September and October, 2009
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE: NEW MURDOCK IN MINNESOTA (Bevin Murdock) Click MY APRIL ADVENTURE (Colleen McKay) Click A TRIBUTE (Priscilla Januskiewicz) Click UPDATE FROM WEST COVINA (Claudia Lindsey) Click EMAIL FROM LI'L ROBBIE (Robert F. Murdock) Click A LITTLE SLIDE SHOW (Meredith Murdock) Click WHERE HAVE THE MUSE READERS GONE? (Bob Murdock) Click HEADING NORTH (Margery Aukstikalnis) Click Part 2 OUR VACATION: The Trip To NH (Nancy Murdock) Click HOWLETT FAMILY REUNION (Nancy Murdock) Click OUR GARDNER-HUBBARDSTON VISITS (Nancy Murdock) Click HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR CONCORD VISIT (Nancy Murdock) Click WHAT ARE WE UP TO? (Nancy Murdock) Click WINDING DOWN (Nancy Murdock) Click NOTES FROM OUR VACATION (Bob Murdock) Click HOWLETT REUNION PHOTOS (Lori Howlett) Click |
Photo by Jane
Gallery photo Quilt index |
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Colleen McKay Frankfurt Germany beckoned again with a round trip of under $464.00. It was also the last weekend of the Dippemass. According to the city website it is a crafts fair with roots in the 14th century especially pottery crafts. On the closing day of the fair, April 26, there would be fireworks at 10:00 pm Sunday night. Friday morning I went out to wander around the city. I came upon a Smart Car advertising a taxi service in front of the train station. When I tried to take a photo the flash would work, the review of the photos on the camera worked but it was not taking new photos. I tried a different battery but no avail. This was the camera I bought on Jan 24 2009 to replace the camera I broke at the Inauguration. I went looking for a disposable camera. In the old town there was a souvenir stand with disposable cameras. I bought one and had only 27 photos for my trip. I thought - 9 per day. It is very different going back to film camera after having a digital camera. With a digital camera you snap lots of photos of anything and everything because you can delete unwanted photos to free up space. With a film camera you take one photo hoping it turns out because you don’t want to run out of film too quickly. On my travels through the city I took a photo of the stained glass window featuring a dog which is God spelled backwards. I did not see a date on it but it was in the Dreikonigskirche Protestant parish church. This church was on the site of a Gothic hospital chapel consecrated in 1340. The chapel was demolished and the present church built 1875 to 1881. I did take four Smart Car photos. On Sunday morning it was a photo of the BierBike. This was a bike pedaled by six men on each side. If I had my digital I would have taken a lot more photos. During the same length trip in Milan, I had taken 113 photos. I did find the department store Galleria. Guess what - since it was after Easter the chocolates were half price. I brought 22 Euros worth of chocolate. I have been very good. I shared some with the editors and my co-workers, took some to AZ on Mother’s Day to share with my sister, and as of July 6 still have some left. Saturday morning was the flea market along the Main (the river). I found a wool hat with a feather made in Austria for one Euro, a mini glass stein with metal lid stamped "made in West Germany" for another Euro, and brand new with the tags on safari pants for 1.50 Euros. It was a very successful morning. On the opposite side of the Main it was Junior Firefighter Day. There was a moon bounce in the shape of a fire truck for the small children, radio controlled fire trucks to run through a course and garden hoses to shoot water at targets. There were displays on fire safety. Young people in the 10 to 15 year range - boys and girls - had on coveralls that looked like firefighter turnout pants. They were helping the firefighters man the booths. There was a real fire truck present to climb on. The fire boat and a fire truck on the flea market side of the river were using their hoses to squirt at one another. Sunday morning it was Mass in English at St Leonard. After Mass, at the coffee and snacks, a parishioner was showing photos on his computer of the parish pilgrimage to Medjugorje. Since 1981, in a small village in Bosnia-Herzegovina named Medjugorje, the Blessed Virgin Mary has been appearing and giving messages to the world. In Her own words She tells us, "I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is the fullness of life, and to enjoy this fullness and peace, you must return to God". I went to the fairgrounds to the Dippemass. It was mostly carnival rides and just about ten booths of crafts. I did find vegetable scrub brushes to give to my parents. I then went exploring the town. I came upon a little church rummage sale. I found a pottery dish in its box for one and a half Euros, a much better deal than at Dippemass. I went back to the fairgrounds for the fireworks. I had another fun and successful weekend in Europe. |
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Priscilla Januskiewicz Dear loved ones, Today we have lost a dear friend. I knew something was wrong when I heard my husband speaking in hushed tones on the telephone this morning. We had gone outside for a walk, and when we got back there was a terse message on the answering machine and a phone number for Roy to call. We had known for a while that the end was near, but we were hoping that there would be a few more months to enjoy our long-time friend. She had traveled with us to places far and wide, a trustworthy and reliable companion who happily went along, requiring very little maintenance. But she was beginning to show her age. Her body had been patched up many times, but now she desparately needed replacement parts. Our neighbor picked her up early this morning for the operation. He is a doctor "of sorts" and thought he could do the job. She went along with him for a short distance, but was dragging badly and soon could not go on. They pulled into a nearby Sunoco station, and the end came quickly. Within minutes she was gone. She had been a friend of my mother's for years. They would travel together, and Mum said that sometimes her friend got her lost! She came to live with us when Mum could no longer travel, and we got to know her quite well. She lived to a ripe old age of nineteen, just like Annie, the cat we also inherited from Mum. Now they are all gone, and we will cherish the memories they've left behind. Another cat named Boots has come to replace Annie, brightening our lives, and perhaps someday soon we'll look for something new to replace the little blue Honda we loved so well. RIP Love, Roy and Priscilla |
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Claudia Lindsey Hello Family and Friends, First off, we are not near any of the fires that are burning here in Southern California, but the air is filled with smoke and it is supposed to get up to 105 degrees today ( August 28th) here in the San Gabriel Valley, which of course does not help if you have any kind of breathing problem. It is supposed to cool off this coming weekend and next week. The Los Angeles County Fair is scheduled to open next week, and the kids in our school district go back to school on Monday. It always is hot when the fair is on. Isabeau starts Kindergarten on Monday at the same school that Marti went to when she was in grade school. It is just down the street from where we live, and she will be in the same classroom as her friend next door, which will be nice. I went to my Primary Care Physician on Monday (August 24th), and he cleared me to have my knee surgery. My cardiologist has also cleared me, so now I am waiting for my Orthopedic Surgeon's office to call me with a date. I don't know if I told any of you this, but my surgeon used to play for the Boston Red Sox in the minor leagues but got injured so had to quit. He was a starting pitcher and his name is Steven Bast. Does that give me confidence or what????? Take care, everyone, and hope you all had a great summer. Love, Claudia |
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Robert F. Murdock Li'l Robbie’s 1st email……………….typed it up himself! V azQ y vcvvm jmn c 5B /,mmc0020l qz., [Ed. note: Well done by the little guy. It looks like some kind of code. Any cryptographers out there? - - RDM] |
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Meredith Murdock This is a true story about my new shoes. [Ed. note: Mer sent her slide show as a Power Point presentation, a .ppsx file. But I converted it to a .pdf file, which may be more accessible for Muse readers. You can view it here, and use the keyboard down arrow or "pg dn" to see all the pages. - - RDM] |
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Bob Murdock Although there are a few regular contributors, I have noticed a dropping-off of articles submitted for the Muse. A few months ago, Nancy and I became Facebook members, as suggested originally by Daniel Leskinen. Well, how interesting. Many, if not most, of the Muse readers were already there! And they chat, give frequent updates of what's happening, kid each other, complain about problems, and sympathize with one another. It's a different kind of forum, with immediate feedback. The Muse, on the other hand, is updated only every two months, and then announced to a readership of about 120 families. But its material is everlasting, and our archives go back to 1990. So its value may be mostly historical. We report on family events, store photo galleries, and keep a list of "Who's Who in Museland." Nancy and I plan to keep the Muse going as long as we are physically (and mentally) able. We appreciate your input and feedback. Viva la Muse! Viva la Facebook! |
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Margery Aukstikalnis Well, we are on the way! We left AZ August 18, off to a sad start as we lost our Emily cat on the 14th. She died a sudden, but gently assisted, death of saddle thrombus, a blood clot in the aorta that cripples the whole back end painfully. We miss her terribly. Buttons and Bows seem to have adjusted after a few mournful days. Bows now has her own harness and leash, and is learning to tolerate it so she can join us on walks in the RV parks. And Buttons, she's a dog. She's always happy. They were all eight years old this spring. Texas's Monahans Sandhills State Park, one of my favorite stops, lured us only for one night. The feather-light desert sand that ripples in the wind as the dunes shift in the ripple effect always amazes us, the desert flowers were abundant, but the 106-degree-in-the-shade temperature was unbearable as the sun reflected off the near white sand. In the winter we run barefoot in the sand. That was impossible! I had to carry the dog to a pavilion-shaded spot to potty! When she wandered out of the shade, she jumped right back in! We visited mostly State parks this trip, each with its own claim to fame. San Angelo's Lake normally provided swimming, boating, and fishing, but the water was 30 feet below normal level, so the water activities were limited. The Lake is an overflow reservoir for cities north. We enjoyed watching the javelina, jack rabbits, mockingbirds, doves and waterfowl. Thin clouds took the curse off the summer heat. (Arizona may be as hot, but with its mountain breezes and low humidity, it's far more comfortable.) We bought some electric fans at Wal-Mart to assist the air conditioner! On the highway we spotted a wingless airplane! It's wings, removed, lay straddling the belly of the plane on a flat-bed trailer behind a pickup truck. Cedar Hill was our next stop; between the amenities at the park and the surrounding area, there left nothing to be desired for entertainment. I proposed that we remember this for a one week stay sometime soon. Texans have proven to us to be some of the most cordial, friendly, warm, welcoming humans we have found in our travels. Except Louisianans, who are cordial, friendly, warm, welcoming folks with a taste of class. While Texans say Howdy, y'all!, Louisianans say How do you do, y'all? More than that, of course, but the French influence is a classy twist. Lake Bistineau State Park was beautiful, classy, but very sad. The lake is dying by invasion of exotic weeds. The State has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to rid the weeds, with little success. Beetle control will be considered next. It sure makes my short term of weed watcher at Laurel Lake seem worthwhile! Nanabe Creek in Mississippi brought us an amazing new arbor study. So many beautiful trees we have never seen before, many graced with Spanish Moss, many different types of berry bush and trees, some yet to be discovered. Why did I bring my field guides for birds, wildflowers and insects, and leave behind my trees??? On the way to AL, we ran into a windy thundershower which blew the driver-side windshield wiper right off the rig!!! One mile to a rest stop, where Jack removed the wiper, hanging only by the washer tube, and replaced it with the passenger side wiper. A good temporary fix, and the rain let up for the rest of the trip to DeSoto. And DeSoto AL had even more varieties of trees, although some were not necessarily native. The folks in Fort Payne seem to have an eye for the unusual. Again, many pictures to identify later. DeSoto, by the way, is just a hop, skip, and jump from Huntsville, and Scottsboro, Gene's old stomping grounds!! Next time through, when we aren't pressed for time, Jack promised to take me to an airport salvage store!!! While in DeSoto, there was WIFI at the camp store, but we were so busy touring the area that I didn't get to download until 6 AM on departure day. 63 email messages!! I brought them home to read, and will try to answer tonight or tomorrow. If Cedar Creek was the best stop, Warrior's path in Tennessee was the worst. Hilly, rugged campground with water and electricity and no other amenities. It was even too rough to hike. But we enjoyed the sound of the train in the distance. The campers were friendly, but of a "camper" personality rather than the "traveler" personality we are accustomed to. We won't return, but made an enjoyable experience of the visit. We were christened by another rain shower while Jack was cooking supper on the grill. :( Today we are at a KOA in Virginia, where we will stay a couple days and rest, then head back towards NE. Jack has spent most of his days fixing one thing or another; this RV has given him his share of grief and more! It will be good to see you all. We love Arizona, but we miss family! |
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