We have experienced some beautiful sunsets this spring. Then we were treated with a breathtakingly beautiful sunrise on Friday Morning.
The weather today was quite warm (85) with a steady wind. I mowed the lawn this morning and joined another guy at the church to mow the lawn over there.

I continued tearing things out at the house. Pulled the toilet and sink in the downstairs bathroom and that completed the easy parts…tearing things out.
I took the floors down to the sub floor in the kitchen, old laundry area and pantry, the hallway, bathroom and closet. I created a big pile of discarded material.

I did the first hamburgers of the season on the grill this evening. Your mom fixed a nice salad and we used a tomato we bought in Louisville during our visit there.

Rebecca and Jason have a nice, comfortable home in a very nice area.

We discovered an excellent Irish pub/restaurant for dinner on Saturday night. We all had something different, and shared a taste of everything. I had lamb in a spicy roll, creamy mashed potatoes ( they called them ‘champ’) and enjoyed the meal on a veranda overlooking the street. There was a steady stream of people walking by on their way to a big fireworks display, Derby week was being kicked off in anticipation of the Kentucky Derby.

It rained all the night and day but it was nice during our Saturday visit. Jason wanted to show us a lot of things, but time and weather kind of intervened.

The picture of the stone building is at a location called Reservoir Park, one of the main water supply locations in Louisville. The walk around the reservoir is one mile and I guess a number of people like to walk there.

I hope all is well in my band of gypsies.

We really enjoy the frequent letters and pictures.

Love you all,
Dad (………………………………………………………………………… x )

Glad You Arrived Safely

It is 8:00 on a Sunday morning. We will be getting ready to go to church in a little while.

It is raining this morning. We are in an unsettled period; weather doesn’t know if it wants to go ahead and Spring or go back to winter. In any case, the redbuds have bloomed, everything is sporting its bright green colors and the air smells fresh and clean. Of course the air is full of pollen and makes some people miserable.

The Edmonds area has a lot of webcams trained on ferry landings on the net. I recognized two of them from our trip up there. Really looking forwrd to visiting up there.

I cleaned the yard yesterday of old growth and broken branches. We are still getting fall out from the ice storm of two years ago.

We are going down to Louisville for our first visit in a couple of weeks. We will go down early on a Saturday and be back on Sunday night.

We received an invite to Rebecca’s brothers wedding occurring in June. That will be in the Pittsburgh area. We would go to it but we will be in Edmonds, WA at that time. It is not uncommon in the summertime for conflicts to arrive.

The Stolles have invited us to visit them at their summer palace on the lake. We will likely do that. Aunt Kathy and Uncle Hank will be in St Louis in late June for their annual convention (Telephone Association) so we will get to see them at that time.

Hank’s brother in-law, Bill, died last week in South Carolina at his retirement home.. Burial will be in Arkansas. Kathy and Hank were in Nashville since Tammy was scheduled for additional surgery. They were planning on going on east to see brother Jim and family, but not now. I bet Jim is very disappointed.

That’s about it from Home Alone. By the way I mailed a box of stuff that was in the way here and your mom has sent some B’Day gifts to the boy to the 821 addresses. I hope that is right.

Love to all,
Dad

1, 422 miles

Good news over the weekend; Missouri lost. Ha! How do they get Mizzou out of Missouri? And why are they called tigers when the closest tigers are 8,220 miles away (zoos do not count)?

Typical Mizzouzeans likely don’t know..

Speaking of distance, I see my grandbabies are 100 miles closer tonight, thank you; only 1,422 miles away. But when all is said and done, the distance will be 2, 179 miles, or one day 7 hours by car (or 28 days, 11 hours on foot).

Ok here we are, one day after our last snowfall. We had 3 inches on the ground at 7:00 AM on Sunday morning. Zero inches by noon. 63 degrees today with rain expected three days this week.

We want out to the 54th St Bar & Grill on Saturday night with our normal group. Played cards of course afterwards. I need to learn some new games. Keep an eye out for some, ok?

Well, we went floor shopping. Again. Brought home a couple of samples. Again. I told your mom “THIS IS IT. NO MORE SAMPLES. WE DO IT NOW!! “ Drew a bit of a crowd at Lowes. I measured the area that we will do. Looks like about 530 sq ft. x $$$$$
Not counting my labor (where are my sons when I need them?) (Your mom just said to say, “come home”.)

Busy, busy at my job. We have hired several new people including a real nice woman who just moved here from Massachusetts. Bad for her that she got stuck with a real bummer of a route. The previous driver pretty much allowed the bus to become a zoo; I have to ride it in the morning. It has taken me about three weeks in the past, to fix a bad bus. Why can’t the parents do this?

The area of the floor to be done is everything that is not carpeted. Your mom wants to put a pedestal sink in the half bath, removing the existing cabinet. We no longer need to store a toilet ring, so we can sacrifice space.

Lee just called. He says to tell you he misses seeing your once in a while. He is on face book but not that active.

I would like to see the route you are taking from AZ. You see many Illinois plates out there?

That’s about it from HOME ALONE.

Love,
Dad and Mom

Across

2. how fish walk
4. cactus land
9. small creek
10. not pants
13. grandma
14. reclusive cat
16. home sweet home
17. good dog
18. daddy
20. sunrise
21. beautiful red head
23. walking
24. favorite color
25. movie thing

Down

1. little girl
2. rhymes with mom
3. another uncle
5. not becky
6. favorite food
7. home teacher
8. favorite channel
9. drummer
11. uncle
12. kids area
15. school
19. imaginary fighter
22. Moms mom

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

Springfield Illinois

We went to St Henry’s Catholic Church on W. Main in Belleville for fish and beer on Friday night.

Art and Margaret were there along with the whole Sorgea tribe. We got to see, and hold Nate and Jack, Cindy and Brian’s 7 month old twin boys. That was a treat.

The hall was packed, the food was excellent, and it was a good time. Afterwards we went to the Sorgeas for cards and talk. Your mom and Jeannie planned to go to an estate sale the next morning.

Estate sales are always interesting. The opportunity to prowl through a house, touching all types of items and observing how the former, now likely deceased, owners lived out their existence. It is at once repellent yet fascinating; like coming up on a car wreck. One hates to see it but still slows down to look.

We traveled up to Springfield yesterday afternoon. We planned on your mom staying at the hospital with Dawn while I attended Dan and Denise’s delayed wedding reception at the Springfield Boathouse. While we were en-route, Bill called to say that Dawn was going to be discharged along about 6:00 PM; that would be during the reception. Naturally Bill was torn between the reception and bringing Dawn home. Dawn, knowing she would not be at the reception, had written a toast to Denise and Dan, which Bill was to deliver. Bill commented that some people are willing to be hospitalized just to avoid public speaking.

I was going to attend the reception but had to stay so we could take Dawn home. She was in pain but she is a real trooper with a great attitude. We were on the way home to Auburn and planned on stopping at the Walgreen’s in Chatham to get Dawn’s prescriptions filled. Unfortunately, the pharmacy closed 20 minutes before we got there. So we had to back haul into Springfield to get the prescriptions filled.

Bill and Brooke got home about 20 minutes after we got there. Brook had on a royal blue dress that was very pretty on her. I took a picture but won’t post it. That’s up to her and her parents to do.

When we drove to the hospital, we went up 6th street. It has been a year since I drove that way. The presidential library draws throngs of visitors (over a million the first year), so Springfield has responded with many new restaurants and shops down town. Plus the fact that our senator is now our President spiked interest in Springfield.

As we drove north on 6th street, I could see a building in the distance seemingly in the middle of the road. I couldn’t figure it out until we got closer. The Springfield Clinic has expanded to the west while building 5 stories up and crossing over and above 6th street. . Very impressive.

It still is cool here with temps in the forties. But Spring has sprung so it is looking promising. I got out and started cleaning the yard. The moles and voles continue doing their dirty work. I hate moles and voles.

I mailed the last package of mail, mostly junk ( to me) using parcel post. It went out last Thursday. Two more letters went out yesterday. That will be the last for Arizona. I will not send to Washington until you have taken up residence.

That’s all from HOME ALONE.

Love, Dad

Assumption

It is Sunday morning here at Home Alone; I’ve awakened earlier than I wanted to so decided to catch up on the blog.

We have been anxious to see Dawn and see how she is recovering, Her birthday was just last week, and we also wanted to celebrate that with her.

Brandon and Brooke have a busy social calendar so we see them on the fly.

Brandon’s high school band was marching in the Springfield St Patrick’s day parade so we did not see a lot of him. Then, later on and after we had returned from Assumption, we had cake. Brandon’s girl friend came over for a few minutes then they left for her home. She is a plump blonde, very nice, senior girl.

Your mom and I were at their house at 10:00 and immediately left to take Brooke to meet her school bus which was loading the 7th grade volleyball team for their trip to the ISEA volleyball finals in Assumption, IL, over past Taylorville.

Brooke did not play (the world is full of coaches who play only a few and let the rest sit) but we still enjoyed the games. Brooke’s team, the Trojans, won their first match two games to none. But unfortunately in the second round they lost in two games to an undefeated team from Chillicothe.

Weather was cool, but clear. The area over by Assumption is wide open with level farm fields visible to the horizon. That is one of the nice things about Central Illinois; no mountains to block the view.

Bill is working in Bloomington for at least the next three months. He gets hotel, car, and per-diem with this job. It takes him about 1-½ hours to get home. Brookes team returns to Assumption for the third place game on Tuesday. I don’t know if Bill will make that game. Dawn shouldn’t be driving yet, so she may let Brandon drive over with her in the front seat. But that can be a challenging drive for a novice since the roads are county roads for about thirty miles with limited shoulders and few lane markings.

Dad

One more picture

Daylight Savings Time

Your mom was cleaning out her chest of drawers and came across some old photos. I scanned them in and thought I would share them with the Millers.

Today we had planned on going to see Dawn and family but your mom was still fighting off that touch of stomach distress; and the predicted bad storm was scheduled for about twelve o’clock CDT. All we got, thankfully, was a hard shower followed by a steady strong wind until sunset. Never the less, we cancelled the Auburn trip.

We went over to St Louis yesterday. The Missouri Valley tournament was in full swing as was the annual Home & Garden show at the Dome. I remembered dragging Traci to the show the first year we were here and before the house was built. I don’t remember her enjoying the show. This year’s show was a good show with large crowds. Weather was mild so I did a lot of walking. Dumped your mom at the casino where she won $125.

Well it is now daylight savings time again. The only reason for the change is that someone probably complained about something so Congress, with little or no study or thought, whipped it ahead one month and shoved it back in the fall by one month. Might as well make it year around. What difference would it make? It starts on March 8 and ends on November 1, eight months of CDST; kind of leaves CST as a weak sister.

I see by the Methodist Church in Shiloh web site that Pastor David is on Formational and Spiritual Growth leave. That is so sad. Then today some nut from Troy walked into the Baptist Church in Maryville and shot the pastor dead during the service.

I was hoping that you would be leaving the proximity of drug war violence behind you when you go to Washington. But from what I am hearing on the news, Vancouver B.C. is struggling with drug gang violence as bad as along the Mexico border. Drug users, who buy the stuff, should share in the responsibility for this situation.

I just received a Facebook message fro Ricquel over in Northern Missouri. She is very anxious to keep the family relationships alive. And so am I.

Well that is about it from Home Alone.
Love you all this much (……………………………………….. :)