We're leaving this afternoon for Alvin's funeral in Aurora, Illinois. Because I'm leaving my computer behind the timing of the next blog post is iffy. Plans are to return to the OFH tomorrow after the funeral but that's a six hour drive. So, wait for it!😀
In the meantime stay healthy and upright!
Takk for alt,
Al
Perhaps my life is comic becasue so often my life is reflected in them Take Hagar for example. One Sunday in Mohall, shortly before the service began it was discovered that there was no wine for communion. The usual fare was Mogen David, which is unfit for anything else. The only wine at the parsonage was Chianti, a far cry from Mogen David, but it was pressed into service. There were puzzled looks from the communicants and much smacking of lips. Were that to occur today I'd be wise enough to give the congregation a heads up. (See Hagar below.)
For most of June rainfalls in Sinai came in small showers, .3", .2" .5" etc. It was enough to sustain crops, especially because the weather wasn't very hot. Perhaps it wasn't adequate for pastures and alfalfa hay. A pasture I rent to a farmer is divided into two parts, maybe the 100 acres is divided 65 by 35 acres. This allows for rotational grazing. The renter started the cattle in the small section this spring. When I left for Iowa June 23, the grass in that section was grazed down and he was about to move them to the large pasture. This allows the grazed section to recover, think how your lawn responds after mowing.
In the last couple of weeks Sinai has received about 5" of rain...happy pasture. The first significant rain, 2.75" came just before this hot spell, that's critical timing. The neighbor to The Little House empties and reports on the rain gauge behind the house. On the other hand, the gauge at the pasture is not monitored in my absence. I'm keen to see what it registers next week when I return. Typical rainfall pattern is for less rain after June. Crops must be thriving.
Takk for alt,
Al
In the OFH a popular farewell when leaving another person or group is, "Stay upright!" Today I visited my civilian, as opposed to the one at the VA, primary care physician. She thinks I have a good prospect for staying upright, if I don't trip over Kaia, etc. It's been six and a half years since I was last sick, bronchitis in Asia 2020, so I hope to continue that streak. Consequently, I got a COVID booster hoping to remain among those who've never had it. This record of health fills me with gratitude.
This medical appointment is one reason I've remained at the OFH this week. Last week's presence here was to keep Kaia from 4th of July fireworks in Sinai. They don't scare her but she gets agitated thinking that firecrackers are the sounds of shooting and she wants to be out hunting. The fireworks perpetrators have no sense of bedtime, lighting fireworks far into the night.
Takk for alt,
Al
The computer education classes at both Brooking county Rural District 21, and Sinai High School were lacking. Consequently my technical skills are rudimentary. Tangled up with an internet issue time escaped me and know I'm too tired for a longer post.
There was a particular high point today when an author friend presented me with his first gift copy of his newly published book of haiku poetry. This will prompt much reflection...thanks PMFJ! 😀
More another day!
Takk for alt,
Al
Guess what, I watched a basketball game today! It wasn't "my" team. However, almost always I favor one team over another, pure prejudice. The preferred team won today, but these games evoke little anxiety. Watching as much as I do I can identify most WNBA players by sight. There, too, there are favorites and others for which I have less affection. Case in point; one of the excellent players in the league I've not liked. Learning about her has revealed a very fine person. So, why my dislike. Eventually I puzzled it out, it's because on the floor she never smiles, always playing looking dour. There, now, you see how arbitrary and subjective I am.
The day ended with a delightful meal on a patio with, what for me is perfect weather; clear skies and 83 degrees.
Takk for alt,
Al
My oldest aunt lived at Baalaton, MN. She'd accompanied her father, my grandfather, there to teach Vacation Bible School. She met and married a local farmer. Some where around 1910 she died of uremic poisoning after childbirth, her son and my first born cousin, Clifford, drown in a water tank when he was 3. His father died in the flu epidemic. Thus ended that family.
This is story of my surviving cousins who made it to adulthood, grandchildren of my grandparents. Last week there six surviving cousins. Yesterday my oldest one, surviving at age 93, died from injuries suffered in a car accident. Alvin, five years older than I, was always my hero. Living twelve miles apart we had regular contact growing up. Saturday, I will attend his funeral in Aurora, IL.
Grandpa and Grandma had nineteen grandchildren after the late Clifford. The gender breakdown is interesting. There were five boys, which included my two brothers and I, thus only two male cousins. There were 14 female cousins. Of all these grandchildren. I was second to the youngest and the youngest died several years ago. Giving some balance to this equation was my oldest cousin, Cecilia, who had four sons, one a year older than I, one my age and two younger.
Now, surviving in age sequence: one is 92, another 91, the third 89, then 88, and 87. None have had birthdays this year. Interesting demographics. Add those ages up and what do you get? I'm not allowed to do the math. 😀
Takk for alt,
Al
