Wis Halloween 08

Halloween, 2008

Here it is the week of Halloween, 2008. The grandchildren
will dress up in their scary costumes, beg for candy
door to door and carve pumpkings into jack-o-lanterns.

The frost is on the pumpkins as the saying goes,
it gets below freezing every night.autumn is here.
The leaves are all off the trees, but the grass is
still green. One day last week was 'Indian' Summer
and the grass was all full of spider cobwebs. Pretty.
so many ladybugs crawling in the house.

We went to a concert at the Performing Art Center
in Appleton to hear the United States Marine Band,
'The President's Own'. Was very good, the tickets
were free. They played John Philip Sousa's marches
some opera, Verdi, Berlioz, Debussy, and ended up
with 'The Stars and Stripes Forever'. The finale
was a Salute to the Armed Forces and each branch
of the service was asked to stand. Of course, Russ
was in the Marine Corps from 1953 to 1955. There
were about 50 members in the band, all in their
dress uniforms - red.

It is cool outside so we have been reading books.
Russ read another 'Battle of The Bulge', a World
War II book. I do non fiction, a book on Sarah
Palin, and Barbara Walters new one called
'Audition'. Both were good. Also read one fiction,
loosely based on the life of Laura Bush, our President's
wife. Called American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld.
Went to two movies 'Appaloosa' a western which
didn't seem to have a point, and then 'Beverly
Hills Chinchilla' about a runaway dog. It was
a children's movie, but Russ liked it.

I go for a flu shot tomorrow. Russ doesn't want to get
one, says they never work anyhow and he gets
a bad cold. But Robin said he had to, so maybe he will
get one.

And election is next week. Presidential. We keep
getting the 'robo' telephone calls, but even some
times a real live person. We voted absentee, I voted
for Obama, but Russ won't tell me who he voted for.

On Saturday we begin a trip to Branson, Missouri
to the music capital to see some Christmas shows.
We will be there about 5 days, and hope to see
three shows a day. We will drive, stay in a cheap
motel right on the 76 highway. It has been two
years since we were there. Pack alot of our
food, we don't like to eat out too much. Takes
too much time, so we eat Spam and beans.
Doesn't taste too bad.

Our big machine shed is always empty and so
Russ lets people park their campers in there over
winter. So far he has about 6 squeezed in, including
some boats. He charges $100 for the season.

Richard's Joshua was 5 years old, and they always
have a big party with his friends, this year it was a
'football' theme, and Richard drew chalk lines in their
back yard, a small football field, complete with a goal
post sign and score board. He sent pictures via email.

Keith and his children were camping with their pop up
camper in a state park. It rained the first day. But
they have a heater, etc. He sent pictures via email
and it looks like they had a good time. They go with
a group of other men teachers. Then he sent a
bunch of halloween pictures.

Claire Harte and friend from Ireland were in New York
and Boston last week and Richard gave them a tour
of historical areas. Richard stayed with the Harte
family over Christmas when he spent a semester in
Wales in 1991.

Matt and Lisa have a new car, a Dodge Caliber 4 wheel
drive. She had such problems last winter when they
had so much snow in Milwaukee and she has a long
ways to drive to work.

Russ sold his Oliver 88 tractor to a collector who
wants to restore it. It had no power to operate
the baler and was just in the way.

It was the Halloween dance last night, many dressed
up in costumes, not us. And pot luck lunch and so
many desserts and casseroles, ham buns and
barbeque.

Russ had his high school class reunion, 58 years since
he graduated. Nice turnout. I won a door prize, a plant,
a lavender colored pansy. Thought it was almost dead when
I brought it home, but it perked up and is just covered
with blossoms.

The Boy Scouts were gathering food for the area
food pantries. Gave a bunch of cake mixes. A man
is trapping raccoons on the Black Otter Creek near
us.    So many coons, skunks and possems dead
on the road, from road kill from automobiles.
They, I think I read in a book, they committ
suicide on the roads when they know a cold
hard winter is coming. Dead deer along the
road too.

Russ cleaned and scrubbed our linoleum floor with
ammonia and then put down two coats of good
wax. It really looks good.

One of the men who bought a lot in our subdivision
way back in June, finally found a contractor to build
his house, and the dug the basement this week, and
poured the concrete walls. He said he had so
many problems getting permits, something about
drainage
of waste water.

Marianne spent a week in Penn State University interviewing
students for a job at Kimberly Clark.

Marianne had a birthday this week, she was 36. Keith's
birthday is this week, too, he will be 44. Marianne and
Scott had a wedding anniversary , they are married
13 years.

Carl and Ardie Much were here from Massachusetts, they
stayed one night with us. They took us out for breakfast
at Fred Baerwalds old place (he died, ) We had omlettes and bloody Mary's, a vodka and tomato juice cocktail. Then we
were invited to the Schmidt Cousin breakfast. And Carls, us,
Bob and Nancy Ross had lunch with Severna Much and
her daughter.   Carl and Ardie come once a year to
Wisconsin to touch base and go to a University of
Wisconsin Madison alumni football game. The Badgers
are not doing well this year.

Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriot
football teams are winning quite a few games.



           Copyright, 2008   Russell and Delores Miller

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