Income Tax

This picture was taken last Sunday evening. It was the day that we had a March record low/high temperature of 5 degrees in Lincoln . I worked most of the afternoon today on income tax and my brain probably looks a lot like the picture. We have a date set to meet with our Accountant on it so the pressure is on to get it ready. Our return isn't that complicated but it's still a stressful and demanding choir. We have consolidated our investments but one of these years we may just put it all in a box and take it to the Accountant. 

For relaxation this evening we are watching the Nebraska Girls lead Minnesota 37-35 at the half of the Big 10 Tournament in Indianapolis. At one time Nebraska had a 9-point lead but a long 3 by Rachel Banham brought the Gophers to within 2 at the buzzer. It is a great game and has taken my mind off the Income Tax plus Elaine just brought me a freshly baked and buttered cupcake. 

Sandhills Cranes in Nebraska

The Seward Magazine Club meets this evening and I plan to report on an article from the March Smithsonian Magazine on the Sandhills Cranes. Cranes are among the planet's most successful life-forms, having outlasted millions of species (99 percent of species that ever existed are now extinct). They have been around for over 30 million years. Each spring some 500,000 Sandhills Cranes spend about 6-7 weeks along the Platte River in Central Nebraska on their migration from the winter grounds in Texas to their summer area in Canada. While in Nebraska they scrounge the harvested corn fields for food that enables them to add 20% to their weight. It is here that they do their mating dance and prepare for their trip to Canada where the chicks are hatched. According to the Audubon Society's  Rowe Sanctuary in Gibbon there were over 70,000 viewers last year from every State in the Union and from 47 Foreign Countries. Nebraska has many unique natural attractions, but this is certainly among the most popular. While the migration has gone on for eons of time, it wasn't until the recent 20-30 years that the Platte River Crane Habitat Trust was established and the Rowe Sanctuary was built. Micheal Forsberg, a local, nationally recognized wildlife photographer has done a great deal to publicize the migration. Seeing the Sandhills Cranes here in Nebraska is probably on more peoples Bucket List than anything else in the state.

The True Story of Smokey Bear

The "True Story of Smokey Bear" has some special memories for our family. Elaine worked in the Timber Management Division of the Forest Service at their National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. during the late 60' & '70's. Rudy Wendelin was the FS illustrator who "humanized" the bear and made him the protectorate of all forest. Jim Allen who worked in the same Division as Elaine, was among the group that rescued the little black bear from a forest fire in New Mexico. He was nursed  back to health and brought to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.. Smokey lived for several years in the Zoo as a major attraction. The Zoo and Smokey were always a stop when we had friends visiting. Mr. Allen confirmed that the 20 page "comic book" publication is accurate in telling the story. Elaine and Rudy's offices were close together  and became good friends. I was able to get him do a "pen & ink" drawing of "Smokey's Head" for a paper I wrote for a class at GWU. As I remember, I got a B on the paper but the instructor gave an A++ to Rudy for his drawing on the report's cover. I listed the "True Story of Smokey..." on eBay this afternoon at a very reasonable price. We have sold a considerable amount of the memorabelia that Elaine collected while working there which seems to be in demand.  Hopefully, it will make some parents more aware of the background of Smokey and will make some little kids happy as their parents read them the story.

Son Tim's Birthday

This is my 5-year Daily Diary opened to the March 4 date of son Timothy James's birth. It is the lowest of the 5 year entries and is as follows: "Took Elaine to the Hospital at 5:00am. At 7:53 we had an 8 lb. 13 oz. baby boy. Very cold. I tried to take Verlon out to Flowerday's but the road was blocked so took him out to my folks. Visited Elaine and told her about Timmy. With her from 1-3:00pm and 7 - 8:30. I stayed overnight at my folks." What I didn't write was that when I went out to get the car warmed up, it wouldn't start. I took a kettle of hot water out and sat it on the engine and a few minutes later it started. Meanwhile, I gave thought to loading her on our sled and pulling her up the hill on  the snow covered streets to the hospital. There might have been a prayer or two that also helped to get the old Chevy running and Elaine to the hospital in time. Verlon was about 18 1/2 months old when Timmy was born. He stayed out at my folks for several days. When we brought Elaine and Timmy  home on the 10th, he said "How-do-do" to Tim. The Seward HS basketball boys went to the State Tournament a few days later and as I watched them play, I wondered if just maybe in about 16 years there might be a couple brothers on the team. 

Senator Greg Adams

We had a great program at Kiwanis today. It was Senator Greg Adams, Speaker of the Nebraska Unicameral and our Seward and York County representative. Charles Lieske, Director of the Seward Area Chamber of Commerce and Chamber members joined Kiwanis for the meeting. We are approaching the mid point of this years 60-day session and the Senator discussed many of the pending issues. Nebraska is very unique not only with our non-partisan Unicameral Legislature but also in the very democratic way in which it operates. Senator Adams is one of 17 of the body's 49 legislators what will be term limited out after this year. When asked his reaction to the relatively new, 2 consecutive, 4year term limitation, he expressed his support for limitations but felt that 3 terms may be more appropriate. He cited examples of historic legislation that took several years to fine tune and develop support. I have know Senator Adams  for many years through the Nebraska League of Municipalities meetings. We often attended the same sessions when he was Mayor of York and I was on the Seward City Council. He brought his experience as a school teacher, superintendent of York Public Schools and Mayor to the legislature which helped move him into his leadership position. He has served our District and the State of Nebraska commendably and his leadership will be missed. I wish he had those 4 more years. 

Carolyn and the "Guys"

We had moved to our Big House on N. 5th Street here in Seward and Carolyn was about the age that Her Granddaughter Sadie is now.  Carolyn is very fortunate in having Sadie along with her parents, right here is town where they can spend time together. We too are so appreciative of them being here. While we maintain a lot of communication with the boys in Virginia and Indiana, we only get to see them and their families about once a year. Carolyn was down today to help me with a computer problem. She was able to show me something in I-photo that opens up a whole new way of doing some things. Like most computer "tricks", everything is so simple once you stumble on it or someone shows you how to do it.  Having someone close by to help is invaluable. Thanks Carolyn.

It's always great to see you walking in our direction.

Oral History of Nebraska NRDs

This is a map of the Nebraska Natural Resource Districts. They are successors to Soil Conservation Districts as well as other natural resource related districts. They have been in existence since 1972 and are loosely based on hydrologic boundaries. The NRDs have taxing authority and have been assigned many additional responsibilities since their formation. An effort is 

underway to prepare an Oral History of their formation. I was interviewed last summer for the project and the conversation recorded. A copy of that interview was in our mornings mail and reading it was a most humbling experience. I have read some of my verbatim transcripts before but don't recall as much "rambling", "incomplete sentences", "misuse of words", "straying from the subject" and just plain "errors" as I made in this one. I know that an Oral History is supposed to reflect how a person may express themselves; but, I wouldn't want a historic document to demonstrate the way I talked, even if I did.