Life in pictures

Wouldn't you know it. I post my thoughts about life, then this evening while getting back to my overlooked e-mails, I get a great message from my cousin Dave titled "no truer message" or something like that. As I thumb through it, I see that much of it is what I was trying to say toward the end, but said much better. So I downloaded the frames. I don't know the origin, but assume there aren't copyright issues.Hopefully I can get them up in order.
If the whole picture isn't visible to you, click on the first one, then the rest should be in a strip along the bottom and you can click on them in succession. Beyond the next line there is nothing in this post but pictures.
My added words are not needed:

What is Life?

I will warn you. If you are looking for enjoyment or entertainment, read no further. Click Next. and go on with your life. My purpose is simply to air some troublesome thinking that has been occupying my thoughtspace and perhaps give some folks a jumping off place to develop a deeper understanding of life.  Not from what I have "discovered", but what you find as you stop for a moment, put down your smart phone, shut off the TV and radio and listen. It is so easy to develop tunnel vision when there is so much more. There must be more to "life" than amassing goods, experiences, and power. A scripture says something like this; we are intended for the glory of God... my, my, how does that play out?
 
Last spring several concepts were thrust to the forefront of my mind that seemed to conflict with one another. That conflict reminded me of the story about the little boy who was walking along the beach throwing washed up starfish back into the ocean. There were myriads of starfish on the beach. A man happened on the boy and asked him what he thought the was doing and summarized their conversation with a word of wisdom. "You really can't make a difference.".  The boy retorted as he tossed another starfish back to safety, "it will make a difference to that one!"
One of the concepts was the vastness of creation. That is well presented in this website. Scale
How insignificant we are in comparison to planets in size and time, yet how immense we are related to beings that scurry about on a grain of sand.
As 2 of our sons adopted children who would most likely not be living today had they not found homes in Illinois and I marvel at the decision making process that occurs on some scale as to which ones . As Greg and Aidan interfaced with all those kids in Swaziland, you must wonder why. Many of the little ones who captured their hearts will not be living in a few years. Which one or two of those kids will not only survive, but make a difference to others in the future; and to how many others? 10, 100, or millions. For a glimpse into that world take a look at knowntome. As the "underprivileged" youth of our nation complain because they can't have the latest athletic shoes or jackets, or jewelry unless they steal it, I think about these kids of Swaziland who only desire a bowl of soup and maybe a second hand T-shirt as they play with sticks and rocks. What is poverty? What is Life?
For months now, we have been helping care for Georgia's mother who has now been bedfast for a few weeks, but could not be left alone since November 2011. Here we are 3, people (Georgia, her sister, and I) with 33 dependents to love and interact with, spending most of our time caring for this 1 person who has become extremely needy with nothing but pain and anxiety to look forward to each day on this earth.  Why?  Well, maybe McDonald's coffee with 3 creams and a mini-milkyway. What's the purpose? You would say, "at least she is living".. And I ask, "what is life?"  We pray daily that she use this time to draw herself ever closer to her Lord and Savior.  Is she living or existing? What is Life?
If we weren't here caring for her, what would we be doing? First, probably spending time with our kids and grandkids (and great grandson). Then we would be "updating" our house. A noble cause, right?? As I look at the pictures from Swaziland, I must wonder what is wrong with our house, but then compared with the digs we see on the HGTV and TLC programs, we live in a dump... What is the purpose of a dwelling? Another thing we would be doing is traveling to "see the world".. We had so much enjoyed our 4 year soiree across the USA and hope it hasn't ended. (you'll have to go back to 2008 in my blog posts to understand this if you don't know already. Yet, we desire to got to Alaska, Hawaii, Europe, Israel, etc. etc. etc. Doesn't everyone??? But for what purpose? To see where our newly adopted grandsons were born? Probly not... To experience the lifestyles of those who live on $250 or less a year? Probly not. Must say that the purpose is most likely to experience the grandeur that we read about and see on TV and to say we have been there and done that.... Is this life? Some folks would say, Yes it is. Others would think us so vain.
By this time you may be ready tot quit, thinking I've gone off the deep end and you don't want to go with me... Or you may be thinking, "It's not that hard, Steve, all you need to know is....... " Maybe so; maybe not". I am reminded of the quote, "vanity, vanity, all is vanity" which tells me that I am not the first one to pass this way. The question I'm probably wrestling with is that asked years ago by Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer Christian Manifesto.  His question (and title of a book) was "How shall we then live". Which could be translated, "What is Life?  Where do we draw the line? Should we be laying our all on the alter to care for others when "others" may or may not make a difference in the scheme of life? Should we earn lots of money so we can give to "meaningful" causes... Meaningful to who (whom?) People causes, Women's causes, Christian causes, Animal causes, Political causes... Oh my!!!!! How do we make and justify those decisions?: After all this is America. Shouldn't I be able to drive a "nice" vehicle and live in a "nice" house and, and and????? How many people (or animals) have I helped today???? How many people have I "saved" today.... Uhoh!! Well, how many people have I "witnessed to" today? How many church services did I miss this year? and Why???? What am I driving at now??? Who's yardstick by which do you measure your life??? If you use that from anyone but yourself, I'm convinced you will either be wasting your time and effort or feel like a failure. As I mentally go round and round this bush, I still end up at the same place. Jeremiah 29:11 Gives me some encouragement. Proverbs 11:25 tells me what to do, although there could be ulterior motive in giving here, God also says, "I prosper you so that you can be generous". (Not "I prosper you so you can pay taxes)  Oops, got a little political there. For me it still comes down to Micah 6:8. I must believe that He will give me the answers I need and all this mental rhetoric is truly vain. No wonder Jesus had to come and prepare the way and provide my passage. I would drive myself insane manipulating my way through this maze we call life. I would constantly waffle between self indulgence and self flagellation. I can't worry about what you or the neighbor or friends I haven't seen in years or anyone thinks about my path. I must pay attention and use others as I sound my way along the channel, but I must make the decisions that I believe are correct for me. I WILL disappoint some and disgust others. I hope to bless as many as possible, but in the end, their blessing is their own responsibility as they respond to "life". Simply, "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do"... Sorry, it just fit so well. It is followed by a saying that has recently become a favorite to me; "what is.... IS"... and believe it or not, compared to some, "life is good".
I had thought I would let this post ferment a bit longer before putting it down, but this morning, I got in the vehicle and flipped on the radio to hear a familiar song. That song was the stimulus to go ahead and get this out of my "system". If you think your life doesn't make a difference in the grand scheme of things or if your on the other end of the spectrum and think you're "all that"... take a listen. As I said this is an old song. How many times have you heard or said, "all I want is a simple 'thank you'". Please don't do anything to get a "thank you" or even expect a "thank you". So often the person you are doing something for isn't in an emotional state to say thank you or "doesn't know any better"... If you do it for the reward, whatever it is, you are missing it. It just "feels good" to do something (especially if it's not expected)   I know; if it is expected, it doesn't feel good and that's when you really do want a thank you. And I know that I am rattling and rambling on here when you got the point a while back.
Just listen and enjoy. Yes, we've reached that point; Enjoy!!! Don't you dare beat yourself up. If the song stimulates you to enjoy some "thank you's" enjoy them. If it stimulates you to do something your heart and "that little voice" have been telling you to do; "just do it"...
I'll leave you with one more little bit of goo before you click on the link for the song. It was the motto of the Silver Lake High School (Indiana) Class of 1960... "TO MAKE THE BEST BETTER".



Thank you!

Alternate routes

If you find extra "t"s in this post, please ignore them. My keyboard has chosen to throw one in every once in a while. I tried to get thtem all, but tmay have missed a few. like the two extra in the preceding sentence.
As I have been working at Purdue for a few weeks while we are stationed in Gas City, IN, I have been driving the 73 miles across the farmland of central Indiana. The normal route is to drop down to Fairmount, Fairmount"where cool was born"... cause it's the hometown of the late, late James Dean..... then take 26 straight across the south edge of Kokomo where Strother Martin was raised (look him up; yes you do know him)..  and take 26 all the way to West Lafayette, the home of the Boilermakers. That route takes me through Russiaville, the littlte town that was destroyed by tornado in 1965 and has rebuilt into a nice country town. Then it's Rossville and a myriad of tiny wide spots like Gettingsville, Mount Edna,Sedalia, Middlefork and Pettit before the ever extended entrance to Lafayette. However, this spring, highway 26 renovation resulted in closing that road from Highway 31 to Russiaville. Thus began my quest for the best alternative route. Since Gas City is on 22, my first attempt was to just stay on 22 through Kokomo which took me past a quaint little Italian eatery kind of out in the middle of nowhere. Google doesn't seem to know it, and I forgot the name, but for you local people it's at the corner of Markland (county road 00 N/S) and Dixon Road, but the creek. The drive from Highway 31 to Dixon Road isn't too pleasant as it sort of goes through an industrial area, with a nice nursery and a couple of cool church settings. You go north a bit on Dixon road to pick up 22 again which takes you to the charming little town of Burlington. I didn't even know it was there, but looks like a really nice place to live unless you like hustle and bustle. burlington indiana site The really strange thing is that out there in the middle of nowhere south of Burlington on 29 is a truck wash. Really busy place. Problem is that as you will see further down, I'm not going that way now and I forgot that name also.. Just after the truck wash, I get back on 26 and head west again. Although I enjoyed much of this drive, I felt there surely was a better way. Garmin was no good to me cause she always wanted to take me back through Russiaville, even if it was backtracking. Maybe I need to update those maps, cause she has a one track mind. With my early history of delivering coal and feed all over southern Kosciusko County and the feeling that if you stay away from rivers, while driving in northern Indiana, you should be able to make 4 right turns and end up where you started, I decided I could figure out at least an alternative route in case I got bored with this trip. So the next time I came "home", After turning north on 29 toward Burlington, I took the first country road east. It worked except that the first few miles were on a really narrow road and it seemed I wasn't the only one who found this route. I took it to Dixon Road which I remembered and went north to that Italian place to catch 22 and head east again. Different, but not really better. So next time while on that country road (W county road 250S) I passed up Dixon Road which was at another interesting looking Italian Eatery (Mikes Italian Grill). That put me on Alto Road which dropped me off on 31. With a little more adjusting by heading south on South county road 870 W, I avoided that really narrow road and got back on 26 just west of Russiaville, saving about 10 miles of driving on that narrow road. I took you through a lot of meaningless detail to bring you to a really pleasant drive through the south central part of Kokomo, Indiana that I didn't know existed. There is a rather new Western High School, then in West Middleton, Affordable Animal Care, a delightful looking place in a down home sort of way. Not your spit and polish place, but not really scary. I guess it was the Orange and Blue painted equipment that drew my attention. It is apparently a grooming facility, but just east of it and probably associated with it, was a  Dog Park with the orange and blue equipment. One night while passing by, I saw a class of really alert looking German Shepherd Dogs obediently sitting by their handlers. West of there was Farlow's Orchard. whose address is actually Russiaville. In West Middleton, John Worthington has a photographic studio in a small remodeled church.. Really cool setting. John Worthington Photography  Seems it was east of there where I ran across Good Hope Equestrian Center. My limited internet search tells me there is more here than I understand. Here is the only site I could find for the local center. Good Hope Howard County Indiana The address is again Russiaville. But while searching, I found a Miami, FL site with similar decor that is all about a non-profit riding center for handicapped folks. I'm guessing it's a branch of the same, but not sure. Here is the other site. Good Hope, Miami
My point with all this is that we never know what is just around the corner. If it hadn't been for the roadwork, I would never have known that Burlington or West Middleton existed, let alone Western High School, and all the businesses along alternate routes. Oh, I forgot. Seems about 6pm each evening, those 2 rather large goats get hungry for the grass that is about a foot from their fence and are down on their knees reaching for all they are worth for that last tasty morsel. I expect some evening to find them quizically pacing along the outside of the fence trying to figure out how to get back in. I also forgot that what really stimulated this post was the dipsy doodle driving along county road 250. There are a couple of places where you go down, then up and the trees on each side of the road reach across to each other. If we have any kind of fall color, I expect that part to be really pretty. However, knowing that dark closes in on both ends of the day during the fall, all that color could be hidden in darkness.
I must relate last Tuesday morning on my newfound route. Many of th schools around Kokomo were on a 2 hour delay due to fog. I had to label it a "one pole fog" meaning that you could only see one power pole along the road at a time. When you passed one, you could see the next. Fortunately I had used my odometer earlier to determine which of my "new" routes was the shortest in miles and time. Turns out it was Alto Road (250) to 870 to 26. I used those odometer reading s to help me locate my turns because you could not see at all. I drove most of the route with my hazard flashers on, cause I didn't want to surprise anyone, especially those fools who weren't able to slow down. Just before Gettingsville, the semi in front of me stopped and I thought it was a school bus which I frequently had to wait for on that route. Howerver it was too long and cars ahead of the semi started turning and going back. As it turns out, there was an accident. I didn't know what, but it looked like it would be a while. So I followed suite and went back to catch a country road. Remember 4 right (or left) turnds should bring you back, so 3 such turns should bypass the accident and send you on your merry way... It did work, but I can tell you that driving between mature cornfields where you couldn't see the second row because of fog was a bit harried. When I got to work that morning, I felt like I had already worked a full day... And for this 70 year old, that's saying a lot.
If anyone knows when 26 will open this fall please let me know. Although I've really enjoyed these alternate routes, I've "been there; done that" and since I expect most of the fall drive to be in the dark, I prefer the straight shot through Russiaville.
Being a veterinarian, I would be amiss if I didn't mention the veterinary establishments I pass on my way to work. Question for you. As you travel do you notice and point out each and every one of the veterinary clinics you pass??? Georgia and I have come to do that pretty consistently. If not, what is it that you always notice? Rug shops, McDonalds, Starbucks????
So as I leave Gas City, I pass the Greentown, Veterinary Hospital on Highway 22 (their website doesn't seem to work today). The next place is Tri County Veterinary Service along 26. Tri County seems to be a popular name for veterinary services across the country. Here is the closest I could come for a website, (Ttri County Vet Russiaville)    
In Rossville there is the Wayside Veterinary Clinic, Wayside Rossville  Jessica, one of the technologists at work lives near there. As I approach Lafayette via that extended east side of town, I pass the Lafayette Veterinary Hospital.Lafayette Veterinary Hospital  Looks like quite an operation.
If you go way back to maybe 2008 in my posts, you will see that I discovered the Igloo south of Layette which I found was a branch of the original one near Columbia Park that we enjoyed so much back in the 60's.. Well there is another along Highway 26 east of town. So my car has decided to make a further alternate route and take me to that Igloo for a pick me up treat on the way home. Not every day..... but far too often.   mmmm good. Here's as close as I can come for a site: Igloo
So the next time you are forced to take an alternate route, whether it be on the road or in life, don't lament.. I was once told that when reading the Bible and you see a "therefore" find out what it is there for...... When you are forced into an alternate route; see what extra's God has planned to include in your life. Just from these little experiences, I can see 4-5 brand new experiences I must choose from. Do I want to know more about Good Hope Equestrian?? What about stopping to check out that dog training center? Maybe stop in at one of those veterinary clinics to introduce myself and see what their passion is.... I do enjoy doing that from time to time. Asking questions of strangers is a lost art and can be so rewarding. One more rabbit trail before I close. When I work with veterinary students, I have this habit of asking where they are from... Really interesting to know... So here I am in Indiana, where I grew up. A few weeks ago, I was working with a group of students and started the session by asking them were they were from. I will shorten this by saying that one of them said "Columbia, City, Indiana".. I said, "well that's where my family is from, what's your last name"... She said "Auer"... OMG.... That was the maiden name of my dad's grandmother. We talked further to find that she grew up in the same Lutheran church that my dad did and many of my relatives are buried in that cemetery...Which explained why she pronounced my name correctly.  This small world is getting smaller. Make your interfaces while you can.
If you like maps; here are a few.

Original route in green. Alternate 1 in yellow.

Alternate 1  Road 22 to Burlington

Italian eatery in green

Road 250 through W. Middleton

What are you drinkin?

For some reason while waiting for breakfast to arrive, the word "pop" raced across my mind. Now I was sitting in Indiana where I remember at some time in the past, someone asked me to pick up "pop"; but they meant "diet coke". If you have read any amount of my stuff, you will know that I am one of those people who try to use words that mean what they mean. In this day when that concept has been tossed aside, I find myself at odds quite a lot of the time. (That means "often".) I had just last week lamented while reading a scientific article how the piece would have been much more clear if they had paid attention to the words they used. (I need to take a disclaimer here). I do know that I am not an English Scholar and most likely use many words incorrectly, but I'm tryin..
I have probably written before about one of my major pet peeves, "Worsened"... I didn't like it before it became an accepted word and I still don't. Now I hear it on world wide newscasts. I believe the more descriptive and correct term would be "became more severe".... In my protest, I often say  it became "worser"... Funny  thing is that as I write this, even my spell checker accepts worsened.... It's a conspiracy I tell you. Well, I have now taken you down another one of my classic rabbit trails; where was I?
So my introduction to the Hoosier pop meaning coke in this case, while in Illinois it is soda, in the 40s and 50s "soda pop" and in the south according to Jerry Clower; (here's a link for those who don't know Jerry although this story isn't the one to which I refer.,) Jerry Clower utube Jerry talks about Marcell who had been cuttin pulpwood yelled through the screen door at the station: "Hand me one of them knee high sody waters"  so here is yet another name for the beverage. Did you actually follow that? You ARE good!  As I find quite often; when I went searching for definitions, I found that I didn't really need to finish this post because it has already been done by many. However, I persist too much anyway, so I'll give you those links for a better understanding: It appears that "pop" is more of a British term and considered "old fashioned" in the USA POP , while "Soda" may be more "up to date" (as incorrect as it may be) You will see that the correct term is actually "soft drink" in deference to "hard drinks" which are alcoholic. SODA. I, however, must disagree with "hard drinks" being necessarily alcoholic. The advertisers (another group of low lifes in my book) have successfully convinced our youth (I am now 70) that energy comes in a little can or bottle. I will try to keep this short, but what a scam. Every time I see a commercial of some big hunk taking that little red and yellow, black and blue (those colors should tell you something)  in their fingertips, I picture my little sister at her little red and white table and chairs having a tea party with her dolls and picking up that tiny cup in her fingertips. (another trail). I know that I am also not a physiology major, but my goodness what are these people thinking? There are those who can't function until  they have drugged themselves with caffeine to start their day. Maybe so, but after you have worn your body and mind to a frazzle, the thought of downing some concoction to "give you energy" to make it through the rest of the day???? I can see those poor little adrenal glands gasping as the chemicals wring out the last drop. Anyone who has been with a 2-4 year old after a "sugar high" knows that effect. Is that the way we want our minds to function while trying to finish a task??? Now we have a generation becoming (becoming?) hooked on energy. Go out to the bar and order up a pitcher of vodka and Red Bull???? And be responsible for what happens? I don't think so. A few months ago I witnessed an 8 year old boy begging his mom for money so he could go to the station to get an energy drink?????? I bout tossed my cookies. I'll let that one drop; I think you get that message.
Well one more rant about stimulants. TV and Radio. Probably my age, but I am really sick of the idea that to make the broadcast "interesting" they feel they must play that driving "music" in the background. From "reality" shows to even olympic trials there is hype, hype, hype... with that background noise to keep you "up".... While watching Michael Phelps dominate again I found myself edging nearly off the couch til we turned on the mute for some reason and actually settled back in my seat. No wonder people feel they need energy; the TV (and radio too) just draws the energy from you. Noise, noise Here is one definition of the word; Notice that even on the website, there is "visual noise".... what to do???? NOISE DEFINED

Now that I have laid everyone else low regarding the drink of choice, I must confess that if you see me around, you will find me with my trusty gaudy Bubba Keg full of unsweetened tea... Not necessarily iced tea, but it is tea. I must try the decaf version to see if I too am hooked on the stimulant. OK OK, I know; why not water????) You're absolutely correct. (Notice I said correct, not right; in my business "right" has another meaning relative to "left". But in the other context I would be "left" out if I were "wrong". LOL; Which is another issue; when we started texting, I was sending LOL meaning Lots of Love.... Boy did I ruffle some feathers with that mistake.
 Another trip back to the stimulants; when I got my CPAP, I found that the best stimulant was SLEEP. Not too much, but enough to allow the body to replenish for the next day. I have now confused myself and lost about 3 trains of thought that came up and went during this posting. I'll leave you with some images to ponder.

Cutting the Cheese

For some reason this morning while fixing lunch including a new cheese (to me) that I picked up at Whole Foods (another new experience for me), I was cutting that cheese and notice that I was releasing an odor; pleasant in this case. Viola!!! Aha!!! It hit me. Since childhood I have known that phrase that would pop out when someone passed gas, flatuated, farted, had an oh oh... etc. "Who Cut the Cheese". I had stumbled onto the meaning and origin of that phrase.... So, not one to let it go at that, I thought I should "look it up".. Here's one site: Phrases.org. I found it interesting that at the end, they talked about my discovery, but spend a lot of space on stuff that makes not sense to me, including a suggestion that it began in the US between 1965 and 1970. I know that is wrong. I'm old enough to know better.
Another site also quotes this American Regional English Dictionary on the 1965 reference. ChaCHa
Then I find that some guy named Jim Dawson actually wrote a book on the subject: Dawson Book
So I guess there is no need for me continue with this. Need Birthday gift suggestions anyone? How about a coffee table book for those dead times in conversation????
I haven't read the book, but until I do, I will stand by my discovery and believe the phrase actually came from someone preparing a meal and cutting odiferous cheese while someone nearby noticed the smell and made the remark. In the days before refrigeration that account was surely rather common. I expect it then morphed to the present day use when someone couldn't hold their wind and was ratted out by another with a rather keen sniffer.

Cheese 
If you have no idea of which I speak, here's your cultural enlightenment for today.
Confederate Railroad

And for more culture. analyze what is really going on in this series of photos centered around Prince Phillip.

And another memory sparked

Riding my bike to breakfast in the crisp morning Indiana air reminded me of the morning dip about this time of year at 4H camp. I attended the Kosciusko County Indiana 4H camp pretty much every year from the time I was 11 to 20. I started as a green little snot-nosed kid and ended up a junior counselor and counselor. Many memories from what seemed to be summer long events in the early years, when in fact were 3 day camps. I made many friends there although at the point I can only remember a few: Phil Nelson from Mentone, Carol Emmons from Warsaw stand out.
It is amazing how perspective changes. In the early years, the camp was held at Lake McClure which according to internet sources is now called "McClure's Lake".. Maybe that was the name back then, but we called it Lake McClure. I can remember packing up and making that long drive to the wilderness where my folks dropped me (and later my sister and me) off for what seemed to be the whole summer in the early days. Not only was the perspective of time off a bit, but the trip also was not quite the trek I had imagined. As I found out after I grew up, maybe at 16 or 17) it was apparently all of about 6-8 miles from home. See the Google Earth image below with the path traced in yellow. We lived about 3 miles north east of Silver Lake and Lake McClure is a bit further to the northwest. Speaking of Lakes, it still seems strange to me that most kids today, especially around where we live now only think of swimming in "Cement Ponds" as Jethro called them on Beverly Hillbillies. Kosciusko County, Indiana boasted of 97 lakes and I think we swam in most of them. There was nothing more refreshing after a hard day of working in the hot sun than jumping off the end of the pier into the Lake. Silver Lake and Hill Lake were our favorites; probably because they were so close. McClure's Lake is also one of those Natural Lakes of Kosciusko county. I did a little search and came up with a partial listing of only 58 lakes on this cools site about Indiana's clean lakes program. Kosciusko County Lakes  I mention the refreshing feeling of jumping into the lake, but need to go back to the original feeling that stimulated this post. At 6:30 AM in early June that morning air is downright cold. At that time the refreshing cool water actually felt warm. The cold part was running to the pier, tossing your towel aside and jumping in the air as well as the more severe chill when you came out and grabbed the towel to get dry as soon as possible. Ah, you were AWAKE... Before you start yelling about the cruel counselors who made us endure that torture, I must tell you that the Morning Dip was voluntary. The lazy butts who passed it up would sit at 7am breakfast half asleep while the "dippers" were chattering away about the dip and the day to come.
I have to admit that the name of the lake wasn't at the forefront of my memory, so I went Googling to find it. Google Earth showed me that although the 4H camp had moved out somewhere during my mid teens, there is still a camp operating on that site; a conservation camp. Here's the link. WOW!!! Camp Mollenhour Same lake, different kids and updated facilities. When we were there there was a large (huge to an 11-year-old) hall built into the hill where we ate downstairs and had classes, meetings, etc. upstairs. East of that were the meeting grounds with girls cabins on the north and boys on the south. Both were surrounded by large trees. The cabins were pretty much as you might see as the barracks in GI Jane or other such military movies with bunks lining the walls and large flaps covering the screened "windows". The cross breeze was heavenly til you had to jump out of bed in the morning and run to the lake for the dip. A favorite thing to do in the middle of the night was to wait til the counselor was asleep, then sneak out of the cabin and go drop the flaps on other cabins (especially girl's cabins). If you did it well, in a coordinated manner, the silence of night would be broken by the large "slap, slap, slap" of a number of flaps hitting the cabin walls as the props were jerked away. Of course as you ran back to your cabin, you would be met at the door by your cabin counselor in his skivies and a scowl. The small detention or duty was worth the adventure. Along with meetings and classes there were crafts. I remember the agonizing process of choosing which craft to go for each year. One year I made a red and white woven plastic belt which during our first year of marriage was used to hold the passenger side door shut on our yellow 1956 Crown Victoria. What a site that was. Aside from the fashion statement it wasn't a problem because the car had bench seats and Georgia hardly ever sat on the right 1/3 of the seat (giggle giggle)...
Before I leave the "chilly morning" theme, I should mention that during those days except when away from home, I hardly ever wore a shirt after 9am. I typically wore a white T-shirt to do the morning chores, then off it came til late at night. If I was extremely careful, I could wear the same shirt several days in a row before I got tomato juice or something else. (See post of August 10, 2011; Ode to the Vine Ripened Tomato).
I mentioned above that the 4H camp moved during my later teen years. That move was to a more modern facility with concrete "outhouses" and showers along with other updated amenities. Although it was nicer there were the complaints about the increase in camp fees and for those of us in southern Kosciusko County, the longer drive. Silver Lake and Lake McClure are in they southern most townships of the county while the new camp was at Dewart Lake in the northern part of the county. You can find Dewart on the Kosciusko County Lakes link above. It was at that camp that I did my Elvis impersonation as an entry in the annual talent show. I'm sure it was terrible with the out of tune twangy guitar and most likely off key singing. I'm thinking I did "You Ain't Nuthin But a Hound Dog"... but not sure. Bad singing, bad guitar, but I thought I had the "look". I'll end this post with pictures. The long drive to the wilderness of Lake McClure; me with a couple of my 4H pigs, my ducktail hair do, and my 4H trophies. I had piles of 4H ribbons from those 11 years in the club, but they didn't make the transition to my adult life. I still have not mastered the art of posting pictures in this blog, so won't guarantee the order;

Map to Lake McClure

Regional Cuisine

Chicken Fried

Country Fried

Swiss Steak

Years ago while living in Georgia, I remember a colleague from Lubbock, Texas (who looked like Buddy Holly)(you make the connection)..... was raving about "Chicken Fried Steak". My Hoosier head went spinning. I somehow got the description that it was steak fried like Chicken. Sounded like Swiss Steak to me, but maybe more crispy. So I went about my business over the years feeling like those crazy Texans had a weird way to describe that food. A few years ago, the Zack Brown Band (Aren't they from Georgia????) came out with their hit song "Chicken Fried" Chicken Fried Lyrics  Don't know how I missed that during the years we lived in Georgia. Fast forward to last fall in Gas City, Indiana (yes, back in Hoosierland). I'm sitting at breakfast at the B&B and gazing at the "Daily Special" on the chalkboard. There I see "Country Fried Steak".... Hmmmmm So I asked Deb to explain, telling her I knew about Chicken Fried Steak, so what was the difference? She had never heard of Chicken Fried (so she said), but her description of "Country Fried" sounded very close, in fact the same. Well, I couldn't leave it there, so went on yet another internet hunt. Apparently I wasn't the only one with that question as I found several descriptions. I'll post one here, but basically although some feel it is the same thing cooked in different localities, Chicken Fried supposedly is more crispy and is usually served with white gravy while Country Fried is served with brown gravy. Country-Fried-Steak-Versus-Chicken-Fried-Steak.  Sounds a lot like a crispy version of Swiss Steak. I felt rather smug now that I had unraveled yet another mystery. Recently at the B&B enjoying my breakfast, I glance up at the "Daily Special" board to see; "Chicken Steak". I about spit out my crispy fried potatoes with onions (what a waste that would have been). Before you health nuts crawl all over me for my choice.... I only get a 1/2 order, OK???? With ONE egg and ONE piece of toast. (and sausage links??) When Deb came to refill my coffee cup, I had to ask.... Seems Chicken Steak is a piece of breaded chicken breast.   Maybe we should call it "Steak Fried Chicken"???