Life on Liberty Ridge

No particular story here. Just a scene that caught my eye the other day. As usual, I was taking the long way around to get to the grocery store when this little barn popped into view. For a change I didn't have my trusty photo taking machine with me. I did my grocery shopping and took the short route home where I grabbed the old Canon and headed back to this spot on Liberty Ridge Road. I don't know anything about the place other than it makes a nice photo subject. After I arrived back home, I was downloading the shots into my computing thing when I realized that there was a second building in the picture, a dilapidated farm house. Now maybe there is a story here. Let's journey back, say a hundred years, to the time when a young couple found this tract of land in the middle of nowhere (just south of somewhere). They had been living with his parents and she was expecting their first child. They owned a couple of cows, a bull and a few chickens and had saved up enough money to make a down payment on a place of their own. With a loan from a bank in nearby Platteville (this was before the "M" appeared on the Platteville Mound), the land was purchased and, with the help of friends and family members, a house and a barn were constructed. what a joyous time that must have been. I'll bet that on a quiet summer evening you can probably still hear the laughter of those farm kids as they frolic through the fields capturing fire flies and playing "Red Rover". The family grew as did the number of cows and chickens. More land was purchased and the small plot of a couple of acres became a respectable spread of several hundred acres. The kids grew up and moved to places of their own, ma and pa along with their old barn and house had completed their mission. I'm sure that in one of the small weed covered cemeteries that dot the surrounding area, a pair of weathered tombstones mark the final resting place of that jubilant young couple while the skeletal remains of the house and barn mark the spot where a hard working, hard loving family found their "Liberty on the Ridge".

If you look real close on the right side of the barn,
the remains of the old farm house is visible.

I'm off now to prepare for my "Knee High by the Fourth of July" survey!

Whoa!

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post. But what a couple of weeks it has been.
First JoAnne had some surgery. She had a procedure done involving things that I not only can't pronounce and have no possible way of spelling. At any rate everything went after a week or so of "stay-at-home" recovery, Jo returned to work just in time to take an unscheduled trip down some stairs at work. (trip to emergency room required) Results: sprained foot, bump on head , twisted knee and a pair of crutches. Normally this would only be a minor setback but, not if you're expecting a house full of company that weekend for little Eddie's Christening and JoAnne being the Lands' End team leader for the Race for the Cure Saturday morning. With a well coordinated effort on every one's part, arrangements fell into place when... Friday the assisted living place called to tell us that Jo's mom was having a bad turn. (trip to emergency room required) She was put in the hospital for testing so her needs were being attended to. The Race, the Christening and the post Christening festivities went off without a hitch (if you don't count JoAnne having to cheer the team on the sidelines propped on her crutches, the breakdown of the churches audio/video system and Eddie crying through most of the ceremony) Then on top of all this stuff, it happened...Gary Coleman died! (I won't go into any of the sick Gary Coleman jokes that are circulating the internet) It was time to yell "UNCLE". Jo was teetering on the edge of something. Even the crutches weren't enough support. Time for a "Time Out". Jo only had a half day of work on Friday so I told her to pack a bag with enough stuff for the weekend and I would pick her up at LE. I didn't tell her that I had made reservations at the Kohler resort complex. To shorten an already long story. We had a great room overlooking a small lake, enjoyed good food and JoAnne got her batteries recharged. We spent the weekend exploring Eastern Wisconsin.

Disabled Team Captain with able bodied assistant Saffron.
Either gathering team or directing runners to Portapotties.

The Blume/Nimz team sporting their t-shirts honoring
Jo's thirtieth survivor year. Even Eddie and Saffie wore one.

Eddie decides that the hat is a good idea.
He wasn't wearing one and they poured water on his head

Eddie meets Greatgrandma Rezabek for the first time.

Entering a "Timber Tunnel".

A pair of Whooping Cranes.
(at The International Crane foundation)

A whole family of Whoopers from a previous visit.
(Photo by grandson Roy)

Mom Coot and Cootling on nest in at Horcon Marsh.

Now, a quick explanation for the Deer Warning Sign above. These signs are a very common sight throughout Wisconsin and should be heeded. Someone once told me that if you live in Wisconsin and drive, you will hit a deer sometime in your lifetime. With this in mind, I am always extremely watchful as I travel the roads of this state. However, lately I have encountered many things that don't resemble the creature depicted on these signs. In the past two weeks I have had to give right of way to - wild turkeys, pheasants, chipmunks, flocks of suicidal birds, (one or two were successful) a family of Canada geese, a Mallard duck, a large bewildered calf and in the middle of nowhere, some peacocks. I did see one or two deer but they politely stood on the shoulder until I passed. Do we need to clutter the roadside with a slew of new signs? Judging by the carcasses strewn about, I'm sure that raccoons and possums would appreciate them. I even passed the site of a duck massacre where four or five were reduced to a flat mess of features and bones. The roadkill that amazes me most is the tired Turtle. Now squirrels, chipmunks and deer tend to dart out in front of a car without warning. Turtles don't dart very well. Actually they are really lousy darters. Normally you would have more time than it is taking you to read this post to avoid running over a turtle. Enough said. Off to the picture portion.

Hood's eye view of Pheasant who thinks he can outrun a Honda.

This guy gets wide berth. He has the moves of a squirrel
and potential damage of a bull dozer.

Now here is a Deer practicing proper roadside ethics.

The Truth at Last!

The wait is over. In a week filled with unanswered issues and final episodes, "Nightline" will provide us with the real poop we've all been waiting to hear. Tonight on "Nightline" Jesse James will tell all. For years I've wondered about so many things connected to Jesse James. Things like, did you and Frank make a lot of money robbing so many banks, trains and stagecoaches? Were old fashioned ATMs hard to steal from? Was it cool hanging out at "Hole in the Wall" with guys like Butch and Sundance? Did you and your gang shop at the GAP? How could you feel safe hiding out in the Meramec Caverns with signs everywhere announcing that your hideout was there? Oh, I wish I could be on that program with him tonight. I'd like to ask him if he thought he could out draw Norman Rockwell or out shoot John Wayne. I don't know about any of you, but I'm going to be glued to the "Tube" tonight and my DVR, VCR and Betta recorders will be burning away.

Site of the "Hole in the Wall".

So hard to find that there may still be guys in there trying to find their way out.

With signs like this, it's pretty hard to be sneaky.

After installing this marker, Frank and Jesse fooled everyone by heading to Minnesota.
Too bad their plan to knock over that big mall up there didn't work out.

You don't go foolin' us Minnesoda guys you bet!

Oh yah, dere's a Ford in his future up here aye?

Oh wait! I guess I had the wrong Jesse James.
Well they bear a little resemblance to each other.

A Little Care Goes A Long Way!

This week JoAnne under went some surgery to fix up an internal disorder. Now the doctor showed me photos of the "disorder" and it sure looked very disorderly to my untrained eye. Although any photo of some one's innards look pretty disorderly to me. I would have liked to post some of those photos here but I couldn't get publishing rights. (If you really get off seeing that sort of thing, watch reruns of CSI at almost any hour of the day or night) The good news is that Jo is home with me all day, every day, for a couple of weeks as she recovers. The bad news is that Jo is home with me all day, every day, for a couple of weeks as she recovers. The reason that this is bad is that she gets to see what a lazy existence I lead while she's slaving away at the LE place. I keep trying to look busy but there's only so much jello a guy can make in a day. Relief came Saturday in the form of Jeanna and Little Saffie. Seems that Saffie is a registered Cheerer Upper and that's just what Grandma needed. It was a pleasant day so we all moved out to the deck (my big deck). Much to Saffie's surprise Grandma had found a Saffie sized Adirondack chair. Saffie, her friend Elmo and the puppies, Tina and Snoopy found the chair to their liking. I guess that Saffie had overheard Mom and Dad talking about Grandma's special diet because she dragged out her personal grill and started preparing a light lunch for Grandma. Suddenly, out of nowhere (actually from next door) appeared Trenton our neighbor kid. He immediately explained to Saffie that grilling was a man's job and he took over the controls. It was great fun watching the two work away at their imaginary lunch and it was a real tonic for the patient, patient.
Jo's recovery is coming along nicely. I can attest to this because she's starting to get tired of sitting around watching recordings of the Ellen show. Here's a little peek at the care givers at work.

Saffie and friends check out the new chair.

"Now Elmo, no standing or jumping on the chair."

"Just sit tight Grandma, I'll make some soup
that tastes every bit as good as the stuff you got at the hospital."

"Here, let a man take over young lady."

"You go cut up some vegetables and I'll handle the grilling."

"Wait til you taste this. It's my own recipe!"

Catchin' UP!

It's been quite a while since I've seriously taken any flower photos. Sunday morning as I passed the room that JoAnne uses for computing and various other officelike duties, I noticed that our foster flower (an orchid that we adopted from the "Lands' End Lobby Beautification System" aka LELBS). The early sunlight filtered though the lace curtains creating such lovely lighting that I couldn't resist running (walking a little quicker) to fetch me trusty Canon. I had to share the results with you. So, as they say, "Here Tis!". Now to the catchin' up.
On my last post I was busy bragging about the Cubs' sweep over the dreaded Brewers. Since then, the Baseball Gods have, to put it mildly, frowned upon our "Boys in Blue". The straws from that celebratory broom have been stuffed up their dragging butts. We even sent our cutie pie mascot, Saffron, to a game hoping to get a winning streak going. She came away with a win and a Dora the Explorer doll clad in a Cub's shirt. The winning streak was short lived. Even Dora got demoted to becoming a plaything for the doggie duo, Tina and Snoopy. Saffie decided that running up and down the aisles and ramps at Wrigley Ballyard was more fun than watching the struggling team on the field. Meanwhile the Grandma bug struck our household. Terminex, Raid and Black Flag didn't seem to help. The only remedy was a face to face "Grandkid Fix". So it was off to "The Cities" (Minneapolis/St. Paul) to check on Little Eddie who was already 6 weeks old and had only been exposed to intensive Grandmothering from Jo for one week. It was a great weekend, Jo Grandmothered, Reid messed with a newly acquired outboard motor, Summer got a well deserved break from nightly 3AM chats with Eddie and I....was forced to keep an eye on the TV and sample various desserts and cakes that Summer baked. A visit to the local Farmer's Market yielded a nice bunch of rhubarb that was quickly transformed into a delicious pie which in truth was my prize for winning the highly touted, very complicated baby pool.
Another highlight since my last post was my Big Springs waterfall quest. In the past I had heard of Big Spring and even seen a road named for it but just couldn't locate it. So on a nice Spring day, I set out with my goal being to find the Big Spring. To make things even more interesting was that Kim, one of Jo's coworkers, mentioned how the Big Springs Waterfall was really gushing this time of year. Wow! Not only a spring but a waterfall too. Off I went. My superior intelligence told me that a good place to start would be . . . Big Springs Road. I drove the road from one end the what I guessed to be the other end. I found Big Springs Creek, a number of wild turkeys, a couple of deer, an eagle nest complete with a pair of eagles and a pair of Wood ducks but no Spring or Waterfall. I even found a discarded 1963 Corvair that was almost completely hidden by foliage. After Jo questioned her friend Kim about the whereabouts of "The Spring" she learned that it was necessary to hike in off the road to find the source of Big Springs Creek and the waterfall that it created. Back to the car and in no time I was trekking down a path along the creek and eventually came upon "The Source". I must admit that on a list of the vast number of waterfalls that Jo and I have hunted down over the years, this one ranked fairly low. But, it was a waterfall and it was only a few miles from home. I took a few mediocre photos and headed home victoriously.We have since celebrated Mother's day with a big dose of Saffie for Grandma Jo. We are presently awaiting a surgical procedure that Jo is to undergo tomorrow and I look forward to her spending more time at home with me recovering. Maybe some soothing rides through the lush green countryside will help the healing process.

Are you glad to see us or is it just gas?

Now that makes Grandpa smile!

I'm not sure what this face means.
Could be Saffie giving The Cubs the "raspberries".

Big Springs Creek.

The heart of it all. Big Spring - "The Falls".

I forgot to mention, there's a lot of these Trout creatures swimming around in that creek.
Must like the clear, fresh, cold water.

Ma and Pa Eagle spending a quiet afternoon at home.

Ma and Pa Wood Duck jus coolin' it. Not much of a photo but,
it's the first time I ever saw Wood Ducks in the wild.

Memory car. Above: The woods version in 2010.
I actually had two of these in the sixties.
A '61 coupe and a '63 convertible. Loved them, in spite of Ralph Nadar!
Below: The street version in 1961

Now That's What I'm Talkin' About!!!

Cub Fans and Brewer Fans will understand.

Wisconsin Hystory #754

As promised, here is the real story behind the Platteville "M". As told by the "experts". Platteville has the world's largest M. The M is a monogram for the former Wisconsin Mining School (now the University of Wisconsin, Platteville). The first M was first constructed in 1936 when two men, Raymond Medley and Alvin Knoerr climbed the Platte Mound and trudged through 2 feet of snow to form a huge letter M. Actual construction of the stone M began in the spring of 1937 and was completed in the fall of the same year. The M is composed of rocks laid on Platte Mound and is whitewashed every year. The M is 241 feet tall, 214 feet wide, and legs that are 25 feet wide.
Okay that's their side of the story. Now, here's the real poop. A couple of guys got lost on their way home from the New Year's Eve Carp Drop in Prairie Du Chein. They climbed to the top of a large mound on the outskirts of Platteville to get their bearings. No landmarks were visible to them. (after all the college, being a mining school, was completely underground.) In an effort to get help they started creating a message on the side of the mound. Their intention was to spell out "WHERE ARE WE?", but they made the first "W" so large that they not only ran out of space but they also ran out of white stones. To further complicate things, the only stones they had to use were white and blended in with the snow-covered mound. Needless to say their message went unseen until the following Spring when the snow melted and a giant "M" was visible for miles around. The bodies of the courageous young men were found, one at either tip of what bypassers viewed as a "M" while in reality the boys original intention was to create a message starting with a "W". You see they were working from the top of the mound so from their vantage point they saw . . .

In following years residents, city and college officials decided that it was easier to promote a "M" from the ground level than to induce tourists to climb to the top to view a "W". A number of attempts were made to change the "M" to other letters, like "A" "A" or "V" but they couldn't come up with a feasible meaning for the abreviation. So they settled for the "Mining College" story and to this day, still hold hopes that sometime in the future Michigan and Minnesota will combine with Wisconsin to form a new Northern Territory, Michconsota. The mound with its giant "M" would be a perfect setting for the territorial capital and people from around the world (or a least from Dickeyville) would dance around the base of the mound and miners, who have been underground for centuries, would emerge to cheering, drunken crowds of "Eminites".
As I revisited the "M" mound last week, I made another really interesting discovery. There, scaling the "M" itself, was a figure in a long black overcoat, a black derby hat and small round spectacles. I drove by then I performed a famous "Blume Uturn" and snuck back to a spot where I could photograph the "mystery man". Pretending to be photographing the entire mound, when I zoomed in on the person, I realized that he drew a striking resemblance to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec only taller. Could it be that this, until now, unknown tall twin of Henri, suffering from a huge overdose of absinthe, had been lured into this area by the giant "M" believing it to be a sign for the infamous Moulin Rouge. That could be another entirely different story. But, for now, I feel that I've my best to clear up the origin of the big "M".

Monsieur Latrec musing on the mound!

Self portrait - I think not!
Notice the similarity of the pose to that of our Mystery Guy.