Terry is about the same. We are just waiting for the virus test to come back and the test that was done with the spinal fluid. I am hoping that happens early week. IF we get result that tell us something then plans can go forward towards recovery and coming home. What it looks like and when that could happen is only a guess so will leave it at that.
So today there will be a couple of pictures and then some stories that perhaps have been told before. IF that is the case I hope they follow the same lines as I try to remember and be honest with what I write.
You may think this is about sister Helen but it is not. Given, she is pretty darn special but my words today are about other things in the picture1
You can see the basketball hoop on the light pole. I THINK Ronald helped Dave and I put the back board up. Actually maybe Ronald put it up with a little help from Dave and looks from me. What can I say, I am guessing it was put up when I was pretty small. I do know that Ronald brought home the net for the hoop and I think Dad bought the hoop but I am not sure. Anyway my story is a far cry from what you see in the picture. It looks like the old combine is in the way and the pole is surrounded by weeds. That means NOBODY is using it at the time of this picture. Helen is sitting on the "M" tractor which was our main tractor that was used for picking corn, pulling the combine, pulling the 3 bottom plow and directing the Jayhawk haystacker. The Ford was used to cut hay, rack the hay, seed the grain, drag the dirt fields and pull the dreaded rock wagon! I do not know where the tractor in the background came from as we did not have that when I was at home. There is also an old car that I do not know about. BUT the other important item in this picture is the pole by the barn door. I would shimmy up the pole and spend hours on the far side of the barn roof dreaming about my future. I admit my dreams did not include spending time in FL or playing tennis. One can see a couple of windows in the barn. On the other side there were perhaps 4 or 5 of them and IF I remember right there were always some panes broken. Each window had 4 panes of glass. On the south side of the barn which you can not see was where I would take the scoop on the Ford and level out the barnyard by the barn. It would also get the cow manure away. Then I would take the rake and smooth things out for my ball field against the barn wall. I have to admit I, in my mind, was really good!!! You maybe see the can on the exhaust of the "M". No exhaust with a flipper on for us. Always a tin can at night in case it rained!
This was pretty much a life saver. It was my mode of transportation from the spring of 1966 to the summer of 1968. It brought me to Hugo's cabin in Minnesota where the Saunders family would often spend the weekend! It was not a good situation when I did not come home Sunday night because of a storm. Mom and Dad went driving around looking for me in the ditch! Monday AM, when I arrived home, I got a "Dad stare" and kind of a loud "Where were you?" but that was it. What could I do as they had NO phone. My Sprint got me all around Fargo Moorhead as I was going to college. It got me out to the golf course at sun up and then out of there before they opened the course. It usually meant a few holes of free golf. Maybe I should not admit I was so bad. I probably would have died during the summer of 1966 if I had been stranded on the farm without any wheels. Like I said it was a life saver. It was during that summer that Ronald's death was only 19 months in the past and Janet's death was only 3 months in the past. One can imagine what it was like around Mom and Dad and I certainly do not blame them for their grief. It was always a fun time to have certain people ride with me!!! Not so fun on the night we got caught in a rain storm and took shelter on an abandon farmstead. We were rescued by Chic's farm truck! The cycle took me up to the hills to the south of the farm where there were several lakes with summer cabins. Just a joy ride as I did not know anybody there. My Harley Sprint, it is one of the very best memory makers in my life.
That is enough rambling today. Time for a bike ride.
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