Last day of June - year is half-over!

87º with a "feel like" of 91º with 52% humidity at 1:30 pm this Thursday afternoon here in southwest Iowa at Clarinda..

Well these are the five tomato plants I have.  Due to a set-back when the yard-guy sprayed 2,4D nearby they have been delayed and blossoms are

now setting on above the slightly wrinkled leaves from that time.  They are growing tall and blossoms are setting on that higher part of the plants.  And, one tomato!

Aired up the recumbent trike tires and have taken couple rides this week since getting back from our 10-day trip.

 See all the cottonwood seeds on the floor of the garage?  The whole yard was white with them a day or so ago.  If they all grew we would have a huge forest!  Month ago it was all the maple tree seeds covering the yard--guess we could just let this go back to trees!

Got up and vacuumed the skiff of stuff off the screens in the gutters over the back yard deck.  Was only a thin layer, but when raining it tended to run over the gutter, so this should fix it for a while.







Well, another month is about over.  To summarize the month:  Cut some big limbs off tree in the back yard, had yard sale, watched the "Cruising Clarinda Parade, got released from the orthopedic doctor from my "cleaning the knee" surgery, made a lot of contacts with my high-school classmates and printed a 55-year book, took 85-year old friend to Omaha for some out-patient surgery, spent 4 somewhat arduous, but enjoyable days ushering all day long at the 41st Glenn Miller Birthplace Society annual festival; where we got to listen to the Tamana All-Girls High School Band and the Swing Esquire Orchestra from Tokyo, Japan, and the make-up GMBS Band from this Mid-West area, and the Tom Daugherty Orchestra from Dayton, Ohio, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Shades of Blue Air Force band from Omaha, NE and Adam Swanson - Ragtime Piano (Most of these several times as we ushered the various presentations), went to visitation of good friend and square dance caller 84-year old Lowell Schaaf, pulled travel-trailer to Callaway, NE and stayed in it one night in yard of friends Sharleen and Lynn Stivers (who took us to an ideal Mexican Restaurant in the Elks Club in Broken Bow).  We drove pickup on to Sterling, CO where we visited briefly with Phyllis' cousin Les Kuhlman and his wife Jo who is in rehab following a stroke, drove through the Rocky Mountain National Park over Trail Ridge Road, arriving at Phyllis' sister Beth's place near Grand Lake, CO.  We stayed there three nights, getting to visit with Beth & Steve's daughter Kara and her husband Jason from Denver, and their two kids Megan and Tyler.  Went to Granby Ranch south of Granby, CO to ski lift that is used for hiking and biking trails in the summer.  Went on guided boat tour of Grand Lake where history and information on almost all the houses around the lake was pointed out.  Ate at Grand Lodge above Grand Lake in the evening and saw terrific sunset.  On way back to Callaway, Nebraska we stopped in Broomfield, CO where we visited with and ate lunch with a classmate, Rick Zoerb and his wife Donna.  He wasn't able to make it to the class reunion.  Getting back to our travel-trailer in Callaway, we visited with classmate Nancy Willis at her ranch, drove to the only hand-planted National Forest in the Nebraska National Forest at Halsey where we got to view some of the 1.1 million acres of the forest that is in central and northwest Nebraska and in central and southwest South Dakota Click HERE for info . We drove to Westerville, NE and then south to Don Ferguson's farm.  Ate lunch with him and his brother Lawrence in Ansley, NE, went to Don's daughter's place in Ansley where she runs a Day Care and stopped in Broken Bow at another brother Jake Ferguson and his wife Helen's place for a visit.  Stopped by classmate Phil Lord's house in Broken Bow, but he was not home.  One evening we took friends Monte Jo and Madeline McFate with us to Broken Bow where we ate at the Bow Cafe with the three Ferguson brothers, Helen and Don's daughter and her friend.  Last Saturday we helped at the Senior Center in Callaway where the 1961 Callaway High School Class had a noon lunch and visit.  13 members attended and two others had promised but didn't and another who lives a half-mile from town didn't bother to come.  The rest had a good visit and many went to the All-School Alumni banquet and program at the school that night.  On Sunday morning Phyllis & I went on the Trail Ride sponsored by the Severn Valleys Rodeo Association in Callaway some hour and a half to a great breakfast on top of one of the Sand Hills of Nebraska.  Afterwards we hooked up our trailer and went to Lincoln, NE where we visited a few hours and had supper with my brother Roger and his wife Carolyn Miles before returning to Clarinda about dark Sunday evening. This summary is made up from looking back at the 1,438 photos that remain from the over 1,600 that I took this month before editing.

We are planning to drive Saturday the 220 miles to Marengo, IA where we will get first site of our new great-granddaughter Jessica Lynn Long.  Will celebrate the 4th of July there on the 3rd and return to Clarinda on July 4th.   This is a "one-week" picture of Jessica and her mom Ashley.

On to the last-half of 2016.
Later, Lynn

More on trip from Callaway to Clarinda

84º here in Clarinda, IA at 11:45 am on Tuesday.

 On Sunday, after eating breakfast on top the sand-hill near Callaway, NE and getting done with the Trail Ride and  we headed down high 40 and stopped in Oconto to look at the sculptures by Charles Horn.  I had seen a few photos, but had no idea he had made so many.

Charles had been in a class ahead of me and had married Patsy Empfield right out of high school.  She passed away last year from Cancer and one of the large metal sculptures was an angel -- his sign he put at the bottom.................................................................

Entire angel sculpture












I have up-loaded all 114 photos to my Picasa web site HERE
Hope you enjoy, and appreciate the hours this farmer took to re-purpose all these iron "junk" items.

 We proceeded on to Kearney where we got on Interstate 80.  At left are two photos of The Archway near Kearney.  We had toured this many years ago and the couple hours in it was very enjoyable and showed history of Nebraska and the Plains Area.

 These three photos, at right, were taken at rest stop near Grand Island.  They show interesting points about the area.

Must include some more photos of Great Granddaughter Jessica.
This is poppa Heath holding her while they were still at the hospital.  She was born Thursday and finally went home on Sunday.

Understand there was some struggling figuring out how to fit the car seat in the car and how to fit Jessica into the car seat, but it was accomplished.

This is what Ashley posted on Facebook with the photo at right:      "Made it through the first night and full day at home. Fresh butt and all clean. What a life!!"





We are lined up to drive to Marengo this Saturday (4 days from now) to spend couple nights at our son's and get to see Jessica Lynn and see some 4th of July fireworks.

More later, Lynn

55 year Class Reunion of Callaway (Nebraska) Class of 1961

82º with a feel like of 92º at 4:00 pm on Monday

We stopped in Lincoln, Ne about 4 pm yesterday and had visit with my brother Roger and his wife Carolyn.  They fixed some hamburgers and brats on the grill.


Got our trailer backed into the spot in front of the shed just at dark.

Saturday we attended the 55th Class Reunion of Callaway (Nebraska) High School class of 1961.

In photo at right - back row: Lee Ann Nansel Young, Carol Farmer Dennis, Marci Uhlig Wahlgren, Karen Leibhart Dodge, Linda Whaley Taylor, Nancy Cantrell Willis, Gaylene Hoffman Rudy, Mary Lynn Bridges Griffith.
Front row:  Craig Meads, Albert (Bud) Wise, Bob Lewis, Lynn Miles, Phillip Lord.

We had watched the Pioneer Picnic Parade and then gone back to the Senior Center for our gathering.

 Were surprised that Bob Lewis, from Portland, Maine, attended.  He had not been to any reunions since the one in 1966.  I had sent him the book of classmate stories and addresses; don't know if that had anything with him coming.  He visited with his sister and brother here.

 Sisters Bernita and Gaylene.

Lots of visiting and many from other grades in school stopped in for a bit of it.  We finally hustled out just before 6 pm because that was when the banquet at the High School started.

At the banquet and the All-School-Reunion program afterwards I got to meet Stan Boyer, now from South Carolina, who grew up just a couple miles from where I grew up in Custer County, Nebraska back in the 1940's and 1950's.

 Sunday morning we were up early and 2 miles south and west of Callaway for the Trail Ride.  The starting point was only a few miles from where I was born 73 years ago.  6 tractors pulled some pretty good sized low boy trailers that had bales of straw on them for seating.

 We went about 2 hours slowly over the prairie grass and hills with a lot of twisting and turning.  Quite a few were on horses riding along,, ahead or behind us.

Bit old cottonwood tree.

 Went by a couple tanks of water.

Pivot irrigation system working in the early morning, let us see bit of a rainbow against it down in the valley.

 Finally reached a hilltop where members of the Seven Valleys Rodeo were preparing scrambled eggs, sausages, biscuits and gravy with juice or coffee.  They had prepared more than the crowd, so seconds were offered.

Elmo Witthuhn, class of 1946, (89 years old) was having a bit of trouble sitting on the straw and asked if we could support each other on the way back from breakfast.  We went only about a mile or so and then were on the paved Cozad Road and then probably 5 miles back to where we had left our vehicles.


Lots more pictures to post, but I will make it in a new blog later tonight or tomorrow.

Later, Lynn