Bulletin 408 April 11, 2010

Photo by Elizabeth Dake McCalla
Dorothy sings the blues, summer of 1928, as cousin Gilbert looks on.
(see About Dorothy Dake Anderson)

Hello Everyone,

It would seem (for unclear reasons) that I have written and recorded for my mother a bluegrass (sort of) song for her birthday. If you would like to hear it, please follow this link and click on the "Play" button. (You can adjust the volume on your computer.)

The title of the song is Old Shipwreck Blues and please don't think it a disparaging title, for the "Old Shipwreck" refers to a hotdish my mother used to make, and the "blues" part is about not eating that hotdish in a long time!

I played and sang all the parts, except the mandolin, which was played by my friend Robert.

I haven't worried about copyrighting it, since, like every bluegrass song, the music is just an amalgamation of every OTHER bluegrass song, so why bother? As to the lyrics, who ELSE had a mom who made a hotdish called "Shipwreck?"

Here are the lyrics, in case I mumble:

Old Shipwreck Blues
By Doug Anderson

When I was young, my Mama made me cookies
cookies with a simple kind of charm
I can smell 'em still, as I hope I always will
she even let me eat 'em while they was warm

I guess everybody loves their Mama's cookies
some of you might disagree, I guess
But there's cookies... then there's cookies
and brother, my Mama's are the best

She took some chocolate
she took some oatmeal, and then
well, you'll just have to guess
'cos I ain't tellin' you the rest
don't even share that recipe with friends

When I was young, my Mama made me hotdish
a special kind of casserole, that's right
it was tasty as all heck
and she called it "Old Shipwreck"
and I'd swim the English Channel for a bite

Took some potatoes
she took some kidney beans
well, I don't wanna fight
but if you force me to, I might
my Mama makes the best of everything

Well, I'm sure your Mama's fine
but don't stack her up 'gainst mine
my Mama makes the best of everything

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Photo © Sonja Dake
Greg on the porch swing with his laptop. He will still have the same job ... just puts in his time online. "Greg's first day at work in the new office. :) Complete with mountain breeze and singing birds. Oh, and the neighbors' roosters and geese chimed in, as well." --Sonja's comment

UPDATE -- Greg and Sonja Dake move to Alabama
by Ginny Dake McCorkell
Blaine, MN

Greg, Sonja, Samuel, Sean and William Dake arrived in Alabama this week. They are now country folk ... Alabama style. The move means they will be much closer to Chris, Jennie, Ethan and Carrie Horne. They will also be closer to both sets of grandparents.

Scroll down to the Chuckles section to see what young William had to say about the two-day move.

UPDATE -- Koen recuperates at home in Holland
by Frans de Been
Oosterhout, The Netherlands

What a month we have past! Koen is NOT to Afghanistan. He became sick three weeks before his practice was done. He was hospitalized. The same evening the doctors perform an operation. His intestines were infected. Now we know he has Crohn's disease.

After 10 days at the hospital, and with a lot of pills, he is now recovering at home. It goes fast (his recovery). The doctors say he has a good condition.

Photo © Eric Anderson
Weston waits for late night arrivals in Fort Myers airport terminal.

UPDATE -- Florida spring training, Part 1 -- late arrivals
by Weston Johnson
Maple Grove, MN

Before our travel party could settle in for a long weekend of sun and fun in Florida, we had to coordinate the logistics of travelers arriving from various locations. Jim and Susan would fly in from St. Louis, with a layover in Dallas. Eric and I would depart from Minneapolis, with Eric catching a direct flight, while I would require a stop-over in Detroit. Wyatt would have the longest distance to travel, flying directly from Fargo to Orlando, then driving down to Fort Myers. As it turned out, Jim, Susan and I were all scheduled to arrive at the Fort Myers airport around 10:30 on Wednesday night, while Eric was due to arrive at 11 o'clock. Wyatt would not be joining us until the following evening.

After smooth flights to Detroit, then Fort Myers, I checked my cell phone as my plane taxied to the gate and realized I had received a series of text messages from Jim during the second leg of my journey:

"Flight delayed. Get in at 11:05."
"Delayed again. In at 11:30."
"About to take off. Looking like midnight."

After deplaning, I checked the "Arrivals" monitor and found that even Jim's last text message had been overly optimistic. The estimated time of arrival for the American Airlines flight from Dallas was listed as 12:50. It seemed I would have to get comfortable in the airport for awhile.

Unfortunately, the only store or restaurant still open at that time on a Wednesday night was a Starbucks. Not being a coffee drinker, I opted for a cookie and an orange juice, then found a seat where I could enjoy my snack and take advantage of the free airport WiFi. A quick check of weather.com revealed the cause of Jim and Susan's flight delay: a huge green, orange and red blob on the radar, now just east of the Dallas metropolitan area, represented the nasty thunderstorm they had waited out before their plane could depart.

Fortunately, I wouldn't have to wait alone for long, as Eric's scheduled arrival time neared. I began to notice some scattered Twins caps among the crowd entering the terminal from the Delta concourse, a sure sign the Minneapolis flight had arrived. Soon enough, I spotted one such cap perched on Eric's head.

Eric and I spent some time catching up as the airport became more and more deserted. A few other reluctant night owls were scattered among the terminal, waiting for the flight from Dallas, which was now the only remaining arrival of the night. Finally, at about 12:45, the long delayed flight arrived.

After greeting Jim and Susan in the terminal, we headed to the baggage claim, and finally, to the rental car office. It was nearing 2 a.m. by the time we completed the half-hour drive to Cape Coral, arriving at the home of Jim's friend Geoff, where we would be staying throughout our time in Florida.

We didn't spend much time unpacking or getting settled, as we knew that an early wakeup call beckoned. The next day's activity was a 3-1/2 hour drive across the state to the City of Jupiter, where we would catch a Cardinals vs. Mets spring training game at the Cardinals' home park. We wanted to arrive a couple of hours in advance of the 1 p.m. start time to ensure enough time to find parking, buy tickets, and enjoy the sights and sounds of the ballpark. Simple math indicated it was going to be a short night.

Photo illustration © Virginia McCorkell
Serendipity -- finding the delightfully unexpected.

UPDATE -- introducing Bitzidoodles, the blog
by Ginny Dake McCorkell
Blaine, MN

I see in The Bulletin that my blog has been discovered ... perhaps this would be a good time to extend an invitation to any who would be interested. Please come visit me at http://bitzidoodles.blogspot.com/ and feel free to share with anyone you think might enjoy seeing it. It would be extra nice if you would leave a comment so I will know you have been there.

I have been a bit sporadic in posting and I haven't really decided what I want to accomplish on my blog ... though it seems to have evolved into a means by which I can challenge my creative side ... and share the results with others.

Most recently, I have been creating digital art as a means of exploring some of the features on my Photoshop Elements program that I have not accessed in the past. I admire the digital scrapbooking that Sarah does so I got interested in where the materials for scrapbooking come from. The long and the short of that is ... I decided to try creating my own backgrounds and embellishments. I had also recently acquired a couple of CD's and books with clipart from Dover so I started combining the square format, with my original backgrounds, sometimes my photos, a clip art embellishment and a word or short phrase. Come and see the results!

Photo © Wyatt Johnson
Easter egg hunters traditionally pose for picture with buckets on their heads. Back row: Taten Johnson next to his Mom, Becky Heinrich; she is holding Tevin Johnson. Rylie Johnson, Alena Shores, Jayce Chap, Darren Shores & Evan Shores. Front row: Kierra Ostendorf, Kiernan & Colin McGuire, Brooklynn & Camryn Johnson, McKenna Ostendorf & Cavan McGuire.

If I counted correctly, we had about 34 guests last Saturday. Some came to eat, some to find eggs and some to observe! This year we had 14 egg hunters, so it was one of our larger groups. They all seemed to have a great time. Everyone brought food and we had a delicious meal!

Photo © Wyatt Johnson, left; photo © Lori Ostendorf, right.
Beaver, left, hiding eggs; Caity, right, graduated from hunting to hiding this year.

Photo © Wyatt Johnson
The big kids off & running for eggs! Left to right: Colin & Kiernan McGuire, Alena Shores, Jayce Chap, Darren Shores & Rylie Johnson.

Earlier in the day, Lori had colored eggs with the ones who were interested. Kierra had her first experience with the egg dying process and seemed to enjoy herself.

Photos © Lori Ostendorf
Camryn, left, & Brooklynn, right, color Easter eggs.

Photo © Lori Ostendorf, left; photo © Donna Johnson, right.
Rylie, left, shows off decorated egg; siblings Rob Johnson, Caity Chap & Bec McGuire, right.

Photo © Rob Johnson
Jayce showed them all how he loves climbing trees, when a group went on a walkabout.

Photo © Rob Johnson
They visited a shallow slough north of the house, one of several on the Ashby farm.

In answer to a question from Kathy Chaney Newton, I received the following information about a Chaney from Don McKenzie, a mutual relative:

Regarding Chaney information, I really do not have any information of this family, but I do know that after my grandmother was widowed (in 1906) for a number of years, she remarried to Greenberry Chaney and I believe she was married to him until her death in 1928. She had no children with him.

(As the family stories go), he refused to pay for her funeral and burial expenses. So that makes me wonder if they were even together when she died.

I forgot to mention my grandmother's name was Mina (Mellon) McKenzie. Her grave marker states Mina McKenzie Chaney.

If I remember the information Kathy gave me correctly, her grandpa was William Chaney (Cheney), who was a brother to Greenberry. An interesting aspect of this is that Greenberry was my Grandma Mary Cheney Dake Greer's brother, while Mina McKenzie Chaney was my Grandpa Alonzo Mellon's sister.

I know very little about Greenberry but in our family there was a lot of talk about his multiple marriages. And yes, he did have one divorce, but I do not know if Mina was the one. The stone would not make you think that. (There's more about these family connections in The Matriarch's column in Bulletin #389 and also in About Dorothy Dake Anderson.)

Let's play a guessing game: 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.

Editors' Note: Correct guesses appear in bold face type and incorrect guesses in normal type ... generally in the order we receive them, so the first guess received is on top.

The two girls are Abigail Pesta and Ashlee Miller, enjoying a little fun with Ashlee's Dad (Duane Miller) sharing some of his birthday cake frosting with Ashlee. Abigail would not fall for Duane's trick of, "Here, want to taste some of the frosting from Grandpa's cake?"

Abigail (Penny's daughter) and Ashlee (Duane's daughter) were getting teased by Daddy Duane to share his birthday cake with him at Donna's. Donna and Beaver opened her home to us all and we had a great weekend.

Ashlee Miller getting a "taste" of her Dad's OLDER THAN DIRT birthday cake as Abigail Kramer-Pesta watches in shock when the bite hit her nose instead of her mouth!

For sure, the GUESS pictures are Ashlee and Abigail. Eating some of that birthday cake on the other picture.

Donna Anderson Johnson supplied last week's mystery photo.
Send us some mystery photos; we will line them up in our staging area to take their turn.

A series of recollections, of the five years when Bill and Lois Dake and their family lived in Minnesota, began with the episode in Bulletin 343. It's too soon to tell just how many parts there will be in this series, just after World War II. In Bulletin 349, I told more about polio (once called Infantile Paralysis) via two links, Polio and Sister Kenny, to minimize disruption of the narrative flow. Both documents are posted as a series of scanned images. We can't edit them or correct typos and they will not respond to font changes or printer settings as regular Bulletin pages do.

Visiting hours are from 3 to 5 in the afternoon or from 7 to 9 in the evening. We decided that for me to go with Belle, we needed to make our visit in the evening. We agreed that we would have supper and be ready for Skeet to arrive at 6:45. And we would go Tuesday evening.

The visit went beautifully. Skeet arrived two minutes before the appointed time. He came to the door and greeted us very politely, "Good evening, Miss Belle, and Hi, Miss Dorothy." (I had to smile to myself ... the slight difference in greeting established who was the senior in importance!)

I knew the smoothness of the following events had been arranged by Skeet's dad -- but they were performed as smooth as cream by Skeet and I could see how impressed Belle was by how easily it all worked.

Skeet offered his arm to Belle for the walk to the door and across the porch, and then he simply picked her up and carried her down the steps and set her down; he offered his arm again and walked her to the taxi -- never making it appear anything but natural.

Before he closed the door behind me, he announced that we would be using the side door at the hospital (where deliveries were made), as they have an elevator there. And it all went so smoothly. There was a wheelchair by the elevator when we reached the top. (I expect that had been planned, too.) So the corridor trip, which was quite long, was made much easier for "the Duchess."

Bertha is now in a ward -- but what a nice one! It seems like it is a porch with four beds -- two on either side of a wide door. It is perfect for our Bertha. She has a far bed with two of the six windows, one facing west and the other south. And she was sitting like the Queen herself, on a nice easy chair ... all dressed in a pretty nightie and kimono. (That threw me. I was used to her nightclothes being rather less fancy than this!) And there, sitting in a straight-backed chair, was Patrick. They were busy studying a photo album together.

Bertha was thrilled to see us. We had Skeet come in and get introduced to her. Then he left and said he would be back at 8 o'clock to get us. And we sat with her and talked while, at Angie's suggestion, she and Patrick (who had put the photo album on the window ledge for future use) left to find someplace to eat.

There are signs of her "accident." Her speech is a bit blurred. (I do not know if that is a correct word, but it does describe it.) But there was not one thing that she said that I could not understand! And I loved hearing her.

So then we talked over how to prepare things for the move. She seemed so relieved when Belle offered to let Angie stay in Bertha's rooms whenever she wants. As we were visiting, I knew just what I was going to do about visitors for cheering our Bertha. Just wait and see -- that lady is going to have a nice stay, filled with all the company she likes.

Skeet arrived at the door of the ward just two minutes before the appointed time. And after we arrived home, "Miss Belle" made this comment:

"So that is the Skeet I have been hearing about. He is an impressive young man!" And so he is.

Photo © Dorothy Dake Anderson
The house where I lived in Bemidji, Minnesota, in 1949.

Sabai-dii!

Now you know half of my Lao vocabulary. I think I'm in love ... with Laos, that is! I've been here for four days and I'm already smitten.

In many ways, Laos feels like it could be the Bolivia of Southeast Asia, complete with its own U.S.-backed war on drugs. It's poor, traditional, less materialistic (or maybe just poor), quieter but with smellier traffic, has amazing textiles, idolizes Che, and likes ABBA, too.

The capital city is like a village compared to Bangkok and the pace of life here is barely glacial. Laos strikes me as more traditional, quieter, less urban, less materialistic (or again maybe just poorer in material possessions), and definitely less visited than Thailand.

The street food here is amazing, plus there are cute bakeries with delicious pastries and great coffee, sweet remnants of French colonialism. Mmmm, eclairs are now part of my complete Laotian breakfast! And the silk and silver handicrafts are absolutely stunning. I didn't buy much in Thailand, but am finding resisting the gorgeous crafts here to be an exhausting endeavor. I deserve a prize. Or a bowl of chocolate mousse.

I spent my first pair of days in Vientiane exploring a few of the city's wats and markets with lots of breaks for reading or air-conditioned naps. Both evenings I managed to be sitting on the Lao bank of the Mekong with a cold drink in hand at the right time to admire the sun setting over the river. Nearly perfect, but unfortunately Lao taste in music rivals the Thai preferences for badness ... lots of slow, sad stuff from the '80's or early '90's. Vientiane strikes me as the sort of city I could happily live in. I hope you get there some day.

Photos © Kjirsten Swenson
Fountain, left; a tubful of frogs, right, in Vientiane, Laos.

Photo © Kjirsten Swenson
Monk & woman carry offerings to a wat, Vientiane, Laos.

Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of 5
Hetty Hooper

More April Birthdays
'
April 2---Duane Miller
April 2---Jess Cloyd
April 4---Meryl Hansey
April 4---Barb Dewey
April 6---Dusty Meyers
April 9---Richard Johnson (from Oregon)
April 9---Dorothy Dake Anderson
April 10---Brenda Anderson Hill
April 10---Lisa Kae Anderson
April 10---Shawn Ostendorf

April 19---Levi Owen Steinhauer (5 years old)
April 23---Alyssa Lynn Freesemann
April 23---Miss Kitty (7 years old)
April 23---Mai Tai (3 years old)
April 25---Troy LaRon Freesemann
April 25---Mia Nelson
April 26---Heidi Johnson Henderson
April 27---Steve Rodriguez
April 27---Peggy McNeill
April 28---Justin Blackstone
April 29---Kelly Kay Larson Seaman
April 30---Kurtis James Larson

April Special Days
April 1---April Fools' Day
April 2---Good Friday
April 4---Easter Sunday
April 30---Arbor Day

Thank you so much for the beautiful birthday card! I had a great birthday and Easter ... wasn't Sunday's weather a treat!

We got from the children a big bouquet of flowers (see picture), and tomorrow we get a dinner at a Greek restaurant.

We can't send you this moment pictures of the Dutch Keukenhof Gardens because the nature is ... well, too cold. No big bundles of tulips. We have to wait a few weeks. The weather is behind (no global warming -- rather, weather change).

We enjoyed a most delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings at Steve and Marci Weiland's. Their girls, Shalana and Krista, were great helpers. We can see every year how they have grown into helping.

We did not see the kittens. They are not very happy with people around, so Krista just cuddled one in her arms and carried it into the living room to look around, and then quickly took her back to the safety of their kitten haven.

This picture will show you the exhausting procedure of our great Easter Sunday dinner occasion. Not too eventful, but a wonderful, restful, pleasant day for very busy folks.

I made sure I got approval before I dared to write you, Miss Hetty, but I know how you enjoy all the news you can get.

Photo © Betty Droel
Rich Weiland is working a crossword puzzle. Hunter Holman's grandpa, Bruce Larson, is asleep by Rich, & Hunter Holman's cousin Shelly's husband, Rick Larson, is asleep on the recliner.

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

I need to send you a Happy Birthday wish, for I hear it is your birthday this week. I hope you have a very Happy Birthday and many more.

Happy Birthday, Dorothy, hope you are enjoying many blessings of a spring day birthday! I am sure grateful you are here to be the matriarch of such a huge family of blood, wedded and "adopted" in relatives. You are important to so many! May you have a good day and another wonderful year!

Good afternoon. I hope all is well with you and here is to hoping spring is officially here. Doug finally got out today as I needed to go get a prescription and he actually felt good enough to go with me. This winter has been especially hard for him. He thinks it is nothing more than a little sunshine and being outside can cure!

We were hoping to go to Donna and Beaver's today but my little niece Rylin couldn't come along so we didn't make it. I'm hoping maybe next year to get in on the egg hunt they have every year.

After church tomorrow we plan on going to my parents' to spend the day with them. As always, I'm sure there will be plenty of good food to eat and with my niece Rylin (who's only a year old, actually was born two days after Kierra was), along with my other nieces and nephew, it should be a good time.

Well, just wanted to say hello and to tell you that we so enjoyed The Bulletin today.

I really like it when you can just click on the first picture, and up pops The Bulletin. I decided I would hit SELECT ALL, and then COPY and then bring up a blank email page and PASTE and hit PRINT. Then it prints it in a #14 Arial font, which I like better. To each his own, right?

We have to adjust with the adjustments, and we will do whatever is necessary just to continue finding our Bulletin there on Saturday morning.

Thank you for the beautiful, vivid red tulips. I remember past years when Spring would roll around we would find fresh, pretty tulips on this first picture.

Oh my -- those two boys, Logan and Mason, have really grown up. It would have been so much fun to have that good company to share that trip with, and the cousins would have so much fun together.

I loved seeing the pictures, and even Brienna looked like she was having a great time. The brown tone picture was quite a novelty.

What precious pictures arranged of Kurt and Jeni and family! I see Gertie in Madi, and Kurt in Liam. I might change my mind if I saw them other than just in a picture, though.

Oh, Weston, we might have known. Your enthusiasm and yen for anything sportsy even influenced your good friends and family to go with you to Florida. Sounds like no one was sorry to have been along, though, and thanks for the first update of your time there. Pretty broad smiles on the photo of "you-all." We will wait for any next chapters to this great trip occasion.

I have been wondering if William, Greg and Sonja's son, is named after Bill Dake? He has such sharp, knowing eyes.

That has got to be the sweetest picture of Levi and Kira. He looks like he means it, too ... not just obeying the photographer. Looks like the chicks are just in the process of hatching. What an eventful childhood those children have had, with such an ambitious, creative mother, not afraid of work or inconvenience. That is an excellent photograph of the sharp, contrasting bunnies.

ANOTHER birthday bash at the Ashby farm. I think Donna Mae is the best "hostess with the mostess," the way they have so much company. Nice they could share the birthday celebration with both Duane and Donna Mae. The new additional room is always busy. You wonder what you ever did without it. I see you have chosen a "farmy" scene on the new dishes, Donna Mae, and just look at that stack of plates. That should serve a lot of guests.

Oh, I was thrilled to see the picture of Lorraine Tabor and her caregiver. Lorraine is very dependent on help to breathe right now, and I do hope the Pumper will give her some relief. She made the top she has on. I am afraid her sewing days are over.

Our dear Dorothy, the Matriarch and the Editor, is turning 84 this week. I am hardly over the shock of turning 80, but here she is, even four years more than that. She will have to start showing her age pretty soon. Not too many Editors that are active like she is at 84. What a special picture -- the oldest and the youngest. Grady is pretty husky and healthy. Looks like Lori got a smile from him.

The Memory Lane was detailed, as though it took place recently, and there would have been many mixed feelings for all that was taking place with their Bertha these days. A stroke has no mercy, and one has to just deal with the after effects of it. I guess this story leaves me wondering what did happen to Bertha long term, and I hope Dorothy can give us that part of the story at some future time.

I had to laugh at the descriptive recap of the phone call with Max. You could almost hear him, and it didn't take long for him to ease the concerns. He must have been a very good friend, as well as public servant.

We are getting used to following Kjirsten around in Thailand. I clicked on the links, especially to find out what the lassis drink was made of. I find it was yogurt as a base. Interesting. So the mango lassies would be delicious, I'm sure. Kjirsten surely took a variety of photos for us to get an idea of what that area was like. Thank you.

What a cute CHUCKLES this time! Carrie's a pretty brave little girl to be riding the elephant's trunk. Hope it was a statue, as it appears to be.

The Quotation for the day was different. I have to think about that one for a while. An optimist ... I wonder if it is suggesting that an optimist is so bright and cheery that it resembles spring?

Anyway, thanks again for our Bulletin #407, and remind us if you are needing more stories and pictures to fill the pages.

Photo illustration © Virginia McCorkell; photo by Sonja Dake
William Dake sings the too-long-ride blues. He had reason to complain about that car seat. His parents, Greg & Sonja Dake, had just spent two days driving to Alabama in two U-haul trucks.

To search a name in Who's Who or Who's Where: click on the link to open the page, then use CONTROL F on a PC or COMMAND F on a Mac. To search for a second occurrence of the name, use CONTROL G on a PC or COMMAND G on a Mac. (This works on ANY web page with text, unless the text is converted to an image. Chances are, it works in your e-mail, too.) HINT: Search by first name only, as most entries list the family name once but do not repeat the last name for each family member. In Who's Where you can search on state or city names, too.

Quotation for the day: It takes a long time to become young. --Pablo Picasso

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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