Midway

A good old fashioned Carnival Midway brings back many good memories for both of us.

The smell of freshly mowed grass, mingling with popcorn and candy floss. 

We are old school and think that every Midway should have a Merry Go Round and Calliope music. This Midway had neither.

Now a days it is all about the thrill rides…bigger and faster and taller.

I usually deposit at least $10 here while waiting for Far Guy to finish his rounds. Today I just wander along and recall times long ago.

I hear the High Striker Bell…

I am taken back in time…fifty years.  I can almost see the Carnie that had this joint.  I remember the crowd that used to gather as rivals kept trying to best one another…cheering…booing when the bell was not rung… but when it was a guy headed down the Midway with a gal on one arm and a huge stuffed animal in the other.  I am not sure what town it is in…after awhile they all look alike only distinguishable by their food, movie theaters, bathrooms or some unforgettable event so long ago.

Perhaps I will write about it someday.

I saw

A rooster with no name.

Rock Stars

Twins

I heard roosters crowing, sheep baaing, and piglets squealing. 

The fair has only been on for two days…yet that old chicken house brought back many smelly memories.  Perhaps the smell is in the walls…we were happy to see the chicken house open this year…it has been closed for several years because of the bird flu. We enjoyed seeing all the different kinds of chickens.

There was a rabbit there that would have gone at least 30 pounds and made a heck of a dinner.  There were all kind of rabbits; long floppy ears, ears that stood up, spots and no spots…white, black, grey, brown and evey combination of those colors.   

Three little pigs were having a war over the water dispenser.  Two little pigs in the next stall were flinging a feed pan upside down and on top of each other.  Those pigs had quite an audience of watchers…they were very entertaining.

Nothing better than an evening spent at the County Fair.

This and That

It rained most of yesterday, and when it quit raining it was too wet to mow the lawn.  I will be makin’ hay soon if the rain doesn’t quit.

A Sandhill Crane Family, the young one is in the middle.

I got out some of my woodcarvings that were finished except for the painting and the final finish.

I have a shop that wants to take them on consignment…I am not certain I want to do that.

We have begun carving on our Christmas Ornament for this year.  Far Guy is working really hard on them.  I believe all the pieces are cut out and it just remains to carve them. On nice afternoons we will be carving outside on the patio. 

Far Guy’s port is sluggish again ( small fibers can grow over the end of the catheter or a blood clot can form.) We use two saline flushes and a syringe of heparin after each infusion to avoid catheter problems.  So we are taking care of it properly.  We time the infusions and have gone from 14 minutes just after this port was “installed” to 26 minutes  …not a good sign. This week try as we might there was no blood return. ( Arms up, arms down, turning his head , coughing, almost standing on his head.) We have some supplies to start doing regular IV’s….with help from our daughter or niece Stacey or trips to the ER.  We are both discouraged.  Not sure why some people have ports for years without a problem and we cannot get one to work for longer than five months.  We see one of the specialists next week maybe he will have an answer.  Two ports in one year is ridiculous.

I made some banana bread.  I don’t make it often but I had some bananas that were prime.  Chance loves it.  He can be bribed to go out and potty even if it is thundering.  He is really funny, I said “Chance if you go out and potty now when you come back in I will give you banana bread.”  He runs to the door, goes out and does his thing and then heads for the kitchen. Silly dog in his old age can still be bribed.

 

Rain and more rain

Our rain amount increases just about every day.

The Shell River at the Dead Beaver Area is up….not over the road yet.  And no I did not get out of the vehicle to see how much more until the culvert is full.

You can probably hear the corn grow inbetween rain storms.

Dry Farmer’s field is looking good.  I could see some tassels just emerging.

I am waiting for the rain to stop so I can mow the lawn.  I have been keeping busy inside, seems like I always find something to do.

We have a couple of wild dogs running around.  We are keeping a good eye on Chance. We don’t want him hurt.  Two dogs could overpower the old guy.  Far Guy is taking his hiking stick with him when he walks.  I encountered the Black Lab/Pitbull Mix one morning, I think his name is Chance or something that sounds like Chance.  I have not seen the Great Dane yet.  I have been trying to get a photo of them with no luck.  Social Media has been no help finding the owners IF they want to be found.

Our Internet Provider is having issues since the storm the other day, our internet is intermittent at best.  They say they are working on it.

Wistful Wednesday: The Fountain and a Cannon

A long long time ago there was a Railroad Celebration in Park Rapids.  The first train from Wadena came through that day.  It was a big deal. There was a parade and people came from miles around to celebrate.

Three young fellows; Willie Fox, Will Zimbrick and John Grandy were in charge of the cannon and inbetween volleys apparently they didn’t get it swabbed out clean enough…there must have been a spark left, enough to cause an explosion that day. Willie and Will lost their hands and parts of their arms in that explosion on August 1 1891.  After recovering from their injuries they either got jobs at the Courthouse or resumed jobs there, both served as County Treasurers and lived a normal life even with their handicaps.  I recall that one article said that they signed papers with a pen in their teeth.

Sometime in the town history a park with a fountain was built across from the High School.  That park had a huge fountain…and the cannon…make that cannons…it seems there were two took up residence there until they were sold for scrap during WWII.

Great Aunt Frances leaning against the outer edge of the fountain about 1920-1922.  The cannons are in the background.  I was excited to see them and the fountain as there are only a few photos that exist.

Friends of Aunt Frances inside the fountain.

In this photo you can see the railroad cars in the background.   The fountain was on the same block as the old Roller Skating/ Ford Garage… now Hugos…formerly J and B Foods.

On the road

I like to take photos out the windshield when Far Guy is driving…sometimes I roll down my window and shove my camera out for a photo.

We call these donorcycles because no one is wearing a helmet.  Sometime idiots just take themselves out of the gene pool.  Yes some people still make ditch hay.

This lady was going to put up her sign for the day.  We never go by at the right time of day to stop…I know she sells rugs because they hang out on a clothsline.

This barn and out building have been along Highway 2 for who knows how long.  The highway probably went right through their farm when it was built.

The road up on the prairie…we were headed home.

It was raining here yesterday…so far we have about 5 and 3/4 inches of rain in the past few days…we are wet.  A tree went down but it fell toward the woods!  Wind and rain continue to be in our forecast.  Someone should turn the spigot off.

A spot to gather

Jen and Andy constructed an area in their back yard.  It was a family project.  Neither of the grandboys want to be landscapers after this project. They are learning some really good life skills.

There are ten chairs…Plenty of room for a group.

Andy, Little Elvis and Noah

We sat in the shade of the large trees and visited.  Their lawn looks really good this year.  I think they have one more outside project planned…a deck and steps.

The house and garage used to be white now they are a soft green and the roof is brand new this summer.  The grandboys don’t want to be roofers either.

Assistant Wedding Photographer

Yesterday I helped our daughter Jen take photos at a wedding.  The Bride is a friend of Jens.  Jen usually only does photos of babies and graduation photos…weddings are a bit more stressful, you only get one chance to capture the moments during a wedding.

I was photographer number 2 …the assistant.  Having photographed several weddings with Jen before…we know that each of us sees things differently.

The ceremony took place on a hill near the Red Lake River.  There was a bit of a breeze and it was partly sunny and 80 degrees. Guests were asked to bring their lawn chairs.

These Orchids surrounded huge Calla Lilies in the bridal bouquet.

The bride was beautiful.  The ceremony was short and sweet and to the point, it was also very musical…with trombones, a flute and even a violin.

Thumbs up! Yes for sure… she was looking for her new husband to give her a ride back to the reception.  They hosted the wedding guests at their new home just down the road from the site of the ceremony. Shortly after their arrival they donned aprons and served their guests a wedding meal.

Here is my best shot of the day…the flower girl.

Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time with the right light.

It was a fun day…the newlyweds presented their guests with butterflies to release.

Not sure what kind of butterfly…a Skipper of some sort maybe.  It was fun to watch them fly away.

I wouldn’t want to be a wedding photographer…but I enjoyed being an assistant!

Adam: One eye on Grandma

Our Grandson Adam doesn’t like my camera.  When he was younger he used to ask me “Why do you take so many photos of me?”  The answer was the same then and now…because you make me smile.

Keeping one eye on Grandma!

He was trying his best to hide behind that punch cup at the baby shower.  (He is getting a new baby girl cousin on his Dad’s side of the family.)

He made a baby block with me.

Wooden blocks, decoupage and bits of paper make blocks to decorate the new babies room.

I was finally rewarded with a real smile.

I got this smile because he found out he could escape the baby shower a bit early with his Grandfather and I.

Much Needed Rain

It started to rain on Thursday afternoon.  We got about 2 and1/4 inches before supper.  Not sure what we got after our evening walk…the storms keep coming through.  There was hail and strong winds elsewhere but not at our house.

The pretty daisies…the rain was too much for them.

The chokecherries bushes are full of berries.

Chance loves drinking from the mud puddle, if this puddle stays through tomorrow the birds will have a bath in it…they love the puddles too.

That first spring when Chance was a puppy he loved mud puddles, one night they froze over and he couldn’t quite figure it out…what happened to his water…he had a blast hopping around breaking the ice and drinking the water underneath.

We walked Chance between storms, he doesn’t like thunder.  He retreats to the bathroom or hides under the steps…any safe place to den up.

The rain is good for the dry land  farmers, the corn was starting to stress.  Good for our lawn which was starting to go dormant and good for the wildflowers.

4th of July Parade 2016

The big parade was late in the afternoon.  It was a beautiful day, not too warm about 74 F and a breeze.  Here are some highlights from the parade.

My Mom and Dad waving.  Dad was one of the Grand Marshals.

The Shriners from Alexandria with their 1910 Circus Calliope

The New York Mills Marching Eagles…the only marching band in the parade.

Miss Park Rapids

Linda’s Recycled Goods…we went to school together.

There was more…logging trucks, towing trucks, fire trucks, politicians shaking hands. the parade lasted about 90 minutes.  Many groups threw candy from five gallon buckets… at the end of the parade kids watching had bags of candy.

Chance went along …he was a good boy and just ignored the horses.  There was only one dog in the parade and when the owner saw Chance she picked up her little dog.  Chance liked the beef stick samples that Main Street Meats handed out!

Wistful Wednesday: A Smile

Our Great Niece Aubrey was born in May of 2008 with a bilateral cleft lip and palate.

Today Aubrey will undergo her 7th surgery and in a few months her 8th surgery.  That is a surgery a year for her eight years.

I took some photos of her the other day.  She knows that this surgery is a graft surgery and they will take some bone from her hip.   She has been going to the Orthodontist to make this procedure go as smoothly as possible.

I know we won’t see a smile this big for a few weeks.  When she comes home she will be on a liquid diet for many weeks.

Aubrey and her beautiful Mom July 2016

October 2008

Aubrey and her family used to live right next door.  They have since moved to North Dakota.  We miss having them as neighbors.

Aubrey is one of the bravest, spunkiest little girls I know.  If you are so inclined to send up a prayer for her well being I would appreciate it.

Update: The surgery went well, thank you for your prayers!