Yesterday morning, what may well have been a murmuration of starlings came racing through our back woods like a blinding blizzard. I just happened to be perched in my comfy chair in the sunroom, with a wide-eyed panoramic view of the squall. It was wild! Farmer Gary later explained to me the birds are rather frantic this time of year, looking for food and a bit of warmth. They flew in from the northwest and crowded in the tree branches…
You may remember the tragic story of Peter Schmitt: “The $2 Murder.” Peter’s mother, Maria Theresia Mehling Schmitt, was a relative from Gary’s father’s side of the family. (Even though Mehling was Gary’s mom’s maiden name.) I can just hear Gary’s Mehling cousins in chorus: “Prove it!” That is what all the online genealogy classes I take preach, too. Not to mention my journalism professors in college. And so, courtesy Ancestry.com: Now that we’ve got that established, let’s learn a…
As 2025 ends, the books of December are a mix of fable and fact. The first – a special treat – was read to me entirely by grandson Cam. He used a variety of excellent character voices, which never failed to delight me. He’s shares his thoughts in Book 1, below. Book 1: The BFG by Roald Dahl The BFG by Roald Dahl, in my opinion, is a great book to read. The story has Sophie, the main protagonist, and…
Judging from Mom’s poem below, I’m guessing she and Dad had just returned from a trip to The Hemingway Home in Key West, Florida, when she wrote this: Picasso’s Cat whichever life it wasdiscarded broken to the boxthe nine were not exhausted in Hemingway’s housethe cat Picasso madeemerges whole on the high chestout of Mexicohe tops it like a santothe house guides and the garden cats below pay homage ~ joan vayo ~ January 31, 1996 There are numerous stories…
He was the only local boy to fight in Italy during World War One. Leo Paul Werne was a younger brother of Gary’s grandpa George. Born on January 25, 1891, he was 25 when the call came to sign up for the draft. Leo prepared to go “over there.” As part of the American Expeditionary Forces, Private Werne was a “Doughboy.” According to a front-page article in The Ferdinand News on May 23, 1919, Leo had quite an adventure: Returns…
Farmer Gary‘s great-grandfather Anton Mehling was born on October 2, 1862. To be completely honest, my interest in Anton started with his wife. His second wife. And that incredible hat: They married on April 8, 1913. Anton had been a widower for three years; Minnie had lost her husband in 1912. Minnie’s maiden name was Philomena Pfaff (according to Gary, the first “f” is silent). She married Fred Tillman, who was born in Prussia but grew up in southern Indiana,…
Leftovers are the best part of Thanksgiving Dinner, right? Hope yours was grand! Book 1: The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh This book is downright nutty. Apparently the British author was not impressed with America as a whole and Hollywood in particular. It seems his novel Brideshead Revisited was to be made into a film and his presense was requested for negotiations. The best part of the trip, though, was Waugh’s visit to Forest Lawn cemetery. That passive-aggressive (and dare-I-say…
Couldn’t resist using the archaic spelling of demon. My copy of Frankenstein used “daemon” and so shall I. October’s books were purposefully chosen with spookiness in mind. Book 1: Endless Night by Agatha Christie There’s definitely a monster in this murder mystery. Published in 1967, Endless Night took Dame Agatha only six weeks to write (usually it was twice that time or more). She was, in this case, a speed daemon. Book 2: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë This classic…
It’s already been established that Farmer Gary and I enjoy reading obituaries together. It’s a solid way to get to know those who’ve gone before us. This morning, we found this obituary from 1916. This is Gary’s great-great grandmother (George Werne’s grandmother): Here’s the text of that first paragraph: Mrs. John Hedinger (nee Mary Druschscherer), passed quietly away at the home of her son George last Tuesday morning at 3:30 of senile debility. She was feeble for some time and…
After A Month of Reading Rot in August, it seemed only natural to move on to “A Month of Misery” in September. Seven books this month, but don’t worry, not all were miserable. I’ll let you know this up front: got my jabs yesterday and so we’ll make this quick. (This is definitely the easiest time I’ve had following Covid and flu vaccines, but there is still a tad bit of … misery.) Book 1: The Sun Also Rises by…