Oh, the games people play

has run across my mind this morning; as usual, spontaneous and no special reason. Still, "Games People Play" was a good song by Joe South. If you don't know about its "inspiration, see the article on the book, "Games People Play" about the book and Eric Berne.

The last few days in south-central Kentucky have been very good. No rain, which we haven't needed, and good for finally getting the rototilling, landscaping and planting done. We reshaped a lot of dirt along the south side of the house, planted it with groundcover plants (primarily daylillies) and started working on the circular area enclosed by our turn-around driveway in the front. It all remains a work-in-progress, but it will get there. We also planted two azaleas in the front of the house where the stump of the nearly-dead Juniper was pulled. Today, we have some more Lily of the Valley to plant on the north, shady side of the house. We want as much area as possible covered in very low-maintenance plants.

I'm very much looking forward to my Palm Sunday long weekend trip to northern Georgia to visit Bill Martin, one of my 50-plus year friends through Scouting.

Well, enough for just now. May you all have a great end of the weekend and a good week next week!

Looking into their eyes I see them running too

is the lyric of the morning. I'm not exactly sure why, but it's a good thought. Maybe it was the online conversation I had with someone from back in my home town. Anyway, here you can find the full lyrics to Jackson Browne's song, "Running on Empty".

I've rather fallen-off my usual posting pattern, but was fairly busy over the weekend. Our daughter, Sarah, was free this weekend, so on Friday I drove up to Brandenburg and picked up her and Serenity - her and Dave's dog. This was the morning after our heaviest snowfall (2 inches) of the entire winter season, but the roads were fine, just a bit damp.

Sarah and Barbara spent the better part of the weekend sewing and doing some shopping.
It was interesting watching the interactions between our 3 cats and the "interloping" dog. One of the cats, Jiggawhat - Rachel's cat - adapted fairly well. Our other two, and older, cats, Pele and Kymball, did NOT enjoy the presence of the dog and remained rather scared through the weekend! We are "dog-sitting" Serenity from late May into July, so it should be interesting.

Daughter Rachel drove Sarah back Serenity back to Brandenburg Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon, Rachel and I bought a new Toro lawnmower. Barbara and I had been discussing whether to buy a mower or to hire someone again this year. I got a pretty good deal on the mower, so after having not had to mow a lawn for about 8 years, we'll be doing it again. In that sense, I miss the advantages of living in a condo! Other than the mowing, I rather enjoy working in the yard.

After what seems to be an interminable period of cloudiness and rain, it cleared off yesterday afternoon and today and Wednesday should go into the 70s. I sure hope so as there are rototilling and planting to be done around the landscape, and it's been too wet to do that.

Rachel & Barbara and both back to classes at WKU as of this week after having had last week off for what seems to me to have been a very early Spring Break. I don't recall having week-long breaks when I was at the University of Nebraska years ago. Oh, well.

I'm enjoying - as I usually do - the quiet and solitude of the early morning. I woke up about 4:45, so after catching up here, I'd best get busy on something. "I'd love to stick around but I'm running behind".

I hope you have a good day. I'm planning on it!

Seem to Me a Crime That We Should Age

is the song lyric I've been thinking of today as I've been going through, scanning, and editing many old 35mm slides of family members and many older family friends, many of whom are now passed away, some much too young! The song is "Friends" (click to see the full lyrics) by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Even a few tears rolled down my cheeks as I remembered them, especially my own parents.

It's a rainy day here in Bowling Green, and much cooler than it has been for the past few days. I won't make 50 today and we'd been having 70s! There was even a brief period of some variety of frozen precipitation falling for a short while this morning, but now all the moisture has stopped.

Our trip to Nashville for Barbara's doctor appointment yesterday went off without a hitch. We're hoping the treatment she received alleviates some of the back pain she's been having.

Well, I have a few other things to get done, but wanted to get something posted; I try to post at least every other day.

Do have a good day today, as the song says "I hope the day will be a lighter highway,
For friends are found on every road"

Sunny Monday After a Stormy Night!

Today is beautiful, cooler than yesterday, but last night we had heavy downpours. I don't know how much we got, but it came down very heavily several times! All of the "cases" (whatever their biological name is) have come off the maple tree leaves, and the yard is covered with their debris. I may have to check my gutters, too!

I am finishing up uploading many of my scanned slides to my Fotki site. Barbara made a large meatloaf which we'll cook later and eat probably one-fourth of for our dinner tonight.

This week is "Spring Break" for Western KY University, so Barbara does not have to teach and Rachel doesn't have classes to attend.

Tomorrow Barbara and I are off to one of her doctor appointments in Nashville. We've found that, at least at the times we go, getting around Nashville is not a big problem.

I am going to make a trip around Palm Sunday weekend to go visit a long-time Scouting friend of mine who lives in northern Georgia. It's not that far: perhaps 250 miles, and I'm really looking forward to it. At my - and his age - one should not put off a chance for a reunion!

Do have a great day and week!

Planting Day

I just finished planting a shrub magnolia and a burning bush in the back yard. We intend that there will be "specimen" plants all along behind the landscape timbers that delineate the front part of the back yard (closest to the house) from the upper level at the back. I think it will be aesthetically pleasing and give the yard some "definition". We are potentially going to get some thunderstorms later today, but so far only a few sprinkles. I've watered everything we planted well, but we could use to rain to dissolve the crabgrass preventer & fertilizer I put on earlier this week. We shall see.

The local trash haulers came yesterday (surprising for a Saturday) and finally picked up the pile of sticks and branches which had been out on the front parking for some weeks. I was surprised they took it all, as it was about 15 feet long, by 4 feet wide, by 3 feet tall. I'm glad it's gone! Our neighborhood had been bypassed on the brush pickups since before our big ice storm about a month ago, and there were branches waiting all over the area.

I think I'm going to go take a nice hot shower and take it a bit easier the rest of the day.

I hope the rest of your weekend goes well and that you have a good upcoming week.

Don't Surround Yourself With Yourself

is the lyric playing in my mind this morning. It's from "I've seen all good people" by Yes. The rest of the stanza is: "...Move on back two squares, Send an instant karma to me, Initial it with loving care."

Lots has been written about the meaning of this song (as has also been done for many other songs; just Google the lyrics you like and chances are there's an article somewhere). I think it means don't get too wrapped up in yourself. I found one interesting thought about it by a Rev. Jim Moss.

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day here in Kentucky! It should be our first 70 plus degree day. The man who did our lawn mowing last season (I'm probably going to buy a mower and do it myself this year) came yesterday with his chain saw and we cut down the sapling trees that had, over some years before we bought this house, taken over the area at the end of the driveway. I enjoy woody areas as much as anyone else, but this was a thicket in the wrong place. Now I'm waiting for another worked to come and haul off the brush, and he's also the one who is going to roto-till the areas we want to work with, either for plantings or our garden. I put fertilizer with crabgrass preventer down yesterday, too. We are still waiting for the city-approved trash service to come and take the large piles of branches that have accumulated on the front parkway since before the big ice storm last month. Oh, well. All in good time, I suppose.

Barbara and I are hoping that daughter Sarah and son-in-law Dave Mitchner will be coming down next weekend from Brandenburg (KY).

I spent a few more hours scanning slides yesterday: good memories, as most of them were from my Boy Scouting days at Camp Cedars in Nebraska.

So, whatever YOU do this day and weekend, initial it with loving care!

Warming Up!

It seems to be warming up a bit more each day, which is fine with me. I don't deceive myself into thinking we won't have any more 20 or 30 degree days, but they'll be fewer. I really want a 60+ day soon so I can spray and kill off all the vegetation in the oval-shaped piece of ground in the center of our turn-around in front of the house: We want to plant groundcovers there and first I need to kill everything (weeds and grass) and then roto-till the soil.

Today Barbara and I are meeting with a local remodeler to hear his ides about remodeling Rachel's bathroom. Seems it's taken forever for him to get the plan ready, which doesn't portend well of his ability to get the job done. Bathfitter, on the other hand, will do it all in one day. Cost may be a big factor, but we'll see.

I have gotten through about half of my 35mm transparencies so far and have most of the scans already uploaded to my Fotki site. The remaining slides are mainly my Scouting pictures, so they'll be just as much fun to go through. I haven't even started on the unprinted negatives or actual prints yet, and there are several boxes of them. I'll be at this for a while.

I hope all goes well for you and yours!

Those Were The Days

Those were the days (my friend) was in my mind as I woke up this morning. The song is best known for the recording by Mary Hopkin in 1968.

Today dawns cloudy and a bit cool, so it looks like a day to work in the house or the garage. I have plenty of projects to do in either...or both! For one, I need to get the VW checked-over (fluids, tires, etc.) for Barbara and Rachel's trip to Murray (KY) tomorrow.

I'll probably get distracted somewhat trying out my new scanner with some 35 mm slides, and maybe some with some genealogy.

May you and yours have a great day and weekend!

Weekend, almost!

Well, it's turned out to be a fairly pleasant, although somewhat chilly, afternoon today. I went to Lowe's and bought some Roundup to kill off all the vegetation on the south side of the house where we want to plan perennial groundcover flowers and plants, and in the area of the back yard where we will plant our 10 x 12 foot garden.

Barbara had a follow-up visit with the eye surgeon today, and he reports it all looks good. We hope this will help overcome the retinal deterioration she has experiences; this and the cataract surgery she had a month or so ago!

Sunday, Rachel & Barbara are going to drive to Murray, KY, to have their hair done by the stylist whom they used to see back in Illinois. Seems like a long drive to me, but it's their dime and time. Guess I can, therefore, loaf all day Sunday. Actually, I have plenty to do!

My new Canon scanner arrived today, so I will get it set up and get busy scanning my 35 mm slides, as well as my pictures and negatives.

There are already quite a few of our family pictures at my Fotki page.

I guess that's all for now. Do have a great weekend! I plan to!

Busy Day

I've been occupied with genealogical research and also by uploading the already-digitalized images to my Fotki account. I've already put up most everything I already have digitalized. Soon I'll get my slides scanned - and old photos and negatives - so more will be coming for months.

Barbara is having corneal epithelial cell transplant surgery done on her right eye today over in nearby Glasgow, so we'll be leaving before too long. Basically, it is to, hopefully, correct the deterioration in her retina.

Today is supposed to hit about 70 but with rain moving in. Still nice for tomorrow but a much chillier weekend seems to be in store. Oh, well, spring will finally get here. I'm ready to start doing some yard work and landscaping around the property.

I hope all goes well for you and yours!

Snow-Covered Sunday

"Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day" is the song in mind today, for reasons which will be clear later on.

We had a pretty small amount of snow, stating yesterday afternoon, which had pretty well stopped by the time we went to bed. I would say maybe 1 1/2 to 2 inches: enough to cover the grass, but apparently surfaces were warm enough it didn't say on the streets. I hear our friends in Illinois have gotten more snow. It's certainly worked out well for us to have left Illinois last year! We miss our friends there, but not the bad weather.

Daughter, Rachel, is gone to Lexington this weekend where she's helping her long-time friend, Michelle, "kid sit" Michelle's nephews. She'll return this evening. Barbara has been doing her seemingly never-ending schoolwork. Since most of her teaching is for online classes, she spends what seems to me an inordinate amount of time online reviewing work done by students online!
C'est la vie, but she seems to love it, which is good.

I've gotten hooked on doing genealogical research on the branches of my father's Fiehn family, my mother's Shane family, and Barbara's Markwell family. I've only done research online but have traced some ancestors back into Europe in the 1600s. I am now mainly having trouble with my dad's direct lineage: I can't find anything about my paternal grandfather's birth family. They came from Germany, and as I've learned, a lot more Fiehn's emigrated from Germany - some via England - than I had before ever realized came to the USA. It's fun, but it's time-consuming!

We finally, on Friday, got the VW of our daughter, Rebekah, back from the shop. It now has two new mufflers (who knew a Cabrio had two mufflers?) and some exhaust pipe. They also replaced, free, the catalytic converter, they'd installed a few months back. Their "bad", the man said. At least now we don't hear the car coming and going. The guy is excellent doing work on any foreign model car, but he surely isn't speedy. His shop is always full and he's highly recommended, but it does take them a while.

Well, off to do some shopping today, do Barbara and my laundry, and who knows what else.

The song in my mind probably came from doing all the genealogical research. I noticed how some more distant cousins, most of whom I'd never been in close contact with, had passed on. And it seems like only yesterday we were going to family reunions together. The song, of course, is "Abide With Me".

Do have a good Sunday and a good upcoming week. I hope to keep posting a bit more often: the 3 day hiatus is unusual for me.

Wednesday!

Today is a breezy, partly-sunny, partly-cloudy day here in south-central Kentucky! We had quite a bit of rain, some of it heavy at times, overnight and the rest of the day is to be breezy and chiller overnight tonight.

The wind brings down a lot of branches here and now owning a piece of property, instead of living in a condo area like we did in IL, I have to go out and do the clean-up. One advantage to living in a community development, folks!

Still waiting to hear back from the shop on the VW: The shop does excellent work for a reasonably price, but I do think he's a bit understaffed, so it's not usually in and out on the same day. C'est la vie!

I've done a lot of genealogical research, finding more on my maternal grandmother's Shane family and Barbara's Markwell family than on my own Fiehn lineage.

Nothing else to exciting to report. See you later!

Teach Your Children (Well)

I'm not sure, as usual, why Graham Nash of CSNY's hit song "Teach Your Children" was in my mind this morning, but that's just fine with me, as I love the song, and them.

"Don’t you ever ask them why
If they told you, you would cry
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you.


It's a cool, frosty morning here in Bowling Green, but it's clear and looks like it will be warming up decently. It must be Spring as some canvasser for a lawn service company came by last night signing up folks for free estimates. So far, the only thing I see a need for is using a pre-emergent herbicide as there were quite a few weeds in the turf last summer.


I got way hung-up doing genealogical research last evening. I even signed-up for a paid account on Ancestry.com and was up until about 12:30 AM finding records. I've gotten farther than I ever have before. I'm especially having difficulty with my paternal lineage, but I've found out there are lots more people in the USA with the Fiehn surname than I ever thought! I didn't even get a blog posting out yesterday!


Shortly will be taking Barbara and Rachel to work, as the VW didn't get finished at the shop yesterday. I don't mind driving them around, but it is inconvenient to be short a vehicle!


I hope you and yours have a great day.

Quiet So Far On Sunday Morning

"...Give me my freedom for as long as I be, All I ask of living is to have no chains on me.." a line from "And When I die" by Laura Nyro - as recorded by Blood Sweat and Tears, long ago - is the song for this morning. As usual, I'm not sure why, but I sure enjoy the songs.


I was successful yesterday in getting an ADA-height toilet installed in the master bathroom. We had one in the condo in Sycamore, too, and both Barbara and I found it to our liking, so we put one in here.


I'm not sure what all the plans will be for today, but it will mostly be things around the house here. So far, I'm the only one awake, so I'll go and get the newspaper and take my time reading is.


May you all have a great day today!

Happy Saturday

It looks as though we're going to be having decently warm and dry weather over the weekend which is nice! Sarah and Dave came down from Brandenburg last night, stayed over and headed back home this morning with our old, smaller freezer to use at their place! It's always good to see them, which is not often enough considering they're only about 100 miles away!

Barbara wants to go to Home Depot this morning to see about getting a "chair height" toilet for our bathroom. We'd put one into the master bath at the Sycamore condominium, and we both really liked it. They're much easier to use than the standard "low" toilets. In addition, the one in our bathroom has an inordinate amount of trouble fully-flushing at times.

Song thought for now is the version of "New World Coming" as recorded by The Association:
"..There's a brand new morning

Rising clear and sweet and free

There's a new day dawning

That belongs to you and me.."

I like this version better than the one by Nina Simone, as her original has too much apocalyptic imagery in it for me, not being a believer in the Apocalypse as commonly thought of.


I hope you all have a great weekend! I'm planning to!

"I dreamed a dream that made me sad..

..concerning myself and the first few friends I had." That line from Bob Dylan's Dream, naturally by Bob Dylan, was on my mind this morning. If you don't know that song fully, you can find all its lyrics here. Anyway, it contemplates early friendships and how we let them drift away. "Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat, I'd give it all gladly if our lives could be like that." I especially like the line about he and his friends being in a room, talking, laughing and singing, as it brings back fond memories of my friends and I doing that. After all these years, Ron, I still recall. We really did think we'd change the world.


Anyway, I was busy yesterday, mainly driving Barbara and Rachel as needed since the VW was - and still is - in the shop. I hope it will be done today. I also did grocery shopping, in advance of son-in-law Dave and daughter Sarah Mitchner coming down tonight. Aside from a visit, they'll take the now-surplus small freezer back to Brandenburg with them. Our weekend looks like it will be fairly decent, weather-wise, which will be nice. I may go up to Brandenburg tomorrow and help them with some of the clean-up they need to do in their yard from the ice storm, which affected them much more than it did us.


My slide viewer's bulb gave out and I forgot to get a new one yesterday, so I didn't get any picture sorting done yesterday. I hope to work on that today and this weekend, too.


I hope today and the weekend will be good for you and yours!

Update and Harry Chapin and Mr. Tanner

Well, the predicted storms did blow through. The wind and rain came, but for a fairly short period and then it was over. It's still cloudy and cooler than it had been, but not bad at all. I see a few small branches blew down in the yard.

The problem with the driver's window on Barbara's Toyota was nothing more than the mechanic having left a slightly loose connection when they installed a new control several days ago, so they took care of it quickly and gratis!

Tomorrow the VW is going out to a different VW mechanic to see why its "check engine" light is staying on. I think it's something to do with the catalytic converter which was replaced only last October down here.

I've started trying out Fotki as a site to share my photos. I've had one on Flickr for some time, but I haven't liked the way the collections and albums are set up on Flickr. With Fotki, they can be heirarchical, just like folders/directories on a computer desktop, and I like that. I am thinking I'll probably get everything eventually onto my Fotki page. There's not as flashy graphics and features on Fotki as there are on Flickr, but all I want is a place to upload and share my pictures.

The song for now is "Mr. Tanner" by the late Harry Chapin (of "Cats in the Cradle" and "Taxi" fame):

"Music was his life, it was not his livelihood,
and it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good.
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul.
He did not know how well he sang; It just made him whole."

It speaks well to anyone who loves music but who does not make their living from music.
There's an interesting, short article about the "why" of the song here. If you've never heard this song, you owe it to yourself to watch Chapin singing it on YouTube here. It brings a tear to my eye everytime I hear it, which is not often. I was fortunate to see Harry Chapin give a small, intimate, one-man performance at Kearney State College (now the University of Nebraska at Kearney) in Nebraska in about 1978. Alas, Harry is one of those talented musicians who died much, much too early in his career.

Mid-Week Musings

Today is starting out as a blustery, damp day. We have a forecast of winds up to 60 mph as a cold front - the same one which caused tornadoes yesterday in Oklahoma - passes through. I put the patio umbrella (it was already closed) into the garage just in case! Forecast for Thursday is for clear and warm again. Overall, I am liking the relatively warm weather here. Barbara is saying 'just wait until it's 90' in June - October. We'll see.

I had to take the Toyota back to the mechanic today: the expensive window/lock control they installed late last week still isn't working right. I can't get the driver's window to operate properly. Then, tomorrow, the VW has to go in as the "check engine" light is staying on. As I commented on my Facebook page, automobilies are a "money pit", but, living where we do, one cannot do without them.

Barbara is to have an MRI of her lower back today and then will probably soon start getting injections for the pain she is having. It is quite debilitating for her.

Today's "song-in-my-mind" is "Let's Get Together", (Smile on your brother), by Chet Powers, the most popular recording of which was done by the Youngbloods in 1967:

"Some will come and some will go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moments sunlight
Fading in the grass.."

With one vehicle in the shop, today will be my day to drive Barbara and Rachel around. In addition to B's MRI appointment, I drove Rachel to work, will pick her up after work and take her to WKU for her class, hopefully pick up the Toyota from the mechanic, and bring Rachel home after class. I hope the storm doesn't get too nasty.

Have a good day and "smile on your brother"!

Tuesday's Tune Is...

The City of New Orleans by Steve Goodman: "Good morning, America, how are you? Don't you know me, I'm your native son.." which is probably the best "train song" ever written. One: the rhythm feels like a train ride and two: the truthfulness; "this trains got the disappearing railroad blues". I feel myself fortunate that I am old enough to have actually ridden on a passenger train in the pre-Amtrak era.



The ground is a bit wet this morning so we've had a few droplets of rain. I think more is predicted for later in the day. I'm glad I got a few yard-work things done outside yesterday. It's still supposed to be near seventy today.



The VW Rachel drives to work had to go into the shop yesterday afternoon, so I'll be driving both her and Barbara to work today.



Today is election day here. We get to vote for one of two guys to replace our State Senator. Being new, I don't know much about either one and from their ads, I can't say I care much for either.



I'll probably keep working on my pictures and slides today. Have a great day.

Wonderful Monday

The song in my head this morning was Steve Winwood's "While You See A Chance": "Stand up in a clear blue morning until you see what can be. Alone in a cold day dawning, are you still free?.."
Another of his songs I love is "Back In The High Life Again".

We were up early this morning as Barbara had an appointment about her back pain with a neurologist in the north Nashville suburbs. She has to have an MRI (here) and then will perhaps have epidural steroid injections. Better the surgery!

This afternoon, I worked around the house and then a representative from Bathfitter came to give us an estimate on re-doing Rachel's bathroom. Not cheap, but it sure needs it.

It was another beautiful day here, about 70. We're supposed to have rain tomorrow and perhaps heavy storms Wednesday, but we could use some rain now.

You all have a great day and evening.

A Superlative Day in B.G.

Well, the temp has reached almost 70 (ok, 69), it's sunny and nice. I cleaned-up some stuff in the yard, including pruning some overgrown holly bushes and moving some stray rocks. Overall, it's been FINE day in Bowling Green. Perhaps Spring has sprung! ?

Today's Song Is...

"I got a name", as recorded by the late Jim Croce is the song of the morning.

"...And I carry it with me and I sing it loud,
If it gets me nowhere, Ill go there proud..."


I spent time last night uploading more pictures to my Flickr Photostream , and Barbara and I transferred our frozen foods from the old to the new freezer. (Sarah & Dave: You can come get the old one anytime!) Yesterday, I also went around the yard taking softwood cuttings from a number of our various varieties of holly bushes to start new plants. Holly here makes a good border plant and they're pretty trouble-free, other than pruning to shape periodically.

Today I'll probably work some more on the many, many boxes of 35mm transparencies I want to get sorted and scanned.

"Preserve your memories; they're all that's left you.."
"Bookends" by Paul Simon on the album Bookends (1972)

Tomorrow, Barbara and I will drive to Nashville as she has a doctor's appointment there tomorrow morning, and then in the afternoon a contractor is coming by to prepare an estimate on replacing the tub/shower in Rachel's bathroom. Overall, a busy day!

I Think I'm Getting the Family cold

I've been congested and very tired today. I think I may have inherited the cold my wife and oldest daughter have had. Fiddle. My get-up-and-go has got up and "went" today. I even took an afternoon nap, which is unusual for me. Rachel is off to see a friend in Lexington, so it's just the two of us tonight. We might even go out for supper. More tomorrow!

A Quiet Saturday - No Fire, No Rain

Today's song, having sprung forth inexplicably from the depth of my memory is, "Fire and Rain", by James Taylor: "..I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend...." For those interested, there's a number of interesting articles and the "why" of this song, one of which is here.

The new big freezer is all chilled down by now, so we'll load it up today after we come up with an effective organizational plan so we all know where the various items are! The old, small freezer is going to Sarah and Dave whenever they drive down from Brandenburg to pick it up.

Other than that, it will be a day of just doing stuff around the house, I think. Oh, I do have to go to Walgreen's and pick up the processing results of the 24 exposure 35 mm film I left yesterday. It had been in the "el-cheapo" point-and-shoot camera for so long, I'm not sure what all is on it.

You all have a great day and a weekend!

The New Freezer

After complaining some time about our 5.0 cu ft chest freezer being too small for three of us, we went out today to hhgregg - where Rachel works - and bought a new 14.8 cu ft Frigidaire chest freezer with her employee discount. Now for the fun of arranging it. At least I should be able to find what I want when I want it without taking stuff out of the freezer.

Today turned out to be beautiful, mid-50s, with 60's predicted for Sat & Sun, with some rain moving in later on Sunday. Spring seems to have "sprung"!

Do take care, all!

A Bright Friday Morning

Today is another “woke-up with a song in my head day”, and today’s is

“Making Friends”, by Elton John & Bernie Taupin. “Making friends for the world to see…” I’m guessing it was prompted by a long phone conversation last evening with my friend, Mike Semrad. Mike and I went to school and college together and have known each other since we were, perhaps, 4 years old, nearly 60 years now. No doubt he’s my longest-term friend.

Today promises to be a warm, sunny day. I have to get Barbara’s Toyota serviced today and a woman is coming to get the moving boxes I offered to give away free on Freecycle. Next Monday Barbara has a doctor’s appointment in the Nashville area, so we hope the weather is good for that trip. Nashville is our closest metropolitan area. It is quite easy to get there: just a straight trip down I-65 and no traffic to speak of unless you get right down into the downtown area. Even the Nashville airport – the closest hub to us – is only about 75 miles away.

Well, my coffee should be done, so perhaps I’ll write more later today. May you and yours do well today, “for friends are found on every road”

Sunny Day, Sweepin' the Clouds Away!

It appears so far that today is the warm-up day we've been hoping for. I'm glad for the workers and those so adversely affected by the recent ice-storms: They should have a good day for recovery work! I just advertised a bunch of good moving boxes on our local Freecycle website. Freecycle is a great idea; if you don't know about it, see: Freecycle It helps out those who need stuff and it keeps a lot of stuff out of the landfills! Barbara is off to each classes at WKU today and Rachel has already left for work. I need to keep working on sorting my 35mm slides, and if it's nice enough, I might do a bit of yard work. The branches which I had put out for the trash collectors to take on Tuesday did not get taken; I suspect they were swamped on their regular pick-up routes and will make a return trip just for branches later on. Not much else to report on for now. Do have a great day!

Today's Song

This morning dawns clear but very cold. Like yesterday, I woke up with a song running through my mind: "Superstar" (Long ago and, oh, so far away...) the most popular recording of which was recorded by the Carpenters but was written and first recorded by others. Why do these songs pop up? Did I hear them and don't remember hearing them? Nevertheless, it's fun.

We did a big shopping at Sam's Club in snow squalls with - for here - bitter cold last night. Some of the stuff not subject to damage by the cold is still in the trunk waiting to be unloaded, but the sun in shining so that will happen later today. Barbara also wants to do a shopping at our nearby Kroger's today, as it's Senior Citizen Day, and us oldies get an extra 10% off! I still don't think of myself as a Senior, but I guess I am.

Many of the school districts here are still close due to the damage to the power grid by the recent ice storms and some will have to extend their school years well into June.

Aside from other chores, I want to continue to work on my slides and getting them organized for scanning.

All for now. Have a good day!

Song In My Mind

"Please allow me to introduce myself I'm a man of wealth and taste..." Not sure why, as I don't think I've heard it played lately, but for some reason, the Rolling Stones song "Sympathy for the Devil" has been stuck in my mind today. It IS a great song anyway. I also like Blood Sweat & Tears cover version, "Symphony for the Devil".

Update on Recovering from the Ice Storm of 2009

A number of correspondents have asked how we fared with the recent ice storm. We were quite lucky here; around town a few branches down and a few prolonged power outages, but here at home we were without power only for about 2 hours. I ran across this post on one of the blogs I regularly follow, Unusual Kentucky, and thought it was worth sharing
Much of Kentucky Still Without Power

More from me later today, more than likely.

The Day The Music Died

Well for the at least one of my friends who, at this writing, hadn't figure out the trivia question on my Facebook page, N3794N was the number of the plane in which Buddy Holly, JP "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and Ritchie Valens died on this date in 1959.

Here in Bowling Green, it's another warmer day, although overcast at present. I did get my branches picked up and cut to the lengths which the trash haulers find acceptable, so they will get taken tomorrow. There were not a lot in our yard compared to many around the community. We did "dodge the bullet" on the recent ice storms which devastated a large area, mostly to the west and north of us. Whew!

Barbara and I have appointments with our rhumatologist (sp?) this morning and then back here so I can do some arranging and storage in the garage. We keep sorting through more stuff in the house and finding more to just stash away! I really want to get to work on sorting and scanning my many slides, but haven't figured if I'll do them myself or have them done. Doing them myself is very labor intensive; having it done is expensive. I'll probably do them myself; my labor is cheap! Barbara and Rachel have colds and both are not feeling the best. Rachel has to go to work today, but she'll do OK with it. I'm not yet sure if Barbara wants to or has to go to campus today. We'll see.

FWIW, I enjoyed Bruce Springsteen during the halftime show of the Super Bowl last night. I saw only a couple minutes of the game, including the 100 yeard interception run-back right before the halftime, and then maybe the last minute of the game. I can honestly say, I had no favorite and am not really into pro football anyway.

Another Sunny Day

It looks like today will be another fairly warm, dry, sunny day, which pleases me. Maybe I'll get energetic and break up the branches which fell with the ice storm and get them put out so the trash haulers will take them tomorrow! I'd do a bit of light raking, too, but the ground is very soft and wet. If the sod ever froze here this year, it had to have been for a very short period, as most of the time I've been here (since early November), the lawn has just been spongey, not hard. I guess I'd probably best get going on fixing the breakfast I promised Barbara and Rachel, but they're still asleep. I hope you all have a great day!

Not Surprising, but Still Sad

Goodbye to 'an old friend' as World-Herald ends edition The Omaha World-Herald, THE newspaper that WAS Nebraska in my formative years, is drastically cutting back on the areas of Nebraska and Iowa where it delivers daily print editions. What I did not know before reading this was that the OWH owns the daily newspapers in Scottsbluff, North Platte, Kearney, Grand Island, and York, Nebraska, plus 4 dailies in Iowa, including the Council Bluff Nonpareil. Time moves on, however, "not all motion is progress", is it?

Boy Scout Councils Misusing Lands & Timber?

Lots of Land, Few New Camps for Scouts

I had not heard about the controversy involving extensive logging on Scout camps property until a friend of mine from the Pacific Northwest drew my attention to it. Apparently, logging goes on regularly on at least some Scout properties.

Below is another link to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which also has indicated it will have another story on Mon, Feb 2, 2009 about a “Boy Scout council which operated a dam on a pristine river and -- despite official warnings -- allegedly killed threatened steelhead trout. When it was discovered, the council sought aid from politicians to whom Scouting executives had ties.”

Profit trumps preservation for Boy Scout councils nationwide

You can make your own decisions about these practices; the writers clearly have theirs. No doubt there will also be further statements from official BSA sources as it appears this story does “have legs”, rightfully or wrongfully.

A Sad Story from My Hometown - Fremont, Nebraska

An article in the Fremont Tribune, the newspaper of Fremont, Nebraska, my home town, indicates that what is probably the tallest "office" building in the downtown area has fallen into disuse and disrepair and may wind up being torn down. See: It could take a lot to make 505 sparkle As much as I would hate to see this building be torn down, it would be just the latest in a long line of
of building losses in a downtown which has been deteriorating since the 1960s. The city leadership should have taken positive action to maintain and inprove the downtown when the "Fremont Mall" went in 40 some years ago. Instead, many buildings were torn down and many of those lots remain vacant or are now only parking lots. Deterioration of the downtown was also sped up by the events of Jan 10. 1976 when the Pathfinder Hotel was destroyed in a natural gas explosion. In my opinion, this former First National Bank building (now called the "505" Building, its address being 505 N. Main Street) should have been - and perhaps still could be - converted to living space on its upper levels, with the first level remaining retail. I hope the city and its leadership can come up with something to utilize and preserve this building.

A Sunnier Day

Well, today was at least party sunny, which I enjoyed, and also warmer, with most of the residual of our 2 inch snow from Wednesday having melted off. I've spent a good part of the day cleaning up my email inbox which had grown way too large with unanswered emails. Rachel is due home from work soon and dinner is ready, so I'll run off shortly. Rachel's work schedule is now pretty much Mon-Fri, daytime, so we should have evenings and weekends to do stuff we need or want to do around here. Barbara is doing well and the opthomologist/surgeon said her right eye looks good. He scheduled her to have the right corneal implant on February 26. Then, in May, she'll have the left eye cataract surgery and corneal implant. She said today "By August, I should be able to see!". We send our greetings to all and welcome your news and comments here or by email. As Garrison Keillor says "Be well, do good work, and keep in touch"!

Barbara's Cataract Surgery Done

Well, the surgery on Barbara's right eye went fine. She now has to keep putting drops into it for the next few weeks, but it all went well.

My Flickr Photostream, Ice, Snow

I spent quite a bit of time - perhaps too much - today uploading a bunch of old photos that my daughter, Sarah, had scanned for me. Mostly there are old 1960s era pictures from my Boy Scout days back in Fremont (Nebraska). Anyway, it was fun to view, edit and upload them to my Flickr which is at http://flickr.com/photos/larryfiehn/

We had rain all night last night into mid-morning, at which time it changed to a wet snow. We only got about one inch and a lot of it melted. Now it's getting rather cool, but a warming trend is forecast, which is fine with me!

Tomorrow I am driving Barbara over to the eye surgeon at nearby Glasgow (KY) for one of her cataract surgeries, so we'll be gone from mid-morning until whenever we get back.

I hope all goes well for you all.

Tuesday: Rain and Ice

Well, the freezing rain and ice did arrive. The roads were "OK" this morning, but we did lose power briefly here at home; probably some tree branches down on a power line. That does seem to happen quite a bit in this area. Barbara is teaching here class, Rachel is at work, and of course Rebekah is back in Boston. I'm putzing arouind the house. Maybe more later today!

Back Home from Nashville

Well, we successfully got our youngest daughter, Rebekah, to the Nashville airport. The weather is cloudy, but so far, nary a drop of any type of moisture, which is good. Rain, freezing rain, and ice are still in our forecast for later tonight! Rebekah's suitcase was overweight a few pounds, so when I got home I boxed up the excess and already shipped it to her. Overall, a good day.

Monday's Schedule

Well, it's soon time to be off to the Nashville airport so youngest daughter, Rebekah, can fly back to Boston and school at U Mass - Boston. It was nice to have her around so much since mid-December, but she's ready to get back to classes, too. Our weather is going to deteriorate here today, with rain and ice predicted to start late this afternoon and through the nighttime hours. I'm quite certain we'll have returned from Nashville - only about 75 miles - way before the weather turns, as her flight is at 12:45 PM. Oldest daughter, Rachel, is off to work soon and her WKU class after that, and tomorrow, Barbara starts her teaching again. All for now!

Sunday

Well, oldest daughter is at work all day, and it's rather cloudy and cool. I even saw a few snow flakes drifting around earlier, but it's not going to amount to much. Tomorrow we are off to the airport in Nashville whence youngest daughter, Rebekah, will fly back to Boston and her schooling at U Mass, Boston. It's been great having her home for over a month, but she's also looking forward to getting back to school! Not much else is going on. I am ready for another sunny warm day.

Barbara's New Computer

Well, we've succeeded to get my wife's new desktop computer, a HP a6600z, set up and running. It came pre-loaded with Window Vista Home Premium, which neither of us were crazy about, as we both prefer the Windows XP OS. We were considering partitioning the HP hard drive and installing a copy of XP, too, but so far, neither she nor I are encountering the horror stories we were expecting from Vista. Thus, the partitioning is on hold for now. We will have to install some software on the new computer if we don't do the partition. Time will tell. Meanwhile, it's still a beautiful day outside, being now about 50 degrees!

Website

My website, such as it is in its basic simplicity, is up and it seems all the links are working!

Spring?

Today promises to be a beautiful day in southern Kentucky. Sun in shining and it's already warm. I remember some years ago, the late Charles Kuralt said, on CBS' "Sunday Morning" that "The first sign of Spring is when you look for the first sign of Spring." Seems like today! So, we all got new AT&T cell phones last night after being unable to get satisfactory resolutions to our problems with lack of coverage here from Verizon (unable to get digital features). So, on another subject, why is the John Mellencamp song "Jack and Diane" stuck in my head this morning? "Oh yeah, life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone." May you all have a great day.

My Flickr and website

Well, my website is almost ready to upload; I hope that will be finished later today. I also have a photostream at Flickr but there's not much on it just yet. I have so many old photos and 35 mm transparencies to scan and upload, but it's going to take a while. Have a great day!

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my just-established weblog. I've recently built a homepage, set up an account on Flickr, and now my weblog. I'm not promising how often I'll post, but it's a start. More to follow very soon.