Here we are enjoying the last day of January 2021

 TERRY

I would say Terry is the same.  She has spent some time on the couch talking to Travis but for the most part since Saturday she has been in bed allowing Travis and I to visit.  As I write it is 8:00 AM and she is reading the paper in bed with the TV on.  This week may be the last of the water therapy before she gets evaluated again OR she may have two more weeks left.

Travis arrived Friday around noon.  He drove NONSTOP from St. Paul MN starting about 10:00 AM our time and arrived about 26 hours later.  Needless to say we visited a few hours but he went to bed early!  Travis and I had lunch at the Fish House yesterday as Terry preferred to stay home.  I put meat on the grill and potatoes in the oven for dinner and that was it.  Travis retired pretty early and Terry and I did as well.  I probably should say I kind of retired early as usually Terry will stay awake and wake TV for a time before she gets tired.

Not much to say today.  Travis is watching the weather as he thinks he may head out Tuesday for home again.  I would prefer if he would NOT drive straight through BUT he is kind of a big boy and can make his own decisions!  I say "big boy" and then remember my kids are getting to be middle age adults as the boys are 51,49 and 47 with Cynthia the baby at 40!!!

We got a laugh at a video that Travis had on his phone of Henry.  Travis has this vest where your can put weights in maybe up to 40+ pounds if you want.  Well I guess Henry now has one with 40 pounds.  He sent a video of himself doing 6 pull ups with the 40 pound vest on.  Oh my I think IF he does that on a regular bases he may become super strong!  

No tennis for me yesterday and today and the time off is good.  I will play tomorrow as Karl has these two courts and then we switch after 45 minutes.  There are some good players so that is fun.

Travis and I may go out for lunch again but then maybe we will order a pizza from a place called "Crust". They have the best pizza that I have ever had.  If we do that we will order and just pick it up for home.  NO reason to sit in a restaurant with the possibility of that darn covid in the air.

Well Terry is busy with the paper and I have not heard Travis yet this morning so I may must wander down memory lane today for a short visit.

We live in a different age today from times in the past

Some things in my life that would not BE today

• Our Millennial population which the computer says are people ages 18-36 are so different today.  The average person in that age group has had 4 or more jobs.  That comes down to job stay of 4.5 years.  Now for my job stay!!!  I taught at the North Dakota School for the Deaf for 8 years and then headed to St. Paul.  There I taught for 30 years and retired.  IF you want to throw another job in you can look at the paper route which I really do NOT want to look at BUT.  We started the route in the spring of 1978 and retired in the summer of 2007.  IF my math is correct that is 29 years!!!  Yikes. I guess that sets us apart form the Millennial generation "for sure".
• I do not know how many job interviews one goes through today but I never had a job interview in my life.  
• I was called into Mr. Hayek's office in the spring of 1969 and offered a job in the elementary grades at the school.  To sweeten the offer he said IF I would help with the football and basketball teams he could offer me a salary of $6,000.  I thought I had it made!  He failed to mention that with the teams there would be a need for a bus driver!!!  The Highway Partrol came onto campus and had me drive the OLD bus around the grounds for about 5 minutes and then gave me my bus driver's license.  Maybe I impressed him with my farmhand driving skills!  
• Then in the late summer of 1977 I got a call from a friend in St. Paul.  He said the Director of Special Education wanted to get ahold of me and offer me a job in St. Paul.  NO interview just a phone call to talk salary and a date to start.  I should add that by that time, 1977, I was the Director of Education at the school and earning a whopping salary of $18,000.  I agreed to start in St. Paul and there was NO wiggly room in salary as they had a salary scale with years and degrees so they just fit you in.  I believe I started that fall in mid October earning a salary of $16,000.  I might add that with a salary of $2,000 less we doubled our house payment and tripled our education expenses for the kids!  That could be several YIKES.
• Well then there is the case of heading Servant Camp.  It started out as just a volunteer but sometime in the early 80s I said I had to get some salary as I needed summer work to pay the bills.  If I can remember correctly I stepped down from heading Servant Camp after 28 years or so!  

I am sure there are many more examples of what life was like back then and what it is like now.  AND I should add that there still are people today who stay on the job a LONG time but when one looks at the average person job hopping is way way more common today than back then.  I could add that so many jobs also require more education today than then.  A friend, Ernie, worked for 3M for many years as a product development person.  I think he had a BA degree but when he retired in early 2000 his replacement had to have a Dr. degree.  

So times change, people change and the world does not stop!  Here it is 8:50 and Terry is still reading the huge Sunday paper, Travis still has not opened his bedroom door and my FP is about gone so will sign off.

An end to a busy week, kind of!

 TERRY

Terry had therapy yesterday and did well.  It was a double session so she was somewhat tired as we arrived home.  She did opt to get in and out of the pool in the lift and not walk as her foot still bothers her when she puts weight on it.  She has nothing today.  As I got up at 6:00 this morning she stirred as well.  She did not want the paper yet so maybe she may fall asleep again.  Last night and again this morning she asked for cherry ice cream so I need to go to the store today!

Well I survived TWO sessions of tennis yesterday!  I played from 10:30-12:00 and then we had the in club league at 1:30 in the afternoon.  The "in club" has 6 courts and the pairings are generated by computer.  Yesterday I played with Al and we played against Terry and Jack.  It was not really an even pairing as we won 6-2 and 6-2.  I actually was surprised we gave up the 4 points.  Anyway in two weeks I am 4-0 but I am guessing my time will come when I am on the short end of the score as IF I were to rate myself against the other 26 players I would probably put myself in the 6-10 range if you were looking at players from # 1 and down.  I say that and it probably does not make any sense as on any given day one can play great or play awful as I have experienced MANY times.  I just looked at the entire list of players and I would say I would put myself a bit above the middle!!!  I know when one rates themselves it is a wild guess at best!!!

No plans today other than 7:30 tennis.  I may have to get to the grocery store to buy Terry some ice cream but that is all.

I have pretty much been on a journey to lose weight over the last 12 days and have been recording the weight each day.  As of this morning I am down 5 pounds so I THINK I am happy so far.  IF I could continue that for the next two months that would be good.  It is just so so easy to snack when one is at home most of the time.  BUT some success so far and that makes me happy.

My goodness we are almost into February.  

I neglected to mention that last Monday marked 8 years since Mike P. died.  I think I have that right.  Terry and I flew to AK and then drove to Holiday Island for his celebration of life which, I think, was in late February maybe.  Helen had a nice reception for several friends.  Really, it does not seem like it was 8 years ago but I have 2013 on my calendar.

I talked to several people on my birthday which was fun.  Then I phoned my special friend from grade school Larry last night.  Larry, the gun guy!!!!!!!

No as I look at the time it is about 7:10 and time to dress for 7:30 tennis.  Maybe more later, not sure but I will post this.

A busy day and perhaps TOO busy

 TERRY

I have nothing new about Terry.  She does have two sessions of WT this morning.  I do not know if I have mentioned this but her appetite has been very good lately.  In fact I suspect she has gained a couple of pounds. Her first session this morning is at 8:40 so I am guessing by the time we arrive home she will be tired.

I was not able to find a replacement for my 10:30 tennis today so I will go it alone.  For the first time this winter I will play tennis twice in a day.   I will play at 10:30 and then we have the interTarpon Cove league thing at 1:30.  I may be dragging by the time tennis is over and even worse I may be dragging BEFORE tennis is over.  Also I do not like to leave Terry alone that much but I think it will be OK.

As I write this morning Terry is still sleeping and that is good.  I think she fell asleep kind of early evening but then woke up about 10:30 to use the commode.  I am hoping she is NOT too tired at therapy.

Yesterday I did a thing that I have not done much of.  I sold some stocks and had the money reinvested in a different stock.  Now I know very little about stocks so we will see how things pan out as the days ahead happen.  IF it were a lot of money I would be nervous but with the small amount involved I can just sit back and see what happens with no worry IF it turns out or not.  I guess not having a lot of money can be a good thing at times!!!

Well I hear Terry is awake so will get her the paper and she will be good until we leave for therapy.  Not much more to say today as I sip the last of my FP.

Here we are in mid week of the last week of January

 TERRY

As I write Terry is reading the paper in bed.  She had two nice therapy sessions yesterday.  I was thankful that her injured left foot was not an issue.  She will again have therapy tomorrow.  As I say often it is one day at a time and we are hopeful that good health will come soon.

I have 10:30 tennis today with some of the better players so am looking forward to that.  We, once again, have warm weather as it is supposed to be 80 today so tennis will again be kind of a sweat bath.

Not much today except some memories!

    THE BARN

Aside from the house, the barn was IT.  So much went on there, so much work and so much play.  This picture does NO justice to it as this was taken WAY after the barn was used for cattle.  So here are some things that stick in the memory from the time I was growing up:

• Where you see the gas tank was where we parked the hay rack and pitched hay or bales into the barn.  Right in the center of the upper wall there is a door.  We spent many many hours pitching hay into the north end of the barn but that was before we started having the hay stacks moved by the stack mover!  Also on the far corner of the north wall was where the gate to the barn yard was.  It was there that we would open the gate and haul hay into the barn yard and throw it over the side of the hay rack.  When I was very young there was a water tank there but by the time I remember working the water tank had been moved to inside the barn.  I should add that after we started having entire hay stacks moved out hay room was not used so much so that was when Dave and I put up a 5 gallon can 10 feet up on the wall and it was there I honed my basketball shooting skills with a rubberize tennis ball!  It probably speaks volumes about my lack of dribbling skill!
• The row of windows to the right were in the calf pens that lined the east side of the barn.  There were four large pens with the very end one having a cement floor.  On the dirt floors we tried to keep fresh straw on the floors to cover the dirt.  It was in those pens that we would keep the young calves when it was time to have the stop taking milk from their mothers.  For several days we heard COW MUSIC coming from the barn!!!
• On the far side, west, that one can not see, was another row of windows that were in the wall behind were we milked the cows.  I remember it was difficult to keep ALL windows in place as it seemed that there was always one or two broken panes.  
• In the very SE corner was a cemented pen where the water tank sat at the front.  That was where Dave and I got ourselves into way too much trouble as we would turn the water on to fill the tank and then go play only to forget the water!  If I had 5 cents for every shovel of water I scooped out of that pen I would be rich!
• In kind of the middle of the barn between where we milked cows and the hay barn wall was a small pen where we often kept a calf that needed special care.  That is where I would often take the calf out of the barn and make a little fence for it outside.  I always felt sorry when they had to stay in the barn!
• The beams above the pens was where Dave and I would often play tag !  Yikes, as that was about 8 feet in the air and one had better have good balance.  Once I fell kind of head first into the pen where there was a padding of pretty awful stuff and it was not so good!
• It was also on the beams above the pens that we would, in the winter, shoot birds as they settled in for a warm winter night.  Don't ask me what happened to the shots that missed!
• When we cleaned the pens, which was not often enough, we would remove the window in the pen and throw out the manure through the window into the manure spreader parked under the window.
• Dave shared with me a couple of years ago that when they moved to Iowa he stored several items in the barn including a new radial arm saw that never saw the light outside the box.  It all burned in the fire that destroyed the farm.  
• It was on the far side, south, of the barn that I would use the scrapper on the back of the Ford tractor to smooth out the barn yard in the summer when the cows were in the pasture most of the time.  It was there that I became a baseball hero and World Series Champ as I threw the ball against the side of the barn and then would field it with such skill that I always won!!!
• I could also write about the day, each year, that we dehorned the young calves in the barn yard.  I could describe the squirting blood etc but will skip it for now!

So to wrap up "THE BARN" it goes to saying that the barn was a place of work, play and it certainly was pretty much the center of life on the farm except for our home of course.

I got a laugh out of this as it is so so true!  I am guessing during an afternoon on the Ford or the M tractor I I may have gone through that song MANY times!  AND it seemed with each time through I tried to make it louder!  Pretty funny I would say.

Here is the Schwinn Bantam bike that was used by John, Travis, Aaron and Cynthia as they learned how to ride bike.  NO training wheels for the Lees!  As the snow melted in the spring of 1975 in Devils lake I drove to downtown Devils Lake to Johnson's Hardware Hank.  There, in the window, was this shiny new bike just waiting for US!  There is a bar to put on so it can be a girls bike or boys bike.  The first time it was used we loaded it up in our fancy 4 door hardtop Impala and drove to the School for the Deaf.  There we ventured out to the football field which had a quarter mile track around it.  It did not take John very long to get the hang of riding and off he went around the track on his own.  It was the first of many many days of working with the 4 kids as they ventured into riding two wheelers.  In 1977, the year we moved to St. Paul, it was one of the first things that went into the truck!  

Today, Aaron has it and has cleaned it up and has it looking nice.  It reminded in the attic of our garage on Niles Ave for MANY years.  I just wonder when and who will ride it next!!!

So here it is almost 8:30 and time to sign off for today.  I still have some FP left to sip and enjoy but that too shall be gone soon.  Then it is on to my continued journey of cleaning up papers.  And oh yes, tennis in two hours.

Hard to believe that this was 73 years ago today!!!  Just like now, I should lose some weight!!!  Mom was always super at having cakes.

It could be a long day!

 TERRY

As I blog this morning Terry is sleeping and I do hope she sleeps for some time.  It is currently 5:30 AM and the night was short!  Terry had some needs at 12:30 so we both were up for a while.  I wanted to sleep until at least 6:30 but no dice!  Terry does have water therapy today for the first time in a week.  I am hoping that left foot is OK.  She did go from the bedroom to the living room with the walker yesterday so that was good.  When it was time to go back into the bedroom I insisted she use the wheelchair and she agreed.  I just am hoping that WT goes well today.

Well it kind of is the count down to the end of the first month of 2021 as we are now at January 26th.  It seems that we just started the year but then as many of us know time marches on and it seems like the older one gets the faster the time goes by.  I do have tennis at 10:30 this morning.  It is with the guys that I have played with each Tuesday and Thursday for the better part of a couple of months.  However it has been a week since we played as I had this injuried left side and one of the guys had some surgery done on his lip.  We will see how things go this morning. 

Terry's WT consists of two sessions today.  The first is at 1:00 and then she starts the second at 1:40 so I will not stay and watch all that time.  I will make a quick trip to Costco for some things and then to the grocery store as well.

I have come to the last of the South Bend Lee art work:

Well as I look at the three pictures it looks like this is Liam day!  Liam is a freshman in high school and will turn 16 in a couple of months.  AND this concludes the art taken from the collection that they sent me for Christmas.  I smile as I look at their wonderful work as it takes me back to grade school where I read ALL the Black Stallion books and then tried to draw horses again and again and again AND I would say my attempts did not show ANY art skills whatsoever.  But here, oh my gosh, there is talent and skill to go a long way.  Now to make sure we are honest Trinity School, where they attend, has much to do with the talent and skill BUT as I would say, "You can not make the soup if you don't have the ingredients!!!

Something came up yesterday as Terry and I were talking about high school.  I got the annual out and looked at 1965!  Both Terry and I remember that we had 65 in our class but there are only 57 senior picture in the annual.  I then decided to count the number of classmates that I knew were not living.  I counted 8.  It seems like that is a lot.  Now really I know nothing about many of them so there could be more but still that seems like a lot as now pretty much everyone would be 73 or 74.  I also realized something else that I had forgotten.  For some reason I had in my mind that in sports we changed conferences when we were sophomores but actually it was when we were juniors.  That meant my first two years we played 9 man football and then went to 11 man as we were juniors.  I THINK in 9 man there is no guard position.  Pretty much all my memories of football are from my junior and senior year.  For some reason I remember nothing of playing 9 man.

I am about finished writing and it is only 5:55 AM.  I wish I could go back to bed but I dare not.  IF I could fall asleep I am pretty sure I would oversleep my 7:30 tennis.  So I think it is time to put the hot water on for my FP and find something to do for the next hour and a half.  

January 25th, the last Monday of January 2021

 TERRY

It is 7:50 AM and as I write Terry is resting.  She was awake but did not want the paper yet.  Her legs were bothering her so I did rub them for a while and she always loves that.  We will see how the day goes.  She has nothing on the agenda today but therapy tomorrow.  I THINK Sonia will be here today from 8:30-10:30.  We will get food boxes in the mail maybe early afternoon as that happens every Monday.  We will see how the day goes.

I have tennis at 10:30 today.  Karl has arranged for two courts each Monday and there are a variety of skills playing so that is good.  It is a mini of what the pro Myke does on Thursday where she has a variety of skills also but she fills 6 courts.  My left side is totally healed so I should be good to go again.  

We had a very quiet Sunday.  The car stayed parked in the garage and we just kind of hung around the house all day.  I did wander into the living room during the NFL games.  For some reason I was glad to see the Tampa team win.  You would think I would want Green Bay to win but I just do not care for them and I think it is Aaron Rogers and I have NO reason not to care for him but if he loses I am happy!!!  Brady is amazing as at the age of 43 he is still the gold standard of quarterbacks.  I peeked a bit at the Kansas City game and they kind of won easily.  So in 2 weeks it is Super Bowl Sunday with KC and Tampa.  The young gold standard quarterback will try to make it a "repeat" for KC as the go against the old gold standard quarterback!  Our neighbors that we share a wall with are from KC.  Pat (he) did ribs with potatoes and salad.  He brought over some before the game.  Now, I have made ribs myself and thought they were very good but they would pale compared to what we got last night.  They were A+++ and more.  I thought it was kind of funny as Terry has always said she likes her ribs dry, without any sauce but these yesterday had sauce and she loved them!  There is enough left so that Terry can have the last for lunch today.

Saturday I decided that enough was enough and I pulled out a file box FULL of papers that need attention.  I think it will take me ALL week to go through them and sort, file etc.  So there is a huge mess in the den that will remain until the work is finished!!!

I  received a text that our care person will be here at 9:00, not by 8:30.  It does not make any difference as she will be here for two hours anyway.  Terry likes her to be here to take care of some of the things that need to be done.  Well it helps me also as Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday she will prepare the meals that come in the mail Monday afternoon.

My involvement in the stock market is a token investment so not a big deal BUT I really do enjoy looking at it every day to see what happens.  This week there is supposed to be several companies coming out with their quarterly report and that will tell a lot.  I can not imagine the market going up and up and up but then what do I know--really not much!!!  Well I just used Google to look up the market and in May of 2013 it was at 15, 409 and now it is double that!  Can that continue?  I do not know enough about the market to know if it can continue or not but in some ways I am kind of happy I have just a tiny amount in the market at this time!

Well here it is 8:20 and IF I get to work I can do a little more work on these papers before I am off to tennis.

So here is more South Bend Lee art work before I sign off:

Here is another drawing by Audrey

Well, Mary is very talented as well.

So I will pour the last of the FP into my Alaska cup and get some work done before I leave for tennis about 10:20

Here we are starting the last full week of January 2021

 TERRY

No news about Terry.  As I write it is 7:40 AM and she is sound asleep.  She stayed up on the couch for about an hour when Mary and Mark were here and also joined us for lunch at the kitchen table but then needed to retire to the bedroom for rest.  Nothing planned for today.

I am looking at a day where I may not even start the car to go out.  As I write it looks like a fairy land outside with fog hiding much of the landscape.  We are in for kind of a warm trend as I think in the next few days we may hit 80 again.  

I enjoyed a long visit as Mary and Mark were here yesterday for about 4 hours.  It sounds like they are taking their time getting back to ND as they will make several stops along the way.  More than once they mentioned that they really enjoy the sunshine and warm weather!

Here is the art work from South Bend for today:

The AL stands for Audrey Lee

Here is a drawing of Elspeth by Henry

I have continued to read about the life of Henry Aaron as there was another article in the paper today.  He just sounds like not only a great baseball player but a wonderful man as well.  The articles have sent me back to the mid to late 50s as Hammering Hank was at his best during those times.  I have recalled my many baseball cards that went up in smoke when the farm burned.  I spent 100s of hours with those cards as I would arrange them and then arrange them again and again.  Those days when I could spend 5 cents or may 10 cents on a pack of baseball cards and then open them with the hope that at least one of my favorite players might be in the pack.  AND yes as he died at the age of 84 and it also reminds me that I am headed towards old age (maybe I am there!) and I should do all I can to continue making this life meaningful.  As one could guess it often reminds me of brother Dave and I miss him MUCH.

IT IS JULY 17TH OF 1966--A SUNDAY

I roll over in bed and check the clock.  It is 8:30 and I can not believe it is so late.  As I stay in bed and think about the day I decide that I will not go to church with Mom and Dad.  They now go to Veblen as our tiny county church Bergen closed 4 years ago.  I have been home all summer as Janet died in February and Mom and Dad have been having a very difficult time with the death of their two oldest.  I have NO idea why Mom thought it would be good for Dad if I spent the summer on the farm as Dad never talks about losing his two oldest children even though I know his heart is heavy and broken.  Anyway before I get out of bed I decide that I am not going to church with Mom, Dad and Helen.  I have gone every Sunday this summer and today I am going to get on my Harley Davidson Sprint 250 cycle and head out to somewhere!  I slowly decent the stairs as I know what Mom will say when I say I am not going to church with them.  Sure enough the first thing Mom says is we will be leaving at 9:30 for church.  I kind of turn my back and walk into the living room as I say I will not be going.  When Mom comes into the living room I am sitting on the couch ready for a little lecture but it does not come.  She simply asks, "why?"  I say that I had planned on a long motorcycle ride today and going to church at 10:00 would give me a too late start.  To my surprise Mom just leaves the room without a word.  By the time Mom, Dad and Helen are ready to leave for church I am on my cycle and down the driveway.  It is a warm morning so I only have a T shirt on and shorts.  To be honest the T shirt is to let people see that I have a fabulous tan!!!  AND as usual no helmet which as I think back was more than a little careless but then way back in the mid 60s and at the age of 19 a helmet was almost a sign of weakness which is terrible I know.  I did remember to put a $5 bill in my pocket.  It costs about $3 to fill the gas tank and then there may be a chance to stop for a bit to eat.  Anyway as I had down the gravel road I am feeling a sense of relief.  I have spent the last almost two months at home working on the farm.  I know Dad has appreciated me being home and working but it has not been a fun summer at all.  It has not been unusual to see Mom in the kitchen with a tiny tear in the corner of her eye.  Dad is his usual self.  Not a word about either Ronald or Janet and he is often gone to town for something.  

As I head south, then west and then south again I have decided that I will spend the day on my cycle in the "hills" as they are called.  To the south of our farm in South Dakota are several lakes where people have summer lake cabins.  It is also where Dad often will take off for a day of fishing.  There is Bufflo Lake, Pickeral Lake, Roy lake and Clear Lake to name a few.  I do not know anybody who has a cabin there but I will spend the day cycling around the lakes and enjoying the warm breeze that meets my face will I travel on my cycle.  I need a day to myself and away from the farm.  I am happy that we are into the last days of July as I am looking forward to getting back to school again.  NOT that I love school.  It is NOT that I don't like Mom and Dad but really the air of sadness that hovers over the farm is almost thick enough to cut with a knife.  I do not blame Mom and Dad yet it is so so difficult to be there.  I often think of Helen and wonder who she does at home.  BUT do we talk about it----no.  Does that mean we are of Norwegian descent???

So the day is spent riding the "hills" of South Dakota.  It is a refreshing day being out and about with kind of a carefree air about the day.  I really should mention that a side issue is my cycle.  Many places I go people come up to me and ask what kind of cycle it is.  Of course most cycles those days were Honda, like my friend Larry's or Yamahas.  Anyway as the sun goes over head and heads towards the western horizon I think to myself I need to get back to the farm.  I know that both Mom and Dad will start to worry If I do not get back before sunset.  

As I turn the corner by Rollof's farm and head the half mile to our farm I feel refreshed and say to myself that I can endure another month of work on the farm now.

How about that, we are expecting company!!!

 TERRY

Not much to say about Terry today.  She is doing about the same.  I may have mentioned that she did NOT do water therapy on Thursday as she had a soft fall and twisted her right foot which is tender and B/B so we skipped the session but I am thinking she will be OK for her next session which is Tuesday.

The big news is we are getting company today.  Mary and Mark Saunders, who have been on vacation on the east coast, are stopping in today on their way home.  I think they will be here around 11:30 or so.  Chef Lee has lunch pretty much ready.  We will have chicken salad on croissants with a side of black berries and raspberries.  Pretty simple BUT I have worked on it for way too long 😉.  When a person knows nothing about making a meal it takes time.  So I had to learn how to poach chicken breasts to make them yummy but tender and then get all the ingredients that go into a super sandwich!!!  In about two hours we will find out if I pass or if I fail.  

No tennis today or tomorrow.  For several weeks I did play on Saturdays but I decided that playing 6 days a week is just a bit much for this mature body!  My pulled muscle on my left side is a non-issue at this point.  Thursday we had the first of several IN HOUSE league play and it was fun.  Mike R. and I played and fell behind 1-4 but came back to win 7-5 and 6-2.  Of course the win was mostly due to my great play.  By the way I have some Florida land you may want to buy!!!!!   

Not much else to say this morning.  As I look at the clock it shows 10:10 and I am pretty much all set for Mary and Mark to come.  Well I did fill a file box with papers so that the den would look presentable but I will take care of them at a later date!

I will write a bit about perhaps my only HERO.  I tend to not get into the hero stuff as I think I have many heroes in family etc.  BUT the one person who I thought the world of was Henry Aaron.  He died yesterday at the age of 84.  Hammering Hank, as he was known, was with the Milwaukee Braves during the late 50s and early 60s.  I think they moved to Atlanta in 1966.  I would say my favorite time to follow baseball was around 1955-1965.  I am not sure how I kept up with baseball as we did not get a newspaper but I keep track of the Braves during that time and knew all the names of the players and most of the stats for each players.  Players like Eddie Matthews, Johnny Logan, Joe Adcock, Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette and the list goes on and on.  My favorite was Hammering Hank who ended up breaking Babe Ruth's home run record after they moved to Atlanta.  Anyway the papers are full of stories about Hank today.  It has brought back many memories of those days as I followed the Braves and of course the 3 World Series that they played against the Awful Yankees!!!  The Braves won one of the three.  Anyway the stories of Henry Aaron are full of praise of him as a baseball player, as a man and as an icon for justice for all.

Enough for today.  I finished my FP some time ago so time to get some things done.  Mary and Mark could be here in an hour or so.  I am sure they do not have a perfect idea of when they might arrive from the east coast.  I hear the vacuum just docked so I should see if it is full of dust and then empty it.

I will end with some more art from South Bend

Here is the art that Elspeth did for the little book they sent.  I would say it is pretty darn good!  Elspeth will be 8 in July.

Here we are on the first full day of a new president--interesting to see what happens

 TERRY

As I write it is about 8:00 AM.  Terry is reading her paper as she woke up a short time ago.  Darn, she really did not fall yesterday but actually just kind of went down onto the floor slowly as I held her.  So what happened?  Her left foot is now very sore and perhaps a B/B spot the size of a baseball on the top of her foot.  When it rains it pours I guess.  

Terry has water therapy at 10:00 and 11:00 today.  I am not sure what will happen with the foot but we will see when we get there.  Sonia was to come in at 8:00 and be here until 9:40 but she sent a text and said she was not feeling well so we will go it alone today which will be fine.

The neighbors that we share a wall with have brought over several meals in the last month.  Yesterday they sent over a delicious meal which is below.  They asked if we needed one or two pork chops and I said one which was way plenty.

I think they must be aware that a good meal includes colors as well!!!

I will have tennis this afternoon.  The club has set up an in-house league that takes place each Thursday. It will be fun as I will get to play with players who I often do not play with.  It is funny but this may be true with many groups of people.  Players tend to be very cliquish.  This will be a way to mix things up a bit.  I think they are going to keep track of records etc but I am not sure why.  Anyway it should be fun.  

On to the artist Lees again

 Cards were made out of these drawings by Audrey

Elspeth is 7

Liam, who is 15,  is a freshman.  I think he did this while in grade school.

Well I will leave with that.  I am still enjoying my FP as the large cup with John's picture on is still half full---or is it half empty?

Time to clean up the kitchen and then make sure things are ready for Terry as we leave for therapy in a little more than an hour.

A new day and a new president

 TERRY

Not much new about Terry today.  As I write she is watching TV as the new president will be sworn in very soon.  For me, I just can not watch that stuff.  I would say Terry's health is the same as yesterday.  She does have water therapy tomorrow again and that is it for the week. 

I did play tennis today and it was bad and good.  My side did not bother me much so that was good and actually the second set was good as well as we tied 6-6.  However the first set we lost 1-6 and I am not sure it was that close!!!  There are some days when the ball bounces your way and some days when it does not.  For the most part today it did NOT bounce our way in the first set!

I continue with art work from the South Bend Lees

Here is a drawing that Liam did of his dad and I would say it is pretty darn good.  

The A.L. is Audrey.  Again I would say she did a great job with this drawing.

I did have my FP this morning but that is hours ago.  I do not have anything planned for the afternoon.  Well the den is one big mess so maybe some order is the afternoon work.  I do not know how the house can get so messed up with only me going around and around.   Well maybe it does tell of something of me!!!  I will sign off for now.

Back to normal for the week as we get mail today and the stock market is open and for me NO tennis

TERRY

AS I write it is 7:00 AM and Terry is still sleeping.   I am guessing she will be awake soon and will want the paper to read.  She has 90 minutes of work in the pool today so after that she may be tired.  Good news from the doctor yesterday as the fracture in her left knee is pretty much healed.  He said we should see him in 3 months but I am guessing IF all goes OK we will cancel the appointment a week before.  She continues to be pretty mobile in the house as she is becoming an expert with the walker.  I may have a talk with her today about setting the heat in the pool to come on early in the morning so it would be warm enough for her to use in the afternoon.  Again one day at a time is the "mode" of Terry getting better.

It will be a quiet day.  I did not want to play tennis today as I played yesterday and I felt with this side muscle I should give it a rest BUT as I sneezed this morning almost no pain so it continues to get better.  I will play again tomorrow and then Thursday and Friday as well.  I am pretty sure I am recouped from the strain.

Terry and I will head out to water therapy about 1:25 today as she starts at 1:40.  I need to think of something to do as she will not be finished until about 3:00 and I do not want to sit in the warm pool area for all that time.  I am anxiety to see how she does with back to back therapy sessions.  

Kim stopped over for a while yesterday before she headed back to Atlanta.  Terry had a nice conversation with her before she left.  It sounded that she may be back down in the future as she works with some of the people in her business.  She trains gals and guys who race.  

Neighbors that we share a wall with brought over dinner last night.  We have enough left over for today as well.  They brought over TWO plates like that!  It was very good and I was surprised and pleased that Terry ate half a burger which was BIG.  

Now this is my dilemma.  This was my breakfast as I need to lose weight.  Since we arrived here in July I have put on 10 pounds and that does not go well on the tennis court.  So here we have these nice neighbors who bring over delicious food and then we have these 180 calorie snacks for the next meal.  I am thinking I need to change my ways a bit.  BUT I refuse to keep the weight on as it is NOT NOT good for the tennis game!  Well I would say my tennis game is not the greatest BUT weight does not help!

I promised more pictures of the art work by the Lees in South Bend so here goes.

This was done by Henry who is a junior.  I would say it looks real!

Here is another one by Audrey who is in 6th grade.  

As I look at the work these kids do I am kind of glad that IF there were any pictures of horses left in the farm house where I grew up they are no longer as I am guessing ALL the horse pictures that I drew would certainly pale compared to the work these kids do.  I remember with detail how I would sit and TRY to draw horses as a picture was the closest I ever came to having one!  And if I remember correctly one could have looked at my pictures and said something like, "I think those horses are deformed!"

Here it is past 7:30 and I am finished with writing for the day.  I do have half a cup of FP left so will enjoy that before I enter into the day which has little going except for Terry's therapy.

Martin Luther King Day, no school, no mail!

 TERRY

Terry has a Dr. appointment today to have her left knee looked at.  I would not be surprised if it comes out that nothing has to be done but we will see.  No water therapy today as that will be 90 minutes tomorrow.  Terry continues to be pretty independent in the house as she uses her walker to get around.  She does not go into the kitchen as she could not get something for herself and then hold it as she uses the walker.

I think Terry's daughter Kim is still in town.  The half marathon race was run yesterday.  I think Kim intended to come over yesterday afternoon buy my guess is she got busy with her racers who were in the race.  Maybe we will see her today, not sure.

I did get out on the tennis court yesterday and hit with Karl for about 20 minutes.  I had little pain so I will play today.  Maybe I should wait for a couple more days but I NEED to get some exercise.  I will be careful.  I will not play tomorrow and then hopefully play again on Wednesday.

Other than tennis I have nothing planned for the day.  I was going to go to Wells Fargo as I need to talk to them but am not sure if banks are open today.  Maybe a lay low day is OK.  

I will continue on the art from the Lees in South Bend.  I am starting from the cover and doing two pages per day.

As one can see both of these are done by Audrey.  She will be 13 next fall.  I would not be surprised if some of the work is done for school but I am not sure.  As I look at the kids art I think of Mom who used to paint photos that Dad developed and Glorine who painted on plates etc. 

I watched Henry's basketball game on UTube a couple days ago.  He is a junior and stands about 6' 4" in the starting lineup.  It was not one of his best games but the team they played was a notch above their play as they fell by about 13.  John said the center for the other team stood either 6' 9" or 6' 10"!  As I watched the game on the computer screen I could tell that he was tall but was not able to see how tall.  By some of the baskets he scored I thought he was a lot taller then Henry.  It is fun watching Henry's games and it brings me not only back to John, Travis, Aaron and Cynthia's high school basketball days but ALL the way back to my basketball days at Sargent Central.  Now that was a LONG time ago but the memories are still pretty fresh.  The good and the bad!  Some how those bad games seem to stick out way toooo much!  Without even looking at the high school year books I can tell you that during my senior year, which is the only year I was a starter, games against Edgeley and Britton stand out as GOOD and the all time worst was the last game of the season against Lisbon.  We had lost to them in the first game of the season by only 3 points but in the last game we had two starters out with injuries and got blown out of the gym as I sat on the bench towards the end with 5 fouls.  I promise two of them I did not deserve but then maybe there were some that I deserved and got away with!!!  Well there must have been really bad refs!

You may notice the Converse high top basketball shoes that cost all of $10.  AND those darn over the calf socks that I forgot for our away game at Britton in which coach Wohler was so upset he sat me for the first 4 minutes of the game.  We lost by 2 maybe because of that!!!!

Oh my goodness it is 9:00 and time to sign off.  Sonia is here today from 8:30-10:30 so I need not make sure the kitchen is clean as she will do that.  We like her to come later in the morning but family needs here in the afternoon and she has another place she goes to.

The FP is pretty much gone.  I made a chart yesterday to keep track of my day.  First on the chart is my weight and then other things.  I will try my best to exercise some discipline over the next few weeks and shed some pounds.  Like I often say, one day at a time.

Unbelievable I still can not believe it!

 TERRY

Sometimes I wonder about our medical field.  Terry fell at home in late November.  She hit her head, tore her upper left arm open and hurt her left knee.  The upper arm was stitched and X rays showed nothing else. In the next couple of weeks her left knee hurt a lot so we went into her primary doctor and met with the PA.  She agreed to order an MRI.  That was on December 21st.  We did not hear anything so I, mistakenly, assumed the MRI showed nothing but still there was this doubt in the back of my mind as to what did the MRI show.  Terry has a sore on her leg that I felt needed looking at so we made an appointment with her doctor, well the PA.  I thought "this is a good time to ask about the MRI.  I called the office and they said they never received any image of the MRI so I called the MRI place.  They referred me to records.  I received a call yesterday AM that they had sent the MRI to Dr. Costello's office so I thought "I will ask about it this afternoon(yesterday).  We arrived at the office and in a short time were talking to Deena, the PA.  After we had gone over the sore and talked about a couple of things the PA sent to be picked up I asked about the MRI.  Deena scrolled down on her laptop and there was a copy of the MRI report:

Something inside of me says we should have been informed about this and had it looked at MANY weeks ago AND if I had not brought it up we still would not know.  Now Terry has little pain in the knee now but still I am not sure what should have been done.  I did make an appointment with Dr. Hanypsiak, who is an Orthopedic surgeon, who specializes in sports medicine.  Terry will see him on Monday afternoon.  At this time her knee has little pain BUT we will see IF anything needs to be done.  I have never encountered anything like this and still do not know what to think about it.  BUT we will get some answers Monday.

It is an old story but I am off of tennis again today and tomorrow.  I asked a friend if he would hit with me for a short time tomorrow to see IF I could play Monday AM.  For the most part I have no pain in my side but from time to time I can feel it.  IF I were a betting person I would say it may be a good idea to lay off for a few more days BUT golly tennis is my one "out" for the day and I do enjoy it.  

I turned the furnace up when I got out of bed this morning as it felt chilly when I got the paper.  BUT as I look at the weather on my phone Naples takes the hot spot of all the cities I have on it.  Cayuga takes the low temp at 10 but I would say that for mid January over all the temps are pretty nice.  Here we are at 59 with a high of 66 for the day which is very chilly for here.

Terry just woke up and it is 8:45.  As I finish this she is enjoying the paper.  I know she is better as by the time I heard her and got up to see what she was doing she was with her walker in the bathroom so she is pretty able to get around.

I just had a sneeze and that darn left side let me know that it is still kind of dicy.  

I will end my blog today by starting to post items from a small book that I received at Christmas from the Lee's in South Bend.  I will add that the school that John heads and the kids go to requires fine art classes as part of the curriculum so my guess is the kids get some of this from school but I should add that Mary is VERY artistic.  She has an aunt who is a professional painter with great skill.  Anyway over the next few days I will share parts of the book.  

I would say that much of their skills come from what they learn and do in school but some comes from family and of course there are some artists in the family too.  We received painted plates with birth info on for the 3 boys done by Glorine.  Mom used paint black and white pictures that Dad printed and I think she did a nice job.  I have no idea what kind of art skills my siblings had.  Well in Dave's woodworking there was art.  Anyway these kids are pretty lucky to have a school that encourages and teaches art because I think most of us have some hidden abilities if they are brought out.  Anyway I will post a couple each day over the next week.  

I am finished for the day on the blog.  I did have my FP and it kept me going to this point of the day.  Now what? 

I can't believe I missed yesterday!

 TERRY

Terry had one session in the water yesterday.  For the next FOUR weeks she has double sessions on Tuesday and Thursday so at the end of those we will see where she is.  At this time perhaps the biggest issue is her balance   I feel she is strong enough to walk without the walker BUT her balance is not good at this point.  I feel she is getting stronger each week.  At this time we no longer use the wheelchair in the house as she moves about with the walker.  We do use the wheelchair when we go out and about.  She does have a Dr. appt this afternoon  as I want someone to look at a raised red mark on her left calf.  It is red, has had some bleeding and is raised so I feel a medical person needs to look at it.  I am guessing it is not serious but I want to be sure.  She will not see the Dr. but the PA.

I feel my left lower side is on the mend BUT no tennis yet.  I intend to give it a try Monday.  

Terry's daughter Kim is in town for a few days so we saw her yesterday and will see her again today.  She is a coach and some of her people are doing the half marathon in Naples this weekend.  

So here we are pretty much at the halfway point of January.  Hard to believe that we are already into that much of 2021.  As I look ahead to the months coming up I am wondering if we will get to Minnesota this summer.  Terry is getting better BUT 2094 Niles has 16 steps up to the bedroom and 14 steps down to the basement.  Can Terry do that in the summer months?  Not sure but we will continue to take it one day at a time and see what comes.

With all that is going on in my life I felt that maybe I needed to take a break from tennis BUT then I saw this and decided to stay on the court as long as I can!  I will say that now in normal daily life my left side is NOT painful but on the court?  I will give it a try Monday.  

Enough for today.  I finished my FP about an hour ago so I am good for the rest of the day.

Mid week and late Wednesday

 TERRY

I would say that Terry is getting a bit stronger each day.  Today as she sat in the living room she sat up. stood by the walker and went the distance of the house to the bathroom in the guest bedroom.  I do think the WT is helping and now, twice a week she is in the water for 90 minutes.  One session is labeled OT and the other is just labeled therapy.  I am hoping that by the time she finishes her current 30 days, which she just started, we can do some work in our pool at home.  The steps are a negative in our pool as the steps at WT are half the height of normal steps and that makes a big difference.  That is the steps getting in and out of the water.  So we continue on our "one day at a time' journey and I am hopeful it will end in a strong, healthy Terry.

Another day has gone by and no tennis for the 5th day.  I am hoping I can play by Monday but I am almost beginning to doubt that.  I want to get onto the court again but I do not want to start too early and have a set back.  Still, at this time, I cringe when I know a sneeze is coming as the pain will shoot through my lower left side.  It is a tiny bit better today than yesterday so we will see.

Not much more to write about today.  I am home for the most part and Terry is always open for a leg rub!  I should say it would feel great IF I could rub those legs more than I do.  

As it is now about 5:45 PM I will sign off.  No FP for the last 10 hours!

January 12 a Tuesday

TERRY

As I sit at the computer and write this morning Terry is awake and reading the paper.  She loves to read the newspaper and keep up with the latest.  I am not sure what I should do as she is becoming almost independent again.  She does not need me to help her to the bathroom etc but I do like to stay close.  It does make me nervous as she was up and about when she fell about a month ago.  Not sure keeping up with the latest these days is the best!!!  She has a double session at WT today so I am sure she will come home tired.  I think she gets evaluated which will tell us IF she can do another 30 days and then she has OT in the water.  She should be there from 1:00-2:30 or so.  I need to find something to do during that time as I do NOT want to sit in the warm humid pool for that amount of time.  

She did see Dr. Hussey (dr hurry up) yesterday.  All we wanted was to get some pain meds but maybe to get his dr fee he needed to exam with is little hammer on her reflexes!  With the restrictions on pain meds now a new rule is in place.  He could give her a month supple of two a day but we need to pick up the first week and then 7 days later pick up the last 3 weeks!  She will not take them very often and for sure not every day so I am hoping 60 pills will last a few months.  Anyway our visit to Dr. Hurry Up lasted all of 4 minutes in his office!

I am pretty bummed today.  I cancelled tennis for the rest of the week.  Not sure what I did but I THINK I strained or pulled something in my left side near my waist.  I rested it Friday-Sunday and felt I could go yesterday.  After I hit the first ball I knew I was in trouble.  There was a guy just sitting and watching and he said he could go home and get his tennis things and be back in about 15 minutes.  I played for that time but it was not pretty.  IF the ball came right to me I was OK but could not move to get a ball.  When serving it hurt to raise my arm so I just tossed the ball some and hit it.  Yesterday I iced my side  3 times and took Aleve and it seems somewhat better today BUT I cancelled everything through Sunday and MAYBE I can play next Monday.  What is a person to do if you can't play tennis???

I am also somewhat disappointed with our in home care.  For some reason Sonia wants to come at 8:00 or so.  Terry really likes it when she comes at 10:00.  Not sure what I need to do but she is coming today at 8:30 and Terry is not a happy camper.  As I often say one day at a time and life is always interesting!

Terry's daughter Kim is going to be in town starting tomorrow.  She is coming to be with some of her people who will  race in the Naples half marathon Sunday.  Not sure how much time she will spend with her mother.  Terry has not seen her since she was here and hurt herself which was way last November or October.

I meant to post this picture Sunday but forgot.  It is on January 10th of the calendar I made for 2021.

This is sister Janet with hubby John and the first Lee grandchild Esther.  I THINK Janet and John were married January 10th of 1958.  That was the beginning of the expansion of the Lee family as after that more in-laws and more grandchildren were to come.  I admit I do not remember much about that year of weddings and babies.  I turned 11 in January of 58 and I had other things on my mind.  Things like baseball and basketball and baseball and basketball and it goes on and on.  It is kind of crazy but I remember more about Harry Carey and the St. Louis Cardinals of that time than others things!!!  Even tho we said good-bye to Janet in February of 1966 we still have John and Esther in our lives which is great and then to add to the good things John brought Judi into the family as well.  Before Janet died they did have Bob and then after John and Judi married they had Becky.  As I sit and write about it things like that  seem so so long ago.  Funny what a person remembers.  I do not remember Esther being born other than Mom was so so excited.  BUT I do remember our high school band marching in Ellendale Homecoming Parade and John allowing me to drive their fancy convertible car.  Not sure if that says anything negative about me other than I was a young innocent guy in high school who was more interested in games and cars than in tiny babies!!!  Well in my innocent ways I was kind of interested in girls as well at the time.  I would be remiss if I did not add that in spite of my youth I missed Janet so much and even today 55 years later it is not unusual for her to come to mind as does Ronald as well.  That is not a sign of old age, is it?  As I think about Esther she will be 63 this year, yikes!!!  Well that means that Bryan, Bob and Quinn are not all that far behind!  Then after those there would be Becky, Roxanne and then Lisa and John are not that far behind!  Enough as I rattle on and on about the past!  Well I could mention Collen, Travis, Aaron and Cynthia as they round out the grandchildren that Mom and Dad had, all 12. 

Here it is past 8:30 and we have rain.  I guess I did not miss much of tennis today.  

Sonia came at 8:30 this morning.  Terry really would like her to continue to come at 10:00 which I guess is not possible in her schedule now.  We will see what happens but there could be change in the wind.  I hope not as Terry does like her to come.

I will sign off for this morning.  As usual life is interesting and somewhat challenging but then if that was not the case would life be boring?  I still have some FP to drink so will not start the morning work yet!

Terry is amazing!

 TERRY

To make sure people do NOT misunderstand.  Terry is not really even close to walking without the walker BUT here is the deal.  She now gets up from the bed and uses the walker all by herself to use the toilet.  Yesterday I was sitting in the living room watching a football game and as I looked up there she was in the kitchen!!!  She wanted a cookie!  I am guessing the last time she ventured into the kitchen by herself is maybe nine months ago.  Well I am not sure she could have gotten the cookie by herself but maybe!  Anyway she is now on the go to some extent!  She does have a doctor appointment with Dr. Hussey (Dr. hurry up!) this afternoon.  People claim he sees up to 50-60 patients a day.  If you are looking for a doctor to just talk about your situation forget Dr. Hussey.  We will tell him why we are they today and I am guessing we may see him for 3-4 minutes!  He prescribed some pain meds for Terry 14 months ago.  There were 60 and Terry takes one from time to time.  She is out and it is a controlled pill so she needs to see the doctor for it.  We are hoping he will allow her to get more.  I would say 60 pills in about 60 weeks should tell him she is not taking too many.  We will see this afternoon.

I do have tennis at 10:30 today.  It is a match with a couple of players who are pretty good so it should be fun.  

Sonia will be here from 10-12 today.  Yesterday Terry said she really is not crazy about paying for someone to be here BUT she does like it when Sonia is here.  I do too BUT I lost about 30 minutes of time yesterday looking for where she put the top for the chopster!  It is supposed to be on the small device but instead it was under a bowl in the bottom drawer!  It sounds like I am complaining and maybe a tiny bit but I do know that when a person goes into another person's kitchen things will be misplaced.  

Some pictures and some thoughts today.

A person would never had thought that wild hair as a baby and it stays wild as one becomes an adult!  Here is Travis in 1972 and then again in  2021.  Still has that smile but the hair and facial hair!!!!!!!!!

Well here it is already 8:30.  I need to go to the grocery store before 10:00 as Sonia comes at that time and I want to be back by then.  I have finished my FP and am ready for whatever the day brings--I think!

 TERRY

As I write it is about 7:45 and Terry is not stirring.  I am not sure if she is awake or not but as I peeked in the bedroom her eyes were closed.  I need to talk to her as soon as she is awake.  She used the bathroom twice last night on her own and I do not know how she got to the walker!  I do not remember it being near the bed but it must have been. I would say that is great progress when she can get out of bed and use the walker to go to the bathroom.  I am thinking we are getting a bit closer to walking with a cane and THEN without one!

No plans for the day.  This will be the third day in a row that I have not played tennis.  That is a first for several months.  My left side still is sore from who knows what but I am thinking I will give tennis a try tomorrow.  

I did not do a very good job of meals yesterday.  I am trying to think of something today other than left overs and as of now NO ideas.  The leftovers in the fridge are kind of old and I am thinking Terry will say NO to them.  We will see.  I did make a stew a couple days ago but Terry was not crazy about that.  Well we have plenty of food so it will just be a matter of deciding what Terry would like.  

I have some pictures today that I will post and then write some about them.  I have no more news to write about.  The following 3 pictures are of the kids.  The first is maybe in the winter of 1981 as Cynthia was born in 1980.  They are in the stairs at home and they may be there often in the winter as that was the warmest place in the house.  We may have not been very good parents!

This picture was taken in Lidgerwood at aunt Ann and uncle Otto's home.  It was their 50th wedding anniversary and a big party took place.  Gail made the jackets for the boys.  I am guessing it was around 1973/74.  Ann and Otto had a huge house that Otto kept up with his amazing skills and energy!

This is probably taken in 1975.  All three boys had hooded sweat shirts but it looks like John wanted to wear his kind of old baggy jacket!  It is on the driveway of 710 third street where we lived in Devils Lake.

Here is a picture I can not figure out.  It is at home as you can see the barn on the left and the house in the right background.  BUT HOW we got a haystack like that at home I have no idea.  I know it was NOT by the haystack mover as that happened several years later.  The only thing I can figure out is we hauled the hay home in the hayrack and then made a stack of it.  The picture says Ronald and Dave.  Well I am pretty sure it is Dave but I am not sure it is Ronald.  It almost looks like Dad but am not sure.  Ronald was 9 years older than Dave and I just think the adult looks a lot older than maybe 14 or so as I am guessing Dave looks about 5 or so.  

Here Helen and I are standing near an ice house.  I posted this in the past and Dave said it was at Grandma and Grandpas when they still were on the farm.  I think that is right as it looks like their dog, Whitey, is there.  Dave said older cousins built the ice house.  It does look like the groove of tress across the road from their farm.

Tuesday--January 15th, 1952

Dave and I are having a great time.  Here is Dave standing near the bridge just north of our farm as the snow plow comes from the north.  

The roads have been blocked for several days now.  In some ways Dave and I are sad as that darn Dad just had to fix the Ford tractor up and get Ronald to Lidgerwood for school on Sunday morning.  If Dad had waited just a few more hours it would have been too late and Ronald would have been home to play with us for a few days!  Dad did say that he was going to try to put the loader on the M tractor as that is about the only way we are going to get out of our yard.  I would say our entire driveway is about waist deep in snow and there is NO way we are going to be able to shovel out to the road.  We often look forward to mail but I am guessing there was NO mail for several days.  AND school, no school for the entire week.  We kind of just finished Christmas vacation and now another week of fun and games in the house and in the yard.  

I am glad we have the hay barn full of hay for the milking cows as we may just leave them in the barn for much of the week.  We will have to throw hay over the fence for the other cattle.  There is no way that we will be able to drive the hayrack into the barn yard for some time.  Dave and I will also have to be careful to keep the water tank full in the SE pen of the barn.  NO overflows which we are so guilty of doing!  About half of the cattle can stay in the barn much of the time but we do need to get them out and allow all cattle to get water.  

It is going to be a fun week as this snow will provide a great place to sled down the hill north of the out house.  

So it is a week of NO school, big time need of kerosene fuel in the living room and also some wood and coal for the cook stove in the kitchen.  I am guessing Dave and I played MANY games of ping pong in the kitchen as we would beg to do that anytime Mom did not need to work in the kitchen.  AND we will have Dad at home for some time.  Dad had this habit of going out and about a lot of the time.  

Dad did get a head start on things as Friday after he got Ronald from Lidgerwood he did put chains on the car as listening to the radio we knew we most likely were in for a big storm.  

Dave and I use our time well.  Between milking morning and night, shoveling some snow, getting hay to the cows, sledding down the north hill and yes card games and building blocks the week is probably our favorite of the winter.  The only thing that would have made it better is IF Dad had not taken Ronald to school but we did have him for a couple of days.  

Here it is 8:45 so time to sip the last of the FP and sign off.