Family, Friends, and 4th of July

There is a lot to cover this week. Pam’s high school classmate, Ed Allen, staged a concert and we attended. Along the way we stopped to visit Pam’s older brother, Larry. Heart House was decorated for the 4th of July. A squirrel was filmed while eating from our corn cob feeder. We had an added bonus when a brother – sister pair stopped by; their grandmother had lived in this house and the pair had set out to find it again. Quite the activity going on!

I will mention, at the outset, that my hands are not as steady as they used to be. The included videos are proof of that. More use of a tripod is in order for future videos.

Last Saturday was the concert day. Onalaska was on the way so we stopped to see Pam’s older brother Larry. A carry-out from Culver’s provided lunch and we had a good chat. (Becky drove up from Greene to watch the dogs for the day. A thank you to her for that.)

From Onalaska we drove a bit north and then west to Trempealeau to attend a two-person concert featuring one of Pam’s high school classmates, Ed Allen, and another artist named Clara Byom. The Allen name may be familiar to regular readers of this blog as we had made a similar trip last year to help celebrate Annie Allen’s birthday.

Below is a 5:58 clip of Eddie and Clara. Ed solos first then is joined by Clara who provided some background music to another number. There is some wind noise, but the breeze was welcomed in the heat.

We enjoyed the 5-hour concert and Pam was able to connect with a few of her classmates.

Since I am including video clips, here is one featuring a squirrel eating from a cob of corn on one of our feeders. Run time is 1:07. Shot through the upstairs bathroom window, the quality is not the best but you will get the idea.

This squirrel lives in one of our trees, we think, as we see it often on the cob feeder and water dish. It is identifiable by a white pattern on its chest.

As has become a custom with us, Heart House is decorated for the 4th of July and this weekend’s Elma Trail Days parade. A few new items are included – a change from last year.

Around the yard, daylilies are really coming into their own.

Even the “board buddies” are looking good near the catio.

We had a pair of unexpected visitors. A brother and sister, David and Sharon Stute, stopped in. Heart House was “home” for their grandmother and great-grandmother from 1903 – 1971; the two siblings embarked on a nostalgic drive from Wisconsin to track down the place as part of ongoing genealogy research. Both David and Sharon related memories of visiting the house that were of interest to us.

A tour of the house was in order, as well as a discussion of their memories and the history of 702 Main, including Elma’s growth in the early 1900s. Sharon had a large binder of family documents drawn from Ancestry.com. These confirmed much of what Pam had learned through independent research about the previous occupants. Addresses and contact info was exchanged between us, and an offer to stop by any time they are in the area was extended. It’s highly possible photographs of the Tierneys and Stute families will be sent via our smartphones. Finally, we may see the faces of the folks who lived in this multi-generational house.

Other projects received attention. The equipment trailer was fitted with four new tires and some additional paint was sprayed on. Pam put up the holiday decorations mentioned earlier and spent time in the quilt room going through boxes. The Quimby Quilt was unpacked and hung on one wall.

The only bummer of the week was on the 4th; we had driven to Charles City for an evening outdoor concert and fireworks, only to find the concert had been moved indoors and the fireworks display canceled due to approaching severe weather. (Which never materialized, by the way.) An outdoor concert would have been appropriate for the 4th, particularly on the banks of the Cedar River.

It was a busy week with some fun ad a few surprises thrown in. The weather cooled down a bit over the last couple days making outside work more bearable. On tap for next week is some lawn repair (where the painter’s lift trucks left some ruts), more paint on the equipment trailer, and my final physical therapy session.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Here I am at the afore-mentioned concert in Trempealeau, with my high school classmate Diane [Stuhr] Wittenberg, and going through our senior yearbook. We’re attempting to determine who’s alive, who’s dead, and how many of these folks we still have any contact with.

Why? Since our 50th high school reunion fell during the COVID-19 lockdown period, there’s been a conversation re: if the class of ’71 will ever meet again en masse. A gathering next year has been proposed, loosely called “Class of ’71 turns ’71.” It may all come down to the numbers — out of a class of 92, 16 are already deceased. Of the remaining classmates, if one third are willing to attend a gathering, it may make sense to purdue the possibilities. Currently, Diane and I were able to identify only one quarter who could be contacted by verified phone, postal, or social media addresses. Will be interesting if the one third number can be reached.

Re: the visit by the Stute siblings, I remember thinking on Memorial Day (when we put flowers from our yard on the gravestones of the Tierney and Stute family members at the Catholic cemetery) how nice it would be if someone from that family visited Heart House during our residency. The Universe delivered.

Happy Trails!