Here's To Life!

Had a nice four day weekend trip to Minneapolis, MN in October.   Left on Friday morning and headed to northern Wisconsin - to check out some land owned by two Nystrand brothers - cousin of my Grandma Laurina Nystrand Swanson.  Found the graves of one brother and his wife in Ladysmith, Wisconsin - Fred Nystrand and his wife Inga.  Then we found the approximate site of the land they owned just south of Hawkins, Wisconsin. Fred and Inga Nystrand's graves Headed to Minneapolis after that - to our hotel for the weekend.  Checked in and headed to the closest restaurant (next door) for dinner.  Saturday we headed out to Fort Snelling - a fort built to protect against Indian attacks.  Very interesting visit - there were many costumed interpreters, a cannon shooting display and a musketry drill.  Learned that Dred Scott lived at Fort Snelling in the 1850s with his master, Dr. Emerson.  Also spoke with a woman from the Dakota tribe regarding Indi...

Labor Day marks the end of summer.  Since school started last week - the end of summer for me came last weekend.  However, this Saturday we did take a summer day trip - to spend some time by the water.  We drove to Winthrop Harbor and Illinois Beach State Park.  Walked along Lake Michigan - took some pictures and watched the people headed for the beach.  It wasn't as crowded as I thought it might be.  It was definitely cooler feeling by the lake.  Next we headed to Lake Geneva where we ate lunch at Popeye's where we could look at the water as we were eating.  Walked along the lakefront there, checked out some other restaurants and then wandered back to the car. Sunday I went to church - where I ended up playing the piano for worship (one hand, one note).  Kristin came in the afternoon to do laundry.  Paul and I started our pursuit of re-furnishing our living room.  We stopped at the carpet store and looked at colors and types...

Last Friday, August 28th, Paul and I took a little spur of the moment trip to a) see his mother and b) to enjoy being away from home.  Paul left work early on Friday and we hit the road to Rock Island, stopping for supper along the way.  Got to Paul's mom's house about 8:00 and spent the rest of the evening talking and catching up on things.  Saturday we took a drive to see a replica of a pier from the first railroad bridge crossing the Mississippi River in 1856. We then had lunch with Marilyn at TGIFriday's in Moline where there is a great view of the Mississippi River.  Afterwards we took a few pictures on the river walk. Stopping at Whitey's on the way out of town for a shake for me, we headed a different way home on Route 80 where we stopped and spent the night in Ottawa.  Ottawa is the site of the first Lincoln Douglass debate in 1858.  They have life-size statues of Lincoln and Douglass commemorating the spot in the town square. Sunday...

Today is the last day of my summer break.  I return to work on Monday.  In some ways it has been a quiet summer, in other ways, not so much because a lot did seem to get done.  Here are some of those accomplishments - Had lunch with high school/college friend, Susan Reid Henson Helped with Vacation bible school Helped to make room in the garage for John and Sasha's belongings and car Finished reading13 books Vacationed to Chautauqua Institution and Cape Cod Spent time with Mom Had a fence installed in the backyard Saw Kristin successfully moved into her own apartment Took a weekend trip to Michigan to see Joy and Dan's new house Made reservations for vacation travel in 2016 Arranged to have some painting done in September Looking forward to going back to work - to fall - and many of the activities fall brings.

Joy and Dan bought a house in Michigan this year and spent most of the summer there.  It is just north of Elk Rapids and sits on the beach of Grand Traverse Bay.   It is an A-frame house with a great view of the bay.  Paul and I drove there on Friday afternoon - traffic was very slow going in some places and it started raining so it took longer than it should have to get there.  We did arrive about 8:30 - in time for supper with Joy, Dan, Mom and Anna.  Saturday was a much nicer day and we had a chance to see what a great place Joy and Dan have.  They have their own piece of beach to sit and watch the water, kayaks and a paddleboard to play in the water and a fire pit for the evenings.  Paul and I decided to go to Old Mission Peninsula which we could see from Joy and Dan's place across the bay - but to get to it had to drive south along the bay and then north on the peninsula.  Drove to the very end where there is a light house - stopped to look -...

Paul and I flew out to Boston a couple of weeks ago, took the bus to Cape Cod and spent a week plus a few days with my mother - both on the Cape and at Chautauqua Institution on Lake Chautauqua, New York.  We drove with Mom to Chautauqua and stayed with her cousin, Miriam on the grounds of the institution.  The theme for the week was Immigration - and there were several very interesting speakers on the subject.  We also saw the opera, MacBeth, heard the Chautauqua symphony and listened to the lively music of Pink Martini.  It was a very interesting week.  Chautauqua is kind of like a gated community - it took a little getting used to having to show passes to get in and off the grounds.  Also, Miriam does not lock her condo, so leaving the door shut but not locked took a little getting used to.  Being a community with few cars though made it a wonderful place to walk and Paul and I did a lot of that.  Paul and I had the added bonus of having friend...