Hidey Hole Under the Rock

From one side you could really see the hidey hole or small cave that was under Teakettle Rock. It makes you wonder how many wild animals have hiden there during all the thousands of years since that volcano spit the rock out and it cooled. Bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes, wolves, skunks, foxes, and of course mice and rats. And did any Native Americans, or cowboys, or outlaws, or even kids wait out rain storms in it. I saw no sign of it at this point. The sand didn't look like it had been disturbed that much except by where Tuffee went in took a quick sniff and came back out. No I decided not to craw inside. The though of the other kinds of creatures that could be in there kept me out. Like spiders, scorpions, and other bugs. There could have even been a snake in the far back corner but I didn't think so. Mostly it was my old, decrepit body that said if you get down and in there you might not be able to get back out.

If It's Thanksgiving It's At Mom and Dad's

Thanksgiving >
The word instantly puts a chill down the spine of my side of the family. Yes, there will be turkey, great food, and a swell party - especially for the blissfully unaware fifteen kids running amok in my parents' basement, but with the joy comes the quiet dread of getting ready. It starts in August when my mother pulls her notes from last year, and starts worrying. It ends about five minutes before five, when the first guest arrives and my Dad is harnessed to his leaf blower diligently chasing that last leaf off the premises. When car lights sweep up the driveway, the leaves will NOT be seen. (Never mind that the house is sitting on almost three wooded acres, and it'’s pitch dark by party time.)

You will find my mother sighing in the Kitchen- she has been up since dawn cooking, completely dressed and ready since mid afternoon, but there is always something- like Dad killing himself outside, buzzing around the patio, or the little incident last year when there was no hot water at zero hour because Dad forgot to over ride the timer. (He keeps Mom on a very strict schedule water wise.) My mother, the model of self control, grits her teeth and accepts that she has done all that she can do. She and my sister set the tables the Sunday before, strategizing over the one in the family room which could block the football game, and how many kids will actually sit in a chair. She started cooking in September and finishes just before six- dinner time.

Thanksgiving is one of three major family gatherings. My poor mother is down to one rather distant first cousin on her side, but my father's side is up to about thirty, not even counting our branch which is almost thirty by itself. Back in the dawn of time, like the early sixties, my grandparents had the whole family over to their house on Upton Street. When they got older, their three children took over. My Aunt Catherine got Greek Easter, my Uncle Nick took Christmas and my dad ended up with Thanksgiving. Back then the clan topped out at around twenty five; now we are approaching sixty. New babies and people keep coming. Last year we had twins, and this year my niece is getting married.

At this point, my mother would give her eyeteeth, her turkey collection and all her VCRS NOT to do this. (OK- maybe not the VCRS) But my Dad has laid down the law- if he's still breathing, we're still doing it. My cousin, John brings the cheesecake that his mother used to bring. My cousin, Anne, who is from Louisiana, brings a pecan pie. My brother, Peter arrives from Michigan and bartends. Uncle Nick brings the rum cake. My sister and I mash the potatoes. My brother, Roger started making Greek chicken soup one year, and now he can't stop. That's only a few of the many hands that get it done. It's over when my sister corrals her sons to take all the chairs and tables back downstairs until next year. It's usually around 8:00, but it feels like midnight.

So we go on, and despite all the holiday angst, I know we have a lot to be thankful for: our ever expanding family and my parents who keep us glued together-a basement full of children-all excited that they are cousins, turkey on the table, and hopefully -plenty of hot water. I know we are lucky, and at least this year, it's raining...no leaf blower.

Tombstone Tuesday :: William & Sophia Wise

WILLIAM P. / 1852-1935 / SOPHIA E. / 1850-1916 / WISE
William and Sophia (Dunfee) Wise are my 2nd great grandparents. They are buried in Scott-Keister Cemetery in Etna-Troy Township, Whitley County, Indiana alongside three of their four children as well as several grandchildren. Photograph taken July 14, ...

You Know You Are Obsessed When...

...you're tempted to stop and examine every bike you see, no matter how nice or "crappy." Your walking companions are accustomed to this and stop in front of bicycles pre-emptively when you are with them.



... you walk by a freshly painted house or fence and wonder what the closest matching RAL colour code would be. You narrow it down to two, both of which you remember by heart.



...you get confused when trying to walk places. You are accustomed to the cycling route.



...you happen upon a scenic spot, and you wonder how well your bike would photograph there.



...it is impossible to snap a photo inside your apartment without getting at least a small piece of bike in the frame.

...you decide to rent a boat on vacation, and it ends up being a pedal boat.



...you arrive in a foreign country and the first thing you do is sort out your bike situation. Later you also tend to the small stuff, like making sure your mobile phone works and that you can withdraw cash. You don't even bother with public transport.



Bicycle in Vienna? Check! Despite the pouring rain and the worst jetlag ever.

Thunderbird Dream Catcher

Spring!

Its spring - or at least it is for today. Here in the desert we only have a bout a week of spring and then it jumps right into summer. Trees are blooming, horses are shedding. So we have flower blossom petals and horse hair blowing in the wind. What a combination. He is a pic of some of the redbud tree blossoms. I adore flowers, and leaves on trees. I admire and marvel over each and every leaf, petal, stamen, and the unique colors that are so brilliant against the desert tan, and dirt colors. Each one is special.

A Most Excellent Adventure :: Sawyer Glacier Number Two

Friday, August 27th - - You may have noticed that I've been saying Sawyer Glaciers rather than Glacier. That's because there are two of them! Twin glaciers. Two “branches” of the same glacier that were divided by a mountain as they came down to the ocean. After spending about two hours at Sawyer Glacier the Captain said we would go on over to “the other one” for a little while. How cool was that?

The first thing we noticed upon approaching Sawyer II was that there wasn't as much ice floating around, compared to the first glacier. Captain Steve said that it wasn't because this one wasn't calving but because there is more wind in this cove and the wind blows the ice out to sea.

If you look very closely (double-click on the image to view a larger version), there is another tour boat in front of the glacier. It is in the middle of the half-circle of rock that is just to the right of the center of the face of the glacier.

The boat isn't as close to the glacier as it appears. They usually stay at least a quarter of a mile away from the face of the glacier.

This one section was so much more intensely blue compared to than the rest. The pressure must have been tremendous to cause it to compress so much.

There were a few seals swimming around, but not nearly as many as at the first glacier.

The snow at the top of the glacier.
Within a few minutes of our arrival the clouds parted a little and the sun came through in spots. It was fascinating to watch the colors of the snow and ice change as the sunshine moved across the face of the glacier.

Again, as with the first glacier, there was quite a bit of activity with falling chunks of ice. Steve kept telling us to keep an eye on two specific areas, one of which was to the right of the intensely blue ice.

As if on cue, the glacier released some of the ice from its grip and down it went!
More ice cascaded down as the waves started building.
A very short time later, the wave reached the boat and we rolled with it for a few seconds.
And then, another big mass gave away and fell...
Which caused another, even larger wave.
Captain Steve told us all to either sit down or grab hold of the railing as we were in for a short but wild ride! He then moved the boat so that it was heading in the same direction that the wave was going. It was an exciting few seconds! We lingered a few more minutes but then Steve said we had to go.

Our stay at Sawyer II wasn't long but it was truly amazing and awesome! From a distance, there doesn't appear to be much change in the face of the glacier. But if you look closely at the left side, you can see where the event occurred. It had been a fantastic day – no rain, whales, seals, beautiful scenery, incredible calving – all shared with strangers who for a short time became friends experiencing amazing sights. It was indeed, a most excellent adventure!

Apple Blossoms

A taste of Dutch countryside and Dutch pancakes at Theehuis Rhijnauwen

Dutchman and I brought Dr. Balin to our favourite pancake house, the Theehuis Rhijnauwen in Utrecht for Sunday brunch. Pancakes are typically Dutch and is an all-time popular favourite by Dutch families, especially during weekends.



Because I wanted Dr. Balin to see a little bit of the Dutch countryside, I decided to park the car in Ameliswaard, 2 kilometres away from the pancake house which is located in a small forest. I discovered this area a few years ago when Dutchman and I did a nature walk in Ameliswaard, afterwhich we continued our walk to the pancake house in Rhijnauwen for early dinner.







Dr. Balin walking along the Kromme Rhijn (Rhine) River.





This is the port at the Rhijnauwen Castle (not in picture) which is now a hostel.



It’s a lovely place with a scenic river, the Kromme Rhijn River—a tributary river of the Rhine River that flows to Germany and the Swiss Alps. Rhijnauwen=Rhijn (Kromme Rhijn River). The place also exudes the typical Dutch countryside feel, with farm houses, cows and sheep on the fields.



It was already very busy when we arrived at the pancake house. The restaurant was brewing with activity. We wanted to sit outside by the river but all tables were already taken.









Waiting (impatiently) for our brunch to arrive: pancakes!



Our brunch finally arrived!







Here’s our pancakes: Dutchman's pancake on the right had bacon with raisins. My pancake in the middle had bacon with apple and cheese. Dr. Balin's pancake on the left had ham, mushrooms and cheese.



To go with the pancakes are the typical Dutch supplements of sugar syrup and poedersuiker (fine powdered sugar).









Although the pancakes were thin, they were massive, we couldn’t finish them all, but thankfully Dutchman came in very handy!



Dutchman and I were here at Theehuis Rhijnauwen last May with the Dutch family. Incidentally the Dutch brother-in-law knows the owner who came to our table that day and gave us a free round of drinks.



Going back to the parking, we took the other path across the river and came upon this Dutch farm house. They sell fresh farmer's milk here.







And we passed by some big Dutch cows having an afternoon chill out spree on the grass fields:









A second cow came forward. Think this cow got jealous and needed some attention from Dr. Balin as well =)



Visit Period: September

Destination: Rhijnauwen (Bunnik - Utrecht), The Netherlands

Packed

"If your bike has couplers, or if you have a spendy bike case, or if you pay a shop to pack your bike, or if you have a folding bike, shipping a bike is still a pain in the ass for everyone involved."

That is what one of the wisest blog posts of all time has to say about mailing bikes, and I am sure they would apply the same to travel. Based on the stories I've heard about traveling with bicycles, it certainly seems to be more often a pain than not.


So I am going abroad again, and this time I'm taking a bike along. Never done this before and I'm getting really nervous! It almost feels as if I am doing something illegal by putting a bicycle in a suitcase. "Can I get away with it?" I find myself thinking as I glance over my shoulder furtively.




Well, I guess I am about to find out for myself how much of a pain it really is. Will write about it once I cross the Atlantic!

The Hoffman Family Reunion of 1914

This is the second newspaper article on Hoffman family reunions that was brought to my attention a few days ago by Bob Hoffman. The first article was on the 1913 Reunion. The articles were obtained from The Mahoning Dispatch, portions of which have been digitized on Chronicling America, the historic newspapers site. The Mahoning Dispatch was published weekly on Fridays in Canfield, Mahoning County, Ohio beginning on May 4, 1877 with the last issue printed on April 26, 1968. The site currently has digitized issues available from October 2, 1908 through September 30, 1921.




The Mahoning Dispatch ~Canfield, Mahoning County, Ohio ~Vol. XXXVIII

Friday, August 14, 1914




Washingtonville

Bright, Breezy Paragraphs Telling

The Happenings in the Village on

Mahoning's Southern

Border.

By Peter M. Herold.


The Hoffman Reunion.


Pursuant to adjournment last year, the Hoffman family and kindred assembled in the Washingtonville town hall last Saturday. As about everybody in town is directly or indirectly related, excepting the writer, they took me in so as to make the meeting unanimous as well as harmonious.




The attendance was fully as large as last year, some being here Saturday who were not here last year, and some were here last year that were not present Saturday. Everybody came in autos or by electric line.




The brief history of the family as published in The Dispatch last year need not be repeated here. The late Mrs. A. J. Callahan, the family historian, had collected a fund of reliable history, biography and geneology [sic] which has since passed into the hands of her half-brother and successor, J. W. Hoffman of 5408 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio, who will be pleased to communicate with any member of the family.




The recently deceased members of the family are Mrs. A. J. Callahan, who died and was buried at Salem; L. E. Hoffman, who was killed in an auto accident in Virginia, and Mrs. Lucinda Yaggi.




There are no Hoffmans residing in this community, but the mother of all the Weikarts, their sisters and intermarried relatives, inclusive of the Bostons, the Bates', the Hilmans, Gilberts, Bosserts, Rollers, et al., was a Hoffman, and by this collateral process the neighborhood has been largely populated.






Another branch of the Hoffman family is holding a family reunion at Southern park today (Aug 13). The branch which met here last Saturday were descendants of Dietrich Hoffman. It is not our intention, however, to deal with family history, but to simply state that 150 persons were present and the reunion was a success.




Among the Hoffmans present were John Hoffman's sons by his second marriage, J. W. and O. C. Hoffman, of Cleveland; his widow by the third marriage, Mrs. Elizabeth Hess Hoffman, her son Curtis C. Hoffman and family of Chagrin Falls and his sister, Mrs. Mattie Hoffman Greasel of Cleveland.




At the noon hour Saturday, all being seated at the well filled tables, John R. Hoffman arose and pronounced a blessing upon all those present and returned thanks for the bounties spread before them. After dinner a vote of thanks was extended for the numerous bouquets of beautiful carnations furnished for the tables, and a motion carried to present the flowers to John A. Weikart, who be reason of illness was unable to be present last year and this.




After all had gratified the needs of the inner man, a business meeting was held and the same officers were re-elected for another year, the reunion to be held at Rockhill park on the second Saturday of August, 1915. Before adjournment the following program was rendered:




Piano solo, Miss Anna Hoffman, Homeworth; recitation, Dorothy Woods, Washingtonville; recitation, Ethel Weikart, Washingtonville; vocal solo, Thelma Bossert, Washingtonville; short address, Mrs. Mollie Norton, Niles (aged 75 years); recitation, Miss Helen Woods, Washingtonville; Piano solo, Miss Marie Weikart, Washingtonville; remarks, Mrs. Margaret Osborne, Alliance, (past 80 years of age); vocal solo, Mercedes Gilbert, Washingtonville; address, Rev. Cowgill, Salem; vocal solo, Mrs. Grant Greasel, Cleveland; invocation, Rev. Cowgill.




The officers elected are: President, Howard Hoffman, Homeworth; vice president and treasurer, James C. Weikart, Washingtonville; secretary, Mrs. Howard Hoffman, Homeworth; historian, Miss Yaggi, Salem.




The out of town guests were: Mrs. Johnson of Indiana, came to meet her sister, Mrs. Norton, and accompany her home for a visit, Rev. Cowgill of Salem, who brought the beautiful cut flowers, roses, carnations, etc., for table decoration.




The guests from Alliance and vicinity were: Mrs. Osborne, John Hoffman and wife, George Hoffman and wife, Madison Walker and wife, Howard Hoffman and family, Milton Hoffman and John R. Hoffman and their wives. The Cleveland guests were: O. C. Hoffman, J. W. Hoffman, Mrs. Lizzie Hoffman and her daughter, Mrs. Grant Greasel and son. From Chagrin Falls came Curtis Hoffman and family. Lisbon, Mrs. Lydia Burnap. North Lima, Ed Crook, wife and son Robert.

Another Round of Glory

More maroon morning glories in my garden.

The Heart of a Frame

They say that the bottom bracket is "the heart of a bicycle frame".