Here we are two days from July as it is June 29

 TERRY

Terry is good today.  She is awake and reading the papers.  No change is good as she continuers to be OK and in a good mood.  So we will take one day at a time and rejoice in God's goodness.

Dave is celebrating his 78th birthday in heaven today.  Here is one of our cute little puppies with Dave.

One of Dad's few picture that was out of focus but maybe it was my fault when I copied it.  Here is Dave and I can't tell but it may be his 3rd birthday.  The plants in the background were pretty small.

Dave and his fluge horn.  I don't know how old he was here but I am guessing he was in his upper 60s.  He always had this youthful look!

He not only learned to play the guitar but he BUILT it also.  What a talented man he was.

I miss brother Dave a lot.  He and I were pretty close as we were 2 1/2 years apart.  Brother Ronald was 11 years older than I so by the time I was 7 he left for college.  Don't get me wrong.  Ronald was GOOD to Dave and I and did many things with or for us but not on a daily bases like Dave and I.

Not much today.  I play tennis at 9:00 and that is about it.  I may go to Costco for a couple of things but that is it.  MAYBE I should clean the house a bit, MAYBE!

I have my FP coffee so I will be good for the morning.  Yes we have HOT weather here.  I would say most days it is in the low 90s with some days having high humidity.  

Here it is 8:30 and I had better get dressed, get my tennis things and head over to the courts soon.

Here we are at Tuesday, June 28th

 

Today Mary and John celebrate their 20th anniversary.  Wow, their life is full of many good things.  Their children Henry, Liam, Audrey and Elspeth keep them busy but Mary's many many projects along with John's many projects make for a full and wonderful life.  Congrats on 20 years and may the next 20 be as exciting and full of life.

As I write Terry is reading the paper and I would say is doing about the same.  Today may be a busy day as I need to change the bedding and several other things need to be done.  But Terry keeps plugging away and is doing as well as one could expect.

We are now into the summer and there are not a lot of people still here so tennis is winding down to some degree.  I have tennis only this week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.  So today I should, I said should, get some work done so we will see.  I do think I need to make a couple of trips to the store but that should not take long.

I have begun to work on a calendar for 2023.  I have a problem.  I have TOO MANY pictures to chose from.  Well I will have to narrow things down big time in order to get it done.  As I scanned through my slides I found pictures that I had totally forgotten about so not sure I will use them or not.

Well no tennis today so we will take a walk down memory lane but if you, the reader, have things to do go ahead and do them cause there is nothing all that interesting about my life but I do enjoy sharing some of it from time to time.  So as I enjoy my FP out of my favorite cup here goes.

My three hole golf course

I had finished my one hole golf course from the house to the ditch by the mailbox.  But that just was not enough as it was short and even though I used 3 balls at a time it just did not do.  So I came up with the idea of going north across the creek to Bert's pasture.  The grass was always very short and there was a lot of space to I took a shovel, three long sticks and 3 coffee cans.  I thought I would make kind of like a triangle course so I could just go around and around.  It took me all after noon and I had some things to figure out.  His pasture was full of gopher holes and I indeed needed to avoid them but I could avoid them ONLY if I hit the ball kind of straight and that was not a given!!!  Oh, there was the other problem of mature that the cows left behind but I could not do anything about that.  So I kind of walked around the pasture and picked out a place that I felt the cows used the least.  My golf hole at home was 90 yards as that was the distance from the house to the ditch where the mailbox stood.  So I determined that I needed more space and walked off a triangle that had pointes at least 150 yards between the holes.  I made a three hole course in the afternoon and to this day I wonder if Bert ever figured out what was in his pasture.  The story was I never used it very much.  First there was the problem of mature and that just could not be avoided.  I mean I could not tell the cows to stay out of my golf course.  The second problem was all the gopher holes.  There were many and they were ALL over the place.  I think I used it maybe a half dozen times but TOO many ball got lost down the gopher holes and if that did not happen they may end up in a fresh mature so it did not take long for me to decide that my one hole course at home was the best.  I mean I still could play Player, Palmer and Nicklas with three balls and it had to be good enough.  Luckly enough I decided to scrap the 3 hole course before I lost too many golf ball down the gopher holes.  

So after my experiment I settled in to my home course and made the most of it.  I still could use the hedge to the north of the house to practice my short shots by hitting them over the hedge but that had its problems too.  I had cleaned up the area where the garage had been BUT once in a while I hit it way too hard and it ended up in a dirt field that was by the pasture.  I mean it was easy to find a while ball in the black dirt field but that got old after while.

It was much more fun when I got to Fargo when I enrolled at NDSU in the fall of 1965.  I ordered a FANCY set of clubs which included the a driver, a 5,7,9 and putter with a bag.  I ordered it from Direct Buyer club for the sum of $35!!!  That was what I used when Dave and I would golf.  We would golf at El Zagel if we did not have the time to play 18 holes.  ONCE we played Edgewood but that was too long and too expensive.  Our go to course was the Ponderosa about 15 miles east of Moorhead.  It was very hilly and woods but very fun.  I am not sure it is even open now.  My golfing when I was alone was the Town and County south of Moorhead a bit.  It was a nine hole all par 3s and it was short but fun.  

So my golfing days pretty much came to a close in 1968.  I transferred to Minot where Gail was and after marrying in June of 68 Gail graduated in 68 and I graduated in 69 as we settled in Devils Lake at the School for the Deaf.  I have now, years and years later golfed once in a while the last couple of years but I am now old, rusty and not so good.  Well I admit I NEVER was very good but I was a bit better than now.

So you have may golf history which is boring.  I close today with an empty FP coffee cup and MAYBE some energy to get some work done but I did say maybe!

Here we are as we begin the last week of June, where has the time gone?

 TERRY

Well there is nothing new for Terry.  As I write she is reading the paper in bed.  I have some concerns as she has not been in the living room for 2 or 3 weeks.  I perhaps need to encourage her in that as I do think it is good to be up and about a little.  But same today as yesterday and time moves on.

That is NOT a picture of our tennis match but it kind of could be!!!  I do have tennis at 9:00 this morning but as it stands now only twice this week.  It seems like the last of the late people are leaving for up north so it may be difficult to get matches from now on.  There are a few people who stay here all summer long but they are kind of a click and it is difficult to break into their groups.  Actually I would play if asked but I would not invite myself as they have their ideas who they want to play with if you get my drift!

One of the favorite days of the summer was the Sunday when Moms's side of the family would meet her relatives from the Minnesota side for a picnic in Glenwood MN.  That was about half way to the cities.  It would be an all day event with FOOD all the time.  Of course for the adults there was talk, talk and more talk but for the kids there would be swimming and sometimes a ballgame.  It was before interstate roads so we took the back roads to get there.  Dave would sit on Mom's side of the car and I would sit behind Dad.  To past the time we would could horses on our side of the car to see who could get the most.  BUT really the favorite things was when a Burma Shave signs came up.  Among my favorites were:  Her chariot raced 80 per.  They hauled away what had Ben Hur.  Of course there were many signs along the road and I think they are no more.  Maybe they felt they distracted drivers.  We visited a place in Wisconsin where they had all of them up on the wall.  

The day was always special for Mom.  It was her side of the family and it seemed that in visits to relatives we mostly went to Dad's side so the one Sunday in the summer was for Mom.  Of course the relatives from the Twin Cities did not get up often so that was fun.  I am not sure but I think those get togethers were maybe in the mid 50s as I do not remember them after that.  I do remember Ronald and Janet were part of them so it had to be very early 50s.  Of course you could almost bet that if we wanted to get on the road by 9:30 we would be late because Dad would decide to change oil in the car that morning!

We have a cooler day today.  Actually for the next 3 days it is supposed to be in the high 80s but most of the time it seems the highs are in the low 90s.  How about that, a cooling trend as there are not 90s for a while!

That is about all I have to say today.  Time to get ready for tennis and try to beat the heat.  

John Mouw called yesterday and it was fun to catch up a bit.  It sounds like they will be out of their house in a month or so and then will be in their much much smaller house up on the hill until they head to AZ again in maybe a couple of months.  If I remember correctly they will become residents of AZ.  Time moves on the lives change and that is all part of life.  I have half a cup of FP left so will stay on the computer for a bit but will sign off of my blog.

Here we are on the last Sunday of June 2022, it is the 26th!

 TERRY

Yes Terry is doing fine as I write this AM she is still reading the newspaper as the Sunday is always very large.  It is still one day at a time and with each day we give thanks for the life we have.  

Late August of 1962

It was early Monday morning of August 27, 1962.  I would be doing the last of the fall plowing in the afternoon but this morning I was headed to school where football practice would begin.  Yes, our first game was perhaps 3 weeks out but today we would begin fall practice and I was excited.  This would be the last year of being in the Wild Rice Conference which really made no difference to me but it did mean that next year we would be in a different conference and that would mean MORE games.  BUT what I was really excited about is it looked to me as if I would be in position to start games.  One of the ends Bob Z was coming back as a junior but the other end was a senior and I felt I could fill his place.  As the fall practices started it was a sure thing, I would be starting.  I liked basketball but what I really loved was football.  As we got into the fall Jack G. and I had the right side of the offense and defense and it would stay that way the entire season.  We lost one game but really the focus was next year when we would go into a different conference and would have more games.  It was a good season and actually the rest of high school football was good.  In my junior year we tied for first place in the conference.  It may not have been true but I felt that IF coach Hanson would have allowed me to play in the final game we would have won that too.  I had been spiked in practice as one of the players had not checked his cleats and had lost   cleat.  That meant on his right foot he had a screw and as he stepped on my leg in practice it cut a gash in my right leg.  I had it sewed up but the coach would not allow me to play in the final game.  Now my not being in the lineup maybe made no difference but I felt IF I had played we would have won. We ended up tying for first place and the reward was a bus trip to MN to watch the vikings play the Colts in a Sunday game.  It was a LONG ride as we left early Sunday AM and came back late Sunday evening but it was a fun trip.  When the season ended I as voted to be captain the next year.  Coach Hanson was gone and the next year we had a season to forget but the memory is still fresh and was a reminder of how fun Football was and how I enjoyed knocking people down.  No, it was not a violent thing I just remember the satisfaction of tackling and running the ball.  Even tho my senior year was not a winning success my 4 years of football were certainly one highlight of high school.  

So here we are at mid afternoon and it is warm out or should I say HOT.  But I will pretty much stay inside for the day and maybe watch some sports AND get some things cleaned up in the kitchen.  So much for another day but at 732 Wiggins Bay Dr. things are OK.

Here we are at the last Saturday of June 2022

 TERRY

As I write Terry is in bed with the paper and the TV on.  I would say she is same same. 

Well 85 years ago today Mom and Dad married.  I would say, without bragging, that they had 6 children who were pretty special.  Few couples endeared the hardships that they experienced.  First they lost Ronald at the age of 27.  Then they lost Janet at the age of 28.  Then the entire farm burned in 1982.  I would add that they had their faults, as most people do, but they did their best to raise a family of 6.  Mom pretty much gave everything she had to her kids.  Dad, not so much, but I would say he loved us all.  For all they gave us I am thankful for having them for my parents.

Well it is Saturday and I am not sure if I will play tennis.  I may ride over to see who is there, if anybody shows up.  I would say that of the tennis players who play on a regular bases at least 90% of them have gone north for the summer.   AND I do not blame them as we would be gone as well if Terry were well.  It almost is useless to look at the weather day to day as it is the same same same.  Lows maybe in the high 70s and highs in the low 90s!

I will write a little about my freshman year in high school.  Well a big event was the homecoming dance.  Dave did not go so I asked Dad for the car and went.  Why?  Not sure as I NEVER was a dancer in any sense.  Funny as Dad loved to dance and he went to every dance in the country.  Mom went too but not so much to dance but rather to socialize.  Anyway I drove to Forman and became one of the freshman guys who stood on one side of the dance floor and WATCHED.  At one point one of the gals came over to where the boys were standing and told me JoEllen wanted me to ask her to dance.  WHAT!!!  Well I guess I did get up the nerve to walk across the gym floor but I never thought the gym was so far across!!!  We  danced or at least were on the floor and did some kind of movement.  She put her head on my shoulder and a shiver went up and down my spine.  We must have been on the floor as the dance ended because I then asked her if she wanted a ride home.  Well she must have been a little more experienced than I as she said it would be OK to take the long road home.  Really I, at first, did not get the idea but I caught on!!!  Well the night ended up with my very first kiss.  We kind of went together the rest of the year as least I thought we did.  Summer came and I became just another boy I guess.  Following up we again became more than friends as seniors in high school.  BUT she went off to a summer camp and then the fall came and we went to different schools.  I think we had one other conversation much later in life at a high school graduation where we found out that our lives were kind of similar but miles apart.  So much for puppy love I would say!  Now, at kind of an advanced age, I can remember and have some good chuckles!!!

Well here it is 7:30 and I THINK I may TRY to get some things done today.  I will go over to the courts at 9:00 ready to play but not sure if anyone will show.  I do want to make some good food for Terry today but have not yet decided on what.  

So as I drink my FP and reminisce about the past it is time to sign off and live in the real world!

Here we are on the last Friday of June, 2022 as it is the 24th

 TERRY

Terry was awake at 7:00 looking at her phone and now she is reading the paper.  It looks like a day like most days with her doing OK but in bed.  One day at a time and we will see.

I think it will be a good day.  Here I am sitting at the computer with a large cup of FP coffee so it is off to a good start!  I have tennis at 9:00 and then I promise myself that I will get some work done.  What work? Not sure but I will get it done

Every once in a while I sit back and remember.  This morning my thoughts are with Ronald, Janet and Dave.  I think I loved all of my siblings but yet the one that I spend so so much time with was Dave.  He was 2 1/2 years older than I and 3 school grades ahead of me but we did so so much together.  Work and play often was rolled into one!  While picking rocks we could make fun in that.  Now I would say when you CAN make fun out of picking rocks that is amazing.  The fall plowing was fun too and I can not even figure out how we made fun out of that.  AND then in our free time we made wooden guns and playing cops and robbers or maybe it was cowboys and Indians!  AND yes there was the corncrib for a back ground as we played baseball and at times we could get Ricky to play with us as he lived half a mile north by the lake.  

Then there was the awful summer of 1960 I think.  Dave kind of had it with Dad.  I say that but yet he did more things for Dad in his adult life than I ever thought about.  BUT with Ronald and I think John was still in Kulm too he got an offer to work for a farmer west.  He jumped at the chance to earn money and to be honest get away from Dad as well.  So my ping pong guy, my hay stacking guy, my rock picking guy, my play baseball guy and much more flew the coop so to speak and left for the summer.  There would be no more choke cherry eating in the truck as we waited for Dad to get the combine full so we could unload it.  Of course I did not blame him in any way but my workmate and my playmate was gone for the summer.  Oh, I found things to do when not working on the farm but it was not the same.  I spent time cleaning up the old garage that had fallen to the weather.  I spent time cleaning up the old hog foundation that had been an eye sore for so many years.  And yes, I spent more time on the roof of the barn dreaming of days ahead when I felt I could travel the world and see more!!!  But it was a good lesson.  It taught me that life moves on and there is no promise that next week will be the same as this week. 

Today I will recall the LAST day of school at Wood Lake.  We knew that it was the end of a time.  Next year we would be loaded into a bus and for the next 9 years I would spend hours and hours in a bus going and coming home from school.  I figured out that if you counted a work week as 40 hours over the next 9 years I would spend about 50 work weeks in that yellow school bus!!!  Yes, it was not all bad but that is a lot of time sitting and sitting waiting to get to a place and going home again.  Anyway here I was going to my last day of county school.  

It was May 27th and the last day of school.  Our teacher said we would not do any work on the last day.  What we did do was WALK to Lake Tewauken and have a game of ball and then have a picnic.  We would make a ball field on the SE corner of the grounds and have a great time.  We then had a picnic and that was it for the day.  The lake was only a half mile from our farm so when it was finished we just walked home.  It was really a fun but really a sad day for us.  No more walking to school. I admit that some of the time we would have liked a ride but those times were few and far between.  It was walk the half mile south to the road and then head east for a mile to the school.  Often we would see Aunt Bertie in her kitchen window as we walked past her house.  Country school was comfortable and safe. It seemed like our own little place were we could learn, enjoy recess and noon lunches with peaches etc. from the government.  Often we would hope the teacher would allow us to have an extra 5 minutes to play ball or play in the snow.  I admit that in the fall it did not take long for us to feel at home in Cayuga but going from 12 kids in 8 grades to 24 kinds in grades 3 & 4 was kind of a shock.  

So school was a learning situation in more ways than one.  I found out in Cayuga that some of the kids were not all that nice.  I really found out that the school hot lunch was OK but I really liked the lunches Mom made better!  In high school I got into sports and that was wonderful.  I must say I did get interested in the opposite sex as well and that was OK but IF I were to do it over I may do things differently.  

So what I did find out was life is ever changing.  AND one does not always have choices as often things happen and you have no control so roll with the punches and make the most of it.  Well here it is time to get ready for tennis and see if I can hit any winning shots on the courts today.

I skipped a day!

 TERRY

As I write it is past noon.  Terry is finished with the paper and I suppose I need to find something to eat for lunch.  Today, yesterday and tomorrow seem to be kind of all the same.  So we take it one day at a time and try to live in the moment!

I did not have tennis today.  The tennis players are becoming fewer as the summer months hit.  Many, I mean most players are now in their norther homes for a few months.  And some of the players whom I have been playing with over the last few weeks are headed north as well so the tennis days may be few and far between.  Actually the way I feel that maybe is not a bad idea.  For some reason I have been kind of feeling not normal.  Nothing serious but still not as I would expect to feel and that may be due to OLD age so to speak.  I tend to THINK a bit younger than 75.  Yes, there are many many players who are that age and older but still 75 is not the new  45 for sure.  

I do have some projects to keep my busy for some time so I will try not to miss tennis so much IF I only play once in a while.  

I tried to post a picture of Mike Petteway as he would have been 78 today if my math is correct.  He and Dave were only 8 days apart in age but they both have passed on and they are so so missed.  

No I am just not in the mind set to write a lot today so will close it for now.  Maybe I should just try to get some more order in this house but it is not really an interesting thing for me to think about now!!

Here we are on the right date and I will even post it today!!!

 TERRY

Terry is awake, is reading the paper and has not even turned on the TV yet!  I would say she is about the same as the past days.  

I do have tennis at 9:00 AM.  I did go over to the courts at 7:30 and they are dry but there was nobody playing at that time.  This time of the year few play but usually there are some but not today.  

Other than tennis I have nothing planned for the day.  Maybe I will do some work on a 2023 calendar as I started that yesterday.  OH, I could clean up the house, do the dishes and get some work done on folding clothes etc.  Yes, there is work to be done around here IF I get to it.  I do have a trip to Costco later today for some things.  

About two weeks ago we had a new fridge put in as the old one gave out.  I have never had an appliance that I could not hear when it is on.  IF I take notice and listen I can tell if it is on on running or not but as I do things around the house I do not hear it.  I did check the temp and it is working!!!

As I was sitting at the desk yesterday and remembering back on the farm I thought of some ways I spent my time.

Well to be honest I spent much time wanting to be someplace that would have been more exciting.  Not that the farm was boring but as a young kid the outside world always sounded more exciting.  I am now at the age of 75 and I promise living in the outside world is NOT always exciting!

 I did have some golf clubs.  Ronald gave me a #9, #7 and a #3 iron.  At times I would take the #9 and go north of the house.  We had a hedge about 2 feet tall that was about 10 feet long.  I would take a plastic ball and the #9 iron.  I would see how close I could stand to the hedge and pop the ball over it.  NOT all that exciting but for me it was kind of fun.

Dave and I used the vise in the garage a lot.  It was huge and not really used for much but that was what we would put a piece of wood in and use a coping saw to make a wooden gun.  Of course after making a couple of guns we would have to play cops and robbers!

We had the north part of the barn for hay.  I would say it was about 1/3 of the barn which was only one store.  Many farms had two story barns with hay on the second floor but not ours.  Much of the time there was enough space in the hay part to play.  Dave and I put up a 5 gallon pail with the top and bottom cut out and put it up on the wall for basketball!  I would spend hours in the barn pretending I was a STAR player and usually my team won!!!

Then there was the south side of the barn.  In the summer the cows would be in the pasture all the time so I would put the scoop on the Ford tractor and smooth out the barn year near the barn.  I would then use a rubberized ball to throw against the barn wall and play baseball.  I often would be Warren Spahn and behind me would be Eddie Matthews, Joe Adcock and the rest of the Braves.  Of course we would play against the Yankees and even though in real life they lost 2 of the 3 World Series to the Yankees in my ball field the Braves always won!

As I have said many times in the past one of my favorite things was to climb the light pole by the barn door and lay on the west side of the barn roof.  If I were waiting for Dad to come home I could see the car two miles to the west.  Or I could close my eyes and be any place in the world by flying in a HUGE plane.  By a big margin it beat doing any work that I was supposed to be doing!

At times I would take the 22 Winchester rifle that Ronald had given me.  He cut the barrel down and made the stock to fit me.  I THINK I actually became a fairly good shot when blackbirds perched in the groove of trees be the shop.  I became a good friend of all the cats we had as they viewed the birds as a feast!  As I have said before IF either Dave or I took our rifle out the other one had to stay in the house.  That was a result of cousin Robert being in a shooting accident where he died.  

One of my favorite things was after a rain.  We had a low spot in our driveway and water would always settle in that spot.  It took great skill and thinking to drain it after a rain!!!

Enough of the past today.  I have tennis in about a half hour so I need to be the the "real" for a while.   

 

 

 

 

We are at June 20th, 2022

 TERRY

Terry is awake and reading the paper.  I would say there is no change today.  

Well I have tennis at 9:00 AM and that is about it for the day.  Today is a holiday so I have no idea what is open and what is closed.  I did send something off in the mail that was important and they said it would not arrive until Tuesday because of the holiday.

I have begun to work on a 2023 calendar so I have pictures all over the place.  I have not decided on a theme and am open IF anyone has a good idea for a theme for 2023.  I was not sure I would do a 23 calendar but I have time on my hands so why not!

I am not sure if I mentioned Dave's birthday 2 weeks ago.  He would have been 78 if he was still with us.  He was an amazing man.  Fixing cars to making wooden things to playing music he could do it all.  I do think he would have been a renascent man if I understand the meaning of that!  He actually took after Dad in that regard as Dad could overhaul an engine.  He could wire a house.  He could make gun stocks and of course his photography skills were amazing.   I would never compare myself to either Dave or Dad but I promise I can make a mean cup of coffee IF that counts for anything!

As I sit and think about what to write about today some of the thoughts I have are:

• Much of the time when I think about the  "past" deer hunting comes up.  The deer, the people and the landscape were all great.  AND of course grinding up 100+ pounds of deer meat with almost unlimited burgers that day was the best!
• I think about driving cement truck in the summer.  One summer when I had to quit because of school we had to wait 6 weeks for my first pay check.  Somehow we found a summer check that was never cashed in the file that carried us over until I got school pay.
• The 3 summers I went to summer school for my masters were interesting to say the least.  One summer I was in a room by myself.  One summer I stayed at Gail's aunt and uncle's house and one summer I stayed with community people.  Each summer I left early Monday AM with a cooler of food that carried me over all week.  NO money to eat out and I usually could make my schedule so that I could arrive home on Thursday.  I don't think I ever thanked Gail enough for caring for the boys during that time.  As one can guess at times they were more than a handful.  I do remember Mom and Dad coming to my graduation and then having a picnic afterward.  I was honored that they would come way up to Grand Forks for that.
• Of course I can not forget staying in a tent at a campground outside of Lincoln NB for 6 weeks as I went to summer school.  Twice John woke up in puddle of water!  We invited friends from school over more than once for dinner over the fire.
• I still can feel the bump bum as I drove to school in Devils Lake with chains on the car over snow covered roads.  Devils Lake must not have had good road plowing.
• How about after school snacks when we went to Wood Lake School!  Sometimes when we arrived home after walking the mile and a half there on the kitchen table would be crackers filled with frosting.  It was a special treat.

No that is enough of memories.  Of course there are many many many more but maybe another time.  I am going to get ready for tennis as it is close to 8:30 and tennis is at 9:00.  As one can see my childhood was a bit different than most kids today and for sure different than my grandkids for sure.  Times change and sometimes I wonder if it is for the better!!!

Here is the beginning of a serious woodworker who made beautiful things.

I guess I needed to tell him about the right saw but Aaron made it work!

Some how  I did not post this yesterday so here is Monday's blog on Tuesday!

Here we are at June 18th

 TERRY

Terry is reading the paper as I write.  She woke up about 7:00 and is doing fine.  I would say over the last few days she is good.

 So it is 8:30 and I just may wander over to the tennis courts this morning to see who is there.  I usually do not play on the weekends but I may today.  If there are too many or too few I will come home.

I will again try to get a an important letter off today.  I tried Thursday and it did not get there as I over nighted it.  I will try again today but will require a signature so that should help.  We will see.

Well here it is the 19th as I got sidetracked and did not finish yesterday.

First a happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there.  I hope the day is special and you Dads get the praise that you deserve.

I will spend most of my blog on the day, Fathers Day.  I am so thankful for Dad.  Was her perfect?  No, in fact he was far far from that in some ways.  BUT I loved him and as I grew up I wanted to spend time with him.  During the times he would hit fly balls to Dave and I in the yard I could see him playing baseball as a young man.  In the first years of his marriage the local guys had a baseball team and the girl friends or wives would be there to watch.  I thought he was probably a very good player!

He was a very talented man.  He could overhaul an engine.  He could shoot with the best of the guys.  He could wire a house and he did several of them.  He was unmatched as a photographer which he did for a living as I think he took 100s of wedding pictures.  

I craved spending time with him.  I really don't know why as he was not a big talker but just to be with him was grand.  He was a doer.  From bale hooks to rope making to using the forge to make things he could create what he wanted.  So I have great memories of Dad on this day.

On to our family.  I am so proud of John, Aaron and Mike.  They are great fathers and deserve the very best today.  I hope they have a great day.

I really have little to say today.  I think I will let it be as it is with my writing and sign off for now.  I do have my FP so will linger on the computer for a time before I go on to something else.

Dad where he shined, hunting and photography.

Here we are at June 17th, Friday

 TERRY

Terry is up and reading the paper.  She is doing about the same.  No big plans for the day.  I MAY need to get some house work done but only after 9:00 tennis!  Hard to believe we are pretty much in the early part of summer as the temps here in Naples almost daily hit around 90!  As they say, "It is warm but if you do not like it move!"

John and I went out for lunch and from there I took him to Punta Gorda to catch his plane back to South Bend.  He sent me a note later in the day that he had landed so all is good.  I know that he is in the middle of BUSY family times with Elspeth going into 4th grade if I remember right and John entering college with Liam and Audrey in between so his and Mary's days are full, full and full.  I so appreciated his visit as I know he could have spend 4 days at home with much to be done so a huge thank you for spending time with me.  He did get to work out in the fitness area here and he did watch some of my tennis.  I agree my tennis is not much to watch but it is what it is.  It was so much fun fishing for a day.  We did try for a time go hook a Tarpon but no such with that but we did reel in plenty of fish and let all of them go again.  The catch and release was kind of like my fishing days at Lake Teweaukon when I was growing up but the tiny perch I caught and released were not in the same league as fish her in Florida!!!

If or when I fish again I think I would go with a guide where you would keep some of the fish.  BUT Wednesday the fun part was it was only John and I so it was a bit more personal as we got to talk to the captain a lot and get some of his knowledge of fishing.  Next time maybe a Tarpon!!!

I am in the process of gathering pictures for my 2023 calendar.  It is a fun time to go over the several hundreds of pictures I have to find a big cohesive idea for the year.  I have narrowed it down a bit but it needs more work to be done.

I actually have a goal in mind today.  It is way too easy to let things slide and slide in terms of an orderly home but today I will clean out the den to look nice again.  It really is not that bad but a little work will do wonders for it!

Well here it is 8:30 and almost time to get ready for tennis.  It will be interesting to see how things go in the weeks ahead as several more people will leave for the summer so I do not know IF there will be players for me to play with.  As in any place there are kind of unspoken groups of tennis players here.  Of course they are kind of by level of play but still there can be and SHOULD be some crossover but time will tell.  

Anyway the FP is almost gone and time to get ready.  

Here we are at Thursday

 TERRY

Terry is doing OK today.  Yesterday John and I went on a fishing trip so she was home alone for some time.  Heidi came over once and she was OK but I do not think I will do that again any time soon.

John has been here since Sunday late night or should I say EARLY Monday AM!  He is leaving this afternoon but it sure has been nice having him here for a while.  I do not think I have been a very good host but then that is not my gift.  Anyway I do hope he has had a relaxing and good time.  

Not a lot today as I do have tennis this morning at 9:00 AM and then John needs to leave for the airport at around 2:30 I think.

I will end my writing with a picture of some of the fish we caught yesterday.  Fun time on the water but with other things on my mine it was an OK day but not great.  We had hopes of getting a Tarpon on the line but no such luck.

Here are a couple of Jacks that we caught.  We let everything we caught go back into the water but it was fun to land them.

Enough for today but will get on line tomorrow and stay on a bit longer.

Here are at Sunday, June 12th and Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there!

TERRY

As I write it is 8:30 and Terry is awake and has the TV on watching a cooking show.  She is same same so that is good.  As is always the case we take one day at a time and at our age why not.  Both Mom and Dad lived into their mid 80s so just maybe I have time left!

Air, air, air and it is nice.  Two guys were here from 9:00 AM yesterday to about 3:00 PM and finished putting the AC in.  It is now a comfortable 77 and we are thankful.  This new unit is so quiet it is hard to tell when it is on or off.  Well for the price it should be GOOD.  Tomorrow our new fridge will come.  They will install it and take the old one away.  I do not know if the old one was good or bad in terms of age but I do know it was in it's teen years and failing in health. Now days new things like that do NOT have the longevity that things used to have, for sure.

Well today is Sunday and we will go down memory lane for a time.  I do like to take pictures so will share some from the past and maybe tell a little about them.

I am pretty sure this is Aaron's first grade teacher.  AND I am pretty sure he liked her a lot.  

Here is Travis.  At one time he was a BIG Pac Man fan and so Gail made him a Pac Man cake for his birthday.  By the looks of the candles it may have been #11.

Here is John before we moved out of Old Main.  He knew he was not supposed to fool around with the phone so go figure!  Interesting way to use the phone too!

Well the boys thought it was great fun to fool around with Cynthia when she was young.  Here they are in the basement.  I am glad they did not shut the door!

Yes indeed.  Aaron showed us at a very young age what his interest was going to be as he became an adult.  And this was the first of MANY wonderful projects.  Nice hat Aaron!

This is one of my all time favorite pictures.  We often went out to Sullys Preserve and did the auto loop to see if we could see the wildlife.  Here is Aaron half out of the car looking at all the animals.

I am guessing this is 1984 Christmas.  Along with cousin Lisa they are acting out a Christmas song at Grandpa and Grandma Saunders farm.

I will throw one of Amy and Aaron in for good looks!  Not sure what it was but maybe it was Halloween party.  I would say they look pretty sharp and even a little sexy.

Not sure what the occasion is but maybe they have some fudge on the fork.  I am guess it was taken in 1973.

So there is my blog for the day.  Here is hoping that John, Aaron, Mike and any other father who happens to read this today has a special day.  

Here we are on the day my first of 14 grandchildren will graduate from HS, way to go Henry!

 Terry

Terry is reading the paper in bed as I write.  She is same same as in the past many days.  So as usual it is one day at a time for both of us.

As I write I am waiting for the AC people to come as they said they would be here between 8-9.  I am not sure if I should play tennis or not as they will be here for several hours.  We will see.

Here it is 12:45 PM and the AC unit is about 2 hours away from being operational!  They came about 9:00 and said they should be finished about 3:00 or before.  There are 2 guys and they are working ALL the time.  

I did play some tennis this morning.  I played for about 45 minutes but as long as there were 5 guys I begged out and said I should be home with the AC guys there.  

Today Henry is graduation from HS so at the end of the day he is set for the summer and looking forward to Notre Dame in the fall.  I think he is interested in some kind of engineering and I am guessing Notre Dame is a good starting place.  I would have liked to take it in but life is what it is so will try to be happy just wishing him well!

When it rains it pours.  Monday Home Depot  is coming with a new fridge!  With the cost of a new fridge and a new AC Terry and I may be on the street begging for a while.  Well to be honest that is not the case as we are lucky enough to be able to pay for things BUT NOT too many things can happen in the near future or we will be on wondering when things will stop braking down!

It is PM and I am out of words for now.  I will be happy to have AC in a couple of hours as the temp in the house is in the upper 80s and that is not so good.  

Of course the FP is long gone and I am ready to get some cleaning done as I think John is coming tomorrow.  All is well that ends well!

We are at the second Friday of June 2022 and it is the 10th!

 TERRY

As I write it is 7:45.  Terry is with the paper and the TV.  She had a tough night or should I say WE.  She was up with things to be taken care of three times during the night and that does not do much for ones sleep!!!  But she seems to be in good spirits and I am kind of in good spirits😉.

I have tennis at 9:00 AM. today.  I do not even know who I play with but some time ago I wrote Tennis on Friday at 9:00 so I will show up.

We may be in for a real challenge.  Our AC unit went out yesterday.  I am waiting for the repair person to call me back this morning.  I called at 7:40 as he asked but he did not answer his phone.  The unit is maybe 20 years old and the repair guy said this.  "You can get a part for it at a cost of $1550.  You can replace the unit for around $7000.  With the age of the unit it is maybe a 50/50 that the unit could be fixed and be OK for some time or the unit could be fixed and go out again fairly soon.  😂😂I think either way there will be a lot of money spent.  In the mean time, whatever happens, it is not going to be fixed tomorrow I am sure.  That leaves us in a home with no AC and temps each day into the low 90s.  We may need to get out swim suits on and live in the pool!!!  I forget Terry does not get into the pool now so that is not a choice.  Maybe we can pretend we are back in North Dakota on a farm like ours and the AC consisted of windows on the west and windows on the east to be open all the time!!!  BUT we are kind of long in tooth now so IF the repairs or replacement can not be done soon we may break down and get a window unit that is good for one room and just live in the bedroom for a time.  What the heck as a married couple we should have a blast, right???

Well time will tell.

With Dave's death being two years ago Monday I should tell at least one story of how Dave and I got along.  I will add, before I start, that we had a wonderful relationship but as brothers 2 1/2 years apart there were times when things got a bit dicy.  Mom tells this story of how we scared her from time to time. She said she would be working in the kitchen and see these two streaks (that may be an over statement) go past the west window.  It would be Dave chasing me.  I tell you Dave was older and faster but there were times when it was necessary for me to kick in the after burners and I could stay ahead of him!  I have no idea what caused him to be angry with me as I was such a nice kid!!!  AND that did not happen very often but when it did there needed to be a lot of real-estate between us.  I do not remember if he ever caught me but I am sure he must have.  Well I am here today with no permanent signs of abuse so it must not have been too awful.

Actually I do not remember what Dave did when I went on my alone times on the barn roof.  Many times in the summer I would climb the light pole by the barn and lay on the west roof and dream.  It was never Dave and I so he must have been doing something important and yes that certainly could have been true.

Well here it is almost 8:30 and tennis is calling at 9:00 so I will sign off.  I hope and pray that our AC, in some way, gets fixed soon.  

Here we are at Thursday, June 9th.

TERRY

I would say Terry is the same.  She has been awake for some time and now has the paper to read.  There is nothing new to write about as she gones on day by day.  She has not been out of bed now for some time and that is not so good but she really is comfortable so that is good.  I would say she is the same today as she has been over the last months so that is good.

I went shopping at the grocery store yesterday and almost dropped what I had in my hand as I stopped at the soup to get some cream of celery and cream of mushroom.  I have done a little searching from the past to see what soup has been selling for.  In 2007 soup could be bought for $.20 and way back in 1973 you could find it for $.12 a can.  Yesterday I needed a can of cream of celery soup and the cost was $2.00 a can!  I could almost not believe it but yes, for sure, the clerk rang it up at that price!!!  I have known that prices are going up on everything but soup at $2 a can had me wondering where are things going??

Henry, the oldest of the 14 grandchildren, graduates from HS this Saturday.  Next year he will be at home on the campus of Notre Dame.  It got me thinking about the past.  

I graduated in 1965 and there was no graduation party.  I think some kids had them but I am not sure.  So we went to Sargent Central to take in the ceremony and then headed home.  I am not even sure I got a present but maybe I got a suitcase.  I had a good chuckle as I remember seeing a picture Dad had developed of, at the time, my girlfriend Jo Ellen and I after graduation.  It was so funny as I think that was one of the last times I saw her!!!  

Fast forward to my kids.  Graduation parties were "in" and we did have them for HS and also I do believe there were small parties for college too.

I would in the worst way like to make the parties of my grandkids but for Henry it is not to be as I can not leave Terry for that amount of time.  So a card and a gift will have to do.  

I should say that with the graduation of Henry the parties will come almost on a yearly bases.  I do not remember what grade all the kids are in but I do know this:

Liam in 2024, Leo in 2025, Faustina in 2025, Audrey in 206 etc etc etc.  I hope I have those kids in the right years.  After Audrey nine more are to come!

I will end with a bit about colleges.  In the late 80s and into the 90s John, Travis, Aaron and Cynthia went to college.  I do think their cost for one year was in the range of 15,000 - 25,000.  Of course they all received help but in the end they had to pay college off after graduation.  So the next generation are my grandkids.  I do think their college, if they attend, will be way way more.  I know that colleges across the country with big names can cost as much as $50,000-$80,000. a year.  Now getting to my college expenses.  My undergraduate years were 1965-1969.  In my freshman year my total expenses at NDSU were $1300 and that included EVERYTHING.  I was able to come out with no debt my first year with financial help and 20 hours of work study a week.  By the end of my 4 years I owned something like $1800 total and being in special education I got 15% deducted yearly so I never had to pay any back.  My my how times have changed.  I am wondering if the value of college today is any better than back 55 years ago???

So here it is almost time to get ready as I have tennis at 9:00 today.  I am really looking forward as I think John is coming for a visit this Sunday.  I am not sure how long he will stay but regardless of how long he stays it will be great to see him.  

So with my FP gone and my blog finished for the day I will sign off.

It is Tuesday, June 7th of 2022

 TERRY

There is nothing new about Terry.  As I write she is reading the paper and has NOT yet turned on the TV.  So it is one day, again, at a time and we live in the present for sure.  

As I write today I am kind of in the "memory lane" mode so to speak.  Looking back at yesterday, the day Dave died 2 years ago, got me thinking.  Thinking of ALL or I should say the many things in my life that were affected by by siblings.  

I feel we were a fairly close knit family being on a farm 10 miles from any town.  AND by towns I am talking about Geneseo and Cayuga.  By todays standards they perhaps would not even be in the "town" category.  When I was growing up, that is in grade school anyway they actually were places where you could get most things that you needed.  For sure Cayuga was that.  The stores in Cayuga were much more than Geneseo.  Kiefer Brothers implement store was by far the largest around.  They sold equipment of the International Brand and they had a fix it shop that could fix anything.  We did not need that as Dad was a mechanic by trade actually.  In his early 20s he spend 2 winters in Aberdeen SD learning how to overhaul engines.  But of course every town of any size had to have a liquor store and Cayuga had TWO.  Then there was Bud's grocery store and for the most part you could get most things there that you needed.  Of course there was the post office.  When I was a little guy there actually was a bank but by the time I was in middle grades that was closed.  The last two stores in town were Cecil's cafe and the store that bought cream and eggs.  We would bring in crates of eggs and 5 gallon cans of cream.  Once in a blue moon Dad would ask if I wanted a burger at the cafe. During my school days Cayuga had a school that was 1-8 grades and up to the time that I was maybe in 4 grade or so there was a high school as well.  Joan may have been the first class to graduate from Sargent Central as Cayuga HS school closed.  But like many many of the small towns things got smaller and smaller and the population got less and less.  I have not idea how many people are now in Cayuga but not a lot.  I should also mention that there was a gas station until the middle or upper 50s as well. 

I was in the middle of writing and somehow got off track.  Will post this now.

Here we are at the first Monday of June 2022 and it is the 6th

 TERRY

It is 8:45 and as I write Terry is reading the paper.  She was awake and looking at her phone when I woke about 8 or so.  I would say she is the same today as yesterday.

Two years ago today I received a phone call that that I did not want to hear.  Marlys was on the phone and telling me that Dave had passed away.  He was 3+ week away from his 76th birthday and way way too young to leave us.  He left us as a lover of music, an extremely skilled woodworker and and man of great faith in our God.  I am sure he had many other talents as well.  How many people have built a house like he did?  But I will actually end my blog today with some pictures of how Dave spent his time.

He was a lover of music.  I should add he was handsome with this youthful look of someone much younger than he.

He built THREE guitars and taught himself to play and presented me one of the three! 

And of course he was a self taught mechanic and here is a van he restored!  One of manh vehicles.

We always had dogs on the farm and I believe this was Tiny!

So I end my blog today with a tribute to brother Dave.  I tell you I was the luckiest guy in the world to have such talented siblings like Ronald, Janet, Joan, Dave and Helen.  Of course Mom and Dad could do many many things so the apple does not fall far from the tree so to speak.  The Lee family was truly a family of talented people.

It is now 9:15 and time to get some things done before 10:30 tennis.

Here we are at the first Sunday of June, it is the 5th.

 TERRY

As I write it is 8:00 and Terry is reading the paper.  She is doing well and I would say we are fine.  So it is one day at a time and we will enjoy life as it comes.

The weather in Naples is pretty much amazing.  Yesterday at noon the sky began to clear as we we thankful for the rain, all 7 1/2".  By night fall if you would have just come to Naples you would have had NO idea of the rain we just had.  I think back on the farm and that much rain would have been felt for days and days but here it just kind of disappears!  So we had the first storm of the hurricane season and it was no big deal.  I wonder what #2 will  bring?

OK, I admit, I did NO work yesterday so the dining room table is still covered with papers that need attention and and kitchen is still kind of a mess.  BUT today is a new day and MAYBE things will change and then again maybe not!!!

I do have a HUGE load of clothes in the washer/dryer area that need attention so will try to take care of that but who knows what else I have to do!!!

Today I will go back many years in time.

The summer of 1959

    The summer of 1959 came and with it many changes came with it.  Dave, who was going to be a sophomore in HS flew the coup so to speak.  In the past I have said that I know Dad thought more of Dave than of me BUT still often they were like oil and water.  So I am guessing Ronald suggested Dave come to Kulm for the summer and work for a farmer there.  Of course with our farm work Dad did not need both Dave and I and it would give Dave a chance to earn some money.  So then the school year was over Dave left and with it created a BIG void in my life.  Don't get me wrong.  I understood why he left and did not blame him in any way but still I was facing a summer of uncertainty in many ways.  Some of the adjustments that I had to make were:

There would be no more playing around when the rocks were to be picked.  When Dave and I picked rocks we kind of made a game of it by seeing how far we could throw some of them.  By holding onto the back of the rock wagon and sliding our barefeet in the dirt as the other one of us drove the tractor.  At the rock pile seeing who could hit a certain rock with their throw and more and more things as well.

I meant the end of our summer ball games as we would often play ball against the corncrib.  It is hard to play a one man game of ball.  BUT I did end up playing against the south barn wall and that worked well. 

It meant that there would be NO chokecherry spitting contests during harvest as who wants to compete against one self?

It meant there would be no racing with the bikes up to the lake as who wants to race against oneself?

It meant I had to find something to do with my time as there was often down time on the farm and one did not want to sit around the house.  There was no TV and the daytime radio was not for me.

There were times when Dave and I were able to get Ricky, from a half mile north, to play ball but it seemed that did not work out now with just two of us.

In the rain filled days Dave and I would play the card game "Touring" or several of the other games we had in the house but a game of ONE did not work very well.

It also meant that I was the one to get the cows from the pasture and get the milking done.  I mean with Shorthorn cows that was not a big deal but somehow it was not nearly as much fun as with two people.  Well I should say milking was really NOT fun but with two it was not boring either.

So the summer came and of course as all kids would do I adjusted.  I found things to do like cleaning up the old hog barn.  Like making sure the grass was mowed.  Like creating my 90 yard golf course with the putting surface in the ditch by the mailbox.  What did I do for a putter?  I took a wood that was not usable oat 90 years and took it apart.  Then I drilled a hole in the top of the wood and put the shaft into it.  It was crude but workable.  Another store is in making it I had my hand on the top of the huge drill press and my hand slipped.  My thumb was in the way as the drill shot up and I ended up tying my thumb UP onto the bed rail to keep it up for the night.  Another story for sure.  A side note was when Dave gave me the guitar years later that he had made he said it was in part to make up for leaving me alone on the farm for those years when he worked near Kulm.  Little did he know that yes it was sometimes lonesome but I invented ways to keep busy and actually those were good years BUT of course they would have been more fun with Dave at home.  

So here it is 9:00 AM and I need to get onto something else so will close.  I would say that I am thankful for my growing up years but then of course thay always could have been better!!!

 

 

 

We are in the middle of a gully washer so to speak!

 TERRY

Terry is awake and reading the paper as I write.  She is same same as always.

We are in the middle of a rainy many many hours.  I think it started raining yesterday morning as our tennis was cancelled.  Here we are more than 24 hours later with the rain gauge showing 7 1/2" of rain and it is still wet outside.  Of course I have no complaints if the hurricanes stay away.  I am guessing there will be NO tennis this weekend and not so sure of Monday either.  The pool is as full as it get as at a certain point it is on overflow and it drains into the trees behind our house.

This rain reminds me of some of the times on the farm when we had heavy heavy rains.  There was a low spot in our driveway and also rain would drain from our garden area into the low spot and then into a large grassy area beyond that.  More than once after heavy rains I would take my shoes off and spent much time being an engineer as I made ditches etc for the water to drain.  Of course Mom made sure I did NOT got out in the heavy rain but would make me wait until it stopped.  Fun times to think about as one gets into the OLDER years!!!

There is really not much if anything to write about today.  I may get to Costco to get some things but other than that it is a stay in the house day AND maybe get some things cleaned up and put away.  

Terry is doing the same as usual.  She has not gotten any stronger but has not declined either so that is very good.   We wil take it one day at a time and make the most of it.

Perhaps I can write a bit about draining water past the driveway on the farm.

We had a driveway that was perhaps 90 yards long as it came into the yard.  I know because my one hole golf course was from where we parked our car to the ditch near the mailbox which was right on the right side of the road.  Later when Bert's were forced to sell their farm to the wildlife the mail man came from the south.  At that time Dad moved the mail box to the right side of our driveway.  That meant the mailman could turn into our driveway drop the mail off and back up and leave again.  

Well back to my rainy day activities,  There was a low area in our driveway about halfway between the road and our house.  Most of the time it was fine but if we got a heavy rain there would be a huge muddy area in the road.  Dad's way of getting around that was to just drive to the south a bit into the grass and it would be fine.  Never did he think about filling in the low sport to fix it!!!  Anyway there was a small ditch from our garden to the low spot so much water would flow from the garden area thought the low spot and into the large grassy area to the south.  With a heavy rain the water would build up and that was where I would have my fun.  I would spent hours, really hours, making tiny ditches for the water to drain.  Then at time I would make a little creek and so the water would drain in one place.  It was kind of the perfect place for a young boy to pass many hours after a rain storm.

I pledge to get the table cleared of papers today.  I promise to report tomorrow to tell of my sucess or my failure!

Something I do not understand.  It seems no matter if I make a meal or not there is always dirty dishes!!!  I Kind of think someone comes in the night and makes a mess for me!  Anyway that is how I tell myself that the work does not get done.  

I will end today with a picture.  It was in the Wall Street Journal paper today.  It is an albine Galapagos baby turtle and it's mother.  I wonder how long it takes to be full grown???

That is it for today.  My FP is still half a cup so will be on the computer for a while longer but will sign off of my blog.

Here we are at the first Friday in June, the 3rd

 TERRY

I would say Terry is about the same.  She woke up before 7 AM this morning and is now with the paper and TV on.  

Well I think we are in for a wet few days.  NO storms are predicted but much rain.  The forecast show we could get 7+".  It started raining last night so NO tennis today and maybe for the weekend as well.  The effects from the storm are supposed to come later today with rain and moderate winds.  If this is the first of the warning about hurricane season it is mild to say the least.  We actually can use the rain but not so sure so much in such a short time.  Anyway my tennis equipment is in the corner of the den and will sit there for some time I am sure.

There are really no plans for the day.  Well I could get busy and clean up some scattered messes in the house but really no fun in that, right!

For some reason I did not finish and post this yesterday.

So here is the first Thursday of June

 TERRY

As I write it is now 7:00 AM and Terry is with the paper.  No news is good news I would say as Terry is the same as yesterday.  So as always it is one day at a time and we are so thankful for all that God has given us.  

    I will have to let Agatha, Cynthia's daughter, know that she now is famous.  Hurricane Agatha is approaching Florida and will arrive tomorrow.  It will bring strong winds and much rain.  Not like our Agatha who is fisty but loving and warm hearted!!!

    I have tennis today at 9:00 today.  I think that is about the only thing on my agenda for the day.  I may actually get some work done with loose papers here in the house but I will not promise as surprised often come into play.

I will talk about Daves and my golfing days when we both lived in Fargo.

Four golf courses that we play on

    Dave and I played on three golf courses most of the time and actually two of them almost all the time.  Our favorite was the Ponderosa Golf course along the Buffalo River about 10 miles east of Moorhead.  It was an 18 hole course and the longest hole was over 500 yards as it ran along the upper highland of the course.  On one of the holes you looked down at the hole from a hill maybe 100 yards up.  It tested ALL of your skill in terms of long, short and in between.  That course was the one we played most of the time.

    The cheapest and closest was the El Zagel course which was right in the middle of Fargo.  Given where it was it was only a 9 hole and a par 3.  By that I mean the longest hole was maybe just under 200 yards.  If we were short on time that was our choice.  

    The best, the longest and the most fun was Edgewood Golf Course.  It was in north Fargo and we only played it a couple of times.  WHY?  Well really the reason was the time it took to play.  The real reason was the cost.  I do not remember what the cost was but I am sure we could have played the Ponderosa Course at least twice for the cost of one round at Edgewood.

    Actually I played by myself many times at a course south of Moorhead along highway 75 but as I tried to find it I think it no longer is there.  Just so you know that was where I would put my golf bag over my shoulder and ride my Harley cycle out there just as the sun was making light.  Then at maybe 8:20, just before they opened up I left and went home.  I have confessed and said I was sorry many times for doing that.  There is NO reason to justify playing and not paying.  BUT I told myself that I had more golf balls then coins during those days!!!  I could carry my bag on my motorcycle because I had so little in my golfing bag.  I had a putter, a wood, and then an array of clubs to the tune of 3, 5, 7 and 9 iron.  I had very few golf balls but there was NO place to lose them on the course.  

    That brings to mind where I got golf balls to play.  Well I NEVER had to buy golf balls as at the Ponderosa Course Dave and I would go into the trees and most of the time would come out maybe 10 minutes later with several balls.  We could fine golf balls like a fine retriever would find a pheasant!!!

    That is the story of our golfing days in Fargo-Moorhead.  As I look at the computer today there are more courses today than in our days which were in the years of 65, 66 and 67.  So I end today with still a half cup of coffee so will spend a bit more time on the computer before I sign off and get ready for 9:00 tennis.

    

Here we are at the last day of May, 2022

 TERRY

Terry woke up at about 7:00 this morning and is now reading the paper.  I would say she is the say as in the days past.  So once again it is one day at a time and we take it from there.

Well I have my FP today, as usual, and am kine of gearing up for my 9:00 tennis.  I have tennis four days straight which has not happened for some time.  I will see if I hold up during that time.  I still am feeling some effects of the stroke but very little.

Other than tennis there is nothing on the agenda.  Yes, I could try to clean up the dining room table as that would not be a big job.  I may need to go to Costco for a few things.  But maybe not too.  I looked in the freezer yesterday and thought I should try not to buy ANY food for a month to get the freezer down.  I go to the store and see something on sale so I buy it.  That is NOT a good way to shop.  It is a good way IF what is on sale is something you need but other than that it should be a no no.  

As usual we have a beautiful day.  I am guessing it will be about 90 today so it will be nice to get the tennis in by 10:30.  I am not against sweating but it gets a little too much when the temp hits 90.

I do not have much to say today so I just may go down memory lane for a short time.

The summer of 1959

There is nothing about the summer of 61 other than it was the last summer that Dave and I spent together.  Starting in 1960 Dave went to work for a farmer near Kulm.  It got Dave out from under Dad and it allowed him to earn money and put it away.  It is funny because at that time Dad and Dave were almost like oil and water yet way down the road Dave helped Dad with several projects on the farm so go figure.  But getting back to the summer of 59.

I will just list a few of the things Dave and I did during that last summer of being together and not in any kind of order. 

* The big bike and the little bike were our transportation forms all summer.  Most evenings you could have seen both of us pedaling up to the lake for a swim.  NO bathtub in the summer.  Of course in the winter it was bring the tub into the living room and take turns taking baths but in the summer that went out the window and it was washcloth, soap and towel and up to the lake we would ride.  Sometimes we could finish our bath/swim and go down to the bridge just east of the lake and catch fireflies or better yet have a jar and put them in the jar to take home to show Mom.  *Of course there picking rocks on the agenda every summer.  

* Dave and I would hope and pray that the crops would grow fast so we did not have to pick rocks any more.  Our rock picking was after the grain was planted until the grain came up.  After that you could not drive in the fields so we would hope that rain would come and the crops would emerge quickly!  There were not many rocks down south on Jim's land and the same was true to the west of the farm BUT with the land to the east of the farm sometimes I felt it grew rocks as well as grain!

* It was always nice to harvest grain to the east of our farm because that was the sesaon also of chokecherry picking.  There was a small grove of trees one the hill just to the north of the fields.  Actually the trees were on Bert's land as that was his pasture for his cows.  So during harvest time it would be time to break off a small branch of chokecherries and have spitting contests as we sat in the truck waiting to unload the combine.  I have not idea who won the spitting contests so I will just call it a draw!

* Of course our "bad" things was filling the water tank in the south part of the barn for the cows.  When they were in the barn yard with the gate closed the only water they had was in the barn.  I can not count the number of times we turned on the water and forgot about it.  I am guessing we were playing basketball just out side the barn or baseball down by the corncrib but it was not unusual to race into the barn only to see that the tank overflowing and in need of cleaning up. 

There are perhaps a million more things that I could talke about here but actually I am a day late as now here it is Thursday so will finish up and sign off.