Saturday morning with friends

A few of us joined together this Saturday to ride and raise some funds for a lady we know who has been battling cancer.  Lidia has recently been declared cancer free by her doctor, but is facing some substantial bills. No surprise there.  My good friend Paul had come up with the idea for the event and we were glad to join in.

Jan and I rode sweep and basically swept ourselves along.  The day was perfect and we did our share of moseying down the road.

Right off the bat we had to change the route since this train blocked the road.

Twice we came upon turtles that needed help in finishing their trek across the road.

It looks like it’s giving me the Evil Eye, but it didn’t work.

The next one we saw didn’t want to look at me at all.  I can’t blame it.

When we reached the intersection of Farm Roads 97 and 124, we discovered our companions had happened to meet up with Donnie and John, two riding buddies that we have joined with before on other roads.

Myself, Paul, Donnie, John, and Troy. Jan took the picture.

The roads in this section of the county are wonderful and we did not have much traffic to contend with.

Moving on down the road.

The only wildlife that we saw of note were the two turtles and one indigo bunting.  I could also mention the car driver that did not know what he was doing, and give him a pejorative name, but I will refrain.

Stay happy,

Miserable evening

Through the winter the evening sometimes gets long, so Jan and I will play games.  She enjoys Scrabble and the challenge to make decent words.  I enjoy reducing the bone pile as quickly as possible and offer the following samples to explain why this game is not high on my list.

I’m supposed to start with this??

And this???

No progress.

Just give it up

atSy yaphp,

Spring Views

The snow that hit out west will is now here, in the form of rain/sleet/snow.  Before then we had a time of it with warmth and sunshine.  The garden is doing well.

Asparagus getting taller

Everything has now sprouted.  Jan still has to plant the sweet potatoes, but these Yukon Golds show good promise.

We expect no problems with our neighbor’s dog doing guard duty.

Ruby

Earlier this week Jan came over in the afternoon and rode home with me.  That is always fun.

Beautful

I spied these Star of Bethlehems along a sidewalk.

We have these in our neighborhood, but they have not appeared yet.

Two pink dogwoods.

You may click on the pic for a larger view.

I found the above pic on Jan’s phone.  Sam had taken it during our recent visit in Colorado.  We were at the lookout on the top of Grouse Mt. in Mueller State Park, elevation 9300+.  Sam used the panorama mode and your can see Max’s double right arm!

Stay happy,

Other Cyclists

We made a run out to Rogersville Sunday afternoon.  We expected the roads to be filled with like minded individuals, but only met up with a handful of other cyclists.

The conditions were perfect.  Nothing more could have been asked.  We both picked the right combination of tops and jerseys to stay cool, but comfortable.

Going east on FR 194 we almost turned south on Finbrooke, but picked a more conservative and direct route to R-ville.

I like seeing rustic farm equipment and riding in the country.  This preference will keep me from ever riding in a place like downtown Atlanta!

This old farm wagon is at the conjunction of FR 194 and Finbrooke.

After a stop at Rogersville we crossed north over Hwy 60 and took the business route west to FR 253 where we headed back south.

(Steve, in a recent post, wrote about meeting a fellow that was going to participate in RAAM.  For those who don’t know, RAAM is the biggest race across our country.  Some think it is more difficult than any of the Grand Tours.  I particularly liked Steve’s comment, “It was great to chat with someone about to embark on such a major undertaking.”

As it happened, Jan and I were soon to meet people on their own major undertaking.)

When we reached the highway and were waiting to cross, we saw a van on the other side with a couple of cyclists.  I wondered if we were seeing some sort of supported ride and decided to stop and find out what I could.

We met Greg and his wife Susan and her brother Dennis.

Oh yes, and their dog Jack!

Greg and Dennis are riding across the United States while Susan drives the van.  They are doing this in support of World Vision and their work to provide clean water in Kenya.  The effort to provide clean water in third world countries is gaining more and more exposure due to events by good people like these.

Heading east, they began their trek in San Diego about four weeks ago and plan on reaching their home church on Staten Island late May or early June.  Susan has taken on the responsibilities of writing a blog and their dog is in charge of Security.  Jack chases after unsuspecting rocks, so if you happen to be a rolling stone, beware!

Dennis was on the phone when we met up with them so our conversation was with Greg and Susan.  They provided articulate answers to our questions and I predict a successful finish, except for the usual flat tires, etc.  Susan had just told a friend that they had not met many cyclist when soon after, Jan and I showed up.  Chance meeting?  I don’t think so.

We soon parted company, thankful for the meeting and back home in a reasonable amount of time.  God bless them and protect them on their way.

Stay happy,

Singing

Katie is our daughter-in-law.  She and Sam have now been married for over ten years.  Her grandfather, Lloyd, writes emails to the family.  He has included Jan and me on the list of ‘subscribers’ and gave me permission to pass along one of his recent emails.

Hope you like it.

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Hi!

A parent should be careful what songs they sing around their kids!

I was just sitting down to lunch today and found myself first humming, then singing:

My name is Charles Guiteau
That name I’ll never deny.
For the murder of James A. Garfield
I am condemned to die.

My mother would sometimes sing that song when I was a little kid— often enough that I still remember it. (My version is a bit different from the one you’ll find on the Internet.) Mom was born in 1893. Guiteau was hanged for the president’s assassination about ten years earlier, so I would guess my grandmother may first have sung the song around her kids.

A popular song when my wife Nita was in grade school was ‘Juanita’.  When they sang it in school, all the boys would look around at her and grin! Nita dislikes the song to this day. She was named Juanita because at the time of her birth her parents were preparing to go to Nicaragua as missionaries so a name with Spanish roots seemed most appropriate for their new daughter. A revolution there prevented their fulfilling the call.

I was about six or seven when I first heard the Thoro Harris hymn, ‘Eternal Rest‘. Even today when the opening words come to my mind, I am a little boy again, sitting in an old Presbyterian church in Medford, Oregon on a stormy Sunday evening.

Time’s clock is striking the hour,
Jesus will soon descend,
Clothed in the garments of power,
The reign of sin to end…

It was a rather dark sanctuary, with great wooden beams and chandeliers that did not give enough light. The Presbyterians had built a beautiful new church, and our struggling assembly was renting the old building.

As those words come to mind, I feel myself even now, a boy again, turning in the pew, looking up through the great cross-beams into the darkened peak of the building.

This power of music to trigger all sorts of memories and emotions is what makes it hard for us old timers to give up the hymnals that are so full of our personal history and deep feeling.

Amazing how we are molded by the songs we sing!

Lloyd

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Stay happy,

Full day

Saturday was a full one for us, make no mistake about it.

First up was the Missouri Christian County Master Gardener Plant Sale.

Held on the Ozark Technical College campus in Christian County.

The sale was twice as big as last year and had outdoor garden decor in addition to plants.

The hanging logs on the right have nut butter filled holes, mixed with bird seed. I think I can make some of those on my own.

As things stared to wind down, I took advantage of the hike/bike trail around the perimeter of the campus for a short walk.

A ‘rabbit run’ through the grass.

Quite a peaceful setting. We will have to bring our bikes down for a Saturday ride.

I didn’t want to stay out too long so I left the trail and cut through the brush and this gully to return to the parking lot. A minor adventure with minimal dirt on the clothes.

Back at the sale I found Jan helping to broom out the building.  I found another broom to join her.  We were mostly done when my broom wouldn’t work anymore.  So I quit. I saw someone else using it later.  They must have fixed it.

After lunch the next item on the agenda was marking a course for a ride this Saturday.  I wrote about a previous ride here.

We saw John out on his red Specialized.  It was nice and bright and  He said he had cleaned it up for the new season.  No, I didn’t think of getting his picture.

Following the route marking we got out on our own for a local city ride.

We passed by the north trailhead of the Galloway Trail.

I liked the paint job on these two homes.

We are not going uphill, I just can’t hold a camera level.

We sometimes feel we are riding through St. Louis close to Forrest Park when we go through this part of Springfield.

A final tribute to Jim, Jamie and Collin in completing the OGRE 150 on Saturday.

I don’t have a pic of Collin and I don’t know who took this FB photo, but congrats to all three!

 Stay happy,

View from the saddle – April 19, 2013

Out on the streets I often see cars with bike racks, some with bikes, some not.  So it was not unusual when a bike toting car passed me on Catalpa on the way home.  I caught up with it when I reached Oak Grove.

I saw that the rack was made by a Springfield company.

As he waited to cross the street, I noticed the tires were the same type that I have on the Steed, Schwalbe Mondials.

As he pulled across Oak Grove I recognized the driver as Jamie.

Later this evening as I was raking up the front yard it hit me that he was going over to get Jim and head out for the OGRE 150.

Good luck, fellows!!

Stay happy,