Coming Up Tulips

This was "take 2" after I told him he had to smile

If you know me well, you know I can't tell an Anemone from a Freesia (I had to Google to get those flower names). Sure, I do know some of the everyday flowers, daisies, carnations, roses, and lilacs. Plus the other much recognized flower - the tulip. I must say, though they don't last long, tulips are in my "favorite flower" top five. Don't ask me to name the rest - I know them when I see them!

A couple springs before my mom died, she asked me to take a Friday to travel with her to Pella to see the town and the tulips. I'd never visited the town before. It was something Mom had always wanted to do. As a young mom, I had barely heard of the place - let alone flowers! Amy would have been ten and Jud around six years old then.

My trip with Mom at Chandon - bubbly factory

It was a gorgeous spring day - sun shining, with the temp in the low 70's. We went to the Pella Historical Museum - a place I've never visited since. Mom loved history and foreign lands. After Mom and Dad visited Scotland with their longtime friends Harv and Joyce Whisler. She enticed Dad with golf. After that, she took each of her daughters on a trip.

• Betsy (around age 15 at the time) to England - and maybe Ireland. Mom always booked with a travel company. On a trip like that, you get to know your fellow travelers well. After their return, they entertained us with stories of a loopy woman in their group named something like Margie Dinkledine. She was always missing the bus and losing things. In other words - the polar opposite of our mom. 
• Cindy to Europe - Germany, France and more? Cindy still talks fondly of their trip. 
• Susi and Mom to Greece. That was the summer of 1979? I took care of Susi's dog, Mac, while they were gone. 
• Mom and I to Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland in 1983. Our tour group was old - I believe I was the youngest person on the trip. It was fabulous - my favorite parts were Norway fjords and Copenhagen. 

Mom and I were good traveling companions. By then she was good about not smoking inside. I wish she would have had the willpower to quit altogether. We also traveled to NE Iowa and took a trip from SE Washington State down the coast to San Francisco together. Priceless memories. 

Every time I go to Pella, I think of Mom. It had been a while since I'd been in town when the tulips were blooming. Friday I felt them calling to me - and talked Paul into heading there. It's about an hour drive. It was another lovely sunny day in the 60s with light wind. Not all the tulips were in bloom, but many were showing their stuff! 

The central park is where most of the tulip action is. The colors were vibrant and there were many styles. It was a feast for my eyes and my memories. We attempted to visit the delicious Jaarsma bakery there - but the line was nearly out the door. I didn't need goats legs that badly! 

I did bribe Paul into going by telling him we could stop in Bondurant - just east of Des Moines on our way back. They have a nice brewpub we don't usually go to - Reclaimed Rails. I like the place because of the beer - but also because they reuse materials throughout their place. The deck is made from wood from Adventureland, a nearby amusement park. Pretty cool! 

The town of Bondurant also brings back good memories. As we drove in on surface roads from the east, I told Paul about how I rode with my friend Sal's dad Wayne Rodgers to deliver my horse Jack to Les Walker, a horse trainer somewhere over here. We went by a stable as we drove. I loved being Wayne's horse side-kick! One month later we drove back to get my three-year-old sorrel gelding. He he'd mostly been cured of rearing and was cantering more slowing - but would never have that rocking horse gait that Sally's Miss Viscosity did. Jack turned out to be a very good boy! What a lucky girl I was to have Wayne in my life to help make having a horse possible. 

VIPs

Looking back, there have been many Very Important People (VIPS) who have touched my life when I needed a helping hand, guidance or maybe just a hint. Wayne Rodgers, my friend Sally's father, provided equine and life guidance when I was in those tender junior high hears especially. He was a great role model. Wayne, the General Manager of Walnut Grove Company in Atlantic, was an intelligent, quiet, mostly serious man who I looked up to. 

Me with Frosty - Wayne is in the background

When I was in 7th grade, my mom asked Wayne to help find me a horse. My parents (and grandparents) got me a horse for my birthday. He accepted that challenge, hunting down my first mare, Frosty. She was owned by a family in Yale, Iowa. Wayne and I drove together to pick her up. I was overjoyed to be getting a horse. I must have talked his ear off. One year later, the family wanted Frosty back, so I "traded up" for a 3-year-old registered quarter horse gelding they had by the name of Poco Hi Jack. Then my new young horse needed training - Wayne helped with that and he lined up all our horses (he/Sal had some too) medical and shoeing needs.

Wayne and I went on many a road trip together - sometimes with my friend Sally, other times it was just he and I. We talked about many things in life, but mostly stuck to horse talk. Years later, when Paul and I were dating, I was so pleased that he got to know Wayne and his lovely wife Anna Day when he helped Wayne build a shed at their home in Atlantic. Paul agrees with me. Wayne was a VIP - to many people.

I read today about another VIP. He meant a great deal to many young people at a school in Ohio. Dan Wirth was a custodian at the school. I read about him in a Washington Post Article. Mr. Wirth passed away recently after a short illness, and the students were saddened. He was a "security blanket" in their young lives.

Many of the students are from low-income families. They relied on Mr. Wirth as a "steady Eddie". He swept up messes and helped coordinate departures at the end of the school day. It sounds like he did his duties with a smile. I read that this man was a former steelworker and owner of an electronics store, who found himself working as a custodian. He might have considered that this job to be beneath his skill set. But he didn't. We need more Dan Wirths in our world. I'm sorry we lost him so soon. RIP.

I told Paul about this story, and we decided Creston has had a similar VIP gem in Darwin West, bus driver extraordinaire! Darwin drove bus routes and drove the bus for sports teams. He always had a bright smile for everyone - and a few smart comments.

I bet you have VIPs in your lives too. Take time to thank them - if you can. I get to see Wayne's daughter Sally soon. I'll tell her how much her father meant to me. 

Market and Derby Day!

Mom grew tomatoes on the side of the house a couple years and pretty Iris grew there too. That was about as in-touch with farming as it got at 202 Crombie while I was growing up in Atlantic, Iowa. My grandpa did take us out on his farm visits every once in a while. He owned a few farms that he cash rented. When we smelled cow or pig poop, he'd say, "that's the smell of money!" Me, I wasn't interested in gardening. Carrots were something that came in a bag from a store. I kept busy with my GI Joes, climbing trees, riding bikes and later - with my horses - Frosty followed by Jack. (It's Derby Day - I'm pining for those marvelous animals).

Pablo got a golden ticket (a license) to hunt the 4th wild turkey (no not the liquor) season. I knew he'd be getting up at the crack of dawn to head south for that activity. A perfect time to call my former roomie Joan McFee Bentley to see if she was available to go to the Des Moines Farmer's Market kickoff day. The weather was forecast to be perfect and Joanie was available! WooHoo.

She picked me up about 9 a.m. so we arrived when the thing was in full swing - parking was...well kinda like parking in Denver! Especially with the mess of cleaning up the burned out shell of Younkers which has disrupted the traffic flow. Like a pro, Joanie snagged a great spot on the street just south of the Market.

We made a beeline for the Iowa Farm Boys Hearty Food Company for breakfast burritos. Awesome and drippy. Anita Mittag - one of the owners (it's a family biz from Prescott, near Creston) always remembers me and calls me by name. She liked my environmental newspaper column in the Creston News Advertiser - years ago. It's one reason I blog today...I've driven to write. Something, somewhere.

I talked Joan into posing for this selfie in front of this giant Dutch Letter - even though she doesn't really even like Dutch letter...

My purchases:

• Bacon - while I was buying it someone wheeled a pet pot-bellied pig by (in one of those pet stroller things) and they bacon selling guy joked that he had his eye on it...
• Asparagus
• A couple Dutch Letters - I'm surprised they let any out of Pella since it's their big festival this weekend
• A couple Baklava - though I must admit they aren't as good as the ones I always used to get at the International Food Fair Creston's Holy Spirit Church puts on each September 

We didn't take time to look at a whole lot else because really it was just too packed due to the nice weather. What a day! 

Joanie and I then made our way over to the EV (East Village) as I had oil on my shopping list. Allspice sells oil and vinegar that they bottle themselves. With pink/purple hair. Joan got the sales pitch. 

Joan concentrates while listening to the spiel - she bought walnut flavored oil for salads

Looking at some of the spices, I almost thought I was in a Denver pot shop...

Have you ever had a recipe calling for Hen of the Woods? 

I had a great morning catching up with Joan. I lived with her for about 4 years - and we got to know each other pretty well! I miss hearing about her life - as we used to share our work angst and keep up on what was going on with fam. We need to get together more often. 

This apron says it all! 

Paul texted me early that morning to say he'd gotten his tom turkey...thanks to his new decoy...Suzie Snood it said on the box when it arrived from Cabela's. The little hussy. Worked like a charm! 

We did some errands this afternoon - we were in the mood to pick out plants for the pots out front. We tried a new garden store - family owned Canoyer Garden Center. They had lots of helpers for neophytes like us. 

I took a photo of a flower pot at the farmer's market that I wanted to imitate - Paul and the staffer selected plants

Now I'm watching the pre-Derby coverage. Horses are so beautiful. If you've never been around one then you probably don't know what personalities they have. I think they have a sense of humor - even more so than dogs - who are so earnest. I was lucky enough to own two. 

First my trainer horse (she trained me) was - Frosty. She was an older mare - steady but not flashy. My parents didn't have to worry about Frosty bucking me off. But the people who sold her to me missed her - so they dangled a young sorrel gelding in front of me...and my mentor Wayne Rodgers approved. So I bought Poco Hi Jack. He was 3 (the same age as these Derby horses) and needed training. He had a tenancy to rear, and buck. 

We brought him to Bondurant - which back then was way past Des Moines to be trained by Les Walker for a whole month. Now it's just another suburb...It must have been like reform school. He came back with much better manners! Jack turned out to be a great fella - boarded in a stall at a barn at Guttenfelder's farm near HyVee in Atlantic. 

Must have been about 8th grade summer - awesome leather show halter my folks got me for a gift...4-H baby!

I know how lucky I was to have a horse. It never would have happened without the oversight of Wayne Rodgers who made sure my horses had all their vet work and were shod and fed. I paid the bills - but he was the one who knew what needed to be done. Yesteryear and today - surrounded by great people. #blessed.   

Put me back to sleep...Jack

I still have the hat...and just bought some more cowboy boots

Poco Hijack - the horse, that is. Last night I woke up dreaming I was trying to fix a PowerPoint. Because - you guessed it - that's what I needed to do at work today. Unfortunately, once awake, I began obsessing (just a little bit) about it.

So in order to put myself back to sleep - I needed to think of something else. Something calming. Thanks to Jennifer Deter's recent Facebook post about aging cowgirls, where a bunch of former Atlantic cowgirls reminisced about riding horses around town, I've had my horse Jack on my mind recently. I decided to think about a day in my life, taking care of Jack.

His full name was Poco Hijack - out of Poco Bueno and High Life Beauty. He was a Registered Quarter Horse. I was proud of that fact, and loved looking at his papers. I got him as a three-year old, when I traded in my mare Frosty in for him. I bet you didn't know you can trade horses in like cars. The people I bought her from in Yale, Iowa (with Wayne Rodger's help) wanted her back - so they offered Jack to me (plus we had to pay some cash, since he was registered an all). That winter we took him to Les Walker, a horse trainer in Bondurant, which wasn't contiguous with DSM back then.

A group of people in Atlantic were pretty forward thinking - they decided to build a condominium for horses. Mostly it was Wayne Rodgers and Ron Guttenfelder it was on his land) - but they rounded up some more investors, who included Leroy Nelson and me. I'm drawing a blank on others. I received a bit of cash when my mom's parents passed away so I used that money.

The place is a steel building with an small indoor arena. It has eleven stalls - six with outdoor runs - a place for the ponies to step outside, and five indoor only. There is a wide center aisle that I think was asphalted. Wayne hooked old leather straps to wooden posts on each side of the aisle so one could hook a horse up to groom him. There is a small tack room next to a hallway to the arena and the saddle room. Above the stalls there is a storage area for small bales of sweet smelling of alfalfa hay. Above the walkway, a hinged door was built so you can drop the bales through to the floor. In my day, one of the stalls held oats and bags of Bright Eyes feed from Walnut Grove, where Wayne was the General Manager.

Before I could drive myself, my mom or my sis Cindo used to drop me off at "the barn" as we called the condo. Even if I didn't have time to hang out with my fave guy, Jacko, I had to feed him each night - 1 flake of hay and a quarter of a coffee can of oats. There was a guy named Dean (yeah - that's another owner) who fed in the mornings. I paid him $.25 a day. That was my first experience with a checkbook and at being responsible to pay for something.

Working with Jack was so relaxing. Even cleaning the stall. Little did I know that I was recycling back then - using sawdust as bedding, and dumping the dirty stuff into a spreader for Ron's fields. We got an electric waterer - heated so it wouldn't freeze up. It still needed to be cleaned periodically. The best part was grooming. I was thinking about my tools - the wide flat leather brush, the aluminum mane and tail comp, and that thing we used when they were shedding - a long serrated blade with leather handles. It was perfect to scrape off his dead winter coat. And the hoof pick, to clean the crap out of his feet - taking care not to damage the frog - that's the tender part in the middle.

As I said, Jack was a youngster when I first got him. I was a bit scared of him! After his trip to Les Walker's, he was much better behaved. And once he and I settled in - we were fast friends. He was quite a character. One time at a horse show in Audubon he not only ate ice cubes, but a french fry! I liked to take him carrots and apples. Outside the barn there was a "loafing" area where I could turn Jack out while I totally cleaned his stall. Sometimes I would just lay on his back with my head on his butt, thinking teenaged thoughts while Jack grazed.

I didn't even start to think about riding Jack last night, when I fell asleep. What a joy it was to have a horse like Jack. I have been blessed in my life with many wonderful people who helped me - my parents who supported me in my desire to have a horse, my grandparents who made it financially possible and Wayne and others at the barn who helped me care for the horse. That big animal taught me a great deal.