EMG starts Decade Number 10 (3 January 2019)

3 January 2019:  a lovely sunset behind the farm where EMG was born-at-home exactly 90 years prior.

A significant milestone - EMG reaches his 90th birthday.  It's great that he's made it to this age in such good shape.  And there's no doubt about it:  ninety is a genuine accomplishment.  Our (my) planning from AZ perhaps a bit haphazard, but we ended up with a very nice representation, and I think that those who were able to attend had a pretty memorable trip.

Ready for take-off!  (NRG selfie technique a bit off but she's with us.)

Upon arrival at MSP.  This boy has no concerns
about his first foray into January weather in Minnesota.

Wednesday Jan 2  - first-wave traveling party consists of PJ and me, plus Paul Jr., Nedda and Romie.  Flight is delayed about an hour.  Romie (and all of us) behave very well on the plane.  We are so lucky throughout the trip - warm January weather.  Car rental snag at MSP - no usable car seat.  Bloomington hotel near airport works great.  Romie to bed; Paul Jr. and I make a pizza run - quite a fine local place named Pizzeria Lola - we return to hotel after some bafflement over local beer retailing laws.  After our excellent dinner we make another run, this time to Mega-Target, and do some successful late-night car seat shopping.

Thursday Jan 3 - the five of us (an excellent group by the way) hang out at the hotel breakfast area and have a fine time; then PJr installs the new car seat, and we're off.  Easy travels, Romie doing great on a fairly long car trip.  Check into AmericInn; PJ goes to grocery store; we head to St. Joe (sans Nedda and Romie); PJ immerses in food prep - after all, it's the actual birthday, and a fine supper is in order!  EMG ends up with a really nice crowd - Charlie, Therese and Carol are there when we arrive; Steve and Julia arrive; then Dolores and Joe; PJr picks up Nedda and Romie; then Nicole and POC arrive (from AZ)! - 16 diners in total.

Heck yes it made me really happy that Romie could use the same high chair that I sat in!
And who remembered (other than EMG) using a dish towel for diner positional control?

separated a bit by time and geography but not by blood . . . getting acquainted; saying goodnight . . . 

 I much like this photo of the birthday dinner gathering (3 January 2019).  Just missing POC here.

Romie is seated in the high chair that I (and all the siblings) used way back in the day, I liked that.  Lovely sunset over the hill farm.  Everyone enjoys PJ's lasagna meal, we sing happy b'day to EMG over Carol's wacky cake and Dolores's apple pie; NOC presents a fine photo-book she had coordinated with the grandchildren; then some quite excellent music via Carol, Dolores and Joe (with percussion assist via POC).

Snippets from the delightful music that closed out the 90th "day-of" celebration:



Friday Jan 4 - our group enjoys hanging out over breakfast at the hotel; eventually down to St. Joe where PJr and I help a bit down at school with set-up activities for tomorrow's doings.  Much energy is expended throughout the day trying to identify, organize, and arrange proper display for, EMG photos. And also to line up a few mementos or relics (glove with cut-off fingers, for example).  The lasagna meal stands us in good stead for both lunch and dinner.  In the evening there is a quite-exciting game of Rummy Royal, I'm sure I haven't played it there in 40+ years.  Haag family arrives during the game!

Working on the display for the 90th celebration at St. Joe school . . . 

. . . while peanut blossoms are prep'd nearby . . . PJ of course a pro at this, but I was really happy that Nedda
wanted to put together a batch of Grandma's (perhaps) signature cookies in Grandma's very own kitchen . . . 

. . . successfully organizing party decorations

Saturday Jan 5 - another round of hotel breakfast; PJr and I go to HyVee and Baker's to pick up various items for the party; then down to St. Joe where do some final prep at the school after stopping by the house.  Party is scheduled for noon-4pm but extends pretty much all the way up to 5pm.  Photo display - on EMG's TV - works great.  All the arrangements turned out really nicely, and there was a great turnout.  Nice opportunity to chat with a bunch of folks; Romie does fine and it was fun to introduce him around.  Plus we got the elusive four-generation photo, along with other groupings.

I'm lucky to have these folks.

PJ and clean-up crew doin' some work.

PJ leads a clean-up crew in kitchen and quite a bit is accomplished prior to heading over to 5pm Mass - always nice to make it to the old church.  PJr, Nedda, Romie had to go back to hotel for naptime unfortunately.  Back to school for additional cleanup and we also make supper out of the leftovers - enjoyed sitting around in the gym and recapping.  Then back to hotel - Mark Gaertner had brought some beers down from MSP, and Nick and PJr did a little local shopping, so we were able to have a fine tasting in the hotel lobby (which continued until they kicked us out at midnight).  This was a really nice opportunity to catch up with siblings and nieces/nephews, good way to wrap up a fine day.

A little family heads back to Algona hotel for naptime (Romie in PJ's blanket, a good chance to use it).

EMG receiving Communion via Mark Bormann in the old familiar church, surrounded by 
representatives of three follow-on generations (and with prior generations right up the hill).

Sunday Jan 6 - hotel breakfast and wrap-up - the entire AZ crew (except for me) heads north to the airport fairly early on, sorry to see them go but really grateful they made the trip.  A large crew still in St. Joe for lunch (eating party leftovers) - Haags, Therese & Mark, House team, Charlie, Carol - enjoyable to be together, then most head north by say 3pm or so, just Charlie and me with EMG in the evening.  We watch Bears lose to Eagles via Cody Parkey biff; EMG doing some napping during this after a pretty busy run of activity.  Leftovers for dinner, lots of chatting, somehow it's midnight.

coffee (via Pioneer mug), fresh cookie, that view to the hill farm

Monday Jan 7 - busy morning - Charlie and I return roasters to Eischen's, bun trays to HyVee (run into Bob Capesius), stools to Baker's; we help Daryl take down his Nativity scene; then we meet EMG at seed shed for a quick visit.  Charlie heads to airport; EMG and me to a variety of doctor appointments and errands.  In the evening we enjoy watching the college football national championship game (Clemson a surprisingly easy win over Alabama).

EMG on a project, he has a knack for fixing things . . . 

Tuesday Jan 8 - Saturday Jan 12 - EMG and I settle into a comfortable routine for the week - very enjoyable to hang out in St. Joe.  EMG had been going through some cardiac stuff but meds etc. seem to be helping and he seemed to be progressing just fine (not that this won't require some monitoring going forward).  I hope to be around and doing so well at 90!  On Tuesday the wind switches to the north and is absolutely howling all day; we stay inside; have some visitors (including Dean and Mary Berte); watching some basketball in the evening.  Cardiac rehab in Algona on Wednesday and we are taking it easy in St. Joe the rest of the day; enjoyed watching wins by both Marquette and Milwaukee Bucks in the evening.  On Thursday we are visited by Mark and Joe Bormann; later there is 6pm Mass followed by KC dinner and meeting (I walk back to the house during the KC meeting)  This was another enjoyable day, nice to see folks at the dinner (including an Algona priest hailing from Kerala).  On Friday there is 8am Mass followed by the cardiac rehab appointment in Algona; then a bunch of errands before we end up for a long-ish chat at the seed shed, this is always enjoyable.

rent negotiations

Dolores prevails over tree decorations

Dolores arrives in St. Joe which inspires us to get task-y - down comes the Christmas tree for starters, a fun project as it allows , or requires, reviewing the ornament collection.  We also work through the entire stack of 90th-b'day cards and gifts and get things categorized.  Etc.  A bit of a chance to hang out with DC; she eats dinner with us (BTW EMG and I existed almost exclusively for an entire week on leftovers from his birthday party plus the KC meal plus whatever we had for breakfast - which worked great, zero food prep, clean-up or other hassle) before she heads back to Storm Lake.  Steve had kindly offered to assist in getting me back to the airport, so EMG and I meet him over in Clear Lake on Saturday, then the three of us drive all the way to MSP where I am dropped off at the door - super courteous/convenient!  Not to mention a good chance to chat a bit enroute.  After this:  easy return trip to Phoenix.

first-class car service to Minneapolis airport

So there were some distinct elements to the trip.  How great it was that we could have PJ, NOC, POC, PJr, Nedda, Romie able to attend.  Romie's first travel of this type; seeing him in the high chair, getting the four-generation photo; just watching him and EMG size each other up and get along so comfortably.  The nice turnout and fine birthday dinner on the "day of".  The excellent community party on 5 January, followed by such a nice family get-together at the hotel that evening.  A <24 hour window with Charlie, me and EMG.  Then nearly a full week where EMG and I just hang around together - some visiting, some errands, but mostly just around the house talking or watching games together - entirely easy, comfortable, interesting - this is a lucky thing for someone as old as me to be able to hang around with a parent.

Happy b'day to EMG!

portrait of a master tinkerer

Charlie shared this photo from his recent visit to St. Joe.  I love how it captures EMG utilizing his >40-year-old pickup as something of a mobile shop.  And in the background - the shed on the hill farm - where he essentially ran his shop for decades.  (After building that same shed.)

At very front/bottom left of the photo is a simple rectangular toolbox - its contents are splayed across the rest of the endgate - this is the basic toolbox that was carried on shelling jobs, and elsewhere, in my 1960s-70s memories.  It was backed over by trucks several times - no problem, EMG just hammered it back into shape.

The gauge at top left sits atop an ancient air compressor - an item fired up every morning before we went off to clean out corn cribs or grain bins - aging truck tires needed to be filled, after all.

I see a couple items that didn't exist in the '70s (or at least we didn't have 'em) - witness the weed whacker, for example.  And we didn't use much plastic then - right behind that old toolbox at bottom/front left is a plastic container that I'm pretty sure doesn't contain maple syrup.

It might look a little disorganized, but I'll wager that some thought went into the placement of each item in the pickup bed.

On he goes, a classic shade tree mechanic.

MN-IA visit

Had just been in MN-IA in March; had been planning to return this fall; received word that Caroline Bormann had been moved back to the farm for hospice care so of course we moved up our trip by a couple months.  It was a delightful visit, here's what happened (TY to PJ for photo and video, click to enlarge):

Thursday 19 July - our travels were not quite as easy as usual (kids in row behind us on plane including a queasy one; rental car line) but nothing that affected our schedule.  We grab lunch and then head over to Mark & Therese's home - they are great company and in addition to talking with them it's interesting to see progress on the home and its furnishings (esp. Mark-created items), very nice.  Including a couple interesting beers.

our hosts, hanging out on front porch

We proceed to a restaurant a few blocks away - Groveland Tap - excellent choice - we four are joined by Steve & Cecilia and Jeremy & Margaret so this makes a very fine evening.  Then we make our way up to the House house in New Brighton for further chatting before bedtime.

a fine crew at Groveland Tap

Friday 20 July - back in March we much enjoyed the little breakfast joint inside Byerly's grocery store, so we repeated the experience - the four of us were joined by Angie, Liam, and Tillie, this was quite excellent.  After - we drive down to St. Joe - I-35 road construction costs an hour but otherwise quite easy going.  PJ goes to Algona grocery store to stock up as EMG stores have run down, plus she wanted to make lasagna and chicken/barley soup and brownies, all of which turned out pretty amazing and held us in good stead the entire visit (and some nice leftovers for EMG after we depart).

Friday's breakfast club

EMG and I head up to the hill farm where we look over some things, don't ever quite get around to working on mowing or trimming, and enjoy pretty amazing weather - cool/NNW winds which prevailed our entire visit, nice. Something I notice:  EMG seems more agile than last year, not sure how to account for this.  We look over a small trailer he designed for pulling the Farmall C mower behind his pickup (fabricated by Capesius bros and featuring mostly scrap or items purchased on farm sales years ago) - to my untutored eye the design looks simple/elegant and apparently it works.  Nice.  We (actually EMG on F-20) push around a few items (a couple old planters and an old manure spreader, each worthy of extended discussion which is the best part of all this anyway) to clear a path for the mower, and he even uses the F-20 (my 89yo dad operating tractor purchased by his dad 78 years ago) to lift up an old combine for the same basic purpose.  Later:  Twins baseball, chatting, dinner, a really fine evening.

man and tractor have been an effective working team since circa 1940

planter, and proprietor, looking good

Saturday 21 July - we get off to a marvelously slow start.  At this wedding a few months ago, we ran into some Luxembourg-heritage folks with western Iowa connections; I had mentioned this to EMG in a phone conversation shortly after; he thought they linked to Alton (a parish for which he has the history book courtesy Rev. David Hogan); we confirmed all this and sent around some information to the folks involved.  It was an interesting chain of connections, and rather fun.  Lunch, chatting, naps for some of us.

me trying to soak up some knowledge

Around 5p we visited Caroline at the farm.  These are pretty amazing experiences.  Yes, she's slipping. Yes, she has been an important part of my growing-up years and our (PJ, our kids, me) St. Joe experiences ever since - in both cases for as long as we remember (and of course including

with Caroline; ach

Clarence). We have the most excellent memories of our little games of 500 (PJ and Caroline v. Clarence and me) and accompanying refreshments.  Yes it's sad and difficult to see the inevitable even if she has reached 95yo.  It's quite fine that her children are making this effort to see that she's taken care of at the farm (and doing most of it themselves, Ellen and her daughter Carolyn in this case, nice to catch up with them).  We spend about 90 minutes and are very-very grateful to have had this opportunity.

Back to St. Joe; the three of us swing by the cemetery and visit the family gravesites on an utterly lovely evening, this was nice.  A bit later PJ and I head over to visit Mark & Sue Bormann - their farm looks great - we much enjoyed catching up with them, nice to have a chance to visit.  Back to St. Joe again for late dinner, chatting with EMG, watching a bit of baseball, etc.

early evening with my dad at St. Joe cemetery (Mom's gravestone was installed just a few days later); for 
these Iowa farmers, the rows-of-crops seem to continue into the rows-of-gravestones . . .

much enjoyed catching up with these folks

Sunday 22 July - the three of us attend 10:30am Mass in Livermore; discussions after with Eugene Mertz and Tom Berte.

Eugene Mertz (and EMG) are much unchanged . . .

. . . by comparison this has taken a turn for the worse, even since our March visit

Then EMG drives us around a bit, starting with the place where I grew up - significant deterioration of the house; we check out some of the equipment in the machine shed, drive around the grove a bit.  Then some driving around the area - Spring Valley; Kohlhaas-Bormann lands; south from the West Bend blacktop on the half-mile road that overlooks St. Joe and always seems rather lovely.

Discussing many things, including the F-12 tractor (it's hidden behind the Super M;
F-12 was purchased 1936, horses were still used for many tasks thereafter).

Below: driving that half-mile road just west of St. Joe (with lovely views) while EMG explains some of the changes - 

via GIPHY

Lazy afternoon; we watch end of British Open and some baseball, rest a bit.  Timing didn't work out for a Cullen visit, but at least we had the chance for a fine phone chat with Dolores.  In the evening we three go to Algona to meet up with Mary Lou, Daryl & Kathy, also Sue Baker who was in town - very enjoyable to have a chance to catch up with these folks.  Back to St. Joe for dinner and chatting and 10pm news etc.

pleasant Sunday evening get-together

Monday 23 July - the three of us attend 8am Mass in St. Joe, Fr. Kollasch presiding and a nice crowd in attendance; the usual enjoyable conversations after in the back of church.  We have an hour or so to discuss various and then EMG leaves for a doctor appointment and we head out moments later.  Caught up with Steve & Liz for lunch in Mason City, they had been traveling over the weekend so we were happy they could work this in.  We even got a tour of their new lakeside home - with fellow new homeowners Nick & Maeve (with Beau and Jude) swinging by (well, it's a very short distance).  This was quite fun.  Easy trip up to the Twin Cities; we meet Cecilia at a TGI Friday's near the airport - this ended up working out perfectly for our purposes, we have a chance for more chatting.  Then an easy flight home

 I kind of love this photo actually.  Unfortunately missing SEG.

We had a lot to think about and to be grateful for as we returned home - Caroline's situation; all of the folks who were able to make themselves available; all the continuing interesting conversations with EMG; even simple things like the chance to see rural Iowa in perfect summer weather conditions; all of it was quite lovely.
________________________

We had put together some photos for Caroline:

newly-minted citizens of Luxembourg

Not sure who's primarily responsible - but via several of my sisters, we are following up on an opportunity to acquire dual citizenship status in Luxembourg.  They have managed their way through the various details involved in establishing a link to an ancestor resident in Luxembourg prior to the prescribed 19th century date.  We (so far me, Nicole, Patrick) are piggybacking onto their efforts.

It's official!

One of the requirements:  a visit to Luxembourg.  EMG, Barb, Carol and Therese completed this requirement in April 2018.  Text messages from Europe indicate, and subsequent phone calls confirm, that this was a pretty wonderful trip.  Sounded like they encountered the finest hospitality wherever they turned (no surprise there).

Celebratory meal with Ruiz/Lanners group . . . 

. . . dining with Mich Lanners.

Anyway, that group of four is pretty well finished with the process.  Our group is arcing toward a 2019 visit. Perhaps an EU passport will follow?

A shame that Mom and Claude Lanners weren't there to join in.

Only one way to properly celebrate the
occasion - select the finest Gales wine.

St. Joe visit

PJ and I visited EMG, with an overnight in Minnesota.  Main purpose of trip:  Knights of Columbus Father-Son Banquet.  Here's what happened:

Wednesday 14 March - easy flight; we swing by our old (c. 1983-1986) place (2498 E. Cohansey, Roseville); then up to Steve & Cecilia's place in New Brighton.  Fun as always - some interesting beers (especially the one from Decorah(!)), pizza, good stuff all around.  Angie and her three kids were there, also Mark & Therese.  Birthday singing for Steve and me.  Snow on the ground!

We didn't care much for the new paint job at the Cohansey house.  At bottom
seems to be the only photographic evidence of our time in New Brighton. 

Thursday 15 March - after scraping a touch of ice off the windshield - rather a throwback experience - we go to breakfast with Steve & Cecilia at a nearby Byerley's - this was fun.  Onto St. Joe.  First we stop in Algona for groceries.  Charlie & Mark already in St. Joe.  EMG has a pretty bad cold - unfortunate timing but what can we do!? - main goal is for him to get over the cold and be ready for upcoming international travels.  The five of us (to a lesser extent EMG, who is doing some resting) start watching NCAA first-round tournament games - which turned out to be an excellent diversion throughout the weekend given EMG not feeling so great during those first days, and the weather not being so great either.  We walk up to the cemetery and visit the family graves and wander generally. 

Pictorial highlights from Father-Son Banquet (Thursday).  Missing EMG!

Steve & Nick arrive.  We leave PJ and EMG at the house; the rest of us proceed to Mass and the Father-Son Banquet - held in the gym just like in the old days.  I've not attended since March 1974; I'd think that the entire group of EMG-plus-three-sons hadn't attended since March 1971 (and well, we still haven't!)  Nice turnout for the dinner - fun as always to catch up and chat with various - salisbury steak for the meal (just like always!) - some local troupe of unicylists-jugglers provided the entertainment, we liked the whole experience - except for EMG absence.  Back to the house for chatter, beers, basketball, goodbye to Steve & Nick.  PJ and I are staying at the AmericInn.

Post-banquet photo that includes our reason for being there! (Thursday)

Friday 16 March - After breakfast we head straight to the Capesius seed shed - Nick, Bill, Chris, a few others show up including Peter Erpelding; Steve arrives from Mason City; I had requested some Pioneer paring knives and Chris comes through; also plenty of coffee and conversation, including tales of EMG (with Fr. Kollasch in tow) rounding up a coyote with his pick-up at rather high speeds, at least for driving over farmed ground.  Next stop:  Kossuth County courthouse, where we pick up paperwork in support of Luxembourg citizenship. 

We learn that oven-door-closed-via
baseball-bat technique works as well as ever. (Friday)

Dolores arrives in St. Joe.  Lunch, chat, basketball in St. Joe.  Weather deteriorating; Dolores & Steve leave in late afternoon.  Basketball and lots-of-euchre ensues; this is followed by pinochle as Mark takes a break.  We considered going to a fish fry but passed in view of dicey weather and excellent leftovers.  More cards and basketball as the evening progresses - all of this ended up being a fun experience for our little group-of-four (Charlie, Mark, PJ, me).  Icy car, icy (though fine) road conditions back to Algona.  EMG still not feeling so great though a bit better.

A dad and four kids (photo taken Friday).

Saturday 17 March - after breakfast we meet up with Kathy and Mary Lou at the Perky Parrot; Charlie and Mark join; it's fun to chat with them, we need to do it more regularly.  Down to St. Joe for lunch with EMG, who now is noticeably better; but not enough to mix in with the care facility folks in Algona - which is the next stop for the group-of-four. 

Coffee stop at Perky Parrott with Kathy and Mary Lou.  (Saturday)

But first an interesting diversion - Charlie (driving minivan) is struck by a guileless driver as we drive through an unmarked Algona intersection.  So we lose a little time with the local police (who know Judge Gales, among others). 

Drama free traffic episode; the
minivan took a minor hit quite nicely.
(Saturday)

Lovely visit with Caroline - she's switched locations and has had a rough year, but all in all doing pretty well - her CO granddaughters were there so caught up with them.  Then we visited Marguerite at a different facility - she is unhappy with being there, not sure what's up.  Back to St. Joe for more and more basketball and cards; EMG has improved to where he can offer some advice and sit in for a few hands (where he went alone mostly, with pretty good success).  Pork loin supper prepared by PJ utilizing Capesius-supplied meat - this was quite successful.  As the evening proceeds Beth checks in by phone from PA - for some reason this was highly entertaining if/because largely nonsensical - eventually we finish watching/playing and head back to Algona. 

Sunday 18 March  - check out of hotel; we all attend Mass in Livermore (including EMG, who is now quite a bit better); coffee and rolls in church basement (lots of chatting with EMG and Eugene Mertz); then the five of us (Charlie driving, carefully, in his minivan) take a pleasant road trip around the home place, Livermore, the St. Joe hill farm and adjacent countryside, etc. After that - it's pretty much lunch, pack, leave.

CCG at our card-playing post.  Seating (and b-ball viewing access) determined by draw
of the cards (CCG lost the draw).  Note necessity to prepare hand-drawn queen of diamonds.

Our usual fine visit with Caroline. (Saturday)

While we were disappointed that EMG wasn't at top strength throughout - otherwise the trip couldn't have been nicer.  It was great that the local siblings made the effort to be available in those early days; we got to catch up with the Capesius group and four aunts; and our little core group in St. Joe had a fine time of it whiling away a few days there - these are good experiences.

I rather like this picture taken by PJ from the road . . . a dreary March day in northern Iowa
just before spring sets in . . . ruts somewhat mimic the lines of the main tree . . . (Sunday)

We had a fine time with our airport delay (Sunday)