The last week of my ….
The last week of my 90th birthday started with a bang, then some dark days in the middle, but as they say, ”All’s well that ends well”.
It all started on Tuesday, the 18th, as I traveled northwest to put flowers on my parents’ and brothers’ graves. Always willing to add an extra thing or two helped to make it a wonderful trip.
My first stop was in Clear Lake where I stopped to see Barb Becker. She was the wife of my old friend Otto and a year or so ago sold their house north of Turtle Lake and moved to a retirement complex at Clear Lake.
What was so interesting about the stop is that for all the years we lived at Turtle Lake and the countless times we drove by, going to the Twin Cities or to Florence’s hometown of Northfield, Minnesota, I had never driven into town, which was less than a mile off Highway 63.
Naturally, like every other small town, it has grown and has now reached the highway with buildings on both sides.
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I offered to take her out to lunch, but she had something made, along with some rhubarb shortcake. Oh my, how tasty.
Then it was off to the cemetery and it was nice to see that the Cumberland American Legion had already been out and placed flags on all the veteran’s graves. I think I counted 22 in that tiny little cemetery.
Someone was concerned how I’d handle things at the cemetery, but my handy little walker, Tommy, did all the hard work of carrying the flower pot to the graves. I’ve had to switch to an artificial bouquet as I no longer have my friend Otto, who was so handy with the watering can, other years.
I think it is so wonderful to check out the Pipe Lake Lutheran Church on Facebook and see a picture of the Cumberland Legion’s firing squad at Otto’s funeral a couple of years ago.
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With both purposes for the trip done, I had time for a few little extra reward items. First off I took a chance and drove over to our old farm just a mile east as the crow flies. Luckily the gate into the farm was open this year so I got to drive in and check out the storm damage from the tornado that ripped through the area two years ago.
My brother Harold sold the farm, which had been homesteaded by my grandfather in 1884. The original house was built somewhere along the first seven years. Then it was destroyed by fire in 1895, when my Dad was just six years old.
The new owners were an elderly couple from the Twin Cities and apparently had some great ideas. They had stripped the interior down to the bare hewn logs, which now can be seen by looking through the windows.
Unfortunately, the house suffered some damage from the storm and it appears that the new owners haven’t done much in the way of repairs. The chimney has been knocked at an angle, a small porch on the north side is pretty well demolished and there was a hole in the roof.
All that damage was done by a huge cottonwood tree, which we always called “the big tree”, which fell on the house. My Dad always said he had planted that tree when he was 12 years old, which would make it over 120 years old. Oddly enough the tree just tipped over and is now rested on the house and is all leafed out.
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From there I made a swing around Pipe Lake. I always considered it the gem of lakes. It certainly has had its appeal to countless people who have built summer and year-round homes on it. Gone is the old roller skating rink which was so popular in the years when I was growing up.
The trip around the lake was about over, which brought me to the home of Gene Palases. They are the parents of Jo Elmer and I had strict orders not to come by without stopping.
After an hour or so of reminiscing, I had one more stop to make. That was to check out the old Canyon Road you may have seen on Discover Wisconsin if you saw the one featuring Turtle Lake to Horseshoe Lake. This is just a small trail through the woods north of Turtle Lake. As you saw in the television show, the road is now blacktopped and I was even a bit surprised to see how much nicer it looked on television than for real.
Jackie always claimed she and her friend Mary walked from town out there and back on summer afternoons. I did clock it for her and it was just three and a half miles.
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Home safely in time for a late supper, the joy of the trip was quickly wiped out. The next morning, when I turned my computer on, I was greeted by a message that said that it was a problem when the computer was turned off and I should wait two hours and try again.
Well, that went on all day and started a run of several days that I had no computer. I knew Bob and Jackie were due home after spending the winter in Florida, so I thought for sure she could be the fixer. Wrong. One thing led to another and finally we cornered Stacy, the computer wizard, in Loyal. In less than five minutes she got the computer running and I am overjoyed to be able to tell you all my troubles.
All I can say is it was a little more than I would have enjoyed the last week of my 90th year. Day one of number 91 starts tomorrow, but you’ll have to wait a week to see how that goes. Sue tells me 91 will be fun and coming next, 92 will be cool.
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As bad as things can be under circumstances like we just endured for the past year or so, there always seems to be some rewards. There are the dinners sponsored by the area churches. They have been converted to drive-thru meals. I’ve tried the roast beef for Zion American in Granton, chicken by Our Saviour’s in Greenwood and tonight the fish boil at St. Anthony’s. It is actually handier than parking your car, walking in, waiting for a table and then getting your meal.
