Anniversary Nostalgia + Memorable Walks, Including One Down Memory Lane

41st Wedding Anniversary Odyssey . . .                    Special frightful FRI Edition

DISCLAIMERS:  

#1:  If you are reading this from the Norfolk Daily News web site, you will probably be dismayed by the number of links * referenced in the political potpourri section below. That's all I'll say, EXCEPT I continue to vouch for the outstanding journalistic content & integrity of my favorite hometown newspaper. **
#2:  I started working on this entry last night, THU 6/2 . . . I wrote the bulk of it this morning, FRI 6/3 . . . I resumed late this afternoon, after we arrived at Nathan & Laura's, after I took my customary mid- to late-afternoon nap, after my customary, healthy, complex-carb snack.
* Also highlights, colors, special fonts & font-sizes, etc.
** Does this sound self-serving? If the shoe fits . . . 

ODYSSEY

Alas . . . no homemade coffee cake again this morning. I settled for one slice of "English Muffin" bread, toasted, buttered; followed by a peanut & jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread, also toasted . . . Coffee still adequate, but I must say * this does not detract from the overall ambience of The Historic Lodge of Forest City. I am very grateful that my wife of 41+ years of wedded bliss ** found this place for us to spend the 1st three days of this summer's anniversary odyssey.
* I must . . . either because of my OCD or my unwavering courtesy & unyielding journalistic integrity.
** CLARIFICATION:  Apparently my reference yesterday gave the impression & befuddled some readers that out of 41 years of matrimony we had only experienced a day or so of wedding bliss. Not so! I meant to convey that we have experienced 41 years PLUS an additional one or two days of wedded bliss. Satisfied, Carolyn?!

Yesterday's Highlights

• Lunch @ The Other Place. I cannot recall whether we had crossed the dividing line between Ventura (Ven-TOO-Ruh, not Ven-CHEW-Ruh) & Clear Lake. We treated my brother & his extended family to a delicious repast, which included a HEEYUUGE, breaded pork tenderloin sandwich with I could not finish. My grand-niece Hannah * shared several mini-corn dog bites w/me. Although I had called dibs on whatever leftover kids' grilled cheese sandwiches were, well, left over, apparently the word didn't get passed down to the other end of the table. Someone else got to my grand-nephew Leviathan's * leftover grilled cheese first, but, hey, no hard feelings.

* I have decided, since we all know that unseemly characters with less than pure motives inhabit the blogosphere, I've decided to do my best to protect these young person's identities by assigning faux-monickers to them.

• Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce Visitors' Center . . . Most notable for two reasons. {1} My intrepid brother was able to secure invaluable touring references & plumb the knowledge of the lady working the CLCoCVC desk, gaining, among other things, directions to the Surf Ballroom & the site of the Buddy Holly Crash Site. {Be patient.] {2} Free candy. *

* I felt it would be rude not to help myself to one, maybe two pieces.

• Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake. "The internationally-known Surf Ballroom is located in one of IA's most popular resort cities, Clear Lake. Since 1933, the surf has offered music & dancing entertainment from the big band era to the present day, including Polka, Country, '50s & '60s, Blues & of course Rock & Roll . . . Nearby (an original coat check) is the actual phone used by Buddy Holy & Ritchie Valens to make calls prior to leaving on Feb. 2,1959. Heading to the right, you will enter the SurfSide 6 Lounge. There you will be able to view our Wall of Fame, learn more about the Winter Dance Party tour & tributes, & view artifacts & rock 'n roll memorabilia." [Source: "Surf walking tour & exhibit guide"} . . . If you haven't caught on yet, the Surf Ballroom is where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, & J.T. Richardson, aka "The Big Bopper," played their last concert before boarding a plane which crashed after taking off from the Mason City Airport later that evening. [Once again, be patient.] We talked to the owner . . . We were in the actual backstage room where these fated artists waited before performing . . . We saw artifacts which included some of Don MacClean's hand-written lyrics to "American pie" [the song, not the wretchedly vulgar movie . . . but I digress.] . . . as well as hand-written lyrics to "La Bamba" [The song, not the highly entertaining but possibly not entirely historically accurate movie], which Ritchie Valenzuela [a.k.a. "Valens"] had his grand-mother write for him, since "La Bamba" was actually a Mexican folk-song, & Ritchie was not fluent in Spanish . . . But once again, I digress.
• Central Gardens of North Iowa, located in Clear Lake. When we pulled up to this comely attraction of horticultural beauty, I announced that I was going to take a nap. It proved to be too warm in the car for me, so I entered the grounds & wrote in the comment section of the visitors' log, "Met & exceeded my expectations." This proved to be a premature assessment, prior to my actually brief yet underwhelming stroll through a fragment of the sparsely luxurious landscape.
• Memorial Crash Site. There is a very modest memorial located along a fence line in a corn field in rural Clear Lake, IA, north & west [I'm pretty sure.] of the Mason City, IA, air port. By very modest, I mean a couple of very small markers, one with the names of the 3 artists engraved on it; one with the name of the man I presume to be the pilot. There was a pole w/what all three of us--my spouse, brother, & his wife--all agreed looked like jello-molds affixed to it, spinning in the wind. CAVEAT:  I was barely 6-years-old on "the day the music died." I don't remember hearing any of the original songs made popular by these 3. I learned most of what I know about Ritchie Valens from the movie La Bamba. I'm sure my older cohorts would find these locations much more emotionally engaging. [John & Wanda Olson; Paul & Kathy Farmer . . . This is meant to be a tribute to you.] *

* Because that's just the kind of brother-in-law I am.

• Circumnavigation of "Lake Okoboji Lite." Thanks to the navigation skills of my brother, sister-in-law, & spouse, we drove around the entire "Lake of Clear." Sadly, although there were occasional neighborhoods that evoked memories of Lake Okoboji, I can no longer affix the nickname of "Lake Okoboji Lite" to this "neck of the woods."
• Memorable Stop for Ice Cream Cream at Viking Drive-Inn, Ven-TOO-Ruh. Mark & Christy generously treated us to ice cream at the legendary Viking Drive-In, located just 2 minutes north of my niece's house. Mark had warned us that a "small" ice cream cone would easily suffice.* He also claimed that . . . according to his daughter . . . we would encounter the "the most delicious soft-serve ever in North Central Iowa" . . . He did not disappoint. **

* My traveling companion may or may not have suggested later that his caveat might have had more to do w/financial considerations, but I digressed.
** AMUSING ASIDE:  Using the latest technological advancements, my brother's daughter, who was at home with "Hannah," "Leviathan," & "Skibby," ascertained that we were at Viking's. They soon joined us, & my brother was forced to buy more treats. ***
*** My grand-niece's & nephew refused to share. I'm just sayin'.

• Farewell & Return to Forest City. Before my beautiful bride of 41+ years of wedded bliss & I retired for the night to the comfort of The Historic Lodge of Forest City, we took a driving tour of downtown Forest City . . . We found the Chinese Restaurant where I thought I wanted to have supper later * . . . I finished the nap that I had begun in the car ** . . . Lois, to her credit & my discredit . . . went for a lengthy walk on the hiker-biker trail adjacent to the scenic Winnebago River *** . . . After I woke up, I drove to Casey's, not really sure what I was hungry for, & settled . . . once again to my discredit . . . for a frosted cinnamon roll.

* It turns out--I was informed--that I did NOT want to have supper there. 
** Never fear . . . Lois was driving.
*** As I've mentioned before, named for Winnebago Industries, not the native American peoples.

SOME ANNIVERSARY NOSTALGIA

• On the morning of our wedding, I took my siblings & cousins on a mini-road trip . . . We found Dunksburg! I'm quite sure this was a unique experience for my heavily urbanized relatives.
• We were standing in the church lobby . . . the melodious strains of the wedding processional beginning to echo through the sanctuary . . . when Lois' attendants began to make their way upstairs from the church basement. * As her little sister Anita came into view at the top of the stairs & saw me . . . she burst into tears . . . Thanks, Anita . . . a wedding memory that I'll treasure forever.

* Being the traditionalists that we were & still are, I refrained from gazing at Lois until I was standing in the front of the church & she appeared by her father's side, ready to make the sprint from the back of the church, up the center aisle, to join me for what would turn out to be 41+ years of wedded bliss.

TODAY'S AGENDA

• We will drive from Forest City to Eagan, MN, where we will spend the rest of the weekend, enjoying the company of my son Nathan *, his wife Laura **, & grand-son Calvin ***.
• We get to baby-sit Calvin tonite.
• I will try my best not to engage my son in topics involving politics & theology. 
• Hopefully Laura, who usually plans these things, will have chosen some unique attraction to visit.
• Nathan, who usually serves as her #1 consultant, will have chosen some amazing outdoor activity that includes some serious hiking that meets my fragile physical expectations.
• We will get to treat them to a dinner, lunch, or brunch for their recent wedding anniversary. ****

* A very talented blogger.
** While not a blogger, a very talented pre-school director & loving mother.
***Although Lutheran, named "Calvin," yet already a member of Mensa.
**** Which reminds me, I have what I consider a VERY amusing anniversary card that I hope I remember to share with them.

political potpourri

She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named vs He-Who-Will-Not-Be-Deterred

I found this article while cruising & perusing the Drudge Report on THU 6/2. Link from Drudge Report 6/2. It's written by Mark Murray & references the CA primary. All I needed to read were the first few lines & it satisfied my curiosity. [I was planning to work on another blog entry. I have things to do . . . places to go . . . people to meet.]

Another article I found while cruising & perusing the Drudge Report, this time on the actual morning of FRI 6/3 . . . Link from Drudge Report 6/3. I breezed through most of it.

For a change of pace, check out this article I found via Townhall. Link re: HWWNBD but just as much about SWSNBN. I'll let the content stand on its own merit.

A SWSNBN Exclusive!

Here's an article by Brent Bozell & Tim Graham which I found via Media Research Council via Drudge Report on 6/3. Link from Drudge Report. The dateline is actually 5/31. I actually read the column.

He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named

Here's a HEEYUUGELY amazing link re: HWSNBN, which, once again, I ran across while cruising & perusing the Drudge Report this morning. Link from Drudge Report 6/3. "I'm an American Latino, voting for HWSNBN."

What's that, you say? Yet another link? It's true . . . I'm feeling mentally & emotionally fatigued, which is my excuse for relying so heavily on links for my political potpourri feature this morning . . . I'm sorry IF this offends you . . . Thanks to my favorite, partisan pundit, here is a thoughtful, albeit provocative tome, via NRO, dateline 5/31. Link from J.G. [I haven't made up my mind yet whether I can vote for HWSNBN.] *
* I am trying to think of a more suitable nick-name, now that he's the presumptive Republican nominee for POTUS.