Catching up

When I left you last fall, I was working at Purdue and we were helping care for Georgia's mom in Gas City, IN. In late October, we said goodbye to her and celebrated her life here on earth with family and friends.

We have since returned to our home, had a wonderful Christmas celebration with our sons and families and started working on reacclimating.  Although I took most of December off to make room for the Christmas celebration, I have continued to work at Purdue now and then. In the meantime, during January, I had bilateral cataract surgery and welcomed a brighter world. I learned that I should never have argued with Georgia over color because I wasn't seeing what she was seeing.. (I'll resist launching into a life lesson here... I think you can figure it out for yourself.)  At this point, I only need glasses for close up reading. Seems my astigmatism prevented me from being able to get the multifocal lenses which would have eliminated glasses. Problem is that now I have glasses on when I don't need them and don't have them when I do. Surely I'll get this figured out. I do however need sunglasses a lot in this bright world.
Because my driving route changed from Gas City to home, I am now driving from the central time zone to eastern which makes an early rising time, but gets me home much earlier. This also changed my route. So again, I get to acquaint you with another small Indiana town; Wingate, Indiana. Wingate site     Their major claim to fame is their 1913-1914 Indiana State High School Basketball Championship. Sort of a Milan story, I think. Milan was the small town that the movie "Hoosiers" was based on. It appears to be a nice little farming community. At 7:30 am (eastern), the only places open in town are a filling station and the Spartan Inn. A family run restaurant, the decor is pictures of the famous basketball team along with other local images. Spartan Inn site   You probably guessed that yes, I had to figure out a way to check it out. Life is too short to just drive by, right???? One morning, I worked it out so I would have time to stop for breakfast. I walked in and the 4 guys at a table glanced at me and after the waitress got them settled, she came to see what I needed. Very nice lady who was ready to work on my breakfast. It was pretty good, but their potatoes were "cottage fries" which were the deep fried version.. Nothing like the home fries at the B&B in Gas City or Sammy's in Champaign or Urbana Garden in Urbana. Good breakfast, but not worth the extra effort for me. Neat thing is that a few days later, I was filling up with gas at the station down the road and the guy across the pump from me was one of the guys at the Spartan Inn. I explained that I remembered him as the guy who gave another guy a ride after breakfast a few days earlier.. He recalled seeing me and asked what I was doing. He was very friendly. Well , he is an insurance salesman.... what do you expect?  Found out that his son was going to go to Purdue, but ended up in Texas and was a ranch manager there. I'll not bore you with more details, but found that he knew the folks at Shadeland farm where Georgia, I and our 2 dogs (Bootsie Donovan, the beagle and King the German Shepherd Dog) and 2 cats (Missie Midge and Mister Mingo) lived during 2 years of vet school at Purdue. Got the rundown on the family and found one of the grandsons was running it. They apparently bought the farm from the New York guy who owned it in the 60's. (Oh, they changed from Hereford cattle to red and black Angus.) I may never know if they have forgiven me for butchering a pig in the kitchen the weekend that we were moving out. That weekend, Georgia was in the hospital with our new baby Rodney Blaine Kneller. I moved us out and had no place to keep the pig I had been raising, so had to butcher it.. I thought I had cleaned up pretty well, but apparently not as well as I thought. I'm not sure Georgia has forgiven me for sullying her reputation for keeping a clean house.
I've become quite a fixture at Purdue. One nice thing is that I have gotten to work with some other old friends. Dr. Bill Blevins, a Purdue 68 classmate has retired from the diagnostic imaging service at Purdue and is now filling in teaching some lectures and like myself doing a few locums. Nice to catch up with him a bit. This week however, I got to work with Dr. Chess Adams who retired from the University of Wisconsin a few years ago. Chess came to work with us at Illinois back in the late 70's and left us to become the first radiologist at the new vet school at the University of Wisconsin. That of course called for some "way back" reminiscence, reminding each other of many people and incidents. We were however able to keep up with the workload between recalling people and happenings of our youth. Here's Chess hard at work at Purdue.

OK, for those who don't know him... William McChesney Adams. Now you know where the Chess comes from.
Because Valentine's day is this coming week, here's a valentine from our front door. Later, skk

        

Folks I'm working with

At this point in my life in addition to our labor of love with family, I'm spending quite a bit of time where my professional career began; the halls of the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. My class picture hangs in the hall upstairs reminding me of how I as well as my classmates looked back in 1968. I have given you snippets of vet school memories for the past few years, but now I am spending more time there than not for a few months, while they work to replenish their faculty roles. They have built on to the facility which caused me some confusion at first, but I have been able to wander the halls enough to pretty much find my way around. It is really interesting to walk down new hallways, then turn a corner and have the mid 60's hit me in the face as I recognize a door, window or crack in the marble stairs. Today I called Georgia from the courtyard. It is really a great outdoor space that was the parking lot between the main building and the clinic. While I was talking with her I reminded her that I was standing very near the spot where she turned our old Comet into the parking space just as the right front wheel fell off... Literally; it fell off!. Having been in student mode for 5 years at that point, that put us in a real financial pickle, but honestly, I don't remember how we got out of that one.
I didn't start this to talk about my memories, but to introduce you to some of the great people I am working with. If you have read past posts, you know that I have introduced you to pretty much all the folks I worked with closely except for those at Ohio State. Sorry Buckeyes, It just slipped my mind to get the pictures.Maybe I also missed the folks at Michigan State also... I need to check that. OK, maybe Tennessee too. I really need to review. Anyway, here is the technical staff of the Purdue Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging Unit. Donna, Jessica, Christy, Kelly, Jeannine, and Liane (They will probably let me know if I spelled their names incorrectly). Although the trappings have changed, the spot where the ladies are sitting in the first 2 pictures is the spot where I put up and took down films as a work-study student working for my mentor Dr. Robert E. Lewis in 1966-68. Some of you know that I am working on a book with one of my past residents. I have decided to dedicate my efforts on this book to Dr. Lewis, seeing he gave me most of my professional thought processes. At least the sound ones!!!

Dr. HG Heng, the present leader of the group wasn't available when I was taking pictures, but I had a great surprise. In the following pictures, you will see the present Purdue imaging residents Dr. Jeff Ruth, Dr. Matt Jones, and Dr. David DeMeo (an Illinois graduate). The first picture of these guys is of rather poor quality, probably because the photographer (me) was shaking the camera. In the others however, you will notice a 4th young man. This is Dr. Chris MacKay, presently at Colorado State. Here's the surprise. If you go back to my post of August 15,2009, you will see that smiling face when I was working at Washington State University and Chris was just beginning his residency program. Now he is a board certified radiologist working at Colorado State University and came to fill in with me last week at Purdue. Ain't that great??? What a joy!
One more tidbit. The room with all the monitors where they guys are sitting is actually the room that was Dr. Lewis' office when he was at Purdue. OK, I decided to add a couple of pictures of the courtyard at the bottom. Enjoy. skk
Remember, you should be able to click on the pictures to see larger versions. Nuf for now!

Filling in the blanks

This fall is simply bustling in central Indiana. As I'm sure is true in many parts of the country, you can just feel the excitement of fall. The crisp air carrying a mixture of glorious odors from wood fire smoke to barbecue and even the waft of fall leaves every once in a while. Although the dry hot summer may have diminished the color of the season, the maple trees are beginning to express themselves on a daily basis. Friday nights bring the sounds of bands and cheers and fireworks to the small towns as folks rally around the high school football teams. Other nights and Saturdays moms and dads huddle together under blankets as their kids run around in long socks and shorts kicking a spotted ball at each other.The fields along the highways and back roads are becoming increasingly flat as dust clouds rise behind harvesting equipment and truck away to haul away the spoils of the season's labor coupled with the provision from above. (Meager as it was this year.).
This week as highway 26 became passable, I had more decisions to make. With daylight shrinking around me, in some ways, I'm relieved to have a wider, straighter route to and from Lafayette, yet it was difficult to say goodbye to my discoveries on the alternate routes. With the Fairmount James Dean Festival, Jonesboro River Run, and Gas City Ducktail Run all occurring this weekend (you'll have to go to past posts for those websites or go find them yourself.) I started seeing more and more vintage cars and hot rods on the road each day. Today, they are filling the streets of these otherwise sleepy communities. Talk about bringing back memories. Although folks of all ages have come to town, I'm convinced that the mean age of people in southern Grant County will go up significantly this weekend. People who can sing the words to "See ya later alligator" and "Peggy Sue" from memory gather to ogle each other's pride and joy machines and tell the same stories they have told each other annually. Thursday night, I decided to take 26 all the way to Fairmount to see how they were transforming that town for the arrival of nostalgia hunting visitors. Even then, I was seeing restored old cars on the road all the way from Russiaville to Gas City. Last night since the weather was just wonderful, I wanted to take advantage of waning sunshine to try to get some pictures of a pumpkin patch just west of Greentown that had emerged as pumpkin leaves began to fade, revealing those orange orbs of autumn joy. It worked out perfectly. Please enjoy the pictures and little movie (If I can get it to upload)... You can see that I was taking the first picture with the camera pointed toward the east. If you don't see the clue that tells you this, you'll have to comment to get more clues... Of course if you figure it out, feel free to brag about your powers of observation.Also, I should warn you that although I have tried to catch them all, my computer is again typing extra t's at random. Please pretend you are reading phone text and read the words I meant to type along with those on the page.

A few loose ends

This morning, as I got in the car, it was sprinkling., By the time I got to Kokomo, it was raining pretty heavy. I started thinking about that rather narrow road that I usually take (See alternate routes).   These old eyes don't do very well driving at night because those glaring lights seem to make it difficult.  In the rain, the wet streets magnify that problem. So I decided to take the Burlington route. The advantage was that  I got to go past that little Italian place and get the name: Juliano's.  Sorry, no web site to post. Guess you'll have to ask a local if it's worth trying.

I had seen several signs for the KolKolMah &; Foster doins which is this weekend. Here's the site: KOLKOLMAH It's a a reenactment centered on the French and Indian War. Does it make you wonder where the name of the city of Kokomo came from? (I'm resisting the urge to go check that out).  The deal seems very much like the Mississinewa 1812 in October which is a reenactment of battles in the War of 1812. Here's that site: 1812. We went to that several years ago.. Very realistic. On the Radio I heard about the Burlington Fall Festival which started tonight (helping me decide not to bring that route back to Gas City. Here's some info on that. (The "chicken drop" sounded interesting) Burlington Fall Festival . There seem tot be celebrations and festivals all over Indiana. Something coming up in Lebanon, the "Ducktail Run" in Gas City in Late September if you like old hot rods. I've obviously been to that and it is impressive. When I was waiting for Georgia to get out of foot surgery a couple of years ago, a guy in the waiting room was wearing a Ducktail Run T-shirt. (In Urbana, Illinois)... He said he wouldn't miss one. Here's that site; DUCKTAIL. That is paired with the nearby James Dean Festival in Fairmount. Here's a link to explain that; JAMES DEAN   Of course there's the Covered Bridge Festival in Parke County in October. We went for about 25 years without missing one, but haven't been there for several years. Here's that site:  CBF  Back to the present, Jonesboro (Next to Gas City) is having Old Settler's Day tomorrow (Sept 15). Seems lots of communities celebrate Old Settler's Days. As a kid, I remember going tot Old Settler's Days in Columbia City which is a summer festival.  While I was looking stuff up for this post, I stumbled onto a site that seems tot list similar celebrations all over Indiana. Some of those I've mentioned are listed here, plus lot's more. Here's that site: Sept Indiana events. I;m sure there are many more, but since I was on a roll thought I'd give you something to think about if you're in the area and bored.

So did you make a guess about the water fountain???? If not, go back one post and give it a go before going on here.  HMMM HMMM ... You back??? OK.. I happened onto a worker who I thought might have been at the Purdue Vet Clinic long enough tot know about the fountain. I of course had to tell her MY story about the fountain. She said, "No... they painted it... I took a closer look and she was correct.. I could see the brush strokes... So it is still the fountain I drank from in 67-68.. Her parting comment was, "It still has the best water in the building. Wow... talk about durable equipment...It's an OASIS in case you're in the market. The company is still in business, but their fountains look a whole lot different. Check it out.. OASIS FOUNTAIN

Thinking there was one more thing I wanted to share here.... Well, it's been that kind of week. You might have to check back here now and again in case it comes to me later...


AHAH!!!
It's Saturday morning and the head is a bit more clear. The other thing I wanted to bring up was my encounter with folks in Greentown, Indiana. For 3 weeks, I have been driving through Greentown night and morning. I had noticed a sign that I thought a bit strange. It reads, "I Don't Care". Each time I would drive by, I would try to read more of the sign as well as the mobile sign that was sitting down on the parking lot beside it. I finally understood that it was an eating establishment. My mind started paging through reasons to name a Restaurant "I Don't Care"... All I could get was, I don't care about  eating healthy, this stuff is really good and I'm gonna eat it. That reminds me of another story that I might as well tuck in here. Years ago we were acquainted with a minister of the gospel who was at the time leading a large choir in a church in Sweden... It is important to note that the is black. (this is a rabbit trail off a rabbit trail)... Somehow we got to see a video of his choir.. If you saw any of the Whitney Houston services or have had the opportunity to attend a classic black church service, you have an idea of what we heard... But imagine that sound and exuberance but with all the choir members white and most of them blond. It does a number on your psyche.  Back to the original rabbit trail. So Alphonso (the black minister) went to Red Lobster to eat with us and as we pondered the menu, he said, "as I make eating decisions, I must decide if the taste will be worth the calories".  OK, back to the main message. Finally one evening this week, I saw a couple of folks standing out front and in keeping with the statement I made a few posts back, I stopped in to get the bottom line. As I walked up I noticed that these guys had "I Don't Care" T-shirts on. So I gave them my story and one pointed to the other and said, "There's the guy, it was his idea."... Are you way ahead of me here???? I missed the obvious completely. He said, "When you get in the car and ask each other where you want to go eat, what is the usual first answer?"... .I smacked myself on the forehead and replied, (you guessed it),.., "I Don't Care".. So many times, that protracted discussion in trying to make that eating out decision can be shortcut by simply answering, "OK, let's go to Greentown"... It hasn't worked out to try it yet, but they gave me a menu and although it is mostly variations of burgers, they do seem to have some interesting items. They said they are on Facebook, so you can look them up there if you're interested. 

Some things DO change

If you go back to July 29, 2008 you will see one of the images below of the water fountain in the Large Animal Hospital at Purdue University that was the same fountain, I drank from as a student 1967-68.  They had remodeled much of the vet school, but that blessed water fountain was still there. Nothing gives you that deja vu feeling like drinking from the same water fountain... Well, maybe there are others, but the feeling was there. I pictured myself with black hair (hair) in my knee-high brown rubber boots and brown coveralls, with my stethoscope and hoof knife in my pockets along with my "little book" of important facts I was sure I would need on a daily basis.

 

If you've read this blog recently, you know that I have been again working at Purdue. Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to approach "that" water fountain again... Weird feeling... The deja vu wasn't there. I looked around and thought. This one doesn't look new, but I think it's different".  So for a few weeks, that thought ran through my head. I went back several times thinking it was different. I finally made the decision that it hadn't been painted and it wasn't the same, but the "spout" really looked like the old one. These things cause me undue  stress. I toyed with finding a building service worker or calling maintenance to find out what they had done with this revered fountain. One of the things I MAY be learning is that some mysteries can go unsolved and the world will keep on turning and I can stay on it.This may be one of those mysteries. I can be a "better man" by "letting it go", right? So you can share in my revelation that it truly is different. Maybe they found a new jacket to fit a 40 year old fountain??? Hmm. well here is a picture of it today from my old bar phone. Don't remember if I took the original picture with that phone or actually had a camera. The image today is a bit fuzzy. I was probably shaking with excitement. Here it is in 2012.

Now, I'm going to give you a taste of what I deal with when someone brings me poor quality "x-rays" and says, "is there any change between these two date?"... Here are "close ups" of the spout on the fountain in 08 and 2012. Is it the same spout or did they change the whole fountain??? I am looking at the green copper sulfate that seems to be crusting the spout.

So there is the green patina on both, right? Is it in the same pattern?? If not could it have changed over the 4 years of people slaking their thirst? You should be complaining that the pictures are taken from different angles and the definition isn't very good, and the lighting is different, and, and, and.... Yeah, yeah yeah... I'm not paying you tot critique my images, I'm paying you to give me an answer... Oops, sorry, I lapsed into some of the comments I have heard as I labored to give a correct answer.. I'm sorry that I didn't have the original picture in front of me and a good camera in my hand today, so I could make a comparable image. I could go back now that I have refreshed my memory of the original, but probably won't. 

You know this isn't over. No I won't go searching for a person with knowledge (maybe).. but I will keep my eyes and ears open just in case the answer is right there available.  Stay tuned... I'm not promising, but an answer may come.

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!