My Frosty Neighborhood 12-12-06

We had two full days and nights of fog and steady temps in the high 20's and light winds, which makes for a lot of frosty sights. So one afternoon after work I decided to take a stroll around my little neighborhood with my camera. Nothing to spectacular, but so pretty.

The first is a pic of my view from the back yard. It is looking west along the interstate. All the others are from houses in about a 3 block radius east of my place.


This is a new fence installed after a new development got started on the other side of it. I used to live pretty much out in the 'country' but the city is getting closer and closer every year.


This small little red leaf really stood out in a sea of white frost everywhere.


These people have beautiful manicured gardens in the summer as you can see by this tree in the front of their house.


The lights were on but a little hard to notice.


Note the smiley face on the windmill.


Backyard birdhouse


The frost seemed to have 3 different tints in the late afternoon sun in this yard.


This guy barks at me every morning when I go to work, but not a peep when he saw me walk by with my camera.

Birds & Bovines on the Bike Path 12-09-06

This was such a beautiful day that I'd been looking forward to all week after listening to the weather forcasts. And they didn't disappoint me when the day brought temperatures in the 50's. So mid morning I got out my hybrid bike knowing I may come across a few icy or muddy patches along the way. I decided to ride over to the Memorial Bridge construction site to see how the progress was coming along and if I could even cross the river at the point on my bike anymore.

The bike trail takes me around a municipal golf course that is a favorite winter feeding spot for a flock of geese. They are a little shy so I couldn't get too close.

On the other side of the path is the stock yards. This one was pretty curious about me and my camera.

Seemed like all the animals were enjoying the rare warm winter rays of the sunshine. The black birds were particularly noisy up in the trees on the edge of the golf course and weren't bothered by me at all.

Once I got to the bridge I had to get a few shots of the south side - which is basically gone. I used to ride east across the bridge under this sign.

This is the from the same spot only looking east across the river. You can see where the sidewalk is cut off on the south side of the bridge.

I decided to get a shot of the ice breaking up and long winter season shadows on the river. The ice looks so rough but great contrasts in the sunshine.

And as often happens when I'm on a bridge taking pictures, I was joined by a pigeon probably wondering why I had stopped so long in her house.

The ride felt great but was all too short as the sun doesn't get very high in the sky up here in December. After some rides around Bismarck, a visit with a friend, and a little Christmas shopping, I had to make my way back to my home trail by 4:30 to beat the darkness.

Heart Healthy Thanksgiving

This year Mary, Sarah and I decided to plan and prepare the whole Thanksgiving Day menu along with help from Dave and Peter. We thought we'd try to find recipes of the standard items converted to be heart healthy, inspired by Mom's surgery, but better for us all in the long run too. All seemed to work out well except the green bean casserole, definitely not as good as the original. The smoked turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, wild rice hazelnut stuffing, cranberry stuffed acorn squash, cranberry chutney, apple pie all were well received.

The weather was beautiful until the Sunday drive home. Light jackets were all that was required on the drive down. Dave and Sarah and family arrived in Arlington shortly before I did late Wednesday (Nov 23rd) afternoon. Collin and Jackson perked up from their naps in the car when they saw Sam and Rowdy bound into the kitchen.

The next hour or so was spent unpacking cars with boxes and boxes of food along with getting the sleeping arrangements made.

Pete, Mary and Matt arrived shortly after supper and we started the whole process again. Matt seems a half foot taller yet again.

The next morning Pat, Aislynn and Andrew arrived fairly early and the house was pretty hectic getting all the menu items prepared.

Marguerite watched the grandkids while the rest of us prepared the meal.

I was so glad to have help from Mary and Sarah as they are much more experienced at preparing large meals. I'm good at cooking for one or two, but more than that I accept all help that is offered.

After all the food was eaten and dishes done, we didn't settle down for the usual football thing, but Peter took the lead in a brisk and long walk around town. In fact he managed to herd us outside at least 3 or more times a day. The dogs loved it and I would have except I didn't bring along the right walking shoes.


Collin followed his cousin around closely and Aislynn seemed to enjoy the role of 'teacher'. He was so sad to see her leave that evening after supper.


Friday morning Mary and Sarah got up early to hunt down all the best Black Friday shopping deals in Watertown. They were out of the house before 5:30 am.


Collin having a chuckle on the swings and Jackson on the slide.

Later on, after the boys got up and dressed, David and I took them down to the city park along with the dogs to burn off some energy and enjoy the beautiful weather. Jackson is growing so fast and trying to hard to keep up with his big brother Collin. He is talking so much but nothing anyone can understand yet. It is so cute.



Jackson is telling a long story to his Dad who dutifully pretends to understand it all!

Friday afternoon, when Sarah returned, Dave headed up to the bowling alley for a bit of relaxation after taking care of the boys by himself most of the day. Pete and Matt joined him later for a game or two.

Peter, Dodey & Dave at the bowling alley.

Later Mary and I visited the flower shop and the gift shop on our way up to watch the men bowling. Peter talked us all into visiting the new community fitness center at the high school after supper. It is really nice and a great asset for the town.

Saturday was spent with Xmas decorations for the house. We decorated the outside, inside and left some for Mom to finish on her own. But I left many many unopened boxes up in the attic. Later in the afternoon, Peter, Mary, Matt and I all went to the bowling alley for the holiday special of 3 games, a pitcher of root beer and large pizza for $20. It was a lot of fun, although Matt wasn't too happy to get a score lower than his Mom! After suppler we watched a dvd of a movie that was shot in North Dakota with Kris Kristofferson and Peter Fonda. It was kind of corny about some old cankerous sheep farmers, but seemed to be just right for the holiday.

All in all, a typical Manley Thanksgiving, although maybe a little nostalgic as we all knew it most likely would be the last one in that house in Arlington. Mom and Dad are getting closer and closer to accepting the idea of moving - encouraging all the kids to take things from the house and almost pleading with us to stop giving them "stuff".

October Fears and Fun

I'm finally getting back to this to record a somewhat major event that happened to our family just before Halloween. It was the day before my birthday when I received a hurried call on my cell phone while working at the office from my brother Pat in Sioux Falls. He wanted to let me know Mom was on her way by ambulance to the Avera Heart Hospital. He was going to meet her there and get her admitted. Dad had taken her to Brookings and the doctors there sent her right away to Sioux Falls. At that time, that is all he knew, and left me in charge of contacting all the other siblings. Then he was gone. I think I went into my old "secretary" mode and immediately got down all the information I knew to everyone and sent by email to everyone at their work & home addresses. But when I got ready to send it, I started typing the words 'ambulance' and 'Marguerite' in the subject line and almost lost my breath to the fist of fear I felt down in the pit of my stomach. It's the same feeling I get whenever I hear and see a loud ambulance whiz past me on the street. Instant tears that come and go with the noise of the siren. I often wonder if everyone who has ever been in an ambulance reacts the same way.

The responses started coming immediately and everyone seemed to have a plan on what to do first. But I think Martie, who probably knows me best, called me on the cell and instantly calmed me down with her statement - 'Are you getting any work done' - think we were both feeling the same kind of fear and helplessness. We decided we needed to be back in Arlington to try and help in any way we could. We got out of our offices early and hit the road. We managed to arrive in Arlington within minutes of each other, her coming from Rapid City and me from Mandan.

Somehow the 330 miles seemed to fly by and inch by all at the same time. I hate to drive and talk on the cell phone, but everyone kept calling and wanting more information. Pat finally was able to get back to us with news that Mom was admitted and safe, but still hadn't seen a doctor, expecting to at any moment.

When I walked into the house on 3rd street and saw Martie and Dad sitting at the kitchen table with papers scattered about the table with phone numbers and addresses, I knew I was in the right place. It was immediately known to me that Dad felt better with us there. I was still pretty worried inside so I got on the phone and contacted Kathleen and Peggy to let them know where Mom was - just in case.

Later that evening we finally found out from Pat that Mom would be having an angioplasty and/or angiogram early the next morning. So we all went to bed pretty early with a plan to get out of town by 4 or 4:30 am. I of course, slept poorly, so I got up and tried to make a pan of hot hash browns for breakfast for everyone, but they were pretty mushy, and none of us had much of an appetite anyway. We mostly rode in silence in the pre-dawn darkness down the interstate to the city. More miles in the darkness with headlights few and far between and scary thoughts in all our heads, even though Pat tried to reassure us this type of surgery was relatively common and without complications.

When we finally made our way into the hospital and to her room, that fist of fear was back in the bottom of my stomach when I saw Mom lying in her bed. She was visibly frightened and her skin seemed to be almost transparent in a weird way. Dad was pretty quiet, but stayed close to her and Martie tried to get a chuckle from all by reminding her that 48 years ago she was also in the hospital delivering me! That felt weird to think about too. Pat seemed to be the only one who was calm and confident about things. Guess he is used to being in hospitals and around doctors, etc. more than we are. By a strange coincidence, Mom's night nurse was married to the son of our cousin. I think she helped Mom relax a bit overnight as they discussed that side of the family and kids, jobs, etc.

As we accompanied her to the surgical rooms, we wished her good luck and headed to the waiting room for what we thought would only be an hour but turned into about four. Gradually as the sun rose higher the waiting room filled up with family members of other patients quietly but anxiously waiting for some news. Every time the phone in the waiting room would ring it got quiet and we all waited for our name to be called to get some tidbit of news about progress. Once we were told things were going smoothly, then later a doctor came out with pictures of her heart to show us hard to see blockages. Next we were told she was comfortable and things were going fine. More time passed, then we were told it was taking a little longer than expected. Finally we were told it was successful and she was in her room, and we could go up and visit. She was still so groggy and seemed to want some information about what had happened. Pat calmly and slowly told her everything the doctor had told us. I think that helped her relax a little bit. The nurse brought in some lunch and Mom really seemed to be hungry, which for some reason really surprised me, I guess I hadn't even thought about food for awhile. She couldn't eat much and did admit to being sleepy. So we all left to go back to the cafeteria, get some lunch, and hope she would get stronger. Pat went home to do some errands while Martie & I stayed to wait with Dad at the hospital.



Dad is taking his own nap in the waiting room.


Dad is waiting in the afternoon sunshine while Martie is checking email on a computer.


We read magazines, walked around the grounds, worked on puzzles, watch some TV, and just sat and imagined all kinds of things.

Finally about 3 pm I walked by her room to see that she was awake. I quickly went back and told Martie and Dad. What a difference a few hours of sleep made. The familiar Mom I've always known was back inside those eyes. She told us it was the best sleep she has had for many many days. Later Pat came back and we all talked for a few hours telling her about what we had all been doing in our respective homes. But then it finally got to be too much for Dad so Martie and I decided it was time to get him back to Arlington.

However, our timing was not good, as we happened to leave in the midst of Friday night rush hour traffic, and got stuck in a traffic jam. It took us just as long to get out of Sioux Falls as it did to get from Sioux Falls to Brookings. For some reason it didn't bother me to be the driving, but it was kind of hard for Martie & Dad to just sit and wait it out.

While we were stuck in late day interstate traffic, Pat had gone home and brought his daughter back in her Halloween costume to visit and cheer up her grandma.

Aislynn in a glittery scary witch costume.



After we finally arrived back in Arlington, Dad was visibly lighter when he walked through the door into the kitchen and saw their cat waiting for us. Martie made some grilled cheese sandwiches and he headed off to bed.

The next morning, Dad told us he didn't think he would go to the hospital that day. We all kind of expected Mom to have to stay in the hospital for a few days. After making a long list of supplies needed around that big house, Martie and I decided to make a trip to Wal-Mart before we headed to Sioux Falls for a visit. It happened to be Hobo Day in Brookings and was hard for Martie to leave town without staying to visit with her daughter who was there for the first time, but busy with parade preparations. Then a phone call from Pat on the way out of town surprised us with information that Mom had been walking and would probably be released after lunch! I couldn't believe it, not even 24 hours earlier she was in the middle of heart surgery! So we quickly made our way down to Sioux Falls.

Mom was looking 100% better and very anxious to get out of the hospital. Katrina and Aislynn were there also which I know Mom loved. The doctor (who reminded me of a much younger Uncle Art) was patiently explaining her surgery and I felt like I was 50 pounds lighter. She had a great appetite and talked freely with us all. That afternoon Martie also felt better as she decided to accompany Pat and Aislynn to the SDSU Hobo Day football game, while Mom and I got her prescriptions filled and made our way back to Dad in Arlington.

He was so funny. When we got home, he wanted to see all the pills and immediately sat down and figured out how to use the pill splitter and split all the pills in that had to be given in half dosages, not just one or two pills, but all of them. He was so studious as he was doing this, guess it made him feel like he was helping in some small way.

Mom did tire easily, and took everything very slow, but it was so clear she was so glad to be home.

Martie and I decided to spend the weekend and stay through Halloween to help out while her incision was healing. I kind of 'cracked the whip' with chores to get done around the house and made Martie work! But it felt good to know we were helping out. She also had visits over the weekend from Liza, Pat and Aislynn.

On Halloween, one of her favorite holidays, Mom carefully laid out a big box of toys and big bowl of candy near the front door. Her plan was to have each of the kids come inside and pick out their treat. This way she could see them all better, they could warm up, and she wouldn't have to carry the box or bowl around. At first she tried to answer the door each time, but after about 50th kid or so (there was a total of 103 all evening), I started answering for her and she just greeted them. It was fun and she seemed to know a good share of the kids and the moms that came along with the little ones.

I was able to leave the next day knowing Pat would be coming to take her to a follow-up doctor appointment the next day. I relished the long drive back to gradually take me out of the fearful world of losing a parent and into the everyday routine of my real life back in North Dakota.

I knew I was home when I got a face full of dog kisses from Sam and Rowdy as I unlocked my door.

Winter's arrived 10-17-06

Our first major snowstorm hasn't been so bad. It started out as rain almost all night last night. But as the sun rose, the rain turned to snow. It's been snowing all day and since the temp hanging right at freezing all day, we have the heavy wet stuff.

So since I couldn't ride my bike, I decided to burn some calories shoveling some snow in the back yard. Didn't really need to back there, but the dogs love to be outside with me and they really get pretty frisky.

The plastic pink flamingo is my neighbors - she loves them and has them sprinkled all through her flower gardens. They weather man says tomorrow we may lose most of the snow as the sun will return with temps in the 40's, but snow will be back this weekend. We sure can use all the moisture so I can't complain. And thankfully there has been no ice.

Halloween is in the Air

October 7, 2006

I believe this day is probably the last 'summer-type' day we will have this year - the temps around here got in the 80's. So I decided to go for a day trip on my bike along all the many trails up and down the river. It was so gorgeous. I also picked up a Halloween costume from a friend that contained a 'fake foot'. We are having a costume contest in our office this year. So as I was riding the trails with my backpack, we left the toes hanging out and I got many a chuckle from others out enjoying the late summer sun.I had to get a few pics of all the decorations going up around the neighborhoods. It was such a colorful autumn day, but by late afternoon, the wind had switched to the NW and I had a tough ride up that last big hill to my home. It was worth the effort to be outside all day. In two day I expect to see snow on the ground over all the golden leaves now blown off the branches after two days of strong winds.



Also decided to post some pics of my favorite trails all covered in gold and some sites along the way.

These pics were all taken along the trails in Ft. Lincoln State Park south of Mandan.

Here are a couple from along the Heart River, for a couple of minutes I was sharing the summer sun on a rock overlooking the river with a pigeon.


And here is the trail on the east side of the Missouri that runs along the outside of the Riverwood Golf course - so many trees and full of great shade in the summer.

9-24-06 New Baby Blue

I finally took the plunge and went to Fargo yesterday and picked out the bike I've been reading about for months online. It was a little scary but a lot of fun. I've never spent so much for a bike ($1600) and hope I won't regret the expense. But it was just such a beautiful ride, and I couldn't pass it by. After a 3 hour drive under dreary cloudy skies, I discovered the brand new Scheels All Sports store was fortunately only 4 blocks from the interstate. It is a huge new 2 story brick monster of a store and the first thing you see when you enter is a large comical NDSU buffalo mascot standing in front of a ferris wheel offering you a token. After a trip through a bunch of clothing racks, I started to go up an escalator trying to see where the bikes were, hoping they weren't on the upper level. Fortunately, I spotted them way back in the corner of the store behind the escalator. So I made my way past all the hunting displays and winter clothing and a candy/deli store to rows and rows of bikes - all the way to the ceiling. At first I didn't think I would be able to find a salesperson, but a cute young blonde found me wandering around and made a few calls to someone who could help. Julie came over talking on a cell phone to someone and describing all the bikes I wanted to look at. When she finally finished, I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have one of those experiences where I felt like a stupid amateur and the employee would try to impress me with how much more they knew about bikes than me. But I was pleasantly surprised, as Julie spent the next 3 hours with me to find out what kind of riding I do, the size I would need, and then bringing up bike after bike for me to examine and we finally found a Trek 5000 WSD (women's specific design) that fit great. I got all outfitted to go for a test ride. It has stopped drizzling and so I went out behind the huge store and rode around the playground for the day care kids of the employees and across the parking lot to an empty lot of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield offices. It is a lot different than riding my old hybrid. Hardly feels like there is anything under me. But the shifting was so smooth and I just could feel my body more than my body pulling a bike under it. Today I got all my domestic chores done early and then brought the bike out to get the computer set up and figure out how to put the clips in and out of the pedals. After a couple of laps around the neighborhood with my young neighbor Miriah, I pulled up in front of my garage and almost had my first tumble, but she caught me. Her Mom came over to admire the bike and keep an eye on her daughter, I think she was worried she would have some kind of mishap with my new bike or something. I went in and got my camera and decided to hit the trails and practice clipping in and out of the pedals. It is going to take a lot of practice before I can do as well as some of the riders I've seen who mount and dismount with ease. But I'll get there. I tried to stand up and really get some speed on it, but almost fell over, felt like there was nothing under my legs. So this is going to take a few months to get all the kinks worked out. Hope we have a nice fall so I can get used to it.