What a Wagon!

This was parked in our neighborhood a few years ago.
I have no idea what it is used for except to
give a lot of people a ride at one time.

December 7, 1941

On a radio we heard the news. Pearl Harbor had been attacked. I knew it was serious from the looks on the  faces of my mom and dad. I was ten.

The picture is of a Zenith radio we owned but I'm not sure if it is pre-1941.
The earliest radio I remember was a tall thing on four legs, very fancy woodwork and a bench in front to sit on while you "tuned in" a station. There were two hinged doors that closed when you weren't using it, making it look like a nice cabinet. One of our cousins later took the innards out of theirs and made a lovely liquor cabinet.

This particular model had a toggle switch on the back that said Radio/TV. The man who delivered it said when television became available, all we would have to do is buy a screen to place on top and we'd be ready to watch. I think he was misinformed.
There are fewer of us left who remember that day and Monday at school we listened to President Roosevelt give his speech. We had small radios in each room at Roosevelt Grade School - named after Teddy - not FDR.
By the way, winning World War II and defeating the Axis powers took four years. At the beginning we were training soldiers with broom sticks until rifles were made available.

The title of this blog is quite appropriate - I do ramble on...

Later:  I did look at the text to the left of the photo which was in the magazine Reminisce. The woman who sent the picture in says her folks bought the radio in 1939 in order to have short wave. So it is possible that we had this radio in 1941.

Africa

If this is accurate, all I can say is, "I had no idea!"

Gordon Parks

This photo is from 1982 or '83. Our younger son is shaking hands
with Gordon Parks.
Mr. Parks had returned to Kansas, his birthplace, for
a speaking tour.
If you are not familiar with him, he was a photographer, film maker and author.

I like the view of PN from the side. A nice moment caught by
someone with a camera in Manhattan KS.

All Gone

 Did I mention this town loves to tear stuff down.

Two of the Wolcott Building.

Three of an old mill no longer wanted.

Two of Hutchinson High School. Looks like they removed the windows first.

And last, the boat house in Carey Park. Too expensive to repair.

It was nice to visit Europe where they tend to keep and maintain their old buildings - all of them hundreds of years older than our bricks.

Later:

I found a photograph of Hutchinson High in the 1947 Allagaroo (year book) and tried to paste it at the end of this post, but blogger placed it between shots of the Wolcott building. Anyway, this view is facing NW from 7th and Walnut.

Those cars look pre WWII to me.

Jill and Jack

 The last of the dogs for this family!
These two adorable pups are now grown up. No more chewing or "accidents" but they are lively little mutts. Rescued from the Humane Society, where they were put in the same kennel/cage, they were used to each other. We decided not to separate them.
And anyway, it was a Halloween special; any dog black or orange-ish was half price. Two for the price of one was good idea until we remembered double the vet bills!

Two years old now,they keep us busy.
Jack is black and laid back.
Jill is brown and the bully.

And Arizona Zeus

 We found him in Tucson and moved him to Kansas.

We had him nine years which is about the life span of a giant breed.

The diploma does not show that when told to stay off leash, he bolted for the doorway of the quonset hut; but he did walk on a leash quite nicely. In the photo with the tv, he is watching himself on a video we took.

And later this Sunday:  I went to Wendy's to try a bacon portabello sandwich and small fries.
The young man at the window handed me my bag of goodness while I tried to hand him my carefully counted out money. Changed money to other hand because I couldn't reach the bag with my right hand and he shook his head when I transferred to back to the left and stuck it out toward the window.
"The car ahead paid for yours."  I could not believe it. That has never happened to me before. He told me I was blessed. I said, "Yes!" I looked behind me and there was nobody in line behind me. So I drove out onto the street and toward home. Then it occurred to me! I could  have waited for the next car to appear and passed it on.
On second thought, what if there had been a family with seven children? 

Maybe some other day when the car behind me has one occupant.