Happy New Year

Photo © Gert Pettit
Greetings from Dusty and the two people who live in the house with me, Gert and Don Pettit. We are sending Best Wishes for the coming New Year to all the people, world wide, who have become friends through being involved with The Bulletin.

Well, due to shortness of time, I won't convey the adventures of your ol' Capt. and Rufus until a later issue. But due to the heavy snow storm, the first real storm of the season for us midwesterners, I'm dragging out an old song I wrote maybe 20 or so years ago. It fits our winters just fine, and even Rufus likes it. {There ya go, putting words in my mouth again.}

It's called:

Ode To Minnesota

I've lived long in this state, and I think it's just great,
In the spring, and summer, and fall.
but in that other season, when I'm freezin' and sneezin',
I can't hardly stand it at all.

(Chorus) And the snowplows are humming, the snow is still coming,
It's drifted clear up to my knee;
When the snowflakes start falling, I hear voices calling
From Phoenix saying, 'come visit me.'

The kids they all love it, they push it and shove it
To build a snowman, 40 feet high.
I whimper and sigh, what makes me cry?
My car is down under it all.

With my fingers frost-bitten, inside of my mitten,
And white spots all over my nose.
I go everywhere, with an unblinking stare,
Just 'cause my eyeballs are froze.

The kids they all go 'round the old radio,
To hear what the announcer will say.
The kids they start jumpin', but Mom's heart is thumping,
To hear 'school will be closed for the day.'

Just put on more clothes when that cold north wind blows,
And you'll be right back in the groove.
I'm wearing 12 pair of long underwear, and I'm warm ...
but I can't even move!

And the snowplows are humming, the snow is still coming,
It's drifted clear up to my knee;
When the snowflakes start falling, I hear voices calling
From Phoenix saying, 'come visit me.'

©John N. Adair, DBA Jack Adair, AKA Capt. Jack, AKA Grampa Jack

Photo © Virginia McCorkell
Joshua Tree in Sonoran Desert near Tucson, Arizona.

Monday morning, when we were to leave, there was four inches of new snow. At the airport we watched as they cleared the runway ... 17 snowplows traveled in unison back and forth ... was quite the parade. We were delayed as they needed to de-ice our plane before take-off but when it was our turn to get de-iced the announcement came that the trucks needed to go refill with de-icer. But then it was decided that 'maybe' they would have enough to complete the job. 'Maybe' isn't a real confidence builder but it must have been enough. We were soon on our way.

We arrived in Phoenix, grabbed a shuttle bus to pick up a rental car and headed straight for Tucson. After checking in at the motel, we decided we had time to go look up the two addresses that we had of where Grandpa and Grandma Thomas had lived. We found a very old trailer court about where we figured theirs would have been but it wasn't the kind of place where you want to hang around too long so we didn't find the exact address. There was a large apartment building where their other trailer house would have been.

Photo © Virginia McCorkell
Ivan & Mamie Thomas's trailer home in 1947.

We stopped at eegee's for their famous fresh fruit slushy on the way back to the motel ... they would be really good in hot weather. Breakfast at the motel was a hearty buffet ... eggs, sausage, potatoes, biscuits and gravy, waffles, oatmeal, cold cereal, fruit, yogurt, muffins, toast, etc. ... so we had a good start to each day.

Our first destination was Sabino Canyon. We have pictures of Grandpa and Grandma picnicking there ... and one of Grandma wading in the river. You can no longer drive into the canyon but we took the shuttle ride. They warned us that we would need a coat and I said, "But we are from Minnesota!"

Photo © Virginia McCorkell
Mamie Thomas in Sabino Canyon.

We smeared on our sunscreen and perched sunhats on our heads ... and went to the car to get our coats. The whole time we were bouncing along through the canyon, we were in the shade and it was COLD. I put on my gloves and wished I had my sweater, too! It was a BEAUTIFUL canyon, but with a bouncy ride and all of the shade, we did not get any good photos there.

We dawdled along some of the trails by the visitors center at Sabino Canyon. That was our first view of the desert up close. I had thought it was such a drab, unfriendly place ... but by now I was really starting to like it!

Photo © Virginia McCorkell
Trails at Sabino Canyon visitors center.

At noon we strolled into the El Charro Café. Jennie Horne recommended we go there for some local flavor. We pretty much had the place to ourselves ... except for a cluster of soldiers. El Charro's Café was started in Tucson, Arizona, in 1922 and is The Nation's Oldest Mexican Restaurant in continuous operation by the same family. I found it ironic that the lady who started it was from France. Her father had been commissioned to build the St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson. The original El Charro Café is still serving in downtown Tucson.

Photo © Virginia McCorkell
Lunch for two at El Charro Café.

Next was the Catalina Highway up to Mt. Lemmon. That highway has "the equivalent of driving from the deserts of Mexico to the forests of Canada in a short stretch of 27 miles." Words fail to describe it and photos are inadequate for conveying the awesome grandeur of that drive.

Photo © Virginia McCorkell
Along the Catalina Highway.

There were lots of places to pull off and absorb the beautiful sights. It seemed that with every twist and turn of the highway there was a change of rock, vegetation and mountain vistas. As we climbed the mountain, it became cooler and cooler and yes, there was snow to add to the variety.

Photo © Virginia McCorkell
Viewpoint along the Catalina Highway.

There were two things that made me uncomfortable about the mountain driving. The first was the speed at which people on bikes would 'coast' down the mountain ... it was more like flying! The posted speed limit is just for cars and trucks, right? The other was the section of road where one lane was washed out and we went through on the shoulder of what remained of the road. Guess the highway crew deemed it safe to go through as they didn't send us back down the mountain.

Photo © Virginia McCorkell
Catalina Highway.

We got down the mountain just in time to go through Saguaro Park (east) at sunset. We got about a third of the way through and the park ranger caught up to us and said we needed to move along as the park closes at sundown. So we only got a handful of pictures there ... wish there had been time to go back. I am really loving the desert and mountains by now! The really nice thing about it ... anyone ... even if you drive a Jazzy ... can go pretty much everywhere we went. On the way back to the motel, we stopped at Weinerschnitzel's ... for a hot dog and chili cheese fries.

Photo © Virginia McCorkell
Evening at Saguaro (east).

On Wednesday morning, Carolyn and Rodney Loera (she is Larry's cousin) and another couple picked us up and we went to a morning Bible Study. We were invited to stay for lunch. I think there were 10 of us around the table ... excellent home cooking! In the evening, Carolyn and Rodney invited us to come for supper at their home ... more great home cooking. Carolyn and Rodney had moved to Tucson for the winter just three weeks before. We enjoyed the slower pace and time to visit after the fast pace of the day before.

To be continued...

Photo © Tim Holman
Arch Rock -- Southern Oregon Coast.

UPDATE -- Hunter's grandparents visit his auntie
by Ginny Dake McCorkell
Blaine, MN

We surely did, as it didn't end with the pizza ... that was our noon lunch. It had looked like Don and I would eat pizza from a box for our Christmas dinner. I thought almost every plan for the day had been pretty well changed, if not eliminated, as the snow got deeper by the hour. Don sent a dispatch around that reported one death, 84 injuries and 1054 vehicles off the road. I expect lots were caused because drivers couldn't see the road. (Well, of course, there are many miles of icy stuff, too.)

The surprise came when Donna and Beaver and Becky and the kids came and spent a couple hours visiting -- and they had our "supper" along. We had lasagna and chili (with garlic toast) as the main meal and then we had little cream puffs for dessert. We all ate together. It might not have been so traditional ... but it was yummy!

Then came the total surprise. Donna had made a large card and she had decorated it with family members' photos (with cute add-ons to enhance each picture). She and Becky had visited all over town and had found meal gift cards from the restaurants here in town -- both fancy and fast food -- and she had them each in an envelope with the names of the family members who gave them and the place they were from. They were hiding in some large packets hidden under the photos. Now, when the weather improves, we can start to eat out! We shouldn't have to make meals for a long time to come.

They have now all gone out to visit Shawn, Lori, and girls. The weather seems not to have daunted anyone in this area so very much! Glad that is so; it made a lovely break from the gloom of the weather. Now I must get busy writing some thank yous...

Dorothy

Let's Play a Guessing Game: Whenever it is handy to do so, we will run a picture of someone of the subscribers or staff members of our e-magazine. Tell us who you think it is -- we will let you know who was the first to guess it right -- and the correct guess -- in the following week's Bulletin.

(Send us some to run; we will line them up in our staging area to take their turn. Gina Henderson supplied last week's mystery photo.

On the guess picture, I hope I don't make a mistake like I did last time. Here we have Mason Henderson, his cousin Abby Henderson, and his brother Logan. Mason and Logan belong to Ben and Heather Henderson and Abby belongs to Dan and Gina Henderson. They are having quality time together in the toy box, is what it looks like, while the boys' sister, Brienna, is sleeping. Right?

Here's my guess for "identify": my oldest son, Mason; my adorable niece, Abby, and my youngest son, Logan!

A series of recollections, of the five years when Bill and Lois Dake and their family lived in Minnesota, began with the episode in Bulletin 343. It's too soon to tell just how many parts there will be in this series, just after World War II. In Bulletin 349, I told more about polio (once called Infantile Paralysis) via two links, Polio and Sister Kenny, to minimize disruption of the narrative flow. Both documents are posted as a series of scanned images. We can't edit them or correct typos and they will not respond to font changes or printer settings as regular Bulletin pages do.

Dorothy Dake, 20, hand tinted portrait, 1946.

Photo © Frans de Been
Snowstorm in Oosterhout, Netherlands.

What a grand photo of "Winter Begins" from Anchorage, Alaska! We are always impressed at anything "Alaska" as, in our minds, it is the extreme of most everything, especially the winter weather. It has a beauty all its own with the pristine white and the majestic mountains bordering its miles.

What a grand surprise to see the update of Tom Miller, Sr.'s trip to Florida to see brother Jim. Those two weeks would have just flown by. With life passing so quickly, one has to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves -- like that ridiculously low air fare.

We were expecially glad to see Steve and Marian with Jim, as they look like life is agreeing with them as the years pass. Then that very nice photo of Tom and Jim together. We were so glad for all the details you shared, Tom, and for the pictures worth a thousand words (or more).

Then, there was OUR Tabasco, who looks like a pampered and very much alive cat. Can't say a cat doesn't have expression in their eyes. You can almost read her mind.

We needed that variation from all the other Bulletin star cats, as Dusty took the spotlight for a change. Thanks, Gert, for introducing us to that new member of your family. It would be so much fun to watch him meet Mai Tai and Miss Kitty. All of them claiming rights. Keep us posted on him.

What could be more of a memory than baking decorated cookies at Gramma's house? They looked good enough to eat, and I am surprised there were that many left to photograph.

Donna Mae, don't worry about your cookie skills, as someone has to have the stove to bake them in, so that was your huge contribution. The picture of Lori and McKenna was very nice.

As a child, I had a collection of key chains one time, so I can well understand the fun of finding a way to display them. I had them all connected together into a huge pile. I have a few yet.

I clicked on Dave's Snowflake Page link, and couldn't quit looking at it and clicking further and further into the information. Thanks for that. Very interesting to look at when I have more time.

What a sweet picture of those McKenzie children, and then to think of who and where they are now. Thanks for that story for us of Don's family.

The Memory Lane got pretty complicated, with all the delivery details of the people and food. What a shock to find that note AND the Coke that should have been delivered long ago. All your little details of everything makes your writing so unique, after so many years, and we loved imagining we were right there with you in the cold wind when that kind Max drove up, offering you a life-saving ride home.

What a nice picture of Kjirsten in the Travelogue. She looks so calm, cool and collected, regardless of the boat trip. We had to laugh at your accommodation of a tree house, but I am sure you loved the challenge, Kjirsten, and aside from the bugs and spiders, it would have been a great experience.

HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY, Elaine! You hardly look 80, though -- are you sure? Someone baked and decorated a beautiful cake for you.

The CHUCKLES photo was to your credit, Jerrianne, and how did you get it from Texas, and is that Texas snow? Looks like four dogs, or is it three? (It's four Alaska dogs enjoying Alaska's first snowfall of the winter season in October 2009. I can believe that snow may seem magical in Texas every time, but in Alaska, fresh snow only seems magical some of the time. --Photo Ed.)

The color of springtime is in the flowers ... Hmmm, and the color of winter is in the imagination ... Hmmm... That will take me some time to think about.

For a Bulletin that needed more input from the subscribers, it turned out extremely well, and it seems full and running over, to me. Thanks for all your work and last minute scurrying.

Betty Droel