Wistful Wednesday : 1913

This is Far Guys maternal Grandmother, Clara or Mead or Meady or Meade.... her middle name was Almeada. Old timers around here call her Meady. Her family came from Iowa. She had two sisters and five brothers. She was born April 18th, 1893. This photograph was taken before June 18, 1913. She was a teacher, and she married a farmer. They occupied the family "home" farm, kitty corner from where I grew up. When I found this photograph, I was simply amazed at how beautiful she was. It is hard to imagine her at twenty years old..

In 1955 she contracted tubercular meningitis. She was quarantined in a Sanatorium.. Far Guy was not allowed to visit, so he stayed in the car. He is not sure why his sister was not along (perhaps she stayed with a friend) ..note I said suppose to stay in the car..apparently these times were spent exploring the vast grounds of the remote sanatorium. One day they were allowed inside, he says he remembers she was behind a huge glass window and he waved to her. All the cousins were there that day, possibly for her birthday or Christmas. She spent several years there. I remember that she was very ill, and being told that she might die..and I was sad. His grandpa was a frequent visitor at our house during this time.

Then one day she came home, and she was totally deaf. She refused to learn sign language, she said it would be a waste of time. I used to take written notes to her from my mother, then I would run back home and tell my Mom exactly what she said. Years later she graduated to one of those Magic Eraser Boards, you know the ones with the little plastic "pen" that was usually red, you wrote on the board, after she read it, you pulled up on the plastic film on the bottom and had a new slate to write on again. She could speak, and she did in a really loud voice, of course she could not hear herself. As she aged sometimes she talked to herself..out loud..it was actually quite revealing. Grandpa hardly ever used the Magic Eraser Board to talk to her, he just kept on speaking to her normally, using his own form of sign language. I think she could read his lips..cause sometimes she would throw stuff at him. He was used to being ignored.

The day that Far Guy and I wrote on the board ..We are going to have a baby. She was so excited, she asked "When are you due?" I wrote April 1st. She replied " You will give birth on my birthday." I wrote OH NO Grandma, April 18th would be a long wait. She said "No matter, you will give birth on my birthday." And I did. Her first Great Grand Daughter was born on April 18, 1972 on her 79th birthday. Somehow she just knew it, predicted it and I fulfilled it:)

Carpet Completed

Finally, the carpet has been installed. The project that I wanted completed before Christmas is completed by Easter. It was quite a project, we carted "Stuff" into the bathroom until we were exhausted. There was a method to our madness, whatever we packed in there did not have to be moved twice! Then we moved everything from the east to the west, the installer laid that carpet, then overnight we moved everything from the west to the east..we had to call my brother and one of our nephews to help move some really heavy items that Far Guy and I just drug over the sub-floor..but could not be drug over on the new carpeting. The next day the carpet installation was completed and furniture was moved back to where it might possibly belong. Since then I have been trying to get everything out of the bathroom..finally success. It is presentable up here now.. here are the previous photos. If you care to look at them.

The best part of this entire project..no more slivers in the Grand kids toes and feet from running up there without their socks on. No more micro surgery on the kitchen table with someone screaming that they are sorry that they were running.

View from the stairs.

This is the real color! Brown!

View from the French Door..you may note that something is missing..the huge Oak Cabinet..It's treasures were packed away, Andy and Jen moved it to the garage for me..in it's place a custom pine cabinet with glass doors flanked by two window seats will be built. The design is still in my head..but is coming out in bits and pieces, and Far Guy is trying his best to visualize what I want..and making my design a reality. ..or something really close to my reality. We will build it when the weather gets just a little warmer. Far Guy is finally trimming out the windows up there..it is in progress..I will post that project when it is completed!

I still feel like I need a decorator.. for the placement of the furniture.. I attempted some new things..but eventually I just moved the old stuff back in the same old place. It could be..that I don't have the right combinations of furniture ..that happened to me downstairs..until I purchased new furniture specifically for the space. Possibly it could be the new disease..new carpet new window treatments new furniture syndrome..I just got the real measurments for the windows..one thing at a time:)

Easter With The Girls

We have two daughters, our eldest Trica has three daughters "the girls" and lives an hour away. Jen our youngest has two sons "the boys" and lives two and a half hours away. Jen can drive it in two hours..I think she may have a heavy foot. Jen and Andy and the boys went up north to Andy's parents for Easter. The girls are 12, 10, and 10 for a few more days.. Trica calls the two youngest "Irish Twins" since they were born almost a year apart.. nine days less a year..she was a busy Mom when they were little..come to think of it ..she is still a busy Mom. By the end of this week they will be 12 (Savannah), 11(Madison) and 10 (Paige)..so we celebrated birthdays too!

First off we were told that "You have to believe to receive" as they showed off their chocolate filled Easter Baskets..all of them now know the Easter Bunnies secrets and will not ruin it for their cousin Adam. But they are pretty sure that Noah knows the real scoop.

The girls had a Seder meal at school last Thursday. It sparked lots of interesting conversation during dinner. I have to sit next to Madison at all family meals..she always says "Grandma..you need to sit right next to me." It is my spot..and I would not think of sitting elsewhere. We used to do this when they were little to keep them apart..it just became tradition..Savannah next to Far Guy and me next to Maddie. Paige next to her Mother. It is like assigned seating! Anyway the Seder meal according to the girls.. There was grape juice, but the adults had wine, I don't like wine.. do you like wine Grandma? Then there was salt water, and you were supposed to dip your celery in the water, YUK ..the salt water was supposed to represent the "Sweat of the Apostles" YUK..who wants to drink sweat anyway.. It was just gross..some kids just chugged it down.. ( Trica said..I don't know how healthy it is to drink salt water.. Richard said ..I don't think it was sea water or anything. When I asked Richard about the Seder meal..he said " I don't know a thing about it..all I know is I eat fish on Fridays) And there was lonesome bread.. (Really? maybe it was unleavened bread, because they didn't have time to wait for the bread to rise before they left) ..yah it was lonesome bread, bread that doesn't do anything. The horoseth was terrible.. Have you ever tasted horoseth Grandma? (No, can't say I have) Well let me tell ya, you won't like it either. ( It may have been horseradish instead of the ground up apple mixture).. Did you know that they found some nails and a cloth in the tomb? Ya, it was really cool, and the cloth had the perfect imprint of Jesus face.. it must have really hurt to be hung on that cross..

With three little girls all talking at once..it was quite a round table discussion. We had a lovely meal, ham, scalloped potatoes, fresh asparagus, freshly baked bread and birthday cake for desert. After dinner, Richard hid 48 eggs in the yard, while I tried to keep them from peeking out the windows. Chance had a blast helping to find the eggs.. it was a giggling, running good time:)

Happy Easter!

First Robins of Spring

Last evening while Far Guy was cooking another one of his gourmet meals and Chance was having a nap under the table, I glanced out the kitchen window. Low and behold.. Robins..the first ones I have seen this spring. They were poking around in my Day-lilies. I grabbed the camera and took a photo through the window.It is not the greatest quality photo but it is proof that at 6:38 PM .. I saw the first Robin! Far Guy said,"Who ya gonna call?" Well, that is quite obvious my Sister-In-Law! ( Mrs. She is always first seeing a Robin, sitting on her deck with my number on speed dial, just waiting to giggle and holler "I saw a Robin!) .. BUT I wanted to bask in my bird spotting skills for awhile first. Good thing too..when I finally did call her she said "I saw one earlier in the evening" ..we compared times.. and she was first again..she beat me by over an hour.

At least this year we got to see them on the same day. Last year her first Robin sighting was on April 05..mine was not until April 19. Two whole weeks separated us last year..this year mere hours.. next year is anyone's game!

I always try to keep track from year to year..what happens when. Keeping track of such things is called Phenology. The first robin, the first deer tick, the first Loons, this year I hope to add the first spring peepers to the list.. the first evening you go outside and the night air is filled with their mating calls..I wonder what they are really saying?? "It has been a long spring, you are beautiful..wanna fool around?" OR "Tired, headache, is that all you ever think about..you should have been a toad instead of a frog." Ah..the possibilities are endless:)

Good Friday

It is Good Friday, as a child I never could figure out why it was called "Good" as an adult I still have a hard time wrapping my mind completely around the "Good" concept. Good for us Christians, not so great for Jesus who suffered on the cross.

I have been reading Rabindranath Tagore during Lent, a translation called The Gardener. I have been sharing this wonderful book with Far Guy.. I read poetry to him while he cooks..it may seem a bit strange to you that I chose a poet from India to read during Lent. However I truly enjoy Tagore, he makes me think...

Since I believe that Lent is a time for inward reflection..but outward reaction. I will share with you the last entry.

Who are you, reader, reading my poems an hundred years hence?
I cannot send you one single flower from this wealth of spring, one single streak of gold from yonder clouds.
Open your doors and look abroad.
From your blossoming garden gather fragrant memories of the vanished flowers of years before.
In the joy of your heart may you feel the living joy that sang one spring morning, sending its glad voice across an hundred years.

So today I will send my readers one single flower ( from last summer) from my wild rose bush, with some buds not yet unfurled..and some remnants of spent blooms. I hope you are gathering some fragrant memories of your own:)

Old Photo and a Duck Story

Far Guy and some Easter Chicks! I love the fancy frocks and the little purses.. and Far Guys sister has gloves on! Far Guy says the girl on the left is cousin Bonnie. I am not so sure..where is her brother? I am also wondering why in the world Far Guy needed a belt AND suspenders. He did wear lots of suspenders..so much so that in grade school the other kids called him "Spenders" ...don'tcha just love that Bow Tie! He was one stylin' dude when he was five!


In the late 1960's Far Guys Mom must have been going through some type of personal crisis. Maybe she was in some sort of irrational menopausal mood..she bought two ducks ..one pink and one blue. This was back in the days when it was acceptable to dye the poor little things. There was some sort of Duck Tragedy that year, Far Guys Dad may have been involved. There was only one fluffy duck one day.. It followed Muggy around, he was a Chihuahua with an attitude and the last thing he wanted to be was a mother for a duck. I recall that Far Guy and I let the duck swim around in the toilet one afternoon, Far Guys Mom had a "cow" it may have had something to do with the other ducks tragic death ..she loved that little duck..it went to Emil's next door to grow up to be someones dinner..:)

Wistful Wednesday: Easter 1959

Well look at this one, my brother has eggs coming out of his head! This photo is 50 years old! I loved those shoes! My dress was light pink, my Mom had sewed my dress and my coat for me.. I believe the coat was bird egg blue. This photo was taken by my Mother. We were in the big old kitchen at the farm, right in front of the door that led upstairs. I had totally forgotten that the chairs had those rubbery protectors on them so that there would not be little circles poked into the linoleum floors by the chairs. These are the same chairs that we spent a whole hour in after church if we did not sit still during the service. Easter must have been in March that year..someones beautiful artwork is covering up part of the calendar:)

Community Coming Together

Our Great Niece Aubrey was born in May of 2008 with a complete bilateral cleft lip and palate, she has had two surgeries so far. The first last September, the second in February..she will have many more surgeries. So far it is nothing short of a miracle..what the surgery has accomplished.

Aubrey April 05, 2009

Living in a very small community sometimes has it's advantages. In a few weeks the community will surround this little munchkin with financial support. The local Lions Club is hosting a fund raising dinner, six local Chefs ( real honest to goodness World Class Chefs..from a little known private corporate retreat here in the boonies..where people get flown in and out by private jets) and my Mom and my Aunt are preparing the dinner. Thank goodness I am not needed in the kitchen. Attendance would be down if the word got out that I was in the kitchen. Far Side cooking would draw a few curious spectators but not many willing participants... and the Fire Department would have to go on standby. So I am staying OUT of the kitchen. The cooking is best left to people who know what they are doing.

I have been in charge of the silent auction..it is amazing the phone calls and email messages I am getting as the fund raiser approaches. People are pulling together. Some of them have been dropping off their donations for the silent auction, many are beautiful handmade treasures. There are some wonderful quilts! Far Guy has been so excited..some tools were donated..he wants them all. I told him to "Bring the checkbook." We hope for a day without snow, and lots of hungry people:)

Chance : A Secret

Hey! It is I ..Chance the wonder blogging dog. Far Side says today is MY day! Finally my turn to tell you about...

My friend Hooch and the secret he told me.

It went down like this: ARF ARF K-I-T-T-Y GRR GRR C-A-T That was way last November when he shared his secret. Half the winter I have wondered about his C-A -T. Every time I have seen him it has been so fricking cold that even the snowmen want to come in to warm up. After we have our OUTSIDE pissing contests, taking turns yellowing the snow as two property neutered male dogs do it is time to go in and warm up and play ball games and king of the mountain on the couch. Just so you know Far Side says pissing contests are fine as long as they are outside..she says if one ever occurs in the house she will build me a dog house outside..and I wouldn't like that so much..so I follow the rules. Anyways back to the secret..Hooch and I have not had time to go exploring together until now.

Hooch found the elusive K-I-T-T-Y GRR GRR C-A-T

Too bad he ain't taller.

You gofer it Hooch..I'll stand watch. Just in case he makes a runfer it.

Good Idea Hooch..try a sneak attack with the old doggie in the window trick. This is why we are friends..Hooch is so smart!

I got your back Hooch..after all what are friends for?
No kitty cats were harmed or even found..Hooch may have been telling a tall tail:)

Somedays : (Far Guy TN Update)

For those of you new to my blog, Far Guy has Trigeminal Neuralgia Type II..atypical facial pain. He was diagnosed on Christmas Day 2007. From time to time I do updates on "Our Situation" .. our struggles..our sucesses (not many) and our failures. Presently he takes Tegretol and Neurontin to try to control the pain. The support group that we formed back in October has gone by the wayside..however we still keep in contact with some of the people in our area that also are afflicted with this horrible disorder.

Somedays even though Far Guy is better..he is worse. He does not want to talk to the Nurse Practitioner on the phone anymore. (Y'all know how I feel about talking on the phone.) He is totally capabable of talking to his own Nurse. A dedicated one at that, she called this morning..on a Sunday, her day off..because she cares and had not been able to return Far Guys call on Friday. They discussed his medications, she is just as confused as we are..why somedays are better and some days are not. Far Guy will work up a pain graph for his Nurse, once she has a look at it..she will increase his Neurontin. That is good news..I was afraid she might want to increase the Tegretol again..

Somedays I get SO frustrated with prescriptions.. numbers of pills needed..prescriptions changing. Being in the middle sucks. Far Guy is off in La La land with his prescriptions.. He told me "I have enough of that prescription to last at least another month." I started counting the pills.. eight days is not a month...at least the last time I was totally sane..a month was thirty days. We need a new prescription. Far Guy says "OK, guess I need a new one"..

I wrote a letter concerning medications and refills to his Primary Care Physician that is local.. I have found that Doctors may or may not return your phone calls..but they usually respond to letters. It is a paper trail, I think that leaving one scares the bejesus out of most Doctors. Anyway, I wrote it all out for Far Guy..told him to type it up or send it just the way it was..longhand and signed by me..

I have learned that Trigeminal Neuralgia is an extremely frustrating rare disorder. I believe we are on a better track after our visit to the U of MN..but Far Guy is getting a little/lot stubborn on me. I want him to be pain free, but he is willing to cope with the pain as long as it is not excruciating. We differ in our opinions, we discuss it..he is supposed to keep a pain diary..I sometimes fill in for him..It is a medication/pain log that sits near the bottles of pills in the kitchen. He has stopped keeping track, he is digging his heels in..If I ask him what his pain level is..he ignores me..or gives me a number that makes no sense what so ever..a million, five hundred thousand and thirteen.. all that tells me is that he does not want to share. The pain level is only 1 through 10.. I can usually tell what it is..if he is on the couch it is a seven, if he is in the bedroom it is above a seven. If he talks funny, biting down on his cheek while speaking..it is a five..if he is really cranky and pacing or just holding his head in his hands it is a ten. God, I hate tens. There is no rhyme or reason to the pain fluctuations, one day can be miserable as all get out of Far Guys way, the next the pain is tolerable. If only I could find a clue to the answer of why the pain fluctuates..the weather..the wind..chewing..it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Far Guy has a theory..shit happens..AND he thinks that the nerve only has enough energy to transmit the faulty signals for so long (the most painful times) then it burns itself out..and he can have a day or two with less pain while the nerve builds up the ability to transmit the faulty pain signals again.

He is much better than he was, he is not in a fog, but he is more moody..and cranky..uffda..somedays. The real pits is that everything revolves around pain, most things that we do are on the spur of the moment..if Far Guy feels good and is having a good day..we can get out and about. Bad days we just stay home..pain sometimes hold us hostage. Somedays he is a real trooper and says "I can feel just as rotten anywhere we go."

Somdays I wonder, why a good, kind person like Far Guy has to suffer so much. Somedays I wonder what I can do next. Somedays I would just like to give up, just like the Medical profession and research has..but I can't..cause Far Guy has it everyday...

Chance is very intune to Far Guys pain, he leads him to the couch, he comforts him by licking his hands. He does what he can in his own way to make things better. We TRY to laugh everyday, instead of cry, we try to make the best out of every day, somedays I just need to unload:)

My Mom Sews

My Mom is a wonderful seamstress. She sews, she has a sewing room and everything, a fancy sewing machine and a serger. She even has a cutting table, and a dress form. She has a room full of fabric and never passes up a fabric shop. Her ironing board is set up continually in her sewing room. She always has a hundred projects going at once.

I have none of this machine sewing know how. I do have a sewing machine. I would much rather hand sew something than drag out my machine..which is stored in it's original box..upstairs. My sewing prowess began in high school when I was going to flunk Home Economics sewing..my Mom saved my project..but she only got a C. Later in life, when I was pregnant, I bought some material to make some maternity tops..I sewed the sleeves in backwards..I cried. When the girls were little I tried to sew them some flannel nightgowns. The girls looked so pathetic in them I threw the gowns in the garbage and cried. I still have the remnants of some of my sewing projects upstairs, pieces of quilts..started..never finished. Beautiful patterns for wall hangings..that I would love to sew together..but I know they will never turn out the way I want them to. Part of my problem may be..I hate to measure anything..and apparently just eyeballing something doesn't work in the sewing world.

My Mom always comes to my rescue. I needed new kitchen curtains.. I designed them in my head. When I went over to pick out the fabric from her "store" ..she had four or five matching fabrics for me to choose from for the lining. She sewed them..she didn't like the way they turned out..the Loons in the pattern were not swimming evenly across the material. She whipped up my valence in no time flat. I like it... Want to see some before and afters??
Before: The old flannel ones that she sewed for me, about six years ago. I whined about my sewing skills back then also.


After: A simple valence, lined of course, the buttons are old treasures, some from my Grandma D and some from one of my Mothers old coats from years ago. No, the buttons do not match..they are all individual and unique. Kinda like me:)

In a Pickle

Well, I think I might be in a pickle. Sometimes I get myself into the darnedest situations. You see I needed a photograph..yes needed, there is a difference between a want and a need. The little pigs are already ten days old.. and do you know how fast little pigs grow? Very Fast.. I was sure they were going to lose their cuteness any day. Pigs you know go from cute little buggers to handsome brutes practically before your eyes. This was the last litter too. Well, this all would not be a problem..except that the farmers wife is gone on a trip..and her hubby is all alone. Far Guy wasn't feeling good, so Chance and I went all alone..well wouldn't you know it..Mrs. Gossip was just turning onto our road when I was at the stop sign..she drives slow..so I followed her..and she saw where I turned. Darn. I should have just kept on following her and doubled back after she turned off at her place. I Imagine that my visit was timed..she may have driven by several times..she probably knows more about my visit than I do. Then to top it all off the neighbor has Canadian Geese and Swans eating in his corn fields every night..and he invited me back at five to take more photos..I think I will wait till next week, when his lovely wife is home.

I am sure Mrs. Gossip will be reporting my whereabouts to my Mother and Father within 24 hours. Far Guy says if he hears any gossip..he is just going to say .. "I knew she was up to no good, whining about some photos of little pigs, and all the while she was secretly cavorting in the hog barns with the neighbor, and she took the dog with her too."
Chance had a blast with his friend..and I got my photographs! :)

Snow Again

It snowed again, I was just thrilled. Old Man Winter is baaaack, and it was no Aprils Fools Joke either. I am reverting back to my cheerful frozen mood..Far Guy is so happy. No fooling..Chance and I were awakened in the middle of the night when the snow rumbled and fell off of the roof. Far Guy just snored away. Chance was concerned, I was fully awakened by his concern..in the form of of his big old nose..

"NO, I DO NOT need to go out with you and check it out." It sounds worse than it actually is, the tin roof amplifies the sound indoors. "GO back to sleep."

This is what the roof looked like in the morning..half snowy..half had fallen off.

When the snow piles up and starts to slide, it forms curls. It only curls so far and then..WOOSH..it comes off in huge sheets..kinda like a huge snow bomb.. this is a curl on Far Guys garage.

Since there is safety in numbers..we all go outside together, Far Guy to fix the fire in the Outdoor Wood Stove. Chance to keep watch..and me to take more glorious snow photos. Luckily I grabbed a pair of socks and hiked them up over my pants legs..cause I did get snow in my boots..that tells me we got about ten to twelve inches of the beautiful white crap.

We played a game..called Chance Come! I am near the house in a snowbank, relaxing, as much as you can relax with your boots filling with snow, and Far Guy is by the wood stove..we take turns calling "Chance Come" ..back and forth he runs..burning off all his pent up energy:)

Wistful Wednesday : 1940

Grandpa, and Grandma H with their four sons and a won't hold still even for a photo grandson. It seems that Grandpa has his hands full! Far Guys Dad is on the far right in this photo. Grandma is surrounded by "her boys" and it wasn't til a few years later in 1945 that she got some granddaughters.

The littlest, squirmy not wanting to be held boy, by the name of Jack is one of my blog readers. He was born in 1938..so my best guess to date this photo is 1940.

Uncle Jimmy is in uniform in this photo, he was a member of The Army National Guard here in Minnesota. Often some of these family photographs are taken on "occasions" ..I am wondering what the occasion was.. it looks like an early spring photograph. Was Uncle Jimmy just back from some kind of training? Was it Easter Sunday? I guess that's why I call these entries Wistful Wednesday:)

A Smile

I have been working on getting all of my photos loaded back into my computer. Finally they are there..where they belong..well not exactly how they were before..but getting there. Some of them make me smile. Today as March goes out like a Lion..a stormy, snowy Lion..I need a smile.

Spring 1994, Prom, my youngest daughter (East Side/Jen) is all dressed up, we are on the lawn at the school taking photographs. We are there just before the Grand March, my sister Julie, and my niece Toots (she has another name..but I have always called her Toots) and my nephew Jacob are there with us.

As I am snapping away with my camera, I feel a tug at my pants leg, a little voice is repeating "Auntie, Auntie" as the tugging continues. Toots who is not yet three years old, wants my attention. I bend lower, as she wrings her hands together like an old woman would, her head is bent down, her eyes looking at the ground, her little hands busy wringing....she has something to say. "Auntie could... Auntie could... could you take my picture with the princess?"

Of course I could..so here it is a memory captured. Toots will be going to her own Senior Prom this year..how time flies...:)

I Heard It On The Radio

Far Guy and I learned in 1997 that connections are what keep you going during a flood. Our connection to the outside world was email, phone and the radio. We listened to KFGO out of Fargo. We have been listening to KFGO online this time also. They have been taking phone calls, from callers. Many people have questions..KFGO is the place to call if you need an answer.


What I have heard over the past few days:

Briarwood needs a porta-john, Larry needs a jackhammer (someone called with one for him to borrow), a dog was lost, a dog was found at one of the dikes, an elderly lady had baked 200 oatmeal cookies and wanted to get them to the sandbaggers, someone with a bread truck full of loaves of bread wondering where he could take them, people have extra sandbags..some are even filled with sand, some people have dry storage space to share, people outside of the area call in and offer to take in strangers with pets that are displaced, two large dogs were found, what roads are open out of Fargo, people call in with pleas for sandbaggers, they are shutting off the water to Oakport, there is a fire at Oakport..an elderly couple lost their home first to the flood and then to fire last Friday, Oak Grove Campus is getting water, hundreds have showed up to help fix a breach near El Zagel, Briarwood got their porta-john (one was on the way within twenty minutes of the plea), an emergency animal shelter is being set up at Jamestown by Kay from Prairie Paws Rescue, West Fargo has an animal shelter set up at the Fairgrounds, Horses could be taken to NDSU..but they needed hay and people with trailers to help transport them, a guy from Bemidji brought down some pumps and hoses and will give them to the first people that show up at the Burger King in Moorhead, Jessica calls often, seventy horses were eventually moved, she needed halters and more lead ropes, today she need a water tanker truck so the volunteers don't have to carry water to the horses, from what I understand many animals are safe at the fairgrounds..donkeys, horses and even a pot bellied pig, people from as far away as New York call to thank them for their 24/7 coverage of the flood, many people call with the question..who do I call for??..and they get answers with phone numbers. Like they say, if someone has a question or a need, if they don't know the answer one of their listeners will, and their listeners are good people and will share their resources.


My brother and his son are still over there, he his helping to build secondary dikes. From what I understand he was at Centennial Soccer Field in a twenty foot hole, bringing up clay from the bottom to the top. He drove back home to sleep. My other nephew spent some time in an area in South Moorhead building a dike with Firefighters and Guardsmen.


Here are a few photographs that my nephew took on Saturday in Moorhead, Minnesota.




They are not out of the woods yet, they are in better shape than many feared..a winter storm is heading their way. They will be in a high state of alert for a number of days yet..maybe weeks:(

Tracks

Sometimes I wonder... am I on the right track? Am I going into the woods or coming out? If I am coming out my feet are wet.

Am I on the edge of the road and going..right then left..and back on track .. then I think..even though the road is snowy soon to be muddy..I am near the frickin road..that's a plus! :)

Culverts

Yesterday I needed to get out, I needed to see something besides snow and trees. I was pinging off the walls and just needed to get out. So I chose to go look at some culverts. Whoopie!! This may seem rather boring to most of you.. I however like to watch water make its way from one side of the road to the other. In the spring in Minnesota..I live to watch the water run. Far Guy was not thrilled and I told him I could go alone, but he said "No, I will drive you (big sigh), but today we are taking my truck." Chance heard this and immediately went to the truck to wait.

Chance and Far Guy have been fixing the fire in a local outdoor stove, they drive there once a day to fill the stove. Yesterday Chance was lost..at least Far Guy thought so..as he hollered and hollered and the dog wouldn't come. Where in the heck was the dog? Waiting in the truck..duh..


Anyway back to my exciting culverts..are you ready?


This was the find of the day...an ice shelf on the west side of a local culvert..I thought it was awesome.
This is a top view, not as fantastic..but still okay.

This is the view from the other side of the culvert. I have to remember to watch where I walk...so I don't end up wet. I used to swim in this area as a kid, and when the water was low we used to crawl into this culvert to play..no swimming today. Far Guy hollers "Be Careful, You are going to end up all wet." Then I fell in..just kidding..just checking to see if you are still reading. I was careful...very careful.

We travel on to the next set of interesting culverts..they turned out to be really interesting. As the road was totally washed out. Far Guy refused to go any further, and I had to hike near the river..by myself..all alone..when the ice began to crack under my feet I stopped and took this photo. I was still on the road..the water was just getting wetter.
So that was my big excitement yesterday..:)

Flooding Memories

What a week! We had all that running water on Monday, then it snowed..not a lot..but we are returned to a wintry frozen like state again. Spring seems like it will never come. Summer seems like some distant dream.

The flood preparations continue in the Red River Valley. My baby brother and two nephews are now over there working on the dikes. They are all heavy equipment operators. When the flood predictions came out, my first thought was..I just have a few cousins and friends that live in the area..but no immediate family to fret over. Now it is personal.

Unless you have lived through a flood..you cannot even begin to imagine the power of the water, it holds you hostage. It scares you, it occupies your every thought until you have no other thoughts except water, water levels and sandbags.

During the flood of 1997, there was just the two of us, until my Father came to help. We slept in shifts. We patrolled the perimeter. Out the patio door onto the deck where the gas powered pump was sucking water out, past the sump pump discharge that was lobbed over the dike, around the corner past the tulips, to the bucket with holes sunk into the ground to run the sump pump that Far Guy installed inside of it, around the corner to the front, you could breathe a sigh of relief because the water was lower there, into the garage and down the stairs to make sure there were no leaks in the basement anywhere. Then back up to the Family Room to get ready for the next round, a few minutes to warm up before you patrolled again, if you sit down and get too warm you might fall asleep. Every forty five minutes the gas pump needed gas, at night whoever was sleeping would be awakened if you were late with the fill and the motor died from lack of fuel. The sound of that gas powered pump was security.

About day 20 or so. Far Guy insisted that I leave. My Father would man the dikes while we boated to the vehicle, and went out to dinner with my Mother. I was away from the water..I had good sea legs..I was so used to seeing moving water in all directions that seeing no movement and no water on the dry land outside of the restaurant made me nauseous. Everyone in the city seemed so normal, traffic was flowing, the sun was shining, there was no water to watch..how could they all laugh and be normal..when I was going to return to a watery world just a few miles away. Didn't they know, and if they did..did they care? Not after the danger had passed for them..they were all past the worst of it..they wanted to put it all behind them..well I did too..desperately. It took a really long time for our water to recede..many, many days..day 42 was a good day, the small lake we lived on was finally back in its banks.

Twelve years later I still have bitter feelings toward the media, who forgot about outlying areas, small groups of houses that were all Islands. Sight seeing people in big honkin boats that sped by and caused the wakes to go over my dikes. The Red Cross that left me a jug of water, a pail and a mop..but never a sandwich.

We sold that house a year later, it was only on the market for a week and it sold, and when we showed them the flood photographs, they wanted the house anyway..they were young. It was a beautiful place to live, near the city, but with a country feel, with many wonderful neighbors. I miss that house sometimes..but never in the spring when it floods:(