This clipping is part of a list of wounded, in 1944 and it contains my Godfather.
He, along with his 3 Brothers, served in WWII.
The greatest generation in action.
I knew that one of them had been injured in the war, and when my Father died, my Brother was given his purple heart.
Just seeing him mentioned in a public newspaper, with my Grandmother mentioned, brought it home to me.
From what I can get from his DD-214, his was wounded in France.
Proud to be his Goddaughter.
They put a new dome on the camera at La Plata, Missouri.
To check out the clarity, they gave us a view of the clouds last evening.
Once again, I am thrilled with the subject matter and this artist would love to paint it in oil.
I have it saved, for just that reason.
Art, I see it all around me.
The big news on Thursday was the cancelation of the remainder of the Florida part of the Steely Dan Tour.
As a matter of fact, they also canceled the stop in South Carolina, which makes it the next 5 tour days.
They have been fighting positive COVID-19 tests for several weeks and it just got to the point where too much of the band was positive.
From what I heard, a positive test even knocked out the guitar tech, the man who keeps all the guitars going.
We know nothing about Donald Fagen himself, but people who have been quarantined over the past few weeks are Carolyn Leonhardt (who has been back stage singing behind Plexiglas). We also think that Keith Carlock has been stricken, because he has been wearing a mask up on the drum stand. Imagine trying to drum with a mask on.
I had noticed that both guitarists were masked recently and I showed that to my Husband. Though I think that may have been preventive, since neither of them sing.
Some of these dates have been canceled before, back in late 2021.
Glad we were tour day 3 and got to see them, finally.
They are all so adorable.
This weekend they will (with luck) all be together for this Great Nephew's first birthday party.
He is so close to standing and starting to walk. A few weeks to go in that regard.
Hopefully I will have the chance to see some of what happens during his birthday celebration.
I look forward to seeing some photos and videos of the party.
Not like he will remember it, but the guests and family will.
My other Great Niece and Nephew traveled earlier in the week, to Massachusetts.
Their parents will be baptizing their youngest child.
My Nephews must have come up with the plan to do it all in one weekend.
I was invited, but I had to turn them down.
It was too close to my other trip and it is the height of a busy summer travel season.
Someday...
I heard recently that a woman dressed as a nurse, tried to kidnap babies at a Riverside Hospital.
Thankfully, she was stopped and arrested.
This brought back memories of my Dad.
When he was very young, his family went shopping and he was in a carriage.
He was left outside the store they entered, and a woman on the street came and grabbed him and the carriage.
My Grandmother, ever vigilant, saw this and screamed at her husband to stop this woman and get their son back.
Thankfully, my Grandpa did.
What they found out later, was that the woman had just lost a child of her own and the opportunity presented itself and she took it.
If my Grandpa had not succeeded, his branch of the family would not have gone on, my Dad is the only one who married and had children.
My Father's other 7 siblings either did not marry or if married, did not have children.
My Brother has brought us down two more generations, with 3 grandchildren.
Our name goes on.
A public service message for any of my blog readers who have At Home COVID-19 tests.
The expiration date on the package may be coming up.
I noticed it about a month ago and alerted my friends in the PBS world that they should be careful.
Then I saw on Yahoo that they dates have been extended and you should check your test on this list.
Mine has been extended by 6 months, so I am pleased.
Stay healthy.
My Water Post For Today.
Back to the Soo Locks, in Sault St Marie.
It was a rainy afternoon, so the view isn't the best, but I get the feeling that it is always like that.
No matter, you can see the International Bridge between the U.S. and Canada and the Canadian National Railroad tracks that also cross the complex.
A very cool area of the Country.
I hope you enjoy.
After over a 2 year delay, we will be attempting a workshop in August.
I have occasionally managed to work on Edith Stein, (the icon in the center) on occasion. I would say she is about 90% done.
The board in front of her is going to be the new icon, St. Theresa of Lisieux. She has lots of flowers that she is holding in the image I have seen and I hope I get to do some of them.
Yes, I do intend to be masked when I work. I hope they adhere to some sort of protocol, mask wise.
My son will be in town at that time, but I am not worried. He usually spends time with others and not much with us.
It's all on the news and in the paper this week.
If we don't get cases down, indoor masking may come back.
As I have mentioned several times before, we have not changed our masking protocol at alll.
We still mask as we enter the gym (though our mask is off when in the water).
We mask when we shop...always.
We have gone to two events, both delayed for 2 years and both times we were masked.
So far so good. We have not gotten COVID-19 and we hope that continues.
How tough is this, people?
I saw this sunset out my kitchen window on Wednesday.
I have not seen one or seen others post on Facebook about one recently.
After I took a few photos, someone did also post on Facebook.
I decided to skip Facebook and instead post it here.
I love when we get an unusual sunset, full of colors. God's work in action.
I took this photo a few days ago.
Shortly thereafter, I decided it was a wash this year and I threw them out with the green waste.
The problem is what is left has white worms on them and small ants all over the leaves.
Not appetizing, at least for me, and not worth the water to keep them alive so they are gone.
Successes this year were the cherry tomatoes and the radishes.
Definitey going to plant radishes next year.
American Melody came into port at Fort Madison on 7/19.
I looked at the general price for this 8 day 7 night cruise on the Upper Mississippi and found out it is in the area of 5 thousand dollars.
That is seriously a large sum of money for a trip, especially since it is the time of year for bugs (they keep mentioning Mayflies being around the river right now).
I guess if revenge travel is on your itinarary this year, a river cruise may be something you look into.
Not happening here at the angel house, that's for sure.
7 years ago my family got together and made a long trip up to the Plymouth Massachusetts area of our Country.
My Godson and his fiancée were getting married and we made a real effort to be present. The food was good, as you can see in the photo. :-)
I am glad we did, because between getting older, COVID-19, and did I mention getting older? We have not been able to do it again.
In the meantime, another nephew got married (in the midst of the Pandemic), had a baby (also in the midst of the Pandemic). His son is turning 1 next week and I had to turn down the invitation to the birthday party.
My Godson, in the past 7 years, has 2 children and I have never met either of them. I was planning a trip to meet his firstborn in April of 2020. HA! that so did not happen.
Now he has a second child and they are going to piggy back his youngest child's Christening with his brother's son's 1st birthday party.
Once again, regretfully, I will not be able to attend.
I have hope that we might be able to visit them, in the Fall, but we shall see.
My Water Post For Today.
Looking north on the Oswego River toward Fulton.
In my opinion, it is some of the most interesting stretches of the river, with no locks to get in its way.
We are between Lock #3 and Lock #5 and so the water is calm. Remember that the engineers made Lock #3 bigger, to take the extra lift the water needed, so there is no Lock #4.
There are actually islands in the middle of the river, too, like Battle Island (the name refers to a battle that took place on a nearby island on July 3, 1756, during the French and Indian War).
I love seeing the calmness of the river.
I fell down a rabbit hole again...
I was looking for information on an island in the Oswego River, due to a water post I will be showing off on Monday.
While doing some research about the name of the island, I found out there is a remnant of the old Oswego Canal, right there.
That is what is pictured above.
As I explored further, I found out that the photo of mine that started it all, has a remnant of the oswego canal by Minnetto. Who knew?
If you want to explore the river and two canals, check THIS out.
Two long distance trains travel through Galesburg, Illinois.
The Southwest Chief (of course) and the California Zephyr.
They try to keep them separate, but sometimes they come through the station at the same time.
I am sure the staff is not happy when that happens, but that's life.
Galesburg is the last really important station, before the trains leave Illinois for points West.
Interesting station.
This is the second time in my travels that I have come across a monument to water and I have no idea what it is or why it was placed where it was.
I visited St. Kateri's Shrine in 2012 and passed a water pump that was a mystery until 2021. You can see my update post, HERE.
This one I saw while I was taking photos at Flagstaff Station. I figured I could look it up at a later time on the Internet, since time was short.
Here I am 2 months later and I am getting lots of nothing on the Internet, in regard to Flagstaff's "Fountain of Youth".
I think it might be a reference to the pure water that comes down to Flagstaff, off the San Francisco Mountains.
No matter what, it was interesting to see and if I ever make it back to Flagstaff Station, I will try to read what the plaque says.
A new instructor posted a few selfies of her and her class in the pool.
One of our teachers loved the idea and took one of herself and her Saturday morning class.
My Husband and I happened to be in the pool.
Way in the back on the right side. We are next to each other.
Very cool to have a record of something we do up, to 4 times a week.
It has been difficult to go every time, due to my Thesis (which I am STILL working on), but by the end of the year I should be clear.
It's summer and so it is time for my darling cat to move to the north side of the house, where the afternoon sun comes in via the west.
She is so funny, that she follows the sun. Always.
I also love the fact that she sleeps on my side of the bed.
Yep, though sometimes she moves over to my Husband in the middle of the night, she likes to cuddle up to me.
...and knead, and knead, and knead. Sigh
It hasn't been perfect, what in life ever is, but it has produced some really incredible moments that have been unforgettable.
1st time we married in Downey in very hot, humid weather. My wedding ring didn't even want to go on. (Whose idea was this, anyway?)
2nd time we got married by a Priest and a Rabbi at my home church in Canyon Country. Once again, the weather was BRUTAL! My AC could not keep up with 60 guests milling around my house and it was hot as hell. Seeing a trend here?
The 3rd time we had the ship's captain marry us in February of 2020. Maybe we actually figured this hot weather thing out. Of course in July we were still basically living in lock-down from COVID-19, so we were totally on board with the early celebration.
We have survived these and many other adversities along the way and have had some wonderful times.
10 years into our marriage we were blessed with a son to raise. Yes, that meant that for my second wedding I was 3 months pregnant. I kidded my Dad that I finally gave him his shotgun wedding.
Thanks so much for realizing that maybe marriage might be something worth pursuing and that I might be that someone for you.
It's nice to know that your idea was right on.
Happy Anniversary. More to come. I love you.
(Photo from our second wedding, 1990)
My Water Post For Today.
Up to Canada we go, to Victoria Harbour to be exact.
This was the final leg of our Alaska trip and I totally enjoyed being in the Seattle/Victoria area.
The water was a bit choppy, due to our boat making its final approach to the dock, but otherwise, serene.
Enjoy the view.
On our train journey home in May, we passed through Lamar, Colorado.
Not much there, but I noticed as we left the station, there was a windmill off the right side of the train.
Being a windmill kind of girl, I took this photo.
I now have the time to check what the words are on the windmill and it says Dempster.
You put the name into Google and you find out that the midwest was filled with these windmills, back in the day.
An interesting fact and I wonder if the town is making a memorial to the windmill, via a small park next to the tracks.
I enjoyed checking into it and hope you do, too.
Cue Randy Newman. I Love L.A.
Century Boulevard (we love it)
Victory Boulevard (we love it)
Santa Monica Boulevard (we love it)
Sixth Street (we love it, we love it)
We love L.A.
After more years than it should have taken, the Sixth Street Viaduct (Bridge) is finally going to open to the public today.
The City of Los Angeles has planned a big 2 day party on the bridge.
At the time we passed the bridge in May of this year, I could see it was nearing completion.
I am sure it would be cool to go, put I think I will pass and watch it on TV.
21 years ago, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker (among many other performers) were asked to contribute a song for a Joni Mitchell album.
They chose the song, Carey.
When the tribute album came out in 2007, the cut was missing because (reportedly) Joni did not like it.
Guess what turned up on my Facebook group Thursday? Carey.
Never having heard the Joni Mitchell song, on first listen, it is all Steely Dan in the EMG era.
Can't wait til I have time to listen to it again.
My Husband gave me a Graduation Card on the day I walked. I was totally shocked he did that and it made me so happy.
Our friends in Phoenix sent me a card. Again, I was totally shocked and it made me so happy.
Our neighbors across the street sent me a card and AGAIN I was totally shocked and it made me so happy.
You just don't realize how much your friends mean to you, until they do something so unexpected like that.
This old person is happy looking at these cards and "old style" wishes.
We got a bunch of Gladiolus this year.
The first of the season.
I grabbed 3 of them and brought them into the house.
They have given me lots of good feelings, as I putter around the kitchen.
They are the bulbs that keep on giving.
My Water Post For Today.
A year and a day ago, we spent an hour or so at Walled Lake, Michigan.
People boating and swimming and picnicking. It was a serene scene.
The water is so calm. I enjoyed every minute of our outing.
Hope you had a quiet and joyful 4th.
Happy 4th of July! (The water post will be on Tuesday)
We are not going anywhere for the holiday, though we could go to a parade in Downtown Newhall.
We did it once, no thanks.
Hopefully Makenna will make it through the day, and get through the fireworks that are set off.
Our City will have a display this year, though we will probably watch A Capitol 4th. Click the link for the preview.
Enjoy whatever you end up doing.
Saturday morning at Skykomish, Washington.
4 engines pass by, 2 of them are not running.
From what the skuttlebut on the chat boards is, the new engines are not working and need to be brought to the shop.
We wonder if they will take a trip to on the Coast Starlight and get dropped off in Sacramento, for repair.
Pretty to see, and sorry if they are not working right now.
Here we are, one month into 3 day a week watering.
I admit that I still water on Saturday evening. Too bad for our water company.
If I set up the remote sprinklers, I do a quick evening sprinkle of the three grass stations. They say that it is good to do that, on your water day.
Otherwise, I water the front grass when I water my garden plants.
What a pain in the neck.
Normally, at this time of year, I do daily watering, except on Saturday evening.
You can see the grass is stressed, but not as bad as my across the street neighbor or my corner neighbor who took out the grass the end of last year.
We are trying to keep things as good as we can, without using too much water.
Trying to take faster showers, too.
I was just setting up the calendar for the month of July and I noticed that there are lots of events during the month.
When my Husband and I got married, we had only two choices, July or December.
So we chose the hot month of July (both times) and moved on.
Now, on top of this one event, we have had my godson's birthday, my great nephew's birthday, and my godson's wedding.
What used to be an easy month, has become much more complicated.
As luck would have it, our haircut appointment falls exactly on our 42nd wedding Anniversary.
I was thinking we would do what we did on my birthday this year. Get lunch at the mexican restaurant that's a few doors down in the shopping center. Total yum, in my humble opinion.
BTW, This photo was taken on my birthday at Maria Bonita.
