December 30, 1971

WIthout a doubt, the best decision of my life was to marry Sharleen. Tomorrow we celebrate the 40th anniversary of that event and I cherish our years together.

The Christmas season

Since moving to our new home I have been trying to attract birds to our tube feeder. Until recently success has been elusive, despite multiple changes to birdseed and feeder location.

My last effort included moving the feeder to a front yard berm between two small trees and replacing nutra safflower with shelled sunflower seeds. That did the trick. American Goldfinches are beginning to arrive in increasing numbers.

But like most other people I want more. I want cardinals, finches, chickadees and juncos to join the goldfinches. This is the Christmas season though and I should be grateful for what I have.

At long last

Much too much time has elapsed since my last post.

We closed on our townhouse November 18 and that has driven everything since. The movers came on Monday, November 21, to move the big stuff, including bedroom sets, enabling us to spend nights here.

The next important task was cleaning our old house in anticipation of the buyers’  “walk through” scheduled for Saturday, November 27 and closing the next day.

With that job done we left the old house for the last time after goodbyes to the neighbors. The walk through and closing went well allowing us to focus our attention on the new place.

We continue to unpack and, until new furniture for the master bedroom, great room, dining room and office arrives, live downstairs. That has not been a big inconvenience. What was an inconvenience was not having a washer and dryer until last Saturday. Until they arrived and were set up, we called on family to help and they obliged.

We are very much enjoying living here. Mornings are beautiful with a wooded area across the road. We have yet to see the deer that call that wooded area home but the turkeys have been visible as have a flock of cardinals who stand out perched in a tree full of berries with snow as a background.

Despite a new house, we have much more to look forward to with Christmas and our 40^th wedding anniversary approaching rapidly and I rejoice in our many blessings.

They don't make 'em like they used to

Earlier today I disconnected the power cord of our Cold Spot chest type freezer from an electrical outlet in the garage in anticipation of our expected closing on a new home next week.

The freezer, a wedding gift, has run continuously, except for short electrical service outages, for virtually our entire married life (40 years next month).

What reliability! 

An important celebration

Sunday evening took us to our church, Saint Paul United Methodist, to attend the celebration of Boy Scout Troop 12’s 100^th anniversary and continuous chartering by Saint Paul for all of that time.

The anniversary is a milestone. Troop 12 is the longest continuously chartered troop in Nebraska.  Troop 12 is the second longest continuously charted troop in America.

Troop 12 has had 28 scoutmasters in its one hundred years. In that span the rank of Eagle, the highest possible, has been conferred on sixty Troop 12 scouts. (One of which, I am proud to say, is my son Ryan.)  More than two million boys have earned that distinction during scouting’s existence.

While statistics such as these instill a sense of pride in those of us associated with Saint Paul, Troop 12 or both, the most important fact is scouting has had a tremendously positive influence on the lives of countless boys. Those who volunteer to see scouting succeed are due a big debt of gratitude and all of us should hope scouting endures and grows. 

A mystery solved

Unlike others, unusual things rarely happen to me, but not too long ago, returning home after errands, I noticed a mountain bike leaning against our backyard fence.

Closer examination revealed the bicycle was chained to the fence with a cable combination lock. It bore the brand name “Gary Fisher,” a name I remembered from my bicycling days. Then, Gary Fisher bicycles meant high quality and a high price. That only added more mystery to why any bicycle, much less an expensive one, would be chained to our fence.

With no plausible explanation coming to mind, I called the police non-emergency number for assistance. An officer arrived soon after but could offer no explanation for or theory about the bicycle’s presence and said she had never encountered anything like this. She determined it had not been reported stolen but recommended it be removed. That was easier said than done, as neither of us had bolt cutters large enough to sever the cable. Her plan was to come back with larger bolt cutters and someone from the police garage to operate them.

Sometime later, but before she returned, I noticed someone walking up our driveway. When I went out to talk to him he volunteered he was returning to pick up his bicycle, purchased used for $800. He explained he worked for our refuse service and chained the bicycle to the fence after a co-worker told him chaining the bike to a lamppost made it too inviting, suggesting instead our fence since “we had moved recently.”

The owner was visibly relieved, embarrassed and apologetic when I explained what I had done and told him he was very lucky the bicycle was still here.

Lesson learned, I hope.

Sold . . . but not closed

The call came Sunday afternoon around 1:00 p.m. while we were having lunch at the Grand Island Applebee’s on our way home from Valentine. Its purpose was to be certain we would not be home at 2:00 p.m. when a realtor wanted to show our house to a couple.

That showing resulted in a late night offer we received early Monday morning. Negotiations resulted in an agreement that is contingent on financing and inspections. The closing date is scheduled for November 28.

We are optimistic.

A weekend away

Friday

As I none too subtly mentioned at the end of my last post, we literally finished vacuumed the house and immediately began a trip - to Valentine, Nebraska for “Autumn in the Sandhills.”

Too often our efforts to time fall foliage trips were not as successful as we would have liked. But not this time.

The route - I-80 to Grand Island, Highway 2 from Grand Island to its intersection with Highway 83, Highway 83 to its intersection with Highway 20 and Highway 20 to Valentine – was well chosen.

(The first stop was for food, not scenery. We made it at Espressions, an Aurora deli that I discovered on my prairie walking July 1. Sharleen found the food as delicious as I said it would be and agrees, if you are ever near Aurora around noon, make Espressions your lunch stop.)

Beautiful scenery began on Highway 2 not long after picking it up. The almost incessant movement of coal trains, full and empty, going back and forth between Wyoming and the East was no match for the allure of the Loup River valley.

Neither was the Nebraska National Forest our first stop. The Nebraska National Forest, the nation’s first hand planted forest, offered spectacular views that suggested the Loup River valley need not concede anything to the beauty of Nebraska’s better known river valleys – the Snake, the Dismal and our destination, the Niobrara. While there we observed several women from the organization “Outdoor Women” canoeing and kayaking the river, reminding us the river offers not only picturesque views but also the opportunity to enjoy outdoor activities.

Highway 2 parallels the Loup River all the way to its junction with Highway 83 and the brilliance of the fall colored tree leaves only intensified as we followed it to that junction. What made this stretch of the drive all the more engaging was the emergence of the Sandhills as an almost perfect backdrop for the trees.

We left the valley as we turned onto Highway 83 but those unique – in size and “presence” - Sandhills remained our companion all the way to Valentine. Occasionally, but particularly when Highway 83 cuts through the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, the Sandhills are sprinkled with wetlands  of various sizes and numerous lakes with catchy names such as “Rat Lake,” Dad’s Lake, “ Alkali Lake” and “Big Alkali Lake” making this leg of the trip anything but boring. Also, meeting “gypsy combines” going south was not a surprise since this is harvest season.

We arrived in Valentine, about seven hours after leaving Lincoln, hungry and tired. Addressing the former first, the Niobrara Inn desk manager would express no preference between the restaurants we mentioned to him but did recommend, if we were interested in a scenic twenty mile drive, the Wood Lake  (population 72) Café.

We were interested and took his advice. We were not disappointed even though the only selection was a buffet featuring all you could eat fish and ribs. Surrounding the fish and ribs were offerings of vegetables, fruits and home made bread. If that was not enough – and it certainly was – dessert was perhaps the most delicious soft serve ice cream we have ever tasted. And the price for all this wonderful food and dessert? $8.53 per person.

Saturday

Some things are better experienced than read about. The Niobrara Valley Preserve is one. That said, the Preserve is divided by the section of the Niobrara River that has been designated a national scenic river and adjoins Cherry County, Nebraska’s largest county and much larger than many Northeastern states. The vastness of the Sandhills, of which the Preserve is a part, is so immense as to almost defy description. For example, ranches in the Sandhills often consist of tens of thousands of acres.

The Preserve, like its neighboring ranches, is a working cattle and bison operation including huge pastures providing feed for the animals. Water to them comes  mostly from ground water brought to the surface by windmills.

We were there to join ten other members of the Conservancy, accompanied by three staff members to experience firsthand the ranching operations and natural wonders of the Preserve.

The tour lasted over three hours. Our mode of transportation was Preserve tour busses: two Pickups, each with a picnic table inserted lengthwise in the bed. People sat three to a side and found the permanent grab strap running lengthwise on the table indispensable. 

Fortunately, the bouncing and jostling did not diminish the fun and enjoyment of observing a prairie dog town, wild turkeys, a young coyote and large herds of bison.

Temperatures in the 80s and high south winds curtailed the activity of other species, such as deer and antelope. The absence of additional wildlife sightings did not lessen the excitement of the tour as traversing the Sandhills  (and “sand” is the operative word) in a pickup – even a four-wheel drive one –is not boring. We avoided getting stuck. We did have a couple of moments where all of us, drivers included, wondered whether that would be true.

Following a provided lunch and goodbyes we were off for a visit to Smith Falls, Nebraska’s largest, and a mile hike in the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge to Font Falls. Neither falls disappointed. 

With a final stop at a scenic overlook near Valentine, we returned to our motel room tired but very glad to have had the day’s experiences.

Sunday

After an otherwise almost perfect Friday and Saturday, Sunday began with head shaking at Wisconsin’s conclusive win over the Huskers. We got past the loss though helped in large measure by more beautiful scenery on the drive home between Valentine and O’Neil on Highway 20 and between O’Neil and Grand Island on Highway 281.