Sunday

Hmmm.  I note that I only had three posts last week.  The target is four.  Friday and Saturday were full days and I didn't make time to get back here.  I'll work a little harder this week.

My Friday included a forgettable afternoon round of golf at my old club in Davenport, Crow Valley.  A friend who needed to reciprocate for an invitation to Geneva that I had extended to him earlier this Summer, had bought (or won in a raffle) a round for a foursome at Crow, and Friday was the day.  Neither my friend nor his two other buddies had played much (if at all) at Crow (a tough course for a player new to it), and the round extended to almost dark.  Windy, cool, a little rain.  Slow play.  It was almost 2000 hours by the time 2 and I opened a nice bottle of Pine Ridge here on Maplecrest.

Then on Saturday, after an enjoyable (but still cool) round of golf with my pal Roy at Geneva, it was a drive down to Ottumwa for what was a very informal reunion dinner for my high school graduation class of 1967.  The reunion had been late to be organized (I think I got the call while I was at Tahoe), and there were  only about 25 attendees out of a class of 64 members.  There had actually been some activities for Friday night as well, and a couple of people who had been there Friday had not been able to stay for the second day.  So maybe the show-up rate wasn't too bad.

Even though I went to school for 13 years with several of my high school classmates, none of the friendships survived much beyond the Summer college breaks.  (I actually hung out more with the class that was a year younger than me as there were more baseball and basketball teammates in that class.  And I mostly dated girls from the other high school.)  There have been a few connections over the years, but nothing of a recurring nature. 

But it was fun to catch up with those who were there.  I think that the 50-year reunion in 2017 will be more well-attended.  That tends to be a date that people have a natural curiosity to compare life-paths.

I made sure to get to Ottumwa with enough time before the dinner to check out some of the locations in town that remain etched in my memories.  While not much of Jason Aldeen fan, Ottumwa is definitely the place that bears the Tattoo's on this Town for me.  Here are a few of the pic's that I took on my memory tour:

The drive to and from reminded me a lot of those many trips that I made the last couple of years that Mother was in Ottumwa at the Good Samaritan Home.  I would drive different back roads back then to break the monotony and to avoid the towns.  I couldn't tell you the road numbers, but that part of my muscle-memory is intact as I made all the turns yesterday without getting lost. 

The farm was almost impossible to recognize.  There are numerous houses on the parcel that previous contained the barn, the old house and the day-pastures for the cows.  They've even got a new home under construction immediately across from what was the "new" house, having pretty much taken out the pond that had been there for ever. 

 

I had wanted to take some pictures of a couple of spots on the East side of Route 63, along the county road.  Unfortunately, the brush had become so thick and the trees so dense, there was nothing to photograph.  And to think that I used to do a Fall cutting of hay in some of those clearings.

 

The original Walsh High School home on Chester Avenue has fallen into substantial disrepair.  At one point, a local historical society  had been located there, but now it is simply a private residence in need of work.  Tahoe Phil would be disappointed.

 

Mother and Daddy remain in place.

 

I know that most of these pics don't mean a lot to those in the Peanut Gallery under age 35.  To the rest of us, the history is still in the memory banks.

 

I need to get some chores done outside.  I may get back on here later today.

 

BCOT