Janet's Blog

Here in Nebraska, High School Track and Field begins around the first of March, and continues through most of May. It isn't uncommon for the weather to be cold and windy, or even snowy, as the athletes are preparing for their spring track meets. Runners can run outside in almost any weather, or practice inside in any gym, but outdoor pole vaulting is not safe when the wind is blowing a gale or the heavens produce springtime snow or rain, and indoor vaulting venues are rare in our area. Because of these challenges, pole vaulters don't often get as much practice as they need to excel in the sport.                                               I don't remember when Bill first started thinking about opening an independent indoor pole vaulting facility, but his initial  Pole Vault Passion  began years ago, when Meagan started to vault in Junior High, and Bill's pa...

An old Nebraska hotel was a magical place to grow up, with creaky staircases and secret passages, expansive party rooms and a huge, mysterious basement where we played for hours and, of course, we met so many interesting people! We were just kids, but hotel living was our everyday reality. Our upbringing was not typical. My brother and sister and I were raised in two different hotels. We moved into the first, the Oxnard, in Norfolk, Nebraska, the week I started Kindergarten, and we moved out of the second, the Mary-Etta, in Fairbury, just two weeks before I graduated from Fairbury High School. I was 4 1/2 when Mom and Dad had a farm sale, bought the Oxnard, and moved to Norfolk. At first, Dad relied on a manager to oversee the hotel business while he worked for Nash Finch, loading and unloading freight that was being shipped to grocery stores all over northeastern Nebraska. It wasn't long, though, before he and Mom made the decision to move into the hotel and take over managing it ...

It's been a while since I've last written a blog. I've been putting it off, maybe because I've been busy with life, but most likely because I've been disturbed by the turmoil in our world right now, so much nasty politics, and so many natural disasters and catastrophic events that always provoke those who can come up with a conspiracy theory for every tragedy. It's maddening, even devastating, to see what is happening in our country and throughout the world. At a time like this, it seems frivolous to write about my simple Christian life in the Nebraska Panhandle. I am sad when I notice how much Christians of any persuasion are misunderstood, mocked, blamed, and even attacked for their very existence. In a nation where our freedom of religion and freedom of speech have always been heralded as two of our most essential freedoms, I don't feel like I am free to say (or write) what I really think about anything of importance. I am frustrated when I realize that t...

Bill has been spending some extra time with our seven-year-old grandson. Ari is a middle child, sandwiched between two sisters on each side, with a teenage brother, as well. Sometimes, he benefits from a little additional attention, as they all do. It has become obvious that Ari shares some interests with Grandpa Bill. They both like to explore how things work, and they both enjoy designing, engineering, and constructing a variety of things.  A couple of months ago, Bill was given the opportunity to purchase a used go cart. He didn't have to think too long before deciding to buy it as a project he and Ari could work on together. The go cart needed a new lawnmower motor, some re-upholstery, and a safety harness, among other things, so a couple of times a week, Bill would pick up Ari and the two would go to the shop to work on the go cart. Since Ari has a seven-year-old's attention span, they only worked for an hour or so at a time, stretching the project over several weeks' ...

It was probably April when my daughter, Meagan, asked if I would be willing to help Evie edit and publish her book. Until that moment, I wasn't aware that 11-year-old Evelyn was writing a book, but I agreed to help her, just the same. All of Meagan and Andy's kids are homeschooled, and the four oldest kids are pretty good writers, hand-writing letters to various friends and relatives at least once a week in recent years. The best way to learn to write is just to do it often. So, Evie brought her Chromebook to my house at least once a week for the next few weeks. I sat next to her as we read her story together, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, chapter by chapter. I soon learned that Evie really knows how to tell a story! Her story was a riveting adventure tale that left me wondering what would happen next. Evie had decided, at the outset, to name and model some of her characters after her siblings and other friends and relatives. That makes the book extra special fo...

Lucy My granddaughter, Lucy, is almost two years old. She is an outgoing little girl who warms up to other people quite easily. Unlike most of Meagan and Andy's other kids, she actually enjoys staying in the church nursery while her Mom and Dad teach Sunday School. That is, she enjoys the nursery as long as her friend, Rose, is there, too. Rose is not quite four months older than Lucy. They have been sharing the nursery since they were both infants. Their relationship has not always been amicable. Lucy, as the youngest of six children, knows how to defend herself and protect her playthings from the other kids. It wasn't long before she taught Rose everything she knew about hitting and pushing to get her own way. So, when I was in the nursery with them, the offender had to sit on my lap for a brief time out until they both realized that there were better ways to get along. Now, both Lucy and Rose are speaking in sentences and using their words to express their wants and needs. B...

I was walking along the road bordering the Riverside lakes this morning, just enjoying the cool, overcast day, when I noticed a large swarm of insects directly over my head, near a large tree. I barely had time to consider what kind of bugs they were before they swooped lower, buzzing incessantly. I realized I had encountered an angry swarm of bees. I dashed to the other side of the road, but some of the bees followed, surrounding me, divebombing me, with one even perching on my finger before I shooed it off, hoping I wouldn't be stung. Fall is in the air. So are the bees. Just as I thought I'd escaped the swarm, I felt a prick on my left wrist, under the cuff of my jacket. I pulled the cuff back, and there it was: a plump bee of some kind--not a honey bee--was stinging me. After two or three attempts, I managed to brush it off. The stinger was still there, so I pulled it out immediately, thankful that my fingernails are currently a little longer than usual. Then, I quickened m...

The fall after Mom graduated from Bloomfield High School, she got her first teaching job at a one room school in Knox County. She taught there for two years in the early 1950s, marrying my dad in December of the second year, and joining him on his army base when the school year ended in May. When I was in Junior High, Mom started back to college to get her teaching degree, finally graduating while I was in college. As I was going through some of Mom and Dad’s old photos and documents recently, I found a couple of stories—the rough drafts, really—that Mom had written for one of her college classes. Now, as schools all across Nebraska are starting in the week to come, I think it is fitting for me to include the following story in my blog. So, here is Mom’s autobiographical story about a young, resourceful, one room school teacher who had to deal with a scary situation.  The young teacher struggled up the hill with the wastebaskets of trash, grumbling to herself. “It’s been a month no...

I don't often bring up my meningioma. It wasn't long after my initial diagnosis that I learned how the mere mention of it freaks people out, causing excessive worry and unnecessary concern. After all, my meningioma is a brain tumor the size of a marble--a slow-growing, benign tumor, but a brain tumor, just the same. After more than 30 years, I rarely even think about it because it has become a non-issue. Erin and Meagan were still in grade school when I began having frequent neurological symptoms that made my doctors think I might have Multiple Sclerosis. My primary care physician referred me to a neurologist, who subjected me to a series of tests, followed by my first MRI. The MRI showed no signs of MS, but it did reveal a meningioma sitting on (in?) my brain stem. According to my doctor, the tumor was causing no symptoms; its discovery was incidental due to the MRI. And, the doctor also told me that, if it were located anywhere else, I could simply have surgery to "pop i...

Way back in the 1980s, our friend, Amy, and her family rescued two llamas. I don’t remember the exact circumstances, but I know both llamas, who were brothers, had been malnourished and generally neglected before Amy stepped in to offer them a better home. But even though Amy and her husband had plenty of farmland in southeastern Nebraska, they weren’t really equipped to care for the two young llamas. So, Amy talked Dad into taking them. They came with the names of Bruno and Caesar. Bruno was the nice llama. Caesar was the naughty one, with a penchant for spitting and coming up behind someone (usually my mom) and attempting to knock her down, sometimes successfully. That’s when Mom started carrying a rather hefty walking stick along on her walks through the pasture. Dad was always an animal lover, with a variety of unusual pets when he was growing up. Like most farm kids, he and his siblings had dogs and cats and horses, but they also raised an owl, a coyote pup, a baby skunk, a racco...

As another Father's Day is approaching, I've been thinking of Dad, and the time we spent together. So here, in honor of Father’s Day and in no particular order, are some things I learned from my dad: Dad had me on his horse with him long before I could walk. Throughout my childhood, he taught me basic horse sense, and how to ride and care for a horse. When I was no older than three, Dad taught me how to poke the little shriveled pea seeds into the ground. From him, I learned the difference between weeds and beneficial plants, and how to grow a productive garden, especially tomatoes. Dad taught me how to make use of what I have. He was always frugal, so I have those tendencies, as well. Dad’s strong work ethic also rubbed off on me. From him, I learned that anything worth doing is worth doing well, no matter how long it takes, or how hard it is. Dad napped for a short time nearly every day throughout his adult life, showing me that I don’t need to be ashamed of getting the rest ...