CAMP MORROW - WELCOME!!

The following pictures were taken last weekend during our visit to Lake Milford in Kansas. It really is a lot easier to see them if you'll click anywhere on the picture to enlarge it.
The blog after the pictures and the picture after that, were all taken last weekend. I hope you'll enjoy.

Breakfast is about ready. Get a plate and a fork. Grab a piece of toast and homemade cherry jam, I'll cook a couple over medium for ya, and the coffee's done. Pull up a chair and give me a visit.

Nephew getting to drive Unca Tom's jet ski. One of the few times the ski was completely in the water all weekend. Doll Face and Daddy going for a swim.

She is taking a campers siesta. Me thinks she is dreaming of her staring role (someday) in the Nutcracker. She's getting ready to land.... I could sleep in that position if someone were to break my hip. She can actually continue up with her foot and tickle her ear with her toes. That's nothing, I can bend at the waist and touch my knees.

Youngest child, Tom, his sister in-law, and Marilyn decide to try to set up Dad's new tent, before he tries to do it himself. They are fearful it could land in the lake, if I did it. Older son taking pic, me in background preparing to Dutch Oven a nice sized piece of prime rib.

Sunrise on Camp Morrow. Milford Lake Kansas. This is what you do when the air mattress has won the battle.

Stress

I've read somewhere that stress is the body's attempt at overiding that strong inner urge to strangle someone who so richly deserves it. Or something close to that.
My current stress is from a threatening letter I got June 2nd. My Cell phone co, Cellular One, decided that they may have to suspend my service. (I'm glad to know that's what they call it. I can't get service within ten miles of home)
Well for probably four or five years now, they've been taking my bill out of my bank account via a debit card number. For some reason they stopped doing that. I called to see why they stopped taking it out of my account, thereby causing me to be deliquent. My conversation went like this.
Me- You have stopped taking my bill out of my account automatically, Why?
Cell One- Sir, has your card been cancelled, or have you changed banks.
Me- No
Cell One- Well you are now deliquent, we will need payment or we will be forced to suspend service.
Me- What service?
Cell One- Pardon me sir?
Me- Never mind, just take the payment out of my account, the same one you've been using for, oh, say, THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
Cell One- Sir the card number you gave us no longer works.
Me- Well what number are you trying to use that all of a sudden doesn't work?
Cell One-Sir we are NOT allowed to give out card numbers over the phone.
Me_ I'VE GOT MY NUMBER, HOW'S ABOUT I READ IT TO YOU TO SEE IF WE CAN PINPOINT YOUR MISTAKE.
Cell One- Okay give it to me.
I gave it to her.
Cell One- That's the number I have.
Me- Okay. Well that account is still open, and has enough money to pay your bill. Why didn't you just take it out.
Cell One- Sir I'll email them (I thought I had been talking to them) and let them know of your trouble.
Me- Uh... no, it's your trouble.
Cell One- This should take care of it. Good Bye.
I got a bill yesterday for the same amount plus another month. $264 WE MISSED YOUR LAST 3 PAYMENTS.
Me-I thought this was taken care of.
Cell One- Sir, we can't take PAST DUE balances out of an auto pay account. You will have to send a check or I can take the payment over the phone.
I gave them (you guessed it) the same acct/card # that they've been using.
"Okay, that card is good, that should do it" she said.
Is there even the remotest of chances that this is over???

Natural Beauty- Part I

Some of Marilyn's flowers shooting off their fireworks, a week early.

Natural Beauty

The Morrow's went camping last weekend on Milford Lake in Kansas. We were helping celebrate the fifth wedding anniversary of my son to this steely eyed beauty. She allowed me to snap this photo, early in the morn, just after emerging from their tent. It had been a long nite in a tent with the baby and husband. Oh that we could all look this good naturally.
But the real compliment I will pay to her is of the very highest order. She is a really good mommy! To me, there is nothing to accomplish, more important than that. (I should add that she has an excellent child rearing partnership going with the help from a good husband)
Happy Anniversary Kids!!

I cropped the picture below, a little bit. I didn't want to delete the blog because of the comment, so here's the same photo, just cropped a bit.

Two Views From the Front Porch- June 23rd, 05

{Click on Photos to Enlarge} Looking East from the porch. Someone needs to put a stake on that young redbud tree. Soybeans in the background. The John Deere furthest from the camera is hooked to a Field Cultivator. We use that ahead of the planter. The nearest John Deere is hooked to a row crop cultivator. Usually used to kill weeds, this one is rigged for 'ditching'. Or rather it makes a deep furrow between rows where we will run irrigation water in a couple of weeks.

6.23.05 Looking North from the porch. Ol yeller's had a hard couple of weeks hauling corn.

Irrigation Study!!

Marilyn has planted her onions down the top of one of her veggie berms. Her potato's line the onions on both sides. The way I figure it, this qualifies as an 'eco-irrigation system'. The onions should make the eye's water on the spuds, so no more water should be required by either. We'll see if it works.

My Favorite Meal is Growing

One of my favorite meals is growing.
Sweet Corn.
The Tomatoes for BLT's.
Cucumbers in Vinegar, salt, pepper and touch of sugar.
New potato's and creamed peas.
Unsweetened iced tea.
Spinach salad with Marilyn's famous dressing.
How bout you. What' for supper??
Or do you remember HeeHaw? Hey Grandpa!! What's for supper??
Black-eyed peas and possum grits. (I'll leave that up to idgie)

Tom, taking it 'easy'.

Happy Birthday Tom!

Twenty Four years ago, yesterday, my wife woke me up with, "get up, we gotta go to the hospital, NOW"!! It was 5 AM, or there abouts. She thought she had embarassed herself a week earlier with a 'false' start to the hospital to have a baby and she wasn't going to let it happen again.
This was her third child. Her water broke, and so she decided to curl her hair, put on make-up, call the hospital, and then wake me up. She should have skipped the first two. When she called the nurse at the hospital, and explained the part about this is her third child, her water broke, and the contractions were 4 minutes apart, the nurse said, "Do you realize how big of a hurry you're in"?? Driving down I remember the almost constant Lamaze pants and the words, "Oh Cliff, hurry".
Twenty Five minutes to the hospital took about twenty. I dropped her off at the Emergency Room. I parked the car, walked the half block to the door (small town hospital) and a nurse met me. "Did you want to be in the room when the baby is born"? I said "yes, I guess I do". She threw a gown at me and said "put that on and get in there or you're going to miss it".
I almost did miss it. I hadn't been in the room more than about two minutes and we heard the glorious crying of a new life.
Well, all of my kids are special, and have their own strengths and talents. But this isn't about them this time.
The birth of that boy was the beginning of something special for our family.
First of all, the day he was born, was the last time he was in a hurry. As his Brother has said, "Tom has made a science out of taking it easy". He is a 'people' person. He has always been the 'oldest' member of our family. When growing up, if we were at a gathering of some kind, he would be with the adults. If there is some kind of family get together, He will be there. He is talented as an athelete, musician, golfer, jet ski pilot, fisherman, tractor trailer driver, auto body technician, combine operator, farmer, and on and on. But he isn't consumed by any one thing. (with the exception of his girlfriend possibly)
In these past twenty four years, I've never seen him really mad. (He has however, scolded me about getting mad) I think, more than anything, Tom enjoys life, and refuses to be hurried through it. So yesterday, he worked, played golf, went out to dinner with his girlfriend, brother and family. All, normal, everyday activities. All done in order without hurrying, quietly, and with a smile. I wouldn't have expected less. Life is to be enjoyed, 'Right Tom'?? Happy Birthday! I love you.

Banana Sandwich

Thirty Four years ago I brought my young Bride from Denver, out to live with me on the farm. It took some getting used to each others traditions.
One morning she set a toasted sandwich in front of me. A banana sandwich. Not wanting to call into question her upbringing. I ate it as though it was a normal occurrence for me. Pretty good. We've had them, from time to time, since then.
Take two pieces of toast. Put mayo on one, with bacon. Put peanut butter on the other with long slices of banana on it. Slap those two together and enjoy. Weird, but good.

ETC!!

1. We went to Lincoln Sunday nite to watch another softball game. We witnessed a triple play. Runners on first and second, and a sharp line drive to the second base side of the shortstop. He fielded it on the first hop, tagged the runner, stepped on second, and threw to first. Good play, by the wrong team. We lost 12-2.
2. We have a County Board meeting this morning. The tax valuation statements went in the mail on June 1st. This means we have begun receiving 'Tax Protests' and will need to begin meeting as the 'Board of Equalization', later this month, to 'hear' those protests. The equaliztion process can be tedious but we are obligated to make sure that everybody has a fair value placed on their property, to insure that our taxation will be fair.
We will meet with the cemetery boards from across the county. They are all having money problems.
3. Our forecast is for seven days of sunshine with the highest temp of 82. Perfect weather for the local main event. The NCAA College World Series held 45 miles south of here, in Omaha. Nebraska, has earned a trip down I-80, again, but this year, they will doubtless be one of the favorites to win. They have an incredible pitching staff. One of their best pitchers, never even got to see action in the Super Regionals, as they easily dispensed with Miami, taking the first two of a three game series.
4. While in bed this morning, I turned on the TV, and after viewing for a few minutes, decided that I no longer cared to see cartooned bears, in the trees, using Charmin. The end of our civiliaztion may be near.

It's Parade Time in the Midwest!!!

(click to enlarge picture)My Daughter Juli rode her horse, and lead this pony and stuffed dog, in a parade today. It was held in a neighboring town. The sign reads 'DOG AND PONY SHOW!! BY MORROW KENNELS. I believe the theme for the parade was Circus, Circus. It was a hit, according to those we have talked to.

The Forecast!

I heard a local farmer this morning, he said "I've dumped over twenty inches of rain out of my gauge since this wet spell started".
The forecast is for 1 to 6" by morning. We already have water standing down every corn row.
1 to 6 by morning. I heard that same forecast last winter.
We may be in trouble here.

Blue!!

Marty and Ralph have been blogging about game officials. And that made me recall an incident of about 10 years ago. I was coaching one of our two 'Pony League' baseball teams here in Tekamah. (13 and 14 year olds)
We had been having trouble with rainouts and make-up games. It put our scheduled umpire crews out of sync. and for that reason I couldn't find umpires for an upcoming game.
I recalled that north of town lived one of the best umpires I had ever watched, but he was retired from the game. Some of you who have followed this blog for the past several months will recognize him as "Blue". The nickname given to the umpires by coaches and fans. He has left a few comments and his son Greg has sent some neat pics from Alaska.
Well Blue and his Brother were good umpires. The best. They always treated all players, coaches, and fans with respect. They were decisive, and as far as I knew almost always correct, and a strike zone that stayed the same throughout the game, they knew the rule book well, and they were always cheerful. They had a ready smile for the players who came to the plate.
They usually umpired Legion ballgames when they were active. Juniors and Seniors in high school. Sooo, could I get them for my team. Would they come out of retirement for kids this young. "Sure Cliff, that sounds like fun".
We were ten minutes from game time and they appeared. Probably the first time these players had ever seen umpires with matching blue shirts and navy colored pants and the home plate umpire hiding all of his pads under his cloths. They walked in, took over and the boys were impressed. Considering the age of these boys, its easier to impress them with which little girl is in the stands or when their buddies were going to go to the pool tomorrow. However, I had players coming back to the dugout after their turn at bat and they would say, "Hey coach, who are those umpires? They are really good". The pitchers I used, said the strike zone was solid all night.
Late in the game, the opposing teams lead off hitter, laced one to the fence in right field. The infield ump, who was in position at first base, could see that the play was going to be at third. I was in the dugout by third base, the runner was leaning around second and coming my way. The ump came racing across the diamond to third. He arrived first, then the ball and runner at the same time. The dust from the play obliterated all three people. But when the dust settled a bit you could see the ump's face about 24" above the base, in perfect position to make the call, the runners foot on the bag and the third basemans glove on the runner. The only question remaining was 'did the third baseman drop the ball. The ump with a huge, booming voice yelled, "SHOW ME THE BALL"!!! The third baseman let his glove fall open to reveal the ball. "YOU'RE OUT", he yelled.
It was all done with so much enthusiasm, and correctness, and class, that I'm sure all involved, including the runner, went home feeling like they had been involved in a great play. Yes, a great game. That's a memory.
Yes Marty, good umpires are important. The least we can hope for is that they don't impact the outcome of the game. The most we can hope for is that they bring everyone there, to the next level. They can and do make the game important and fair. The players know, that on that day, the win or loss was up to themselves. Good competitive sports teach us that we will win some, lose some, and be slower or faster than some, we'll be knocked down and get up, and if we play well as a team, we've got a good chance of being successful. Life, isn't it?
HEY BLUE!! THANKS!

This Is Your Pilot Speaking....

This link , is a brief announcement by a pilot I would fly with.

Whats the Score?

We went to Lincoln last evening to watch a coed softball game. (in the 'We Suck' league' as my kids put it) We mainly went to watch the youngest addition to the Morrow Clan, while her folks, and Uncle, played ball.
I am a big fan of watching live baseball/softball. They always ask me to keep score. I have a difficult time trying to keep score because I tend to watch the exciting play and then after the next batter is up I will typically say, "Oh what happened there". And then I try to rebuild the last 2 minutes.
Last night the umpire stopped to ask me the score. He reported it to the other side, " it's 8 to 7". They said "no its 9 to 8". I went over,,,, the other score keeper showed me where I had miscounted.
The next inning the umpire said to me "what's the score, or should I even ask"? He then said "well, I saw the scorebook in your hand and thought you might know the score, never mind". I tellya, I get no respect.

MEMORIAL DAY IN BURT COUNTY

(click on photos to enlarge) A community pauses to pay respect to those whom we owe our Freedom. This is a War Memorial in front of, and to the south of the Burt County Courthouse in Tekamah, NE.

The north half of our courthouse. Notice the immaculate grounds. We are fortunate to have a man who is one of the best. The near perfect appearance of the courthouse and grounds in the middle of a town, certainly raises the bar for the citizens.

This is the north side of the courthouse lawn. I took four photos expecting to stich them together for one grand panoramic view. It looked like something Picaso would have done if he had been a photographer. So I'll give you the north half and you'll have to imagine that the south half looked the same. It did.

Twenty-One guns saluting their fallen comrades.

The following pics are of the murals that were recently painted on the second floor of the Burt County Courthouse. A very talented local artist painted them and they were sponsored by County Veterans. An open house was held the Sunday before Memorial Day to unveil them.

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Burt County residents lost in the Wars.

Western Union: I deeply regret to inform you...

Me,, with one of my favorite 'Rock Groups'. My mostest favorite Rock Group is on Mt. Rushmore.