News: August 2006
August 31, 2006 Thursday
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I went to the Post Office to check my mail this evening. Usually my P.O. Box is as bare as Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, but tonight there was a key in my box! A key! I took the key to the lockers and when I saw where the return address on the package, I laughed. It was sent from Brits- Purveyors of British Goods in Lawrence, and had been ordered by my new penpal from the U.K., a hilarious English bloke named Simon. He had told me that he was going to send a "mystery package." The contents: Heinz Beans! The very beans that the Brits eat for breakfast! Maynards Wine Gums (but apparently no wine was involved in the making of the "fruit flavoured gums.") They feel kind of spongey through the wrapper -- gum-like, that's it. Ah, and then there's the mystery of mysteries that I can't wait to try - Branston Original Pickle. Inside the jar is a gooey, chunky brown substance that looks like mince meat. Not a pickle at all. Ingredients: Vegetables in variable proportions (carrots, rutabaga, carrots, cauliflower, marrows, gherkins), sugar, malt vinegar from barley, chopped dates, apples, etc.... "Great on Cheese, Salads, Cold Meats, Sandwiches." I'm munching on the Twiglets. "Entertain your sense -- Only Twiglets give you that distinctive knobbly shape, combined with a zingy taste and crunchy bite for all round senseual satisfaction." Think pretzels with white pepper. They're rather bitter, but I can't stop eating them. And then Murrays Mints and a beautiful yellow tin of Colman's Mustard - Double Superfine Mustard Powder. Make-your-own fresh mustard. Tonight, I am The Queen. *** How I met the Englishman: Simon says 'Exotic'
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Cheryl's Link of the Day:
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It's Sunflower Season:
photos taken in Coffey County near the Sun Dance area
of Melvern Lake
August 30, 2006 Wednesday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
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The old depot of the "Reading Railroad" now sits at the city park. |
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August 29, 2006 Tuesday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
Forgive her; she went to high school in Kansas
"I had to go downstairs and get a new roll of paper towels," Dave said this morning, cleaning up the second mess of the day on the hardwood floor.
"Nothing works as well as paper towels for cleaning up cat vomit," he said. "They ought to put that in their ads."
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Reading State Bank and Reading Post Office |
Reading Methodist Church |
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I always think of Rodney Mead on August 29. This was his birthday. My crush on Rodney began in second grade and lasted through high school.
When he was 19, Rodney died in an oilfield accident.
Sad, sad, sad.
August 28, 2006 Monday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
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The park in Reading had funky playground equipment. What exactly is this climbing device? It's cool, but ... ? Perhaps it's art. It reminded me of the gigantic badminton shuttle cocks in the yard at the Nelson Art Gallery in Kansas City. |
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And I had never before seen a suspended teeter totter. |
August 27, 2006 Sunday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
the end of a planet
As we Kansans mourn the loss of Pluto's planetary status,
here's the story of the man who discovered Pluto:
Planetary Man - Clyde Tombaugh.
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And the race is on... A swingset in Reading City Park.
Reading (Pop. 250) is in Lyon County, about 20 miles northeast of Emporia. |
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Recently, Japan decided they'd once again buy U.S. beef (much of it comes from Kansas.)
So, if you're wondering where that cute little brown-and-white-faced cow went, she may be What's For Dinner at one of 57 Korean barbecue places in Japan, according to the Japan Times Online.
American beef - it's the juiciest.
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The William Allen White family plot - Memorial Lawn Cemetery Emporia |
August 26, 2006 Saturday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
found notes, photos, etc.
VOICES OF THE WIND PEOPLE
The pageant presents an historically accurate and dramatically compelling story of the clash of two cultures, Native American and Euro-American, in the historic setting of Council Grove, Kansas, on the Santa Fe Trail. Presented by the Kaw Nation and the local Friends of Kaw Heritage, Inc. pageant committee, Voices will be performed at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, September 15 and 16, 2006 in the Old Riverbed Amphitheater in Council Grove.
Ticket and other information is available at www.voicesofthewindpeople.net.
Seating for about a thousand people will be provided in the amphitheater. Reserved handicap seating will be available. Only very inclement weather during the show will force its cancellation.
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Graffitti on the old Marsh bridge over the Cottonwood River in Emporia. |
August 25, 2006 Friday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
Warning: this link should be rated "R" for language and sexual content.
Click at your own risk. (But some of the stuff is really funny.)
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Laura Lorson of Kansas Public Radio had a commentary broadcast on NPR this evening.
Take a listen:
"Gadgets and the Back-to-School Set."
I like Laura's style. Her writing is smart and funny.
More radio commentaries by Laura Lorson can be found on NPR.
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Around Emporia:
Gas is $2.77 - the cheapest it's been for months.
The honey they serve at KFC is "Honey Sauce." Ingredients: high fructose corn syrup, sugar, corn syrup, honey, caramel color.
Popeye's Chicken is coming to town, taking over the former KFC building, which has been empty for two years and has become a weedy, abandoned place.
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Eastside Memorial Park Update!
Now that I have your attention...
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Going up. The lone swingset is long gone and new playground equipment is being installed. I'm glad they spared the tree. Original plans were to have this installed before Memorial Day, but plans are plans, not actual events. |
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Looking through. |
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| Fishing at the spillway on the Cottonwood River - Emporia. |
August 24, 2006 Thursday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
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Peter Pan Park's wading pool in Emporia gets some use during the Blues and BBQ event two weeks ago. Attorney Frank Reed of Oklahoma built more than 400 wading pools in Kansas, Oklahoma and elsewhere. |
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This photo shows the dedication of the pool on June 6, 1931. Dignitaries in attendance included William Allen White, Kansas Sen. Arthur Capper, U.S. Vice President Charles Curtis (a Kansan), and Gov. Harry Woodring. Local businesses - The Turkish Candy Company and Emporia Creamery - served 25,000 free ice cream cones at the event. The above picture is a photo I took of a photograph from the White Collection at the ESU Archives. |
August 23, 2006 Wednesday
Cheryl's Link of the Day
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It's like a pirate patch over an eye. Lebo. |
August 22, 2006 Tuesday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
What about the Plastic Animals?
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Entering Lebo from the south. |
This is the back of the above sign. When leaving Lebo, I always thought this sign was peculiar, that they meant Lebo was "a dream come true" -and perhaps it is - but I'll bet the "dream come true" is in reference to the Lebo girls 1994 basketball championship. |
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The old wringer at the service station. The attendant would wash your windows (yes, it happened) with a netted sponge (to get the bugs off) then dry it with cloth that had been wrung through the wringer. Then he would check your oil and the air in your tires. |
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One of the gas pumps at the closed Skelly station (see photo below). The price shows $1.39.9 with the $1 taped on. Remember when prices jumped above a dollar and the pumps weren't ready? |
August 21, 2006 Monday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
Fun with words:
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Old Skelly Station - on old highway 50 - Lebo |
August 20, 2006 Sunday
Dog Eat Dog? It's Dog Eat Anything.
Idyll Banter
by Chris Bohjalian
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Front steps of the Arlington Hotel, Hot Springs. |
August 19, 2006 Saturday
Cheryl's Link of the Day
type in a song or the name of an artist,
click on the song, listen to music
I had to make my monthly Wal-Mart run this morning (ugh.) But, Halloween greeting cards are now available.
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This, boys and girls, is a mud puddle (well, more like a sand puddle). I found it in Lebo. Apparently they've had enough rain in Coffey County to make a puddle. We have no puddles here. |
Free hamburgers! You could just stand in line at the Beef Fest from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and get a free hamburger (and pop and a treat from Dolly Madison.)
Dave and I picked up our burgers and headed to the grandstand to watch a cowboy lasso a small steer. That's what cowboys do and I suppose cattle are used to being chased down and having ropes yanked around their necks.
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sunrise on a lake near Hot Springs, Arkansas |
August 17, 2006 Thursday
Sportshooter.com - photos by Hal Smith,
Emporia Gazette photographer
More from Hot Springs, Arkansas...
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George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush Josephine Tussaud's Wax Museum
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He's not real. But he talks. |
August 16, 2006 Wednesday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
Savage Chickens "Blame"
(Yes, Savage Chickens two days in a row. Another good one today.)
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Just outside of Hot Springs. |
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In Hot Springs, a town full of artists, they came up with a rather hideous portrait of Bill Clinton. Clinton was born in Hope, Ark., but lived much of his boyhood in Hot Springs. This is a Republican state and not all Arkansans are proud of their famous son. While he was President, signs at the state lines announced that Arkansas was home to President Bill Clinton. As soon as he was out of office, the state replaced those Bill Clinton signs with "Arkansas: The Natural State." |
August 15, 2006 Tuesday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
Savage Chickens - "Friends"
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Brits: Purveyors of British goods downtown Lawrence |
On Sunday, my brother and I drove to Lawrence for lunch. It was 'drop your kid off at college' weekend and we saw a number of families walking around downtown. The parents were probably passing on last-minute advice, the students probably anxious for the parents to set them free. Leon and I reminisced about our first days at KU.
August 14, 2006 Monday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
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This photo was taken in Kansas.
In Lawrence... obviously.
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August 13, 2006 Sunday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
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My big brother is visiting. That's a treat. I don't get to see him very often.
Since he's a graduate of the William Allen White School of Journalism at KU, Dave and I took Leon to the William Allen White House State Historic Site here in Emporia.
There we ran into Roger Heineken who had just returned from giving a bus tour to spouses of engravers who are here for ESU's new engraving school. Roger knows more about William Allen White than any living, breathing human being ought to know.
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| A bit of downtown - Hot Springs, Arkansas. |
August 12, 2006 Saturday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
Today in Emporia:
11-1 p.m. Book Signing - Town Crier Bookstore, 714 Commercial. Robert Collins and Ann Parr.
All day - Blues & BBQ - at Peter Pan Park. Schedule of Events.
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Mo knows BBQ. When I took a photo of Mo, he asked, "Do you want a rib?" There's no way to say no to that question. And it was so incredibly good. It was coated with Mo's own raspberry chipolte sauce. Mo Cason runs Ponderosa BBQ, Des Moines, Iowa. (Yeah, Iowa. Wish he lived in our neighborhood.) |
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A fellow writer and friend, Robert Collins of Andover, was in Emporia's Town Crier Bookstore today, signing books. Robert writes primarily about Kansas railroad history and Civil War history. His newest book is "General James G. Blunt:Tarnished Glory." Out from Pelican Publishing in the fall will be a book on James Lane, a controversial character and a U.S. Senator from Kansas who was elected in 1861. I bought a couple of his books on Kansas railroads today. I already have "Kansas Railroad Attractions" which I need to keep in the car. It lists interesting depots and railroad excursions and other train-related attractions in Kansas. He left some autographed books, so if you're interested, stop by Town Crier and pick up a book or two. |
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This week while I was in Arkansas, I watched after my aunt and uncle's dogs. That had been my mom's duty, but since she was in the hospital, I went to check on the dogs, morning and night.
My aunt and uncle live about 4 miles away from my mom's house in the same wooded village. It is all woods and hills, by the way, you don't see the houses except when you take the tiny roads that are hidden away off the main roads.
On the way to visit the dogs, I saw red foxes and deer and turkeys that live in this Arkansas forest.
Anyway, after I'd look in on the dogs each morning, on the way home I'd stop at the gas station near my mom's house - for breakfast. The Phillips 66 station had the best biscuits and gravy.
When I'm on "vacation," I tend to eat things I normally don't. Biscuits and gravy is one of those things.
It's morning again. I'm hungry. And I'm having withdrawal symptoms. I want my biscuits and gravy. Wish we had a good gas station around here.
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Superior Baths Hot Springs |
I guess people were pretty dirty way back when. There are lots of bathhouses in Hot Springs.
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| Buckstaff Baths |
August 11, 2006 Friday
Cheryl's Link of the Day:
Photos by Joey Harrison.
Who's Joey?
He's just some guy from Toledo, Ohio.
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Kansas in the movies: Shooting begins August 14 for "Bunker Hill," a Kevin Willmott film.
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Quapaw Baths Bathhouse Row Hot Springs, Arkansas. I didn't count the bathhouses. There are 7-8, I'd guess, along Central Avenue (the main drag). This is
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I'm back in Kansas. It's good to be home.
Drove about 479 miles yesterday in 8.5 hours and pulled into my driveway at 1 a.m. Passed through the edge of a thunderstorm last night north of Tulsa.
Even after the Alaska pipeline corrosion news, gas was still at $2.86 in Hot Springs. I bought it for $2.82 in Russellville, Ark. And for $2.91 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The highest price I saw was $3.12 at Beto Junction (I-35/US75) in Kansas.
I spent the week in Hot Springs- my mom was in the hospital. She's getting out today (yay.) Before I left Arkansas, I got to see my aunt and uncle - they had just returned home to Hot Springs. (They left Scotland Wednesday morning. Good timing - they were home before the news broke about the terrorism plot to blow up international flights between the U.K. and U.S.)
I didn't have much time to wander around Hot Springs and take photos, but I managed to snap a few pictures on Wednesday.
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on bathhouse row - Hot Springs, Arkansas |
P.S. Kelley Hunt's web site is now accessible. (See my July 27 entry.)
August 9, 2006 Wednesday
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By special request, Horses and Approaching Storm is now available as a computer wallpaper. |
August 8, 2006 Tuesday
This Saturday, August 12, Robert Collins of Andover will be signing books at the Town Crier in Emporia. 11:30 a.m. - 1: 30 p.m. (I think.)
Robert Collins has written several books about railroad history in Kansas and one of his books on Civil War history is "General James G. Blunt: Tarnished Glory."
BTW, Flyover People readers, I'm in Arkansas presently so that's why the Daily News updates have been on hold. Daily News will resume as soon as possible.
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It's still steamy, but at least a walk by Wooster Lake, behind Emporia State University, felt a little cooler. A bit of evening sunlight glanced over the dormitories, catching fountain mist in its path. The lake was named in honor of Lyman Child Wooster. Some background information about the professor, written by James Aber, is available on the ESU website. - added by Dave, helping to fill the void during Cheryl's absence |
August 6, 2006 Sunday
Wondering what to do next weekend?
The Greater Emporia Blues & Barbecue will take place at Peter Pan Park on Friday and Saturday.
Check here for the events schedule and more.
August 5, 2006 Saturday
NOT THAT ANYONE CARES, BUT...
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The last time I opened a new jar of tea, I wrote the date on it. July 24.
It took me, and me alone, 12 days to consume said jar of tea. According to the label, the container holds 120 servings (at 2 tsp. per serving).
That's about 10 glasses per day. Of course, that's all I drink. Well, occasionally I'll drink some water, maybe a Diet Coke now and then.
I never measure tea, I just shake it into the glass. Sometimes it's darker, sometimes it's lighter.
NO sugar, but definitely fresh lemon (vitamin C).
I love my tea.
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| in a field near Skiddy |
August 4, 2006 Friday
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Taryn is 11 today. She lives next door. I put up balloons this morning, but didn't have the Happy Birthday banner. Usually the neighbors return it after the July birthdays, but they hadn't yet. When there was enough light out, I took this photo and saw that Taryn's mother had hung the banner. |
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Emporia stonecarver Alan Tollakson was on NPR yesterday.
Listen to Chipping Away and Making a Racket
Alan Tollakson
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| A round corner post in Morris County. |
August 3, 2006 Thursday
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Dustin Anderson - Skiddy, Kansas |
On our way to Salina last Saturday, we ran into road construction and took a detour at Dwight.
As a bonus for our detour, we ended up in Skiddy. Skiddy isn't much of a town these days - some houses, a few fallen-in businesses.
We stopped for photos. Across the street, I noticed man moving things around in a yard at an old house. So I went to introduce myself (sometimes that saves photographers from getting shot in small towns.)
As it turned out, Dustin Anderson has quite a history and a lifetime's worth of stories.
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"Here's a Skiddy memento," Anderson said, pulling something from his shirt pocket and handing me a
dollar bill, folded origami-style.
"I give one of these to everyone who comes to Skiddy."
"There's 26 folds in that one (with the eagle showing)," he told me. Some have 28 folds. There's 24 folds in the one with George Washington. I figured out 21 different ways to fold (a dollar bill.)
"Don't unfold it," he warned. "You'll never get it back."
Anderson was a member of the "intrepid warriors of the fabled 6th Ranger Batallion" in World War II.
"The 6th Rangers has the greatest military record of any military unit. You can check that out."
And he was a commercial cattle agent for 51 years.
While he was telling war stories, I tried to take notes, but sometimes during his storytelling, he'd say, "Now, don't write this down, but...."
So a lot of our conversation was off the record.
But he pulled from his billfold a small, plastic-covered newspaper clipping with the headline, "Skiddy Ranger First Ashore." He said that was on Dinegat Island.
He suggested I rent the movie, "The Great Raid," in which the 6th Batallion Rangers, C Company and F Company, liberated over 500 POWs from a prison camp on Luzon.
"If you want an idea of what Dustin done in World War II, watch that," he said. "Pop up the popcorn 'cause it lasts over two hours."
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Skiddy |
August 2, 2006 Wednesday
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Out in the boonies, in northern Morris County, is the Marion Hill Lutheran Church. The church cemetery is to the left. |
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Built in 1879. |
August 1, 2006 Tuesday
It's election day. The primary election.
Polls are open 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.
VOTE !
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This is one of my favorite things at the fair this year: Frankie's Garden. I met Frankie Davis on Sunday and watched the 7-year-old, with incredible poise and confidence, give an impromptu project talk to five Chinese teachers. She charmed us all. When asked about the pink toy flower with the smiling face, Frankie said, "I call it just a perky flower." Frankie took home a purple, a Champion and a Grand Champion ribbon for her horticultural project. |
All Content Copyright 2004-2006 by Cheryl Unruh
Text: Cheryl Unruh
Photography: Cheryl Unruh & Dave Leiker