It Is Well With My Soul

The The song "It Is Well With My Soul" was written by a successful Christian lawyer Heratio Spafford. His only son died at age 4 in 1871. In 1872, the great Chicago fire wiped out his vast estate, made from a successful legal career. In 1873 he sent his wife & 4 daughters over to Europe on a summer trip on the ill fated SS Ville du Havre. Since he had a lot of work to do, he planned to follow them later. The Ship sank and he lost his 4 daughters with the wife being the only survivor. She sent him a famous telegram which simply read, "SAVED ALONE...." On his return home, his Law firm was burned down and the insurance company refused to pay him. They said "It's an Act of God". He had no money to pay for his house and no work, he also lost his house. Then while sitting and thinking what's happening to him, being a spiritual person, he wrote a song - "Whatever, my Lord, You have taught me to say - It is well, it is well with my soul".

My dear friend, a good attitude will determine your altitude. When you look at your life, career, job or family life, what do you say? Do you praise God? Do you blame the devil? A good attitude towards God makes Him move on your behalf. Just sit down and say, "Today, God, it is well with my soul, I am thankful I had a peaceful sleep, I am thankful I am alive with possibilities, I am thankful I have a roof over me, I am thankful I have a job, I am thankful that I have Family and Friends. Above all, I am thankful that I have the Lord Jesus Christ on my side." Be blessed and don't be envious or shocked when others are prospering because you don't know what they have been through to get there (test, trials and tribulation) so thank God for what you have. "Little is much when God is in it. It Is Well With My Soul!" Touch someone's life with this message. If God is for us, who can be against us?

Ah, cool at last.

74º in Clarinda, IA at 4:30 pm Sunday with light sprinkles and heavy overcast clouds.  Got an inch of rain overnight - the heat left and cool front came through about 10:30 pm last night.  Enough days with a "feel like temperature" of 110º or higher!

Enjoy this video -   CLICK HERE  "Please pass the salt."  It surely took a long time to set this up.  

                              For a video on how they did it -  Setup for Pass the Salt CLICK HERE

I finished up my Cardiac Rehab Friday.  Will ride the stationery bike here at home every day now.  Went over to Deb & Phil Tornholm's place last evening and played Pegs & Jokers with them and Vicki and Dale Fulk.  Today Phyllis went to Judy Heuer's to tie some quilts and then the three of us visited Bob Nassen who is in Westridge for rehab after falling and breaking a hip last week.  They gave him a lap robe from the "Sew & Share" group.

A picture of Jessica cutting up couple couple weeks ago.
I hadn't taken this photo off my phone.

There were a lot of firecrackers and fireworks set off north of our house,
across the trees.  Found this chunk of a bottle rocket in our back yard by the
deck just a few days ago.

Almost forgot - I finally got some videos we took at Stratford Bluegrass as well as the steam engine 4014 and our April visit in Marengo up on my you tube channel.  It is a mixture of good camera and from our phone cameras.  Kenneston Family   Special Consensus BIG BOY 4014  Our visit with Miles in Marengo in April 2019

Baxter Black

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Wanda's dishwasher breaks down so she calls a repairman. Since she has to go to work the next day, she tells him, "I'll leave the key under the mat. Fix the dishwasher, leave the bill on the counter, and I'll send you a cheque." "Oh, by the way don't worry about my bulldog Spike. He won't bother you.  But, whatever you do, do not, under any circumstances, talk to my parrot! I mean it. Don't talk to my parrot."  "When the repairman arrives at Wanda's house the following day, he discovers the biggest, meanest looking bulldog he has ever seen. But, just as she had said, the dog just lies there on the carpet watching him go about his work. The parrot, however, drives him nuts the whole time with his incessant yelling, cursing and name calling. Finally the repairman can't contain himself any longer and yells: "Shut up, you stupid, ugly bird!"To which the parrot replies: "Get him, Spike!"

Probably more some other time - Lynn

Hot time in Iowa

86º with a "feel like" of 95º here in Clarinda, IA at 9:30 am Friday.  Forecast high today of 96º with a "feel like" of 112º at 4 pm and 5 pm.
Not much going on here but the heat.  I go to my last Cardio Rehab session at 11 this morning.  Click on photo to enlarge

Our weather forecast

"nuther picture of the 4014

in back yard

in back yard

my view at cardiac rehab

Was on machine for 30 minutes - went 5.1
miles, but still in same place!

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Things Mom Would Never Say::
"How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?" 

"Yeah, I used to skip school a lot, too" "Just leave all the lights on ... it makes the house look more cheery" 

"Let me smell that shirt -- Yeah, it's good for another week" 

"Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I'll be glad to feed and walk him every day" "Well, if Timmy's mom says it's OK, that's good enough for me." 

"The curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It's not like I'm running a prison around here." 

"I don't have a tissue with me ... just use your sleeve" 

"Don't bother wearing a jacket - the wind-chill is bound to improve".
-----------------------
Tech Support: 'Ok Bob, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter 'P' to bring up the Program Manager.' 
Customer: 'I don't have a 'P'.' 
Tech Support: 'On your keyboard, Bob.' 

Customer: 'What do you mean?' 
Tech Support: ''P' on your keyboard, Bob.' 
Customer: 'I'm not going to do that!'

Maybe later, Lynn

35th Annual Stratford Bluegrass Festival

Now that I am on the computer at home will post some photos from the Thursday evening through Sunday morning activity at Stratford, IA.  I will insert here a link to Lee Greenwood - The Story of "God Bless the USA" that I got from LaRhoda Neher - enjoy.

This is Tuesday afternoon - the festival doesn't start until
Thursday.  There were people sitting out jamming almost
around the clock until Sunday afternoon.

Tuesday afternoon, a bit later.

  Here are the schedules of performers.

Add caption

The Kenesston Family from Nebraska

1

Special Concessions - from The Carolinas

That Dalton Gang, from Lockwood, MO

Casey and the Attaboys from Springfield, MO

The Baker Family, from southern Missouri

We visited with Betty Schneider and her daughter in Fort Dodge

Betty had a lot of flowers out back of the house.

I forget what Betty called these, but she has one for each grand-kid

These triplets had a lot of fun listening to the bluegrass, for a while

These triplets had a lot of fun listening to the bluegrass, for a while

Steve Cabbage from New Market must have a twin -
this guy was with one of the bands and played the big bass

This is attributed to Yogi Berra. I don't know if he actually said these things, but it's great .

Interviewer: What do you expect is in store for the future of jazz trumpet?

Yogi: I'm thinkin' there'll be a group of guys who've never met talkin' about it all the time...

Interviewer: Can you explain jazz?

Yogi: I can't, but I will. 90% of all jazz is half improvisation. The other half is the part people play while others are playing something they never played with anyone who played that part. So if you play the wrong part, its right. If you play the right part, it might be right if you play it wrong enough. But if you play it too right, it's wrong.

Interviewer: I don't understand.

Yogi: Anyone who understands jazz knows that you can't understand it. It's too complicated. That's what's so simple about it.

Interviewer: Do you understand it?

Yogi: No. That's why I can explain it. If I understood it, I wouldn't know anything about it.

Interviewer: Are there any great jazz players alive today?

Yogi: No. All the great jazz players alive today are dead. Except for the ones that are still alive. But so many of them are dead, that the ones that are still alive are dying to be like the ones that are dead. Some would kill for it.

Interviewer: What is syncopation?

Yogi: That's when the note that you should hear now happens either before or after you hear it. In jazz, you don't hear notes when they happen because that would be some other type of music. Other types of music can be jazz, but only if they're the same as something different from those other kinds.

Interviewer: Now I really don't understand.

Yogi: I haven't taught you enough for you to not understand jazz that well.

Later, Lynn

Union Pacific's Big Boy 4014 at Boone, IA

We went to Boone, IA on Monday and watched 4014 come in.

Got this off internet - taken Tuesday west of Boone.
Under full power!

Me in front of 4014

4014 as it was arriving Boone, IA 4-15-19

A diesel was pulled along as insurance in case trouble
with steam engine so it could pull train to siding.

Baggage car closest, followed by a power unit, I imagine to
make electricity for the passenger train.

There were a lot of people on the train, coming from Omaha
Tickets for the ride range in price from $400 to $750, 
and will  benefit the museum.

 Pretty good size crowd out to watch the train.  Quite a few local police as well as Union Pacific Police continually getting the people back to a distance.  The passengers all got off and there were at least 3 charter buses there to take them back to Omaha.  A diesel unit took the passenger cars back to Omaha.

Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. Because of their great length, the frames of the Big Boys were "hinged," or articulated, to allow them to negotiate curves. They had a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, which meant they had four wheels on the leading set of "pilot" wheels which guided the engine, eight drivers, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following which supported the rear of the locomotive. The massive engines normally operated between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyo.

There are seven Big Boys on public display in various cities around the country. They can be found in St. Louis, Missouri; Dallas, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; Denver, Colorado; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941. The locomotive was retired in December 1961, having traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years in service.  Union Pacific reacquired No. 4014 from the RailGiants Museum in Pomona, California, in 2013, and relocated it back to Cheyenne to begin a multi-year restoration process.

Vital Statistics

Tender Type:	14-wheeled
Water Capacity:	24,000 gallons
Fuel:	Coal** 56,000 lbs.
Gauge of Track:	4 ft. 8-1/2 in.
Cylinder:	Diameter: 23 3/4 in. Stroke: 32 in.
Driving Wheel Diameter:	68 in.
Boiler:	Outside Diameter: 106 9/16 in. Pressure: 300 lbs.
Fire Box:	Length: 235 1/32 in. Width: 96 3/16 in.
Tubes:	2-1/4 in. Diameter: 75 x 22 ft. 0 in. 4 in. Diameter: 184
Wheel Base:	Driving: 47 ft. 3 in. Engine: 72 ft. 5 1/2 in. Engine & Tender: 132 ft. 9 7/8 in.
Weight in Working Order, Pounds:	Leading:   97,000 Driving:    540,000 Trailing:   125,000 Engine:    762,000 Tender:    427,500
Evaporating Surfaces, Square Feet:	Tubes: 967 Flues: 4,218 Fire Box: 593 Circulators: 111 Total: 5,889
Superheating Surface, Square Feet:	2,466
Grate Area:	150
Maximum Tractive Power:	135,375 lbs.
Factor of Adhesion:	4.00
**Previous configuration. Now converted to No. 5 Oil

Click Here for Video

More on Stratford's Bluegrass Festival on next post - Lynn