Wistful Wednesday: 516 West 1st Street

That address was Far Guy parent’s address from the late 1940’s when the house was brand new until they sold it in 1994. 

You can go home again, but it is different.  A few weeks ago I took outside photos.

It is called “The Cottage” and it is a place for people with disabilities to meet with their counselors.  The property was always zoned commercial since it is right along the highway.

Yesterday we stopped by to see if we could take some photos to share with Far Guy’s sister and of course the blog too.

The gal was very friendly and invited us right in. This is taken from the back deck, no one ever used the front door.  It seemed strange that you could walk right in…the porch used to be there…with a box for boots, a pencil sharpener and a closet where the broom and the dustpan was kept along with the garbage can and the ever present bag on a hanger that held the clothes pins. You used to enter the kitchen from that old porch.

The old closet.

The kitchen.  The cabinets that are solid oak have been painted white.  The sink is still the same old one.  They added a dishwasher.  The stove is in the same spot as is the refrigerator.  The old porch door used to open into the kitchen and there was room for a table and chairs….the space seemed so small now.

We wondered if the old phone cubby was still there.

Phone cubby.  You had to stand here and talk on the phone…it was a black phone and had a short cord.  Underneath the phone was a stand that held…the phone book and a set of encyclopedias.  Now it is a cubby for artwork. All the trim that is now painted back in the day was natural wood trim that was varnished.

Far Guy’s parents old bedroom, just room enough for a full size bed, a cedar chest, a tall chest of drawers and a dressing table with a large mirror and a padded bench.  On that dressing table was a box that opened up and it contained jewelry that Trica and Jennifer were facinated with.

The bathroom.  The toilet is where the bath tub used to be.  The doorway was made wider  to be handicap accesible.

The Living Room.  That love seat has the “Christmas Tree Spot”  and I noticed that Far Guy’s Moms touch is still in the house…her fancy light switchplates are still there.

A hanging lamp is still hung in the living room…just a different one.

The Dining Room looking back out the way we came in.

We ventured upstairs.  They just use the two bedrooms up there for storage.  The ceilings have been redone.  The stairs are still the same and so is the old railing upstairs…but a new hand rail has been added to assist the climb upwards.

So much for our trip down memory lane this week.  We think it is great that this home was updated and that it is being used again.   “The Cottage” is a perfect name for it.

The carpet used to be a two tone gold color, before that Far Guy says it was a grey color. The kitchen and hallway used to have linoleum, the bedrooms had hardwood floors.

Curiosity

You know what they say about curiosity?    It killed the cat.

Far Guy has been curious about his old home place ever since it was sold and then it got a new basement, which made him even more curious.  Then they moved the couch in front of the window and put up blinds.  There were always cars there during the day but hardly ever at night.  We knew that property was zoned commercial.  I told him I thought it might be a group home or something….especially after it got a handicap ramp.

One day when we were in town, he said “I am stopping there and knocking on the door.”  Okey dokey I will wait for you in the car (with my camera).

As soon as he knocked on the door I knew I should have accompanied him.  A Chihuahua barked…it was almost like old times. (His parents always had a Chichuahua.) 

He was welcomed warmly, as he told the lady at the door that he grew up in the house.  It is a meeting place for people who need some kind of assistance with their lives.  Not sure what kind as he didn’t take the brochure that was offered him.  One of the clients said “Better follow him around, he might have hidden money here a long time ago!”  Another client said “If you lived here maybe you knew my Dad.  In fact he is in the truck parked outside.”

Well…  I was walking around to the sidewalk taking photos outside, when I passed a truck I said Hello and kept walking.  On my way back the fellow held out a wrapped peppermint candy…I said “What is this sweet things for sweet things?”  He smiled.  I said “Thank you and headed for the car.

Far Guy got a quick tour. Instead of walking into the old porch you walk right into the old dining room which is a reception area.  He looked into the bathroom and discovered that they had moved the bathroom stool to where the bath tub used to be…he opened the downstairs door and said to himself yup still those step old steps.  He was invited to come back again sometime with me and my camera.

When Far Guy came out of the house he walked right over to the pickup and shook hands with the occupant.  They knew each other a long time ago as boys growing up in the old neighborhood.  He gave Far Guy a Peppermint candy too.

Orphans

Far Guy and I were wandering around in a cemetery, filling some grave photo requests on our way back from Fargo ND.

Far Guy said “Why are all those stones the same?” 

They were all graves of children in the early 1900’s.   The large stone in the background told the story “ Orphan’s Home. ”

I did a little research…curiosity got the best of me….imagine that.

In 1895 The Norwegian Lutheran Chirch of America started an Orphanage in Lake Park Minnesota.  Later it would become a Lutheran Social Services Orphanage.

From the 1900 Census I learned that 31 orphans lived in the home, there was also a Superintendent, Teacher, a laborer and four servants.  The children that were in the orphanage were mainly children of Norwegian families but a few parents were born in Minnesota and France.  The children ranged in age from 3 to 14 and were born in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Norway.

I never knew about an orphanage in this area of Minnesota….I thought they were all down in “The Cities.”

Yes there are some words on this memorial…but they are in Norwegian.

I read some accounts…one mentioned a young Father not having the slightest idea what to do with his children after his wife died…so he dropped them off at the orphanage. 

There was another Orphanage called Wild Rice Orphanage ( near Twin Valley) a little further north….that burned down and many children were sent to Lake Park.

A Pole Painter

On Tuesday at the museum  I noticed some commotion outside by the flag pole.  The janitors were looking up and taking down the flag and messing with the ropes. ( I think sometimes it is what men do best..stand around in group look up and down and nod their heads.)

The flag pole is situated right out the door of the museum next to the street.

Later I saw this..well what is a gal with a camera to do?

He hollered “Look Ma no hands!”

Well the guy is up a pole..he is a captive audience for my curious questions.

He sits on a board, he moves up and down the pole with ropes.  Those two buckets attached to the board hold his paint, roller and brush and whatever else a pole painter needs whilst he is up a pole.

His name is Warren, he is from Spokane Washington and he has been a Steeplejack for 51 years.  His Dad was one for 55 years.  Warren first went to work with his Dad when he was eight years old, he made 25 cents an hour.  ( Big money back then) He paints mainly flag poles now but he has done water and radio towers and other tall structures. He is not afraid of heights.   He charges 10 dollars a foot to paint a pole.  Our is 34 feet tall.  He painted one pole 66 feet tall in the morning up in Bagley and ours in the afternoon.  Yes, if it is windy he cannot work.  He told me that a flag pole should be painted every three years but it has been six years since ours has been done.  Our flag pole has a bit of a sway to it also…made me nervous but didn’t bother Warren.

He has an assistant.

He was tied to a tree and watched his master the entire time except when I scratched his ears.  I believe his name was “Scritch.”

Warren has five children, three girls and two boys, his boys have painted with him from time to time but are not working with him now.  We had a nice visit, until I got visitors at the museum.  Then he hollered “Goodbye Museum Lady.”

Just incase you every wonder who paints the flag poles..well now you know:)

Whoa..What was that?

Sometimes when we are out and about..I say WHOA..what was that?  Far Guy will usually find some place to turn around and go back so that I can get a photo. 

Such was the case last August.  It looks like a big vase for that huge tree that grew inside.  It is a silo made from wood. I have never seen a silo made from wood?  Have you?  This one was on the other side of Lake Belle Taine.

We were following one of those great “Rummage Sale” signs..the ones that seem to go on forever..with lots of twists and turns and yellow balloons hung in the trees before we eventually got there..where they had nothing we wanted..but I got a great photo on the way:)

Curiosity: Echo Ring

I am a curious person.  Are you?

Today I want to show you an interesting structure ..it has been in this park as long as I can remember.

The Echo Ring in Deane Park located near Park Rapids, Minnesota.

It is built totally out of rocks/stones.

It is falling into disrepair.  Many of the stones are loose.

What was it’s purpose?  Are you supposed to stand in the center and holler something..or are you suppose to stand at the edge and holler toward the center?  What are the rules to follow?

  August 06, 2008  I took a photo of the Grand boys..they almost look the same height..because I told them where to stand on the rock columns of the ring.  It makes for a great optical illusion. It makes Adam look taller than Noah. We were in the park that day searching for a Geo Cache. Everyone else was wandering around in the poison ivy.

When I took this photo I had no idea it was an Echo Ring.  The next summer my curiosity was stirred up by a mention of what the repair costs would be for the Echo Ring..it was only then that I put 2 and 2 together…and figured out what was being talked about.  ( I do not remember what the dollar amount was exactly..but it was an obnoxiously huge sum.)

Have you ever seen an Echo Ring/Echo Circle before?  If so where?  Please share!

It was only –18F last night..it is warming up!  For those of you that thought it was actually 50 degrees in our house..that is right next to the window.. that sensor in order to read the  sender that is on the garage must have a clear path to pick up the frequency..hence it’s placement in the kitchen window.  Elsewhere in the house it is a balmy 74 degrees, sometimes warmer than that, with outdoor wood heat we can keep the house very comfortable:)

Update: This is not an Echo Ring ..it is a bandstand.  If you go up those far steps in the last photo you will run right into the real echo ring.  I thought that ring was just a campfire ring because it had the remnants of a campfire in the center.  Next spring I will go back and take another photo.  I apologize for any confusion that this has caused.

Curiosity: Zinnia Corner: The Rest of the Story

A few weeks ago I did a blog about Zinnia Corner. Last Saturday I found out the rest of the story, I took the time to ask the question "Why do you plant those Zinnias on the corner?"

We had been in Fargo, ND..we were on our way home and with any luck at all the road construction crew would have the day off. We stopped at the first place just north of Zinnia corner. Far Guy was feeling shy and skeptical, he said " I will wait in the car." There were two vehicles in the driveway, and a gentleman was coming out of the house. I introduced myself and asked him if he knew who planted the Zinnias..wouldn't you know it! He was the planter! He was an older gentleman, perhaps my age, with grey hair and a grey mustache, his skin was all tanned..you could tell he spends most of his day outdoors. He wasn't very tall, about 5 feet 9 inches, he wore blue jeans and a blue checked shirt and was driving a red pickup truck.

When he was a kid, in the fall of the year he enjoyed the Zinnias that a Mr. Peterson used to plant along Highway 10. Everyday he admired them out of the school bus window until the frost killed them. He always thought it was fun and would be a fun thing to do someday. Thirty years ago was his someday, he has been planting them ever since. He said that it takes about five pounds of Zinnia seed every year, seed was 24 dollars a pound this year. He never collects and saves seed from one year to the next, because it is too difficult to collect and to separate from the weed seed. He told us, (Far Guy finally got out of the car), that everyone asks him in the spring of the year if he has them planted yet, and some ladies ask to use them as cut flowers for Weddings at the church. The worst part for him is the weeds, the Zinnias must be weeded or the weeds take over, he has no grand children to help him out as neither of his sons are married. I asked him if he knew that his Zinnias were featured in a poetry book by Mark Vinz? He had no idea, he said he thought that someone painted them once, and maybe the painting was in an Art Gallery in Fargo someplace. He was a very nice gentleman, I am glad I stopped to meet him. I also thanked him for growing Zinnias on Zinnia Corner.

The road construction has not been kind to the Zinnias this year.

It wasn't a wildly tragic or romantic story, but I did find it heartwarming that he shared about enjoying Zinnias as a young boy on a school bus. He also shared with us that he never has to give exact directions to his home, he lives just north of Zinnia Corner..and everyone knows where that is:)

Curiosity: Akhal-Teke

I have always been a curious person. Someone said "Curiosity killed the cat." It may have, but that doesn't stop my curiosity. If I weren't a curious sort..I would never learn anything new..I was one of those "Why" kids, and I never grew out of it. From time to time I will visit something or someone that I am curious about, and it will end up here on my blog.

I met this fancy-smancy horse about a year ago..so did Chance..he barked at her. She didn't look or seem real special. What was all the excitement about? Just another expensive hay burner. Then I found out more about her. She was causing quite a stir, people were coming from foreign countries to do some DNA testing. As it turns out she is an Akhal-Teke, a breed of horse originally from Turkmenistan and she is one of only 3,500 in the world, rumor has it that there are only 400 in the United States. Her name is strange and foreign it starts with an "M" ...she has a longer name too but I am lucky to remember "M."

Akhal-Tekes have a natural metallic bloom to their coats. Some shine or shimmer more than others. She could become a race horse or an endurance horse, her path is still unclear

"M" is very spoiled, her special feed is measured and weighed, she is feed at the same time twice a day. She has an owner, a trainer, and a stable hand. She has a pasture mate..Sandy..she is a real sweetheart. She is just around to keep "M" company, to keep an investment "happy."

They were both very curious about my camera, and me, and they were not a bit shy:)

Curiosity: Zinnia Corner

On a stretch of road, just North and West of Glyndon, Minnesota on a corner someone has planted a bunch of Zinnias. The planting stretches North and West and makes a perfect backwards "L" on the corner. I have passed by these Zinnias for many Augusts now, always wishing I had a camera when they were in full bloom. Last week I had the camera, the photographs aren't perfect..there was some kind of road construction happening. I would have loved to have wandered closer to this magnificent planting to capture the Zinnias up close and personal but I could not safely get too close..so I settled for photos from a far away approach.

Now I wish I knew the why? Why does this farmer plant Zinnias? Is there some tragic romantic story or does he/she just like Zinnias? Maybe they read my blog, or maybe someone that reads knows the story. Maybe next time I will just have to stop by the farmhouse and say "Thanks, I have been enjoying your Zinnias for many years. Could you share their story with me? "

How many of you are curious? I have always been a curious person, never afraid to ask a question. Never afraid to learn something new. I just have to take the time to stop and ask the question. :)