Random thoughts again

Tony's BLT

OK, let's start this with a little reminder of an earlier post about the Tomato and BLT. Saturday after returning to Gas City from a great day of visiting, I watched an interesting show with "the girls". It was about wonderful and outlandish sandwiches. I was taken by the "Ultimate BLT" served at Tony's I-75 Restaurant in Birch Run, Michigan. As you look at the picture of Tony's BLT, you should notice that something seems to be missing (or covered).... Does look tasty!!! If it looks good to you, here's a blog that may interest you.  http://baconation.blogspot.com/

Back to my visits on Saturday. For the first time since, I think last spring, I got to go visit with my sister. Sadly her husband was out of town to a Lion's Club meeting for the day, but we talked, laughed and ate the remains of her wonderful Beef, Barley, soup... mmm good. It does seem that as the years go by, we find ourselves agreeing on more issues and values.  That sibling relationship is rich and valuable. There are many things that can come along in life to strain those relationships, but they are so valuable and worth preserving.

From there, I finally made connection with Art and Pat Windmiller. Art was the high school coach when we, the class of 1960 were in "junior high". I remember him most as the coach and in "study hall", although he also taught math.Our class has reconnected with them in the past few years and it is really great tht this reconnection has occurred.  Don't remember if I have posted this before, but we have another connection in that their son Bob played baseball and basketball at the University of Illinois in the late 60's (while we were at the University of Georgia).  I was met almost immediately with a cup of coffee and a tray full of local Heyerly's "rolls"... some fantastic "donuts". Couldn't find a website, but if find yourself south of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, it must be worth a stop. Here's a link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/148/928222/restaurant/Fort-Wayne/Heyerly-Bakery-Ossian. Ossian is south on State Road 1. If you happen to know who Art and Pat Windmiller are, I advise you to look them up also. They aren't difficult to find and it is so worth your while to spend some time renewing that old relationship. We talked about folks we knew in Silver Lake, Basketball in Silver Lake, colleges and even the Pacers. (Pat's apparently a devout Pacer's fan, but they had the Illinois/ Nebraska game on the TV while we visited and she was pulling for Nebraska... What's up with that. There I was retired from the University of Illinois after 30 + years, and their own son played for the U of I and she was cheering for Nebraska.... Hmmmm. Oh well. "we" won. Funny thing is that the game was really in the background as we visited. When I started this paragraph I said that he was "the" coach.... Not the basketball coach, the football coach.... etc. You see there were 25 people who graduated from SLHS in 1960. In our class maybe 5 or 6 guys were involved in sports. I'm sure it was similar when Art was coaching there. Those few guys were the basketball, baseball, track, and cross country teams. Weren't enough to field a football or tennis team. I think I did this "big fish in a little pond" theory before, so won't go there again. The point is that for guys in multiple sports you didn't have the coaches fighting over them cause they were the same coach. Notice I said "guys"... sad to say that at that time sports were primarily a "guy thing"..
We talked a little about WW II which of course I only can relate to through movies, books and conversation with those who "were there". Reminded me of an interview I had just heard on WDWS radio. A local "Mahomet" man, Kevin Brooks, had collaborated on a book called Glider Infantryman about their experiences riding gliders behind enemy lines at Normandy. Wow. What little we know. Here's a link for that: http://www.amazon.com/Glider-Infantryman-Williams-Ford-University-Military/dp/1603444246. Art was one of the guys who "patched" up folks. I can imagine the anguish in working feverishly to save a life or a limb, nourished by cigaretttes and coffee and little sleep. OK.   Not my story!!!

One new Doggie Door

Sunday I got to use my new "double saw" or "dual saw"  http://www.dualsaw.com/ that the kids got me for Christmas to cut the hole to make a "doggie door" in our nephew's garage so their dog could sleep inside and poop outside. Took me longer that it probably should have, but although I forgot to take pictures before covering my handiwork with the plastic strips, I think it turned out pretty good. During the process, I was reminded of a sermon our family heard years ago at Center EUB church north of Silver Lake for a Christmas or New Year, or something. I need to take this opportunity to highlight again the significance of EUB. I grew up in the local Evangelical United Bretheren Church. Georgia grew up in the Methodist Church. In the year 1963, these 2 demoninations joined and became the United Methodist Church. Why is this significant? Because that was the year that Georgia and I became Mr. and Mrs. Kneller. How's that for a divine union? Back to the story.  This older visiting minister gave a sermon. Not sure how it related to Christmas or New Year or Christianity as a matter of fact, but the message was "if you don't have what you want; use what you've got".... That simple little message has stayed with me for all those years. So how does it relate to the doggie door???? Although I have learned to bring tools when I come here, I never seem to have exactly the right tool for the situation. I did make do with what I had, but when it came to fastening the plastic (Stair Tread covers) to the frame I had built, I was at a loss. I had bought a box of screws to put the wood together, but didn't think about not having 4 hands to hold the plastic while I screwed the wooden frame over it. I looked through my tools and supplies and finally found a package of glazing points. Now if you don't know what they are, you'll have to look them up yourself. I needed something that would hold the plastic to the back of the wood until I could secure the whole assembly to the garage. I stuck one of the points in the plastic, pounded it down, then flattened it and "viola" or as I used to think it was; "walla".... It worked!!! I had what I needed!
I think that's enough rambling for now.