Elizabeth’s Journal

Recap of rest of farm visit, thru 5 July 2003

I’ve been checking the blogs out and everyone seems to be going into the summer doldrums (although some, like Kathleen and Leah, had the spring doldrums too). Hence my burst of postings here. It was fun to read Stepan & Jfer’s blogs about their recent California trip, though, and Rita’s pic of fireworks was nice.

The trip to the farm was so nice and relaxing—it felt I was there for two months instead of two weeks because it was so different from life here—more relaxed, I didn’t have to think about meal planning or grocery shopping, and it wasn’t humid! Mom has also acquired a wonderful habit of making a whole pot of coffee in an insulated carafe when she gets up (she’s always the first), and when I’d get up in the morning, all I had to do was get a coffee cup and pour. Very nice treatment!

On Friday, 27 June, Daddy and I paid a visit to the genealogy section of the Mid-Continent Library in Independence, Kansas. It’s amazing how fast the time goes! We spent about six solid hours there looking stuff up. Didn’t find out too much exciting but did get lots of useful data. The first thing we did was to look at the microfilm of the original passenger manifest of the boat that the Karls came over on in 1850. We were hoping there might be a more specific location in Germany that was listed as their origin, but no such luck. In a different source, I did find one of the children, Valentine Karl, with a tombstone inscription of “born Rhein, Bavaria”, which coupled with some other stuff has led Daddy to focus on two particular towns as possible origins of our family. Further progress is up to him since it requires German. Also did some searching on the Keneficks, Dohoneys, and McCulloughs, but didn’t turn up too much. Frankly, part of what was useful in this trip was helping me learn what things I want ready when I go on a research outing. Luckily I was able to plug my computer in somewhere, and before we left Daddy scanned a bunch of things with his scanner and laptop. Technology can be a wonderful thing.

After all that research, it was 4 p.m. and we were hungry. I managed, very appropriately, to find a restaurant called The Rheinland Restaurant, within a five-minute drive. It was staffed and owned by Germans, with reasonably heavy accents, and very tasty—we had beer, bratwurst, and spaetzle. Yum.

Jonathan spent quite a few happy hours playing in the little pool Daddy bought for him, although there was one unforgettable moment the day before we left when he and Mom tumbled over the side and nearly went down the hill—water started pouring out over the edge as he was pushing Mom against it, and the next thing I knew Mom’s legs were up in the air, and they were in the mud outside the pool instead of in the water inside it. After that Mom and I had to sit in the pool with a beer each to calm down. Pretty nice thing to do on a hot afternoon of July 4th, though.

In the evening of the 4th, we went to Atchison to see the local fireworks show. I thought in my city-girl way that it couldn’t possibly last any longer than half an hour (would be too expensive), but we left after 45 minutes in order to get the little guy in bed, and it was still going strong. So much for my snooty ways. Before it got dark enough for fireworks, there were games down on the football field, and Daddy was lucky enough to appear right when the balloon toss for adults was announced. He was game enough to be my partner, but I dropped my catch the first time around—I was afraid to hold onto it too hard. Guess I need more practice.

One thing interesting that I did was read Grama Sprong’s diary from 1932-1935. Halfway through I stopped reading and started transcribing it, not only so I could have a copy but so I could send one to my cousin Carol. It was neat to read Grama’s comments about being around Grandpa (they were already engaged when the diary starts, and they married 2 Dec 1933)—young and in love. She also liked to shop for clothes, and she was already quilting.

Last but not least, Jonathan absolutely loved his Gator rides with his Boppa this year; last year he was a little uncertain and required sitting on Boppa’s knee to do it, but this year he happily occupied the passenger seat. They had a little routine: go to the shop, Jonathan puts the door up, they drive out to the mailbox to check the mail, then down to the creek, then to see the cows. Then park the Gator in the shop. If I hadn’t known all that when we were still in Kansas, I’d know it now—every day, multiple times, he rides his little car around the kitchen island, pretending he’s driving his Gator to check the mail (the mailbox is apparently at the entryway where the wineglasses and telephone are), then he drives around the island some more and parks the Gator in the shop, which is by the pantry door and division of the kitchen from the den/lounge. He’s very cute about it.

All right, I have more than made up for my lack of blog entries. Hopefully this will inspire some of you others out there—you know who you are!

Posted by elizabeth at July 9, 2003 12:58 AM