Back to my blog

Finally, I have been able to get into my blog again! I haven't written for some time. Now, what did I do to find it? Must write it down so I can remember.

Common Core

Wow!  It has been several months since I blogged.  And then I have find my username and password to get back into it.  I think I need to make a file of passwords for easy referral.

The feds are trying to impose a one-size-fits-all national school curriculum, Common Core.  States were bribed to sign onto it even before the standards were completely set forth.  And North Dakota signed on.  But now states are pulling out. 

 In the first place, it's unconstitutional.  The 10th Amendment only allows the federal government to do things that are specific enumerated powers.  I think the unconstitutionality of it is more problematic than exactly what standards have been set, although the standards apparently have been dumbed-down from many existing state standards.  

Education is a difficult thing to measure also.  Students can spit back answers on multiple choice standardized tests but can tests measure critical thinking, motivation to be a self-learner, and ability in creative skills?  Should teachers or schools be rewarded or punished depending on the scores of their students?   Can they be blamed if they are teaching the slow learners or students who start off underprivileged and just haven't caught up to the others?  

Common Core also requires keeping detailed records on students that go into their permanent record.  This data mining includes files on their social and emotional lives and could well be used for nefarious purposes against them or their families.  Privacy would be thrown out the door and would make the NSA's files look tame by comparison.

Our congressmen need to be urged to oppose funding and implementation of Common Core.

Digging out from under neglected household chores!

I had some surgery March 2nd and the whole month of March and now ten days into April have been down time for me.  Recovery seems slow but I can tell I'm making progress.  

In the meantime...  It is amazing how many small household chores get neglected that one does on a regular basis such as cleaning the fridge, especially if something doesn't get done for six weeks or possibly more.  I  took on that task this morning and had to toss some questionable foods that had been there way too long.  I wiped down the glass shelves were all smeared up and it looks at least sanitary again.

Cat hair accumulates on our bed and couches.  I let it go for quite a while after I returned from the hospital but finally broke down and vacuumed it off after I felt good enough to tackle doing it.  After a week, it is absolutely necessary to tackle cat hair.  And, especially if company comes, I like to at least have the couch cleaned off so they can sit down hair free.

Normally it doesn't seem like much of a problem to keep up on little things that need to be done like filling salt and pepper shakers, doling out our daily vitamins, making bread in the bread machine, mixing up orange juice from frozen concentrate, cleaning and chopping up celery before it goes limp, keeping up with watering houseplants, bringing up various foods from the storage room in the basement, picking sprouts off potatoes, using up leftovers so they don't go to waste, etc.  But a person really notices how important these things are to a smooth-running household when they don't get done.

I am so glad to be getting back to normal and have the luxury of attending to all these details.  It didn't bother me so much when I was first back home and still feeling pretty crummy, but now that I am better, I can't stand living so sloppily!

Kitty! In memory of "Chicago" (White Sox)

Kitty! By Judy Stahl

On the one hand, Kitty, you're a cat that naps

While you're purring so contentedly curled in my lap.

As you wake from a dream to stretch and yawn,

You meow faintly for the cream that I fetch at dawn.

I feel a paw touch softly upon my cheek,

Like a flash to your bowl, you dash in a streak.

But …

With an ounce of pounce you'll jump on a table

And navigate deftly twixt hot soup and ladle.

While lavishing three last long licks at the butter.

We shout ...NO!!!...

Beneath a chair you slink, as we we fume and mutter

About cat hair...contamination...putting you out for the night!

Oh why can't a cat be trustworthy, honest, and truly contrite?

Applesauce--again!

When I first started this blog, three years ago I was making applesauce--and also in 2011 and 2012.  I have run out of jars, although my daughter-in-law gave me some pickle jars and other jars with those buttons on top that show when the jar is sealed and they work wonderfully for canning.  I also sometimes re-use Ball and Kerr lids but check them carefully to see that they are not bent, rusty, and that the seal is clean and not damaged.  They also work fine despite the dire warnings from the companies who make those lids.  (I suppose they want you to buy new ones.)  

The fragrance of apples when they cook is heavenly.  And so it the smell when they are just sitting in the storeroom in boxes.  I cut off bruises and bad spots, remove the seeds, and cook them in a large kettle until soft, then put them in the blender with peel on and strain them through a strainer to remove any fibrous pieces of the core that are left behind.  When the apples are ripe, the peel gives it a pink color and no sugar is needed.  If I want to make apple slices, I cook them in the microwave, then freeze them.

Perhaps I do have more apples on hand now than we two will ever eat, though.  We are a couple of years behind in eating our canned tomatoes too, but I guess if we have a bad garden year, we will be doing fine.  

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (AKA Mormon) I store food.  We are encouraged to have a year's supply, not of everything we would normally eat, but of staples like dry milk, wheat, rice,dry beans, and other easily stored foods.  I have an electric  wheat grinder and use the wheat for bread baking on a regular basis.  I also have a lot of canned goods and spaghetti plus a lot of frozen foods.  Of course, if the electricity goes out, those things might thaw out.  In the winter, I suppose one could cart things outside as it gets so cold here in North Dakota that they would keep outside.  (There are some advantages to our weather here!)

Apples have fiber, antioxidants, and much more so protect against a variety of ailments.  We eat so many that the doctor should stay far away!  :)

Dresses my Grandma Christensen Made for Me

My mother's mother, my Grandma Bertha Christensen, came from Norway alone at age 24 and was a professional seamstress before she married. Pictured here are three of my favorite dresses she made for me, Judy Stahl, when I was growing up from about 1950-1960. They are somewhat faded but show the artistic eye she had for color and style.

Grandma taught my mother to sew who taught me. I made most of my clothes in high school and sewed a lot for my children. I still sew a little for myself and for my 2 yr.-old granddaughter Tosya and also enjoy making quilts.

I loved these dresses as a child but had no appreciation at that time for the extremely meticulous workmanship she put into them. All the seams were overcast by hand (before zig-zag on sewing machines). The brown dress has a cord at the waist, hand sewn buttonholes, and tiny pink flowers with green leaves embroidered on the collar,skirt, and tie belt.  The tiny pink rick rack on the skirt, collar, and sleeves of the pink dress was sewed on by hand.  A black and white photo of Grandma and me is shown below with me wearing the pink dress.   I wore the dress with the burnt orange cummerbund from junior high into high school as it had a wide hem that could be let down. 

 

There Should Be No Trash Left Behind!

This past summer I have tried to commit to walking to the City Park every day except Sunday and I have done pretty well except for a couple of weeks when I had some back trouble and another time when I fell and hurt my hand and knee and was laid up for a little while.  

It's about a half hour walk and on my way there is a large visitor's center parking lot.   High School kids cruise up and down Main St. and use it as a meetup place.  It is strewn with litter every morning so I pick up the junk and put it in the nearby dumpster.  I usually take along a plastic grocery bag as there is often enough to fill it up.  This is often the first place tourists visit in town and it's certainly giving them a bad impression unless cleaned up a bit so I have taken it on as a little service project to do on my way. 

It surprises me what one can find left behind from these nightly carousers!  Of course, there is the usual debris, fast food containers, and cans every morning so I pick up the junk and put it in the nearby dumpster.    But then there are items that I find especially disturbing to find on a parking lot in the middle of town.   Large unexploded fireworks, a sports bra,  eight packages of Coricidin Cough and Cold pills, cards advertizing for "girls $45," etc.  I talked to the police about over-the-counter Coricidin and they say it is being used as a recreational drug gives a high without being detectable later.  It's so sad that kids in this small town are engaging in such risky behavior!  

A couple of times I have seen that someone has changed the tire on their car and left the old tire there for someone else to deal with and have left oil containers from when someone changed their oil.  Somehow, this littering is due to a failure of parents to teach basic responsibility.  I know it was instilled into me when I was growing up that it was wrong to throw even a gum wrapper on the ground as only slobs did so because it makes work for others to pick it up.  And even when the dumpster is only ten feet away, apparently some are too lazy to use it!

But, while picking up litter, sometimes a person can find useful things and I fear I am beginning to become somewhat of a scavenger.  Some of it has been in that parking lot and some of it in or along the way to the park.  

So far this summer I have found $4.18.  In one place there was about $2 worth of pennies on the ground!  I scraped them together with my foot and filled up my jacket pocket. I have found such things as a leather cell phone holder, several good pens, two metal water bottles, a retractable dog leash, small stuffed toy dog, a 25 ft. extension cord, a remote control, metal coffee thermos, and two nice copper-bottomed saucepans with lids.  People often put things out on the boulevard for trash day and one day I found a bedside-type table with drawers in pretty good condition.  I came back and got it with the car.

At the City Park I have found some disgusting things which I have disposed of by handling them with a plastic bag--a large fish with the head on lying on a grill by a picnic shelter, dirty disposable diapers on the playground, a smashed watermelon, etc.  Someone dumped a pile of charcoal from a grill on the grass.  I told a park worker who said he would clean it up as I couldn't.

Twice I have found kids' shoes by the playground but left them on a park bench as perhaps someone may retrieve them.  They were gone the next day so they must have.  

And today, of all things, I found an empty bottle of Ensure at the visitor's center parking lot.  So  are the senior citizens partying up there too now?   Soon I'll be finding cast off Denture Creme packages, lost hearing aids, and canes!

Mom Visits Karst Ranch in 1941

The other day I was scanning some of my mom's old pictures into the computer from before she was married when she and three school teacher friends from Minnesota visited Yellowstone Park in 1941.  They stayed at a dude ranch called Karst Ranch in some log cabins in the mountains.  

I Googled the place to see if it was still in existence.  Sure enough, it's still there, although the name has changed to Karst's Camp.  It is southeast of Bozeman, MT, about halfway between the northeast corner of Yellowstone Park and Bozeman.  

I also found a website of the curator of a museum at Montana State University and sent him a few of the pictures showing the buildings, a walking bridge, and thatched roof building, etc.  I told him that the dates on the back of the pictures seemed to indicate that they visited about the last week in June of 1941.  An email soon returned with a picture of the guestbook for June, 23, 1941, that my mom Anne Christensen and three friends Esther Wachter, and twins Anna, and Cora Neumann had signed!  Imagine their signatures still being preserved there after all these years!

I remember Mom telling me that on that trip it was the first time she had worn slacks.  They did do some horseback riding so suppose slacks were necessary.  The ones they wore had wide baggy legs.  But most of the pictures showed them in their best dresses, hats, and even purses out in the wilds of Montana!  Mom is second from right on a  horse in picture below and in a light-colored (white?) dress on a fence and atop a thatched roof. It must have been difficult to climb up that ladder in a dress!  In this day and age, it does seem comical to see them so dressed up, but back then women wore dresses almost exclusively so I suppose it seemed normal to them.

Some notes on Karst's Camp from online sources:

Karst's Camp was originally a dude ranch that was founded in 1901 by Pete Karst. He was awarded the property because of back pay that the Cooper Tie Company owed him. Karst built a cabin and eventually built twenty-five cabins to accommodate one hundred people. In 1937 he installed a rope tow for use in recreational skiing. Karst's Camp eventually hosted a local bar and brothel for the local miners. Karst operated this resort of sorts for fifty years and eventually retired.

The original cabins are still standing and are occupied today but the ski lift and the camp no longer exists. The mine can still be reached by a short trail that travels up into the hillside behind the camp site. This area was one of Montana's unusual present day mining ventures - an asbestos mine.

Another article:

This genuine Old West ghost town is the remains of one of the region's earliest dude ranches, and features original buildings and the entrance of an old asbestos mine.

Developed by Pete Karst around 1901, the ranch at one time bustled with summer visitors eager to see Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding rugged environs. Karst was given the land as back payment by his employer, the Cooper Tie Company. He first built a cabin for himself followed by a total of 25 guest cabins. Karst later put in a tow rope for skiers – long since vanished – as well as a bar and brothel for the local miners.

At its peak, Karst's ranch saw up to 600 summer visitors. Today, only a few of the old cabins remain surrounded by a modern-day subdivision, but access is easy to this beautiful canyon in the Gallatin Mountains. Visitors can take a peek at a few of the original cabins, enjoy a short hike up to the old mine, and imagine the rugged conditions both residents and tourists must have had to endure to appreciate Yellowstone Country 100 years ago.

Location/Directions
Located between Bozeman and Yellowstone National Park, near Big Sky on Highway 191. Call the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce at (406) 995-3000 or (800) 943-4111 for more information.

Hours/Seasons
Accessible year-round, but it's easiest to visit in the summer.

Fees/Costs
Free

Another source:

Directions: Karst's Camp is located in the south central area of Montana. It is between Bozeman and Yellowstone National Park, near Big Sky on Highway 191. Although currently home to residential and commercial cabins, Karst's Camp is the original location of the old mining camp.
Karst's Camp
Big Sky Chamber of Commerce, Big Sky, MT 59716

Summertime--and the livin' is busy!

I always think of that commercial in which people are depicted on a hot lazy summer day lying in a hammock sipping an icy glass of lemonade.  But summer has officially begun and there's not going to be much lazy lemonade sipping!  Here in ND everything possible must be done in summer when the weather and time off from one's job allows.  We forget that summer months are the same length as those of other times of the year but we must pack it all in.

We are having a bathroom built in the basement right now.  The plumber is down the basement shoveling some dirt.  He had to use a jack hammer to break up some cement to find some sewer pipe under the basement floor.    It seems that he found more pipe that must be replaced and more jack hammering must be done--but this can be done later as we would have to move BOTH of the freezers for him to do it.  The whole business is so dirty.  Dirt is tracked up and down the stairs.  I guess there is no use cleaning it up until he is done.  

At the same time, Duane has put up sheet rock in the third bedroom upstairs and I have started the plastering of seams.  The garden is starting to grow and is needing attention.  Recent rains have caused the lawn to need mowing.  In a few days we will be going to see our kids.  I'm struggling to get over a cold by then.

Actually I do remember lemonade summers.  We did lie in a hammock and drink lemonade (at least a few times) when growing up during the summers at the lake in Minnesota.  Actually, a lot of the time, as kids, it seemed as if there was "nothing to do" and most of our time was spent fighting boredom.   I wouldn't want to go back to those days--oh, maybe for a day or so--but do enjoy having plenty to do.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is coming up.  This is a picture I took last 4th of July towards evening when I was going out to take the flag in. 

Our JBS Chapter inquired about.having a float in the upcoming Memorial Day parade but were told by the VFW that no political floats were allowed.  Our float was just going to say "The Constitution is the Solution!" with our two JBS banners on front and back but apparently they didn't approve.  Isn't that what our troops are (at least in theory) fighting for?  Oh, well.  We decided instead to wait to have a float in the Rally in the Valley parade later in June and/or the 4th of July.

Pain!

It has been such a trying few weeks--actually most of May.  I was finally feeling pretty good after having recovered from the excruciating pain of a pulled back muscle.  So after a couple of weeks I thought it was time I got some exercise again so walked down to the City Park.  When I was turning around to go back home, I stumbled on a piece of cracked up sidewalk and slammed to the ground, bruising my knee and shoulder somewhat but especially hurting my left arm.  I must have landed on it and sprained it.  At any rate, it is still hurting but may be somewhat better.  At first I wasn't even able to type.   Luckily, I didn't break a bone but at the same time, it has put a crimp in my activities. 

But, looking at the bright side of things, I couldn't do much so ended up looking up quite a bit of genealogy on the web.  Mostly I found census records for relatives.  I also wrote some letters to Congress and sat down to read the book Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy which had been given to me for my birthday by our son Eldon and wife Yulia.  My husband finally helped me plant the garden.  I couldn't handle a hoe yet.  I had made seed tapes for all but the beans so that made planting easier.  He also helped me with changing on the bed.  I suppose, I have gained a little more appreciation for how useful my left hand and arm are, if only to hold a dish while I wash it.  I should be thankful just to be able to do certain things and not take it for granted. 

In the meantime, I had an eye problem.  It seemed as if I had something in my eye so went to the eye doctor and got some antibiotic which she said would help a blocked tear duct.  I guess it is better.


And then while contending with my injuries, I contracted a cold.  It came on very gradually with only feeling achy for a few days, then a slight cough and lung congestion, then sinus and nasal drainage and more lung congestion.  Today I am feeling almost back to normal. Colds are hard on me.   Hopefully I'm going to be OK to visit our kids in a few days down in Mitchell, SD.  I'd hate to miss seeing them, especially Roger and Rosie since we see them only a couple of times a year.

Haiku

This is my haiku that won 2nd place in the contest in the Barnes County Independent newspaper.   Haikus are pretty short.  You have to get as much in as you can.  The first line has to be 5 syllables, the 2nd 7, and the 3rd 5th with the 1st and 2nd lines rhyming.  All three lines in mine rhyme so perhaps it isn't quite done right but suppose that can't hurt.  :) My prize was  $10 gift card at Pamida.

Spiderly necklace.

Pearly dewdrops hung in space,

Fragility, grace.

Easter Bunny Rap

Easter Bunny Rap

The Easter bunny he did hip-hop,

Uptown and downtown he did shop a lot.

Bought eggs and chocolates at a mom and pop,

Joypops and gumdrops at a sweet-shop.

Hopped past bake shops, book shops, shoe shops,

Bopped past dress shops, gift shops, toy shops.

He shopped his way to a traffic stop,

Had a photo-op with a traffic cop.

He hid eggs all day for tots nonstop.

Eggs in places where kids would look not,

In shoes, under steps, flowerpots, and doorstops,

In tiptops of treetops with the fling of a slingshot.

At the end of the day, he was tired as a wet mop,

He propped up his ears so they wouldn't flip-flop.

When his work was done and he was ready to drop,

The tired little bunny landed on his bed----plop!

Ron Paul's visit to Jamestown

We went to the Ron Paul rally in Jamestown on President's Day.  He spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of about 400 at the KC Hall.  Several House candidates were there and spoke briefly before Paul spoke--Tim Koppelman, Bette Grande, Shane Goettle, and Brian Kalk.  Thoreson (running for Public Service Commissioner), Paul Sorum (running for  Gov.), and Rep. Rick Berg (running for Senate) were there also but didn't speak.  Gov. Dalrymple introduced Ron Paul who stood near me for some time while waiting for the others to finish their talks.  Paul was dressed informally in jeans and a plaid shirt and tan jacket.   He talked about issues like getting rid of the Federal Reserve, regulation on agriculture, and that we need to cut out foreign aid and military interventions.  This was on the replay channel later.  On the news a friend of ours, Susan, was interviewed about her views on Ron Paul.

This was the fourth time I had seen Ron Paul. Our son and I went to see him in 2008 when he ran for President in 2008 in Fargo where there was a standing-room-only crowd with lots of college kids at the NDSU ballroom.  There was a lot of chanting going on then which was exciting.  They would chant such things as "End the Fed!" and hold up signs.

We saw  Ron Paul at the book signing and speech at the 50th Anniversary of the John Birch Society in Appleton, WI, Oct. of 2008 and then at the Free Market Forum dinner put on by the North Dakota Policy Council Nov. 5, 2010. 

If Paul is successful in getting the GOP nomination, it wouldn't surprise me if someone like Donald Trump came forward to run as a third party candidate to spoil his chances.  Almost anyone should be able to beat Obama, it seems, due to the terrible unemployment, high gas prices, etc.  We need to get back to the  Constitution.  This would cut out most of our overspending programs, military interventions, and debt accumulation.

Something New

Scientists say that we need to be learning and doing new things to keep our brains plastic and to stave off mental decline of one kind or other.  So I have been trying to do some new things now and then.

I have been studying Russian and have made a little progress.  It is fun to learn some basic vocabulary and perhaps be able to communicate somewhat with my daughter-in-law's mother when she comes to visit again.  Perhaps we can do better than to point and play charades and then give up in exasperation after trying to communicate the simplest thing.  It's been interesting just for some appreciation of the language, if for no other reason.

After Christmas my husband and I went to the open mic night at an ice cream parlor uptown and listened to the music.  I even played a simple piano piece that I had composed for the 6 or 10 people attending.  To do that was something new for me.  Might do it again sometime.

I've got to go out and plant potatoes today.  I cut them in pieces yesterday, each piece with an eye or two and most had already started to sprout.  I've never planted potatoes before so had to Google how to grow potatoes to get some tips.  

I entered a haiku contest recently that an independent newspaper in our town put on.  I hadn't written a haiku before either so decided to and won 2nd place.  Yay!  My prize was a gift certificate from Pamida.

I have been thinking lately that the older you get, that doing something that you haven't done before seems to be harder, especially anything that involves a major commitment.  Partly it's that you've got about all you can do to just keep up with all the things that you need to do on a daily basis.  You've joined a few organizations each of which takes a certain amount of time.  You have some hobbies and skills to maintain and that take time.  You have people in your life who need your help (husband, children, grandkids, etc.) and when something new comes into your life, it just piles on top of your load.  You are less and less  likely to want to take on anything ELSE and unfortunately that includes doing very many things that are new!

When we were first married I recall how when we were on our way to Pine Ridge, SD, where my husband had landed a teaching job and stopped in a gas station in Chadron, NE, about 40 miles from Pine Ridge.  A guy was showing us a litter of baby toy poodles which he needed to give away.  We decided right then and there, "Sure, we'll take one!"  The man said to come back in a couple of weeks when the one we picked out, a gray one named Sherman, was ready to be taken from his mother.  We didn't think ahead of the responsibilities of feeding, training, grooming, finding someone to care for him when we would be gone--all that might go on for years.  I suppose the dog's adoption was mostly a good thing even so.  We had him for seven years and was a dear little pup.  Finally he died after several months of having some kind of seizures.  I know we wouldn't do such a spontaneous thing now!

Also when we lived in Pine Ridge, a town on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, we got a phone call from an organization called Youth For Understanding that was looking for homes for two foreign exchange students from Chile.  One of them,  Erik, was 15 and Carlos was 16.  We thought that sounded exciting so became the "parents" of Erik.  We were only about 28 and 26 ourselves!  Carlos went to another family in town.  This was right about the time of the 1973 Wounded Knee skirmish when the American Indian Movement, a terrorist group, burned down a church in Wounded Knee, a tiny town on the same reservation, ransacked and destroyed a general store owned by an old couple, and generally disturbed the peace for many months on the whole reservation.  This was another "Sure, why not? --sounds-like-fun" decisions, hardly a time to take in a foreign exchange student but we did.  Due to the general instability of the reservation at that time they both moved up to Hot Springs, SD, and stayed with another couple until the school year ended and in the summer they both took a trip with us to Winnipeg, Canada.  

Spontaneity can be a good thing and trying something new rejuvenating to the mind and spirit.  But on the other hand, it can lead one off onto unproductive tangents so we need to consider if a new thing would fit into our life's vision and priorities and, I suppose, leave some room for worthwhile new things. 

How They Used to Live

What a long way we have come in the past 100 years!  It boggles my mind to think how modern inventions have transformed our lives--even in my lifetime but certainly in my parent's lifetime.   Whenever I think of this, I feel so blessed and wonder why I was lucky enough to live in this modern age.

My dad was born in 1914 and people generally lived quite primitively, although some who had a bit more money had a few more conveniences.  In Fosston, MN, his father worked in the new electric power generating plant which supplied electricity to homes.  People, of course, mainly used electricity for lighting and didn't have many electrical appliances at first.

His father died in 1922 after complications from the 1918 flu epidemic.   As a seven year old boy, Dad, his mother, and two aunts moved in to live with his grandmother in her house.  (An uncle who was single sometimes lived there too.)  It must have been very crowded as the house was fairly small.  In that house they didn't have electricity but kerosene lamps.  The wicks had to be regularly trimmed, kerosene filled, and lamp chimneys cleaned.  

There was a large stack of "wash ice" (blocks of ice from a lake) out in the back yard which was taken inside, placed in a tub to melt, and used for washing purposes.  Drinking water was carried three times a day from the neighbor's. 

They grew chickens in the back yard and a garden on someone's property down the block.  To keep garden vegetables they had a root cellar that kept things cool in the winter, although they may have also done some home canning. 

Dad recalled that they ate a lot of salt pork in the winter which was cooked in a salty brine.  The fat came to the top and when cooled hardened at the top of the container making a seal of fat much like one would use wax on top of a jelly jar.  This would also go in the root cellar.  The salt pork must have been boiled again to remove some of the salt as the salt content would have been high and unhealthy to eat.  Summer sausage was a staple in summer but contained salt peter which was also unhealthy.  Of course, in the winter a lot of foods could be kept outside in a frozen condition.  They may have had an ice box but buying ice may have been costly. 

The women had some income from working in stores, the hospital, restaurants, etc. and they had some rent money from the  house his mother and dad lived in before his dad died.

The grandmother spent quite a bit  on liquor, tobacco, and patent medicines such as Dr. Kuriko's and Lydia Pinkham's.  She often used ether on a sugar cube for arthritis pain and used asifetita (giant fennel) leaves to make a heart medication.  But she probably felt she deserved it as she furnished the house and they took care of her in her old age.  

People suffered routinely with "summer complaint" due to food borne diseases.   People feared TB which was common and shunned those who had anyone in the house who had it.  People's homes were often plagued by bedbugs and scarlet fever, and childhood diseases, diarrhea, were often deadly.  One childhood friend of my dad's died after getting a foot infection due to blisters from ill-fitting ice skates.   

They had a carpet in their living room but the only way to clean it was to hang it on the clothesline and beat it with a carpet beater.  For picking up surface dirt a non-electric carpet sweeper was used.  Old clothing was cut into strips and woven into throw rugs.  A loom was fashioned with nails on a frame on the wall and one of Dad's jobs was to weave when he had some spare time.  Other articles were knit or crocheted by the women.

An outdoor toilet served their needs and at night they used a small enameled pail (thunder mug) which could be emptied later. 

They burned wood in the cook stove and this also heated the house, although it wasn't especially warm except in the kitchen so everyone wore warm sweaters indoors in winter.  The upstairs was not heated except for heat rising so was fairly cold at night.  Heavy blankets and feather ticks were often used.  Baths were a weekly luxury and water would be heated on the wood stove to fill a small tub.

They must have walked wherever they needed to but it was a small town and got a ride occasionally with others for any out-of-town trips.  A small sled was used to carry things from uptown, perhaps a wagon in the summer.  When the depression came they were quite self-sufficient and accustomed to living a spartan life so may have been more well prepared than some.

A Blank Sheet of Cyber Paper

I'm trying to think of a single thing to write about today.  Maybe I'll write a limerick.  I see that one of the local papers had a limerick contest.  Should have entered it!  Let's see...

I sit at the 'puter to type,

And all I can think of is tripe,

'Tis unappetizing,

Dull, unappealing,

But at least the paper's not white!

Si's Home Run and Other Antics

I was just eating my breakfast when one of our two cats, Si, came running at full speed into the kitchen, then couldn't stop  himself and slid about three feet as if sliding into home base as he couldn't get enough traction on the linoleum to stop.  He ended up smashing into his dry food dish and the food went flying in all directions!  I cleaned up the mess which made me almost late for church.  

Si enjoys fishing out two or three pieces of dry cat food from his dish and scooting them across the floor and down the basement stairs.  He doesn't necessarily eat them.  I'm always sweeping up the kitchen from his playful episodes.  The other day we moved the fridge and found a lot of it under there along with other small objects that the cats probably played with.  He has plenty of cat toys but playing with food is his favorite thing right now.

Si has begun to shut the bathroom door on himself and I'm sure it's not for privacy!   We finally have had to use a heavy doorstop to prop it open so he can't do that, as who wants to get up at night (or anytime) to let the cat out of the bathroom? 

It is strange how much Si and Sam have lost interest in certain things that used to interest them.  We have a red laser light which they used to chase up and down the stairs but now will only chase around for a very short time on the floor.  There is no novelty to it any more, perhaps.  We are not sure how old they are but must be at least two years old now and when we got them they were probably about a year old.  So their kittenish behavior has changed.  Thank goodness!  

A year ago when we got them nothing was safe.  The first night we had them at about 3 AM I heard a crash.  I had left a deep fat fryer on the kitchen counter next to the fridge with about an inch of oil left in it.  The cover had long since broken so I had covered it with a Correlle dinner plate to keep out dust as I thought I might use the oil again.  Si (the most active of the two cats) was the culprit with one oily foot.  He had hopped on top of the plate (probably on his way to jumping on top of the fridge) and it slipped off and broke into shards of glass all over the floor which were mixed with oil tracked all over.  Imagine me coming to investigate a scene like that in my bare feet!  One would think a the trauma of such a loud crash would have cured Si of his jumping on the counter immediately, but no! 

Si has improved a great deal, though, and at least now and has a lot less interest in jumping on things.  He has respect for a spray bottle of water with a little vinegar mixed with it.  All I have to do now is to show him the bottle and he knows to get down.  At first he would also jump on my back at every opportunity.   I had to get rather mean to him about it and he finally gave up.  I even had him jump on my back one time while I was standing on a step stool trying to do some drywall plastering.  He is long and lean and able to jump up at least five feet high in a single bound.  All he lacks is a Superman cape.  Sammy, our other cat, is too stubby to jump that high and enjoys more lap sitting.  They are both pretty good boys now.

Gum-wrapper Chain Craft

I have discovered a neat craft lately, making "gum-wrapper chain" out of crisp heavy plastic bags such as from potato chips, raisins, cat food or whatever comes in these plastic bags.  To do it I cut a 2-inch by 5-inch card for a pattern and cut out pieces of plastic that size.  They are then folded lengthwise, opened and each side folded in toward the center fold and folded under toward the center.  This strip is folded in half, opened up, and each end folded in toward the fold.  Each link of the chain in inserted into the previous one making a zig-zagged chain.  Then strips like this are laced together on both sides using yarn and a blunt needle. (The yarn can be any color as it doesn't show.)  Flat items like picture frames or placemats or they can be worked in circular fashion to make purses baskets, duffel bags, etc. The printing and colors from the bags or whatever material is used--paper from magazines, wallpaper, calendars, wood contact paper-- you name it-- will create an interesting visual texture.

Here is a video of an example of purses made this way.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=7HmdlmD5Hd0

The "Class of '57"--close to reality?

I was just thinking today of the fact that so many of my 1964 High School classmates have had great adversities, some have had life cut short by illness, tragedy, or unfulfilled expectations.   I suppose at graduation time, a time of celebration and joyous release from twelve years of school, would be no place to bring up the statistics of what is probably typical of what the graduates could expect in their lives.  But when I think of my own 1964 High School classmates, the song by the Statler Brothers, "Class Of '57."  (see lyrics below), comes to mind. 

In my H.S. class there were about 20 graduates and about 100 in the whole H.S.  I believe it was in March before graduation, David shot himself in his head in his bedroom.  There seemed to be no explanation for his disturbing suicide.  A couple of girls became unwed mothers and/or got married young and one that I know of had an abortion.  Carol's 15 year-old son was killed in a snowmobile accident.  Jean's husband died of a heart attack at about age 62.  I remember that he was a star basketball player, a wonderful student, and he went into banking.  Beth died about age 62 of a long battle with rheumatoid arthritis.  Gordy had alcohol problems and died about the same age.    Mike who was a year older and a math and science whiz was struck with lightning and died.  Larry,  a couple of years older than I, was the ND State Historian died young--not sure what reason.  Steve who had become a world traveler and had "read everything", was a flamenco guitar player, died in his early 50s due to alcoholism, possibly suicide, and was estranged from his wife.  The last I remember he was living with and taking care of his 90 year-old mother who, outlived him.  Another popular basketball player, Ron, a couple of grades ahead of me in H.S. died due to alcoholism, possibly suicide.  He and his wife who met in H.S. were divorced and she since remarried.  At one reunion about five years ago I noticed that  one classmate of mine had become so heavy that she could hardly walk.  Another a grade or two ahead of me walked with a cane due to something debilitating, arthritis perhaps.  Ole died, I don't know any details.  A few classmates were divorced and some continue to suffer from the affects abusive home situations (although I had no idea about this at the time.)  One who I can think of lives here in town and seems to have smoked herself into a cackly version of herself and doesn't drive a car--perhaps alcohol problems too?   And, of course, most of those I knew from H.S. I never heard from again and whose fate I don't know.  

This is getting to be kind of a negative post.  I want to point out that the majority of my classmates became upright citizens and probably for the most part are still alive and healthy.  On the bright side, our H.S. Principal, Thilda Vangstad, died at age 104.  We thought she was really old when she was our principal with her snow white hair but she was only in her early 60s at the time.  Incidentally, she and her identical twin sister Lena, also a retired teacher, were at one time the oldest twins in the world for a few months until Thilda died.  Lena reached age 105.  At our 2005 reunion everyone was talking about their 104th birthday coming up and signed a gigantic card for them as they were unable to attend.  Only one teacher is still living, the librarian, who is in her mid 90s now.

Lyrics to The Class of '57

Tommy's selling used cars

Nancy's fixing hair

Harvey runs a grocery store

And Margaret doesn't care.

Jerry drives a truck for Sears

And Charlotte's on the make

And Paul sells life insurance

And part time real estate.

Helen is a hostess

Frank works at the mill

Janet teaches grade school

And prob'ly always will.

Bob works for the city

And Jack's in lab research

And Peggy plays organ

At the Presbyterian Church.

And the class of '57 has dreams

We all thought we'd change the world

With our great works and deeds

Or maybe we just thought the world

Would change to fit our needs.

The class of '57 had dreams.

Betty runs a trailer park

Jan sells Tupperware

Randy's on an insane war

And Mary's on welfare.

Charlie took a job with Ford

And Joe took Freddie's wife

Charlotte took a millionaire

And Freddie took his life.

John is big in cattle

Ray is deep in debt

Where Marvis family wound up

Is anybody's bet.

Linda married Sonny

And Brenda married me

And the class of all of us

Is just a part of history.

And the class of '57 has dreams

But living life day to day

Is never like it seems

Things get complicated when

You get past eighteen.

But the class of '57 had its dreams.

Oh, the class of '57 had dreams...
Lyrics www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/the_statler_brothers/