4th of July Hysham Montana

Our friends and neighbors, the Almonds, invited us to spend a day in the small Montana village they grew up in and around. Hysham is about an hour east of Billings, surrounded by farms and ranches worked and owned by many of the same families that first settled them in the latter part of the 19th century. We checked out the cemetery, watched the 4th of July parade, had some lunch at Lion's Park, admired the many hollyhocks, were entertained by Barbara Fairchild and her partner/husband in the evening, and watched the fireworks on the way home. A good day with good friends in a pleasant and hard-working part of the world, who took a day off to celebrate their Independence.












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Diego Salvador Gomez baptism in Albuquerque NM

Carol and I flew to ABQ from Billings; Peg, Patrick et al drove in from visiting a Mazzuca uncle/cousins in Texas; Joan and Michael flew in from DisneyLand; and Pete flew in from Florida; all to celebrate our youngest grandson's baptism. Diego is now 5 months old and very into engaging all those around him with a big smile. I guess that is our first discovery on the journey of life: a smile goes a long way toward getting a meal or whatever else one might need.



















Diego paraded around St Paul's church after the baptism, giving everyone his beatific smile and assuring all of us that we too are saved! Michael was amazed at the miracles. I think the Spirit blows where she will. The reason I am smiling is that Diego just whispered to me that he wasn't sure about this immersion stuff, maybe just a little sprinkling would be fine. Joan, the godmother is thinking about her awesome responsibilities, like all mothers I suppose.

After church we adjourned to the local Brazilian hotspot of a restaurant, yes I did say Brazilian, in ABQ of all places, will wonders never cease.



They keep bringing the food until you say No mas or whatever the Portuguese equivalent is. Apparently this outfit started in Provo Utah and has now spread to Denver and perhaps some other places. Highly recommended. Great Brazilian lemonade.

Diego smiled the whole weekend and got a lot of smiles back from his uncles and aunts and grandparents and cousins and of course parents too. Zack and Nick are being transformed into gentle schoolboys.












Joan is often surprised at how things turn out.


We stayed at Hotel Blue, on Central Avenue, otherwise known as Route 66, the mother of all roads and almost certainly the mother of all nostalgia celebrations, from Chicago to California. They were celebrating the 80th anniversary of the opening of the highway. Seems to me I remember a story, or more accurately, multiple stories from my grandfather Rohrschneider about a family trip they took from Wisconsin to San Bernardino California in 1926 in a ?Peirce-Arrow of course, courtesy of my grandfather's lust for very splashy cars. I am sure my Uncle Wally and his sister Joann (my mother) also went along on that trip. They must have travelled along that same old Route 66 that we can only imagine now. Maybe they even stayed in the Hotel Blue! Great car show and the nostalgia nuts were gathering in ABQ this week. The RailRunner is supposed to start up next week. We got wind and dust-stormed out of a picnic one of the afternoons. Pretty scary. A good time was had by all as they used to say in more civilized times and newspapers.

Family matters in Wisconsin

Just returned from week long trip: BIL to DEN to MSN to ORD to SEA to BIL. The only hitch was the surly baggage handlers in Seattle where Peg and I waited late Saturday evening for 75 minutes for my bag. I keep telling myself that I have to carry it on. I think it is time to make good on this promise. As you can see, our old house in Hustisford is much the same, and the trees in the back are now mature, like the girls (now ladies of a certain age) they were planted to honor.

Had a visit with Uncle Omer and Aunt Ardis, who have just moved back closer to Madison.


Gerald has retired from WAMIC, in order to have more time to pursue other interests and his hobby of mowing his extensive lawn. And playing with his grandchildren.



Had a pleasant visit with Bryan, Vicki, Scott, Carly, Mitch, Matthew, Ella and newly arrived Eilyanna. Took some pictures in a nearby park.





















We spent a day checking out old haunts in Hustisford and Dodge County. Lots of changes over the years but much has remained the same or improved since the good old days. Many old houses looked familiar as I used to deliver papers to them early mornings.

Gerry mentioned that the old Zuelsdorf house (two doors east of Presbyterian church: see above middle or maybe right, I hope) that he and Judy lived in many years ago was one of those bought by catalog from Sears and Roebuck. The boards in the attic and cellar still had the logos on them.





The Milwaukee Sentinel was the morning paper long ago and the Journal was the afternoon paper, the former more on the right and the latter on the left. They are now combined as the Journal-Sentinel (or maybe vice-versa): apparently a peculiar mixture of loony left (from the Journal) and more sensible writing from the middle and right (from the Sentinel). I couldn't figure out the Sudoku puzzle for two days in a row.



Hustisford looks fine, almost doubled (although there is some difference of opinion about the actual numbers depending on which end of town you come in on) in population since we hung out there in the 50s. Mueller's meat market, see below right, which we lived above for nearly 10 years, has been converted into living quarters, and so too has Kienast's, the other meat market in town.


The recipe for his excellent summer sausage was supposed to have been handed down or maybe sold to Leroy Meats but it didn't seem the same when we bought some up in Horicon.
My guess is that state regulation forced some changes in the process. High class mushrooms are also now for sale.



The bowling alley was about the same, with pretty good sandwiches and automatic pin-setters rather than the juvenile delinquents making beer money at 10 cents a line, I think. The grocery store is gone.








The Hotel looks pretty much the same. Bethany Lutheran Church looks better, with a nice new school behind it. The old parochial school is gone, and of course the ballfield we used to play on. The old public high school is gone, completely and utterly gone.

The Hustisford Hilltoppers won't be able to come back anymore. That last was a shock as that was where we came of age in the 50s.

The old school has been replaced by a nice new high school and grade school on the edge of town, partly underground, so it must have won an environmental prize. The baseball park that my father imagined into being back in the 50s is still there with a fairly shallow left field fence, so they raised the fence to make it more difficult to hit a homerun. Of course, somebody without an ounce of aesthetic feeling has shortened up the infield grass so they can play softball!!! on the same field. The terraced grandstand is still there though better looking than the original.


Radloff Cheese Factory has gone out of business. Grandpa Mueller's farm looked a little shabby, especially the house. The old silo on the north side of the barn is gone and the new blue metal ones have been moved back. There is a fancy house on the hillside leading up to the small woodlot.




Seems unlikely they let the cows out in that pasture now. Roads are being repaired in town. Farms look prosperous over most of the county, though many of the fields are being replaced by housing developments around Hustisford and Madison as well. Cemetery looks well cared for.


Gerald's retirement party brought out some old friends from high school days and even a stray brother. That is Gene and Janice Mintzlaff on the left, another couple from the same high school year that Carol and I came from.

Later pictures of DSG

When Nicole made a comment on the almost newborn pictures of Diego, I went to look at the site and realized that time passes quickly and growth occurs explosively in the really small.


I couldn't resist publishing a few later pictures. Diego now is between 3 and 4 months, happy as a clam most of the time. Mom & Dad are doing well too. Sharon is thinking about the upcoming summer school where she will teach part-time, and probably go back to full-time teaching in the Fall.

Ashland Spring 06

Late April/early May trip to southern Oregon, to our favorite regional theatre, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival of Ashland Oregon. Medford urban sculpture to the left, actually on the right in the picture, that is Carol on the left.



More buildings going up in the small downtown area, more houses in the surrounding area being rehabilitated, (see right) more really good plays being performed: four SOs in a row this weekend, three of them deserved.

Saw a lovely production of The Winter's Tale, which was much more memorable than the one 3 years ago. Maybe because it was inside rather than outside. The Diary of Anne Frank was difficult and only of average quality. Lots of kids there. UP was post-modern and so meant nothing, but was entertaining and thought provoking none the less. Intimate Apparel was probably the best newer play and of course featured a lot of magical stagecraft as well as a good story.








We flew from Billings to Portland, then on to Medford, but on the way back went from Medford to Denver and on to Billings. This latter combo is less desirable than the Horizon flights through Portland. Ashland was in early bloom. Had dinner at Alex's on the Plaza with Anne Sloan: very enjoyable, both food and company. Pizza Piatti was also memorable for food.


Porter's in Medford at the old train station was great. We had a seafood appetizer which was plenty for us.




We stayed at Lithia Springs Inn, just outside of Ashland on Rte 99 going toward Medford: Nice quiet place with good breakfasts and late afternoon snacks. Might be a good place for kids and grandkids to get together as they had clusters of suites that looked very pleasant. All the rooms had a large tub with the healing waters available. I might have been slightly less achey after a soak.





Visited the Rogue Creamery (see left) in Central Point I think, for some of their extra-special good blue cheese. At any rate, the next exit north of Medford, go left into the village.

Arrival of Diego Salvador

We flew from Billings to Albuquerque in late January to check on the recent arrival (21Jan) of our youngest grandson. He and Mom were doing fine. He is gaining weight and many admiring stares from parents and grandparents. He is pretending to be asleeep in one of these pictures, hoping we will stop taking pictures.