The Daisy Award

Six weeks ago my granddaughter, Kathryn, was attending a Daisy Award presentation at St. Luke's Hospital/Unity Point Health Center in Cedar Rapids. She had no idea she was one of the recipients, but when she saw her family in attendance, the penny dropped.

The Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses was founded by the family of Patrick Barnes, after his death in 1999, as a way of recognizing and thanking the nurses who had helped care for him during his hospital stays. To be considered for this award the nurse must be nominated by a family member of a patient the nurse has helped care for.

Kathryn's nominating family wrote about her: "Kathryn will forever hold a special place in our father's heart and in ours for the excellent care and compassion she showed and gave our father in his final days."

The Daisy statue she received, "A Healer's Touch" symbolizes the relationship between nurses, patients and families.

I don't know just when Kathryn decided to become a nurse, but by the time she was in high school, she had completed CNA training and was working night and weekend shifts at one of the care centers in her town. The above picture of her was taken by one of her high school friends who captioned it: "Kathryn, totally awesome, amazing picture." I would add "of a totally awesome, amazing woman."

After high school graduation in 2011, she enrolled at Coe College Cedar Rapids.

Receiving a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2015. During her years at Coe, she also worked at St. Luke's Hospital.

Today is Kathryn's 24th birthday. She is celebrating it with her boyfriend at the Iowa State Fair. I kidded her that her birthday cake would have a funnel in it.

As a grandma, it has been a privilege to watch her growing up, finding her place in life. I know she still has times of uncertainty, but I don't know anyone who has done a better job, as a young person, of deciding on her path and following through to achieve her goals. So, Kathryn, if you see this post, know that your G'ma R is very proud of you and very, very, happy for you.
Happy 24th; many more.

DRY Midsomer Flora Update

The Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susans) and Echinacea Purpurea (Purple Coneflower) are obviously flowers which can withstand drought conditions. I have not watered these at all.

The Day Lilies are pretty much done for. This is the last bloom on one of the plants. I think they would bloom until fall IF we got some rain.

The Stachys Byzantina (Lamb's-ear) is blooming and also surviving low to no water rations.

The Autumn Joy Sedum "prefers moist soil in full sun, but can take it drier." Its blossom heads are forming, but no color yet. Note the one little blue flower - yes it is my nemesis, the impossible to get rid of, Monkey face (Asiatic dayflower). The dry conditions have kept it at a minimum this year. I've pulled a bunch of it but always manage to miss a few plants hiding beneath the other flowers.

My Naked Ladies (Belladonna Lily) are just emerging. In a few days they will look like this:

I don't know why the neighbor's bloom before mine. I do note that the color of these and the purple coneflower is much paler this year. I think that may have to do with lack of moisture.

The Hostas on the north side of the house are also blooming without any extra watering. Now for the plants I have kept watered during this dry spell.

First and foremost, Dougie's Mother's Day plant. It takes a half gallon of water every day.

The purloined Gaillardia (Blanket flower). I can't let this die from lack of attention.

The Cardinal Climber has gone crazy with foliage, but so far only one bloom. I planted several seeds where the zinnias were last year, near the patio.

I've been keeping the one on the west side watered, too, but it isn't as lush as it was last year. The sedums in the pots do okay with only occasional watering.

As do the Impatiens in their mostly shaded corner. I was impatient to plant them this year and settled for the only color available rather than wait for my favored coral color, but I am enjoying these lavender pink ones.

I still don't know what this foliage plant is. It looks like a Coleus, but is a perennial. It literally washed over from the neighbor's and I transplanted it into this planter for the deck.

This is the first time I have tried Wave Petunias. They have done okay, but not as lush as other wave petunia plantings I have seen. Maybe because I only planted one and need to plant several?

Last year I had Royale Peachy Keen Verbena in these deck planters which I hoped to have again. Alas, I could not find any locally, so I planted some Salvia which didn't do well. Having the squirrels pull the plants out may have contributed to their failure to thrive. I finally replaced them with this Easter Basket Mix Alyssum which has thrived and which the squirrels didn't bother.

The Helichrysum and Snapdragons have performed just as I hoped. And I still love the new (end-of-last-season garage sale find) planter!

The Portulaca has not fared as well this year as last. It can handle dry conditions so maybe I have watered it too much?

I would hate to say just which of my plants are my favorites, so I'll just say the geraniums are one of my favorites, but I can say they are in my favorite color.

It has helped that the weather has cooled down some even though it remains very, very, dry.

Polishing The Past

Today is the 8th anniversary of my blog. In a comment on the 7th blog I posted - the one about 'The Little House', Kari commented: "It is a gift, really, this tendency of memory to polish the past until only the brightest, happiest moments shine out."

I began my blog as a means of sharing - preserving, some of my memories and pictures for my children, grandchildren and, now, great-grandchildren. Have I polished only the brightest, happiest moments? I've certainly shared more memories about the good times than the bad, but I think I've been candid about the low spots in my life, too.

This is my 1,171st post. When I reached 1000 I thought about quitting, and now, after eight years, I'm again thinking of quitting. I've also thought of making my blog 'private' and allowing only those I want to share it with. There are eight of my 25 followers I have no idea who they are. It also seems like I have shared all the old memories and have even begun repeating some of them.

But for the last six weeks, instead of sharing anything on Facebook, I've been posting here every day. It has become a habit again and one that keeps me engaged, thinking, getting out, taking photos.

So, whether I polish those past memories a few more times, post umpteen pond pictures or other's poetry, as well as a few of my own poetic attempts, I'll continue on blogging a while longer. But, fair warning, watch out for cloud photos. I find myself being drawn to the sky.

Eight years blogging, eight cloud pictures. The above is "Eye in the Sky"..

Last one - for now. I took this as we were going down the highway last November headed to Des Moines for the 'Reveal Party' where we found out we were having our second great-granddaughter. (Brynley)

I call this 'Alien Sky'. It looked as though a hole was forming in the clouds, one through which, any moment, something alien might appear.

Satisfying A Sweet Tooth

I have always considered myself lucky that I did not have a 'sweet tooth'. Oh, I don't mean that I didn't like sweets at all, but I didn't crave them - or if I did, a little bite, a small piece, would chase the craving away. I much preferred salty things. But as I've gotten older, that has changed. I find myself wanting something sweet after a meal. Still don't need a lot, just a little something - a cookie or two, a dish of ice cream....
I remember my Grandma Bessie when she was in the nursing home (I know, we don't call them that anymore, but we did then) and how my Mom would take her cookies or candy when she went to visit. Grandma never waited to eat the treat, she dived right in, smacking her lips and m-m-m-ming.

When I woke up this morning - too early, as I often do - but even earlier than usual - I started thinking about my old home town's bakery; how a cousin/classmate once owned it and a different family branch cousin/classmate of my younger brother now does. How once it was a block south of its current location, but I can not for the life of me remember where. I didn't even remember that until my friend Ellen and I were trying to locate all the Main Street businesses from our younger days. Then I thought, "I should blog about the bakery someday. But not today. I already have a post planned for today."

I finally decided I wasn't going back to sleep. Got up. Started the coffee - programmed to start at 5:45 a.m., but by-passed when I get up earlier. Booted the computer and started reading the news. I always wonder, before the home page comes up if I'm going to read "North Korea has bombed Guam" or, more locally, if I know anyone on the KMA obits page. It was awhile before I clicked on Facebook and read that today is the 44th anniversary of the current home town bakery owners. Well that is a sign. I am supposed to blog about Sweet Desires today.

Sweet Desires is the name my cousin (daughter of Mom's first cousin Jim) gave the name of the bakery when she and her husband purchased it in 2002. It seems to me it had languished on the "For Sale" list for quite awhile. I was a bit surprised when Jo and Rick bought it. The former owner hadn't done too well running it and I was afraid for my cousin - afraid she would lose her investment. I needn't have worried, fifteen years later and she is still going strong.

Everything she makes is good, but cakes are her specialty. She made these two for my brother Ron's 70th birthday a 'few' years ago. The sheet cake has the names of the other five family members also celebrating birthdays that month.

From her business Facebook page, a few examples of her abilities.

There are many wedding cake photos, but I was drawn to the composition of this one.

This one would have been perfect for one of the grandsons when he was younger - or even now for his boys?

"Having a ball since 1967" - a ball canning jar. Would like to know who this one was for. So unusual. I doubt if there's any idea Jo couldn't figure out how to make a cake for.

I don't stop in at Sweet Desires very often, but when I do it is always a treat - not only the ones I buy, but seeing Jo and her mom, Joan. The last time I was there Jo came out to the counter to talk to me. There was something about the way she looked that made me realize how much she resembled her Grandma Haley, my grandfather's sister, Florence. It was more remarkable in person than in this photo.

Just writing about the bakery has awakened my sweet tooth. I know where I'm going to stop the next time I'm in the old home town.

55: Arrive Alive

Due to the energy crisis in the early 70's, the 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act prohibited national speed limits higher than 55 miles per hour. That included the interstate highways. One of the reminders to drive 55 was: 55 Arrive Alive.

Today, arriving alive at 55 has a different meaning for me - my eldest, son Douglas, is 55.

This picture was taken two years ago when, after months of radiation and chemo treatments, he was admitted to the hospital on his birthday.

Three and a half months later at his grandson Jack's first birthday, he was just beginning to be able to eat again, but on the road to better health.

Last month at Christmas in July, the pose he struck when his granddaughter Lily wanted to take his picture - pretty much back to his old self again.

Last Friday I got this message from him: "Best gift came today 2 years check is cancer free."

Two weeks ago he started a fund raiser, "I'm Donating My Birthday to Stupid Cancer" asking for donations in lieu of birthday presents. His goal was to raise $1000 to help other young adults who were facing what he had. As of this writing, $1,160 had been donated.

He wrote on his fund raiser page: "In a few days I will have survived two years, but not without help, prayers, a few dollars and good doctors. Please. Someone else needs help with just getting through treatments."

I know he has been anonymously donating gift cards at John Stoddard Cancer Center as well as his time and talents doing home improvements for cancer patients and now this fund raiser.

I couldn't be any more proud, nor any less humbled than I am by my first born.

I am so very, very grateful that Doug is 55: Arrived. Alive. Happy Birthday, Son.

August: Madison County

Years I passed by
Always noticing
Your fine limestone foundation
The way you were built
Into the prairie hillside
The new tin roof added
To protect your hand hewn beams

Finally, August, 1987, I stopped
Long enough to take a picture
Knowing as the Madison County
Limestone began to crumble
You would someday be gone
Now I cannot say for certain
Just where you once stood

(ril August 9, 2017)

Before There Was 'Social Media'

I was reading the Sunday, August 7 entry in my 1960 diary yesterday afternoon and was stumped by one of the things I had written: "Went over to Stanton to Lake Viking this afternoon. Dad, Leslie and I went swimming. Went through Villisca and down to the swinging car bridge. Didn't drive across, though. Came home on Guss Road (J20) then north. Only 1/2 mile from Johnson's. Made me furious!" That's the line that I didn't understand. There were at least three families named Johnson in the area. I wondered which one I was referring to?

The summer of '60 I was 16. I would start my senior year of high school and turn 17 in the fall. My steady boyfriend had graduated high school in May and left for his six month National Guard training the second of July. I missed him and I missed having someone to go to the movies with, etc. I did go along with his brothers and their girlfriends a few times, but I felt like a fifth wheel. I did a lot of running around with my girlfriends and some flirting with the guy friends of some of their boyfriends.

I looked back a few pages in my diary and there it was, the reason I was furious about being a half mile from Johnson's. "I had a date with Denny Johnson from Mt. Ayr tonite. He had his green '50 Ford. Went to the show, "Cole Younger, Gunfighter."

So, it really wasn't Johnson's I was mad about not driving past, it was George's. His mom had remarried and she, Denny's two younger brothers, and the step-father had moved to our neighborhood. Mrs. George (I can't even recall her first name now, though, because we were raised to respect our elders, I probably called her Mrs. George anyway.) and I got acquainted at church, bible school and youth group activities. She told me she had an older son, one my age, who had stayed in Mt. Ayr with his grandparents so he could finish high school there. He would be coming to visit them during the summer, would I like to meet him? She even told me he had a steady girlfriend, but I got the impression she wasn't too fond of her and was hoping they would break up.
Well, even though I had written in my diary, "He was very nice." There were no sparks. I wasn't going to be the one to break up him and his girlfriend regardless of his mom's hopes. But apparently I wanted to drive by their house on the chance I might see him and was 'furious' that Dad hadn't gone that way.

Mom and Dad weren't too happy with me for accepting a date with another boy when I had kept Kenny's class ring when he left for guard training. Even though they would have preferred that I hadn't tied myself down to one beau at my age, they also believed that I should be true to him. What they didn't know was that Kenny and I had talked about it before he left and he said it was okay for me to date others while he was gone as long as I took off his ring and also told him about it.

I had written in my diary after my date with Denny that I would tell Kenny, but not until he got home and I could tell him in person.

One of my classmates saw me with Denny at the show. The next morning I had phone calls from two girl friends wanting to know who I had been with and what was going on?

A week or so later I got a letter from Kenny telling me he had heard I was going out with someone else. So much for my not telling him - even then, in the age of snail mail, before instant messaging, texting, face book, instagram, and all the other methods of communication available now - someone couldn't wait to send Kenny a letter and tell on me, hoping to cause a problem between us.

I'm still very glad I grew up in the 50's and 60's though. The peer pressure was bad enough then, but nothing like it is now. I wonder if I could have even handled the crap my grandchildren have gone through?

Me, age 17.