A year later...eMerging from the pandemic in March

 

Charlotte at her 5th birthday party! Next thing you know she will be driving! It was a beautiful day with the Manieris and Selkows at Sugar Grove Nature Center!

March in Illinois = prairie burns! 

Who doesn't delight in a prairie burn, especially if you're a child under 10 (or a man pushing 70) and you need to bring over the garden hose as backup? 

Let's be clear, I was eyeing this old farm scale for the junk pile. Then Mick expressed interest in it...after which I told Tom that we need to keep and get it restored. I have pathetic moments as a human, I know.

Old Iron Powder Coating and Restoration in Chenoa fixed that old scale right up! Tom says they used the scale when he was a kid to weigh wagons of grain here at the farm. 

Surely you've seen the commercial where the college-aged son has barely moved out and his mother is seen wielding a sledge hammer to his bedroom? 

My new study has a fresh coat of paint - mostly done by me, and industrial pipe shelving - inspired by Tom. I have great respect for DYIers who have the stamina and patience that I apparently don't for such projects. 

It was great to finally visit Mom and Dad in Utica, NY! We got right to the important stuff like frying bacon for breakfast and having dinner at Ventura's. The bartender was so happy to see them that he delivered 2 straight up Manhattans to the table as we were sitting down! 

Mom and I stopped to sit a spell in the hallway.  

Here is Tom again, this time trying to save the oat seeder from the prairie burn. This is an annual exercise. I always thought prescribed burns are like painting a room - 90% preparation. Tom likes to burn first and see what happens! 

A photo emerged from Dan in Moab during a little snow storm. Mothers appreciate these gestures.

In my new role as part-time farmer, I help Tom with various machinery repairs. Have you heard? Being a mechanic gives one license to rattle off any number of swear words when things go wrong. A favorite line of Tom's is actually something that Craig used to say after learning what swearing was all about. "Shit, damn, fart!"   

This picture is from the inside of the grain truck. It shows 2 footholds and a handhold (notice the industrial pipe theme?). Now, if a person finds themselves left behind in the grain truck, they can climb out!

Looking for bolts. 

Tom is an excellent mechanic, in fact he is a perfectionist. However, perfection begets eccentricities. His modus operandi is to get the project started and plan as you go. This is 180% from how I operate. I prepare all the requisite parts before starting a project. Not Tom. He will drill holes and then go off looking for bolts to fit in the holes. This is where I start muttering "shit damn fart." 

Truckin' and travelin' with BadAss Barb!

 

I learned to drive this truck at the local community college in January and passed the test to get my commercial truck driver's license. Well, I flunked it the first time because I couldn't get it parallel parked (who knew?)...but the 2nd time was a charm! Now I feel comfortable and safe driving our grain trucks for farming! 

We visited Karen and Joel in February in Gainesville, FL. They are expecting a baby in May!! Here we are on a hike at a state park. Below is a picture of them with their cat on the back porch. 

Mark and Diane Kerber have a great place in Ft. Myers Beach. It is a 2 block walk to the beach, and a short walk to the downtown area. They ride bikes all over the island. We really enjoyed our visit!

A former Illinois State student of mine, Alex Harrison, works at Big Cypress National Preserve in southern Florida. He invited us to Gator Hook trail for a swamp walk. We didn't see any alligators on our walk, but we saw them everywhere else in the preserve. Alex said they usually stay out of sight if they hear or sense intruders in the area. At one point we were up to our chests in the swamp! Tom asked Alex how often he takes people on this walk, to which Alex replied, "um, we don't usually take tourists on this walk." 

Next we traveled to Key West to visit Tom and Carol, and Kelly and Thomas! We rode bikes, drank beer on Sunset Pier, and ate wonderful food prepared by Chef Carol.  

2021 here we come!

We decided to take a road trip over the holidays. I've always wanted to go to Big Bend National Park in Texas. On our way we checked out the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City. You've never seen so many banjos under one roof! The banjo was created by enslaved Africans in Colonial America and the Caribbean. All kinds of music are made by them including African roots and folk, jazz, bluegrass, and folk music. I play me some clawhammer and bluegrass banjo. 

A ubiquitous oil pump on the Texan landscape! 

Big Bend National Park - in addition to being beautiful, it was sunny and 75 degrees!

Santa Elena Canyon was cut by the Rio Grande forming the border between the US (on the right) and Mexico (on the left).

Kayakers on the Rio Grande

Not much social distancing at this country bar in Alpine. It was open mic night. We had a ball and crossed our fingers, eyes, and toes that we'd stay healthy (and we did).

Sign at the entrance to a restaurant in Austin, TX.

We came home a few days early to beat the January 1st ice storm.  It was pretty, but we worried about the trees!

Humiston Woods hike along the Vermillion River.

Summer 2020: Utah and Montana, and New York State!

 

After Teri and Ryan's wedding it was off to Utah to visit some national parks and then to Montana! This is Monument Valley, UT. 

Capitol Reef National Park, we stumbled up Cassidy Arch (behind my head). You can see the effects of the western fires in the overcast sky above.

This picture of Montana's Gallatin River is out of order, but quite beautiful!  

Bryce Canyon National Park. We hiked amidst the hoodoos and through Wall Street. 

Below is the view from Abby and Matt's new home in the Gallatin Mountain range! Wow!

I didn't waste any time scooting out to NYS in September to see Mom and Dad. Dad took us on a road trip to Binghamton for some shopping and dinner at Little Venice.

I officiated another wedding in October, this time for Stacy and John!  Life is good!

Teri and Ryan's wedding in the desert southwest!

 

I was supposed to officiate my niece Teri and her fiancé Ryan's wedding on our farm, but then COVID-19 happened. They postponed their celebration at the farm until 2021, but wanted to go ahead and get married this summer. Tom and I hopped in the car in late August and ventured west!

Because my mom has never been to Iowa, we  stopped in Davenport, IA to take a picture with Bix Beiderbecke, a jazz coronet player born in 1903 who was noted for his pure, clear tone. Just Google "Davenport Blues" or "Royal Garden Blues" and you'll see what I mean! Mom and Dad love his recordings!

Marta was ready and waiting for us in Kearney, Nebraska, complete with homemade pizza and other goodies. Nothing like watching the sun set on the great plains from her deck.

We drove through Greeley to check out JBS, a leading beef, pork and poultry producer in the U.S. We then stretched our legs on the University of Northern Colorado's campus before scooting over to Ft. Collins for lunch.

Dan and Alison in Boulder. Dan is an engineer with a private firm and Alison just began her new job with NIST & NOAA as a space weather scientist. You can see several baseball gifts my parents have given Dan in the picture, too.

Dan took us up Green Mountain, near the Boulder Flatirons. He also took us disc golfing at Arapahoe Basin at 11,000+ feet (see next picture).

These hikes were beautiful and exhausting to Tom and me. Dan scampered along the trails like a mountain goat.

Then it was on to Tucson, AZ for Teri and Ryan's wedding. We drove secondary roads as much as possible through New Mexico. At our hotel on the Santa Fe plaza we learned on the 10 pm news that folks from IL were banned from the state due to COVID-19...oh dear. 

My brother Tom and I took a bike ride on the Santa Cruz River Trail in Tucson the morning of Teri and Ryan's wedding. Let's just say it gets really hot really quickly in Tucson in late summer! 

Off to the wedding!

Ryan constructed the wooden arch for their wedding. It was 110 degrees outside. What a beautiful couple in a beautiful setting! 

Maid of honor, sister Kelly and beau Thomas.

I got to officiate their wedding! 

It was great to hang out with Tom and Carol!  

Here is brother Tom on his birthday in Florida!