The Sweet Up and Down

Audrey actually took me around Waterville and showed me some of the big houses, where her grandpa lived and the cemetery. The reunion was held in the community building and meeting all those people whose names I don't remember was very nice. After about an hour or so, it was time to eat and all the food that I had was very delicious--even the lasagna (and I am very particular about my lasagna). After we had all finished eating came a raffle-type thing where everyone was given a number and given a bag corresponding with that number. In that bag was something that belonged to Aunt Alice. Even I got something which made me a little uneasy but was happy that they accepted me into the family. I got a teacup.

It's a pretty simple cup. I want to say it's handmade because of the way it looks and that it doesn't have a copyright or company name anywhere on the cup. I'm proud of it but I was even more impressed with what Audrey got. She got an old-fashioned hair curler, a necklace that was given to her aunt by her husband back in 1954 and ceramic tiles from the Irving Bank. I think we got a pretty good score.

We stayed a while and looked at photos that were set up and looked at what everybody else got then headed back. We stopped in Blue Rapids to get gas and something to drink and I saw what I think was the only gay person in Blue Rapids. We seemed to get back to Wamego faster and stopped at Kreme Kup to get some ice cream because this girl at work used to work there and said it was really good. Which it was. I then directed Audrey to turned north on Onaga Road so we could see the Louis Vieux Family Cemetery and Elm Tree. The elm tree, once the largest in the state, has now been cut down to just the trunk and a protective shelter placed over it to protect it. While I hate to see the tree damaged, I'm glad the state is trying to preserve it. Also, the state put up signs for the Cholera Cemetery near the tree so you can actually find it and take a look at it.

The grave markers (such as the one above) are protected by a huge chain-link fence and only three markers remain despite over 50 people buried there. I wouldn't recommend viewing it during the summer--go in the winter, less bugs and things to attack you and attach themselves to you.

It was the best weekend I've had in a while and was very happy that Audrey's family literally welcomed me with open arms. Next weekend, it's Lecompton's Territorial Days and dinner with her parents. I shall have pictures of Territorial Days as well.

Until next time, I remain...
~Brian

Even though I don't think it was a busy weekend, when you actually lay it all out, it does. On Saturday, the whole family got together to finally clean my grandparent's (now uncle's) place in Baldwin. It was the city wide clean-up so we loaded up an air conditioner, a bed, a small desk/table thing, a huge wood paneled TV and a big screen--Oh, and let's not forget a washing machine and refridgerator--into a U-Haul and drove it down to the dump (which isn't really a dump anymore).

I had to leave early because I had made plans with Audrey about a month ago and I figured I had already missed the wedding and that if I missed the reception I would be fired from being her fiance. The wedding was for people I don't know, which are always fun, but I got free food and it was held at the Kansas History Museum so that was kind of cool. However, I sat diagonal from this girl whose voice literally drove itself into my skull. It was so annoying that I probably would've paid for someone to shut her up. At least the wine put me in a decent mood... The next morning, Audrey and I had to get up early so we could make our way to Waterville, Kansas for a family reunion.


First of all, the drive there is amazing with beautiful rolling mounds in the background and lots of trees and acres upon acres of lush green farmland. I should've taken some pictures of it but, well, I'm an idiot. And I didn't think of it until just now. While Google takes you west on I-70 and north through Manhatten, using the K-99/K9/U.S. 77 route is a lot more interesting as you pass some very interesting areas. After passing through the Topeka 'burbs of Silver Lake and Rossville, you come to St. Mary's which is essentially known for the massive Catholic school they have. Then you pass through Belvue and make your turn onto K-99 in Wamego. K-99 takes you through Louisville, Westmoreland, Blaine (with their beautiful church pictured above) to Frankfort where you turn onto K-9.

You take K-9 to U.S. 77 which doesn't really pass anything good except the landscape. At the intersection with U.S. 77 is a historical marker for the Oregon Trail campsite, Alcove Springs which is just north of Blue Rapids and features many rock carvings inscribed by people travelling the Oregon Trail. We were to meet Audrey's parents in Blue Rapids so we could go to a memorial service for her Aunt Alice who had recently (November '07) passed away. Her ashes were to be interred at the Greeenwood-Irving Cemetery a couple miles south of Blue Rapids. Not knowing much about her aunt, I do know quite a bit about Irving, Kansas.

In the autumn of 1856, Irving, named for 19th Century author Washington Irving, was settled by a small group of residents from Lyons, Iowa. Almost immediately, the town was plagued with disasters. A drought then huge storms in 1860, grasshopper plague in 1866, another in 1875, two tornadoes in 1879, flooding in 1903 and several fires between 1907 and 1916, the latter destorying the north side of Main Street. Finally in 1955 plans to build the Tuttle Creek Dam did what fire, storms and insects couldn't do: brought an end to the town. Oddly enough, the site of Irving is not underwater so demolition of the town may not have been needed. It was a nice memorial for a woman obviously loved by everyone who knew her and we all lucked out that it was a beautiful clear day for once. After the service, we all left and began the relatively short excurison to Waterville to start the reunion which mean that this is...

...To be continued.
~Brian

This is the last part, I promise. I have a Lazy Sunday blog ready for Sunday and some recent developments I can now discuss although I'm not really prepared for them. I glad for the Spring weather though.

"I can dream about being Bugs, but when I wake up there's Daffy." Chuck Jones said this about how similar he was to Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Chuck Jones passed away in 2002 at the age of 89. He directed some of the best Looney Tunes cartoons, created the Roadrunner series and directed How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He knew how to make us laugh and we should be eternally grateful.

From there we move on to a subject near to my heart--Stull. Stull, Kansas is a tiny hamlet about 10 miles from Lawrence that reportedly had a haunted church and a gateway to Hell in the local cemetery. I say had because the church was torn down after standing for 135 years. The property owner arranged for the demolition after people expressed concern that the remaining two walls were a dangerous attractive nuisance. I actually traipsed around that cemetery and church a few times. It's because of Stull Cemetery and the church that I began getting into Kansas history and taking pictures to preserve the land and places I think need to be preserved. It's because of Stull I fell in love with where I am.

Shortly after Stull we come to another cemetery article about small, forgotten cemeteries that dot the Douglas County landscape. Then an article about the rebuilding of the Barber School, a one-room schoolhouse built in 1871 and named after Thomas Barber who was killed by a pro-slavery mob in the late 1850s. His body was displayed in the Eldridge Hotel and abolitionist John Brown is said to have uttered "This is the beginning of a civil war" upon seeing the body. The article was in 2003 and four years later the rebuilding is not finished...

Getting out of the history portion is a tribute to Christopher Reeve who, after being paralyzed in 1995 after a horse-riding accident, championed for spinal cord research and using stem cells to help reconstruct damaged nerves. Along with Michael J. Fox, they championed for stem cell research which was proven to aid in multiple afflictions. To make a donation to either foundation please visit the websites below. Also, Reeve portrayed Superman in the four movies between 1978 and 1987.

There are other things in there: tributes to other celebrities that have passed on, articles on historic buildings and other cemeteries in the area, a couple traffic warnings I've gotten, more Dave Barry columns, September 11th columns and stories and more Mutts comic strips. So many Mutts comic strips...

Donate to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
Donate to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

Until next time, I remain...
~Brian

Have you ever noticed how simple, everyday things play an important part of your life? I grew up in a neighborhood where there wasn't very many trees and they ones that were around were still in the process of growing so they were all still small. When I was about ten, my friends and I went down to a nearby creek. Near the creek was a tree, a long dead tree that had no branches and was described by one of my friend as "Jesus Christ hold up his arm and giving you the finger". We'd spend quite a lot of time and the tree was always within view. After I moved to Baldwin, the tree was cut down when Lawrence grew further south.

In Baldwin, there was another tree I became somewhat attached to. It was right next to an abandoned house on the highway. It appeared to be slightly damaged but it was still alive because it grows leaves every year. After I moved back to Lawrence, the house was bought and torn down in order to build the new intermediate school but the tree was left standing which made me happy but it stands all alone on the property. I still look at every time I drive by and have stopped by a couple times.

Atop Mound Cemetery there are three trees on the east edge. When I go there to think, I sit next to one of them. There is a pine tree, a regular oak tree and the obligatory dead tree with one protruding branch.

From Mound you could see for miles--about ten miles in either direction on a clear day--and it's my own private spot. Sadly, the tree has been cut down so only a stump remains and there is some idiot arguing with me that the cemetery is a gateway to Hell so hopefully nothing happens to ruin such a quiet and pristine area of the county.

In Pottawatomie County there stands the Louis Vieux Elm Tree which was once the largest in the state and the country. Sadly, Dutch Elm disease, lightning and even vandalism have ravaged the tree to near death. And one day when I was exploring the countryside and hiking through an isolated part of Clinton Lake, I discovered this tree standing alone on a hilltop.

I ended up staying there and resting for a while because I had walked a pretty long way from where I parked my car. I'm glad this tree is still around and that the Army Corps of Engineers didn't cut it down.

I think we all take trees for granted. Sure, I waste a lot of paper but at least I do use it and I try not to throw it away because I use it for the stories I write. Maybe this year I'll get more into Arbor Day like that bird in those annoying commercials from long ago.

Until next time, I remain...
~Brian