Bulletin 269, August 12, 2007

The Bulletin
Sunday, August 12, 2007
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57 years together...
Photo © Jerrianne Lowther
Yellow roses. Happy anniversary, Dorothy & Don!

Updates -

Photo illustration © Virginia McCorkell
Carrie Horne stirs ice cream at Grandma & Grandpa Dake's.

Photo © Rich Johnson
Assisted living project takes shape in Palmdale, California.

Update -- working in California
by Rich Johnson
Acton, CA (for now)

Here is a picture of the job site at Palmdale, California. As you can see, there is much more to do prior to finishing this project. This picture shows about half of the entire project at this location. This project is about average for the projects my company does and this one is maybe 105,000 sq. ft. It will be an assisted living building.

Rich Johnson (the migrant worker from California)

Photo illustration © Virginia McCorkell; photo by Susie Holman
Mac and cheese fan: Hunter Timothy Holman.

Day to Day R
With Donna Mae
Ashby, MN

Photos © Donna Johnson
Beaver hopes Donkey will keep his cattle safe from predators.

The newest resident at the Ashby Johnson farm has a few names already. He came with the name Buckles. Then the little girl who played with him at his last residence decided to call him Rusty Buckles. Nowadays, Jayce and Caity call him Buckles. He's just plain Donkey to me.

A young couple had a donkey and when the young man was called into the Army they needed a home for their pet and offered it for sale (cheap) ... so Beaver bought it to help them out. Also, he has in mind that the donkey might be good to run with the cows to keep predators (especially coyotes or wild dogs) away from the herd.

Photos © Donna Johnson
A good roll in the dust is just the ticket. It discourages donkey riders.

Photos © Donna Johnson
Donkey loves Buster and he thinks Beaver is OK now, too.

Donkey LOVES Buster (the dog), but the love is not one bit returned. I could only manage to get one picture of him in the pasture. Donkey throws his head over Buster's neck and just stands there with a look of love on his face. He brays whenever he sees Buster walk through the yard.

After many days and lots of corn, Donkey is starting to like Beaver. Beaver had to walk away with the corn many times before Donkey would walk over to him when he is in the pasture. By the look on Donkey's face, he's starting to like Beaver nearly as much as he likes Buster.

Photo Editors' Note: I think Beaver remembers how much fun it was to have a donkey ... scroll down to "A Long Time Ago" to read about the burro our dad bought for Beaver and Richard.

The Matriarch Speaks W
by Dorothy (Dake) Anderson
Alexandria, MN

Photo Editor's question: What are your favorite flowers?

That is almost impossible to pick... I just LOVE flowers. I do a different choice for my screen saver really often and every kind of flower grows there. I love the rose's perfection -- but then I love the sunflower's bright cheerfulness. I loved my Mom's violets and tuberous begonias. I think the iris is so stately, as is the gladiola... And who could resist the gardenia's loveliness? Tulips are so sweet. It goes on and on...

I do think God made flowers so we wouldn't become so depressed with dreary happenings. And how about orchids? When I was young, that was considered for the wealthy. Lily of the Valley smells so sweet and looks so perky blooming in the shade...

Oh, if I have to choose, I suspect I would have to pick a rose. It seems I keep them the longest time on my screen of any of the flowers I choose.

What kind of flowers did you wear for your wedding?

A couple of small white gardenias (waxy -- nice, but delicate) and small yellow roses.

Who Is This?

Let's Play a Guessing Game: Whenever it is handy to do so, we will run a picture of someone of the subscribers or staff members of our e-magazine. Tell us who you think it is -- we will let you know who was the first to guess it right -- and the correct guess -- in the following week's Bulletin.

(Send us some to run; we will line them up in our staging area to take their turn. Ruth Weiland Kitto supplied last week's mystery pictures.

How many can you identify?

Answers to last week's mystery pictures (click here to review them):

I wanted to get back to you on last week's picture, in Bulletin 267. I think it was taken out at Jim and Blanche's first place they lived on after they were married. I remember those times and the wonderful picnics we had. Not quite sure if we lived south of Grove City at the time or on the Hutchinson farm. Robert was born when we lived on the Hutchinson place. Walter was born either when we were at Grove City or at Hutchinson.

The new picture, of course, is from the Weiland side. Richard, Rosalyn, and my Harold, and the other picture is of Betty Weiland Droel. Makes the heart skip a beat when I see a picture of Harold. Still miss him so much.

Anita Pfingsten Weiland
Yankton, SD

My guess: on the left we have Rosalyn Weiland and her two sons taken by the Weiland home in the 40's. On the right we have her daughter Betty Weiland wiping Sunday dishes with a dish towel, maybe made from a flour sack, which are still the best wipers, in the 50's.

Mavis Anderson Morgan
Hope, ND

Editor's Note: The picture of Rosalyn and the boys was dated 1953.

The pretty lady on the right pix is Betty Droel. In the left pix is her mother, Rosalyn Weiland, younger brother Rich on the left and Harold on the right. How fun to see these!

Judy Miller Riesenberg
Great Falls, MT

Needless to say, I did a double take and gasped and was totally shocked that someone (my sister, I learned) had sent in our old family pictures for GUESS pictures this week. Someone made me [Betty Weiland Droel] that dress out of the polyester fabric when it was first out. Imagine, no wrinkles ... unbelievable, but it was very warm. I loved the color and it never wore out. Now polyester is so common. My little Golden Jewel, Rich Weiland, now a grandfather of five. My brother Harold, married to Anita (Pfingsten), passed away approximately 10 years ago. My dear mother [Rosalyn Weiland] died at 100 almost two years ago. So, that was a most precious picture, taken by our home in Minneapolis, and I studied it carefully.

Betty Weiland Droel
MoundsView, MN

LTD Storybrooke

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men/Gang aft a-gley." Plans had been made for a good lambing season, but, as I described in Bulletin #232, "Fresh Frozen Fetuses and Pale Orange Cotyledons," we were hit hard by a disease that causes abortions and weak lambs. At the same time, we were hampered in our lambing efforts by an outbreak of foot rot in the sheep. Vibrio, foot rot, and lambing require conflicting management "schemes."

Bulletin #1499
by Larry Dake

"Footrot is a very contagious disease – to be avoided at all costs!" So read Bulletin #1499: Foot Rot in Sheep. I had written to the Washington State Extension Service requesting this free information.

We were well beyond avoiding foot rot! We needed to face it, head on.

As the lambing shed foreman, I was only the man with a clipboard in one hand and a manure fork in the other. Though I tried, I lacked the confidence and the credibility to convince anyone of the need to implement the basic steps outlined in Bulletin #1499: isolate, trim, foot-bathe, and cull.

So, on my own, I started trimming sheep's infected feet with my shoemaker's knife, and soaking them in a coffee can. The infected feet had a strong, sickening smell, and the copper solution I soaked them in stained everything blue-green. Neither the smell nor the color would wash off my hands.

The cool wet conditions of an early snow-shower favored the spread of the disease. Suddenly there were twenty or thirty lame ewes rather than six or eight. My coffee can treatment program was quickly overwhelmed.

I started isolating the lame ewes into the horse corral. But in a few weeks the disease had blossomed and spread to hundreds and hundreds of sheep. The horse corral was no longer big enough to hold them all. It was requested that I turn the limpers back into the flock. It was a sad sight seeing the ewes come in from the field with half the flock's heads bobbing up and down, from favoring their painful, rotting feet.

A few days later, Jack told me he'd hired a "high-powered veterinarian." He was coming from Idaho and he'd spend two days assessing our foot rot problem. He was an "expert" on foot rot. Sherry was to provide meals and make up a bed for him.

When the vet arrived a week later, we had a full-blown epidemic. He wandered around the place for a day and a half with a somber look on his face, stopping frequently and jotting furtive notes on his yellow, legal pad. He sat with us for four somber meals. When leaving, early in the afternoon of the second day, he said to Jack: "I'll be sending you a customized management plan for the eradication of foot rot from your flock. My charge is $800." Jack wrote him a check and cordially thanked him for his services.

As the "expert" drove away, Jack exclaimed to me, "I knew it the minute I saw him -- he's a quack!"

But, having invested $800 in the plan, Jack now owned it. When it arrived it was typed, double space, on two sheets of plain, white paper. What it said was nearly identical to my free Bulletin #1499 (only, it wasn't quite as pretty). It said: isolate, trim, foot-bathe, and cull.

This time -- with participation from the top down -- we immediately began attempting to implement the plan on a large scale. Isolating infected ewes wasn't an option -- so we had to scratch that one. We did cull the worst cases, though -- they went to the growing dead pile as they died off.

But trimming feet and foot bathing did become a major undertaking (in addition to the already busy lambing season). Extra help was brought in and the entire flock's feet were trimmed -- one foot at a time. As much as was possible, the sheep received regular foot baths for the rest of the lambing season.

Thanks to the "quack's" $800 plan, we succeeded in slowing the progress of the disease.

$ A Long Time Ago !

That Beaver bought a donkey comes as no surprise to his siblings. Unusual animal pets at the Ashby farm date back to its earliest days when our father, Donald Johnson, and his sister Marjory raised raccoons as pets. Over the years, there were many exotics, including a small donkey known as a burro. This excerpt is from Page 42 of Donald B. Johnson: An Ample Life.

Fins, Feathers And Fur
by Donald B. Johnson
Ashby, MN

In the 1950s, we started acquiring pets until we had more pet chores than farm chores. First, it was several white angora rabbits. One of the nicest pets we had was a little jackrabbit I picked up in the field. He got real tame and lovable and we could let him loose on the lawn to play with him. One day Richard let him out and he got into the tall grass where Richard couldn't find him. The next day his "remains" were near where one of the cats had a litter of kittens.

Then came deodorized skunks. The kids took one of the young skunks to school and left it in a cage there overnight. When the janitor came in the morning, he met the skunk in the hall.

We had Bob White quail and Chuckar partridges. I kept them in cages on the wall in the three-cow barn in the winter. The Bob Whites really cheered up the place in the spring, calling "Bob White" almost steady. We opened the door and let them go wild but they all finally disappeared.

One day, I was going to the sale barn and Mitzi said, "Bring me a little colt to raise, Daddy" -- and I brought home three. We also acquired a burro. He was much fun, especially for Richard. He was lazy and only went when he felt like it.

The kids were riding the ponies around and around the house and Richard was riding the burro. He would lag farther and farther behind and finally just stop and let the others go on around. When they all went past him, he would start out again, but he had saved himself a whole trip around the house.

The next fall, we found one of the colts dead and a year later, the burro died a lingering death. We figured someone had shot them with duck shot from the road.

We had a little black Shetland pony that had a colt every year. When one of the little colts was about a week old, I took him to school under my arm and went around to the rooms and showed him to all the kids. He was awfully small. One of the Kindergarten kids lifted up his tail to see what was under there and then put his tail down again.

When Richard was real small, we used to set him on the big Palomino horse's back. Billy was getting old and lazy and wouldn't move a foot for Richard. He was complaining about that. He said, "I hitted him and I kicked him and I bited him and he still wouldn't go!"

We had three or four different goats. We had a small nanny goat and she was a real cute pet. Kathy would take her out toward the woodpile and hook her to the sled and turn her loose. She would tear for the barn as fast as she could go downhill, with Kathy on the sled behind. She had a little kid in June, down by the lake, but the kid was dead when we found it. We started to milk the mother with two cups of the milking machine, but I probably left it on too long and she got mastitis.

One goat was a really big billy I bought in the sale barn. They said he was used to being with sheep in the pasture and helped to keep them from being victims of dogs. A goat will keep the dogs' attention away from the sheep and won't run from them. He was a real magnificent goat, but when the sheep were home in the winter, he would get up into the feeders or grain bins or anywhere and paw and kick everything out or contaminate it.

I took the old billy back to the sale barn and sold him for someone else to contend with.

Travelogue t

Weston wearing Minnesota Twins jersey in Yankee Stadium.

Where In The World Is Weston? S
A (Surprisingly) Pleasant Afternoon at the Ballpark
Part 3
by Weston Johnson
Maple Grove, MN

After successfully finding each other at the LaGuardia baggage claim on Tuesday night, Sindy and I caught a taxi to her apartment, which is located in Jackson Heights. Which is part of Queens. Which is part of New York City. I still don't understand the multiple layers of municipalities in New York City, but I guess you need to create some type of subdivisions or no one would ever be able to find their way around in such a huge, sprawling city.

Once we reached her apartment, we stayed up and visited for a while before finally turning in for the night. I was excited to get to the baseball game the following day, but was able to get a little bit of sleep before morning.

The next day, we got up and prepared to head to Yankee Stadium for the game. We would be relying on public transportation, which meant I would be relying on Sindy to guide me through New York's subway system. I have managed to navigate the public transit systems of London and Washington, DC, but the New York subway is an entirely different animal. The London and DC subway maps provide relatively clear, uncluttered diagrams of a handful of major routes with each stop clearly marked. The New York subway map, on the other hand, looks like a multicolored plate of spaghetti, with multiple different lines sharing the same color and routes sprawling across all five boroughs. Like I said, I would be relying on Sindy to navigate the maze.

"We'll just walk to the nearest station and go from there," Sindy said as we left her apartment. "How far is the walk?" I asked. "Not far," Sindy replied.

At least a half an hour later, we finally reached the subway station. I guess to a New Yorker with no car, a half hour walk is "not far." However, I live in the Twin Cities, where we practically drive to the end of the driveway to pick up the mail. To me, the 30 minute walk to the subway station definitely qualified as "far." And yes, I realize the ridiculousness of that statement after reading about the Swensons' two week hiking expedition in the mountains of Switzerland. But were THEY wearing flip flops? Well, I was!

I survived the trek to the subway station and after a relatively long train ride, a transfer, and another, shorter train ride, we arrived at the Yankee Stadium stop. As we emerged from the subway, I got my first glimpse of the Stadium. I also realized how out of place I was in my #57 Johan Santana jersey among a sea of Yankee fans.

I have heard stories about Yankee fans. Bad stories. I began to wonder if my white jersey would survive the day free of ketchup, mustard and beer stains from projectiles hurled at me by the crazed Bronx denizens. Sure, those fans seemed friendly now, but it was only 11 a.m. They probably hadn't drunk many beers yet!

Sindy and I spent some time walking around the outside of the Stadium while we waited for the gates to open, and I soon realized that I would not be the lone Twins fan at the game. We were outnumbered, to be sure, but we had a pretty strong contingent. I felt better knowing there would be other targets to help bear the brunt of the abuse from the Yankee faithful.

Eventually, the gates opened. We walked through the turnstiles and up the concourse, finally emerging through a tunnel. All at once, the Stadium came into view. Although I had never been there, it all looked familiar. The blue seats, the monuments beyond the center field fence, the huge upper deck, the white picket fence façade ringing the outfield. All of the landmarks I had seen so many times during World Series past were right there in front of me, like a living baseball museum.

While the players warmed up on the field, I wandered around the Stadium, checking out the sights. Eventually, Sindy and I ended up in the team store, which sold all kinds of Yankees shirts, hats, jackets, posters, underwear ... well, there may not have been any Yankee underwear, but I wouldn't have been surprised. Anyway, Sindy offered to buy me a Yankee shirt. I politely informed her that, while I appreciated the offer, I would not be caught dead in a Yankee shirt, and respectfully suggested that she would be better off flushing money down the toilet than spending it on a Yankee shirt for me.

At this point, Sindy offered a friendly wager. If the Yankees beat the Twins that afternoon, I would have to wear a Yankee shirt for one full day in San Francisco. If the Twins won, she would sport Twins colors for a day. I accepted her offer, even though the Twins NEVER seem to win at Yankee Stadium and I REALLY didn't want to get stuck wearing a Yankee shirt for a day. Suddenly, the game took on a whole new level of importance.

We found our seats, located on the second level beyond first base. The game got off to a promising start, as Derek Jeter, the Yankees' star shortstop, made an error allowing a Twins batter to reach base. I began to taunt Jeter, but quickly realized that was a great way to start the barrage of hot dogs and beer from the Yankee fans sitting behind me. I also realized that Jeter could not possibly hear me from halfway across the ballpark. So I sat in quiet enjoyment as the Twins took a 1-0 lead.

Santana took the mound and pitched a strong first inning, but gave up a run in the second and another in the fourth, giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead. I was getting nervous that my favorite team was going to lose, subjecting me to the ridicule of the Yankee fans and the indignity of joining them in wearing Yankees gear.

Fortunately, the Twins tied the game with a run in the sixth, then took a 4-2 lead when Jason Kubel hit a two-run home run into the right field corner, the ball landing not far from our seats. In the ninth inning, Luis Rodriguez, who has hit about as many Major League home runs as I have, managed to rip another two-run shot, which also landed in the right field corner. The Twins finished off the Yankees in the bottom of the ninth, securing a 6-2 win.

It was a great game for a Twins fan, and I didn't take nearly as much heat from the Yankee fans. Maybe it was due to the Twins' relatively easy win, or the fact that the Yankees were having a disappointing season to that point. Either way, their fans were rather subdued. I guess I was relieved, although I was also a little disappointed, like I didn't really enjoy the true Yankee Stadium experience.

But above all, I was just glad I would not be forced to wear the colors of the Evil Empire!

To be continued...

Photo © Weston Johnson
Minnesota Twins celebrate victory over New York Yankees.

Greetings from the Netherlands
by Ary Ommert, Jr.
Maassluis, The Netherlands

A Trip To Norway

The trip to Norway was great, but it was cold and sometimes rain. The picture was taken on a short trip to Molde; as you can see it was not fine weather.

The wedding was perfect and when I get all the pictures taken with other cameras I want to make an article for The Bulletin. On the wedding day I was video cameraman so I didn't make pictures from that.

Started working this week and last sunday we had a tropical day, now it's cool again. Today the sale started in the garden center, very busy; many people have come home from their holidays.

Greetings from the Netherlands,

Ary

Photo © Ary Ommert, Jr.
Kine, with the long hair, and her son Timian in Norway.

Photo © "Capt." Jack Adair
A sister ship to the one we were on. Ours was newer and bigger.

Cruising To Alaska
by Capt Jack {and Rufus}
Coon Rapids, MN

Greetings all. In order to keep up my end of the bargain as a Bulletin subscriber, I guess I'd better contribute a line or two.

{Hey! I hear you're getting pretty clumsy!}

Hi, Rufus. What do you mean by that?

{I heard you were tripping a week or so ago, and you're going to be tripping again!}

Not, that kind of tripping, Rufus. We went on a trip. A cruise, actually, to Alaska. We (wife Ginn and I) have gone there before, we love cruising, but this was special, as our daughter, Jane, her husband Romaine, and our grandson Chase and his best friend, Larry, went along too. It was great.

Photos © "Capt." Jack Adair
Romaine & Jane, left; Chase, right.

{So, what did you do?}

Ate! That's the main thing one does on a cruise. We saw plenty of wild life...

{Party time!}

...not that kind of wild life. We saw sea otters, playful little critters, seals and sea lions, humpback whales and orca (killer) whales, eagles. We sailed by a glacier and watched it calve.

{Did they have a vet handy?}

Calving is when big, and I mean BIG, slabs of ice break away from the side of the glacier.

We had early seating for supper so we met up with Jane and Romaine at our assigned table for an interesting meal. I'm totally sure that this was the first time for Romaine and Jane to eat a meal where the waiter places the linen napkin in your lap for you. Our waiter's name was Bayu, pronounced "bayou," but as he explained, he's not from Louisiana! The assistant waiter was GumGum! Oh, this is fun!

Photo © "Capt." Jack Adair
Romaine & Jane

After the evening meal there was a "Vegas-type" show. Each night was different: singers, dancers, comedians, a ventriloquist...

{I'd love to be a ventriloquist!}

What do you know about being a ventriloquist?

{I already have lots of experience working with a dummy?}

Unlike my friend here, all the shows were family oriented, nothing "off-color" or nasty.

We were at sea all day on Sunday, so we did things like book our shore excursions and shop in the on-board shops. We met up with everyone for lunch at the Lido again. (The Lido is a high class, elegant, buffet style restaurant) and then back to our stateroom for a nap!

This was our first formal night, so we dressed up. Even the boys did both formal nights with us and they were such good sports about the whole thing ... dressing up, eating new and different foods.

After the formal meal, the boys went off to do whatever they did (so independent on this trip, but trustworthy and responsible!) and the adults went to the show. It was a musical show and they had great singers and dancers.

To be continued...

Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of 5
Hetty Hooper

This Week's Birthdays
August 13---Jeffrey Todd Aydelotte Jr. (12 years)
August 16---Jason Quick
August 16---Rod McNeill
August 16---Darryl McNeill
Happy Birthday!

This Week's Anniversaries
August 15---Don and Dorothy Dake Anderson (57 years)
August 16---Eric and Leona Anderson (4 years)
Congratulations!

More August Birthdays
'
August 5---Austin Patrick Montford (2 years)
August 6---Sully Michael Brown (3 years)
August 7---Melanie Lehtola
August 7---Weston Johnson
August 7---Susie Wright
August 8---Erik Huseby (6 years)
August 11---Mitchell Allen Miller

August 19---Christopher Michael Chap
August 19---Jordan Nicole Indermark (4 years)
August 21---Jessica Nelson Hellevang
August 24---Becky Chap
August 24---Maggie Zeppelin (3 years)
August 25---Jeff Aydelotte
August 26---Donna Richards
August 30---Jessica Myron Gauderman
August 30---Ethan Wallace Horne (5 years)
August 31---Devan Alexander Seaman (5 years)

More August Anniversaries
Z
August 5---Wesley and JoAnne Sigman (18 years)
August 5---Sheldon and Mitzi Johnson Swenson (30 years)
August 6---Ryan and Heidi Johnson Henderson (2 years )
August 9---Jeff and Twila Aydelotte (16 years)
August 10---Ryan and Jessica Hellevang (next year)
August 20---Shane and Jayna Swenson (2 years)
August 28---Ken and Merna Morgan Hellevang (25 years)
August 30---LeRoy and Vonnie Dake (59 years)
August 30---Chris and Jennie Dake Horne (10 years)

Miss Hetty's Mailbox:

Dear Miss Hetty,

Thank you for the e-card you sent for my birthday. I ended up having a good birthday. I worked most of the day, but in the evening, I met up with my mom, aunt Joan and cousins Kristie and Lane for dinner at Don Pablo's in Maple Grove. We stuffed ourselves with Mexican food, but I saved room for my free dessert.

Of course, a restaurant couldn't just give me free food without subjecting me to some embarrassment! After presenting me with my dessert, the waitress told me to stand up and had me put on a big blue sombrero. She then proceeded to announce to the entire restaurant that it was my birthday, which earned me a half hearted round of applause from the other restaurant patrons. Kristie even managed to snap a couple of pictures. Believe it or not, the one I'm sending was actually the least ridiculous one.

After dinner, we returned to my house, then took a walk by Fish Lake, which is near my house. It was a perfect night for a walk, and it felt good to get some exercise after our big meal!

Overall, it was a nice, relaxed evening. I enjoyed the fact that no one made a very big deal of my birthday. Based on the experiences of my friends who have turned 30, next year will be a different story! Thanks to everyone who remembered me on my birthday, and here's to one more year of being 20-something!

Weston Johnson
Maple Grove, MN

Weston in sombrero.

Does Susie Wright get The Bulletin? Her birthday is Aug 7th, if she does.

Yes, Susan is a subscriber. Thanks for the information.

Also Jessica May Nelson's birthday is August 21st. But she will be a Hellevang by then!

Mavis Morgan
Hope, ND

Great, we shall change her name in the list to Jessica Nelson Hellevang next week.

Miss Hetty Says:

Miss Kitty was in a hissy mood the other day and she said, "I don't know about you, but I'm just plain tired of dog days ... I think it's time for cat days ... so I'm sending you some pictures of the grandkittens, Oreo, Tabasco and Cheerio. Let's start a new tradition!"

Keep Us Posted!

Please drop Miss Hetty a line and tell us who, and what, we've missed. And how about a report (photos welcome) of YOUR special celebration?

'Many Thankse
Everyone!

Miss Hetty

+ LETTERS TO THE EDITORS?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Click here to review last week's Bulletin

Congratulations, Chris and Jessy!

Welcome back, Larry.

Rich (the transient) Johnson
from California

How are you doing ? Hope all is well with both Don and yourself. I just want to let you know how much I have enjoyed reading about all your family and their families' stories. I am hoping you will add me to your list so I can join in on all the fun. You have done a beautiful job with The Bulletin and I hope for you to continue.

Thank you and take care!

Carol Pokornowski
Cokato, MN

I had enjoyed The Bulletin to the full, I thought. But, decided to click on the links throughout to see what there hadn't been room for on the pages, but pertained to the subjects. These links took you to more stories and pictures.

I clicked on the Swenson trip to Switzerland on foot, and printed it out to read later. Well, that happened this morning. I sat SPELLBOUND AND BREATHLESS through printed pages 1 through 9, and 1 through 15 with pictures, all by people we know, which makes it so much more valuable.

I sat down in my glider chair to read the account so well described that you could hear the cowbells and taste the cheeses. I was mesmerized, and before I knew it almost an hour had flown by. I reluctantly turned over the last page wondering how ever normal people, as a whole family, could ever survive and actually enjoy such a grueling trek and experience.

So, I highly recommend that you take time to read this yourself. Whether you are young or old (like me), you will enjoy it from beginning to end. Just click on the blue links.

Betty Droel
Moundsview, MN

Photo Editor's Note: And if you liked Jayna and Shane's account of trekking through Switzerland, last week, we have another recommendation. Click here for their account of their travels in Spain at the conclusion of their Swiss adventure. Again, since it's a blog, the newest news is on top and the earlier adventures are toward the bottom. And don't forget to click on the blue links at the side of the page to find the pictures. With the Swensons, it's all good family entertainment.

Last Week's Bulletin Review JKL
by Betty Droel
MoundsView, MN

What beautiful clouds you have in Anchorage! And, was the water level low or is that always just a stream where they were fishing for salmon? Right in downtown Anchorage, yet! You would never tire of such beautiful scenery and mountains. As far as winter, that would be another story for sure. A subtle way to hear from Jerrianne and Kathlyn, but we are glad for anything you ever add to The Bulletin. Without Jerrianne we would be hard pressed to perfect our Bulletin so she adds in the background more than we will ever know.

Photo Editor's Note: Those big, puffy cumulous clouds are quite unusual for Anchorage. It is seldom warm enough for thunderstorms here, but we heard thunder rumbling later on that evening. The stream is a tidal estuary so the water would be higher when the tide is in but there are mudflats and sandbars when the tide is out. Salmon fishermen gather to fish according to the tides. Most of Anchorage is on the bluffs above the stream, which runs through an industrial area near the Port of Anchorage. The photo workshop went "on location" there just at the proper time ... and we were charged with making photos that were "either a poem or a prayer." I'm not sure that photo was either, but I thought it made a good Bulletin illustration.

The update on the Morgan family was so very interesting. Like being introduced to many new friends, and many names were familiar. The lake is such a grand retreat for a sole get away or a huge group. It is so peaceful. Casualness is a rest in itself.

I loved the new home Chris and Jessy are enjoying now. Three levels would stop me cold, but thank goodness for youth and energy to enjoy it all from top to bottom. I can see that the kitchen would be the main room in the home with all those roomy cupboards and appliances. The bar will be constantly in use. The arrangement is just like Steve and Marci Weiland's, which seems so ideal. The lamp in the window makes such a homey look. No too-close neighbors, either.

Wasn't it touching to read about how lost little Brooklynn was when her sister was off on her own? There would be so many emotional experiences with having children. I never had any, but I have observed all sides of all ages. Now a new baby about to arrive at the Wyatt Johnson home. More Bulletin news to be sure, and we enjoy it all to the fullest.

Dear Caity is a born baby sitter, it looks like. Both Caity and McKenna look perfectly content together and Lori and Shawn would be very happy for the help.

I am so amazed at the bands and uniforms in the hot weather we've been having. Glenwood police bagpipes would be something unusual, and not very musical unless you like bagpipes. A nice day away from the routine, though, for the Johnsons and looks like all the entertainment you could want on that shore and lake.

LTD Storybrooke, we are so very happy to have you back. WE MISSED YOU. Hope this story will be one of many more now. As always, we were left holding our breath for the next paragraph to see how this was going to turn out. What a surprise for you to see Checker sitting calmly on the doorstep.

So now the next chapter in the Travelogue about Weston on his great trip to the Big City and Bright Lights. It is so captivating the way he writes his stories. You can almost imagine you're right there, too. And then to get left hanging at a most strategic moment ... just as he sights Sindy. Not one more thing to do than wait until next week when it is to be continued.

I certainly admire the Swensons for their travels together as a family, and that they all seem to enjoy the same things. Even the new bride seems to be fitting right in. Very unusual family, but what could be better memory making days than such an outing? "Switzerland -- On Foot" is beyond my imagination. Thank you for the links to share your pictures. Clicking on them will keep us busy until the next week. The Bulletin is certainly a one of a kind, and always overflowing with honest to goodness family news and fun. The picture of Jayna and Shane is excellent. Happiness is hiking in Switzerland, that is for sure.

This is August 6th. Sully Brown will be three years old. Maybe next week we will have pictures of that birthday event. I see Don and Dorothy have a special day this month. Oh, don't let me forget.

It was a real treat to see a photo of Larry and Sherry Dake. Looking at that picture and then thinking of their days on that sheep ranch it is hard to visualize that they are the same two.

I loved the little story and lovely picture Rich sent in of Marci and the dog. The B&B host and hostess's dog was a mascot around there, and while Marci waited for Steve so they could go out to dinner, the (well mannered) dog appeared to welcome her at an opportune time for that picture. It looks like a brochure photo.

I will be so curious to see if anyone comments on Levi and Great Uncle Don being look alikes. At least I think so. Even their hair hangs the same way.

You just never know what the Chuckles will be next. Between Mc and Douglas, it can be anything, and this time the caption was so funny. Little Braden was already bawling for fear of the possibility of pins. Thank goodness for that mother's hand, ready and anxious to help. We love the Foto-Funnies!

Thank you for letting me send my thanks for another Bulletin, in our in-box right on schedule. It is truly a miracle that keeps happening every single week, being so interesting and such a variety of interests and subscribers. We all want to contribute to keep our subscription current, right?

Betty Droel

CHUCKLES

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Quotation for the day: Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. --Russel Baker

EDITOR'S POLICY: If you wish to subscribe to The Bulletin, simply send me a statement of that fact. If you wish to keep receiving it I hope you will contribute to one of the columns that are running in this family epistle (at least occasionally!). My e-mail address is dma49261@juno.com

This Bulletin is copyright Dorothy M. Anderson; the contents are also copyrighted by the authors and photographers and used with their permission, and the contents are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the explicit consent of the creators.

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