On This Date in 1999 (February 25)

This will be one of those letters that is pieced together over a period of three or four days. The news will be fresh as I report it, though.

We were able to sit down to a family supper tonight. JoAnna mixed together some stew meat and cream of mushroom soup in the crockpot this morning and let it cook on medium all day. I got home from work in time to put the noodles in a boiling pan of water and heat up some frozen corn in the microwave.

“Where are the rolls?” I asked, kiddingly, as JoAnna put the food into serving bowls.

“Yeah, we want rolls!” Eddie chimed in, not realizing that I was just giving Mom a hard time.

After our meal, JoAnna worked at the computer and listened to a Billy Joel greatest hits CD; the boys played in Andy’s bedroom – sometimes too exuberantly; once I had to break up a loud wrestling match – while listening to ‘N Sync; and I cleaned up the kitchen while the very listenable and catchy country-rock tunes of Cheri Knight kept me company. The placement of the three CD players prevented a battle-of-the-bands atmosphere.

Right now I have the house to myself. JoAnna and the boys are at the health club. I read the first chapter of Fortunate Lives by Robb Foreman Dew, a novel that focuses on a married couple and their 2 children, 18-year-old David, who is getting ready to leave home for college, and 12-year-old Sarah, during a summer of transition in their lives. That summary certainly won’t get anyone sprinting to the nearest library or bookstore. What did I find appealing about the book? Something about the cover grabbed my attention, but I also remember that the book created a very positive buzz when it was first published.

I was surprised to read in the Warren paper about the all the commercial projects now being considered. If CVS builds a drug store at the intersection Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue West, does that mean they’ll close one or both of their other stores? Having three locations within such a tight radius would be overkill. A Country Fair will certainly change the streetscape of that stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue on the east side. And a Wal-Mart will irrevocably alter the Warren area’s competitive retail mix. I can see their appearance being the end of the end (the beginning of the end occurred with the opening of the mall, I suppose) of retail in downtown Warren, which is generally the negative effect a Wal-Mart store has in small markets. I’m not convinced that the former Farm Colony is a desirable location for a motel, considering that for all the years it was allegedly in operation, the Conewango Motel never seemed to draw any customers. I could never figure out how that place stayed in business for as long as it did. Warren could probably support an Applebee’s, a restaurant chain noted for its convivial atmosphere, moderately priced dinners, and attentiveness to children. That would be quite a business complex if it ever moves past the development stage. (Now I see the decision is up to the voters of Conewango township – whether or not they wish to revoke their “dry” status.) 

Did you notice the obituary for Allan Poust? He was a classmate of mine, sort of an odd kid, as I recall. He was very sports oriented but never tried out for any of the teams in junior high or high school. I never saw him at any social functions. In fact, he didn’t seem to have any close friends. Allan’s social development was severely stunted. Even in high school, he had this very strange attitude towards the opposite sex. It wasn’t so much childish as it was misogynist. I sometimes got the feeling that he really hated girls. Fortunately, he adopted a more mature view of the relationships between men and women after he left Warren.

On This Date in 1999 (January 22)

It 5:15 on a Friday afternoon, what a great time of the week, especially when I can look over the past five days and feel that I accomplished everything I wanted to do. At least at work, that is. The house is in a state of disarray, a situation JoAnna and I will probably address tomorrow. Now that both boys come home right after school, they have more time to trash the place, legos here, toy soldiers there, the signs of their presence everywhere. “Clean up this mess!” is an order that JoAnna and I frequently bark.

The house was quiet when I returned home from the library, which struck me as odd since both boys were supposed to be here. They didn’t run off somewhere, to Meaghan’s house, I wondered. 

Walking through the living room, I noticed that the bathroom door was closed. As I knocked, I announced my presence,

“Hello, I’m home. Who’s in there?”

“It’s me, Dad,” Andy replied.

“Where’s Eddie?” I asked.

“In the bathroom,” I thought he said.

“What Eddie doing in there?” I demanded, my hand about to reach for the door handle.

“In the back room,” he said, carefully enunciating the last two words.

“I didn’t see him there.”

“Well, maybe he’s in the other bathroom.”

That’s where he was.

Eddie called out to me as I walked back into the kitchen. Then he started to describe the details of a picture of an airplane in a book that he was browsing through. His voice was muffled so I couldn’t hear every word he spoke, so I resorted to standard responses like “That’s interesting” or “Cool!”

JoAnna’s had a busy day. In fact, she’s had a busy week. In fact, she’s been very busy ever since she agreed to plan Shirley Abrahamson’s re-election campaign to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. You should be very proud of your daughter. Her name is always at the top of the list of progressive candidates when a campaign manager position needs to be filled. Both Russ Feingold and Rick Phelps wanted her to take on that responsibility in their respective campaigns, i.e. Senate re-election and 2nd Congressional election. She declined both times because she knew she’d have no family life. It was the right decision – both times. In this case, though, JoAnna is freelancing, signing on for three weeks, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Shirley extends her contract for a week or two. So far, JoAnna hasn’t heard anything from the Department of Justice regarding the Legislative Liaison position, which has her name written all over it. Jim Doyle told her that the position wouldn’t be filled until sometime in March.

I just returned from dropping off Andy at his basketball practice. Eddie’s in the bathroom again. I hope everything’s OK. JoAnna and I came down with colds last weekend. Both of us had scratchy throats Saturday morning and from there it progressed to an achy body and runny nose. Neither of us missed any work this week, although I was definitely still on the mend on Monday. Since Tuesday, I’ve just been waiting for my head to clear. I think I have another day or two to reach that goal. Andy stayed home from school Wednesday morning. He was in an ornery mood on Tuesday, probably due to his feeling out of sorts. He wouldn’t get out of bed for band practice, which starts at 7:20 at Kromrey Middle School. We may have been a little harsh with him considering the circumstances, at least from the vantage point of the end of the week, but JoAnna and I told him – no band, no Playstation for a week. We also had an argument over bringing his trumpet home from school, which he routinely refused to do.

“I don’t like carrying it,” he regularly complains.

We talk to him about responsibility, following through on commitments he has made, which probably sounds like so much blah blah blah to him. Maybe not, though. During a Tuesday afternoon outburst, while I was home during a late afternoon break from a long day at the library, Andy was sent to his room and ended up tidying up the bookcase headboard of his captain’s bed. 

He’s still reachable, I told myself. He’s not a teenager yet, in mind or spirit.

Eddie participated in his second annual Pinewood Derby last night. Once again our model couldn’t sprint to the finish line. We were one ounce above the five-ounce legal limit, and it showed in the home stretch. We always got off to a good start on the slope but ran out of gas on the flat homestretch. Once again, Eddie won “Best Overall Design, which I think should go to Dad. I admit that Eddie created his design on paper, but I sawed and sanded the block, and then reminded Eddie every day for ten days, “You need to put the primer coat of paint on your car,” “You need to paint your car,” “You need to put the decals on your car.” “You need to put the wheels on your car.” 

“Dad, you’re taking this too serious,” was his usual response.

Not as serious as many other dads, it appeared to me as I saw the line-up of cars on weigh-in day. Our entry was the result of two to three hours of work. Some of the cars, though, looked as though they had been designed by professionals, untold hours of planning, design, and development.

I’m sure you’re eager to hear about the weather in Wisconsin. Earlier this week, we had close to a foot of snow on the ground, which since Wednesday has dissolved to half that depth due to a couple days of rain. Everything looks so ugly now. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’d actually prefer another foot of snow. It’s Wisconsin. It’s January. I can live with it. For this weekend, the weather sounds like it can’t make up its mind, a mixture of rain and snow in the forecast.

News flash. I just realized that my parents’ anniversary – their 54th – is on the 26th, just four days away. I haven’t bought them a card, so any greeting from us won’t arrive on time, so I’ll have to make sure I order flowers tomorrow. This anniversary offers an interesting perspective. Four years ago, on my parents’ golden anniversary, the celebration was kept lowkey, since by that time, the Parkinson’s had kept my dad pretty much housebound. I know the members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, my dad’s parish for 24 years, would have loved to honor my parents with a reception, but Dad was already past the point of dealing with crowds of people.

I did a little research on Parkinson’s after we returned from our recent trip to Warren. It said that those who suffer from this disease can only focus on one activity at a time. For example, this morning, while I was brushing my teeth, I noticed some hairs of JoAnna’s in the sink, so without stopping the movement of my right arm, I grabbed a kleenex with my left hand and wiped the sink clean. Someone with Parkinson’s can’t do that. I suppose it’s the same with conversations and room noise. If there is numerous conversations going on at one time or people talking with the TV droning in the background, nothing makes sense. This, of course, is a layman’s interpretation of a disease I don’t know that much about. A few weeks ago, I kept asking myself, “What really goes on inside the mind of a Parkinson’s sufferer?”, as I observed Dad in his pitifully debilitated state. So far I haven’t been able to find much about someone who is an advanced stage of the disease, which is definitely where my dad is.

On This Date in 1998

Dear Gary and Kathy,

We weren’t able to synchronize our summer travel schedule with the reunion. Andy’s baseball schedule determined our itinerary, and the last weekend in July was reserved for a baseball tournament. I was able to enjoy a vicarious experience when Rick Dies unexpectedly sent me a copy of the booklet that the planning committee together. He mentioned that the turnout was below expectations but on a par with other class WAHS class reunions that have taken place recently. 

This note is coming to you from Two Rivers, Wisconsin, at the home of Alice and Larry Richard, JoAnna’s folks. We’ll be here through the 25th and then travel to Warren where we’ll spend a week. This is the first year since Andy has been in school that the Christmas break is scheduled for a full two weeks, so we are taking full advantage of it.

On Saturday, JoAnna and I were able to take a walk along the shore of Lake Michigan in weather more appropriate to Easter. Our walk today, though, will require full winter gear as the wind chill is below zero. 

The boys are excited because they’ll be able to celebrate Christmas twice this year. Eddie celebrated his 8th birthday on Saturday so this is a particularly lucrative time of year for him.

I’m still at the Middleton Public Library – in my 13th year now, by far the longest stretch I’ve been in any one job. I have plenty to keep me busy, both within and outside the walls of the library. This year I served as president of the Wisconsin Library Association. JoAnna is currently between jobs, by choice. The boys have quickly adjusted to a stay-at-home mom, previously a foreign concept to them.

Our boys are growing up so fast. Doesn’t everybody’s? Was it you or Bob and Mary Thompson who mentioned last year that you’ve entered the empty nest phase of your life? Maybe both of you have. We still have the teen years to endure.

On This Date in 1998

Dear Dox,

What a surprise to hear from you last year. Adding you to our Christmas card list was a shot in the dark. Sorry I waited an entire year to respond.

I just enclosed a note in a card to Dave and Lynn, who now own lakefront property just north of Oshkosh. And that’s about all I know about their lives. We’ve been out of touch for a long time now. The last time I got together with them was at least 8 years ago. We still send them a card every year at Christmas even though they seem to have scratched us off their list. Most of my Oshkosh connections seem to have shorted out after nearly 13 years of inattention. The people I’ve stayed in touch with are all current or former Oshkosh Public Library employees. JoAnna and I have developed an active sports life as spectators, thanks primarily to Andy who now moves from one season to the next without a break. And only in 5th grade. Eddie takes a more cavalier attitude toward sports, preferring to create these fantastically detailed drawings with colored pencils and engage in creative play with his growing collection of Star Wars toys.

In general, things are going very well here.

Dear Dave and Lynn

Well, Dave, we both a major event staring us in the face, a couple of birthday boys who will be reaching the half-century mark. We’ll be glad to help you celebrate. Sometimes I wonder where the time went. I come across a baby picture of Andy and think to myself, wasn’t that just yesterday. Why has he grown past his mom’s shoulders now? Then I think back to what I was doing before I moved to Wisconsin and realize I have lived a very full 49 years.

As you might suspect, we have become comfortably settled in Middleton. I still have plenty of new challenges to keep me busy (and focused) at the library. We’re happy with the house we’ve lived in for the past 11½ years and have no desire to move into more upscale digs, which seems to be the general pattern here. We’ll stick with our starter house, especially after all the work I’ve put into the yard.

JoAnna’s actually between jobs right now. A few weeks ago, she resigned as director of the State Senate Democratic Caucus, and plans to be a stay-at-home Mom for awhile, not the choice that most people would have put their money on. She’s has plenty of options, mostly in the area of lobbying, but she would like to stay involved in party politics. With our secure financial situation right now, she has the luxury of being choosy. At least until spring! Then I might get a little nervous. 

On a whim, I sent a card and letter to Dox last Christmas and actually got a response. He’s still in Ironwood, apparently living the Dox kinda lifestyle that we’re all so familiar with: working in restaurants (“I’ve also worked in at least half the restaurants in the area,” he reports.) and playing ball. He enclosed a 1992 clipping from the local paper: a photo of the softball team he played on for much of his UP career. He plays in an Oldtimers League (35 and older – hey, that’s young!). Here’s a quote underneath the headline, “Booby Hatch cops tourney.”

“Trailing 4-2 into the bottom of the eighth inning, George Boline smacked a drive over the leftfielder’s head for an inside-the-park homer. After one out Doug Doxsey stroked a drive in the right center gap for another in-the-park homer, tying the game.

It just goes to show there are some constants in life.

Sports has become an increasingly prominent aspects of my life. As a spectator. Andy, now 11 and in the fifth grade, observes the full cycle now. Basketball-soccer-baseball-football-basketball. Eddie is in a more manageable rotation: soccer and baseball, but then he’s only in 2nd grade.

Yes, life is different now. No darts. No softball. No bicycling, even. But it’s still as rewarding as it ever was.

On This Date in 1998

Since today is a carbon copy of yesterday, we’re back at the beach – Kinzua Dam again as flotation devices are not permitted at Chapman Dam. Barb didn’t join us today, complaining of a sunburn, actually a little bit of redness on the upper left side of her chest area. But thanks to Barb, the boys and I came better prepared today. She found a rubber raft in the attic and bought a pail and shovel set, the three “shovels” able to be used a squirt guns. We also brought along beach footwear, so we didn’t have to repeat yesterday’s painful trek along 40 feet of stones to get to the water. The bottoms of my feet are a little sore today, and it feels like there is a bruise in the middle of my right sole.

Unable to continue with Sara Paretsky’s latest book, a major disappointment, I purchased a copy of Cloudsplitter, a 700-page epic by Russell Banks based on the lives of John Brown and his offspring. Banks will be the keynote speaker at this year’s WLA conference, and I promised myself I would read this latest book of his by then. Might as well get started now, I told myself, after finding no other titles by Banks on the shelves. It’s a book that you might enjoy as it deals with Bloody Kansas, the raid on Harpers Ferry, and other events leading up to the Civil War, part of a 300-year conflict that the author refers to as the War Between the Races. After reading 40 pages, I think it’s safe to state that this is a well-researched, well-imagined, and well-written book.

I’m surprised my retreat to the blanket hasn’t been interrupted, but Andy, untypically, is enjoying being on his own. He’s at the water’s edge, inspecting stones, or so it looks from here. Eddie is on the raft, paddling himself around with one of the shovels. Andy and I tossed the Frisbee back and forth for awhile, until my right contact popped out of my eye after two consecutive dives as I tried to make a spectacular catches of Andy’s errant throws. Both times, to my great relief, I was able to pluck the lens from my eyelids.

On This Date in 1998

The first two days in Warren were hazy and humid, but today is perfect beach weather with a warming sun and a cooling breeze. Taking advantage of this great weather, Barb and the boys and I are hanging out at Kinzua Dam. Due to the lack of rain for much of the summer here, the water level is low, which has reduced the areas marked off for swimming, but it’s a sparse turnout so there’s plenty of room for everybody. I bought a Frisbee prior to our departure, which Andy is now using to collect stones.

I didn’t wear my watch this afternoon, so I don’t have any idea what time it is. The boys have been in the water much of the time. Some kids lent them rubber tubs to float around on, so they are enjoying themselves right now. Andy and I brought along our gloves and a ball and played catch for awhile. You’d think he’d be sick of baseball by now.

We ended up spending four hours at Kinzua Beach. I should have swum lengths while the boys were playing but preferred to be lazy and stretch out on the blanket Barb brought along. I talked with Barb about Dad, as his mental deterioration is much more noticeable now than it was in March. She says he’s “out of it” pretty much all of the time now. Sometimes he can’t find his way to the bathroom. One evening at dinner, he looked at Mom and asked, “Who are you?” Mom replied, “I’m your wife, Carl. We’ve been married 53 years.” “I don’t believe you,” he said. Last night while some of us were still at the dinner table and others were in the living room watching TV, I heard Mom say, “You can’t take your clothes off here.” At first I thought she was talking to Eddie because I could see where Andy was. W hat happened though was that Dad had unbuttoned his shirt and was ready to undo his pants. According to Barb, this is a regular occurrence. While Mom finished cleaning the kitchen, Dad stood in the bathroom in his undershirt and pants. After a long interval, he asked where his glasses were. He accused Mom of taking them. While she was leading him to his bed, I heard her call out, “Carl, stop doing that! Stop doing that, Carl!” He was trying to hit her, but in his enfeebled state wasn’t able to do that. I got up from where I was sitting in the living room – the boys were upstairs taking a bath at this time – and walked to the threshold of the kitchen. I felt so helpless. I didn’t need to intercede, of course, but this scene, most of which I had only heard, filled me with the strangest sensation.

Mom filled me in on Barb’s prospects yesterday during a late-afternoon conversation. She’ll be providing child care for a couple who own a restaurant downtown three days a week, three hours a day. S he may have an option for more extended employment in the fall, assisting a woman who is recovering from a serious car accident. Mom, of course, would like to see Barb get a “real” job, i.e. one with health coverage, specifically. “We’re not going to be around to take care of her forever,” she said. I think she’s more concerned about Barb’s long-term prospects than she lets on.

I should have added one important piece of information about Dad’s undressing. I don’t think Mom mentioned this in any of her letters this summer. Dad recently had a bad case of shingles. According to Barb’s more detailed description, almost the entire left side of his body was covered with a very painful rash. Fortunately, the medication his doctor prescribes for him worked quickly and effectively. But while he was suffering from shingles, I’m sure his clothes were mostly an unwanted irritation.

After too many stays at the Warren County Jail, Dale seems to have experienced a true reformation. Outside of his passion for cars, his life is solitary. Watching TV in his bedroom serves as his only recreational activity. Otherwise, he’s at Shultz, or in the garage, working on cars, an activity at which he is indisputably the master. At least he found his calling. Wait until you see the picture of a 1984 Monte Carol he rebuilt. Its bright whiteness gleams like a vain Hollywood star’s smile. He’s talking about selling the car – for Dale, there’s always another junker to rehabilitate – and if I had the money and a protective storage space, I’d be first in line. If he ever charged for the time he puts into remaking these vehicles, he could retire. But a life of leisure is not his goal.

On This Date in 1998

It’s the middle of the afternoon and I’m enjoying the view from the deck of Larry and Kim’s cabin. Except for the boys, it’s very peaceful out here. After lunch we went miniature golfing and then stopped at County Market to buy a few things to have on hand: cereal, milk, pop tarts (the first of which was just downed by Eddie), microwave popcorn, orange juice and a 6-pack of Mountain Dew.

It’s a much more comfortable and relaxing environment staying out here. It makes a big difference now that the eating area has been transformed into dad’s bedroom. The dining room can’t serve the same informal purpose, a place where Dale can eat lunch, Eddie can draw or build Legos, and Grandma can work on her crossword puzzle with the TV droning in the background. He can shuffle from room to room on his own power. I haven’t seen him use his wheelchair much yet. It’s obvious that since my last visit he has retreated farther into the solitary world that Parkinson’s has boxed him into. I’m sure it’s not intentional, but Mom addresses him like a child whenever she attends to him. Speaking more slowly and clearly than she usually does. Repeating questions. Stretching out a pause to what for me is an uncomfortable length as she awaits a response, which she manages to understand but is usually incomprehensively garbled to me. When I was the boys’ ages, I could never cut through the thick accent of Grandpa Nelson’s English. Now I can’t understand the words my dad is speaking.

The weather is muggy today. The temperature is in the mid-80s. I suggested going swimming at the dam but Andy said he didn’t feel like doing that. Grandma mentioned that Andy seems tired, and I certainly agree with that observation. I think the last two weeks of July were physically and emotionally draining for him. First of all, he played a lot of baseball during that stretch. Secondly, I recall experiencing butterflies before a regular league softball game in Oshkosh. I’m sure Andy had some moments of apprehension prior (and during) both of his July tournaments. (Actually, the last one was in August.) As we were leaving Reedsburg late Saturday afternoon, at the halfway point of the tournament, he told me, “I can’t wait to get home. I’m really tired.”

As a competitor in sports events, Andy learned a lot this summer. Not taking anything away from Eddie, of course, we have a lot to be proud of in our older son.

(Sorry for the sloppiness of this card but the slope of this comfortable chair is not conducive to good penmanship.)

We miss you.

On This Date in 1998

My face is less red, more brown today. I’ve been applying a moisturizing oil on a regular basis, which I hope will prevent any peeling.

Eddie’s baseball game was rained out yesterday evening. When I left the library, a solid bank of very ominous-looking steel-gray clouds was approaching from the west. Rain started to fall shortly after the boys and I returned home and continued off and on, mostly on, until dusk. The weather also kept me from doing any yardwork. JoAnna made pizza when she came home, one vegetarian, one mat, which provided us with leftovers for lunch today. I read the newspapers while everyone else watched TV. Around 7:30, Andy asked me if I wanted to play cards. The boys and I played rummy, crazy 8s, and war – a few hands of each. I quickly got killed in the last game of war and left the boys to fight it out between the two of them. Surprisingly, they even agreed to my suggestion that we turn off the TV. They’ve been into the Disney channel lately, and I’m tired of seeing their insistent promos for the kiddie group N’Sync, a Backstreet Boys offshoot, 5 teenage boys with major prepubescent appeal. None of them plays a musical instrument, at least not onstage. They look as though they lip-synch to prerecorded music and chug their way through a series of choreographed moves designed to elicit screams from the mostly female audience. Milli Vanilli was more influential than people give them credit for. An N’Sync concert was televised this past weekend, which was must-see TV for the boys. In fact, last week Andy complained, “Grandma and Grandpa don’t have Disney,” meaning that the Disney channel isn’t on their cable system. This concern of his was relieved when we decided not to go to Two Rivers last weekend. Albert’s idea of a surprise party didn’t seem to be going anywhere, to nobody’s surprise. JoAnna had to pick up Boxer at the vet’s at noon on Saturday. He spent an evening way from home after getting declawed (and seems to have adjusted very well to it).

After checking her calendar, JoAnna said she can accompany me on the return trip to Pennsylvania. That was a great relief to me since I wasn’t looking forward to making that trip by myself. I probably won’t get back to Middleton from my meeting in La Crosse until 5:00, so it’ll be close to 6:00 by the time we’re on the road. I’m not sure if we’ll try to do the trip in one stretch. We’ll make the return trip on Monday, which means we’ll have at least one full day to visit. Maybe we can have a picnic at the cabin.

A month or so ago, I was asked to give a short talk on the Declaration of Independence to the Optimists, a local service club. My first reaction was, “I enjoy reading about American history and have for more than 20 years, but I’m certainly not an expert on the Declaration.” I thought of an angle which would allow me to promote the services of the library at the same time and decided my talk would involved how I research my talk by using a variety of library resources. My sources include reference books, such as the World Almanac and the World Book Encyclopedia; history book from the library’s collection, including a recently published title, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence, wherein the author claims that, contrary to the longstanding acceptance of most historians, Jefferson should not be considered the author of this document; books reviews of American Scripture obtained through a full-text database available on the library’s computer system; an article on the signers of the Declaration from the December 1962 issue of American Heritage, one volume of an entire run of this magazine that was donated to the library a few years ago; a title from the Giants in Political Thought series, an audiotape collection; a video on Thomas Jefferson’s life, and a variety of information gathered from the Internet. It’s been fun putting this talk together.

I’ve been reading the Times Observer article with interest. What it boils down to is an equity issue. Let me use Middleton as an example. Residents of the city of Middleton pay $24 per capita to support the public library, which is slightly below the state of Wisconsin average. Why should neighboring municipalities pay nothing or even $12 per capita and expect to receive the same level of service? Fortunately, we don’t have to wrestle with the kinds of issues that Warren County is dealing with. The Dane County Library Service reimburses the 18 public libraries in Dane County for non-resident and cross-municipal use. This year, Middleton received $285,000 for extending library service, the majority of it the result of our serving as the far west side branch of the Madison Public Library. If we didn’t have this kind of arrangement, we’d have to implement a fee system. The problem as I see it has to do with the county commissioner form of government. Two votes can determine policies and programs for Warren County. Two much power in too few hands. 

Public libraries have never been “free” operations. In Wisconsin, the allocations come primarily from local and secondarily from county governments. We get no direct state or federal support. Pennsylvania’s system of funding is different, though I don’t know enough about it to go into the details. I’ve always wondered about the funding sources for the Warren library. If I recall correctly, it is referred to as the Warren Public Library Association. There are no local library associations in Wisconsin, as far as I know. It’s never been clear to me how that structure differs from a library that is almost wholly funded by tax dollars. I thought I read a quote by the library director that 21% of the Warren library’s revenue comes from non-tax sources. That’s unheard of in Wisconsin. I suspect the Warren library must have quite an endowment fund. Even growing up, I was impressed by the number of gift books that were added to the collection. The Times-Mirror would regularly publish long lists of recently added titles. And I don’t recall a library having so many gift plates on the inside covers of the books in its collection. It seemed like every other book was in memory of someone or purchased with special funds.

It’s a shame that the county can’t work cooperatively with the library. Youngsville, Sheffield, and Sugar Grover are battling over their little pieces of turf to no one’s benefit. Public libraries in Wisconsin have been working cooperatively for more than 30 years, in some cases. Middleton is a member of the Dane County Library Service and the South Central Library System, the latter a consortium of 47 public libraries in 7 counties. As a result, we are able to provide a level of service that would be impossible if we were on our own. Our computer catalog provides access to the holdings of 30 libraries (most of the smallest libraries in our system are not yet automated) totaling almost 2,000,000 items – books, magazines, videos, compact discs, books on tape, etc. Items requested from other libraries are oftentimes here within a day or two. If we went back to the old days, the people here would revolt. OK, now I’m sounding like a commercial, but Wisconsin really does have an excellent network of libraries. As a result, I have had a richly rewarding professional life for the past 20 years here. (20 years! That just floors me sometimes when I ponder that number in the context of where I’ve been.)

On This Date on 1998

At the halfway point, this summer is shaping up as quite an exceptional one. This past weekend was especially enjoyable since the focus was on our (third) annual Bastille Day party. 

Thursday morning I had LINK (library automation consortium) meeting at the public library in Wisconsin Dells. At 12:30, I met JoAnna and the boys, plus Meaghan and Joey Erpenbach, 6-year-old son of Jon and Kathy, at a prearranged site, and we spent the afternoon at Noah’s Ark, a mammoth water park. (And I do mean huge!) I kept an eye on Eddie and Joey at one of the smaller wave pools and a kiddie play area, while JoAnna and the two older kids went on some of the water slides. The boys and I eventually explored other areas of the park. We took a leisurely ride on a large innertube, floating along a shallow, canal-like channel called “The Lazy River”. We waited less than a minute to get a tube. The lines for the slides that we saw during our walk were long. I think the boys would have become impatient waiting 15 minutes to do something. At 3:15, we regrouped with the other half or our party at the wave pool where we had started out. Everyone but Andy, that is. As four o’clock approached, Andy was still nowhere to be found. JoAnna and I started to worry that something might have happened to him. All of a sudden, I noticed the distinctive lime green of his swimming trunks and breathed a sigh of relief. As it turned out, he had been waiting for us by the concession stand, taking Mom’s instruction of “we’ll meet back here at 3:15” too literally. She didn’t mean at the exact point she was standing when she uttered these words, but that’ show Andy translated them.

I drove back to Middleton along, Eddie wanting to be in Joey’s company and Andy not wanting to split up with Meaghan, who was going to a Brewer game as soon as she got dropped off. Because of the delay in waiting for Andy’s appearance, JoAnna had to get home pronto. I wanted to stop and get something to eat, as I’d had only a grapefruit for breakfast, a small piece of coffee cake at my meeting, and no lunch, since the meeting ran longer than expected and I couldn’t join the other librarians for lunch. I was starving and felt a headache coming on, so I stopped at a McDonald’s and ordered a couple chicken fajitas (the only thing on the menu that I actually like) and a lemonade to go. I almost chugged the entire contents of the cup, so thirsty was I after spending 3 hours in a very warm sun. I could feel the heat rising off my shoulders and back as I drove along U.S. 12, skirting Baraboo and the Devil’s Lake region, taking the scenic, though shorter route instead of joining the speed demons on the Interstate. Once again I hadn’t used any sunblock. I accepted the full-ray treatment.

I expected to see a dark blue Buick in the driveway when I returned home. JoAnna’s folks and Albert and Cyndi were spending the weekend with us. We needed to be on the road at 6:00 to get to our evening engagement on time. “It’s unlike Larry and Alice to be late,” I thought. Then I realized the cause of their delay. Albert, the “Herman” of the Richard family. JoAnna, of course, expected all along that her family would be arriving at the last minute.

Our destination: American Players Theater, near Spring Green, Wisconsin, about a 45-minute drive from Middleton. APT is an outdoor amphitheater that specializes in Shakespeare and other classic plays. They produce five plays each season, with an overlapping schedule so that most of the plays are put on throughout the entire season, which this year runs from June 11 through October 4. APT has been in operation for 15 years and survived some financially and artistically shaky early years. Its operation is now on a solid foundation. I’m almost embarrassed to say that this was only my second trip there.

We arrived 45 minutes before showtime (7:30), which gave us time to enjoy a snack of bread, cheese, fruit, and wine that JoAnna had packed in a picnic basket. Dozens of picnic tables are found in clusters along the shaded, uphill pathway leading the parking lot to the theater. All of the tables seemed to be occupied b y the time we arrived. Fortunately, a group was packing up as we approach the table they had been using.

It was a beautiful evening to watch a play outdoors. The temperature was in the low 80s and a gentle breeze was blowing. Because of our delay in ordering tickets, we were in the last row of a section that provided pretty much of a straight-on view of the stage. The setting is intimate, so there are no bad seats. The theater itself accommodates 600-700 people, I would guess.

We saw “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde, a noted British author/playwright/poet and bon vivant. “Earnest” is considered to be his masterpiece. It was written in 1895 and wickedly skewers the British upper class. Two cases of mistaken identity give the play its momentum. More than 100 years later, the play is still very funny, even for someone who might know nothing about the British class system. The audience laughed uproariously at times, and the actors’ excellent sense of timing kept any of the lines from being drowned out. All of the actors are professionals, and the small cast (7) of “Earnest” was splendid, very much a crowd-pleasing ensemble.

Halfway through the first act, a full moon started to rise above the tree line a little bit to our right. It added an almost magical touch to the night.

We returned to a somewhat messy house. We’re not that happy with Ross, our current regular sitter for the boys. Ross is only three years older than Andy, and JoAnna and I agree that we need someone who can provide more discipline, especially as Andy becomes more intransigent about following orders from his parents. (I’m sure that sentence has a familiar ring!) Andy and Eddie almost see Ross as someone to pal around with. They were set to play baseball when we left the house. Nothing that the boys touched during the evening had been put away. The kitchen was in disarray. Jess, our previous regular sitter, had always been good about cleaning up after himself and the boys. (Although when we mentioned this to his parents Saturday night at our party, they half-kiddingly said, “Doesn’t sound like anyone we know!”) It wasn’t that we returned home to a disaster. JoAnna and I need to find a sitter with a better sense of responsibility. Of course, this fall we begin our experiment with Andy and Eddie staying home on their own when we go out. At least for short periods of time. Then we’ll learn how responsible (or irresponsible) Andy can be.

I had to work on Friday as I had been invited to attend a business meeting of the WLA Foundation, the fundraising arm of the organization. That only took up an hour of my morning, but I returned to the library to cover for lunch breaks since we were a bit short-staffed that day. I didn’t get home until nearly 2:30 and found JoAnna, her mom, and Cyndi busy with food preparations for the party. I had a number of errands that took up most of the rest of the afternoon: pick up a tent we had rented (a 20’ x 20’ white-topped canopy), make a beer run and pick up the wine that JoAnna had special ordered, get jelly wicks for two chafing dishes, buy shrimp and spicy sausages for a couple dishes that JoAnna would be preparing later in the day. Andy had a baseball game at 6:00. JoAnna took time out from her work to accompany her dad and brother and me. Cyndi was taking a nap, after a hectic day at Wisconsin Dells, an outing she and Albert took with the boys, their second visit to the Dells in two days. They rode on one of the “ducks” and went to Robot World. Alice kept an eye on Eddie, who had his eyes glued to the TV.

Andy’s team had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, Andy having scored one of the runs. Their third pitcher of the game, though, had problems with control. He was letting go of the ball too soon most of the time, so his pitches were inside, sometimes on the back sides of the batters. He actually hit two batters. Toward the end of the inning he started to lose his composure, but the coach, who was umpiring at the time, gave him the necessary encouragement to stick it out. The team couldn’t rally in the top of the 6th and lost the game 5-2, only their second loss in 10 games so far this season. Later the coach told me that if he had realized Andy had some relatives in the stands, he would have let him pitch.

After the game, we returned to the house and ordered a couple pizzas for delivery. JoAnna resumed her cooking and baking. Cyndi made placards for the various dishes that were going to be served, so that our guests would know what they were sinking their teeth into. Al worked on the menu that I enclosed with this letter.

Sleeping arrangements for the long weekend were as follows: JoAnna and I gave up our room for Larry and Alice. Al and Cyndi slept on the futon in Andy’s room, and the boys slept together in Eddie’s bed, which is where Andy has been sleeping for most of the last couple weeks anyway. Eddie still doesn’t like being alone in his room at night. A couple weeks ago bought a Coleman air mattress (double size) and a battery-operated pump. When I tried to fill the mattress Thursday evening, I couldn’t get the pump to work, so JoAnna slept on the couch and used my sleeping bag and pad, which had been in storage for more than 12 years, and I slept on the floor. One of my errands Friday was to stop at K-Mart to exchange the pump. Fortunately, I had kept the sales receipt, although the clerk never asked to see it. I held it in my hand throughout the transaction, but I could have been holding my list of errands for all she seemed to care. Friday night we were able to try out the air mattress, which we found comfortable, certainly much better than the lump mattress folded away in the family room couch. The last time we sued it, I couldn’t sleep at all. That’s why we bought the air mattress.

Saturday morning and afternoon were devoted to party preparations. I mowed the front yard, even though I had just done so on Monday. The rain and humid weather we had through mid-week must have created greenhouse-like growing conditions. We set up the tent (the centerpiece of our back yard on Saturday as you can see from the pictures) and I did some last minute weeding along the south side of the house, along the path all our guests would take to get to the back yard. I also had another series of errands to run. Experiencing no complications or setbacks, we were ready to party in advance of 4:30.

Along with the pictures, I’ve enclosed a copy of the invitation we mailed out and the menu we had displayed on a signboard in the driveway. After having been driven indoors by thunderstorms the past two years, we were hoping for perfect conditions. And we were blessed. The sky remained cloudless all day. The temperature was right around 80 degrees. The humidity was low. A gentle breeze kept the air moving. We had fogged the yard a couple times during the early afternoon and lit citronella torches and candles about an hour before the party started. That effectively kept the bags away until dusk.

Our party has turned into quite a production. Extensive menu. Canopy seating and serving area. A separate bar table. People made frequent comments as to how much planning must have gone into the party. And indeed there was. Our expenses easily exceeded $500, but that was of no concern to us. This is our one big event of the year, and we’re not about to cut corners.

There were probably 50 to 60 people in our backyard during the height of the party. In fact, unlike the past two y ears, people didn’t must make an appearance. They enjoyed the setting and the food and the interesting mix of people – and didn’t want to leave, which was fine with us. We wanted people to have a memorable evening. One of the most commonly asked questions I heard was “How old is that maple tree?” People were impressed with its girth and span. I also heard many positive comments about the landscaping, a nice reward for the hundreds of hours that JoAnna and I have put into improving our yard.

It was a wonderful event. Everything proceed just as we hoped it would. Among the guests: Mim and Tom, Carolyn and Jim. I don’t know why it took us three years to invite them. We also invited some of our neighbors this year and some couples associated with the baseball and soccer teams.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and the other enclosed materials.

We send you our love and love forward to seeing you soon. Right now our estimated day of arrive is Monday, August 3. I’ll try to give you an estimated time of arrive in the next letter.

On This Date in 1998

Another warm weekend. And another busy weekend, but of a different, less focused sort. Not everything has revolved around baseball, although it did start out that way.

Andy was the only one with a game scheduled for Friday evening. On Wednesday, both of the boys’ games were postponed, not due to rain but rather the threat of rain and a skyful of lightning. It was quite an electrical display. They occurred during the late afternoon/early evening at the beginning of the week, during the night later in the week.

Maybe it was the result of a week-long heat wave, but both teams looked ragged on Friday. Most of the boys didn’t seem to be interested in the game they were playing. Every once in awhile, I heard a parent shout out an encouragement that seemed to border on a reprimand.

 “Chase, keep your head in the game!” The second baseman was acting a little goofy.

“Brandon, watch what’s going on on the field.” The rightfielder practically had his back to the rest of the team.

Andy stayed focused. He played right-centerfield for the first two innings, first base for an inning, sat out an inning, and then pitched the last two innings. Like his three teammates before him who pitched, he had a little bit of trouble with his accuracy. With runners at second and third and two outs, he managed to get the batter to look at a called third strike on the outside corner. Good pitch! I missed the final inning so we could start for our next destination right after the game. While playing with a couple of boys who also have brothers on the baseball team, Eddie managed to get himself covered with dirt, a regular Pigpen. We went home so he could clean off his face, arms, and legs and then change his clothes. Our friends Ron and Julie were hosting a sheepshead party, which got underway around 6:00, the same time Andy’s game started. We arrived around 8:30 and Ron fired up his gas grill again and cooked us some hamburgers. Otherwise, our food options would have been limited to chips and salsa, chips and dip. And we were hungry folks. We sat on their new deck, the one we helped put together a couple of weekends ago, until the mosquitoes drove us inside, shortly before ten o’clock, then played until midnight in a chilled living room. The air-conditioner must have been cranked to high.

I had terrible cards all evening. Even so, I was up a couple dollars after the first hour or so. I either had a partner hand, and went along for the ride, or the picker didn’t get enough points to win. By the time we left, though, I was down at least a couple dollars. We don’t play for big stakes: a quarter per hand.

While the adults played cards, the boys watched TV. Air Bud was on the Disney channel. Andy and Eddie were wonderful the entire time, never complaining, never getting in anyone’s way. They always seem to enjoy the time they spent at Ron and Julie’s house.

Oh, by the way, Andy’s team won by a score of 11-2. Andy walked all three times he was up to bat. The opposing team had one marginally good pitcher, but the other three could – literally – barely get the ball over the plate. A lot of runs scored on bases on balls. For that reason, it was a very slow-paced, uninteresting game, at times comparable to watching paint dry. It was a lackadaisical evening all around – for both players and fans.

Saturday morning we began phase one of JoAnna’s pre-Bastille Day Party housecleaning. From the list of locations she had prepared, I selected following: utility room, back hallway, and garage. JoAnna gave the kitchen a thorough going-over: cupboards, stove, floor. She even cleaned the salt and peppers shakers. It was that kind of attention to detail. The boys, of course, lounged in the family room watching TV. I actually didn’t’ get to the garage until Sunday morning. 

Andy had made arrangements to have a friend sleep over. Drew Farrell and his mom stopped by at 2:00. Drew and Andy actually have a mutual history going back a few years. They played on the same coach-pitch baseball team three years ago and the same basketball team the year before last, when Andy was in third grade. Drew also plays on the select baseball team. Drew will be a fifth grader at Sauk Trail School in Middleton this fall. Andy ran into him at the new outdoor pool early last week, and since then things have really clicked between the two of them.

JoAnna and I dropped the boys off at the pool and then continued our party preparations. We stopped at a store called Party City to pick up plastic plates, utensils, cups, wine glasses, tablecloths as well as napkins and a few miscellaneous items. We also went to Target, in the same “big box power center” strip mall to buy some new hand towels for the bathrooms, then to Menard’s for a fan light for the kitchen and a green metal arbor for the side yard.

While Jo fixed supper, I joined the boys at the pool. The water felt great after a couple hours of running errands on a hot day. Eddie kept me company during the hour that I was there. While the boys and I were enjoying the refreshing coolness of the pool, JoAnna barbecued chicken and ribs for supper. The ribs had been marinated with Cajun seasonings. Outstanding! We ate on the patio, one of the few times we have used our picnic table this summer.


After supper the boys decided they wanted to see a movie. Our choices were limited, due both to the quality and ratings of the summer releases. Eddie had been intrigued by the previews he saw on TV for Doctor Doolittle, a movie that had just opened to tepid reviews at best. Not being an Eddie Murphy fan, I gritted my teeth and decided to make the best of it. It turned out to be a very funny and entertaining movie, on that Murphy didn’t overwhelm with the usual steamroller force of his personality. He was relatively restrained, a performance that perfectly fit the character he played. Eddie chuckled throughout the movie, and at one point told me, “This is the funniest movie I have ever seen.” One reviewer remarked that parents might complain about the movie’s rating, but the jokes about a flatulent gerbil or a thermometer getting stuck up a dog’s rectum, for example, were very mild. The movie was rated PG-13, but I would have given it a PG. At least a third of the audience seemed to be kids in the age range of Andy and Eddie. I took the boys to Dairy Queen after the movie, forgetting that JoAnna had prepared strawberry shortcake. I had mind for breakfast the next day. I don’t think the boys would have been interested anyway.

According to the report we heard the next day, the boys stayed up until 12:30. Andy let Eddie join in on the fun. In fact, it was never an issue about where Eddie was going to sleep. We let the boys have the family room, opening up the couch. They watched a video and then some of the X games coverage on ESPN. Another storm blew in around 4 a.m., maintaining the one-a-day pattern. JoAnna turned on the TV to check the Doppler radar. We saw a lot of red covering Dane County and a few minutes later, when we looked out the window, the rain was indeed coming down in sheets. I don’t know if the storm disturbed the boys. They didn’t make any mention of it.

We walked in a parade on Sunday, promoting the candidacy of Jon Erpenbach for state senate. Jon used to work for JoAnna as public relations coordinator. He has a background in TV and radio, and, actually, used to work for the senator, Joe Wineke, who now holds the seat. Joe decided to make a run for the open seat in the 2nd congressional district. JoAnna, Julie, and I handed out Packer and Badger schedules and Andy, Drew, and Eddie, on their rollerblades, tossed Tootsie Rolls to the paradegoers. It took uis a half hour to walk the route. It was a hot day but, fortunately, not as humid as it had been a couple days ago. JoAnna and I were glistening with sweat when we reached the car. Drew’s dad, by the way, is one of Jon’s best friends. They went to school together from the elementary grades through high school. They used to double date and are both married to the “high-school sweethearts”, who are both named Kathy.

After dropping Drew off at home, the family went swimming at the outdoor pool. This was JoAnna’s first visit, my second in two days, probably the boys’ 10th or so. We are making good use of our family pass. Drew, his mom and Sister (Eddie’s age) made an appearance shortly after our arrival, which pleased Andy, of course. JoAnna and I left at 3:30, as she had a 4:00 meeting to attend. Another campaign powwow, this one for Rick Phelps, who is also running for the 2nd congressional district, and whom JoAnna and I favor over Joe. I ran a few errands before returning to the pool – Meikle’s True Value to get more potting soil for the final patch of backyard reseeding, Brennan’s for fresh fruit, and Sentry for groceries for the boys’ lunches this week.

Supper was pot luck, help yourself, whatever you can scrounge up. There was a leftover slab of the Cajun ribs that JoAnna barbecued on Saturday, which I claimed. JoAnna finished the chicken. Later, Andy and I went to one of the high-school ball diamonds so he could practice his pitching. Drew’s team was having a batting practice and I think Andy was hoping he would run into him. We didn’t. Andy threw some heat, pitching the ball very accurately. I was quite impressed.

The boys went to bed relatively early for a summer evening, but I’m sure they were beat. Including the time we waited for the parade to start, they were on their rollberblades for over an hour and at the pool for nearly three, the sun shining relentlessly as a result of no cloud cover. I let them sleep in this morning until after 8:00.

JoAnna and I were in bed relatively early, too. We watched the Game Show network – a line-up of black-and-white golden oldies from the 1950s – until the station became scrambled. This seems to happen every night at 10:30 and I have no idea why. I had soaked up a lot of sun during the day, most of it seemingly absorbed by my face. I look like quite the outdoorsman right now. Ruddy complexion. Sun-bleached hair.

So much for this weekend news update.

On This Date in 1998

A thunderstorm rumbled through Middleton early this morning. The noise disturbed the boys’ sleep, as well as their feelings of safety and well-being, so they joined Mom and Dad in bed until the storm passed over. Not realizing they were up and about, JoAnna let out a startled scream as they entered the room. That jolted me awake. We lay scrunched together, listening to the storm, not saying too much. After one particularly loud crack of lightning, the clock radio emitted a soft click. It was 5:00 a.m. and we were without power.

JoAnna and I stayed in bed past our usual time. JoAnna wanted to be able to use her hair dryer after taking a shower, and I was just being lazy. I finally got out of bed at quarter to seven, 45 minutes past my usual time, wondering why it was taking so long to restore power. I exercise on the Walkfit for 10 minutes instead of my usual 20. On warm, muggy mornings, I like to have a fan blowing air on me, and that was not an option today.

Just as I started to prepare the boys’ lunches, I heard another click and then the grinding noise of the dehumidifier. It was 7:20, so we were without power for nearly two and a half hours. At the library, I learned that none of the other staff members had lost power. Must have been a small area that was affected.

Our invitations for the Bastille Day party have all been sent out, and a few people have already responded. I hope the weather will be cooler than it’s going to be this weekend. We are in store for some hot and sticky days. At least we’ll be outdoors Friday evening, out of our sticky house. Ron and Julie are hosting a sheepshead party on their new deck. Saturday we’ll probably go to a movie and out to eat to avoid the heat. The boys will continue to make good use of the family pass I bought for the new outdoor pool here. In fact, JoAnna and I should start going there, although I imagine it’ll be a crunch of bodies this weekend.

A lotta baseball so far this summer. Eddie plays twice a week in a calch-pitch league. Andy also plays twice a week in the Little Bucks league. Last weekend, Andy played in his first tournament, which was held in Beaver Dam. His team started out on a good note, winning their first game Saturday by a score of 9-4. Then they ran up against a very tough team from Fond du Lac and lost 13-0. Fond du Lac won its first game by the same score. Sunday Middleton lost to Beaver Dam, a game that was close during the first two innings, but then Middleton fell apart on defense. Had they won, we would have had to stay around fore another three hours until the semi-final games. I know that some parents and even some of the kids weren’t that disappointed to leave. Overall, it was a good experience for the boys. They’ll know what to expect the next time. Andy will play in two more tournaments this summer, one of which is scheduled in Reedsburg on the weekend of the family reunion, unfortunately.

Boxer is starting to get bolder. This morning he jumped onto a kitchen chair and then onto the table to slurp up the milk that Eddie had left behind in his cereal bowl.. Last week I opened a can of tuna fish and heard a long chorus of meows. Boxer was begging for a taste, which I refused to give to him. JoAnna is still taking about getting a second cat, a playmate for our kitty meowsers. Is this really a good idea? I wonder. I don’t have any base of knowledge in this area, but then I do work in a library where we have books on taking care of cats and learning about their behavior.

So I followed up on this idea and learned the following. “The building of friendship between two cats takes much longer than people want ti to. Most people expect the first and second cats to love each other and play together right away. If this actually happens, consider yourself lucky. It’s rare. Cats don’t believe in love at first sight. It can be several months before they get used to each other. Be sure that you don’t do anything to cause jealousy in either cat.” In another section of the book, the author says you probably shouldn’t leave two cats alone during the first two or three weeks they come into contact. Hmm.

Maybe we want to rethink this second cat business or talk to Meaghan’s dad, our vet, and get his spin on this.

On This Date in 1998

Backing up to Thursday.

We had back-to-back thunderstorms during the early afternoon. During my lunch hour, I stopped at a nearby grocery store to buy a few items, mostly paper products as we had just about depleted our supply of toilet paper, Kleenex, and paper towels. The heavens opened up while I was in the checkout line. I stood under the canopy outside for 15 minutes waiting for the rain to let up. Because of the bulk of my purchases, I had four bags to load into the car. I would have got drenched making a dash to the car, let alone trying to get anything inside. I saw long bolts of lightning. The ear-splitting crack and roll of the thunder made me feel a little weak in the knees. Once the storm started to let up, I made my getaway. I unloaded the bags at the house and then returned to the library. On my way there, a second storm blew in. Literally. All of a sudden, I see the trees start to shake violently, and, a half block ahead of me, a sheet of rain moving almost sideways, as far-fetched as that may sound. It was a sight to behold.

Thursday evening I drove to Oshkosh just ahead of the day’s third storm. Actually, my destination was Waukau, a small community about 20 miles west of Oshkosh. I had made arrangements to visit LeRoy and Patsy Stahle. They live in a remodeled farmhouse, with three outbuildings on the property they purchased. One of them is the barn in which their two horses are kept. From 1970 to 1993, LeRoy drove the county bookmobile for the Oshkosh Public Library. He and Patsy used to host a library hayride every October during the early 1980s. A tractor would pull a hay
wagon along the mostly deserted country roads and we’d make periodic stops at a number of bars, then eat chili and enjoy the warmth of a huge bonfire. Those were fun times. Patsy worked at Speed Queen in Ripon. She retired four years ago. LeRoy is 64 and Patsy is 61, so they have plenty of years ahead of them. They are two wonderful people.

JoAnna and I were a little puzzled by Melanie’s remarks, especially being asked if she is a Christian. They just don’t ring true. First of all, are Christians the only people who are offended by the use of alcohol and drugs? Any devout person – Muslim, Jew, Buddhist – would likely find such behavior offensive. I’m sure that even some atheists would be offended. It wasn’t clear if Melanie’s visit included a job interview, but even in an informal situation, I can’t imagine someone saying, “We allow drinking and drugs on campus.” Beloit College is above the law? The drinking age is 21 and drugs are illegal, but of course that doesn’t stop students on most American campuses from experimenting. Maybe she misinterpreted something said to her. Nowadays, questions about religious affiliations (or sexual preference or health conditions) aren’t asked even casually during a job interview. As for the two women “making out”, that is certainly within the realm of possibility on a campus as tolerant and socially liberal as Beloit.

Eddie played baseball yesterday; Andy had the night off so he went swimming. The game was wild and woolly, lots of runs scored. Again, Eddie had a good night at the plate. He made a great play at third, fielding a groundball and tagging out the runner coming from second. It seemed like he instinctively knew what to do. Once again, the coach did not show up, so one of the dads volunteered to be an assistant coach took over, made out the lineup, moved the kids around the field on defense. The final score, you might be wondering. I have no idea. I think Eddie’s team won, something like 15-14. On the way home, I dropped off Eddie at the pool. (I had brought along his trunks and a towel.) He had twenty minutes to cool off and join his brother and Meaghan. The pool should get a lot of use this week, by the boys and many other people. We’re enjoying some hot, but not too hot, summertime weather. So far, it still cools off during the night, the temperature falling to the high 50s or low 60s. We have no problem sleeping.

On This Date in 1998

The past four days could almost be viewed as a mini-vacation. JoAnna and I took Thursday off, and I worked only a half day on Friday. Wednesday was the last day of school for the boys.

The boys and I went to a Brewers game Wednesday evening. This was supposed to be a family outing, but JoAnna had to attend a meeting of the Dane County Airport Commission, of which she is a member, at 5:30. The game was scheduled to begin at 6:35, a half hour earlier than usual since the game was being televised on ESPN. JoAnna couldn’t afford to miss this meeting as her appointment to the Airport Commission had been controversial, the former chair of the county board of supervisors, a Republicans, speaking out against her selection. So Meaghan came with us in JoAnna’s place.

Sitting in the back seat, Andy and Meaghan kept up a steady chatter of conversation on the drive to Milwaukee. They get along so well. At Eddie’s request, we listened to a Beatles tape. Getting to the huge parking lot surrounding County Stadium was not the chore I expected. I picked up our tickets at the “will call” window, and we found our seats after a stop at on e of many souvenir stands. Meaghan bought one of those oversize foam hands, index finger pointing skyward in a “we’re number 1” gesture. Andy bought a miniature wood bat with the Brewers logo on it (why he felt he needed some worthless thing like this I don’t know), and I bought a hat for Eddie. He was the only one without his own spending money. We quickly found our seats in the family section, 20 rows behind home plate. Very good seats, actually. Most of the people in this section were older adults. I didn’t see many parents with younger children. No drinking or smoking is allowed, so choosing seats here is one way people avoid dealing with belligerent, obnoxious drunks (known to be a fixture at baseball games) and polluted air.

The Braves were in town, for the first time in 33 years, when the team deserted Milwaukee for Atlanta. We saw the final of a three-game series, the Brewers getting swept 5-2. The home team staged a rally in the bottom of the ninth, which got the remaining fans revved up. It looked as though at least 30% of the 19,000+ in attendance headed for the exits at the end of the 8th inning. Gotta beat the traffic.

We waited for the crowds to thin before leaving our seats. The worst of the parking lot gridlock was over by the time we reached the car. Andy and Meaghan resumed their chattering – they never seem to be at a loss for things to talk about—but the two of them and Eddie had fallen asleep by the halfway point of our trip home. It was 11:30when we dropped Meaghan off.

JoAnna and I painted Andy’s room on Thursday. What an improvement. The walls were dirty and pocked with nail holes. We had to use a scraper to remove all of the two-sided tape we sued to display the boys’ sports team banners. I had never really liked the color we had chosen the last time we painted this room. A beige with too much of an orange tint. I stopped at Mautz paint store last week and picked out more than a dozen “neutral” color samples. Side by side we were able to determine which one were actually more green or blue or orange than tan. We selected a “Silver Mink”, which looks great. It’s a very neutral color, exactly what we wanted for this room, even though it can’t be classified as tan.

Outside of the baseball game and the painting project, it was a relatively lowkey weekend. Andy spent most of his time playing with Meaghan and Nick. They went swimming at the indoor pool on Friday evening and at the new outdoor pool on Sunday, Eddie accompanying them both times. The outdoor pool was scheduled to open on Thursday, but the weather was too cold. Ditto Friday. After last Monday’s beautiful introduction to June, we experienced an extended cool spell, weather more suitable for the end of April than the start of the kids’ summer vacation. A couple mornings I was tempted to run on the furnace.

Both JoAnna and I have been dealing with summer colds this past week. Nothing major, just a slight runny nose, slight congestion, slight cough. It’s more of an irritation that ailment. Unfortunately, it just won’t go away. JoAnna felt extremely rundown Friday after work, spending most of her evening sacked out on the couch in the family room. That’s when I did some more reseeding in the back yard and swept al the maple “droppings” off the patio.

JoAnna and I went grocery shopping Saturday morning, while Andy was at Nick’s and Eddie was at his baseball practice. Whenever my wife accompanies me on these trips, we end up spending a small fortune on food. Not so bad this time. She wanted to select some items for her lunches and easy meals at home. The boy’s baseball schedules will make a regular suppertime a challenge. But then that goal has always been a challenge. She doesn’t always want us falling back on high-calorie, high-fact options like McDonald’s, which, of course, the boys would choose every time.



We had to change our Saturday evening plans when we learned that the movie we wanted to see, The Truman Show with Jim Carrey, was sold out. We ended up renting a video, Trains, Planes, & Automobiles, a rather silly comedy with Steve Martin and John Candy. The humor was very broad, something I wasn’t particularly in the mood for. I divided my attention between the TV screen and computer screen, where a game of Hearts completed with the movie.

On Sunday afternoon, more than a month after its delivery, I reduced the pile of shredded bark to nothing. I trimmed the evergreens in the back yard, creating a cozy little outdoor picnic nook. We have this beautiful yard (notice how I’m now singing a much more upbeat tune) that we don’t take the time to enjoy. After completing the yardwork chores Friday evening, I sat on the patio and just enjoyed the view.

Boxer is at least twice the size as when we first got him. He’s a very affectionate, playful kitten, sometimes too much so. We are trying to get him not to scratch and bite so much. Not that we’re all covered with scars. When Boxer get over-exuberant, we just put him down. The boys are very good with him and know how to deal with his friskiness.

He comes into our bedroom, purring and ready to play, at 5 each morning. Saying “no” or “go away, Boxer” doesn’t get results, so one of us, usually JoAnna, as I seem to have better luck tuning out Boxer, will take the cat out of the room and close the door so we can sleep undisturbed for another hour.

This is all I have time for right now. We send our love.

June 3, 1992

I'm away from the library all day.  During the morning, I drop in at Radio Hall to participate in an ETN on the Americans with Disabilities Act and its implications on programs and services for public libraries.  Afterwards, I visit the library school library and find just the book I need "Reference Services for Children and Young Adults".  Linda Mundt checks it out on her card for me.  Now I can start to make some progress on the September workshop I agreed to do for the Lakeshores Library System.  Right now I have very little in the way of prepared materials.  I spend about an hour at University Bookstore noting titles to add to the classic paperback collection.

The OPAC subcommittee takes the entire afternoon to review three of seven proposals.  It's not as tortuous a process as I thought it might be.  I pick up the boys at daycare.  As soon as I get home, I notice that Ganser has left stacks of materials on the roof.  The project must be set to begin tomorrow.

Strange evening.  Although the weather is ideal, we don't venture outside.  Andy's content to veg out watching cartoons for awhile.  I can't get him to eat much of a supper, though that's not a problem with Eddie.  With outdoor play an extended activity at daycare now, baths have become a nightly ritual.