The Murdock Muse - September and October, 2005

September and October, 2005
Nancy and Bob Murdock, Editors - murmuse@comcast.net

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Sept.-Oct.
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:

WEDDING BELLS FOR MISSI (Bob Murdock) Click

LETTERS FROM BASIC TRAINING (Timothy C. Murdock) Click

GOOD SURPRISES ON OUR JOURNEY (Nancy Murdock) Click

GIFT TO MYSELF (Valerie Davidson) Click

MUSE COMMENTS (Ron Murdock) Click

MUSE COMMENTS 2 (Polly Soberg) Click

MUSE COMMENTS 3 (Bill Hiscock) Click

NICE QUILTS (Rickey & Deanna Murdock ) Click

MICHIGAN, FINAL CHAPTER, FINALLY (Darrel Murdock) Click

MEMORIAL DAY POSTSCRIPT (Bob Murdock) Click

OUR NEW ENGLAND VACATION (Claudia Howlett Lindsey) Click

Part 2

R.I.P. ONA CHARLTON FELLOWS (Bob Murdock) Click

A NICE MEMORIAL SERVICE (Priscilla Januskiewicz) Click

HOWLETT REUNION 2005 (Nancy Murdock) Click

HOWLETT REUNION NOTES (Bob Murdock) Click

SCHOOL PLANS (Valerie Davidson) Click

TRIP AROUND NEBRASKA (Gene Murdock) Click

LATE AUGUST AT MINNEOPA (Darrel Murdock) Click

FELLOWS FAMILY NEWS (Mary Cosgrove & Donna Estep) Click

JOPLIN UPDATE (Roy Murdock) Click

Muse Editors
Photo by Jane
McCauley 2005

Nancy's quilt,
"Sunset in
the Garden"
Quilt Gallery

Missi and Kurt

WEDDING BELLS FOR MISSI
Bob Murdock We learned about the marriage of Missi (Howlett) Morgan and Kurt Sargent in a Gardner News clipping from Jane McCauley, who keeps tabs on Howletts and Murdocks. Here's the newspaper article:

Melissa A. Howlett and Kurt L. Sargent, both of Winchendon, were married on July 30, 2005 at a private family unity celebration held in Fitzwilliam, NH.

Melissa is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen C. Howlett of Baldwinville. Kurt is the son of Mr. Joseph Maloney and Mrs. Lorraine Sargent of Gardner.

Melissa's son Richard J. Morgan, age 11, and Kurt's son Jamie L. Sargent, age 12, were ringbearers. The ceremony was performed by Dr. Richard L. Pastor.

After the ceremony, a private dinner was held at Lilly's on the Pond in Ringe, NH. A Jamaican honeymoon is planned.

LETTERS FROM BASIC TRAINING
Timothy C. Murdock Aug. 4: I am now only one week from ending “Red phase” and entering “White phase. As you can imagine, the last 3 weeks have been “Blue phase.” Red phase is the toughest of the three, due to the constant conditioning and “total” control granted to the drill sergeants.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that my platoon alone has a total of 5 Drills. My platoon is The Night Stalkers. We are the best platoon throughout all the companies (Battalion). As a matter of fact, Charlie Co. Is the reigning honors company.

White phase will be nothing but long marches to the rifle ranges where we will learn to hit every single target that pops up out there. I believe I will make “expert,” because I can hold my sights on a 3 square foot target 50 meters away for twenty minutes in the prone position, with a full one quart canteen hanging from the barrel. I had to learn this because one of the girls in the platoon decided to go against orders and eat a Moon-Pie.

Overall, I must admit I‘m liking the more thin and muscular me. I’ve been here at the 3-13th for two weeks, but I’ve never felt so good, aside from tired, in my life. As of right now, I still believe I made the correct decision pertaining to my future.

Once again I wish to thank you for writing to me, and I can’t wait to show you guys the base on family day. Earlier today, Bravo Co. had their family day, and it reminded me of everyone. Please keep writing. I don’t mind the extra push-ups for extra letters.

Aug.22: I’m writing with an update of how Basic is going. Last week Charlie Co. Won the “Fit to Win” physical platoon challenge. Other things, such as gas chamber, the pugilist bouts, and a seven mile march with an overnight stay in the forest, are worthy of mentioning. The “Fit to Win” victory secures us a streamer, which is placed on our Phase banner.

The Phase banner is currently white; in a week and some odd days, I will be entering blue phase, the final phase. This is supposed to be a relaxed prep for graduation phase, but Victory Forge sounds mighty tough - seven days in the woods with “enemy” contact. We also have our final Physical Fitness Test in the Blue phase. But I’m not worried, because I’ve already passed the pre-tests (same requirements) plus I still train, whether I’m at the rifle range preparing to qualify, or not. Today in my run group we ran 2.7 miles in 22 minutes. This was a better pace than the 16:05 2-mile run on my test. My push-ups are at a sound 60 in 2 minutes.

I’m looking forward to reading more letters from everyone. Please keep writing. Ten push-ups per letter is nothing.

[Ed. note - Tim's address is in our Muse announcement message. Or contact us at murmuse@comcast.net and we will send it to you. - - RDM]

GOOD SURPRISES ON OUR JOURNEY
Nancy Murdock After a successful driving trip to MA in late May and early June, we looked forward without crossing our fingers to a trip to NH in late July. We had plenty of confidence that we would have a good trip. Somehow, though, we missed a turn after the Tappan Zee Bridge and ended up cruising around CT. Right when it seemed that we were doomed to wander that state forever, just out of touch with the next portion of the trip, we were directed to turn left at the next light and go down under the bridge to find the highway we needed. And, to our surprise, it worked!

We arrived in Tilton, NH, at 9:40 PM, very hungry. A lot of places had closed for the night, but we found a nice-looking pizza place still open. I ran in, hoping I could persuade them to let us buy a couple of pieces of whatever they had left over for pizza, to take to the motel before the pizza parlor finished closing. Another nice surprise - they calmly took our order for a good-sized mushroom and cheese pizza, and showed us where to sit at the table while they cooked it. Also, they asked if we wanted to eat it there! I have never enjoyed a pizza more, partly for the flavor but mainly for the hospitality.

As we headed back to the car, we saw a stream of liquid on the road under the front of the car. I sighed and visualized an expensive day getting our 15-year-old Toyota Corolla repaired. I bent down to dip my finger in the stream and gave it a good sniff. No odor. Well, that eliminated one possibility. A man across the street called over to me, asking if we were having car trouble. I said I didn’t know, because I didn’t know what the little stream was. He said, “It isn’t from your car. You’ll be fine.” I thanked him and hoped he was an accurate crystal ball.

As I walked to the driver’s side, a woman came up to ask if we needed help. I explained that we thought the car might be okay. She again asked if we needed ANY help. I was astounded! There we were, two strangers in an elderly car, rolling into town late in the evening, and two people had gone out of their way to assist us. Wow! I don’t think we’re in Baltimore any more, Toto!

The motel in Tilton was a surprise, too. It was surrounded by fields of wildflowers, especially Queen Anne’s Lace and Butter and Eggs, two flowers from my sunny childhood in rural MA. They cozied up to some plain plank fences and swarmed around a few trees. The motel itself was clean and pleasant, with coffee (regular and decaf) and muffins available pretty much all day.

Yes, we were definitely out of the dark days of not being able to go anywhere, and now we were having very positive adventures. And this was before we’d even begun to explore the area, visit at Polly and Carl’s, or attend the Howlett Reunion. Our prayers for help earlier in the day turned to prayers of heartfelt thanks.

GIFT TO MYSELF
Valerie Davidson June 19: I hope your weekend is as nice as ours here, with a lovely bright sunny day. Yesterday I had my bedroom window open and was reading a book, and when the breeze was just right, the scent of honeysuckle wafted into the room.

This morning I bought myself a Father's Day gift - er, rather, I took advantage of the sale at the hardware store - and bought a Weedwacker (since most of the country doesn't sound the "h" after the initial w, the "h" is starting to drop away in spelling). I will share my new toy with my driveway neighbors, which should substantially upgrade the appearance here. The neighbor who came Weedwacker-equipped and kept us in shape during his tenancy has moved away, and I miss him at least in this one regard.

This is my weekend off between the end of the regular school year and the onset of summer school. I have hired on for both 3-week sessions, 4 hours a day of sophomore remediation. The textbook we've been forced to incorporate (by the Feds) makes the job far easier! No problem! However, come fall, I'm switching gears to middle school.

MUSE COMMENTS
Ron Murdock I really enjoyed the pictures of the quilts. They are truly awesome! There are a number of quilting groups that get together at our son-in-law's site - Casowasco Conference Center. They all seem to have a wonderful time and Casowasco makes a beautiful setting for them. It is always fun to see what they make. Last year one group donated a quilt for auction to Casowasco that the entire group had worked on over the previous year!

Diane, Bart, and I are spending much of the summer there. Diane runs the outdoor camping department in the "highlands". I do the "bugs" programs and maintain the computer network. Bart is part camper and part kitchen volunteer. It makes for a VERY full summer, but it is fun and sometimes inspiring. (See www.casowasco.org)

I will try to write something for your next issue. We do appreciate the newsletter very much! Thanks.

MUSE COMMENTS 2
Polly Soberg Thank you for the Muse! It was great reading and this is the first time I've "seen" Steve and Tom in several years.

MUSE COMMENTS 3
Bill Hiscock It's always such a pleasure to receive the Muse! We enjoy hearing from you and the Muse family so much, even if we're not as attentive as we ought to be about sending in materials.

Have I told you the one about my bulletin blooper?

At the later service one Sunday our priest announced that, at the earlier service they had had piano meditations during communion. But apparently the pianist had been too hard on the piano, because the bulletin said that we were having piano medications at the later service.

NICE QUILTS
Rickey & Deanna Murdock Good morning. We were just checking out the Murdock Muse and noticed three new things....we first looked at the photo gallery of those fancy quilts. My favorite one was "Another View Of The Earth." Tanaya liked the "Twist and Turn" one the best.

Also, we noticed that you put in our picture of the Three Cheese Potato dish.

We are honored.
You have a great day.

MICHIGAN, FINAL CHAPTER, FINALLY
Darrel Murdock When we visited the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) in December, Peterson Falls on the Montreal River had been the highlight of the day: a large cascading cataract combo, right after a fluffy snowstorm. The copper hues of the water as it dropped, turning from blue to white and back to blue again with a ferocious yet graceful form, had been quite a treat to me as I sat on wet snow in a steep, narrow ravine just a yard or two away from it, filming and snapping to my heart's delight.

We had only a few hours of the short winter day left when we arrived at the Black River Scenic Byway that time, and actually the park had closed for the season, so we had only gotten a peek at a few of the sights there. The Potawatomi Falls had been quite interesting as it had spread across a normally dry rock-island in the middle, running in slow motion like the oil-drop falls in the malls in the Seventies.

This time the park was open, but a couple of the falls were closed due to repairs needed on the wooden walkways and platforms. This translated to fewer peeps in the way to us.

We had started the day with Gabbro Falls on the same river we were ending on, completing a large circle in the U.P. that left us with late afternoon light for the Scenic Byway part of the Black River. Each of the falls was a long steep journey down endless stairs, with each one getting deeper as we made our way from Potawatomi to Rainbow Falls, the last one before the Black Harbor on Lake Superior.

The waterfalls of the Scenic Byway are already posted at the thumbnail gallery here: http://d21c.com/AAALynx/mich/index.html , which is the same page link as was given in the "Sneak Preview" email I sent before the 4 parts of "Michigan, First Weekend of Summer" or whatever else I called it.

However, there were many other cool photos gleaned from this last series (BRSB) that will not be posted anytime soon, especially from Sandstone Falls and the Black Harbor.

MEMORIAL DAY POSTSCRIPT
Bob Murdock On the Memorial Day weekend this year, all of my living siblings and other relatives gathered in Hubbardston, MA for a memorial service for our late sister Lennie Schlicke. This was reported in the July-August 2005 Muse. Some of my notes were misplaced, and I'm relating here what I remember.

Sister Barb DiStefano said she could retire now, but she enjoys her home care nursing job and the pay is pretty good, so she has decided to stay on for a while. She's enrolled in various fitness programs. Dotty will be celebrating her Sept. 3 birthday at Barb's. The two of them are planning a railroad trip to Iowa to visit brother Gene.

I told Gene that I'm using a cane a lot now when walking. "I carry one around with me too," he said. Remembering his impressive collection of walking sticks, I asked if he used one of them. "No, they are mostly too short," he said. "I bought my own." Click here for a photo of both Barb and Gene at the post-memorial service breakfast along with Teddie Doane, as charming as ever.

OUR NEW ENGLAND VACATION
Claudia (Howlett) Lindsey Early on the morning ( 4:30 A.M.) of July 21st, we left Los Angeles for our ten day trip to New England. We arrived in Manchester, N. H., at 4:30 P.M., where Polly & Carl Soberg were there to greet us. They took us back to their house, where my Dad ( Clyde Howlett) was waiting for us, along with a nice simple dinner. We chatted for quite some time and then hit the sack, as it had been a long day.

On Friday we started on the day trips that Polly & Carl had planned: Queechee Gorge on Friday, Boston on Monday, and some local sightseeing in between.

Saturday was the family reunion; that was great! It was nice to introduce Dennis to family members and friends that he had heard me mention a million times and whom he finally got to meet.

Thanks to Polly & Carl for being such great people and taking us into their home, and also for looking out for my Dad. He couldn't be in a better place. Thanks to Nancy & Bob for the Sunday Brunch at the Common Man restaurant . It is one of my favorites. And also thanks to John & Cathy for opening their house for the reunion again. The ribs were great as always, John, and I can still taste them.

On Tuesday afternoon, my cousin Doug Fleming and his wife Barbara came and picked us up for the trip to Lunenburg, where we would be spending the rest of our vacation. They also had many plans for some sightseeing. We went to the Norman Rockwell Museum, which is worth the trip; to Portland, Maine, to see the lighthouse and have some crab cakes on the water front; and to Concord and Lexington.

We did the Mohawk Trail and took Dennis on a tour of Townsend and West Townsend to see where I did a lot of my growing up years.. On Saturday afternoon we visited with a girlfriend and her husband whom I went to school with in Townsend. I haven't seen her in fifty years and she hasn't changed a bit. After too short a visit, we walked around the corner to Al & Jennie Funiaole's ( my Dad's sister Lillis's son) and visited with them for the evening. My Uncle Brad was also there. Al & Dennis went and brought Pizza home for dinner and they surprised me with an Ice Cream Cake, as my birthday was the next Monday.

Doug & Barb picked us up, and we headed back to their place in Lunenburg to get ready for the trip home on Sunday. All in all, we had a great trip. I am probably forgetting some things that we did. We did a lot, and I can't wait to go back.

In 2007, Townsend will be celebrating its 275th Birthday and I plan to be there. New England is beautiful and Dennis really liked New Hampshire and is even considering moving there when he can retire in about four years. It would be great to be around lots of family.

Take care all and keep in touch.

Click here for Part 2 of the September-October 2005 Muse.
Any comments? Contact the Muse editors at murmuse@comcast.net

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