual Meeting of the Association of Retired SCS Employees (ARSCSE) held concurrently with the Annual Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) Meeting. We had first gone to Seattle where we saw the Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 11-5. 

I wound up my two-year term as president of the ARSCSE organization with Bob Eddleman from Indiana taking over and Rich Duesterhaus to serve as President elect. Son Jon had a Poster Display at the SWCS meeting. We got together with Cori and Jerry Scrivner who took us up to visit the Bing Crosby memorial at Gonzaga University and on out to their farm on the 29th of July 2003. We enjoyed seeing their horses, lamas, dogs, etc. We also visited Edna and Lew Kehne before heading for home.

Stock Market Down

I hope we don't see this message on our TV screens very often. This was the message at the close of trading today. In addition to the DOW Industrials being down 1,175; the S & P was down113 to 2,648; and the NASDAQ down 273 to 6,967. We will see what happens tomorrow. This has been the longest running Bull market in history and a "correction" was certainly due. As I understand it, this does not yet meet the criteria for a "correction" which is based on a percentage reduction. My guess is that it will continue to go down till we reach at least that point. This is not to say that there isn't any bargains out there even tomorrow, but I'm not ready to take them on.

Superbowl Sunday at Brookdale

I am pleased to report that Elaine and I worked late last night and finished putting together the jigsaw puzzle that she started on a few days ago. It measures 23 by 29 inches and contains 530 pieces. The "irregular" shaped border added to the challenge. We still think there may be a piece or two missing from the top of the church steeple. We knew there was another piece missing last night until Elaine got down and found it under the table. This is the first time I've got involved in helping and must say that we enjoyed working together on the project. I don't know how many hours we spent and expect either one of us would have given up along the way had we been working alone. It was fun.

With the temperature in the low single digits, the wind blowing and snowflakes in the air, we didn't even think of going out to Church this morning. I have started watching Rev. James Keck from First  Plymouth Church in Lincoln at 9:00am on Sunday mornings on our Channel 9 Fox station from Omaha. He is a very forceful speaker and emphasised the need for "Love" to receive some of the emphasis that our society places on "intellect". This afternoon we had a 2:30pm worship service here in Brookdale with Rev. Pam Williams officating. Rev. Williams serves the Episcopal church here in Seward as well as the United Church of Christ church in Goehner where she lives. We have known she and her family for many years and have seen her progress in her committment  and studies to reach her goal.

U. S. Postal Service

Few of you will recognize this Bulletin that we received in the mail this morning. It is Vol,II No. 3, Summer 1986 newsletter on the Programs and Activities of the American Land Resources Association. It is an 8 page item with the postmark indicating it was mailed from Greenwood, Maryland on August 4, 1986 and carried the address of our house. As I recall, I was a member of the "American Land Association" at one time and believe I passed on to son Jon at least one of their Journals that included an article written by Hugh H. Bennett. Now for the rest of the story. When Jon was here in early January he and Carolyn boxed up a bunch of books, pamphlets, sports programs, etc. and mailed some to son Tim and others to Jon. By mid-January we received a couple items from our local Post Office that we were sure came from a box that Jon would have sent to his home address back in Virginia. We talked to the folks at the local PO who remembered how well they had been packed. We talked to Tim a few days ago of getting his boxes which not only had part of his stuff, part of Jon's things, and some books of German WWII aircraft. Today we talked to Jon and he too had a "mixed bag" which included some of the things packaged for Tim. It appears that the boxes were damaged on their was to Indiana and Virginia and the contents mixed together. The boys will now get straightened out what they received but it was all mailed book rate and no record was made of the total contents. Just part of the problems of closing out our house after  35 years when the 3 boys live in Indiana and Virginia. We are grateful every day of our daughter and her family living here in Seward.

Stock Market Correction

This was the CNBC TV screen this afternoon as the market closed. We knew it was coming after having gone up at unprecedented rates during the past 15 months and extending the bull market far beyond expectations. I have been involved with equities at a very modest level since an MPA course and investment clubs. I got involved with Internet trading 20 years ago and have been a TD Ameritrade customer since 2001. One of the first things I learned was: "to never invest money in the stock market that you can't afford to lose". We also learned early of the benefits of being able to pass appreciated stock on to 501 (c) (3) organizations which we wished to support. At one time I used the strategy of selling any stock after a 10% loss or 10% gain. I still sell and take losses if necessary at the end of each calendar year for tax purposes. But am inclined to hold stocks as long as they appear to be good investments. Value Line is one of my important sources of information and recommendations. I keep score of my decisions, and over the years have made more mistakes in selling (too soon) than I have in buying. I rationalize some of my selling mistakes with the old addage that "you never go broke taking a profit". In anticipation of this day coming, I reduced my inventory before the end of the year, sold some more in early January, sold 2 more early yesterday and all but closed out my Ameritrade Portfolio early today. My guess is that I can buy back some of my favorites in a few months for less that than the price at which they were sold.

Jigsaw Puzzle Time

I was pleased to see that Elaine hasn't let our move to Brookdale dampen her enthusiasm for putting together Jigsaw Puzzles. For many years, it was tradition that our Dining Room table would be occupied with a puzzle in the process this time of year. It was never a problem since the table was seldom used this time of year. However, we no longer have the luxury of a 2nd table. This morning we ate our bowls of oatmeal by holding them on our laps. While our breakfast is furnished in the Dining room, we would have to be dressed and ready to eat no later than 8:00am. By eating breakfast in our room there is no time pressure, we can eat in our pj's and read the paper while doing so. I had a dental appointment this afternoon and Elaine did a washing down at the house, but we still found time to get several more pieces in place. We have a Magazine Club meeting this evening so will probably be eating oatmeal on our lap again tomorrow morning. Getting the puzzle together will be a high priority for tomorrow.