Hummers Stay in Ashland

Several hummingbirds decided to stay in Ashland instead of heading to Arizona for the winter. They probably know that obligates us to feed them until the flowers bloom in Spring! But this week we have an Arctic blast of cold air that seems like zero degrees wind chill even though the sun shines afternoon! Yesterday and today, the fog was so thick the frost grew every minute obscuring the sun. The barren trees and shrubs were all covered with a snowlike covering. I went out to get a photo and as usual, the hummers protested. They have claimed the feeders and let you know your too close. The hummer you see, decided to wait me out in the top of the frost covered tree and as soon as I went inside, took a long sip of sweet feed and retreated to home in the top of the nearby evergreen.

Ashland Water Polo State Champions!

Adam, Lori and Bob's water boy, helped the Ashland High School Water Polo team win the state championship! As a sophomore, Adam has worked hard and landed a regular starting position on the team. The final game was very close against a tough Portland team. Going into the final quarter, Ashland was behind 8 to 10. Against a super goalie, they struggled for goals but outlasted their opponents and scored the winning goal with just seconds to go. Congratulations to Adam and his team for a superb accomplishment!

Tyler Reports from Boulder, Colorado

Roly & Candy dumped Tyler their youngest, as new fallen snow, in Boulder again this fall. Now in his second year, Tyler looks forward to the first snowfall so he can snow board!! He finally figured out how to maneuver a photo from his cell phone to my cell, then these photos became my problem on how to get them from my cell phone into my computer all the way to this Blog! You don't want to know all the hoops we had to jump thru! 'But alas, 2 photos from Boulder! You can see the University football field in the distance and enjoy the beautiful Colorado snowfall! Thanks Tyler for this great effort!

Summer Trip - Final Installment 5

It seemed like we were gone all summer, nearly 8 weeks. After 10 days in Michigan surrounded by Esther's family and friends, we headed back to Indiana to see family & friends in & around Wakarusa with the grand event, my 60th Wakarusa High School class reunion! We spent our week with Norma & Gene Slagle. Our first stop was Uncle Bud Hartke in Mishawaka. As always Bud has sharpened his sense of humor and manages pretty well alone with a little help from niece Tammy. It's always scary to have breakfast at the uptown restaurant. . .but decided to go for it. And as you would expect, an old girlfriend and 6 other old folks that knew me right away and. . .I did get most of them right but was relieved when it went better than I expected. I can't tell you what I ordered and if I even ate it . . .but it was a nice memory!

We had a great time with Tammy, Allison and Brandon in Wakarusa, Sharon Poe, a 1st cousin, Al & Barbara Beutler in South Bend, the Ludwicks and Wises in Wakarusa and others.

After the reunion, we headed for home. After two nights in motels (9 nights in motels for the entire trip) we reached Kay & Tom Branches in Crawford, Colorado. They took us to the National Monument Park in Pueblo. It reminded us of the many beautiful scenic places that are preserved for all of us to enjoy. On to Salt Lake City and Sacramento, CA where Chris & Carlon, our long time friends from College days greeted us for a long week-end. The week-end was a special celebration for their kids. It was a farewell at the church they started in Rocklin, CA.

We were now anxious to get home and collect two months of mail!!! and, see what bills we had forgotten to pay. Things were quiet in Ashland with very few problems awaiting us. It was a wonderful trip! The 2000 Mercury Villager gave us a comfortable even after 125,000 miles! But best of all was Ashley's wedding in Austin, TX and our families and friends that we loved to connect with and make new memories with. You were all grand people!!!

Corsicana, Texas Bulletin

THE BASS ARE COMING IN to Roly's dock apparently feeding on the small fish who live in submerged trees and weed cover. Just received the photo taken quickly at night after catching this 8 pound largemouth bass! It does make all fisherpeople want to board the next plane for Texas! Congratulations Roly!

1st Photos from UC Monterey Bay, California

Amanda and roommate enjoying the cool Pacific Ocean breezes. She is also pictured with the University of California team where she landed a starting position in right field. The campus is in Monterey Bay and next to the ocean. She is pursuing Marine Biology. What a place to be for this study where they are equipped with robot deep diving subs to retrieve marine life from the ocean bottom. This ship was recently featured on the National Geographic Channel. So far she has survived a few detours and some homesickness. We'll all be glad to see her this Thanksgiving in Ashland, Oregon!

Big Trip East 4 - Ind.-Mich.

Back in June, we left Texas stayed overnight in Jackson, TN and made to Indianapolis where Dan & Donna Monroe (right bottom)welcomed us for several nights. Dan's dad, Wayne, was there - a long time friend from Anderson, Indiana. To and from their place we connected with Dot Berkey and Ruth Berry a former neighbor in Ashland, OR.

We moved north to Jan and Steve Kings in Ft. Wayne (middle bottom) where their daughter Susan joined us. They took us to the Ft. Wayne Zoo. . .a magnificent layout with many interesting sights along the way for all ages. Highly Recommended! We connected with Kim & Tom Swank in Ft. Wayne, where Mike Reynolds surprised us! This was a real treat for Esther & I which took us back to our days in Elkhart & Wakarusa. As we were about to leave for Michigan, Tom presented us with a family heirloom he had rescued from Bethel Publishing in Elkhart as they were closing it down. My grandpa & grandma Freed, who had started the Shoe Store in Wakarusa in the early 1900's, had purchased a large, leather family Bible published in 1888. They had filled in all the family pages in the center of this Bible with dates along with a certificate of their marriage. I couldn't believe that this Bible was almost lost to our family had Tom not discovered it in the basement of Bethel Publishing. This was a wonderful gift to me and our family!

We then headed to Michigan where Ruth's and Jim's and Betty's were expecting us. The days ahead were filled with reunions and get-togethers. We also were blessed with meeting Rose, Scott Tuckey's new wife, pictured above. Notice Gary & daughter Julie busy cooking for us.

Our friends from the East, Jane & Larry Wilson, were traveling in Ohio and were able to join us at Ruth's for several days. Jim gave us a tour of his wood working shop and was explaining his drum sander. We also visited his favorite spot in Michigan, the cabin in the woods. Time passed swiftly as we headed back to Wakarusa for more reunions. . .the next installment.