And so it begins....

What to do, what to do, what to do? Spring is opening all kinds of possibilities this year. I mentioned earlier that I will have more time now that I am retired. I also mentioned that we are trying our hands at golf. And now, I find that I have time to start a project that will be ongoing, I would imagine, for years to come (or at least until I run out of space).

Yup, I promised myself a LONG time ago that when I retired I was going to set up a scale model railroad system. In anticipation of that, I have been collecting odds and ends over the years.

A few months ago I finally decided on my theme. It is going to be of the city of Randall, Minnesota, circa 1950s. Over the last few weeks I have been visiting with quite a few people in town. It seems that Randall was quite the hopping railroad town for quite a while. The streets today are shadows of their former bustling selves.

It may take a while to get everything in. I am hand building, or at least attempting to, all of the structures. I have been taking pictures and doing a lot of research on technique and materials. I have been taking quite a few pictures of the structures in town and getting pictures from a few different people who have a long history living here.



The first structures are just to see if I can get the scale correct. As I get more accomplished it will be interesting, at least to me, to see how sophisticated the layout develops. If nothing else, I will have a couple of nice trains to run around the Christmas trees each year ;-)

Anniversary golfing

A great 42 years has been enjoyed by at least two people in this relationship. We took a vote and agreed that it just seems to be getting better each year. Combine a great partnership and two people being retired and who knows how much better it is going to be in the future.

We decided that a quick trip south for a golf outing might be fun. It would be a chance to see if the rehab I have been doing on my back is paying off. Des Moines, Iowa was as far as we had to go to find open golf courses.



When we found out a cart was included in the very reasonable winter rates at the Toad Valley golf course, we hopped right on. And, since I have not been able to golf in over a year, I could use all the help available on the course. Did it work? Well, let me put it this way. I played the same ball all day.

Of course, when one is offered a bit of good luck, I say, "why not?".
















The scores, at this point, do not really matter. Toad Valley the second day was even nicer.





Our third day had us playing in Omaha. We were able to get a tee time at the Elmwood City golf course. By the end of the day it was delightfully warm. Then we headed home.

On the way, to finish off the celebration of our 42 years together, we stopped at the 25th avenue Dairy Queen in St.Cloud. The significance of this particular DQ is that, except for 2 years in service and 2 years in Ely for college, we have celebrated a treat here sometime during the week of our anniversary for the past 45 years. We found out that the building will be torn down in the fall of this year.
I thought we should have a picture taken to commemorate long standing traditions. We will still be able to visit the location for a DQ in the future. A new building will be taking its place nearby. So, while some things change (the structure and location of the DQ), other things stay constant (our love and the times we cherish together).

Minnesota Colors

Well, I am retired, officially. And what did we do to celebrate my retirement? We went camping, of course.

Where did we decide to go camping you may ask. Of course we picked the safest place in Minnesota. We chose a campground about 10 miles from Isabella, Minnesota. I’ll let that sink in for a few moments.

We (I) had been planning the location for months. And we (I) were not about to let a 93,000 acre fire get in the way. If you have never been to northern Minnesota at the changing of the seasons, with the changing of the leaves, you have missed something quite wonderful.



We were lucky enough to be there at near peak colors.

We were also fortunate that the weather and the wind were in our favor. Cool nights (about 40 degrees) and warm days (warm 60s) made for a very nice stay.

We were also fortunate to be able to spend a few days with our good friends, Catherine and Clint.

Yes, we have changed our camping techniques.

It is funny how, as one gets older, it is less fun sleeping in a tent. We have opted to take our home with us :-)

One of the things I found amazing was how quiet the night was. I was also amazed how dark it was. When I opened my eyes while laying in bed, it was pure blackness. It was amazing.



On our walks, we did see some very nice scenery.



The campsites were also uniquely configured. Many of them had different levels.


Now, we are back at home and, while we hear noises in the night and it isn’t complete darkness when we are in bed at night, the changing of the season has followed us south.

I guess that means it won’t be long before I’ll be blogging about Joyce and her adventures of winter snowblowing.

Time to plant, time to reap......

So, here it is that time of the year again. Time to make chokecherry jelly. Yesterday was strawberry-rhubarb jam day.

Usually, we are only able to get the bottom cherries from the trees. It kind of reminded me of when a 1 or 2 year old is allowed to trim the Christmas tree. All one sees is ornaments at the bottom. Well, in the past our trees were chokecherryless from 6 foot on down to the ground.

But this year was different. We used the bucket attached to the tractor. Joyce would have had me up there, but I am the one who knows how to work the bucket controls the best between the two of us.

As it turned out we did manage to get a couple of pails relatively full. Joyce is looking for her recipe for the jelly. By this time tomorrow we should have our winter stash on the shelf.

Notice how joyous can multitask? She is cleaning the berries and rooting for the Minnesota Twins at the same time.

The final product seems to be well worth all of Joyous’ effort. It looks like we have enough to see us through quite a few months.

Now, we will see what we can do with the tomatoes that are ripening on the vine.

WE Fest

So, what can we tell you about WE Fest that you don’t already know? I am guessing probably nothing. There was a sea of humanity? The pictures here, as small as they are, do not give it justice.

It was hot, so we sat in the shade when we could find it. Of course, Joyce had a fan to keep here cool.


We (Joyce) tried to sneak a large umbrella in. Well, she didn’t really try to sneak it in. But, she was not allowed to bring it in. We were told that in the past, they had been used as a weapon.

Food was not cheap. It reminded me of being at Target Field or of buying something at the Lindbergh Terminal at the airport. You would think that with all the people there, things would be a tad bit less.

The bus ride from and to the parking area reminded me of some rowdy after school sports bus rides I had been on in my youth. This crowd was a bit more enthusiastic since this crowd was fueled by liquor.

Our tickets were free (Joyce was a winner at the Twins Caravan that came to Randall) so our experience of hearing The Charlie Daniels Band, Blake Shelton, and Willie Nelson was not on our tab. It was a relatively fun first experience and, who knows, if Joyce can win another pair of tickets, we may visit again.

Hudson-Meng

Well, I have recovered from our weeklong trip to visit Cole at the Hudson-Meng bone bed. It was a good visit. We have a better idea of what he has been up to out there. I have not seen so many old bones since my last back MRI.

We did get a chance to revisit Mount Rushmore. I must say, it sure has grown in popularity. Keystone was sure a hopping tourist town.

We also visited Wind Cave. We took the long tour. My back did not thank me for that decision. It was cool, literally. A constant 53 degrees had me wearing a light jacket. Joyce, of course, with her northern Minnesota thick blood, felt very comfortable.

It was not always easy to navigate. We had to keep warning the people behind us to watch their heads so they would not get bonked.

It was a different rock structure as well. There were no stalagmites or stalactites. It is a dry environment.



Passing over all the cattle barriers finally took its toll on one of our tires. Otherwise, we had no driving problems. That is if you don’t count me blindly following my gps to a private property dead end. I guess I would consider that my problem. But don’t let Joyce know it was my problem. She may want me to use it less.

Minnesota Arboretum

If you ever get a chance to visit Minnesota or if you happen to live here, you really should take the opportunity visit the Minnesota Arboretum. Joyce and I had a great day wandering the grounds looking at many of the flowers and trees that abound.

One of the attractions in front of the visitor’s center this year is the “Uffda House.” We were actually fortunate to be able to have seen it as it was supposed to have been taken down at the beginning of this last spring.

It is made of willow that is wound around and around and around.

It even has separate rooms.
It is scheduled for the compost pile at the end of this growing year. It will be interesting to see what will take its place.

There were soooooo many flowers. And there are so many different gardens through which one can walk.


But, it really boils down to us knowing we can visit this beautiful place and realize that we already have our own “Joyce designed” arboretum of our own.
















And, yes, the flowers here are from the "Joyce" collection here at Peaceful Pines.