British soccer

Max is in soccer camp again this year. It runs from 9am to noon each weekday in Thayne. He has come several years in the past. Ellen brought him for the first day yesterday while I went to Jackson to deal with the car, but this morning I came too. The British men leading this year are different from the last time, but he didn't do the camp last year, so I guess that is to be expected.

Max warming up at British soccer

It's called British soccer because it is led by three British soccer players, one  of whom is here addressing the group.

It was pretty hot in the sun today and there was no shade at the bleachers, so after an hour I came into the Thayne Library which is right next to the soccer field, which is where I am now. It is part of a larger Thayne Community Center.  It is not quite as nice a library as Alpine, but still pretty good. There have been a lot of children here this morning and I also noticed that down the hall there is a large Tai Chi class for adults. So this facility gets used.

Thayne Library

The salesman from Teton Motors will call this afternoon with a trade-in figure, but right now I think we're leaning toward waiting till we get home and buying local. But if he made a really good offer, we might change our minds. It's one of those situations where there are pros and cons on each side, many unknowns, and no obvious "right decision."

Later
The salesman never called. I called and left messages. I guess they are not hurting to fill a sales quota this month.

Later in the afternoon, about 4pm, we took Max to the Sporting Club for a golf  lesson. I wonder if Max knows how lucky he is!

Max waiting in a golf cart for his lesson to begin

Trip to Jackson

Add to the above photos the following:

As you can see, the kitchen is coming along! I think it will be really elegant!

I thought this was pretty funny - sort of a  Halloween touch! Purely temporary of course

 The stairwell is really nice too:

Stairwell lights - I think they are cool.

The stairs are made of Baubuche. What is that? Here's a description from the manufacturer:

BauBuche is a laminated veneer lumber made from locally sourced beech manufactured exclusively by Pollmeier. BauBuche is produced in a completely new, yet highly economical process. Peeled veneer layers of 3mm in thickness are parallel- or cross-laminated and turned into beams, boards, panels and flooring elements. With its exceptionally high strength BauBuche allows structures with significantly slimmer dimensions, compared to softwood materials. The high surface quality makes BauBuche ideally suited for visible construction elements. And the cost-efficient manufacturing technology places structures using BauBuche at the same price level as conventional softwood structures.

And this is the view out of the guest bedroom - where Harry is sleeping. Through a screen.

Today I took the Subaru  to Teton Motors Subaru in Jackson. I wanted to get an evaluation of the alternator and the "pigtail" which connects the alternator to the electrical system, just to make sure everything is ok in that department. I would like to avoid another alternator failure, if possible. And since the check-engine light is again on all the time,  I wanted to get a second opinion on that. While they were working on the car, I went to the Teton Library, which is the Jackson public library - a very nice one.

A display at Teton Library

The area where I was sitting and reading

So, at Teton Motors, they checked the alternator and pigtail, and that's all fine. And they confirmed that the reason the "check-engine light" is on is because the catalytic converter is failing. They said the same back at Brattleboro Subaru. That is at least an $1800 job. But they found more. The timing cover is leaking oil onto an oxygen sensor. Fixing that requires a lot of time and money - an overnight and $1200. That's $3000 on top of the $700-800 we've already put into alternators. None of it has to be done right now - we could probably get home ok as is. But it will have to be done eventually if we plan to hold on to this car. The question is - how much more should we put into a car that has 232,000 miles on it? I decided to look into options. So I declined to have the repairs done now and talked to a salesman. Did they have a used Impreza on the lot? Yes, they did. This one:

 This is a 2014 Impreza with 69,000 miles on it. One-third of what we have on ours. Asking price is $12,800. A trade-in would bring that down closer to $10,000. It looks like a new car - evidently it's a one-owner car that has been serviced there at Teton Motors. Seems like a good deal to me, but we'll see.

After all that, I went to Jackson Whole Grocer and got a bite to eat and some DGL for my tummy. Nice store! Here's where you sit while you eat.

Stewart Letter #2

The next letter in the "Stewart series" is a good one for today not only because it is addressed to Dad, but it refers quite a bit to fathers too.




                                                                        April 9, 1944
 Dear Dad,

         One of the chemists at the laboratory reminded the rest of us that last Tuesday was 4/4/44, and that such a repetition of numbers would not come again for over eleven years. Of course he was feeling rather different anyway since he had just become a father for the first time. He said it in a tone of voice that sounded as if he were worrying about waiting eleven years before he could see 5/5/55.

          I worked 44 hours last week, and I now know the "ropes" fairly well. Now all that I have to do is concentrate on speed while keeping my accuracy on the same level. I am learning how to use a slide rule, the Steinlite, a machine which finds moisture content of feed, and I am learning the know-how of oil extraction from linseed meal.

A Steinlite machine like the one Stewart was learning to use

         The snow has finally all melted, and we are experiencing deep mud now. Easter Sunday, today, First Church had its altar decked with large, beautiful ferns. A trumpet solo was played, a cello solo, a soprano solo, and the choir sang two long anthems. It was a very impressive service, and the auditorium was practically filled to the last seat.

The auditorium of First Congregational Church, Minneapolis

           Dr. Smith said not to worry about my leg because it is all right except for a slight thickening just above the ankle. That is all that has ever been wrong with it, but before, it was more painful and there was swelling even as far as around the ankle. [1]
 

        School ends on Thursday, June 16. I am on the Commencement Committee, and in our first meeting today, we discussed the whole program generally. One thing was who to have as minister for the invocation. There are four or five in the graduating class who have fathers as ministers, so it would be wise for me to know if you could be available. The program must be printed a month beforehand, so I don't know if you could be certain before then.[2]
 
          When I go to work at 5:30a.m., the sky is beginning to get light in the east, and the birds are singing. This summer it will undoubtedly be a very beautiful and delightful walk.
 
          In Trigonometry now, we are learning to prove that sin (A+B) = sin A - cos B + cos A sin B, and cos (A+B) = cos A cos B - sin A sin B. In the back of the book, Spherical Trigonometry is discussed, but we are not able to go into that.
 
          I attended a lecture at the Physics Building over at the U last night. The lecture was "Things that Spin." The professor explained that if any in the audience wished to find out more about the subject, then he could show them in an hour and a half that they should register at the U. I believe that I'll take him upon that in the fall. [3[
 
                                                 Sincerely yours, 
                                                      Stewart

[1] It really is unbelievable that Dr. Smith didn't realize Stewart's leg had a fracture. 

[2]  I wonder if dad had given some inkling that he might be getting a furlough in June? Otherwise, I don't see how Stewart could expect him to be available to give the Invocation at Commencement. What actually happened is that dad got orders after D-Day to go to France and had time in later June for just a 24-hour visit home on his way to Washington.

[3] I'm realizing that there were educational opportunities available for a high school student in Minneapolis that did not exist for me in Anamosa when we moved there after the war.

A very familiar walk

I just did the walk that Ellen and I have done a hundred times - the road going up the hill behind Paul's former house. This is the first time I've done that particular walk this trip. I think Ellen and I might have done it together back in January. I paced it off, as usual, and it was 1600 paces going up hill and 1490 coming down hill (longer strides going down hill). That translates into 1.7 miles r.t. (figuring an average of 2.9 feet per stride). Considering that I haven't been feeling too well these past few days, that's not too bad. It felt good to get the exercise.

We used to park in this area but now horses are grazing there so it is fenced off.

Paul's former house.The new owner's have put up a trampoline.

The view from the top - as lovely as ever on a fine day. The water is high in the reservoir.

Father's day

I'm inspired by my friend Bonnie Hull, who has posted photos of dads in her family on her On the Way blog, to post some photos of dads in my family and Ellen's.

So, first, the grandfather generation:

My paternal grandfather Wad Crockett, with my dad, c. 1906

My maternal grandfather, August Winter, c. 1900

Ellen's paternal grandfather James U. Tolles, with her dad, c. 1923

Then, the next generation:

My dad, with me in his lap and my brother Stewart, c. 1935

Ellen's dad and mom with Ellen, c. 1944

And the next:

Me holding Betsey, c. 1959

John and me, c. 2013

Tamar the graduate

Yesterday was Tamar's graduation from 8th grade at Hilltown Charter School. We missed it, of course, being in Wyoming. Tamar will now go on to Northampton High School in the fall, which will be quite a change. She has been at Hilltown for her entire schooling thus far, and it has had a lot of  really great qualities - e.g., small classes, a strong sense of community, creativity, compassionate teachers that supported Tamar's partial hearing loss, a strong emphasis on the arts, etc. We always loved visiting there for Grandparents Day and concerts,  and inevitably felt that we would have loved going to a school like this! Tamar has loved Hilltown and I think she has thrived there. I hope NHS proves to be a good school for her also, but it is much bigger, organized in a more conventional way, more impersonal (I suspect). Max has been happy there, but Max is not Tamar.

Tamar doing the "Cartesian Diver" *  experiment at Hilltown while her Grandmother Doris watches

One of the many drawings Tamar did at Hilltown

A typical bulletin  board at Hilltown  - all the students finished the sentence "I am..." on a piece of colored paper

Tamar

*The Cartesian Diver Experiment
Fill a plastic water bottle with water, put in an eye dropper with just enough water in it so that it barely floats, and cap the bottle. Squeeze the sides of the bottle: the eye dropper sinks; let go, it rises!

How Does It Work?

The Cartesian diver, named after French philosopher and scientist René Descartes, works because of several factors. When you squeeze the sides of the bottle, you are increasing the pressure on the liquid inside. That increase in pressure is transmitted to every part of the liquid. That means you are also increasing pressure on the eye dropper itself. Squeeze hard enough and you will push some more water up inside the dropper. The air inside the dropper squeezes tighter as more water is forced in.

Increasing The Density

Now, water is much denser than air. So when you push more water inside the dropper, you increase its overall density. Once its density is greater than that of its surroundings, it will sink. Release the pressure on the bottle’s sides and you stop forcing water inside the eye- dropper. The air inside it will now push out the extra water again, and the eye-dropper will rise. That’s the Cartesian Diver!

Stewart Letter #1

Last week was the 75th Anniversary of D-Day and today, June 13th, is the 75th anniversary of my brother Stewart's graduation from Marshall High School in Minneapolis. I know that because he says so in his "reminiscences" that I published:

"We graduated one week after D-Day. D-Day was the sixth and we graduated on the 13th. There were guys in our class who had been drafted before they graduated." 

We have about 33 letters Stewart wrote during that time, starting with one on March 15, 1944 and ending with one in late 1946, which give a vivid and detailed picture of the impact that the war had on his life. I've decided to transcribe those letters, annotate them, and post them here from time to time as a tribute to him. The letters are written mostly to dad, sometimes to mother.

Stewart as a high school senior

                                                                                March 15, 1944

Dear Dad,[1]

            I am sorry that I have not written to you for a long time, and I will not try to excuse myself for it, but I will attempt to show you some of the things that are keeping me busy.

            Mother made me stay home from school[2] today because my leg is swollen just above the ankle. I must have received a hard knock when I didn't notice it, and the resultant bruise has hurt some ligament or something. But, however, I think that it will be okay soon.[3]

            On Monday, March 6, I was called into Mrs. Leeuwen's (sp?) room (the student counselor) and was told about a job in a control laboratory at Spencer-Kellogg and Sons,[4] a linseed oil concern. It is located between some elevators near 25th street....[5]

The Spencer-Kellogg factory in Minneapolis where Stewart worked

 Heretofore they have hired only University students, but so many are being drafted that they had to appeal to Marshall. I will be able to keep the job all the time that I go to the University, thus being able to earn my way more easily. My job is to grind the meal, weigh out 5-gram samples to the nearest milligram, find the moisture content, and the oil content, all the while keeping each sample assorted. There are four regular expellers with three shifts a day. There are about six special expellers with three shifts. Moisture is found by placing a tin of meal in an electric oven for 75 minutes and then weighing again to find difference, thus finding the amount of moisture. The oil is found by running carbon tetrachloride through a sample of the meal wrapped in a piece of filter paper. The carbon tetrachloride is boiled off after three hours, and the flash and oil is weighed to determine percent of oil. Meal sold to the farmers is guaranteed to have at least 3.5% oil, and the average runs about 4.5% according to our tests. If the oil content were too high, however, we would be losing money in our sale of oil.[6]

           

            On March 31 and April 1, a special tournament will be held at South St. Paul High School, and I am writing an original oration for the event. I think I shall give an oration on the merits of the Pan American Union[7] and its relation to the world today.

            On about February 16th, E. Stanley Jones[8] spoke at Marshall. Two or three nights later, I heard him speak at Wesley Temple to about 300 young people from different churches. Although he is a small man, his knowledge and character are limitless. 

Wesley Temple in Minneapolis

            This "six-weeks" period is seven weeks long, so we won't get our report cards marked until next Tuesday.

            On February 24, the Young People's Group[9] had charge of the Thursday night Lenten Service, and Millicent Myers from the Pilgrim Federation and I had charge of the devotions. Dr. Powell[10]  spoke on the topic, "If I Had But One Sermon to Preach," which is the topic for all the ministers who speak at the services.

            Since I have to get up so early to go to work, I am excused earlier from school. I had only Gym and Study, 5th and 6th anyway, but since Phys. Ed is required 5 days a week for seniors, I have transferred to Track sixth period, and I now go home for lunch right after 4th. I am getting more sleep out of the arrangement for no particular reason except that I know that I must get to bed very early in order to get enough sleep, and so I am getting about 7 1/2 hours a night on the average.

            The weather is rather inconsistent here. It has snowed several times, but each time a warm spell follows and melts most of the snow.

            I took the Eddy Test,[11] which determines if one can qualify for radio technician training in the Navy - just to see if I could. I passed it, along with almost every other boy that did, but it does not obligate me to follow it up.

            I'm feeling swell outside of my leg.

                          Yours sincerely,

                           Stewart

P.S. The desk[12] arrived this afternoon, and mother is thrilled.

           

                       

---

[1] ­At this time, dad was a Chaplain in the U.S. Army, based at Fort Lewis, WA.

[2] Stewart was a senior at Marshall High School in Minneapolis, MN.

[3] Several months later, when Stewart had his physical when he enlisted in the army, he learned for the first time that he had a broken fibula, 6 cm above the ankle! His doctor had never bothered to X-ray the leg. Stewart had been walking with a broken bone  in his leg all that time!

[4] Spencer-Kellogg & Sons was based in Buffalo, NY, but had a plant in Minneapolis as well, and at that time was probably the largest linseed oil manufacturer in the world.

[5] I lost the image of this page from iPhoto inexplicably at just this point as I was transcribing it. I can't find it in Trash or anywhere! Maybe I can recover it from the backup hard drive at home. Fortunately, only a couple of lines from the letter on this page were left to transcribe before I lost it.

[6] Spencer-Kellogg was primarily a manufacturer of linseed oil, but the mash created in the process was a by-product sold to farmers as feed. 

[7] The Pan-American Union was an organization formed in 1890 to promote cooperation among the countries of Latin America and the U.S. It was replaced in 1970 by the OAS - the Organization of American States.

[8] E. Stanley Jones (1884–1973) was a Methodist missionary who worked in India. He is remembered chiefly for his interreligious lectures to the educated classes in India, thousands of which were held across India during the first decades of the 20th century. He spent much time with Ghandi and the Nehru family. Gandhi challenged Jones to include greater respect for the mindset and strengths of the Indian character in his work. This effort to contextualize Christianity for India was the subject of his seminal work, The Christ of the Indian Road, which sold more than 1 million copies worldwide after its publication in 1925 and reputedly was a prime influence in Martin Luther King Jr.'s commitment to non-violence.

[9] This was a group of teen-agers at the First Congregational Church in Minneapolis which is where our family attended church while dad was in the army.

[10] This was probably Dr. John Walker Powell, who followed dad as minister of Como Avenue Congregational Church.  He was also a lecturer at the University of Minnesota, teaching classes in English and Biblical literature.

[11] Officially the RTST (Radio Technician Selection Test), it was commonly named after William C. Eddy, a retired officer and authority in electronics who came out of retirement after Pearl Harbor and helped to develop this test in response to an urgent need for radio technicians.

[12] This is the spinet desk which dad built for mother in a woodworking shop at Fort Lewis and which Suzie now has.