Janet's Blog

I was a diligent student, but not an exceptional one, when I was in the fifth and sixth grades at Central School. I was a good speller, but not good enough to qualify for the county spelling bee. All of the fifth and sixth graders took a spelling test in our classrooms to determine who would represent each of the six classes, and I was not the best one in my class in either fifth or sixth grade. However, I was the alternate in my sixth grade class, and the best speller’s family decided to take a vacation that spring, right at the time of the county spelling bee, so I got to go after all. My teacher gave me a book that contained lists of spelling words for me to practice. There were so many lists! I didn’t study too hard until the morning of the event, which began a little later than school started, giving me some extra time to prepare, but I didn’t have time to study all of the lists in that intimidating book. I dressed carefully in last year’s light green and pink Easter Dress, since ...

Anna Elizabeth Tyler was born almost three weeks before her due date, at 10:53 a.m. on Monday, October 30th, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio. She weighed 5.45 pounds, and was 17.25 inches long. Her entrance into this world was more dramatic than we had hoped, since she had to spend eleven days in the NICU to monitor her breathing. But, after the initial scare, she is nursing well and growing appropriately at home. Anna at just a few days old Anna is the only one of our eight grandchildren who has spent any time in NICU. At one month of age, she is still small, but she is finally outgrowing her preemie clothes and moving on to newborn sizes. It's hard to be more than 1200 miles away from family when they need help, but contemporary forms of communication make that much easier than it used to be. Nevertheless, Bill and I were glad to join our daughter, Erin, her husband, Reed, our grandson, Will, and baby Anna, for Thanksgiving. We got to see for ourselves how their whole family is thriving....

Little Lucy LaRae Stobel arrived exactly one month ago, on September 7th, at 7:04 in the morning. Lucy weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and, at 19 3/4 inches long, she was the shortest of all of the Stobel babies. She looks a lot like her siblings did at birth, with one glaring exception: She has visible hair. Specifically, she has red hair rather than the blonde hair that is so dominant in the family. Grandpa Bill's genes are coming through at last! Most people look at Lucy's siblings and say that they all look so much alike. Well, they all have blonde hair and blue eyes, but those of us in the family can see that the boys each have their own unique looks, while the girls, especially Lydia and Ruthie, look more alike. I will say that, except for her red hair,  Lucy looks more like her mother's baby pictures than any of the others ever have. The whole family was so excited when Lucy was born. She is greatly cherished by all of her brothers and sisters already. Meagan's first ...

Fifty Years used to seem like a long time. But now that it's been 50 years since I graduated from Fairbury High School, I can honestly say that 50 years is just a short period of time, only five brief decades. My classmates and I may have aged noticeably on the outside, but inside, we're pretty much the same as we always were--same basic values, work ethic, and philosophies. I hope, though, that we've gained much wisdom from our life experiences, as well as more empathy for others than teenagers usually exhibit.  I was pleased to be able to attend my 50th class reunion recently, and catch up with about 50 of my high school classmates. It was so interesting to hear about their lives and families. And, as one classmate stated, we heard hardly any conversation about health or politics. I know that our political views range from one extreme to the other, and I'm sure that many of us have faced various health challenges over the years, but those things faded to the backgroun...

Last week, I was hiking at the Crane Trust Nature Center near Wood River, just off I-80 at mile marker 305. I know it's too late to see any Sandhill Cranes, but the Crane Trust, with its broad paths and arching footbridges, is still a remarkable place to hike along the Platte River. That cool, blustery day, I was surprised to find myself surrounded by flocks of red-winged blackbirds, flitting around too fast for me to zoom in for a good picture. They seemed to be rather leery of me--or, maybe they were darting after a swarm of insects that I couldn't see. (Flying insects are their preferred source of food.) The day was overcast and dreary, so my camera failed to pick up the red stripes on each bird's wings, but you can trust me when I tell you they were red-winged blackbirds. After all, red-winged blackbirds were the first wild birds I can remember watching. I was probably three or four years old when Mom would load my baby brother and me into our sky blue Ford so we could ...

Have you ever noticed how one event leads to another, and another, all through our lives? For example... Because my Dad was in the Army, I was born at Fort Benning, Georgia. Because my parents grew up in the Bloomfield area, so did I, at least for a little while. Beause my Dad was raised in the Methodist church, so was I, until we moved away from Bloomfield. Because my Dad's parents farmed, Dad did, too, after he left the Army. Because Dad received training to be a company clerk in the Army, he realized he had the skills to do something besides farming. That's why we moved to Norfolk, and Mom and Dad began their venture into the hotel business. Because I grew up in hotels, I lived in a more diverse community than most of my extended family and friends, and learned skills that most kids didn't have. Because we had no backyard, I joined my family in exploring the surrounding parks and countryside nearly every weekend, which inevitably resulted in closer family relationships a...

When I was a little girl, I wore dresses--plaid dresses. Plain colored dresses, if I wore them at all, were for church. In the winter, I wore red, navy blue, or white, heavy tights under my dresses. Little girls never wore black, not even black tights. When the weather was hot, I might wear a short set, with matching shirt and shorts, or a one-piece sunsuit, but only at home. If we were going someplace, I usually wore a plaid dress. This is me on my sixth birthday, with the doll cake my grandma made for me. My dress was gold and brown plaid, but a shinier, fancier plaid than usual, since it was a special occasion.  Most plaid dresses came in short-sleeve versions only. When the weather was chilly, I wore a cardigan on top. It didn't necessarily match my dress, but that didn't matter, since warmth was the only goal. If the weather was really cold, I wore slacks under my dress when I was outside, but the pants came off when I went indoors.  I was seven in this picture, which was...

It's been more than three months now since Uncle Gary left this earth. He knew he might not survive the surgery to repair his aortic aneurysm. After living with the aneurysm for years, and enduring several other procedures along the way, his last surgery was his surgeon's heroic, final effort to fix something that was finally beyond repair. Gary would be the first to tell you that he had lived a satisfying life. Except for one rather brief marriage, he lived alone in the house he had bought in North Platte. He had a large, loyal group of friends there, where he had retired after working there as a dispatcher and, eventually, communications supervisor, for the Nebraska State Patrol. I would characterize Gary as usually soft-spoken, diligent, determined, ethical, hard-working, and loyal to family and friends. He loved sharing his garden space with his neighbor, and sharing his produce with his friends. After his sister, my Aunt Ellen, was no longer around to make jelly, he learne...

As I was driving down Fifth Avenue in Scottsbluff the other day, I couldn't help but notice how many local campaign signs line both sides of the street. It's that time of the year--the election is looming, whether we like it or not. I'm not a particularly political person. I'm well informed about the issues, though, and I have definite opinions about some of them. I'm not thrilled with much of anything that's been happening in Washington, and throughout our country, lately. I really wish we had a better choice of leaders who are running for office. However, I can certainly understand why many of the most upstanding and responsible leaders do not have any intention of ever running for national office. Quite frankly, the political climate in our nation stinks! I will vote in the upcoming election, though, and trust God with the outcome. That's all I can do, when all is said and done. Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from G...

Last Wednesday, Meagan and I took her kids camping at Lake Minatare, a few miles northeast of Scottsbluff. We like to go for a couple of days in the middle of week, when most campsites are empty. Neither Bill nor Andy are great fans of camping overnight, so they don't mind staying home to work while we are gone.  The day will come when we can no longer fit everyone in the RV, but we have all slept there comfortably this summer.  Meagan is very conscientious about home-schooling the kids every day, even at the lake, and the kids were motivated to finish their schoolwork quickly, leaving them plenty of time to hike, swim, explore, and build sand castles. (They were especially pleased when Grandpa Stan and Grandma Deb brought their boat out the first evening, so the kids could go tubing, but that's another story.) The first morning at the lake, everyone enjoyed building sand castles. The younger kids worked on this big castle with Meagan, while Tobin designed a whole village of s...

I have been counting the days since last week's oral surgery, until I am allowed to exercise again. Today's the day! When the weather cooled off a little this evening, I was out the door with Jackson to walk the neighborhood. In the summer, the best time to walk is often just after the sun sets, when the air is cool and still. It's only been the last three or four years that I've been making a conscious effort to walk regularly. At first, I used the Health App on my phone to track my steps, but I have been more motivated since Bill brought me a FitBit from some convention he had attended. This time of year, I walk more than 10,000 steps nearly every day. It's become a habit now, except when I'm sick, or when the weather is nasty. When I was growing up, first in northeastern Nebraska, then in Fairbury in the southeastern part of the state, exercise was not a priority for most people, probably because it just wasn't necessary. Farmers and their families got pl...