Thursday, June 09, 2005
AUGUST....1992
We spent a lot of time in August watching the Olympics. The US was doing pretty good in 1992.…better than some of the past years. The Dream Team took the Gold Medal for basketball and the relays were exciting to watch. There was criticism about our professionals playing in the Olympics but other countries had been doing that for years and our college kids were well outclassed by them. For once we put our guys in who would show them that Basketball is America’s sport and we showed them why. My bias is obvious.
Jennifer was twenty on her August birthday….it was hard to believe she was almost ready to begin her third year at Canton. She flew in from Louisiana after spending the summer with John and Barb, and working as a counselor. Becky and I picked her up from the airport on the 15th and after a few days home, she and Becky left for Culver-Stockton. They took both cars full to the brim with Jennifer’s things.
We had a bad storm earlier in the month. Winds 60-70 miles an hour plastered leaves all over everything where they were ripped from the trees. Power lines were down along with many trees and shrubbery all over the city. We called a man to come haul the worst of it off. It split a double oak we had in back, losing one at ground level. We worked several days getting all of the limbs, branches and leaves raked up and hauled off. Power was off for part of the time but thankfully was restored quickly. The display of lightening and thunder was pretty awesome. I hadn’t been privy to a storm like that in quite a few years.
Mid-month, Bear’s brother Don and his wife, Sally flew to Springfield from Washington State and we drove there to pick them up. Their plane was delayed and their luggage didn’t arrive. They stayed with us for a week and then Bear took them back to the airport. We went to Branson one day while they were here and we saw a couple of shows, did a lot of visiting and Don helped Bear with odds and ends that had been bothering him. It was always nice to have them come for a visit.
Their plane left early on a work-day morning so Bear took them to Springfield to catch their flight and that evening, George came to visit. He had also been up early that morning to take John and Barbara to their flight home to Louisiana. They had flown up to visit him a few days.
Hurricane Andrew was pelting southern Florida with 140-mile an hour winds and the Chiefs were playing their exhibition game and getting ready to start another season. Meanwhile, Andrew crossed Florida and came over the Gulf of Mexico to come ashore south and west of John’s. It really caused havoc on the coastline and the power was off 9 ½ hours. They got the same amount of rain (9 ½ inches) but other than being flooded somewhat, they were all right.
The following week-end we drove to the Lake of the Ozarks to visit our friends from Shawnee who had retired at the lake. When we arrived, they gave us iced-tea on their deck and we sat on the balcony and visited while Frank fixed steaks on the grille. Betty had fixed a meal fit for kings and we enjoyed every bite of it. We finished up with cherry pie and ice-cream…which is a good way to end any meal, in my estimation. After our meal settled a bit, Frank took all of us on a nice ride around their area of the lake. The next morning we went to Sunday School and Church with them……another good meal after and then more visiting. We left for home and arrived before dark, safe and sound.
Once August is out of the way, we can begin to look forward to better temperatures and not so much humidity. School begins once more and all of the factors that make that possible are in play. It’s time to take a deep breath for the vacations are over for a while and life begins to slow down. Nature does the same because soon the days will shorten and the leaves begin their downward spiral…….Fall will soon be here………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
Jennifer was twenty on her August birthday….it was hard to believe she was almost ready to begin her third year at Canton. She flew in from Louisiana after spending the summer with John and Barb, and working as a counselor. Becky and I picked her up from the airport on the 15th and after a few days home, she and Becky left for Culver-Stockton. They took both cars full to the brim with Jennifer’s things.
We had a bad storm earlier in the month. Winds 60-70 miles an hour plastered leaves all over everything where they were ripped from the trees. Power lines were down along with many trees and shrubbery all over the city. We called a man to come haul the worst of it off. It split a double oak we had in back, losing one at ground level. We worked several days getting all of the limbs, branches and leaves raked up and hauled off. Power was off for part of the time but thankfully was restored quickly. The display of lightening and thunder was pretty awesome. I hadn’t been privy to a storm like that in quite a few years.
Mid-month, Bear’s brother Don and his wife, Sally flew to Springfield from Washington State and we drove there to pick them up. Their plane was delayed and their luggage didn’t arrive. They stayed with us for a week and then Bear took them back to the airport. We went to Branson one day while they were here and we saw a couple of shows, did a lot of visiting and Don helped Bear with odds and ends that had been bothering him. It was always nice to have them come for a visit.
Their plane left early on a work-day morning so Bear took them to Springfield to catch their flight and that evening, George came to visit. He had also been up early that morning to take John and Barbara to their flight home to Louisiana. They had flown up to visit him a few days.
Hurricane Andrew was pelting southern Florida with 140-mile an hour winds and the Chiefs were playing their exhibition game and getting ready to start another season. Meanwhile, Andrew crossed Florida and came over the Gulf of Mexico to come ashore south and west of John’s. It really caused havoc on the coastline and the power was off 9 ½ hours. They got the same amount of rain (9 ½ inches) but other than being flooded somewhat, they were all right.
The following week-end we drove to the Lake of the Ozarks to visit our friends from Shawnee who had retired at the lake. When we arrived, they gave us iced-tea on their deck and we sat on the balcony and visited while Frank fixed steaks on the grille. Betty had fixed a meal fit for kings and we enjoyed every bite of it. We finished up with cherry pie and ice-cream…which is a good way to end any meal, in my estimation. After our meal settled a bit, Frank took all of us on a nice ride around their area of the lake. The next morning we went to Sunday School and Church with them……another good meal after and then more visiting. We left for home and arrived before dark, safe and sound.
Once August is out of the way, we can begin to look forward to better temperatures and not so much humidity. School begins once more and all of the factors that make that possible are in play. It’s time to take a deep breath for the vacations are over for a while and life begins to slow down. Nature does the same because soon the days will shorten and the leaves begin their downward spiral…….Fall will soon be here………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
