Friday, June 11, 2010
Flashback Friday # 4 ~ My Uncle Howard
This is a slightly edited repeat of my Friday, December 16, 2005, blog posting.
This is # 12 for Linda but only # 4 for me. You see I will never catch up.
Linda's orders are: Tell about any of your grandparents, cousins, or other extended family that was special to you growing up. She had a little more too and you can read them on her site. On her site you can also find other nice stories about others' relatives. Just click here on the button to the right.
Uncles and Brother-in-laws
[Brother-in-laws and other uncles are a WIP*]
The picture is Uncle Howard with his family in the 1940s.
I had four very nice uncles, three brothers of my Father were Lester, Chester, and Howard, and Don, a brother of my Mom. All have died. There weren't any blood relation aunts on Dad's side of the family who lived beyond infant hood. Mom's full brother lived in Oregon most of my life and I don't remember much about him. Mom also had four brothers or BIL's about my age. Two of those have died.
Here goes. Uncle Howard was Dad's youngest brother, two years younger than Dad. I felt that I was his favorite nephew; he called me "Jimmy." My best remembrance of him is that he could yodel. He is the only person I know or have known who could yodel. He yodeled good, very good. He would only yodel when nobody was around, except me.
Uncle Howard's favorite song was Cattle Call:
"The cattle are prowlin'
The coyotes are howlin'
Way out where the doggies roam
Where the spurs are a jinglin'
And the cowboy is singin'
His lonesome cattle call
[Yodels]
He rides in the sun'
Til his days work is done,
And he rounds up the cattle each fall
[Yodels]
Singing his cattle call"
I still like to sing that song when nobody is around too. And I try to yodel. Uncle Howard never sang in public either. Not even in church.
He had two boys, John and Jack. Jack and his sons do the farming on our family farm, John has completely retired from the Corps of Engineers. The both live in Tekamah, Nebraska. Jack is married with three sons; John is divorced and has one son. Jack makes fairly regular visits to Conroe (Texas) in the spring. It is a nice use of his Time Share credits. He has grandchildren south of Houston and of course a cousin, us, living in Montgomery
Uncle Howard finished school through the eighth grade at District # 42, the same school Dad, the other two uncles, John, Jack, two girl cousins, my sister, Lois, and I all attended until high school. It was a one-room schoolhouse. That was all the education my grandfather would allow, except for my Dad who when through the tenth grade. Grandpa needed his 'boys' to help on his farms.
Uncle Howard had newer cars and tractors than we had. Dad still used horses for farming a lot in the thirties; Uncle Howard had tractors early on. Uncle Howard did keep a team and a riding horse. He was the first one in the neighborhood to use milking machines.
His wife, Aunt Fae, and my mom were friends before either married these two brothers. I thought that I was my Aunt Fae's favorite nephew also. She would make cookies and candy for us. Aunt Fae and Uncle Howard traveled a lot. Mom and Dad didn't travel much until their later years. So we didn't go on any long vacations until I had graduated from high school.
Uncle Howard was a very clean living man. He was the only one of the brothers who didn't smoke. I don't think he ever inhaled a cigarette or tasted beer. Not even when he was young. I could be wrong, but that was the impression he left for me to remember.
He was also very religious. He became a deacon at middle age and remained one for the rest of his life. I saw Uncle Howard the day he died.
Later that day, about an hour before he died, he led a prayer group in his hospital room with his family. He requested all the nurses and staff who could come to be there also. Uncle Howard prayed then. He prayed for each family member and hospital attendant by name. And he died in less than an hour.
Singing his cattle call
.
*WIP --> Work In Progress.
Actually progress in this line of other uncles and BILs has stalled. This post with the encouragement of Linda my encourage me to finish the job. As you can see there are eight other uncles and then I have two BILs. All my uncles are deceased except for three who are younger than I.
- - - - - - - -
Today is National German Chocolate Cake Day.
Have you had yours yet?
(Link for other June Holidays)
(Link to recipe help from Ask Dr. Jim (blog)
This is # 12 for Linda but only # 4 for me. You see I will never catch up.
Linda's orders are: Tell about any of your grandparents, cousins, or other extended family that was special to you growing up. She had a little more too and you can read them on her site. On her site you can also find other nice stories about others' relatives. Just click here on the button to the right.
Uncles and Brother-in-laws[Brother-in-laws and other uncles are a WIP*]
The picture is Uncle Howard with his family in the 1940s.
I had four very nice uncles, three brothers of my Father were Lester, Chester, and Howard, and Don, a brother of my Mom. All have died. There weren't any blood relation aunts on Dad's side of the family who lived beyond infant hood. Mom's full brother lived in Oregon most of my life and I don't remember much about him. Mom also had four brothers or BIL's about my age. Two of those have died.
Here goes. Uncle Howard was Dad's youngest brother, two years younger than Dad. I felt that I was his favorite nephew; he called me "Jimmy." My best remembrance of him is that he could yodel. He is the only person I know or have known who could yodel. He yodeled good, very good. He would only yodel when nobody was around, except me.
Uncle Howard's favorite song was Cattle Call:
"The cattle are prowlin'
The coyotes are howlin'
Way out where the doggies roam
Where the spurs are a jinglin'
And the cowboy is singin'
His lonesome cattle call
[Yodels]
He rides in the sun'
Til his days work is done,
And he rounds up the cattle each fall
[Yodels]
Singing his cattle call"
I still like to sing that song when nobody is around too. And I try to yodel. Uncle Howard never sang in public either. Not even in church.
He had two boys, John and Jack. Jack and his sons do the farming on our family farm, John has completely retired from the Corps of Engineers. The both live in Tekamah, Nebraska. Jack is married with three sons; John is divorced and has one son. Jack makes fairly regular visits to Conroe (Texas) in the spring. It is a nice use of his Time Share credits. He has grandchildren south of Houston and of course a cousin, us, living in Montgomery
Uncle Howard finished school through the eighth grade at District # 42, the same school Dad, the other two uncles, John, Jack, two girl cousins, my sister, Lois, and I all attended until high school. It was a one-room schoolhouse. That was all the education my grandfather would allow, except for my Dad who when through the tenth grade. Grandpa needed his 'boys' to help on his farms.
Uncle Howard had newer cars and tractors than we had. Dad still used horses for farming a lot in the thirties; Uncle Howard had tractors early on. Uncle Howard did keep a team and a riding horse. He was the first one in the neighborhood to use milking machines.
His wife, Aunt Fae, and my mom were friends before either married these two brothers. I thought that I was my Aunt Fae's favorite nephew also. She would make cookies and candy for us. Aunt Fae and Uncle Howard traveled a lot. Mom and Dad didn't travel much until their later years. So we didn't go on any long vacations until I had graduated from high school.
Uncle Howard was a very clean living man. He was the only one of the brothers who didn't smoke. I don't think he ever inhaled a cigarette or tasted beer. Not even when he was young. I could be wrong, but that was the impression he left for me to remember.
He was also very religious. He became a deacon at middle age and remained one for the rest of his life. I saw Uncle Howard the day he died.
Later that day, about an hour before he died, he led a prayer group in his hospital room with his family. He requested all the nurses and staff who could come to be there also. Uncle Howard prayed then. He prayed for each family member and hospital attendant by name. And he died in less than an hour.
Singing his cattle call
.
*WIP --> Work In Progress.
Actually progress in this line of other uncles and BILs has stalled. This post with the encouragement of Linda my encourage me to finish the job. As you can see there are eight other uncles and then I have two BILs. All my uncles are deceased except for three who are younger than I.
- - - - - - - -
Today is National German Chocolate Cake Day.
Have you had yours yet?
(Link for other June Holidays)
(Link to recipe help from Ask Dr. Jim (blog)
Labels: Family, Flashback Friday, Food, Jim's Life, Recipes
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Feet with flip flops — MidWeek Blues — Things to know
I once had a worry. After my knee surgery back in 2006 I noticed I was knock-kneed. I didn't think I ever was that way before, in fact I always thought I was bow legged. Mrs. Jim thought I was goofy.Anyway, I asked the orthopedic dr/surgeon about this problem. I told him all about it and that I couldn't stand at attention anymore, like we had
[These feet look too young to be driving.]
to do in the Army. Then, our feet should be together at the heals and about six to eight inches apart at the toes. Standing that way now, my heals are about six inches apart when my knees touch each other.
.
[These feet didn't do much driving until the doc released me.].
I did mention to the doc that maybe I shouldn't be concerned about things like this. Doc was very nice and really was glad that I was noticing things like this. He said most people as they get older become more bow legged, but that a few get knock kneed or don't change. It is all dependent upon how our joints wear when they age. Hip joints and knee joints and foot joints. [Thigh bone connected to the knee bone connected to the foot bone, I sure was glad I remembered my anatomy.]
So why don't you measure and record how your heels and knees are spaced when you stand at attention. Then maybe once a year check on your aging process and your joint settlement. Osteoporosis can enter into this too.
Well:
Being goofy. See, I'm not really goofy, even if Mrs. Jim said I was. If you have a worry, get it checked out.
- - - - - - - -
If you want to post a MidWeek Blues picture, go get directions from Rebecca by clicking on the logo picture on the right. She has a Mr. Linky and good directions . Just do what I did. Or do less. All she requires is a BLUE PICTURE, you don't have to write.
.
Labels: Feet, Midweek Blues, Things to know
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Amber is our houseguest — Ruby (Red) Tuesday— June Calendar (cars)
I think most of you know Karen's cat, Amber. She has been a house guest with us before. Also a fairly frequent blog guest. (link to blog visits) Click on any picture to make it large. Click again to see it super-sized.
Amber is staying indefinitely with us now. We expect this visit to be more than two years. So for that amount of time she will become a family member resident and no longer a guest. Of course whereever Amber goes she gets the royal treatment.
You may have noticed there is a minimal amount of red in my Ruby Tuesday pictures today. That is because due to budget cuts (time) spent blogging I have not gotten to tell you about Amber being here before this.
The red is on the collar she is wearing. Katrin owns this one and wasn't to happy at all when I took it off for Katrin. But Ruby Tuesday honesty governs, GOT TO HAVE RED.
The same goes for the calendars. On each calendar picture you will notice that the tires are red-rimmed sidewall versions. People are paying big bucks for those now.
I couldn't decide which calendar to choose. The one on the left is my new 2010 NAPA calendar page for June. The car is a 1968 Dodge Dart GTS. On the right is my old 2009 NAPA calendar for September. It sports a pretty blue 1966 Chevrolet Corvette. of course each has a pretty young lady showing off the car.
Amber is staying indefinitely with us now. We expect this visit to be more than two years. So for that amount of time she will become a family member resident and no longer a guest. Of course whereever Amber goes she gets the royal treatment.
You may have noticed there is a minimal amount of red in my Ruby Tuesday pictures today. That is because due to budget cuts (time) spent blogging I have not gotten to tell you about Amber being here before this.
The red is on the collar she is wearing. Katrin owns this one and wasn't to happy at all when I took it off for Katrin. But Ruby Tuesday honesty governs, GOT TO HAVE RED.
The same goes for the calendars. On each calendar picture you will notice that the tires are red-rimmed sidewall versions. People are paying big bucks for those now.
I couldn't decide which calendar to choose. The one on the left is my new 2010 NAPA calendar page for June. The car is a 1968 Dodge Dart GTS. On the right is my old 2009 NAPA calendar for September. It sports a pretty blue 1966 Chevrolet Corvette. of course each has a pretty young lady showing off the car.
Click the Ruby Tuesday button for Mary's Ruby Tuesday post listof other interesting RED finds today.
Mary is in charge there, you can see more or post your own from there.
Labels: Amber, Cars, Jim Does, NAPA calendars, Ruby Tuesday
