Levi's Story

Every farmer has a story...

Levi, the farmer inherited the farm from his father.
Levi, the farmer sadly dropped out of school to work the farm.
Levi, the farmer brought his wife to live on the farm.
Levi, the farmer has four daughters; none of them farm; none of them want Levi to give up the farm.
Levi, the farmer says 'once a farmer, always a farmer.'
Levi, the farmer followed a dream and earned his GED after he retired.
Levi, the farmer can still identify the make and model of a tractor by its sound.
Levi, the farmer says the flooding this year is the worst he's ever seen.
Levi, the farmer is a gentle giant of a man.
Levi, the farmer, still lives in the house where he was born 93 years ago.
Levi, the farmer is ill.

Prayers for you, Ms Katie's friend.

Salty & Sweet

On the road again...

Ms Katie and I are traveling again! No, I am not tired of being in the car, looking at scenery or driving!

Rural North Dakota is really beautiful...
...rolling hills
...tall green corn
...bright yellow fields filled with the flowers that produce the seeds for Canola oil
...stands of trees that shelter farm homes
...rivers that are still too full; fields that still have too much standing water
...sharing the road with farm equipment; from corn sprayers to riding lawn mowers
...ND rest areas are wireless!
...car count at rush hour (5:00-5:30) 10!!
...and it doesn't take long to go from blue sky and fluffy white clouds to winds, dark, ominous thunder storms.

So what's salty & sweet?? Our new favorite car snack - anything crunchy and salty followed by the dark chocolate and cool, sweet mint of a peppermint patty!

Rachael-ese!

Rachael-ese is doing life with Ms Katie's five year old grandaughter, my neice!! Ms Katie and I had the treat of caring for her while her mom and dad escaped for a few days.

There were hours of cartwheels, round offs and that special little run and hop that gymnasts do!

There were hours of games and doing puzzles that are bigger than she!!

There were hours of listening to the Go Fish Guys and playing with Cifford the big, red dog!!

It really is a treat to be auntie and play with this constantly moving, non-stop talking, squirmy, wonderful, bright, beautiful, peanut-sized family member!!

Rachael-ese!!

(Whew! 5 year olds take a lot of energy!!)

"...we were rascals..."

Ms Sylvia is wife of Arne, who is brother of Al, who is husband of Ms Katie; in other words, the two are sister-in-laws!

Ms Sylvia is high on my family favorites list. She always has laughter in her eyes and is full of energy that is hard to measure. She overflows with love and is always meticulously put together!! We saw all of that again a few days ago!!

There was a big smile on her face when she opened the door, many "oh, honeys" and lots of hugs. The energy was there too as she stubbornly determined my arm was the only thing needed for walking assistance. Whew - we made it to lunch and back with no mishaps!

And the meticulousness - -

every hair was in place,

the perfect color lipstick,

eyelashes curled,

matching white bracelet, necklace, earrings and shoes,

and the awesome yellow bag!!

That has been Ms Sylvia for as long as I can remember. And there is a bonus - her favorite color is red!

The stories began in earnest when she said, "Oh my, we were rascals when we were young!" One in particular was reminiscent of something you might see Lucy and Ethel do in I Love Lucy.

Ms Katie and Ms Sylvia worked side by side in the business owned by brothers, Al and Arne. They had crushes on their bosses. No one else employed knew they were wives and husbands!

"Doesn't he look good today!"

"That shirt makes his eyes so blue!"

"We have the best bosses in the world!"

"Can't wait to take him home!"

And the wave and "Hi, Arne!" "Hi, Al!"

And then the hugs and big smooches!!

And embarassed husbands!

And laughing wives!!

Ms Sylvia is a great storyteller! Now read that with all the right inflection and flirtiness!

Rascals they were and maybe still are!

Journey

These are two of my favorite pictures.

Their meaning of journey runs deep.

A road; long, straight and narrow with light marking the end.

A path; steep, full of twists and turns with the end not yet visible.

One moment,

One thought,

One step.

One day,

One word,

One mile.

One summer,

One story,

One journey of a lifetime.

One God,

Unending love and grace,

Countless miracles and gifts.

Lord of heaven and earth,

Show the way to freedom and peace.

Amen

Reaquainting...

...on a couple levels!

First with friends. This is the longest I have been in Minneapolis since forever! Reaquainting with friends from high school has been wonderful. It has been a luxury to spend time - whole weekends, full days and blocks of hours without rushing or having pressure from the clock.

And then with the city! Since Ms Katie and I have her car we have been getting ourselves around. It has changed a bit since I lived here 30 years ago!! Nothing looks the same and is seems there are a million new roads!! I remember I94 and highway 10 but now there is 394, 494 and 694! Add to it 210 and 610! And 12 and 212; 5 and 55; 100 and 101; 35W north and south and 35E north and south. County road 88 and 8 and don't forget 169! And we have traveled ALL of them!

There are the usual right exits and the surprise left exits, merge lanes for merge lanes, cloverleafs and straight ramps and roundabouts in several configuerations. There are stoplights on main highways, stop signs where there should be lights and yes, there are straight left turns off the main highways and everyone else knows where they are going!

We have done pretty well for two people who have no clue which is right or left or east, west, north and south!! And remember, always follow Ms Katie's hand not her words!

Early Morning Worship...

...sitting on the deck,
coffee and Bible in hand,
the rising sun sparkling on the gently rippling water,
muskrats playing in the bullrushes,
flowers blooming at the water's edge,
cool breezes and
loons singing.

Dear Lord God,
Creator of the heavens and the earth,
this is Your day.

Answer this humble plea;
fill us with your love unending,
open our ears to hear your voice,
gift us with the desire to share your grace,
pour out your widsom - pressed down and overflowing
and guide us along your holy path.

Thank you
Amen

Soda Fountain Stories

Ms Katie and I took two of the grandsons out for lunch!! Their choice, Tommy's Malt Shop! We sat slurping up raspberry cream, peach delight and chocolate malts. Every so often our straws were clogged with bits of fruit or chocolate chunks!! The boys did a number on huge burgers, fries and extra onion rings! As we gobbled and slurped, Ms Katie started telling stories.

Ms Katie worked behind the counter at the soda fountain in the corner drug store while she was in high school. She spent four years making malts and serving soda's. The stories were about customers, equipment and her boss. The boss was a stickler for precision in measuring the malt ingredients; when he wasn't around - hmmmm, maybe not quite so precise!

The best story was about making Opa, Ms Katie's dad, his first ever banana split! He enjoyed every bite! He couldn't finish it - I think the precision measurements went out the window on that one!!

It was fun watching teen-age boys try to visualize Ms Katie as a teen herself. It sort of makes you wish you could see what they were imagining.

Uncles...

Ms Katie had three sisters and five brothers; I have a bunch of uncles! One of the many favorites is Johnny, the youngest brother.

Uncle Johnny was around a lot when I was a kid. Ms Katie made sure he was always welcome in our house. I'm not sure the exact reason he is a favorite - maybe because I saw him often, maybe because he always had a smile and laughed easily or maybe because he was the wild child, rebel and self-proclaimed 'black sheep' of the family!

When Uncle Johnny was around you just expected to be teased; that still holds true based on our dinner together! There was a glint in his eye and a smile at the corners of his mouth when we greeted. In his softspoken voice the teasing starts. If you respond in kind, there is a low, quiet gutteral laugh, the glint becomes a sparkle and with his eyes already laughing the floodgate opens!! It still takes work to verbally keep up with Johnny; the bantering back and forth is only interrupted when his head tilts back and the gutteral laugh is not longer quiet but loud and infectious! When I was a kid I was sure the whole world could hear him laugh!

Johnny is a little stooped, thinner than I remember, tires easily and just like the other uncles, his health is in decline. What a treat to share a meal, be teased unmercilessly and hear him laugh again!

3, 2, 1...FIRE!

Meet Noah. Noah is Ms Katie's grandson, my nephew and 15 year old inventor extraordinaire! We got to witness an exhibition of his latest project - a compressed air powered water balloon canon!

The parts list includes PVC pipe, a 24 volt sprinkler valve, three 9 volt batteries, wiring from an overtired weed eater, a switch from somewhere, an air tank with his dad's air compressor close at hand, duct tape in all the appropriate places and G'pa Al's old golf bag cart to haul it around and adjust the aim.

It was pretty impressive. First a water bottle cut in half, secured with twine to the canon was plunged to the bottom of the PVC pipe tube. The purpose - to create a seal and hold one or more water balloons. Next, water balloons were loaded, aim checked, air tank filled and the area cleared of innocent bystanders. Then 3, 2, 1..FIRE, the switch thrown, a loud WHUMP and the balloons launched!

The red and orange balloons were the easiest to see as they flew over the tree in the middle of the yard, crashing on the driveway across the cul-de-sac, narrowly missing the parked car and of course the older brother trying to get hit!

All watching decided that G'pa Al would be proud!!

Hey, all you reunion cousins, look out!! This is no marshmellow shooter!