TERRY
I have nothing new about Terry. It is still one day at a time. We do not have any appointments this week but I do have to make a call and reschedule one I missed last week. I still am upset about it. During the day Terry now uses the commode most of the time which is great. She also used it this morning at 3:00 AM which was not so great! Tuesday, here we come and are hoping for healing.
We have a very nice soft rain so my 10:30 tennis may not happen. The courts do dry quickly so maybe. I hate to miss a match now as there are more guys down which means better players are here. I think when I played Saturday there was a slight up tick in my game!
Cynthia and Mike are celebrating their 14th anniversary today. I remember the day well as they had the beautiful ceremony in the St. Paul Cathedral and then celebrated till midnight at the University of Minnesota Arboretum. It was a grand day. Here they are three houses and eight children later looking even better then this picture which was taken several years ago. In fact, before their wedding. They are a model for a great family. The work projects, the children events and just everyday life is a testimony to the great people they are. Cynthia and Mike, may the days, weeks, months and years ahead continue to be a blessing. I need to add. At St. Leo's Church, where Cynthia was baptised, I held her up in the air with my hands and said, "Lord may you bring good health, happiness and success to this child! I know the Lord heard that prayer! Have a great day.
Here we are in early June of 1955
Dad, as was often the case, said he had some business to take care of in Lidgerwood but Dave and I should pick a load of rocks on the land down south, Jim's land. Now picking rocks was NOT our favorite job but picking on Jim's land was not all that bad. I have to admit that I would actually pray that the grain would grow fast so the time of rock picking would be over! On the land east of the house you could pick rocks all day and it seemed that there were more rocks the next day! On Jim's land we may have to pick all day to get one small wagon load as the rocks were few and far between. That made for a kind of a fun time as we would trade driving the Ford tractor and while one drove the other would ski bare foot behind to wagon or run and find a rock and shot put it into the wagon. Then of course there were disc throws, hammer throws and more. So we knew that we could play as much as work and only have to pick one load. It was different picking on Jim's land as there was no place close to unload the rocks. We would have to drive the load home and unload them on the creek bank east of the house where there was 1000s of rocks that WE had put there. Dave and I got out kind of late as Dad was gone and that meant we did not have to worry about working too hard. By noon we had about half a load of rocks. Dave faced north and looked at his shadow and declared that it was noon and time to go home for lunch. Dave said we may as well unhitch the wagon and just drive home on the tractor. I asked if I could drive but he felt he had the right as the oldest!!! After a lunch of tomato soup, crackers and carrot cake we ventured back down south to finish off the days work! When we would plow the rule of thumb was work till sundown but when picking rocks we figured if we worked it so we got a load by late afternoon we were good! So as the wagon became loaded down and the sun seemed kind of a long ways from going down we headed home thinking that we had put in a full days work and actually got something done. AND yes Dave insisted he drive again. As we wound though the prairie hay field and towards the bridge we were happy as it meant we would have some time to play after the rocks were unloaded, the cows were milked and supper was eaten. We rounded the corner and turned east on the road as we crossed the bridge. Then it was a left turn which put us driving the half mile to our farm. I had moved some of the rocks on the front so I could sit on the front of the wagon. As we approached the hill just before our farm I yelled to Dave to stop. By the time he heard me and stopped we were about a third up the hill. As he turned to see what was wrong the wagon started to slowly move back from the tractor. I jumped off the wagon and ran around to the back. There I picked two of the biggest rocks and quickly placed them behind the two wheels. By that time Dave was off the tractor wanting to know what was happening. The pin that was supposed to go through the wagon tongue and through the draw bar had come loose and the wagon was about to unhitch and go down the hill and into the ditch. Way to go Carmen, you saved the day! That is NOT what Dave said, it is what I thought. So there we were part way up the hill and no pin to keep the wagon hitched as it had broken. Dave scratched his head for a bit and I think that give him the idea! He unlatched the cover that was over the gas tank and tool box. There he found a vise grip. With all his might, after he had backed up the tractor some, he clinched the vise grip over the wagon tongue and draw bar and presto we were good. Dave did drive into the farm instead of going to the rock pile as he knew we need not stretch our luck with the vise grip. After rummaging around in the shop for some time he came up with a large bolt that would work for a pin. BUT by the time we got the rocks unloaded, the cows milked and supper it was too dark to shot black birds or gophers so it was a day that was over. We never did tell Dad how close we had come to having a wagon full of rocks in the ditch.
The FP is saying that it has one last sip and that is all. Time to get some things done and then it looks like the rain has stopped so it will be tennis at 10:30.
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