Lake Nokomis Park, Minneapolis, Minn. (Postcard Series)

Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board:  Lake Nokomis

Bird's-eye View, Northeast from Union Depot, Milwaukee, Wis. (Postcard Series)

Better known as the Everett Street Depot.  (Photo credit:  Wikipedia)

Opening in 1888.  Closed in 1965.  Razed the following year.

When heaven was down at the corner of Clyborn and North 2nd:  A visit to Milwaukee's downtown depot.  (Railroad Model Craftsman)

On This Date in 1999 (January 2, Part 2)

We’ve been home almost 24 hours and still don’t have all of our suitcases unpacked. At least the van has been emptied and cleaned out. Our focus last night was the Rose Bowl game. Plus JoAnna was eager to get our kitchen cupboards and drawers reorganized as a result of our Christmas bonanza: new dishes, silverware, glasses, plasticware, etc. This morning Andy played his first basketball game of the season, giving us another reason to postpone putting our clothes away. This afternoon, JoAnna cleaned out and rearranged the rest of the kitchen cupboards, and I wrote a letter to my parents after going grocery shopping, something -- the shopping -- I wanted to do last night, but none of the local grocery stores were opened after 5:00. Since I didn’t want to make sandwiches out of a two-and-a-half-week-old loaf of bread (no mold in evidence), I ended up calling Pizza Hut. They could have doubled their prices last night and still done a land-office business. I was surprised they were able to deliver in less than 40 minutes.

Right now Andy and Eddie are with the Johnson boys, Alex and Rex. Both Meaghan and Matt were busy, a situation that Andy didn’t seem to mind as soon as I hooked up his Playstation unit to the family room TV. In a way, I was surprised he accepted Rex’s invitation to play. Real people, real activity are still an important part of his life. I would have been concerned if the video game had caused him to tune everything else out all afternoon.

During his basketball game, Andy didn’t look like he spent most of his Christmas vacation in a reclining position watching TV. He scored 2 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, contributing to a convincing 40-19 victory over a smaller Verona team. His team plays again tomorrow at 3:30. Isn’t that during the Packer game?

We had a wonderful visit in Pennsylvania, even though my dad really wasn’t a part of it. As a cousin of mine who visited my parents in October wrote on her Christmas card, “Parkinson’s is a cruel disease.” Not so much for the victim but for the family that has to watch this inexorably slow physical and mental deterioration. It breaks my heart to see my dad slumped in a chair, unconscious (I’m not sure if I can call it sleep), all day long, as he was this past Wednesday. Thursday he was more alert, which meant that he stayed awake for most of the day and even seemed to be following the storyline of The Glenn Miller Story, the movie JoAnna and I were watching on TV. At least his eyes were open and his face looked as though he was aware of his surroundings. After dinner, he spent an hour studying a pair of Andy’s wind pants that he had found on the living room carpet. Maybe the smooth, cool feel of the fabric fascinated him. He even attempted to put them on. JoAnna, Kim, Larry, Dale, Mom, and I were sitting around the dining room table and couldn’t help but laugh. Not out of cruelty. More to mask the pain of what has happened to this once vital and intelligent man. When we left the house Thursday night, our final departure, I had the sense that Dad didn’t know who I was as I bent down to kiss his cheek and squeeze his shoulder. Mom does her best to take care of him. Her biggest frustration and loss is not being able to communicate with her husband anymore. I wish I could remember just how she phrased it to me one day during our visit. His contributions to a conversation are surreal. One night he seemed to be counseling someone about the appropriateness of a home funeral. It had nothing to do with the lively chatter that the rest of us made It’s very likely he was repeating the exact words he spoke 30 or 40 years ago. During the week we spent in Warren, I made a note to myself to investigate the effects of the advanced stages of Parkinson’s Disease. I want to get a better understanding of what is happening to Dad. At the same time, I hope to find some information that will make things easier for Mom. God forbid if anything happened to her, because I don’t think that Larry, Barb, and Dale, not individually, but all three of them together, are willing to provide the kind of care and attention that Dad requires. Mom look like she’s lost at least ten pounds since the summer. Both JoAnna and I couldn’t help but notice now baggy her slacks were when we arrived in Warren late Saturday afternoon. Fortunately, her energy level remains as high as ever. In that regard, she doesn’t skip a beat. She’s a very youthful 78 year old. 



Tara returned Boxer last night. You should have seen that cat when she opened the grapefruit box in which he was transported. He raced through the kitchen and bounded across the living room as if celebrating a major event in his life. He was obviously so happy to be home. The boys felt likewise, practically smothering him with affection. He joined JoAnna and me in bed during the Sugar Bowl game and padded up my right leg to my sternum at five o’clock this morning, tapping his right paw three times on my chest as if to say, “Time to get up, Daddy. I need my strokes.” I, too, missed Boxer, but not that much. I rolled over onto my stomach and slept until 7:00, when I returned to the Walkfit for the first time in two weeks.

I suppose you’re getting organized for your Arizona departure. When I look out the window right now, I can’t help but think, “They probably wish they left yesterday.” We are getting dumped on big time. And the wind is blowing the snow into tsunami drifts, which we haven’t bothered to shovel yet. Why bother? It’s still snowing. Watching the Weather Channel earlier today, I noted that the only warm places is the U.S. are southern Florida and a southwest arc of Arizona that looks like it includes Buckeye.

By the way, we have your address, don’t we? Otherwise I won’t know where to mail all the letters I plan to write to you. And I’m sure you want to stay up-to-date on all the events taking place in our lives, especially those of your grandchildren.

Stay tuned for Tri-County Basketball League updates, new artistic endeavors, the big job hunt, and expanded services at the Middleton Public Library. Thanks again for sharing such a wonderful Christmas with us.

We enjoyed our stay in Two Rivers and just the opportunity to do nothing if we were so inclined. Our busy family schedule requires putting life on hold every once in awhile.

On This Date in 1999 (January 2, Part 1)

I woke up Friday morning at 3 o’clock, after falling asleep sometime before midnight. We let the boys watch TV once we returned to the cabin, and I can remember JoAnna calling out, “Time to go to bed!”, which caused me to lift my head from the pillow and scan my surroundings so I could answer the question, “Where the hell am I?” I’m not sure if I gave a correct answer before drifting off to sleep again.

Once I was awake, I wanted to leave right away, but I repressed this impulse and tried to go back to sleep. After a half hour of staring into space, I whispered to JoAnna, “Hon! Hon! Let’s leave now.” She wasn’t ready to get out of bed yet.

“Let’s rest for awhile.”

She couldn’t sleep either, but even in her groggy state, she had the good sense to keep us in bed. It would have been foolish to start our trip four hours before daylight. I’m such a road warrior!

After dozing off a few times, I got up at 5:15 and washed my greasy hair. It seems no matter how short I wear it, I always have to wash it every day, unless I want to look like a derelict. While JoAnna roused the boys out of bed, I stuffed our two duffel bags into the back of the van, not caring about rear-mirror visibility. I wasn’t pleased to find a fresh cover of four inches of snow on the ground, with more falling from the sky at a pretty good pace. It’s going to be some tough sledding during the first part of our trip, I thought.

And I was right. Once we made the left turn onto U.S. 62, I strained my eyes to see the road. It wasn’t so much the snow than our defective, or perhaps just frozen, windshield wipers. I kept our speed at 30 mph and steeled myself for the stress of slippery roads and wind-blown snow. We encountered very little traffic so I took advantage of the opportunity to straddle the center line while driving. During the stretch of NY17 between Jamestown and Bemus Point, numerous ghosts swirled in front of the windshield, their brief reducing visibility to zero for a few disconcerting seconds. For awhile, I thought we were a supporting cast members of a snowbound sequel of Casper.

Curious about what we were driving into (or, hopefully, out of), I tuned in a radio station from Jamestown hoping to hear a weather forecast. The disc jockey talked about 3 feet of fresh snow on the ground in Sheridan, New York, which JoAnna was unable to find in our Rand McNally Road Atlas. Knowing where New York’s snow belt is located, I figured (hoped and prayed) that it was north of us. We also heard that the New York Thruway between the New York state line and Lackawanna was closed. What about the Pennsylvania stretch of I-90, I wondered. How bad can things get?

Not too bad, fortunately. The interstate was open, but snow-covered and probably slippery, but I didn’t go fast enough to find out. Road conditions didn’t improve until we reached the west side of Cleveland. Through the western two-thirds of Ohio and Indiana, we were able to make up for some lost time. We encountered some lake-effect snow driving through the western suburbs of Chicago, which we hoped wasn’t the leading edge of a storm blowing out of the Great Plains. It wasn’t. We returned home at 5:30 p.m. CST, 12½ hours on the road and five minutes into the second quarter of the Rose Bowl.

We turned on the TV as soon as we entered the house. I did get the van unpacked but this morning most of the suitcases remained filled. During halftime, I drove to the grocery store to pick up some basics – milk and bread – but I found the door locked, even though all the lights were on. They had closed at 5:00. JoAnna’s top priority was reorganizing the kitchen cabinets, which she was able to accomplish by the end of Wisconsin’s extremely satisfying 38-31 victory over UCLA. I should have bet some big bucks on this game. A simpleton could have looked at the scores of the games that UCLA played this season and predicted a Rose Bowl loss for them. They have no defense. Wisconsin may not have a quarterback – Mike Samuel has been an object of constant abuse during his collegiate career – but they do have Ron Dayne and one of the best defense units in NCAA division I football. The Big 10 had a great bowl season, going 5-and-0. Most sports dorks, partial to southern schools, will consider it a fluke.


Right now we’re in the middle of our first major winter storm of the year. Snowing, blowing, stay-at-home conditions. We’ll probably end up with 6-8 inches on the ground before the end of the day, and more is predicted for Sunday. If we had left Warren today, we’d probably be looking for a motel right about now (2 p.m.).

In spite of the treacherous weather conditions, Andy still played his first basketball game of the season. His team beat Verona 40-19, and Andy didn’t look as though he had spent the last two weeks in front of a TV set. He only scored 2 points but pulled down 5 rebounds. Middleton played very well together and look like they’ll be a contender for the league championship.

The boys are out sledding at Elm Lawn right now. We made sure they were well protected against the elements. JoAnna’s in the kitchen baking and watching the Bills get beat by the Dolphins. (It looks like Doug Flutie’s magic season is about to come to an end.) The card party we’re invited to is still on for this evening. In fact, that’s one of the reasons JoAnna’s in the kitchen. She took a page out of Kim’s cookbook and is making stromboli.

We had a wonderful vacation, probably one of the best Christmas holidays in memory, but it certainly is nice to be home. I thought the house had a strange feel to it when we returned yesterday, as if it had been standing vacant for months instead of two weeks, but that’s probably just an indication of how special our getaway was.

Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Highway, Oregon (Postcard Series)

Multnomah Falls is a must.