I happened to hear about a website, www.yearbookyourself.com, on the morning news and have spent the last hour amused by seeing what I might of looked like with my current, older face in a yearbook photo from years ago. They range in time reference from 1950 to 1988. The one with the glasses bears an uncanny resemblance to photos I have of my mom! And then… the last two are me as a guy in the 50’s and 60’s!  It’s easy to do and it’s entertaining.  You should try it too and post your results as a comment.  I’d love to see your results! 

Bike Week 2008 has come and gone.  Even though we make no claims of being real bikers (or campers!), we ventured west to Sturgis for the fifth year of adventure in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  For those of you who have followed our trials and tribulations with the air mattress (see http://www.whiddenfarm.com/yello/2007/08/21/the-saga-of-the-air-mattress-continues-on/), you’ll be happy to know that we got a larger tent on sale in January and our queen-sized Bed-in-a-Box fit perfectly with room to spare!  No more getting wedged between the bed and the side of the tent - it was great!  We weren’t sure we had chosen a good camping spot after we pitched the tent and then read the sign saying something about live fire. Hopefully that was intended for off-season visitors to the Buffalo Chip campground.

One of the highlights of the Sturgis Rally for us has always been the Custom Bike Show on Thunder Road and this year was no different.  We saw awesome custom-built motorcycles that were more like works of art than modes of transportation. 

Another highlight from our day on Thunder Road was the opportunity to meet well-known bike builder, Billy Lane, and seeing Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, who also has his own line of custom bikes called Red Wing Motorcycles (http://www.redwingmotorcycles.com/).

And we always get a laugh when we look for our favorite little saying posted on the wall at Thunder Road…

It does make you stop and think!!! 

Of course we had to stop in downtown Sturgis to take in the sights and sounds.

Another of the highlights of Bike Week has been the great music.  This year the Buffalo Chip Campground had a phenomenal line-up of entertainers, from Kid Rock to Alice Cooper to Three Doors Down to Kelli Pickler!  Unfortunately we weren’t able to be away from the farm to see all of them (or even most of them!)…but, we did see some of them.  Sugarland and ZZ Top drew a huge crowd on Thursday night and it was difficult to get very close.  Friday afternoon I happened to be there when country singer Dierks Bentley and the alternative band Staind was there for their sound check and got to listen to them both later that evening at their concerts.  Pictured below is Staind’s lead singer Aaron Lewis.

We had other adventures while at the Rally.  The Full Throttle is always a fun time with great music.  We even went back one morning for a huge all-you-can-eat breakfast.  Someone told us about the Extreme Fight Nights at the Knuckle and so we checked that out one evening.  I’m not sure why anyone would put themselves through that, but I suppose it must be a guy thing.  Although, one girl challenged any guy willing to step into the ring with her in the 185 pound division.  We didn’t stay long enough to see if she had any takers.  We headed up the road past Bear Butte one afternoon and came upon the new Broken Spoke where the bikes enter by driving right through the place!  Some amazing sights there were the motorcycle engine blender and the bike with the see-through gas tank.  There would be no excuse for running out of gas with that bike.

One of the best parts of going to Bike Week each year is the people.  We met very interesting people from all over the world.  The greater part of one afternoon was spent just sitting and talking with a radio DJ from Oregon and a guy from northern California, trading stories and coming up with solutions to most of the world’s pressing problems.  We’ll look for them again next year.

Too soon it was time to head for home.  We stopped past the Harley store and the newly opened Cabela’s store in Rapid City to admire their display of trophy animals.

One last stop was for lunch in the tiny town of Scenic, SD - home of very few people and several young ducklings.

So long Sturgis…until next year! 

“My roommate got a pet elephant. Then it got lost. It’s in the apartment somewhere.”

“I installed a skylight in my apartment… The people who live above me are furious!”

Quotes by Stephen Wright

We didn’t run across any elephants and we didn’t install any skylights, but Kalie and I had a great time yesterday as we invaded Jesse’s apartment when he was at work to give his living space a little facelift.  We discussed his preferences and got his permission before we started, but we were on our own yesterday for the entire day as we reorganized and redocorated his Haymarket loft.  It was our own little version of the popular television show, “While You Were Out”.  We went a bit over budget, but Jesse didn’t seem to mind much when he saw the results last night.  Our major purchases were an area rug, a futon cover, a ladder-style bookshelf, red wicker baskets, plants and a blue Betta fish that we think he should name “Ol Yellar” or “Red” or something like that!  We pretty much gave every area of the apartment some attention, but the photos below show a before and after of just the living room.  (We left the maze of eletrical cords attached to the entertainment center for Jesse to sort out so we wouldn’t accidently unplug something vital!) It was a lot of fun!  Now if I could just talk someone into coming to my house to do the same thing! 

Ok, so this post is about our week-end trip to the above mentioned places (the mice part I’ll explain later!).  Five of us ventured back east for the long holiday week-end for the main purpose of visiting my Uncle Johnnie.  He’s eighty-seven and my mother’s only sibling.  He is a real gem - they just don’t make ‘em like my Uncle Johnnie any more.  He is still very sharp - able to navigate a car around the area where he lives in southern Maryland and maintain the home he built himself years ago (he cut the trees down himself and hauled them into a mill in town to make them into the lumber he used to build his home).  We enjoyed our visit, even though it was only a couple of days - it was great to see him and his friend Kitty.  He reminds me a lot of my mom.  I wish we lived closer so we could see him more often.

While in Maryland we had the most fantastic seafood at the Captain’s Table (http://massarosrestaurants.com/captainstable/ )  and Catamarans Restaurant (http://www.catamarans-restaurant.com/ ), both located in nearby Solomans Island along the Patuxent River in Maryland.  We also drove over to Piney Point, MD to spend a little time on the beach and see the old lighthouse.  While there I had to admonish Francis to follow the sign that read “no crabbing!” 

Before going down to Maryland, we spent July 4th at the Smithsonian’s Folk Festival and Washington’s Independence Day parade.  Along with tens or perhaps hundred’s of thousands of others, we braved the warm, humid, and sometimes rainy weather to take in as many of the events as we could manage.  The evening was spent sitting on the steps of the capitol for the hour-long “A Capitol Fourth” concert (http://www.pbs.org/capitolfourth/ ) broadcast by PBS listening to Huey Lewis and the News, Taylor Hicks, and Jerry Lee Lewis followed by some pretty big fireworks. Although some of the Smithsonian buildings were closed, we did get to visit the new National Museum of the American Indian, the Air and Space Museum, Union Station, and the National World War II memorial (http://www.wwiimemorial.com/ ). 

And now for the part about the mouse!  As we waited a few hours in the Ronald Reagan National Airport for our rain-delayed flight, we were startled when Kalie alerted us to the fact that a mouse was just standing on the floor right in front of us near our carry-on luggage.  It wasn’t moving or causing any problems, but it still was a bit unnerving just having it stand there looking at us.  I went up to the airline desk to let them know that a mouse was standing guard in their waiting area, but the man in charge just sort of shuddered and said he couldn’t do anything about it because he had a fear of mice!  So I went over to where Francis was standing visiting with an old college acquaintance and told him about the mouse and then went looking for an airport maintainance worker to see if they’d have a solution to the mouse problem.  And that’s when my fearless husband decided to take matters into his own hands (umm, I mean feet, I guess).  He considered picking it up by the tail to dispose of it, but the prospect of many people screaming in an airport if he did that caused him to go to Plan B. He just walked over to the mouse, stepped on it and kicked it into the corner in one smooth move… but much to both the dismay and delight of interested onlookers!    He was proclaimed a hero by the airline desk attendant who was afraid of mice and the offensive mouse was still belly-up in the corner as we finally boarded the plane.

We had pie coming out of our ears yesterday as we hosted a pie stop for the Tour de Nebraska bike riders.  A community plea for volunteer pie bakers and pies contributed by our group members netted the thirty pies we needed to satisfy the cravings of the 200 bike riders that passed through our town.  The bicyclists, who had already pedaled 45 miles from their overnight campgrounds, starting arriving by 9:30 am.  The last of the group left our pie stop by 3:00 pm, so the group was really spread out.  In addition to the free will donation basket, the appreciative bikers heaped on the praise as they surveyed the tables covered with many different kinds of delicious-looking pies.  Topped with a scoop of ice cream, they seemed to taste as good as they looked.  I wouldn’t know for sure, since I didn’t even get a slice myself!  After serving pie for nearly six hours, we ran out and had to offer the remaining stragglers ice cream sundaes instead.  It was a fun day and a great opportunity to meet lots of very nice people.  If you want to read more about the Tour de Nebraska, check out their web site at http://www.tourdenebraska.com/about.html.

We recently returned from a quick four days in Jamaica.  The reason for going was to celebrate the wedding of friends Mitch and Susan.  While there we enjoyed the beautiful beach at Negril, ate many new things, and met some very nice people.  Over fifty friends and relatives of the couple traveled to Jamaica for the wedding (which was also witnessed by one very curious Italian tourist!).  We found the people of Jamaica to be very warm and friendly, even though the poverty evident as we traveled to Negril was in stark contrast to the conditions at the Rui Tropical Bay where we stayed.  We came back with a rather large wooden parrot which was the result of some good salesmanship and some intense bargaining with a Jamaican vendor.  We found that the airline will check practically anything as luggage and “bird” showed up at the airport baggage claim in Omaha with “no problem”.  We now have a huge souvenir and some great memories of our trip!

“Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.” Albert Einstein

Keeping in mind that I want to keep this blog focused on the positive, I feel compelled to comment on a program of our current administration called No Child Left Behind. However well-intentioned, this one-size-fits-all program has been responsible for many, many, many hours of instructional time wasted in our schools. It has created mountains of paperwork devoted to writing and categorizing standards, testing each standard and reporting test data that could potentially label an entire school system as “failing”. It’s hard to put a positive spin on a program that has arguably taken some of the joy out of learning and replaced it with the fear of failure. I have yet to read any success stories of children, parents or teachers who credit this required system of testing as being the determining factor in their quest for academic excellence. With all of this emphasis on assessments and testing, many important areas of the educational experience such as career and technical education, music and art have sometimes been minimized or completely cut from the school curriculum. Although these areas are not considered core subjects, they are critical, core components to a child’s potential success in the real world. Unfortunately, there are some who have been elected to positions that make them the … um…”deciders” who don’t always seem to share the same “real world” as the rest of us. I could go on and on, but I’d rather that you take a minute to click on the link that follows. It will lead you to a video by Tom Chapin that sums up my take on NCLB quite nicely. http://notonthetest.com/

Something strange was happening at our dinner table tonight. We kept hearing intermittent beeping noises similar to the warning you might hear when the battery on a smoke detector was running low. We looked around the room, unsure of what could be making the sound. Until we started searching for the offending appliance, we didn’t realize just how many items of technology we had surrounded ourselves with. Was the annoying beeping noise coming from the wireless phone? The TV or remote? Maybe it was the new digital photo frame? Francis’ cell phone on the counter? The clock or the radio? Perhaps a stopwatch or something in the drawers? Could it be the old smoke detector stored in the cupboard? One by one we kept ruling out possible sources of the noise. The odd thing was that the sound seemed to move from place to place in the room… it seemed impossible to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. Scratching our heads, we decided the strawberry shortcake dished up on the table took precedence over whatever it was that was producing the beep and sat back down to enjoy dessert. There it goes again… beep, beep, beep some more. Finally, Kalie said, “Mom, is there something in your pocket?” I reached into the big front pocket of my hoodie and, guess what? My cell phone was there complaining of a low battery! I’d forgotten I’d stashed it there to free up a hand to carry in groceries from the car earlier. Geez! Now it made sense why the noise kept moving around the room! We had a good laugh and the mystery was solved.

The first ever Democratic caucus was held yesterday. As a result of an e-mail I sent a few weeks ago inquiring where our county caucus would be held, I found myself helping to organize and host it at our local library meeting room. Like most other caucus sites around the state, we were pleasantly surprised by an overflow crowd of citizens who turned out to discuss the issues facing our nation and make their presidential preference known. It was encouraging to hear the genuine concern and heartfelt passion of those who attended. And it was refreshing to see so many local Democrats turn out considering the Republican to Democratic ratio in our state.

My interest in becoming more involved in politics has to be due, in part, to my experiences as a child who often tagged along with mom to political events across the state and nation. My mom first became active on the state level when a high school classmate ran for and won a seat in the legislature. After that, she spent the next twenty years fundraising on the local level, serving on the State Republican Central Committee, attending dinners for candidates, and volunteering to work on various campaigns.  I accompanied her on nearly all of those adventures. Probably the two most memorable were the National Republican Women’s Convention in Washington, DC where I met presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and the Nebraska Republican Party Family Camp one summer at Fort Robinson.

As an adult, I came to realize my viewpoints were more in line with the party on the opposite side of the aisle from the one I had grown up with. But I’m sure the example my parents gave me in being involved in the political process has shaped my interest in politics and issues.

If any of you are still undecided about who you will support in the race to lead our country, there are a couple of good web sites that can give you an unbiased idea of which of the candidates from both parties are most closely aligned with your own view of the issues. You can answer a few questions at http://votechooser.com/ or http://cbs2.com/yourcandidate and receive a ranking of how your opinions match up with the candidates views.

Regardless of the outcome of this election, one thing is certain… Jan. 20, 2009 will be a turning point for the future of our country when a new person steps into the role of the all-important, top “decider” person in residence at the White House!

January has come and gone and , hopefully, the bitter cold weather is gone for awhile too. We’ve had snow on the ground for several weeks, so we’re ready for a bit of a spring thaw now. Winter on the farm means extra effort goes into caring for the animals who are, by necessity, out in the cold during snowstorms and bitterly cold nights. Last week Francis went out early one morning to find a newborn baby calf that was nearly frozen by the cold wind and snow. So he carried the 90+ pound calf into our house and warmed it up in our downstairs bathtub! After a soak in the warm water, the new baby calf lounged for a few more hours snuggled in towels on the bathroom floor gathering strength before it needed to be returned to an anxious mama out in the barnyard. The problem was that the bath that saved it’s life also washed off the scent that the cow would have recognized and it took a day or two to convince her that the calf indeed was her own. Francis has been around cattle his whole life and is pretty good at knowing how to handle such delicate situations. Fortunately, mother and her baby are doing well and the calf is relatively unscathed by it’s ordeal with the exception of the frozen tips of his ears.
Here’s a couple of photos Francis took yesterday of some big snowflakes and the cows. Luckily the snow didn’t fall very long and the day warmed up a bit so we didn’t have too much accumulation.