Home in Iowa

Iowa has been not much better this spring.  We had a busy time after we came home from Glen Eyrie.  Guests and continued need for hospitality for the ensuing week.  The weather finally cooperated for us to go on an extended motorbike ride on June 11.  The weather was perfect; no wind and “severe clear” air.  The ambient temperature was about 75 degrees Fahrenheit.  We did about 150 miles and were gone over 4 ½ hours.  We both utterly enjoyed this ride. 
 
      at a Civil War memorial in Winterset, IA

After getting settled, restocking our freezer and other “stores,” we are now enjoying a time of recuperation, while thunderstorms rumble around us.  Summer is nearly here.     

GLEN EYRIE Spring 2014

New and exiting things have been going on at Glen Eyrie. Our month here is nearly finished. We'll be heading back to Johnston, Iowa, on Sunday, June 1. While we were here we only went on 2 hikes, so far. The weather has been very variable, with snow, thunderstorms, cool windy weather, also some sunshine, but cool for the time of year. Also we have been very busy doing our hospitality work at the Pink House. All the while major construction has been happening here. Due to the flooding last September, a decision was made to widen the creek, so it could transfer much more water. 

A canalization project with relining the widened stream bed with large rock rip-rap is ongoing. Two new bridges have replaced older stone-arch bridges, so the increased stream does not bottleneck at the crossroads. They will be dressed with stone later to preserve the overall look of the property.

Also, I am happy to report that our hummingbirds survived the frosty nights of mid May. They continue to feed voraciously at the feeder we provide for them. They seem to have no fear of us humans, to the delight of many people who come to visit the Pink House. Also, although they are known to be territorial and aggressive to competitors, they seem to get along pretty well; as the pictures show. 

We went on a small hike, to again capture Lady Bug overlook and again took some pictures of the views there. These views  never bore us! Always something new to see and experience. The surroundings are much greener that we have seen in the previous years, so I guess the snow and rain have been beneficial for the local fauna.

MOTER'S DAY 2014

It is Mother's Day. A day set aside to honor all women, those who are physically mothers, but also those who “mother” us. Motherhood may be the least appreciated executive position in our society.  The pay is minimal if any, but the pay-off is critical for our future.  

But who would have thought that we would have snow at Glen Eyrie in the middle of May?

A widespread cold snow storm blanketed the Rocky Mountains here. In the Glen it started snowing mid-morning and it still continuing as I write this at sundown; not that we did see the sun today, however.

What a change with the other days this past week. 

Less than a week ago, when we went up to our favorite spot, overlooking Queen's Canyon from the east.          Glen Eyrie overlook - Garden of the Gods, & Cheyenne Mountain

 

It was in the mid 70's on Monday and today the high was early this morning at 43 degrees Fahrenheit. It got progressively cooler after that.

I am worried about our hummingbirds, we have cleaned off the snow from the feeder, and they have been coming all day. They are not as feisty as usual, though. I hope they make it through the night, the temperature is supposed to go below freezing. By Tuesday it should be a bit warmer again, but no 70's for another few days. I am glad that I brought a few sweaters. 

 I honored my bride, the mother of our children. All our children did something special for their mother as well! All I all a very memorable day.

SPRING is Coming (?)

It looks like spring may be coming after all.  It has been a long, cold winter, this winter of 2014.
We had a snow covered backyard on April 14, after a summery hot day on Friday, the 11th, when we opened our newly installed sunshade. 

We spend the Easter holy-days with our children and grand-children in Minnesota.  They are active in their community and church.  They participated in both the Good Friday service and on Easter morning using their musical talents to enhance the experience of all who attended there. 

  

Our new Altima needs a new back-up camera, the lane departure warning and the blind-spot detector pooped out.  Now we are perfectly able to drive without that, but these features should be working properly if they are installed.  I have heard before, that more gadgets can cause more problems and that luxury comes at a price.  Yet, we still “want” all this fancy stuff.  GPS routing and mapping is good for finding an unfamiliar location, but it does not do away with the need for a good road map.  Unless you are just driving express-way.
 
We are preparing to go to
Glen Eyrie again for the month of May.  We are aging scheduled to work at the Pink House and doing tours.

We will probably again take a scenic route and may take two days to get there.




 




Just to keep up the interest, I posted another Korcula composite picture as well.  We still have very good memories of that trip in October 2012.  

Looking at these pictures lets us relive many of the special moments we experienced in this region of the world.  As I mentioned before, Marco Polo souvenirs are ubiquitous here.  History is not quite clear about his stay here, whether voluntary or under house arrest... 

Spring Activities.

The month of March has been relatively uneventful. As I stated in the previous blog, we are now volunteering at CEF in Warrenton, Missouri. 

We did spend the last weekend of March with our children in St. James. As usual there was a small project to for Rick and I to work on. We had a nice trip in our new automobile. We leased another Nissan Altima. They offered us a great deal, and I do like a new car periodically. New technology and a new learning curve. But at least the steering wheel works as usual, as does the shift lever. Just joking! We will be here at CEF until the end of the week. We plan to spend some time with our children in St. James, after which we plan to drive back to Des Moines and go home to our town-home in Johnston.

In October 2013 we were still on our cruise. The last place I described was the Greek city of Corfu. After an overnight trip, we visited the Croatian city of Korcula. The place brims with stories about Marco Polo. We spend a quiet day seeing the sights and sampling the local fare. Our ship had to anchor off-shore, so we shuttled to the quay. Beautiful Mediterranean fall weather to make this visit very memorable. Our next stop would be Brindisi, Italy. The end of the Roman way. It is still a very important port city. One of the shipping ports for the UN.

WINTER Continues

It is March, and it is still winter.  Today we had above freezing temperatures since early morning.  It has been a long time coming.  We may actually see more above freezing weather for this coming week or so.  But, if the past is any indication of what may happen, it could change to  another snowstorm. All in all we are continuing to plan for the near future.  Our oldest son and his family are visiting this weekend.  We are looking forward to spending time with them.
At the end of the month we plan to go volunteer at Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) near Saint Louis, MO.  We will take that opportunity to visit with our children, who live in that area.


This last week we were special guests at the Dining Out of the Officers Candidate School, here in Iowa.  The unit had decided to honor local Viet Nam veterans; it is the 50th anniversary of the start of the Viet Nam war.  I got to wear my dress blue uniform, which still fits albeit a little tight.  It was a wonderful formal affair, with full attention to protocol.  We really enjoyed being there.  Of course we also enjoyed the fabulous meal and the special honors which were afforded.
Waiting for spring, though. 

Mid-Winter

Another month has gone by.  Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Another attempt at commercialization of our society.  I had no idea about this holiday and the associated customs when I was younger, because at that time I lived in the Netherlands.  When I was in fourth grade, in 1957,  a girl from our class emigrated to the US, with her family.  I thought it would be nice to be a pen pal to her and wrote her a nice letter.  When she wrote back, some time later, she had included a “valentine.”  She explained that all the boys and girls in the US were exchanging these small cards with loving texts on them during the event called”Valentine’s Day.  I still remember the small silky red hearts and the saying on this card:   “I love you, and it’s not puppy love”
I guess it is a good thing that we married in 1965.  This just goes to show that she was absolutely serious about this little card she had sent me.

We have had a very long cold spell, with temperatures remaining well below freezing for weeks on end.  We had planned to remain near home in Des Moines this winter.  I guess putting up with a deep freeze, is preferable over getting stuck in a blizzard; “weather” by car at an airport.

I have been making things.  Sjoelbakken for our children, and model Harley Road King for my bride.  The activity keeps me warm and occupied.  After a roto-rooter job on my left sinuses I breathe much better and have stopped snoring as well.  March is coming...