Category Archives: History

2024, History, Movies, Music, Uncategorized

Our Song

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I am not too sure why I started thinking about Dr. Zhivago last week, but I did, and that led to memories of our Italian landlords in Winnipeg.

Angela and Emilio lived in a modest home not too far from the University, and when the house next to them came up for sale, they snatched it up. It was a very tiny, two bedroom home with a large enclosed porch and a nice sized garden in the back. There was an alley that ran in the back, and an unattached garage.

Emilio and Angela were from Calabria and immigrated to Canada in the mid 1960’s. Emilio was a ceramic tile layer and flooring guy. He had invented and perfected a way of laying tile that made him the fastest in the city. He wouldn’t let anyone watch him work because he didn’t want anyone else to learn his method. Angela was a homemaker. They bought the house next door out of an Italian desire to be able to control who lived near them. We were their first renters.

Angela told me that Emilio immigrated first, before they married, and she followed several months later. They married in Winnipeg. She told me her first impression of Winnipeg flying over the city was that the rows and rows of houses looked like rows of grave stones in a cemetery. She said that Lara’s Theme from Dr. Zhivago was “their song” since it spoke of lovers finding a place where they could be together. I thought that quite sweet. They managed to make a good life for themselves.

What are your favorite romantic movies? Did you ever have a song that you considered yours?

2024, Family, History, Kids, News, Uncategorized

New Hires

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Early last week in the grocery store, Husband and I ran into a couple we have know for years who are famer/ranchers and live in a small town near ours. They are truly salts of the earth, having been foster parents for decades, raising their own large family and adopting a couple of their foster kids, working as school bus drivers, and maintaining their ranch. They are near retirement now, as are we. Frank, the rancher, asked me what I was going to do after I was done working. Frank is a really funny fellow, and said that he heard that Trump was considering me for a cabinet post. I told him that my criminal record would prevent any such appointment, and Frank said that probably made me a shoo-in.

The cabinet picks continued all week, becoming increasingly and astoundingly weird, even that of our own Governor as Secretary of Energy. It seems like anyone, no matter how inappropriate, could be a contender. This got me to thinking who the Baboons would nominate for cabinet posts.

Make some interesting cabinet picks. What posts do you think fellow Baboons would do a good job at? Know any foster parents?

2024, books, History, Movies, TV

Tudor Anniversary

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When I was a freshman in high school, PBS aired The Six Wives of Henry VIII – a one-hour segment for each wife over the course of six weeks.  I do not remember why I watched the first one – it could have been because one of my folks turned it on, although neither of them were big history buffs.  It could also have just been a happy accident – by the end of the first episode, I was completely hooked.  That was the day that my interest in the Tudors was born.  About a year later, Masterpiece Theatre showed Elizabeth I, another six-part series.  Glenda Jackson was fabulous in this. It was also about this time that I saw Anne of a Thousand Days. Any time I think of Anne Boleyn, I also see Genevieve Bujold in my minds’ eye. Even when I hear this:

I would not call myself an expert in Elizabeth or any of her Tudor relatives, but I’m pretty sure I know more than your average Joe.  I remember being amazed when one of my Metro State professors, who I’ve always thought was just the smartest guy ever, didn’t know the order of the six queens.  Didn’t everybody know that.  Guess not.

Six, a musical that is currently playing on Broadway hasn’t piqued my interest yet – I still have to get around the weirdness of having a lot of singing and dancing based on what are almost all pretty tragic stories.  Truly, Anne of Cleves (#4) was the only one of the six who managed to come out ahead of the game.  I know a few people who have seen the musical and they say it definitely is good but I’m not ready yet.  Maybe one of these days. 

Yesterday, in 1558, Queen Mary passed away and Elizabeth came to the throne.  I thought I’d mark the occasion by reading Elizabeth I CEO: Strategic Lessons from the Leader Who Built an Empire.  It isn’t a new book but I’ve avoided it because “CEO” and “strategic lessons” aren’t on my favorite words list.  For some reason this week I’m thinking I might enjoy this – maybe give me some insights that I haven’t considered before.  We’ll see.

When was the last time you pushed yourself to read a book you weren’t sure about? And how did that turn out?

2024, Art, books, History, Movies

Sistine Chapel

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A couple of weeks ago, we hit the 512th anniversary of when the Sistine Chapel was first opened to the public for viewing; Michelangelo Buonarotti spent seven years working on that ceiling between 1508 and 1512.

The story of his work on the Chapel and his relationship with Pope Julius II is pretty well documented by Irving Stone’s The Agony & the Ecstasy, which came out in 1961.  I haven’t read it but reviews have always said that it’s a fairly well done biography, using mostly primary sources including a lot of Michelangelo’s letters and writings.

I’ve seen the movie several times – it got hugely good press when it came out in `65.  I think it portrays a pretty accurate look at the times although modern reviewers wish that the movie had been more “spicy” and suggest that Michelangelo’s life was more passionate than shown– that he wasn’t just a roboton with veins of paint (a great line by Rex Harrison in the movie – “What runs in Michelangelo’s veins is not blood – it’s paint”).

I’ve been lucky enough to visit the Sistine Chapel and it IS incredible.  However I can’t help but wonder at how Michelangelo could have labored for seven years on the project.  In fact, it turns out that a couple of decades later, he returned to work on The Last Judgments of Popes paintings.  So technically MORE than seven years.

A project taking that long would make me crazy.  My “all flowers, no grass” program in the front yard was a 20-year endeavor, but it was short spurts each year, nothing in comparison to hand painting an entire chapel.  The front porch project took four years but except for the two LONG days that tim and I spent sand-blasting the old stucco off, it didn’t seem like an overwhelming to-do.

I’m not sure how I would keep up my motivation for such a big job that would take so long.

What’s the longest project you’ve worked on?

2024, Family, History, Technology, Uncategorized

Gateway Arch

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When  I was nine, the St. Louis Arch was completed.  Not the whole she-bang (viewing room, elevator, greenway, museum) but the structure of The Arch.  It took 2½ years from breaking ground until October 28, 1965, when the last piece was put in place.

Although my family was actually living in Jefferson City at the time of the completion, we were St. Louis folks through and through.  The Arch was a big deal back then and we had been down to the site a couple of times during the build; it was exciting to see the two legs each inching up. 

As a child it seemed impossible to me that they could build each leg separately and actually have them meet in the middle.  The day that they put the last piece in place, joining up both legs, it was big news and as a family we watched it on television.  Here’s a short version:

At the time there were a lot of folks who thought once they put the last piece in place, The Arch would just fall down.  My father was not in that camp, asserting every time it came up in conversation that it would be an engineering marvel.  I guess he’s right – it’s been standing 59 years now.  Growing up mostly in St. Louis, I’ve actually been up in the Arch about a dozen times; it was always on the agenda when folks visited from out of town.  Since it’s my “home-town” monument, I’m pretty proud that it’s still standing!

Any monument you think is particularly impressive?  Or not?

2024, Family, Food, History, Kids, Uncategorized

Nostalgia

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I returned home from South Dakota last week to find our refrigerator filled with some odd foods. There was a huge coil of liverwurst, a new bag of cornmeal, and fluffy biscuits. These are all things I dislike. I asked Husband what was up.

It seems that while I was gone he had a sudden longing for the foods of his childhood, particularly the foods of his family from Eastern Ohio and West Virginia. Their foodways were quite Appalachian, with a great love of cornmeal mush. His Ohio forebears were also butchers and made lots of sausages, hence the liverwurst. He insists he got the liverwurst because he wanted to make sure he had an adequate red blood count. Sure, sweetie.

I don’t get particularly nostalgic over food, unless I consider my Aunt Norma’s chicken. That was always a treat, and I have learned to master it so it tastes just like hers. Daughter is nostalgic over my pasta sauce, which she thought for years was my own creation until she saw the recipe online realized it was by Marcella Hazan.

I don’t know if I should consider it a compliment that, if Husband couldn’t have my company, he found solace in cornmeal mush. Oh well, there are worse things, I suppose.

What foods, activities, or things do you get nostalgic for?

2024, Automotive, education, History, Kids, Uncategorized

What’s Your Ride?

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I made it home from South Dakota early yesterday afternoon. There were lots of newspapers waiting for me to go through. We subscribe to print editions of the Bismarck Tribune (6 days a week), the Dickinson Press (1 day a week), and the Rock County Star Herald (1 day a week). They are usually delivered on time. I was only gone 4 days , but that still left a lot of news to read.

I was tickled by an article in the Star Herald about Luverne’s recent High School Homecoming and the ABC Parade (Anything But A Car), which challenged students to drive on a parade route from the ice arena across town to the high school in unusual vehicles. Motorcycles were the most common, followed by tractors, lawn mowers. scooters, golf carts, a race car, a bulldozer, and a dump truck. How fun!

My first vehicle was a very old Nash Rambler my dad got very cheap from someone in 1973. I graduated to a Chevy Chevette when I got to college. I would probably have driven in an ABC Parade in one of my Dad’s U-Haul trucks. No CDL needed for that!

What did you drive to school in? What was your first vehicle? Ever been in a parade? What news outlets do you subscribe to?

2024, History, Uncategorized

Retro Crochet

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The month before my junior year in high school, I spent an inordinate amount of time working on the outfit I would wear on the first day back.  (Yes, I know that doesn’t seem much like me now, but in high school I was still worrying about this kind of thing.)

I had a new pair of high-waisted, washed out, bell-bottomed jeans along with a wide white belt that just barely fit through the jean’s belt loops.  On top I had a brand new, bright white t-shirt, a nice one – not your average Hanes deal.  Then the coup-de-grace… a crocheted top, consisting of various colored and patterned granny squares.  (If you don’t know what a granny square is, check out the photo.)  The whole ensemble was finished off with a pair of wedgies, fairly high-heeled (well, at least for me).  I was the cat’s meow, if I do say so myself.  Oh, almost forgot the big round watch with the white strap!

Imagine my surprise when last week, 50+ years later, I looked up while watering out front to see one of the local high schoolers come walking down the block, wearing my outfit!!  Almost exactly the same – the high jeans, the high-heeled sandals and the sweater/vest made of crocheted granny squares over a white tee.  The only thing she was missing was the big watch; she even had a white belt.   I thought she looked really cute.

Crocheted granny squares becoming retro hadn’t hit my radar.  50 years seems a long time for something to become fashionable again.  I won’t be running out any time soon to find any crocheted items for my wardrobe and although I did once know how to crochet, it’s not a craft I’m interested in reviving these days.  Guess I’ll just have to content myself with the memory that once I was in fashion and that fashion has returned for a bit.  Wonder if in another fifty years granny squares will make yet another comeback?

Describe an outfit of yours that you were really proud of!

2024, animals, Family, History, home, Music, Mysteries, pets, Uncategorized

Pampered Pets

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We always had dogs when I was growing up.  The main two that I remember were Princess the Wonder Dog and Irish Colleen but there were a few others when I was quite young and then my moms golden retrievers about the time I went off to college.

It was much more casual having a dog back then.  No special bowls, just some dry kibble a couple of times a day.  No dog beds in multiple rooms of the house.  No walking dogs; when it was time for their business, you opened the door and let them out (fence or not fence).  No brush of teeth.  No flea and tick treatment, no heartworm pills.  No crates even.

It’s a whole `nother world now.  At our house, Guinevere is technically YA’s dog, so we pretty much play by her rules.  So yes, we have a crate, fenced yard, multiple leashes, all the vet treatments, teeth brushing, regular baths and nail clippings.  And beds (at least 3 of them).  Guinevere gets dry dog food mixed with a large spoonful of wet food twice a day.  Several kinds of dog treats.  Water upstairs and down.  A massive number of toys. Clothes and hats (which she detests).

But the funniest (at least to me) is pet music when we leave the house.  YA has decided that just chilling in her crate when we are both out of the house is stressful for Guinevere if she doesn’t have music in the background.  Since the crate is in the breakfast room, before we leave the house, YA calls out “Alexa, play classical for pets”.  Apparently we are not alone in this because every three or four times, Alexa asks if we want to subscribe to the Music for Pets channel/playlist and pay good money for it.  When we decline, then Alexa goes ahead with assorted classical music for pets. Personally I wouldn’t say that Guinevere likes or dislikes the classical – doesn’t seem to make her more relaxed – I think she’s already calm in her kennel.  And since she is YA’s dog, I play along. 

Every now and then if I’m leaving after YA and know I’m getting home before she does, I ask Alexa to play salsa music, or Peter Mayer or Enya – whatever comes into my head as I’m leaving.  Guinevere does not appear to be traumatized by this.

I try to imagine going back in time to my childhood and then having somebody from the present tell me how spoiled my dog is these days, including having to have music on when we leave the house.  I’m sure I would have fallen down on the floor laughing.

What kinds of things do you like when you’re being pampered?

2024, History, home, Kids, Uncategorized

Good Friends

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When we moved to our neighborhood in 1988, it felt as though we had moved to and outpost of the Czech Republic. The Karskys, the Knopiks, the Kovash family, and the Dvoraks all lived next door or across the street. They were all somehow related to one another. Mrs. Karsky described us as “a nice young couple with a young son” to the other neighbors, information she had got from our real estate agent. Everyone was excited when we moved in, as most of the people on the block were older and/or retired. There were no children on the block.

36 years later, we are the older people on the block happy to see new and younger faces in the neighborhood. Only the Knopiks remain as the Czech contingent. There are lots of young children, especially on our side of the street. A couple of houses south of us lives a hard working family from Zimbabwe. They have a teenager who walks back and forth past our house most days during the school year to get to the Catholic High School, as well as several younger daughters and a young son who are friends with the Hispanic family on the corner. The other day I was driving past those houses when I saw the three Hispanic little girls, their brother, and all the Zimbabwe children sitting in a row on the curb. They had exhausted themselves in the enormous jumper house that the Hispanic dad had inflated for them all to bounce around in.

We share surplus garden vegetables with the neighbors, and everyone gets along. It is so nice to see the neighborhood continue to be a haven for young families and for the more mature, longer term residents.

What was your neighborhood like to grow up in? Any “bad apples” or nice grandparent-types as neighbors? Who were your best childhood friends?