Happy 60th, Kathy

It was my great pleasure to visit my sister Kathy in Davenport, Iowa to wish help celebrate her 60th birthday.  Cassandra, Kathy's daughter, planned a wonderful surprise that was staged in the Gold Room of the Hotel Blackhawk.  The setting was gorgeous and the gathering was full.  Many of Kathy's co-workers and other local friends attended.  There were also several out-of-town relatives that traveled to join in on the fun.  Phil Husby came from Alba-barbeque, I came from Ft Lauderdale, Scotty and Gary came from Indiana, Paul and Linda came from Des Moines, Sherrie Trahms came from Mankato, Lisa and Tyler and their little girl, Doug and his children and grandchild, etc were also there.  A couple from the Bladensburg church near Ottumwa was also there. (They shared the interesting fact that our father, Paul, had married them in 1966 and had warned them that they were so young that their marriage might not last.)

Pretty or ugly? You decide...

 I spotted this "toad stool" on a fallen tree in Kathy's back yard during my visit this summer.  I was interested in the shape and the juxtaposition of the multiple nails.  I wondered to myself  "Is this a thing of beauty, or is it ugly?" 

I held the camera in my out-stretched hand and shot the three of us right in the face...wondering to myself if we would look good, bad, or ugly...it turned out that we did look good, bad, and ugly, but not necessarily in that order -- I'll let you decide which label goes on what face.

Did I Happen to Mention...

While visiting my family in Iowa this past August, I stumbled upon the antique shop of the American Pickers television show.  It turns out that there are no antiques for sale at the shop, only over-priced trinkets and souvenirs.  What a disappointment.  However, I found a real treasure in spending free time with my sister Kathy as we drove and talked about nothing in particular.  Not that she's an antique, but she sure is valuable.

A Visit to Iowa in the Winter

Weirdly, this unremarkable image of everyday life rouses memories/thoughts of some of my most favorite things.

• Snow on rooftops and parking lots circumferenced by window-high banks of pressed-power.  So many memories of the cold, the snow, the production that it is just to leave shelter during the winter, and the coziness of any car when the weather forbids.  A simpler time with simpler struggles.
• Leafless trees reveal true shapes when shade is unneeded and unwanted, and sturdy trunks are protection from the inevitable fast-ball projectiles given as an offering of genuine friendships. 
• Street sign convergence:  Jersey Ridge road was a fascination to me in my youth as I imagined long-dead ghost-cows walking along the street just yards from my front yard;  Belle is the name of my youngest daughter -- often told that she is my very favorite youngest-daughter ever!
• Culver's Butterburgers & Frozen Custard -- the kitchen away from home when I visit my parents' in Iowa.

Optimism Is Warranted, Say The Experts

Dad underwent surgery to remove dead portions of his cerebellum and to relieve pressure that was apparently causing brain-stem compression.  We waited nearly 6 hours to hear from the surgeon that he was optimistic about Dad's chances for recovery.  To put this into perspective, Dad's condition had been declining over the past few days and we feared that his death was imminent.  We are now feeling that he has dodged THAT bullet.  His death does not seem imminent.  

What we do not know, yet, is how much he will be affected.  Damage to the cerebellum largely impacts motor functioning, like balance and fine motor movement.  I found what seems to be a pretty good  explanation of cerebellum problems, complete with MRI images, at a website called Dizziness-and-Balance.com.

A Cold Day In Iowa

I just arrived in Davenport, where I had come to see my father.  Unfortunately for me, he must have known I was coming because he departed to Iowa City while I was en route!  That is dark humor, because he flew there in a helicopter, having had a turn-for-the-worse during the night.  He has been in a hospital for the past few days following an apparent stroke.  I'm about to drive to Iowa City now to see  him.  More later.

How Hot is it in Iowa?

While visiting my parents in Iowa, taking a relaxing break from my oh-so-hectic life, I was "invited" to help my Dad assemble a prefab shed. "It should only take a little while." he said, disguising the true nature of the job.

But by the end of the day, we had made quite a bit of progress, as you can see. You might also see how red and sweaty I look, and how clean and cool they look.

It would be easy, from these pictures, to think that I had done all the work while they stood idly by and offered suggestions, and even took a lunch-break to get outta the heat while I labored away.

But of course, that is NOT the case. All of us worked hard and sweat profusely and we were equally red-in-the-face by the time we were through for the day. If anything, those guys worked harder than I did. However, I have learned that not everybody reads to the very end of the story, so we will see if the truth of this story gets conveyed or not. :-)

By the way, no way was it only 92 degrees. 100 degrees is much more accurate, but even that doesn't capture the feeling of the direct sunlight beating down on us while we swam through the humid air in our sweat-soaked clothes.

Whether the Weather Matters

Can you read the weather forecasts above? In case it is hard to read or understand, let me clarify. It says Florida weather is pleasant and Iowa weather is cold and forbidding. Just thought I would share.

More Greatness for Atticus

Here are the Great Grandparents of Atticus on the Frahm side, the Iowa contingency, of the family.

Trip to Iowa

I left 70-80 degree weather in South Florida to go to Iowa where it was a high of 30 in the sunlight and in the teens at night.

















While driving from Davenport to Des Moines we witnessed 83 cars that had slid off the road into the ditch on the previous night when the roads were treacherously slippery. Our travel was otherwise uneventful.













Paul and Ella and I made Hawaiian meatballs to take to the memorial service. They are somewhat reluctant cooks these days. It was fun to laugh together as we struggled to make the recipe work.















The recipe for Hawaiian meatballs.













The relatives in Norway sent flowers to Aunt Jeanne's memorial service. Phil attended the funeral in Norway and he explained that in that service they took time to read the ribbons on the flowers. When a person's name was read it was there cue to say something about the deceased. It sounds like a great tradition.











Paula and Pat sang several great songs during the service. This picture of them is terrible, but their singing was terrific. We sang along and were filled with joy. For some reason I couldn't help but shed some tears while we all sang Michael Row Your Boat Ashore. I could just feel myself being a little kid and singing that song with Aunt Jeanne and a bunch of cousins, although I am not sure that that ever happened in real life.





Jake and Charlie were at the gathering. What a couple of handsome guys!

















There was plenty of picture-taking, talking, and eating after the memorial service. I thought this was a great picture showing Paul Lamont cleaning up while many of the rest of us (including me) watched.








Paul Husby, Joan, Tracey...














Paula and Kathy...
















Dad (Paul), Linda, Joan, Mark (some Frahms)...















Phil, Laura, Paul, Paula (some Husbys)...








Tim Frahm had the pleasure of living with the Husbys for about ten of his earliest years in life.









Tim, Phil, Laura, Richard, Paul, Paula, Pat...








Some of the extended Husby family...
















Back at home in Davenport, Tim bought a Buick from a kindly old lady from the folks' church...











Kathy went to court and won her case (yea, Kathy!)...





















Dad came down with an inconvenient chest cold that knocked him outta commission for a couple of days...















Ella spent plenty of time "reading," "watching tv," and occasionally taking a nap...


















A childhood acquaintance even stopped by to reveal how much he has changed in the 35 years since I had seen him last...














Scamper (the cat) ruled the roost...

















And Freckles waited eagerly to run enthusiastically.

Cleaning Gutters in Iowa

Dad and I cleaned the gutters of the folks' house while I visited them in Davenport, Iowa over the weekend. In the above picture on the left you can see how high the gutters are and therefore how brave we are for cleaning them. In the other picture you can see us perching precariously near the edge as we clean the gutters with the hose. We sure are good, hard workers.

What's that? You only see my dad doing all the work and you don't see me? Well, that is clearly a lack of imagination on your part!

The Iowa Caucus: A Firsthand Experience

Below is an account of my father's experience in the Iowa caucus:

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"Let me tell you about our caucus experiences. Tim (my son) went to the Democratic one and I went to the Republican one. His was at Central High School in the inner city and mine was a North High out in the suburbs on the north edge of town.

"Tim said that he was checked against registered voter roles as he entered. Others who wished to change party affiliation or register for the first time were given registration forms to fill out. Inside they sought out others who supported their candidate. Essentially they were divided into three groups, those for Clinton, Edwards and Obama. Other candidates had too few supporters to meet the 15% cutoff required to be a viable candidate and had to choose one of the three as their second choice. There were 192 voters present, so a candidate had to have 29 to stay in the race. Edwards got 31, Clinton got 31 and Obama got 130. The fact that the Clinton group was passing out ham sandwiches, potato chips and cold drinks was tempting some to move to that group but loyalty to their candidate won out. Edwards' group served donuts and Danish rolls which pacified his supporters, but Obama supporters just had to do without any refreshments. But they didn't care because they were elated by their landslide win in this precinct. Tim described the crowd as evenly representative of blacks and whites, old and young, male and female. It took them about two hours to complete their work. This was a far larger turnout for this precinct than anyone could remember.

"On the north side of town I had a very different experience. Six blocks from North High school I was in a line of traffic that I was sure was headed for the parking lot of the school. There was about 9 inches of snow on the ground and it was chilly. As I turned into the big parking lot I saw that cars were coming back out having not found a place to park. People were walking briskly from every direction. Suddenly I saw that the cars ahead of me were simply pulling to the right side of the drive and parking, so I did so as well. I chatted with the fellow who had parked behind me as we hurried toward the school. It was apparent there was a huge number of people attending here. Having no idea which entrance to the school we should use, we just followed the stream of people.

"On entering the building I found many people milling about and a couple of fellows calling out 'Precinct 63 ahead and on the left, Precinct 64 ahead and on the right'. Ahead was into the auditorium. As I walked in I was handed a ballot. No effort was made to check me against voter rolls nor was any other step taken to assure that I was a bonafied voter in this party and in this precinct. I recognized some of my neighbors who said we were to sit on the left side of the auditorium. I was fifteen minutes early and already most of the seats were filled. I walked up to the very top row and sat next to a young fellow who said this was his very first time to vote as he had just turned 18. He was quite exited about the process. At seven o'clock the chairperson announced that because people were having so much trouble finding a place to park they were not going to close the doors at 7 as they normally would but would allow people to come in who presumably had arrived by seven but were delayed by locating a parking place.

"Those in charge indicated that they were overwhelmed by the numbers present since previous turnouts had been less than one fourth this size. Anyone who wished to do so was invited to give a short speech on behalf of his favorite candidate providing they used less than two minutes. Six people spoke for their candidates, usually well prepared emotional pleas. We finally got around to voting. Those who had spoken for a candidate were asked to choose an assistant and these people were then charged with collecting the ballots and counting them. As soon as I turned in my vote (we wrote in the candidate's name on a slip of paper and passed it to the end of the row we were sitting in) I left. When I got to my car I turned on the radio and heard that Huckabee had won the Republican race in Iowa. I knew they had not counted our votes yet but they had counted enough in other places to know that he had a lead that would not be overcome. Since he had been leading in the polls the past few days this was not a surprise, but I thought now I know how the people in California feel on election day when the national news announces that a certain candidate has won before California is even through voting. In our precinct I later learned Romney had won a considerable majority but clearly that was not true state wide.

"Other friends said that they were checked against voter registration lists and asked to initial their listing or make out a new registration if they were not on the list. I guess the hundreds who showed up at North High just overwhelmed the system and anyone who wanted to could have walked in and voted. But it was a fun time. People were cheerful, excited, friendly. There was mass confusion as we tried to exit the parking areas, but generally people were courteous and took turns. There were no refreshments available anywhere that I could see at this caucus... would I sell my vote for a sandwich, a donut, a Danish? Don't tempt me.

"Well, the outcome in Iowa is clear evidence that people here want a CHANGE, which should not surprise anyone who has seen the ratings given to congress which are even lower than those given to president Bush. It appears that people are fed up with politicians whose focus is on building party power at the expense of everything else. Whether any president can actually bring about significant change in government remains to be seen."

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