March and April, 2007
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE: A GRANDSON (Teddie Doane) Click TOMATO PLANT (Polly Soberg) Click 70TH BIRTHDAY (Steve Howlett) Click DINING OUT (Gene Murdock) Click ABOUT COMPLIMENTS (Christel Murdock) Click FAMILY HISTORY (Margery Aukstikalnis) Click AT DISNEYLAND (Claudia Lindsey) Click MOVING SHORTLY! (Barbara DiStefano) Click COLLEGE UPDATE (Khendra Murdock) Click A LATE WINTER (Polly Soberg) Click Part 2 MY DIAMOND BIRTHDAY, Part 1 (Nancy Murdock) Click MY DIAMOND BIRTHDAY, Part 2 (Nancy Murdock) Click MY DIAMOND BIRTHDAY, Part 3 (Nancy Murdock) Click MY DIAMOND BIRTHDAY, Part 4 (Nancy Murdock) Click MY DIAMOND BIRTHDAY, Part 5 (Nancy Murdock) Click THE ADULT SONG (Ian Murdock) Click GENE'S TOYS (Gene Murdock) Click RECORD BREAKING COLD SPELL (Margery Aukstikalnis) Click Part 3 IN SEARCH OF WINTER (Darrel Murdock) Part 1: Willow River Falls Click Part 2A: Jay Cooke State Park Click Part 2B: Amnicon Falls Click Part 3: The North Shore Click Part 4A: Michigan's Upper Peninsula Click Part 4B: Northern Wisconsin Click MOM'S MEMORIAL PAGES (Bob Murdock) Click DEATH OF TOM'S BEST FRIEND (Nancy Murdock) Click MS WALK, CHARITABLE DONATION (Christel Murdock) Click |
2006 photo by Natalie
Nancy's 75th B-day quilt Larger picture Gallery photo Quilt index |
Gallery photo |
Polly Soberg This is a picture of the crop on Tom's tomato plant that he had actually grown for Nancy and Bob. Since they were flying and not driving, I was the lucky recipient. [Ed. Note: Clyde's hydroponic garden is in the background.--NAM] |
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Steve Howlett January 22: I am probably the only one that understands the importance of just getting from year to year. They, of course,are all important to me, but 70 seems like a dream to me. Who would have thought that it would come to 70 years?? WOW! I'm looking forward to the next twenty or so. :):) Email from Nancy on January 21: You made it! In spite of Year 52 trying to trip you up with two heart attacks, you are now celebrating your 70th!! Way to go, Bro! I hope you will write a short article for the Muse about this important event. Considering that you had pneumonia when you were a few months old, and prior to wonder drugs, I'd say you are doing great!! I hope your family took pictures of you on this special day. I would like to have one or two for the Muse. Well, Steve, let's wish ourselves many more happy ones! And I am going to assume you have lots more in your future. |
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Gene Murdock January 22: I have an old tradition that allows me to have a steak dinner on my birthday and on Father's Day. It always used to be a steak and the works, but nowadays it’s just the idea of a good dining out that counts. Early in January I went to a local restaurant called Tom and Tiff’s and had a whole catfish dinner – whole, meaning it was a whole big catfish minus only the head and entrails. I first paused and said Grace in the Christian manner, where I thank God for my blessings, then said it again in the Native American manner where I thank the spirit of the fish for its part in the process. They do a fantastic job of cooking the fish at Tom and Tiff’s, so I thoroughly enjoyed it as I stripped the bony carcass which I know so well from my childhood of cleaning and eating horn pouts, and enjoyed the tender white flesh. But somehow that didn’t satisfy my dining out routine. When my friend “Kooky” Mary (oops! I mean “Cookie” Mary), mentioned going to Famous Dave’s and taking out her new corn holders that I had given her and using them proudly as she ate a piece of corn on the cob, I thought “Ah! That’s what I’ll do – go to Famous Dave’s with my own little corn cob holders.” And so I did. Famous Dave’s has a fantastic chicken-rice soup that I like and makes very good baked beans which they call Wilbur Beans, and do a great job on a coleslaw. So I ordered those along with a side of corn-on-the-cob, and impressed the waitress with my own personal corn cob holders. But again, it somehow didn’t meet the elegant dining-out sense of my annual tradition. So I planned a new restaurant trip. I went first to a big mall where I visited a Godiva chocolate store and a Gourmet Chef kitchen-stuff store. The chocolate I purchased was made with Belgian chocolate and European style small biscuits, and came in a box of 36 assorted shapes. This box I took home and nibbled on for a couple of days, then put it out in the dining area for my neighbors to enjoy. It didn’t last long! Those two stores really whetted my appetite, so I headed out a few blocks west to an Italian restaurant called Grisanti’s. I was shown to a table and the waitress came and lit a votive candle in a hot dish holder. I asked first for the small loaf of bread with both butter and an olive-oil dip, which she brought and placed on the candle to keep it warm. I was in a booth, but it was very comfortable because the table moved so I didn’t get that crowded feeling that most booths offer. I ordered French onion soup and eggplant parmesan, both of which were absolutely scrumptious along with the hard crusted bread which I could either butter, dip in oil or dip in the onion soup. The vegetable was broccoli steamed to perfection! And the background music was quiet Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald types. The service was terrific and the manager stopped by to chat. Now this was Dining Out!!! I was in Heaven, and the bill came to only $9.52 – I couldn’t believe it! So I went home and sat and basked in the good feeling – but something was nagging at me – there was still something I had to do to round out this wonderful birthday month of a good meal each week – I knew what it was, but I was fighting it. Not for long, though so the next week I headed out to Wal-Mart and bought a whole roasted chicken. I brought it home, let it sit a bit to cool, and then set it on the table, just the chicken me and a knife and fork. And I dug in. MY MY! That was good! I ate the wing portions, set the little drumsticks aside thinking they would make a delightful breakfast, stripped the carcass and made up two containers, one of odd parts and dark meat to put into my Zatarain’s Red Beans and Rice, and the white meat to make sandwiches out of. I couldn’t help but feel like Mel Brooks when he says “It’s good to be King!” I’m not done yet, because the birthday party here at the Estates is coming up soon. I have come to the realization that on this year my birthday was not just January 6th, it was just JANUARY! All Month! |
Dec. 2006 |
Christel Murdock Dear Muse Editors ;) January 6: When I got my little Christmas e-mail, asking me what I wanted for Christmas, I was tempted to say "nothing" for one reason. That reason being that the only request you had was that we write you a Muse article. And goodness knows it's been quite a while since I've written and I couldn't really think of anything that would interest anyone as a Muse article, not that this is going to be any better, but I'm calling it, "Eight years out and still... Ahh Yeah!" We all love compliments; well, at least most of us do, right? Most compliments are completely intended and in some effect, lose their potency... it's still nice, but maybe they're just a schmoozer (this is a term my friends and I have used for people who compliment you just to break down your defenses, are disingenuous in doing so, and have alternate reasons for the act). ...My friends and I have decided that some boys will compliment someone they want to be friends with, simply to make them feel like part of the group (however, they will also make fun of something you're wearing to do the same thing)... Some men will also compliment mothers by saying they look like their daughters' sisters to flatter them and so on... But the best compliments come when they're unintended. So, this brings me to my actual story (I only included the rest to fill up a little space :) )... The other day, I was driving my Grandmother's car to run some errands for her, and I stopped at the gas station on the peninsula we call Coronado, where I grew up. I happened to be wearing a t-shirt from the program I was a part of in High School, Coronado School of the Arts. I had popped the hood from inside the car, but was struggling, sliding my hand along the inside to try and find the release latch, unsuccessfully. The attendant, however, had seen me struggling and came out of his cozy little office to help me figure it out. He actually ended up taking care of the oil & fluid check for me (one less thing I had to worry about.. yay!). Anyway, as he was helping me and I was playing the helpless damsel, he noticed my t-shirt and mentioned that he had one just like it... So, it was my chance to tell him that he'd looked familiar and I asked him if he had a child who went to school there. He said he was a substitute there, and I nodded as if it all made sense and went on to fill up the fuel tank. So, I asked if he would check the coolant, and he started to turn it, but he said it was going to be too hot for him to check and that the car would need to cool down a bit, and he asked if I was going back to the school after this... in my head, I thought, "the school... oh you think I'm a high school student... I haven't been a high school student for eight years! Ahhh yeah!" I pretty much skated on that little high point for the rest of the day, and I never really told him that I was 26, which I know is still relatively young, but definitely not a high school student... gotta love a good, unintentional compliment! So, I got something down for a little story... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! |
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Margery Aukstikalnis March 2: Thanks to the Muse, I have at my fingertips the information I lacked to complete my application for a passport: Mom's place of birth. I knew the State, but for the life of me couldn't remember the town. Bob and Nan to the rescue, again!!! Thanks! Now, can you confirm that Dad was born in Hubbardston, July 1st, 1905? Perhaps we should submit photos and thoughts of him, too, to give our children's children a recorded reference point. [Ed. Note: Bob verified that, indeed, their Dad was born on July 1, 1905...NAM] We will be heading east about April 1st, taking about three weeks to get from AZ to NH. We plan to stop to visit friends in Mission, TX for a few days, and hope to connect with Craig in Arkansas for a brief visit. The rest of the trip will be weather dependent. The birds this unusually cold winter have been phenomenal. Not so much in the variety of breeds as the volumes of birds in each flock. The funny thing is the larger birds (roadrunners, quail, Pyrrhuloxia, flickers) seem to be in slightly smaller numbers, but the sparrows, chickadees, and other small birds are overwhelmingly populous. It's been fun watching them. And our hunter cat, Emily (who much prefers to chase chipmunks because they play with her) loves to sit in hiding and watch the birds for hours! So, will the cherry blossoms bloom again this spring? [Ed. Note: Bob responded with the verification and added this question: What is your out-of-country travel plan? Nancy recently applied for a passport, because she is going to Wales in June for ten days with a few people from our church, including the priest and his wife. Joining them will be a group from our sister parish in Japan, including our Japanese "daughter," Jean Ogawa. Also going is our good friend Colleen "Hatlady" McKay, who does not go to our church but is a world class traveler. She and Nan went to Italy together a few years ago. Margie's response: Our out-of country plans are quite simple: the Mexican border is 15 miles from our house, and Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, which is sister city to Douglas, is about five times the population with incredible shopping opportunities. We haven't been there yet, but are looking forward to the trip. There are also MANY fascinating historical sites just over the border, and some nature's beauty that is worth traveling to see. All of our day trips so far have been on this side, and there is so much to see here, too! We especially enjoy the Amerind Foundation (AMERican INDian), which has a delightful museum and some great hiking. We also like the Chiricahua Mountains, which feature roundish rocks piled atop one another in gravity-defying formations. Then, once we get our passports, who knows - Montreal isn't all that far from Fitzwilliam. I've always dreamed of Australia, but I think I'll keep on dreaming. But the USA, starting in 2008, won't let us back into the country if we visit our neighbors, unless we have a passport. |
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Claudia Lindsey February 2: Dennis took this picture of Isabeau last night. As you can see she is wearing a heavy coat as it is cold here in "Sunny" California. We were at Disneyland when it was taken and we had just gotten off the Dumbo ride, which she loves. Can you believe it, she will be 3 years old in a couple of months! |
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Barbara DiStefano During the recent heavy snow time I was actually in West Chester PA, where I will be moving to very shortly. I came home to lots of snow, but my friends and family had shoveled me out!! My deep south friend is just that - a horse buddy. But last September I was cruising on Senior Friend Finder's Instant Message, and saw this cocky male face with the caption, "The time has come, the walrus said....." Hmmm, I said, that sounds like an interesting person. So I flagged him with a spirited, "Hi Hot Stuff," which caught his eye. We talked for three hours on IM that night, and he saved it and read it back to me, and it was amazing how much we learned about each other. He has a PhD in Chemistry, is very bright and witty, and belongs to a group called the Sabian Assembly - sabian.org. I have attended meetings with him, and it is a group of down-to-earth intelligent people - scientists, editors, a home-ec teacher, and all who are interested in studying the connection between the metaphysics and science and religion. Very fascinating. We study the Bible and the philosophers. Dick and I listen to tapes by Gregg Braden, who offers current scientific proof of what the religions of all time have been teaching. Anyway, after the initial encounter, we found our way to the phone and cam, and talked 3-4 hours every night; then two months later, after Thanksgiving dinner, I met him in Lancaster, PA, and it was a done deal. I went down again and stayed at a hotel in West Chester over New Years weekend and he showed me his home and I met his cat. His wife died about 15 months ago and he was ready to move on. He then came up here, and then I went down there to his house and am moving down shortly. The biggest thing is that I can be completely myself with him, and that is very comfortable. He stimulates me on many levels. Oh, and he doesn't like retirement (from DuPont), so he is opening a Quiznos sub shop in April. It is being constructed now. So that is my life up to date. Oh, I am selling the house; have two pending offers; am waiting to hear from my realtor tomorrow. [Ed. Note: For Barb's new email address, contact the Muse editors.] |
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Khendra Murdock January 3: I now have an updated picture of me. This one was taken around September/October of 2006. My final semester at my current college starts January 8. I can't wait to graduate! I have an internship this semester as well, although I haven't received the details yet on where my internship will be, or what it entails. I should be getting that information in the next few days. February 24: My internship is at the Spiva Art Center in Joplin. I proofread articles, write press releases, and work on filing their Permanent Collection of artwork there. I have really enjoyed it so far. |
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Polly Soberg February 19: I keep watching weather reports and notice nobody is escaping the cold this winter. It was very late in coming but when it came it came!! Yesterday I went to Lancaster MA to Bonnie's daughter Kim's house for a birthday party for Warren. John and Cathy went and so I hitched a ride with them. I saw my sons and families, and they all look great. Remember how chunky Bud and Matt were? Well Matt has sprouted and is probably taller than his dad. Buddy has thinned out and looks terrific. Shannon is very happy at school and has a new friend, Matt, who also came to the party. I had a really nice time visiting and eating. Since I've been dieting and my stomach has shrunk I nearly made myself sick trying a dab of each thing. I was back home before it got really dark, which worked for me. I have been going to my neighbor's house for Bible Study on Friday evenings so that keeps me involved. They are 7th Day Adventists, but I guess that doesn't much matter as the Bible is the same. Maybe some of the interpretation is not what I remember but then again maybe my brain doesn't always get it right. I'm glad to hear you are fine and weathering the storm..... I look forward to seeing you again in July. |
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