LDKBox

I never go back to my old posts to find a repeat of an old topic.  I rather like the idea that my posts,  although by the same author each day,  give a life to my blog to which a constant growth can not only be discerned but expected by the readership of this blog.  So,  if a loyal reader happens upon the same topic and I have a tune that is slightly different it most likely is because it is the same song just a different verse.

I never go back to  dates in time.  I tend to remember a moment rather than a year.  So if I have different dates than what it really is I confess that now.  Accuracy is not as important as the feeling that it imparts.  And I have a feeling for a moment in my life almost 40 years ago that will bring new meaning to me soon since I am going to meet a schoolboy chum, teammate, and great adventurer for the first time since his wedding day.  Over the years we have spoken by phone upon occasion.   I think we have exchanged cards plus recently we have been doing the email and Facebook thing.  Rex has a twin brother Randy.  I have been in correspondence with him by email.  Rex and Randy had a rather large family and becoming entrenched in the family fun for the few moments that we did have…. was and is a treasure for me.

I never go back to  Larchwood, Iowa without thinking of the grade school i attended in that town.  It was a brave new world for me.  It would be a far cry from the country school education with the same 27 kids that I went to Kindergarten with.  It was a congregation of kids from four towns.  New people and names to boot.   It was here that I first met Rex.  On the play ground with he and his brother,  Randy.  I could see the family resemblance but they did not look like the Klien twins, who were practically identical.  They lived on a farm with a large family and a Grandpa that would later come to class and talk to us about how things were after the civil war.  Grandpa Rockhill  was in his nineties when he spoke to our class.  He was an interesting old man.  My remaining Grandfather had died in 1962.  My mother’s father died before I was born in the 40′s.  So Rex was someone that I wanted to be around.  He had a grandpa, a large family, lived on a dairy farm what was not to like?

I never go back to track team memories but my upcoming re-union with Rex has brought them to the fore.  In watching my young son Kellen run it brings to mind my own athletic prowess on the tartan turf.  It was in Lester, Iowa that this memory starts.  Every boy in the class is wanting to make the team.  Because of that fact it was necessary for the coaches to seperate the wheat from the chaff.  They set up a mile run that had to be completed in 8 minutes or less.  Anyone over the 8 minute mark would be cut from the team.  My son often asks me why he is the slowest runner in his class.  My answer is always hopeful but usually lacks any real enthusiasm for I know that the need for speed will not be an inherited trait passed on to my son from my gene pool.  Needless to say,  I did not make the cut that day.  But Rex did.  I remember that he and his brother Randy were pretty fleet of feet back in those days.  Some where along the track season Rex was going to compete in the 220 yard dash and he spoke to our  Coach and said, “Next year I am going to run a 27 second 220 yard dash.”  He was running in the 29′s then and I remember at the time thinking, “Boy I wish I could run that fast.”  I never did run that fast but never lost the hope to try.  That is what I want for my son.  A friend who helps him never lose hope to try.

I never go back to memories to change a defining moment.  Rex is a part of my defining moment on the road of life.  He and I had similar dreams as to what one can do upon graduation of high school.  We both partook in a little meeting held by an FBI agent in one of the school job fairs that we attended.  We filled out the forms and awaited a response from the FBI.  Rex and I were both offered jobs with the FBI.  Rex decided to take the job in Washington and I chickened out.  I instead went on to college.  Only later to drop out of school when my need for speed left me a second string football player who was never going to become a professional.  I wonder how it would have been had Rex and I gone together to start a new adventure.  It was a short time after arriving that Rex met and married his wife from Kansas in Kansas City.  I traveled with mutual friends, Stan Leuthold, Ruth Johnson (who later married), and Pamela Bunte (who I later married)to attend his wedding.  None of the travelers is still married to their respective fiance’ almost 40 years later but Rex still is.  He never looked back and his adventure continued.  He sought out and obtained a job as a policeman.  He held that position for enough years to retire.  Little did we know what we as couples were headed into as we flowed down the river of life.  The currents of the river of life pulled us to different shores of the same river.  Our lives have had a separation of physical self but my excitement for meeting up with a long lost friend cannot be measured.  I look forward to our meeting.  I hope that this will be another moment to be remembered as one that can never go back.

Comments (0) Dec 31 2009

Since the 28thof June LD and I have been almost constantly on the go with  travel and socialization of old friends, new friends, and family.  I have to admit it has been a whirlwind month  for myself as well.  A normal trip to Iowa would mean 16 hours of hard driving and arrival at the farm in Iowa.  This last trip to Iowa was a lot different since LD was with me for every moment.  That meant that the trip was certainly less driver intensive but no less intense since LD was wanting for more of each passing day.  I do not know how many times the Little Detailer simply fell asleep as he was talking about what he want ed to do the next morning.  It was so good to view and experience the fast life of vacationing  with my son. 

It was less than 30 days ago that LD failed his first swimming lesson test.  He was so afraid to swim in the deep end of the pool where he tested.  He wanted me by the side of the pool while the instructor put him through his paces.  Of course I was along side the pool but that did not help the Little Detailerout in the end(much to my chagrin!).  Fear is a good tool and it is a bad tool.  In this case it was a life tool that managed to let my son become a little guppy and social lite of the poolside season.  Each day of our vacation LD would go through a little of the learning experience needed to over come his fear of the water.  Each day he became a little more confident.  Each day I saw him grow.  Wow!  What a powerful experience.  His confidence in the water is second only to his ability to socialize.   He loved all the cousins that he met in Iowa and they taught him how to do things that his Father was not able to do.  Peer education was a good thing and as a Father I am well aware that I can only take LD to the well.  I cannot make him drink.   His cousins taught him to be strong in order to keep up with all the children that were at the house of my brother in Iowa.

The Iowa trip was also good training for his first cruise of his young life.  I hope that he remembers this trip much in the same fashion as I remember the trips of my life.  Although I did not ever go on a cruise with family there were many trips to different areas of the country to visit with family.  Kellen did not have any fears going into the first day of the cruise.  I think in part because of the inter-action of the cousin’s children on the farm in Iowa prior to getting on the ship.   The ship is relatively small in size but the world certainly was LD’s oyster for he woke up as his feet firmly planted on the floor while scurrying  around like a cartoon character to get his swim trunks on each day to go to the pool and the warm jacuzzi of the Lido deck.( Don’t worry folks…the water in the jacuzzi was not hot)

On the last day of  LD’s month of vacation we were in a motel on the beach in Galveston with a pool.  LD wanted to go swimming.  It is amazing what a month of swimming will do for an 8 year old boy.  This is the same boy that required his Father to be poolside when he took his first swim test.  Now LD can touch the bottom of the pool with his hands as well as his feet.  This is the same little person that swallowed water and coughed when he went under water.  Henow can swim across a pool most of the way under water.  He is the same little boy that said he could not float and would sink into his Father’s arms when he became frightened.  Now he turns over on his back and plays  much like a little sea otter. 

It is the end of a whirlwind summer vacation for LD.  In the last month there are so many first for my son.  Most if not all the first were witnessed by his father.  To experience the growth of my son in the past month is only surpassed by the actual birthof my son.  It goes without saying that I most likely am the proudest Father that has ever been…and that was before all of LD’s firsts.  Having witnessed all of these first hand with my son just makes the experience all the sweeter.  The last month I witnessed a guppy grow into a tadpole.  In  a few years this tadpole will grow into an adult.  I hope that I am there every step of the way.  I also hope that my son continues to uses me as his safe haven in life as well as the pool.

Comments (0) Jul 27 2009

This morning I had a whole host of ideas withwhich to come up with today’s blog entry.  There was Chase Bank that had 36 % profits this last quarter.  A major bailout recipient.  Then there was the 72 year old woman that is trying to have a baby through in vitrofertilization.  Actually all I could come up withwas….WHY!!?????  But I am not a childless, apparently rich, female that can.  Those along with a few others that may be in my mind but I am not foolish enough to let anyone in on it.  LOL! 

What I did settle on is my tribute to those that did when I was young and those that are doing now that Iam…err…ahem…older.  As I walked the streets of my home town with my brother Karl on the way to the 125 year celebration parade I made notice of all the land marks that came to mind.  Placed around Dick Schemel’s house are remnants of the days gone by.  He has old railroad signs that were near the track here in Inwood.  I told Karl that I have a spot in history as far as Inwood is concerned.  I told him that I was a member of  the second grade class led by Irene Anderson, our teacher, that rode the last passenger train out of Inwood headed west to Canton, South Dakota.  I wish I could remember what Miss Anderson said to us.  What ever she said I think the jest of it was this was a memorable day.  Funny what  railroad sign brings out in your memory banks.  I also do not know this as fact but the class train trip is true.  Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Dick Schemel for being good role models for me and everyone  in the Inwood community.

More conversations with Karl as we walked marked a comment about the alley way that we were walking down.  It was so 1950′s.  It renewed my kid heart.  It was in these alley’s that my friends and eye took short cuts to run away from each other.  It was a view of people not seen by the everyday traveler.  There were gardens of vegetables and flowers.  Green lawns of Kentucky Bluegrass flourishing in the the rich and fertileIowas soil.  In one back yard were pens with game birds that were/are hatched, feed, and released to help in bird management.  Don Pedersen  should get kudos from all the community for the many good things that he has done through the years.   HE is a great guy that deserves way more kudos than he gets.

Now to the real point of this blog.  The alley…I know I am mentioning it again but the alley itself and the condition of the alley is what is important at this juncture.  As a kid making your way through an alley during my youth was not bereft of challenges.  Parked cars, tree branches, and burn piles were the least of our problems.  What I remember the most were the pot holes in the alley.  I think some of the potholes had living reptiles in them.  They were just waiting for the right kid to steer the Schwinn bicycle into the trap.  I made mention to Karl as well of this fact.  That day the alley was without a bump.  The gravel trail would be the envy of every dirt head I ever worked with.  All the grass in the center of the alley was vibrantly green and it appeared to be even more manicured than the owners lawn.  IT is a tribute to all the home owners of the area but I would like to give kudo’s to the city maintenance that has been in the capable hands of Scott Hansen.  The parks were neat and clean as well.    I remember the maintenance crew of my youth.  I am not going to mention any names for this (mostly because I cannot remember their names) but the maintenance department in the Inwood of my youth left a little to be desired.  To be honest with everyone,  I am sure that whoever they were, they did the work.  My problem with their work was they cared not as to the outcome.  The subjects that I have pointed out in this post are not of that ilk.  I am glad to see that they take pride in their surroundings and the work that they do.  It was appreciated by all the day that I visited Inwood, Iowa.  Now the friends of my youth are leading the town clebration.  All volunteers for a project that gets people to gather together for fun and a little moneywill be made to do it all over when the 4th of July comes again.

Comments (0) Jul 16 2009