The World of Grandpa Don
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Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works
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What's New In the world of Grandpa Don |
Week Ending Friday |
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Last Friday afternoon Biscus made his annual trip from the living room to the patio. He has been missing his morning greeting of "Hi Biscus" since I have been having my coffee on the patio in the morning instead of in the living room. He seems happy to be close to other plants now, having been deprived of that companionship for the winter months. He also seemed to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air as well. What? Isn't everyone concerned with the mood and well being of their plant friends? He is indeed a friend, having been with us for well over 10 years. I don't remember when or how we got him. I am sure that Anne decided to buy him. I also know that at first we put him in the attached garage for the winter and didn't feed or water him 'till putting him out in the spring. He was always very sad until he had sun and water again. Now that he lives in the living room all winter and gets food and water on a weekly basis, he blooms throughout the indoor season, seemingly in an effort to show his gratitude by adding tropical splendor to the room. Yes, even plants respond positively to kindness.
My bill pay service sent an automatic email to inform me that it received my mortgage payment notice and had scheduled it for payment on July 1st. I was very happy to go in line and cancel that payment knowing that instead of needing to pay it every month, it will now pay me on the same schedule. It is a double benefit. Not only that but the payment I will get is tax free and in addition, my disbursements from my IRA will be reduced, thereby reducing my income tax. Of course, I loose the tax deduction on my mortgage interest but I can live with that.
A friend recently sent an email that went right to the heart. It was a concise listing of all the things I believe about life and how to deal with it. The list included the things that I try to promote on this web site and try to live by myself. Please take the time to read Regina Brett's 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on Thanks Bob. The link is to her web site so you get the accurate list without the distortions introduced by the originator of the email that is now circulating on the internet.
Do you have a little time? Sit back, take a couple deep breaths and clear your mind as you view and listen to Psalm 104 as you have never heard it before. It will lift your spirit and sooth your soul. It has been added to my Inspiration page and it is beautiful.
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Ed Pluchar is a Deacon at St Julie parish and his wife Sheila is the Director of our Youth group. They just became grandparents and are proud have you meet Amelia Marie Pluchar. Congratulations to Ed and Sheila as well as the parents. Well done!
Sunday morning there was a little rain on the way to church. Later in the day it was cloudy but beautiful, the kind of day when you don't feel the temperature, neither hot, cold, warm nor cool and of course not a hint of breeze, quietness and peace reigned in my realm. Mikey and I went out to the gazebo and I read. After some time, Mikey was thirsty and wanted to go into the house. I let him in and procured a snifter of B&B, returning to my reading, occasionally pausing to drink in a perfect day along with the ambrosia of my glass. 'Till We Have Faces" is a fascinating book. Lewis spins a tale of mystery and adventure in which the characters move from reality to fantasy, but of course it is all real to them. It is so easy to join with them in their pretend world.
It isn't much different in our own world especially with our modern communications. A friend forwarded an email decrying a government agency that was trying to shut down a bible study in the home of a particular pastor. Horrors! Government attacking religious freedom! However, the report was distorted and didn't tell the actual story that the only problem was that a member of the study group dinged the car of a nearby resident and a police report was filed. There had been a big to-do about nothing. The problem is that the irritating email will now circulate for years, if not forever. It will get people all upset for no reason at all. This is why I keep emphasizing that we must use the internet responsibly. We must be more careful in what we circulate on the internet. There are rabble rousers out there who will cry wolf at any chance they get. I for one, refused to be part of the rabble being roused. It only takes a few minutes to dig into the story and find the truth. I won't let things like this spoil my day. The only thing is that it makes me wonder about the motivations of people who start these emails. Are they trying to protect our religious freedoms? Or, are they trying to turn us against our government? We must think before circulating everything that hits our in-box.
Sunday could not be spoiled. Later in the afternoon, my daughter came by. She had been out shopping and decided to visit her dad. After a while she called home and told her men to fend for themselves and we went to Ashford House for dinner. It was a delightful visit and put a cap on a great day.
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In the wee hours on Monday, I was half awakened by thunder and pouring rain. In the morning everything was washed clean and the plants in the garden seemed more vibrant than ever, By the time I had finished breakfast the temperature was up to a comfortable level and I enjoyed my coffee on the patio. Ellen Gooch had goggled a family name and found herself in the World of Grandpa Don.. F W Husmann was one of her ancestors and she left a message in my guestbook wondering how were were related. I sent her information on FWH, my great-great-grandfather as well as how he is connected to Lucile Lossner, my mother. However, there are several F W Husmann's listed in the census reports so I needed to delve deeper into the matter. After a little research I found that Ellen's F W Husmann and mine are a generation apart but have roots in Hanover, Germany. Ellen suspects that her FWH is the son of ours but I have no record of ours having a son with the same name. I have referred the matter to Peggy Cecora.
Tuesday was cleaning day as well as garbage and recyclable pick up. I set out the two containers the night before. It's not a big job because both of the large bins have wheels. I heard the trucks in the street about 5 minutes before my alarm sounded. About half way through the morning FedEx brought an envelope. It was a check for the second installment of my property taxes address to the county tax collector. It is not due until September but I am sure that the bank simply wants to close out my old escrow account. However, the amount is based on an estimate so I sent off an email to ask what I am supposed to do with it so early. We will see. Then I got a call from the heating and AC people. I have an annual contract with them to inspect the cooling system in the spring and the furnace in the fall. It was time for the AC check and a man would be available in the afternoon. I knew he would need water so I turned on the outside spigot near the condenser unit and got a coil of garden hose out of the shed and hung it on the fence. A couple hours later he arrived, checked the coolant levels and made checks inside and out to be sure all was working properly. He also flushed out the cooling coils and coiled up the hose when finished and hung it back on the fence. I am now all set for hot weather. But ... where is it? We have been having cool days. Oh well, I am ready when ever they arrive ... and they will. Marie left the house all spick and span (whatever that means) and there are clean sheets on the bed and fresh towels in the sparkling bath rooms. It was a busy day for me, just staying out of the way.
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This is for Alex but all of you may share. Alex often sends as many as a
dozen forwarded emails at a time. With this link he can send them all at
once and never, ever send another.
They are all here. (well ... a lot) . Oh, but I forgot ... new ones
are being added every minute of every hour of every day and there will
be no end to it. I don't know who collected all those emails in one
place and did such a beautiful job of presenting them but I hope they
will continue the project.
Wednesday morning arrived cool and damp so most of the morning was spent at the computer. After lunch I checked the larder, found it wanting and headed out. The first stop was the liquor store, the only place I can get my VO Gold. I then made a stop at the barber's where I found the owner sweeping the floor and another barber reading the newspaper. I was on my way to the Village hall in short order. A citizen was just leaving the cashier's window where I traded a dollar bill for a village vehicle sticker and headed to the Jewel. The nearly empty aisles made this a rather quick stop also and I had a 10% off store coupon that made the trip more pleasant in addition to several manufacturer's coupons and the discounts afforded me by my "Preferred Card". I then returned home where I encountered the most strenuous part of my journey. There were many bags of groceries due to the fact that I overbought, anticipating the 10% coupon I knew I would been using. They offer this 10% discount every time multiple purchases using the "preferred card" total $300. I had to sit and sip water for a while before feeding Mikey. He was patient.
By that time the sun was out and it was comfortable in the gazebo. Mikey enjoyed being out while I read a couple chapters. It was a productive and most enjoyable day.
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Thursday morning as I drove home from Bible study I continued to think about Paul's letter to the Romans and what it all meant, mulling over in my mind the commentary and the ideas expressed by my fellow participants. I came up with a thought that summarizes the whole thing and you may quote me ... "When you read the law, seek not the loopholes but rather abide by the intent and purpose of it." I think we spend too much time trying the get around the rules or finding the shortcuts and the minimum we need to do to comply. This ranges from the rolling stops at the stop signs to showing up for church because we think we are obeying a rule in doing so. It seldom occurs to us that there is a reason to be there, and its not just because God said so because it made Him feel good to have us there. We may not understand it but maybe it was intended to benefit us. But not just us as individuals but all of us as a group. It just may be mutually beneficial and require the participation of all to get the full effect. A smart person once said (to the effect), "Ask not what I can get out of it, but what can I contribute to it." (It was said first by Kahlil Gibran in 1917). I am convinced that that statement applies to life itself in all its aspects.
Speaking of contributing, Peggy Cecora was able to tie together some facts about the descendants of Fredrich Wilhelm Husmann. Ellen Gooch had been correct. Her ancestor F W Husmann was the son of our ancestor but went by Fredrick William, an Americanization of his father's name and was recorded in the census reports as William. Peggy said "The son also became a minister in the Lutheran Church. He was the one that married Clara Packard and Richard Lossner. (My grandparents) He was a minister at that time for a church in Berea or Strongsville, Ohio. He later moved to the Ft. Wayne, Indiana area and was a minister there. He eventually moved to California with one of his children were he died." Now that I have gathered all this information I was able to build a descendant chart for the Husmann family line and I shall have to add a new page for this branch of the family. And ... this means that Ellen Is my third cousin once removed. Ellen is the second person to be found to be related through Fredrich Wilhelm Husmann this year, the first being Marilyn Elbrecht and her daughter Kati Zimmann by way of the Prasse and Lossner families. The world get smaller (and more crowded) all the time. As I have said, I looked for my roots and found a forest.
I probably would not have done all this research and detective work on Thursday if it had been warm and sunny. But the temperature was in the low 60's and it rained most of the day, starting wit a heavy rain before dawn, tapering to light rain in the morning and drizzle in the afternoon. Yuk! But a day designed for sitting at the computer and delving into details.
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Friday morning (today) was precious. Mikey got me up at 6 but I went back to bed. It was 9:15 when I became conscious again. Breakfast was quick and coffee was enjoyed on the patio with a shortened visit with God and Anne. Sorry, but I'll make up for it later. I did take the time to tell them about Ellen's grandmother who is in the hospital. Maybe we can all say a prayer for her recovery. But, I had to get to work on this page and get it uploaded to the server so you could read it. But then I had computer problems. Both Microsoft and another program did an automatic update during the night and there was a conflict of some sort. I had to reboot and all was well. Once up and running I found several emails from Ellen and Peggy with tons of information about the newly discovered German/Lutheran branch of the family/ That will have to wait to be digested later and incorporated into the genealogy file that keeps growing all the time. This is all being written a second time because I had the page almost done and in my haste had not saved as I progressed from the above quotation. You guessed it ... the program crashed and closed. I lost all the morning's work which is why Iam late posting it today.
Anne Mary called about 11 AM. She had taken the day off from work and Dominick dropped off Bella on his way to the office. She had already taken Bella for a ride in the stroller and she met several neighbors collecting all the recent gossip on the way. She also told me of Joe's new job. He and Kelsey, unbeknown to each other had applied for the same job at the New Balance shoe store in Orland Park. Joe got the job presumably because he will be able to work part time while he attends classes this fall and winter at the nearby campus of Robert Morris University of Illinois. He loves the work as well as the owner and other employees and the feeling seems to be mutual. He has been working more hours than anticipated and he is selling shoes! He did have a little problem. A former employee cam in and confronted him for taking his job. The young man is bi-polar. The police were called but the man left before they arrived. Joe chose not to press charges but the police went to the man's home and talked to him. They returned to the store and instructed the owner to call 911 and hang up after two rings. This would bring the police immediately. We should pray for the young man in question. He has a terrible problem and needs all the help he can get..
Anthony has been busy between the raindrops all week at his Uncle Tom's house. He has been doing exterior painting and helping replace sections of the fence. It looks like it will be all don for this weekend's graduation party.
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I am so very proud of all my children and grandchildren. Oh, they are not perfect, none of us were created as gods. But they keep trying and put their best into everything they do. There is very little complaining and they do what they can with what they have wherever they are. I am reminded of the old popular song:
I know I left out a lot of what I had on this page before my little crash but this will have to do and I will close on a positve note knowing ...
Indeed ....
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I am blest |
Grandpa Don
Plefka
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Anne wanted everyone to be 'Nice'.
This button was in one of
her dresser
drawers I cleaned out in August of 2004
