January 1,1997

We are starting a new year and also a new program in our diary. Last year I devoted the entire year to a daily review of what the weather was and a little of what was happening on that day. This year I hope to do much of the same but also add some personal thoughts and observations as well. It might not be a record of each day but will fallow the year as it progresses

I'm sorry to say that the year is starting with me having a rather severe cold and throat infection. It has been with me for a couple of weeks and although the doctor has prescribed antibiotics it is hanging on much to my discomfort. I do n't really feel bad but that constant cough and spitting up of phlegm becomes very old stuff after a couple of weeks.

Our New Years day has followed the same path that all the Peterson New Years has of the last sixty years. A get together of family and friends for an oyster stew dinner fallowed by an afternoon of watching bowl football games on television. This y ear two families were absent . Lillian and Phil. could not make it from Traverse City as they had just been down for Christmas and Phil had to work at his job in the hospital. Clint and Amy sent their regrets too as the doctor said that the baby wa s due at most any time and she should not get to far from the hospital. Mike and Terry Reed with their two children were also present.

All of the grand children were flying around like a whirl wind all day and the house looked like it when they left. They begged me to crack nuts for them as I have been doing at every get together. They enjoy it so much and I don't mind it eith er as it brings back memories of my early days when I asked the grown ups to do the same for me.

We have been experiencing a very warm spell for a few days. It has been twenty degrees above normal. I wonder if this is to be our January thaw for this year. It has been good for the deer as they have another chance to graze on fields that are not frozen or covered with snow.

January 2, 1997

Our warm weather continues with some rain , Oh well what comes down as rain does not have to be shoveled. The prediction is that it will last for a couple of more days before it changes to more January weather It has played havoc with ic e fishing though. My cough continues showing no sign of giving me any relief.

January 3, 1997

The news finally came this morning. We have a brand new grandson. Born this morning at about three thirty. He weighed in at seven pounds and twelve ounces, measured nineteen inches . He will be only the second grandson to carry the Peterson nam e. I think that he will be a "keeper". Etta made a very fast trip down to see him and to watch the other children for a few hours. I stayed home. I don't think they would appreciate me coming down with this cough.

January 4, 1997

It is still warm and rainy, the temperature in the fifties. My cough shows no sign of slowing down any as yet although it does seem to be a little looser. I played with the computer and for some reason it does not want me to give it a title so t hat I can save it on the hard drive. I had the same problem two years ago when I first started on the computer but some how it was solved but now I guess that I will have to dig into my limited experience and solve it. I played around for a long time and somehow the whole thing vanished from the screen. Now it will be necessary to start all over again. I don't mind to much as it all gives me more experience and makes me more comfortable with what I'm trying to do.

January 6, 1997

I laid awake last night trying to figure what needed to be done to bring this program to light and get the computer to recognize it. Maybe I have figured it out. I retyped the start of this diary again this morning and before I put it into the sa ve mode I run it through the printer so if its lost again there will at least be a copy.. Its a good thing that I done that cause it vanished again. More efforts and finally something must have been done correctly as I was able to save my stories. I rety ped the start of this diary from the printed page and everything is now as it should be so I'm off and running finally. The cough has diminished some today so things are looking up.

January 8 1997

January has started to live up to its reputation of being a cold stormy month. We are getting great helpings of lake effect snow to a total of about ten inches. My cough continues to go down so I went with Etta to see our new grandson "Luke Clin ton " for a couple hours this afternoon. He looks like his dad. and seems to be doing very well.

We were not able to go out to eat for my birthday so we set up a dinner at Vic's restaurant for tomorrow night by inviting Ken and Jerry who has a birthday this week too .

January 10, 1997

We are getting lots of snow and cold weather now. A typical January. It was a good day to fill the wood box in the house . Several trips with the push cart has replenished the supply for another week or ten days. It has been ver y comfortable in the house in spite of the cold temperature. I would like to go fishing but reports are that the ice is not to safe under all the snow. Some fisherman have broke through and took a cold bath. I think that it would be best to wait a while longer. If this snow continues it will be hard on the deer herd as they can't find much food. They were all around the house last night. their tracks show that they were nibbling on the shrubbery with in a foot of the house.

Have been doing a lot of reading of the books that have been given me on World War two. Some are very detailed. The first time I read them I skipped around and read those parts that were of particular interest to me but now I'm going throu gh them page by page so that it is easier to understand how and what led up to each operation. Maybe going through those history books is a way of reliving the past. Its a sure sign that I must be getting older.

January 14. 1997

A busy day today . We went to the monthly family breakfast in the morning and visited the onocologist after noon . In between several stops were made to catch up on all the running around that has to be done. Its good to do it all at one time in stead of making so many trips to town.

My checkup at the cancer clinic showed that I have lost a dozen pounds in the last few months. My blood pressure was 124 over 54. very good. My heart beat was a little low at 64. Tests on the blood sample showed no surprizes. My red blood cell count was normal as well as the white cell count. All of the internal organs were normal as well as the blood sugar count and cholesterol count were within the normal range. All in all it was a very good report. The Doctor says he will want to ta ke a bone biopsy at our next session in the first part of May. Something to look forward to or maybe make the winter go faster. Predictions are that we will have another winter storm come through starting tomorrow , several inches of snow and bitte r cold for the week end.

January 17, 1997

The storm that was predicted came with a vengeance . All kinds of snow all along the coast of west Michigan. Some places south of Holland received nearly three feet of the white stuff. Nearly every school from Freesoil in the north to S outh Haven in the south was closed for Thursday and Friday. It was nice to be able to stay inside and not have to go out and brave the elements but any idea of going fishing was obliterated. Strong winds pilled the loose snow in big drifts. I wonder how the Wild turkeys and the deer population has fared. They come in the yard and where the snow has blown off the grass they are scratching the ground and eating the grass both deer and turkeys. It isn't their usual diet but they are making the most of it.

I have dug out some books on W.W.2 that was given me for Christmas several years ago. I read them at that time rather fast skipping over the detailed accounts and only read the actual battle accounts. Now I'm reading them cover to cover. One on Guadalcanal has over six hundred pages . It is interesting as I know some friends who were there at the time and I like to relate those events with what I was doing at the time.

We have heard that Ada has been put back in the hospital and will have a leg removed soon. she has a blood clot in it and has lost all feeling as well. Her father had the same thing happen to him before he died. It will be very difficult f or her because of her age.

January 25. 1997

We have experienced a warm spell for s couple of days along with a rain. The snow cover is nearly gone. It has given the deer and turkeys a chance to fill their stomach , if they can find anything left besides just plain grass.

Ada had her leg removed because of a blood clot last week but the stress was to much for her and she passed away. Her funeral was last Thursday . It will be strange not having her at the family reunion this summer. She was the grand marsh all of the day. Her good disposition and hearty laughter infected all present making the day very upbeat.

After the funeral Etta and I went shopping in Holland. I picked up a new reel for my winter fishing pole at the M.C. sporting goods store. While in Holland we stopped at Clints place to see little Luke, he is filling out already and has gained two pounds and two inches in length. We took some more pictures of him and the rest of the family. I hope they turn out as good as the last roll of film.

Had planned to try fishing Friday but the television said that the river is going over its banks so I would guess that it would be a bit difficult to get on the ice, anyway it was a good excuse to stay home and fill the new reel with line and prepa re it for either perch or smelt fishing . Another winter storm is predicted for Friday night, Saturday and Sunday with strong winds and blowing snow. We might even get some lake effect snow storms. These are bit unpredictable and they can sometimes dump se veral inches of snow in a very short time. It will be a good time to watch a basket ball game this after noon. Michigan and Michigan State will be on. I don't care much who wins but the rivalry should make it a good game to watch.

January 27. 1997

It has been snowing in flurries off and on over the weekend with about six inches of new snow on the ground. It has not been to cold but it is a bit nippy if you were to stay out for a long.. time. Yesterday was Super bowl Sunday. The Green Bay Packers won the championship by a two touchdown margin I thought it a very well played game. Monday morning was spent getting my income tax figures together. Its all done now but I should recopy it and arrange it so it will be easier to understand. Had planned to go fishing but the next few days may be a little on the cold and blustery side. I would like to take my shanty out but it is so heavy and clumsy that I hesitate doing it. Most of the fisherman are now buying a new style light weight one man shanty that will fit in the trunk of a car. Maybe I'll have to breakdown and buy one if I plan to spend any amount of time on the ice.

January 28.1997

Its still very cold and blustery with snow squalls all day long. the thermometer will hardly get into the twenties all day . I finished preparing my deep water fish poles in anticipation of going either to Muskegon for perc h or to Crystal lake for smelt. I have my income tax material ready for the income tax man. Went down to Jerrys in the afternoon to see what has been happening on the local lakes. The report was that not much of anything has happened of late, although ther e is a report that some fisherman have been getting a few perch on Muskegon lake. Fred Erhorn came for his periodic visit in the afternoon and stayed for a couple hours it brings me up to date in what is going on in the neighborhood.

January 29, 1997

It was zero this morning at daylight. very little snow fell overnight . We are now seeing from a dozen to twenty deer in a herd that has been hanging around this area. They examine the garden every night to see if they can find a few tidbits of s omething to eat. I would guess that they are having a very hard time to find anything to put in their stomach that will nourish them and keep them warm.

We [Etta and I] went to the Grand Rapids museum for the day with a long lost cousin Fred Nietring . His mother died when he was a baby and he was raised by his paternal relatives so we saw very little of him until after he was grown. I think tha t he would like to catch up on the Peterson family that he missed in his childhood. He seems to be a very nice and entertaining person. Just a word about the museum. It was not quiet what I had expected as most of the exhibits were of mostly ninet eenth and twentieth century living in Grand Rapids. Very little artifacts of the old Indian culture. The observatory show was interesting . I would like to see it again at a later date when they receive an update from the Hubble space cam era.

February 4. 1997

The weather moderated a little so it seemed like a good time to try fishing. The water has receded some but it is still about a foot high. I started at one in the afternoon. and had a bit at about every fifteen minutes and a fish every half hour . That isn't what I would call good luck fishing however the dozen that I brought home were enough for two meals and sure tasted good. I'm looking forward to trying it next week again or maybe try one of the larger bodies of water like Muskegon Lake or ev en White Lake. We here rumors that some people have been getting a few but we don't seem to be able to confirm those rumors.

Monday morning was again a quiet cloudy day with the possibility of some sunshine later on, so we tried fishing again with the results at about what they were last Friday. We stayed longer than we planned hoping the sun would come out and turn the fish on, but the weatherman was wrong again as it stayed cloudy all day.

Tuesday morning for once the weather man was on target we awoke to a freezing rain that put a coating on every thing causing all the area schools to close. I had planned to run some errands today but decided to stay home as most of the errands can wait for better driving conditions. He says that it may turn two snow later tonight with a few inches accumulation possible.

We are seeing many more deer in bunches now . We counted nearly sixty in about two miles of road on the way to Church Sunday night. John Ruiter came Saturday afternoon to go rabbit hunting. I didn't go with him as It was a little hard walking i n the couple inches of snow left on the ground. He was back in about an hour with his limit of five rabbits . He said that they were running all over the place out back by the wind break. It made me feel a little disgusted with myself for not going with him but we did set up a time in about two weeks to try it again.

February 8. 1997

Our weather for the first part of February has been what I would call ideal weather for this time of year. The temperature goes down into the high twenties at night and up to about the low thirties in the daytime. Our snow has settled down to onl y a couple of inches of packed cover on the ground. I saw a coyote on Leonard road the other day. It is the first that I have seen all winter.

Yesterday was income tax day. It no longer takes to much time but I found that we will have to pay some tax this year. A couple of last minute sources of income that had not been expected showed up to put us over the top. We shouldn't complain as we have drawn so much Social Security in the past dozen years . We will more than receive it back in one month. The day Friday was calm but cloudy with the temperature just at the thawing mark so I thought what a beautiful day to try fishing on t he bayou, only the fish decided not to cooperate. . I had five bites and one fish in three hours. I was the only one on the bayou for two hours but later others began showing up. One fellow came down with no tackle but to see what was going on. We had a good chat for a half hour. It is easy to meet people on the ice. On the way off I met another man who I had not seen in several years. After supper we had a surprise as the cattle got the gate open and some of them were running around out back of the b arn. but by the time we had organized the troops to put them back they had decided that they had enough and all ran back in by themselves so all we had to do was shut the gate. It must be more than a year since some have gotten out. Etta is plan ning for her yearly get together of the family for Valentines day. We will have our usual house full.

Yesterday our History Class met to take care of a few details on selling volume two of our history book. We have sold enough to meet all our expenses and have considerable money in the bank. We voted to return a donation given t o us two years ago by a Community foundation in northern Ottawa county. The books are not selling as fast as they did at first. January had about a dozen books sold. At that rate it would take the better part of two years to move all that are left. New m aterial keeps filtering in so that there is enough to start another volume. We will collect it but will wait for some other group to put it together, We feel that we have exhausted our expertise and it is now time for someone else to do the honors . I doubt that it will happen for several years, if at all.

February 15, 1997

I find it easy to neglect this journal doing it as I have so far this year . A whole week has gone by since the last entry. It has been a busy time and time flashes by so fast. Monday I tried fishing again but they have stopped biting altogether on Bruces Bayou. The man who I had the conversation with last week came over and purchased both volumes of our book . He was back on the ice again and said he was well pleased and fascinated by the stories and that at some futur e date he would like to have me give him a tour of the area so that he can get a first hand perspective of what he had read about. A couple of inches of new snow has fallen during the middle of the week and a weak cold front has dropped the temperature to the low twenties with very little sunshine. Tuesday afternoon I visited William Bol in Grand Haven. We had been in the same platoon during basic training. I was transferred out of the company just before they went to England. We had not been in contact with each other until this year. We had a nice visit and he gave me some springs for my ice fishing pole for blue gills. Thursday was a bit windy and cold so I stayed home and wrote a story on cutting a bee tree. Friday Proved to be the nicest da y for fishing so a gang of six of us went up to Hart Lake. It was the first time that I had ever been on it. The fish were biting but the perch that we caught were small . Nothing to be proud of, but later in the day one fellow found a spot that the blue gills and sunfish were hitting . He soon had his limit and called me over. In less than an hour I too had my limit of twenty five. I thought they were of nice size but when I got home to clean them they seemed to have shrunk, some were on the small side . It appears that I should have been a little more selective. It was fun just the same, and was this first time that I limited out this year.

The deer are coming into the yard all the time and are even nipping the buds on the lilac bushes. We see them any time of the day just about anywhere we look, in groups of two or three and up to a dozen or more. They were in the garden in the mi ddle of the day digging down through the snow after Etta's straw berry plants. She doesn't appreciate that very much.

February 17, 1997

Everyone was over except Lillian and Phil Bliss and their families. Al Baron and Bernice were here also and Esther brought a friend from College. Making a grand total of twenty seven. I t made for a full house. We had the opportunity t o see our latest addition to the family Luke he is no longer an infant but now is a baby having a mind of his own and letting us know when he was unhappy and wanted attention. How fast they develop. Sarah had to leave early to pick up John from the Grand Rapids Airport as he was returning from a few days in Germany. His job takes him all over the world. The deer put on a performance for us by running across the field In groups of a dozen at a time, a total of over sixty five all going one direction. Someone must have been in the woods to drive them out. Bill and Clint got into this computer and found that the hard drive was nearly full so they single spaced the accumulation of stories and games so that I now have about a half of a hard drive or fifteen mega bites. Bill also installed his program of keeping up on the family tree. He failed to bring all that he needed to accomplish it all so I will have to wait until his next visit to make the program useable. I wondered if I would be able to find everything this morning but I should not have worried as it is all there.

Jerry and I had been planning to make a two day trip up to Crystal Lake to fish for smelt this week. But after getting a report from some friends who went up this week end we decided to postpone the trip for a week. They said the snow was very dee p with slush under it on the ice and it was very hard walking, Last but most important they said the smelt were not biting this past week. Two weeks ago everyone was bringing hundreds of fish home. The weather is supposed to be in the forties for most of the week starting tomorrow, That should solve the snow and slush problem for us, but how do you turn the fish on.? My tax returns are ready in Coopersville so a trip up there this afternoon, sign them and get them in the mail. I like to do it as quickly as possible as there is about two thousand coming back, in State Property tax refund and PL 116. The County road trucks were just in the yard plowing the four inches of snow that came yesterday .

February 22, 1997

February seems to be going so fast maybe because we have not had what could be called extreme weather. This past few days have been a little different as the temperature has gone above normal and most of the snow has disappeared . F riday it rained all day so they are predicting that the rivers and streams will over flow their banks. The Grand has been frozen over so what happens if all of that ice jams up in one of the bends down river ? It will surely put an end to pan fishing for the immediate future on Bruce's bayou. We had planned going north this coming week but we had better call ahead to see how conditions are up there. I spent the week cracking nuts in the forenoon and writing stories in the afternoon. Etta found an other box full of nuts that I had overlooked. I will be busy for another week or more. My stories have been about the depression years and a little about the various tractors that have been on this place over the years. Etta just informed me that her g lad bulbs seem to have had a hard winter and may not be good this spring. We failed to cover the air vent tube and they may have frozen at some time during a cold snap. The potatoes , carrots and onions do not seem to be affected .

MARCH 1, 1997

I start doing other things and I forget to keep this journal up to date. A week has gone by already and we have finished the month of February. The winter is now fading fast The deer are in big groups and geese are flying. Our telephone call up to Crystal Lake did not give us any encouragement so we postponed our fishing trip for another week. I have worked hard on the black walnuts and have finally finished every last one of them. A good guess is that there is nearly three quarts of nut meats t o put into the freezer. They should flavor a lot of cookies and cakes this next year. I took Clints suggestion and but together the story of all the farm tractors that have passed through this farm. It came to several pages. then followed anoth er story about what it was like before electricity came to the farm. I have just finished printing it up. This story came to four pages. Maybe I'll take them with us when we go to Holland to morrow for little Lukes babtism.

March has came in like a lamb today, but a slow drizzle is falling ,with the prediction for the temperature to reach the middle fifty's before dark today. We are to spend the afternoon visiting the Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids.

March 4, 1997

The trip to Miejer Gardens was interesting but we picked the wrong time for our visit as they were promoting a butter fly exhibit on TV and it brought out crowds of people that moved you around as if you were water flowing down a stream. We now hav e an excuse to make another visit at a time when it will be more peaceful and serene. Sunday we went to little Lukes babtism. The entire family was there with the exception of Amber who has come down with a first class flue , and Charlene who staye d home with her. Luke is developing very fast and he exhibited his lung power. Maybe he was just exercising them. A call to Jerry to make plans for trying to match our fishing skills with the blue gills on Muskegon lake Monday . T he ice is still sound over by the State park area. We had a cold east breeze all day even though the temperature did get up to thawing. The fish were finicky and you worked for what you got. We did manage to get our limit of twenty five by early afternoon. Some were not as large as I would like but most came in at a decent size, but no wall hangers. The long looked forward trip to Crystal Lake is again on the agenda. We will leave about ten tomorrow Wednesday and fish Wednesday and Thurs day nights coming home on Friday. Ice conditions are good up there and it doesn't look as if we will lose any ice this week yet. The smelt were active last week so maybe with spring coming they will still be biting for us. We are seeing herds of d eer now all day long. There were about eight of them just west of the house in Etta's flower circle, at five in the afternoon. We had a good look at them and they seem to have wintered very well . They had good coats of fur and looked to be in good body weight. The fawn crop will again be big and thriving. Etta is worried about keeping them from the garden this summer. Last year is the first year they invaded her pride and joy during the summer months. With the additional numbers and the depletion of the usual food in the woods they may try helping us to harvest our vegetables. Etta likes to do that herself without the extra help.

March 7, 1977

We returned this morning from our trip to Crystal Lake fishing for smelt . It was a very good trip with a couple of downers to go with the good. The first night the fish kept us busy going up and down with our lines Jerry had a counter for his c atch that read a hundred ninety four smelt. I was not to far behind with nearly one eighty. We fished until about two A.M. but on the way back to the motel Jerry got a caughing spell that wouldn't let up and he started to choke. It was a little s cary not to knowing how to help him and wondering what to do if his air did completely shut off. He got through it but it sure took a tole on him and he had trouble for the rest of the trip. We gave up on trying for perch the next day Thur sday to give him a opportunity to recover and to also get over some stomach disorder. The weather turned cold with some blowing and drifting snow. Our fish shanty had gas heat so it was comfortable in it the second night but the fi sh decided not to bite . The fish finder indicated a steady stream of fish passing through under us at about ten to twenty feet down. We did manage to get about forty fish each by eleven so we figured it was time to quit. To come home with well o ver four hundred smelt made it a good trip and they will be great eating as they seem to run larger through the ice than those dipped in the spring during the spawning run. I returned home at about eleven and Etta had some on the table by noon. While I wa s gone Philip loaded up five steers to go to market. The first ones sold two weeks ago graded out at about a high chose grade. There are not to many good quality animals on farms this winter due to the poor corn crop last year and the high price o f corn. Farmers couldn't afford to feed them.

The weather has been cold the last two days with snow and wind. We have not lost to much ice on the lakes as yet and its staring the second week of March. If the shore line ice doesn't become soft we may be able to fish next week yet on Mu skegon Lake for blue gills. One last trip would be good as I did not get out near as often as I wanted to this winter, and the perch fishing has all but disappeared on all Lake Michigan waters and adjacent lakes so we are left with the good tasting blue gi ll.

March 11, 1997

A sure sign that spring is coming as there were three sandhill cranes in the corn stubble north of the house yesterday. I have not seen any robins as yet but others have. The turkeys are starting to gobble and strut . Their necks are beginning to change color according to their mood. A check of the woodshed tells me that there is plenty of wood in storage for two more years but it would be nice if I would add a few cords to the supply . Doing it now is an easy time to make a relax ing effort. I can work at my own speed , start when I want and quit when it gets tiresome. Yesterday the chain saw started for me and I cut down a couple of trees. They were hard maple that had died and the bark is falling off. Ideal wood to burn right now. I cut until the saw ran out of gas. Today I split, and piled it about a rick full. I find that there are some muscles that are rebelling at doing something after so much inactivity these last months. I'll ease into it some more tomorrow if the wea ther is good. We stayed home from the family breakfast today as Etta has had a bad throat and a lot of caughing. She seems to be a little better tonight though. My book that I'm putting my stories in has to small of rings and it is getting to full. I th ink that it would be good to go through all the stories and check for errors and spelling. Then put them all through the printer again and store them in a larger note book.

Saturday March 22, 1997

I'm neglecting this journal and find that its a whole week since the last entry. It has been a average temperature week with very little precipitation. The weatherman has been off base nearly every day. We have had lots of sunshine but i t has frozen nearly every night of March so far. My count is only two nights with out frost. The suburban has been in the hospital for several days now. It developed a vibration in the drive shaft. Roy says some thing must have hit the dr ive shaft and put a dent in enough to make it vibrate at speeds over fifty miles per hour. My insurance agent says that it will be covered so I will turn the bill over to them. The ice has been holding on Muskegon Lake so we have made the most of the oppor tunity. Monday we fished near shore and got our limit of blue gills, Wednesday and Thursday I went further out where the large sun fish were hitting. Thursday afternoon the ice was going fast I doubt that it will be safe to venture out Friday. I guess that the Ice fishing season has come to an end. I can now concentrate on getting some wood in the wood shed for next year. My chain saw cracked a plastic cover and had to be replaced. Friday was spent hauling up to the shed about three ricks . Et ta has finally shook her cold, sore throat and cough and is out raking the yard and doing other outside chores. Daffodils and tulips are breaking ground so the next job is to prevent the deer from munching them again this year. They are tamer this time of year hardly paying attention to us as we move around the yard. Some woodchuck holes have been opened up with fresh dirt .

March 31, 1997

The last day of March. March came in like a lamb and it appears that it may go out the same way although it is very frosty this morning. We have not had to much precipitation this past week but there were a couple snow showers that turned the gra ss white but it was soon gone. I put extra effort into getting some wood cleaned out of the woods, working at it every day but trying not to over do it . There is still a few tops left to cut up .We have put what I wanted into the woodshed for this sprin g and have a couple of piles outside for next fall early, consisting of mostly pine and some cherry. Had to put a new blade on the chain saw. Bills family and Esther and her boyfriend Joe were here for Easter Sunday. Bill brought over his computer disc on the family tree and installed it on my machine. I spent some time last night going over it to see if I can familiarize myself with his format. It was coming to me and I was picking up various families so maybe I'll do alright with it. We made arrangemen ts with Esther for her to purchase a Corsica car. I still have to do some paper work on it such as insurance and title transfer that we can do this week. Daffodils are coming up but they appear to be a little slow this spring Maybe a warm day or two and they will catch up to normal. I have gone over many of the stories in my book making spelling and grammatical corrections, I started printing them all over again but the ink ran out on the printer so a new cartridge was instal led so now can work on that when I have time. Several people have shown interest in reading it but I would like to have the corrections finished first.

April 8, 1997

We just returned from the monthly breakfast with the family. There were about twenty present. Our weather last week was nice and warm but it all changed Sunday when very strong winds ushered in a real cold snap. I doubt that the temperature will get up to thawing today . We had snow flurries in the air coming home this morning. We are having trouble getting Esthers car on the road. The title had some extra notations that had to be addressed before the secretary of State office will accep t it. We returned the title to Esther last night for her to have the corrections made. Our electricity was off for nearly twenty four hours as a result of the strong winds Sunday night. The power company crews had a very long day Monday. W e are back on line again at about six last night.

Lillian and Phil were down for three days over the week end. Everyone including all the grand children took a turn on my computer. Peter installed a new ink disc. for me but some how a glitch showed up and neither the printer or the computer would do what we wanted. Peter got on to it and found a solution to the problem. I printed several stories for the book last night and everything worked out fine. Only a few more stories to go and then I plan to set up an index by arranging all the stories by different categories so that you can find them easier. I am surprized at how many pages are in it.

April 15, 1997

Income tax day. Mine has been in for nearly two months but we still have not received our homestead property tax credit back from the state. The weather continues to be way below normal with a couple inches of snow over the weekend. The whole f amily were here to celebrate the various birthdays that come in the month of April. Little Luke seems to be growing so fast he changes every time we see him. Sarah continues to progress as she picks up new things to do and figures out oth ers. I'm in a pickle now that spring is coming. I tried to get my roto tiller going yesterday. First the battery appears to have given up the ghost and died. Second the switches that OSHA requires for safety are all acting up so after a short ru n all the spark has left and it refuses to start. I guess some expert help will be needed to get me going. The four wheeler is also acting up/ Clint is coming some night this week to check it out. Had a visitor over last week asking about the history of Spoonville. We had a good visit and he ended up buying our Crockery Collection book. Last night another call came in wanting a book. They will come this morning to pick it up. The books are moving but very slow. I have about a hundred on hand yet.

My journal has been completed for this spring and it is now being past around among relatives and friends. hope they enjoy it. Sometimes I wonder if they become bored with it, but most say it is interesting. My wood cutting for this spring is now completed but there is still a little to be split and piled. Most of it needs the wood splitter. This is vote d ay for the new planning commission ordinance.

April 21, 1997

Our cool trend is continuing and it is still below in moisture. I would like to get some night crawlers some night this week but Its a little cool and dry for them. With opening of the fishing season next week I'm about to get nervous abou t finding them. We had a rush job on all the various toys that needed attention and I now have them all going again. Some of the problem was nothing more than stale gas from last year gumming up the carburetor . The lawn mower needed a new voltage regulator. All are fine now and ready to go . Worked the garden and planted the peas but the onion sets are not in yet so will have to wait a few days. I can plant lettuce, carrots, spinach and radishes. Trimmed up the grape vine last week . I cut it b ack a long ways. I don't know what I'm doing and I wonder if I may have been to aggressive.

April 27, 1997

So far our spring has been colder than normal and dryer than normal. We have had only a couple of sprinkles in the past week. It freezes nearly every night , even the daffodils have been affected and are about ten days later than they usu ally are. The ground can be worked easily without the use of dual tires. Planting in the garden has only been a few of the most resistant frost crops. Saturday was the first day of fishing but every thing went wrong Mostly the fish didn't bite and we were in the wrong place. Even my favorite trout stream has developed no trespassing signs in the past year. A terrible turn of events. Our call has came from the U.P. that the smelt are starting to run so we plan to go for Monday and Tuesday Staying at Folkersma's cottage on Manuscong Bay. I was able to get out several loads of manure and disk one field up. It is about ready to plant as soon as the weather says its time.

May 2, 1997

Our rain gage was not out so I'll have to guess that our shower this last Tuesday was about a third of an inch . It was welcome and came just after Philip had put on a couple tanks of herbicide. The rain should activate it. Our smelt fishing tri p up north was everything one would want. The weather cooperated and so did the fish. We brought home three coolers full of fish. We came home at about noon on Wednesday and spent the rest of the afternoon and all day Thursday cleaning them up and putting them in the freezer. We finished up at about six in the afternoon. A very long day, and our freezer is full. They will be given to all the kids. Friday morning I planted some more garden. Onions, spinach, swiss chard, red beets, sugar beets and a few snap peas. The early peas that was planted ten days ago are coming up now in spite of the cool weather. The predicted rain started this after noon and is supposed to continue through the night even thundershowers are possible. Philip has most of his prep aration completed for planting corn . The liquid fertilizer is here and much of the pre-spraying has been finished. Now we have to wait for the weather to warm up. <:f>

May 8, 1997

A cloudy rainy morning. We have had a down pour of rain since midnight. Water is standing in the fields. I haven't looked in the rain gage yet Yesterday Jerry and I went on the Grand for walleyes. Jerry caught a nice one almost immedia tely and then we had a dry spell until after twelve. I caught three but none was big enough to keep.

Monday we went to Grand haven to have routine blood work done. and Tuesday we went to the cancer clinic to get the results and for the scheduled bone biopsy. The Doctor told us that there is a growing number of abnormal blood cells present. His biopsy will tell more. and he will be monitoring my condition on a more regular basis. If the cells continue to increase he will put me on pills. This brings up many questions in my mind such as how often will they be taken and what are the various side effects that will be felt. Are they designed to knock the leukemia out or just to hold it in check and of course how expensive will they be? I will have to wait until my next visit on June 3 for those answers. Next Tuesday I go to the medical doctor for a regular check up and can get the results of the biopsy at the same time. Etta just informed me that the rain gage show just a little over an inch of rain fell last night. The ground should be able to take that much as it was a bit dry. A woodchuck ha d dug a hole under the barn foundation inside of the old calf lean to, I set my box trap for him Tuesday night. There was nothing the first day but yesterday Etta checked the trap and came to tell me I had a large animal. Inspection showed it to be a big buck raccoon . The first of the year.

Wednesday May 14, 1997

Yesterday was a big day. We couldn't get everything accomplished that had to be done. First off we went to Doctor Ottenbachers office for the periodical medical check up. He said that my vital statistics were all in good shape but he had received the results of my biopsy last week and he said the findings were not good and he urged us to go to the cancer clinic immediately . The biopsy showed that the abnormal cells were present and growing in the bone marrow. The doctor was busy but they s aid that he could see me at about eleven thirty. We had nothing to do for the two hour interval so we made a fast trip to Coopersville to put the check from the state on our homestead property tax return in the bank there. Then back to grand Haven to the cancer clinic. Dr. Rotman my onocologist was not present so a Dr. Timothy Orourke took his place. His diagnosis of my test indicated that I should start treatment immediately but to be sure he called Dr. Rotman in Holland f or verification. Two different drugs were suggested. Both very expensive. The choice came down to which one medicare would pay for. They would investigate and call the prescription to the drug store so we could pick it up later. Next we went to the 1st Christian Reformed Church for the funeral of Etta's cousin George Olthof . After a stop at the bank we went to the drug store to get the pills. A telephone call was waiting for us . The Cancer clinic found that the drug sto re did not carry the drug cytoxin, so they had found another store that carried the drug and that could submit the bill to Medicare. This meant another trip into Grand Haven. The Pills were about three dollars each pill one to be taken each day. As they are designed to reduce my red blood cells a close monitoring of the blood will be necessary. A weekly trip to the Lab for the next month. The weather is still about fifteen to twenty degrees below normal. Philip came over and planted corn in about half of the field east of the waterway. He planted until he could no longer see. Predictions are for continued cold and scattered showers through Wednesday and Thursday. I planted some sweet corn in the garden and if I get ambition enough maybe I'll plant the potatoes tomorrow. We have had two white frosts this week so I'm a bit reluctant to plant some of the tender vegetables until the weather warms up to normal .

It has been a very extremely busy week for us . Clint and his family were Friday night guests for supper and on Sunday Bill and Sarah's families came over for Mothers day and at night we went to Philips after church for Cake and ice cream. Esther c ame home from college last night . Her school year has ended and she will be with us for the summer.

It is now Wednesday and I have taken the first pill. So far no immediate side effects are present although I have had a brief period of nausea .

Monday May, 19 , 1997

We finally received a down pour of rain last night. The rain gage says that over an inch and a third came down. That will put a stopper to the corn planting for a couple of days. Philip has about forty acres in now. We made a trip to the hospital this morning for a blood sample to see what those pills are doing. They will call if all is not as it should be. I have taken them for four days now and have not had to much side effects from them so far. For a couple of hours after ta king a pill I am a little out of sync and I haven't taken them long enough to tell if they will make me tire easily.

Friday May 23, 1997

I'm sitting here waiting for Philip to call for me to take him to Hudsonville to get a car that is being furnished to him by his company. I would like to be in the garden. We planted early cabbage and broccoli plants yesterday . Et ta says that some animal has been in the garden and cleaned up every plant that was set out. I have to believe that it must be rabbits as its done during the night. Woodchucks are day time animals and we should see them from the house if they come in the garden. I guess that we will have to put gallon milk jugs over them until they get established. I wonder if I can catch them with my box traps rabbits may not be heavy enough to trip it. We will try baiting it tonight with an old cabbage head that has st arted to grow in the root cellar. We have had trouble before but not like this year. It appears that all the animals enjoy the various tid bits that we try to grow. The ground is finally drying out enough to start planting corn again. The temperature is s till on the cold side getting down into the thirties at night and only into the fifties in the afternoon. We may see a little warmer weather over the weekend but it will only get into the sixties. Corn planted twelve days ago is bearly sprouted. It will take several more days for it to emerge.

Taking those cancer pills has not been to bad. I have had no nausea and very few moments of being out of sync . My ambition has gone but then I didn't have to much before taking them. Flushed out the travel trailer and checked the lights. Some work will have to be done as not all are working. I would like to go for a short shake down trip to see how everything is working.

Thursday May 29, 1997

The first few days my pills didn't bother me to much but all of a sudden they are catching up to me . The afternoons seem to be the hardest to cope with them. It must take about five to six hours for them to kick in. The last few days have left m e in a state of not having a desire to do anything and also a fatigue that puts a stop to everything. Had another blood sample taken on Tuesday. The cancer clinic did not call so I guess everything must be alright. Next week Tuesday we go in for a comple te analysis which should tell how things are going.

The garden is slow this year. Most of the vegies that have been planted have come up but they are not progressing very fast and it has been a struggle to stay ahead of the wild life that insist on helping us do the harvesting. Their idea is to go after anything as soon as it comes up. We are having a misty rain this morning with more and possible heavier showers this evening. The first fields of corn planted eighteen days ago are starting to come up. On the sandy warmer spots you can s ee the corn in rows but on the heavy portions of the field there is only a plant here and there. I think most of it will come up as warmer weather is predicted over the week end. May has been an extremely cold month. We have had only one day that the tem perature registered normal. On an average we have experienced about ten degrees below normal temperature for the entire month. It may set a record for the coldest may ever.

Monday June 9, 1997

Things to do have been picking up so I have been very busy and as a result this journal has been neglected. Last Monday and Tuesday more tests were taken which show that the abnormal cells are not increasing as a result of the pills but t hey are not decreasing either. Dr. Rotman says that's the way he wants it. He is only trying to keep the leukemia in check and not to eliminate it altogether. To do that would mean to go back to massive injections intravenously which he i s reluctant to do at this time. Its sort of like a person with diabetes having to take a insulin shot daily. It doesn't cure anything but allows the patient to continue a normal life.

The pills are not to difficult to take but they do have their side effects. the worst being the lack of ambition and the fatigue that goes with it. I have not experienced the nausea and stomach cramps that is sometimes felt by some patients.

Last week we prepared the travel trailer to go up to up to Kingsley for Bethany's graduation. We left on Friday morning planning to stay at Baxter Bridge federal campground which is only a short distance south of Kingsley. It was an uneventful trip up until we got there only to find that the electrical cable supplying the trailer with brake and turning lights had came loose and dragged most of the way up there. It was completely worn through and will have to be replaced. T hen too some of the pots and pans that had been moved to the deer hunting trailer had not been returned so we didn't even have a way to make coffee. We did heat water in a frying pan so we did have our morning coffee. Bethany's graduation was very nice including her slide presentation of the members of her class of pictures from their early childhood up to graduation day. To many it was the high light of the evening.

We left the trailer at brother Jon's place near Manton and came home. We will return about Thursday for the graduation party scheduled for Saturday. We will be staying at the Grand Traverse Camping grounds where reservations for the entire family have been made.

This morning a trip to Grand Haven to have Etta's glasses repaired and to replenish my chemo pills. It will be a good time to get a new pig tail for the damaged trailer and to get other supplies needed for this weekend camping trip.

Our garden is now beginning to shape up most everything has come up and is growing slowly. I still have a few things to plant yet, like more radishes and swiss chard and some pumpkins . Three plantings of sweet corn are in and the first two have come up. I will probably make a couple more plantings to keep a steady supply through out the summer. We are still battling the animals that have been invading our pride and joy. Etta has been blocking all of the areas that they can co me through the fence and I will have to say at this point she is wining the battle.

Monday June 16, 1997

Our trip up to Traverse city area for the graduation party is now history. The entire family came up to the camp grounds and spent Saturday and Sunday together. First at Lillians and Phil's and later at the camp grounds. I worked on the trailer lights and got no where then two of the boys tried their luck with the same results. There must be some ground wire not making proper contact. We ended up having Clint follow us home with his car. It is now Monday morning and we experienced a beautiful shower last night , accompanied by some flashes of lightning and thunder. Three quarters of an inch came down in a slow rain that I'm sure the ground soaked up as fast as it came. It was badly needed and was very welcome. I had a woodc huck in my box trap when we came home last night. She was in the garden . It may have been her that was eating the spinach and other greens. I have made an appointment with the local trailer place to go over the wiring this after noon.- ----- Its the middle of the afternoon and I have just returned from having the trailer checked . The problem was the plug on the truck had been through several years and much banging around. Some of the wires were corroded and eaten off. A new plug and all is corrected even the electric brakes are working better.

Friday June 20, 1997

Most of the week has been spent mowing lawn and getting the garden back into shape. I planted the fourth planting of sweet corn and some pumpkins for the kids jack-o-lanterns. This is the first time we have had red kidney beans in the garden. Most every thing is growing real fast now and is looking good. Strawberries are starting to ripen. Etta picked nearly a case now and they taste good. Yesterday Jerry and I went out into the big lake for perch. The fish didn't cooperate with me as I only got three. Jerry done a little better. with sixteen/ The nineteen fish filled a ten quart pail so they were of good size. I will have to go over my tackle to see why I wasn't seeing the bites. This morning I went after the poison ivy that has been spreading under the pear trees north of the house. Plilip left me with five gallons of roundup mix. I drenched the vines good. In a few days I'll do it again.

Thunder and lightning rumbled through this morning and gave us about a quarter inch of rain. More is forecast for later today.

Tuesday July 1, 1997

Its so easy to neglect this journal when I don't keep it up every day. Nine days have past since the last entry. Summer temperatures have come along with summer showers. We had over three inches last week. It came in cloud bursts but not to much at a time so the ground took most of it. We had very few puddles around and they soon disappeared. Hot weather followed and the corn seems to be progressing now some of it will be the traditional knee high by the fourth. The rains triggered another batch of weeds to germinate in the garden. Etta and I have been busy eliminating them. Etta had a busy week last week with bible school. From all reports it was most successful . She has also been busy picking strawberries. The crop turned out to be better than expected. as of yesterday she has picked about fifteen Ice cream buckets full and processed them into jam and froze some to. The kids will enjoy them next winter. The making of hay has come to a screeching halt when a bearing and an over running clutch gave out in the mower. We are waiting for parts. They should be here today. We had more thundershowers late yesterday. About three quarters of an inch. It was most welcome and should boost the corn. Monday morning we went to the hospital lab for a blood sample. in anticipation of the Doctor visit this afternoon. As sometimes is the case the technicians had trouble finding the vein. A small bit of cotton and a little tape covered the spot afterwards. This wasn't enough y esterday and without noticing it blood ran down my arm to my wrist before it was discovered . It had made a mess all over my shirt. My blood seems to be extremely thin and not clotting very fast. Can this be attributed to the pills that I have be en taking? Maybe the doctor will have answers this afternoon. Have started setting my traps for coon and woodchucks. As of today I have four woodchucks , seven coon and one possum. I hope to reduce the population enough to save the sweet corn. My f irst planting will be tasseling in a few days. It looks very nice and doing well with the recent rains.

Tuesday July 8, 1997

My trip to the cancer clinic revealed that the medicine is doing what it is supposed to do. Not only is it holding my abnormal blood cells in check but it is actually reducing them. The doctor says at that rate if it conti nues he may be able to take me off the pills at some future date. The garden is growing fast now and tassels are showing on the first sweet corn. Tomatoes are beginning to set . The broccoli is about ready to harvest. The greens are growing fast er than we can eat them. Our radishes have been excellent this year. Etta has been picking peas by the bucket full. The strawberries have produced way beyond expectations. Over a hundred quarts. Etta picked two quarts of starwberries yesterday and then finished up with as many raspberries . Most of the corn is now over the knee high 4th of July state but I would say its about a week behind what I would like it to be. Last Friday the fourth we had the regular Wierenga family get together.

Its was a bit cold and windy so it was moved indoors to the Babtist Church in Spring Lake. Most everyone was there with only a few exceptions. Brian came over to inspect the pine trees in our woods. It appears that the trees are about what he wants to build log houses. He indicated that he will be able to pay a much better price than the commercial logger can. We will have to wait for his next trip down to have him scale the trees and give a firm price. Haying has been slow because of machinery breakd owns, Philip was able to bale about seventy bales so far and we are about half done. A nice three quarters of an inch of rain fell this morning. It was welcome and should boost the corn fields. They are now high enough to shade the ground and reduce the amount of moisture loss by the sun. Have been transplanting cabbage and cauliflower plants in every available spot in the garden. Everything seems to be growing so nice in spite of the cooler than normal temperature that we have be en having.

Monday July 14, 1997

July is nearly half gone already. A nice thunder shower past through this morning. About a third of an inch of rain fell. Everything looks so fresh. The corn is now nearly head high in spots. It is showing the dark color from the nitrogen fert ilizer. With more rain in the forecast for tonight and continued warm weather it could catch up to normal in a few days. Philip wants me to take some population checks. Those that I have taken have been around twenty eight thousand plants per acr e. Just about what he wanted . A little high in my estimation, but he will be alright if we continue to have these regular summer thunder storms. Etta will be picking the last of the peas this morning. I should then tear the vines out and set out the la st of the cauliflower plants where the peas were. Etta's red raspberries are hanging red with fruit this morning but she will have to wait awhile to pick them as they are still wet from the rain. The first sweet corn is all tasseled but n o silks are visible as yet. I have had a good week with only a day or two that the pills got to me. I must be getting used to them as I'm not affected as much now as I first was. Plugged electricity into the trailer this morning in antic ipation of taking off for a couple days.

Monday July 21, 1997

We got away for a couple of days Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday morning. We came home in a thunder storm. Over an inch of rain fell according to the gage. The corn sure looks beautiful. A very dark green and wide shinny leaves. Some of it is way over my head now with no tassels showing as yet. These July thunder showers seem to be coming every few days. Another has come through this morning and is continuing as I type this. I'm am waiting for it to stop so that I can go to the pump house and restart the water. For some reason it doesn't ' pick up the water as it should. I think that it might be a faulty air volume control switch. I bought a new one on Saturday but have to wait for the pressure to go down before install ing it. Yesterday it performed correctly but the pressure has gone down again this morning. Etta's raspberries have been producing way beyond expectations She gets several quarts every day. String beans are starting, she has picked several bucket s full. Other vegies coming in now are beets, carrots ,Swiss chard , kale and early cabbage. Her table of vegies at Church did not last very long on Sunday they were picked up nearly as fast as she laid them out. We like to see the people grab th em especially the older retired people who always had their own garden but are now to old to work in them. There is still a rain falling as I write this. We must have received well over a half inch of rain in the last couple hours. Corn needs it right now as the plants gets ready to send out there tassels. Our first planting of sweet corn is all tasseled and silked which means it should be ready for eating in about two weeks.

Wednesday July 30, 1997

The month of July is nearly gone already. I wonder where it went so fast. Etta is still picking raspberries but they are now on the way down. The sweet corn silks are drying up so in about a week it should be ready. I like to see some tassels and silks on the field corn by the first of August. I guess I will have my wish. some fields are about a week away but others are showing the Tassels . It has been over a week since the last rain and we could use a nice shower now.

David has some blue berries so Etta went over and picked three ice cream buckets full yesterday and she plans to do it again this morning so maybe I'll go with her. We should pick some glads that are growing in the fence row of the garden. We can take t hem to a nursing home for the elder citizens to look at. My live trap has come up empty several days even though it has been sprung. I suspected that the raccoon have been lifting the door up and escaping . So a lock was attached to preven t it from lifting. I had a raccoon in it this morning. The score stands at ten coon, four woodchucks and four possum all caught around the garden and our buildings. Is that enough to save the sweet corn from destruction ? We seem to be having trouble with a blight in the garden this year. Cabbage and broccoli was hit first then the potatoes and beans. Now the tomatoes and muskmelons are showing signs that they may also have become infected. Tried walleye fishing o n the Grand yesterday. I caught four cat fish two sheep head and only one walleye and he was a throw back. The fisherman who were trolling had better luck as one boat had a couple of four or five pounders.

The water well that I spoke of in the last segment has been corrected. The pump had to be dismantled and a new valve replaced . It must have been very hot at some time to cause that kind of destruction . It is now working as good as it eve r has. I hope it behaves for years to come.

Tuesday August 5, 1997

Summer is on the way down with the first week of August We have had the family reunion last Sunday at Wolf Lake , Their were about sixty people there. Its is getting smaller every year as more of the older stand bye pass on. Fran k Tiles and I were the two oldest ones there this year. The coon have found our sweet corn now and it appears they must have had their Sunday school picnic in it last night. I have had my box traps set in the garden the last few days and have caugh t one but there are many more coming I thought that the thirteen that have been caught in the yard would be enough to save the corn but it doesn't appear so. I'll try moving the traps to different locations tonight as they came up empty last nigh t. Went with Etta to pick blue berries yesterday . We picked four- five quart buckets full all of which was given away. She wants to return again today. I haven't made up my mind whether to accompany her yet or not. Will probably go as I don' t have anything else scheduled for this morning. The corn is about fifty percent tasseled now but it is in need of a rain. We have had nearly three weeks without a measurable shower and the lighter sand spots are showing stress. The clay along with the no till is doing just fine. This week is predicted to be about ten degrees below normal in temperature. Maybe that's good as long as we are low on moisture. The stress will not be as great. This weekend is our scheduled camping t rip with the whole family to Hoffmaster park. The next rain fall is predicted to be about Saturday night. What is a camping trip without a shower? If it comes it will be welcome. Spare time today and tomorrow will be spent getting things ready in the trai ler .I'll plug in the electricity some time today and turn on the refrigerator.

Monday August 11, 1997

We have returned from our camping trip It was a huge success as every one of the family were present and all had a good time. Even the little ones seemed to enjoy the extra attention provided with lots of older cousins to keep them occupied. The seven dozen ears of sweet corn went up fast. And the Sunday morning breakfast of pancakes filled everyone to capacity. The rain held off until after we returned home Sunday night. We did not get much but it freshened thing s up. More is predicted for Tuesday, maybe as much as an inch. It will be welcome and sorely needed. Some sprinkles is falling now as this is being written . Tonight we have to go to church to have our pictures taken for the church directory. I have to make a trip to town sometime today as I took the last chemo pill this morning. They don't seem to bother me as much now as they did at first but I do get some waves of light headiness now and then.

We cleaned up the first planting of sweet corn for our camping trip and now the candy corn is just about ready. A big possum got into my box trap so now I am wondering if maybe she was to blame for much of the destruction in the early sweet corn. We have not had any problem in the last few days. Field corn is nearly all tassel now. There are still a few spots that was behind from the cold wet weather of earlier in the summer that has not completely tasseled out. Most of the corn should b e in full silk by the fifteenth so if the fall ends up normally we should have a good ripe corn crop. Etta wants to go and pick some more blue berries this morning but its a little to wet for that. Maybe the sun will come out this after noon.

Saturday August 16, 1997

Our much needed rain has come . Two and a half inches over the last few days. That should boost the corn crop through the silking stage. Thursday the man from the DNR came to inspect the deer damage this year. He says that the amount of damage is not as visible as last year because of the fine crop that is coming on but t he damage is still there and he is recommending that I get ten block permits and use them. He filled the proper forms so that I can make application when I want to. It will be good as a couple of our hunters did not make antler less deer applications a few weeks ago and now the dead line is past.

Yesterday the fifteenth, Etta and I accompanied Bill and Arlene to Buckley to see the steam engine, and ancient tractor show. Showers were predicted and we passed through a good one on the way up . It was cloudy and threatening al l the time we were there but nothing came down until we were on the way to the parking lot to come home then a cloud burst came and even though we only had a short distance to go we got thoroughly drenched. Oh well it was a comparatively warm rain. I notice that the corn silks are starting to dry up now and the ears are forming they are e xtending out from the stalk and appear to be of good size. It is still to early to tell to how well the pollination went this year. We should have almost enough moisture to finish the crop now. All that is left now is to get some warm temperatures an for the frost to hold off until late September.

Wednesday August 20, 1997

Still colder than normal and cloudy with a few sprinkles of rain. The corn although it is progressing it is taking its sweet time, Most of the pollination is finished but many of the silks are still green. It appears that the ear s may fill very well and they may even be of good size in spite of the thick planting that we have this year. It needs at least a month of good normal to above temperatures to finish. Jerry and I went up the river to try for walleyes yesterday. It was sl ow fishing but we did get one nice walleye . We had the usual number of sheep head and cat fish, and we got snagged on the bottom several times. The result was that I put a little to much strain at the wrong angle on my pole and snapped it off. I may be able to fix it but they are never the same after ward. The second planting of sweet corn has been fantastic. Etta has been busy canning and freezing it We have given away a lot too. The third planting will be ready as soon as this is gone, maybe before.

I put the brush hog on the tractor and trimmed up the weeds along the driveway and up the waterway. It makes the fields look so much better.

Wednesday August 27, 1997

Still cooler than normal but it is warming up a bit today. The corn seems to be standing still. Maybe its like the proverbial kettle never boils when you watch it. I must be watching the corns progress too closely. Another problem has arisen in that the red wing black birds have discovered the corn and are chowing down on the field south of the house. There was a flock in it Sunday morning so large that some ears would have to have more than one bird on it to have room for them all.

I have had my regular check up at the onocologist. Everything seems to be static. He seemed to think that the itchy spot on my back may be a case of shingles trying to come out. For some reason he was concerned that it might be serious. There w as no changes in the pills at this time. Just stay with what is prescribed and bear the side effects.

Etta asked me t o go with her to pick more blueberries to be given to Christian Haven Home. We picked about fifty quarts. I wonder if they can handle that many to be dumped on them without prior notice. She will deliver them tomorrow.

Tuesday September 2. 1997

Cliffords seventy second birthday today. He was over last Sunday for dinner and the afternoon. He is still reading books and says that he has nearly three hundred of them both here and at the place where he stays. Gordon has been in Michigan fo r a few days. He came over last week and we spent a couple hours visiting. He is still driving his same van all over the USA.

I have been watching the progress of the corn fields rather closely and find that they are not maturing very fast at all. This continued cool weather makes them stand still. It is after labor day and some spots the silks are still green. Others are in the sweet corn stage. Four to five weeks will be necessary for them to mature beyond the stage that they can stand a killing frost. Will we have that much time? I did find a few dents in a few ears damaged by blackbirds yesterday. The third plant ing of sweet corn is being harvested now. It is still of outstanding quality with hardly an ear worm in the whole patch. Much of it has been given away and I picked over four dozen ears this morning for Etta to process. Bill has a bunch of tickets to th e White Caps play off game tonight we are to meet him there at game time.

Yesterday Brian Kinke went through our woods and marked the white pine that he can use for building log houses. He marked nearly three hundred trees to go. He will be sending down his estimate in a few days. He also indicated that he mig ht build a house for himself out the logs from our woods. I told him I would like to go through it when it is finished. He thinks he may be able to build at least three houses out of our woods. That's pretty good. I hate to see the trees go but t hey are dying off at a fast rate so we had better get what we can out of them while they still have value.

Monday September 8, 1997

Still cooler than normal with cloudy skies that drip on occasion without a lot of accumulation . The weather did warm up a little over the weekend after a touch of frost last Friday morning. Corn is progressing but oh so slow. Bird picked e ars in the field south of the house show some dents and an occasional ear in other fields might have a kernel or two with a dimple in them. I lost a filling in a tooth a week ago so I have made an appointment with the dentist for this afternoon. Th e gang has gone to the upper Peninsula for the start of bear season. Jon Tiles and I have scheduled a trip up to join them on this Thursday. Etta has several things for me to deliver to the Folkersma's and I would like to talk to Brian Kinhke about the lo gging contract. He indicated that he could pay a lump sum in full for the whole thing But I would like it spread out into two Payments one this calender year and one next tax year to spread out the tax obligation. It will be December before he ca n start cutting trees. Maybe we will have a field of corn off by then so he will have a spot to assemble and load the logs. I'd better shut this down now and go to the barber shop. Its better to be there early before the crowd comes.

Monday September 15, 1997

A whole week has gone by since my last entry. We have had near normal temperatures and very little precipitation last week. Corn had a chance to progress. I would say that it is at about the stage that I would like to have seen on labor day. In o ther words its about two weeks behind what could be called ideal. If we can get by three more weeks before a killing frost it will have reached a point that it would no longer be a disaster.

The trip to the upper peninsula came off as scheduled. It rained most of the way up there but we had beautiful weather the whole week end. Bear hunting started and Jim Whitwam had a nice one come into his bait pile. His shot drew blood bu t after further checking his bullet had hit a small branch just before it got to the bear and the bullet evidently fragmented so that he did not get a good clean hit. The bear will probably survive. Jon Tiles took his four wheeler up and we scouted a big area. It was all new to him and he enjoyed the trip. We had nearly zero visibility this morning because of the heavy fog, but now the sun is out and its warming up nicely. Tomorrow will be full moon we should get by this one without a frost.

Tuesday September 23, 1997

Time seems to go by so fast as it has been a whole week again since my last entry into this journal. We have had a very wet week with more than three inches of rain. The ground seems to have taken it nicely as all puddles have dried up. The tem perature has been moderate but we are now experiencing a cooling trend with the forecast of possible light frost tonight. I spent most of the morning going from field to field of corn checking the progress toward maturity. Most all ears have some denting and most are completely dented and the kernels are hard. A damaging frost if it comes tonight will not be a complete disaster but it would damage the quality . If we get by tonight then we could go for the rest of the week or more before the next cold front sets in and that should be enough for the corn to finish. The thick planting is producing lots of ears but they appear to be a little small and I'm afraid that the kernel size may be on the small size als o. Leaves on the soy beans are starting to change color indicating that they are about ready to finish up. The beans in the pods are of full size but are still green in color and are still soft. Deer damage has been sever as most of the top leaves in lar ge sections of the fields have been bitten off. I would guess that the deer will now concentrate on the pods until the beans can be harvested. Yesterday I accompanied Etta on a trip to Peach ridge looking for prunes . The first place we stooped had alre ady finished harvesting them so we went to another place and they had only a few trees but they were loaded so we helped picking them. We got carried away and brought home over a bushel and a half. Etta spent all forenoon canning them . She put u p well over fifty quarts.

We have received the estimate for the pine trees in our woods from Brian. It was just a lump some for the whole lot. I thought it would be good if he had broken it down into so much for the number one trees and so much for the seconds and a lump sum for what was left. I guess I'm to take him at his word. His bid is much higher than what a regular saw mill can pay so I guess I should go along with him. He says that he will write out a contract as soon as he hears from me. There are some things that I think that I should have in the contract so I will send them along with the acceptance notice.

Friday September 26, 1997

Our predicted frost turned out to be very light. There was a little frost on the windshield of the suburban and a little white on the garage roof. The peppers and pickles in the garden came through unscathed. We are now having a few days of normal temperatures giving the co rn a few more days to finish maturing. All indications look to it doing just that, but it will be several weeks before the moisture gets low enough to harvest. Yesterday I had intended to hook up the di sc and knock down the grass and weeds below the hill next to the march but the key had been left on and the batteries were completely dead. The charger was put on over night and they appear to be fully charged this morning. I'm now waiting for the dew to get off before starting.

Thursday October 2, 1997

Yes I disced the golden rod and canary grass in the field below the hill. The disc performed an excellent job of knocking them down and even brought up some loose soil in places. Another pass over in another direction would cut th e stems up very well and allow them to disintegrate over the winter months, but a snag appeared as the tractor developed a soft tire and the fuel supply tank came up empty. There will be time to do it later.

All of my worrying about the corn not having time to mature was for nothing as the warm whatever and lack of a killing frost has allowed the corn to finish up in beautiful shape. most of it is hard and some of the husks are now drying up so its now only a matter of time to wait for the moisture in the kernels to get down to a level that the corn can be combined.

Jerry and I have had a trip scheduled to go to Drummond Island for the first full week in October . We were to go a day after tomorrow- Saturday, but Jerry has came down with either a virus or a kidney stone and he has been in misery for a f ew days. Yesterday he felt better so we are waiting until the morning to decide whether to cancel out or not.

I have purchased five block permits to hunt does with a bow and arrow. Ken and Robert got two of them. They went out yesterday the first day of bow season and Ken scored on a very nice five point buck. He was very happy. His hun ting from now on will have to be does. I hope that the hunters reduce the deer herd by at least half . Our crop damage this year can be estimated to be in the thousands of dollars.

Saturday October 4, 1997

Thunder and lightning this morning as a couple of showers pass by. The rain has not been to heavy as yet. It is extremely warm for this time of year. More like it should have been in August. Its hard to find an ear of corn that is not complete ly dented now, although there are some kernels that are soft to the touch.

We cancelled our trip to Drummond Island as Jerry continues to have problems. His trip to emergency yesterday revealed that he is suffering from a kidney stone the size of a silver dollar. He has a appointment with a neurologist Monday to determ ine the action to be taken. It may be surgery.

Etta and I went to meet with member of my graduating class in Coopersville last night. There are not to many left to come anymore. But we had a good visit and a good meal.

Monday October 13,1997

The last two weeks have been more like July than October. The corn has finished up and is now drying down in moisture. I took several samples this morning from different fields and most of them were in the low thirties. That means we should be ab le to start combining in about a week to ten days. Philip spent Saturday getting the auger ready. It had a crooked shaft and the chain couldn't be tightened properly. We also jacked the dryer up about six inches as it had settled into the ground over the years and was no longer setting level. Soy beans are just about ready to be harvested as soon as the cold rainy weather front passes .

We took in the football game at Spring Lake last Friday night and Also watched Rachel be crowned Home Coming Queen. She was surprised. Her parents were certainly proud. Grandma and Grandpa beamed a bit too.

The deer hunting has slowed down a bit now . There has been four deer shot on our farm so far. They will soon be going into the rut and action should improve. It will help too when the corn is all harvested. I saw seven today while going around the corn fields in the middle of the day. So far I haven't got the bow out , maybe next week if the weather is good.

Monday October 20, 1997

We had an early morning trip to the hospital today for blood work for tomorrows trip to the onocologist. We are back before daylight. It is cool this morning but we still have not had that killing frost. Predictions are for night tempera tures to dip into the middle twenties by Wednesday . That should put an end to the growing season. A good frost would be beneficial to drying corn as it would loosen up the husks and allow the air to get around the ear. There are still gr een husks in some places although the corn seems to be mature. Many moisture tests taken from various fields indicate that a few more days are necessary to bring it down to a point that the corn can be harvested without to much cracking and to long a time in the dryer.

Philip combined the soybeans last Saturday and was both pleased with the yield and the quality of them. They yielded in the low thirties in spite of the deer damage. Harvesting field loses in beans is usually high so the deer will have plenty to glean before snow fall.

Deer hunting seems to have slowed down as the hunters are not seeing them. They have holed up in the corn fields. I would expect sightings to pick up as soon as corn harvest gets under way, then to it is time for the rut which brings on more acti vity.

It is time to winterize the travel trailer so today looks like an ideal day to start. Just about every thing in the garden has been gathered so we are ready for a frost although the ever bearing raspberries have been yielding abou t a pint of berries a day. We have been patiently waiting for the walnut tree below hill to drop its nuts. A good freeze should do the trick.

Monday October 27, 1997

Neither of our visits to the cancer doctor or the one to the medical doctor revealed any surprizes. I guess you can say that's good news. Saturday we tried the combine out on the field south of the house. The moisture cam e in at about 26 percent which is not to bad. We got two dryers full for the day. yield was a little above what we expected making for some good news. The only bad news was a bearing in the combine gave out and will put a stop to harvestin g for a day or two.

We had our first accumulation of snow of about two inches. This allowed us to see where the most activity of the deer is occurring . I was surprized at the amount of tracks in some locations. Two more does have been harvested in our woods bringing the total to six for the season so far.

Friday October 31. 1997

Halloween day so the goblins will fly to night . The weather has not been to bad in spite of predictions of extreme cold and wet. We have continued to harvest corn at a rather slow pace. After the first couple of fields w e cannot find any corn under thirty percent moisture. There is much cracking of kernels going through the combine and the high moisture keeps the dryer running for long hours to bring the moisture down to a point that it can be stored safely. Yes terday metal fatigue caught up to one of the combine snouts and a it broke allowing it to dig into the ground and crumpled it up . Oh well a couple more days of field drying of the corn will not hurt. The fields that have been harvested so far have yielded more than anticipated so we are happy. It is getting late in the year and deer hunting is coming fast so if we don't get on with the corn harvest the deer will have plenty of cover to hide.

Tuesday December 2, 1997

The month of November was a busy hectic Month and I have neglected this journal for the entire period. Corn harvest proceeded at a rather slow pace as the corn did not seem to dry down making the drying process long and tedious. We had a couple of slight hold ups one of the tires on the combine gave up and blew out the whole side. They are getting old and rotten. Then to I had a mental lapse and tried starting the tractor while it was in reverse backing it into the auger going up the silo and causing conciderable damage and lengthy repair. We were caught with about fifty acres left when the deer hunting season began. The hunters done fairly well as we had eleven deer hanging the first week. My hunting was very limited as most of my prime hunting time was spent baby sitting the dryer. We finished up with the corn harvest on the day before Thanksgiving sending the last dryer full up the pipe. There were thirty six batches full in the dryer and all went into the silo. The l ast five batches had Philip up in the silo directing the corn to the far side. He says that the corn is piled up as high as loose corn can be away from the door. I would estimate that we have nearly fifteen thousand bushels dried and stored. Now we have to wait for the price to recover from its seasonal low at harvest time before starting to sell.

My deer hunting was rather bleak but I did get in some along the corn fields while the combine was working. I hit a doe at a distance of a hundred and fourteen corn rows. She collapsed instantly and I never saw a deer thrash around so mu ch as she did. I assumed she would soon die so I took my time going over to put the finishing shot. That was a mistake as she got up and made it into the standing corn. Thinking that she couldn't make it to far I waited for an hour before taking up her t rail. She passed through the corn field and into the Spencer woods and I lost the trail. Next time I'll be more cautious and not wait for my kill to die but go immediately to finish the game off. Friday and Saturday I could hunt full time so I went to Phi lips blind that had proven to be so good all season long as four deer had been shot from it two had been bucks one was of trophy size horns. Saturday morning two hours were spent seeing nothing, I was about to give up the hunting for this year when two dee r came out of the thorns a very long way off. I waited to see what direction they would take hoping that they would travel my way, but there direction of travel was directly south so they would not come into shotgun range. In frustration I took a bead on the largest one and touched off a shot. She dropped into a heap to my surprise. She was a big doe so I filled my land owners antler less deer tag on her. Later I paced off the distance from the blind to where she collapsed . It was a hu ndred and fifty seven steps. A very very long shot for a shotgun. I tell the rest of the hunters that it was pure skill but in a way it may have been a sort of "hail Mary" shot on my part. I do know that my shotgun is very accurate shooting slugs as I ha ve made many kills that were in excess of a hundred yards but this is the longest one. A shot to remember.

December 10,1997

A slow time as the hunting season is on hold until the black powder season starts next week. Ken did mark off the distance that I shot the doe with his range finder and he says that it was a hundred sixty nine yards. That makes it official.

Spent a day going Christmas shopping with Etta a Job that tires me out to no end but it has to be done every year.

Saturday December 20, 1997

Its my birthday but I am not feeling to well this morning. We went out for supper last night and I think that I may have received some bad food. Stomach cramps most of the night ending up by losing my cookies sort of put an end to the problem. Something else has came up as I have been aching in every joint and my hands and arms have swollen up like as if I had boxing gloves on. It took a few days for things to return to normal in the mean time I was not feeling ver y thrifty. A visit to both the cancer doctor and the medical doctor has not shown any surprises. Although the medical doctor prescribed a regimene of anti biotic to counter the grizzly throat brought on by the corn dust last month.

A week ago the whole family went out for supper for my birthday. This has become an annual event afterwards we stopped at Philip's for socializing . We have postponed our Christmas get together for the Saturday fallowing Christmas to al low the families to have a quiet day at home with their children. I think that it will be appreciated.

Tuesday December 30, 1997

Another year has come to an end . It has been a slow year on my part as the medication that the doctors have put me on do not make me feel very spry and I get tired so easily. Yesterday I took the gun out to my old spot behind the barn to try fil ling a Block permit in the late season antler less deer hunt. I have become so weak that several rests were necessary to get to the spot. A short sit and a doe and two fawns came by. I took the doe which proved to be a large one. That f ills nine of the block permits given by the DNR. only one more to go. Maybe this weekend if the weather doesn't turn bad. We have been experiencing some very warm temperatures for this time of year. There is no ice on the bayous or lakes f or fishing.

Those anti biotics that the doctor proscribed have been catching up to me and I haven't been feeling very well. There was a reaction during the night that bothered me. My heart began to filibrate and do all kinds of funny things. I won dered if a fast trip to emergency might be in order but as no pain was present I chose to wait until morning. After a couple of hours things settled down and by morning everything was back to normal. That's the end of those pills so maybe things will straighten out in a few days. I seem to be so weak that as soon as I start any activity I run out of gas immediately. How do you get back into condition? I really don't feel that bad but I don't feel very ambitious either. I would say December has been the worst month since taking the massive doses of chemo two and a half years ago.