Bear-y and Ears

  I didn't do much of consequence today, so you get the next set of two stuffed animals. This is the "Marie" edition.

There was a time in my life that was very difficult. The whole premise of this blog- to find some quality moment in every day- directly grew out of those years. You can see a little more about that at What is My Quality Day?

The little teddy bear is named Bear-y- not very original. I didn't have enough emotional energy to be cute at the time. Marie spent several months with us. When she finally had to leave, she left me with this little bear for comfort.

The bassett hound also came from Marie, as a condolance after Chips died. See In Memory of Hoover Houdini Chips. He's actually part of a set of collectible hounds made by the Applause company. I don't think they ever really caught on like Beanie Babies did, but he's very cute.

One thing you can say this little collection of animals proves is that it doesn't take some expensive gift to show someone that you care. I don't know what Dismal Desmond's (link below) 1926 price was, but he was a gift for a child. I don't know if he was expensive at the time. He's the only one of these stuffies that may be worth anything beyond sentimental value now. As for the rest, I know they each cost, at the most, $6.00; some were less. And yet, they've brought me (and hopefully my mother) a lot of joy. There's only one more set of two to show you (and one more that I can't find- hopefully it will surface some day).

In other news: It was a low-key day. I did some editing, but mostly I read and watched old Perry Mason videos. Maybe I'll have more energy tomorrow.

See Dismal Desmond and Winky

Zoom for the Win

  I'm not a lover of Zoom meetings, but this one was certainly the best thing about today.

Nimblewill Nomad (Eb Eberhard), at age 82, is going to do a (another) hike of the Appalachian Trail this year, and hopes to become the oldest thru hiker. He's been a caretaker on Flagg Mountain in Alabama for the past few years. But life on the trail is calling him (once you hear the voice, you can't get it out of your brain).

So, Wild Alabama set up a Zoom meeting for an interview with Nimblewill. It maxed out with 100 sign-ups. Glad I got my reservation in early enough to make the cut.

Nimblewill has hiked over 50,000 miles. He's done a number of long trails, including the North Country Trail. This picture of us (with Senator Carl Levin) was taken in 2009. He had just completed the NCT, and I was just one year away from completing it.

He's a really neat guy, and I wish him the best. You can learn more about him at NimblewillNomad.com

In other news: busy day! I reached a milestone in the editing and met with the author. I did errands and got a few groceries. Then I had bell choir practice, and this zoom meeting. I think it's time to chill!

See Meeting Nimblewill Nomad

New Tracks!

  Walking up the driveway today, I found these new little tracks. Who do you think made this line of prints?

There are two of them! Curious?

Haha! The wind scared up a tiny snowball that rolled and bounced and landed here. If you look in the picture above, you'll see the even smaller ball that made the second track right in the top middle of the picture.

In other news: I edited all day, with little breaks on my jigsaw puzzle. And I went across the street to buy a couple of things.

See Not Quite as Gray

Dismal Desmond and Winky

  Since I worked all day, you get more stuffed animals tonight. This is the stuffed animal "Mom" edition.

On the left is Dismal Desmond. This is a toy from my mother's childhood. In fact, I've found out that this toy was made by the Dean's Rag Book Company, and was introduced in 1926 (my mom would have been 7, so that seems about right). It's made of velveteen, and the features and spots are printed on. The toy was so successful that other poses came out in following years. The dog became the mascot of the England Cricket Team and the womens' Wimbledon team. He may have originally had a pink tongue that hung out. This one has been loved and played with. There are several tears that were mended, so it's quite possible it did have a tongue that was torn off. Even so, original ones are pretty rare.

I just learned that the character was re-introduced in the 1990s, but the modern ones I found pictures of don't seem to me to have much charm.

The animal on the right is a little white seal. His name is Winky. While I doubt that Dismal Desmond was Mom's first stuffed animal, I'm pretty sure that Winky was her last.

Mom had advanced Parkinson's, but was managing to live at home by having caregivers that stayed with her. She was in New York state, and I was in Michigan, so I wasn't much help. But in the winter of 1991-92, she fell and broke her hip. That was the beginning of the end, but that's getting way ahead of this story.

I went to NY to visit her in the hospital. That whole scenario is a bit of a medical horror story, and this blog is not about the negatives of my life. I will just say that they finally got her back on the correct meds, and we were able to have some good visits over the time period I stayed (maybe a week?- I was working a real job- I couldn't have been away too long.) She confirmed that she did not want me to bring her to Michigan.

Anyway... I'll avoid bunny trails of stories.

When I was getting ready to leave, I went down to the hospital gift shop to try to find something I could afford that she would be able to keep and remember that I cared. I found this little seal. When I took him upstairs, Mom named him Winky.

Here's another view, so you can see their tails.

So, Mom never went home again. She was unable to pass the rehab qualifications in 30 days time because of the issues with the Parkinson's as much as the hip. We chose a nursing home, and she quickly declined. She died three years later. Winky often got shoved into her drawer by staff, but at least he didn't get lost.

Just for the record, I told you my collection was small. I've already shown you half.

Perhaps you are enjoying the stuffies tour. If not... there's bound to be something different soon!

In other news: As I said, I spent the day working on an editing project with short breaks to add pieces to my current jigsaw puzzle. But my brain is fried. I think I'll be relaxing after this.

See Baraga and Berea

Baraga and Berea

  I've been thinking for a long time that I should blog about these two little toys. Today's the day. It was inspired by a hiking friend, Richard Morgan, who framed some of his Buckeye Trail patches with a little green Gumby that he found beside the road on the first day he ever hiked on the Buckeye Trail.

These aren't getting framed (they aren't flat), but they hold their places of honor in my very small collection of stuffed animals. Here are their stories. Baraga is the little plush dog on the left.

Marie and I found him beside the road in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, in Baraga County (Say BEAR-uh-guh), west of Marquette. It was named for the Catholic Bishop, Frederic Baraga. His story is fascinating! He was Slovanian, and came to the United States in 1830. He had grown up during the time of the Napoleanic Wars, which led to instability in his official education. This actually served him well. He spoke German, Slovenian and French by the time he was nine. Latin and Greek were required subjects, so he was a budding linguist at age 16.

Once in the US, he learned the Ottawa language, and ended up at L'Arbre Croche (Cross Village), Michigan. He then moved to Wisconsin to work with the Ojibway, and then founded a mission at L'Anse, just west of Marquette, Michigan. He was known as "The Snowshoe Priest," because he walked hundreds of miles in the winter to serve his mission outposts. He created a dictionary and grammar of the Ojibway language, and fought constantly for the rights of the Native peoples. He was well-enough known that Matthew Brady photographed him some time in the 1850s.

In 2012, he was declared a saint. I've read his journals, and although like most things that were written before 1850, they are tedious, but they were quite interesting. This statue of him, and a small museum are located at L'Anse.

The little rubber duck on the right is puzzling. It's definitely a duck. It's definitely wearing a helmet with a visor like some ducky knight, and carrying a sword and shield. Maybe it is some fantasy or game character that I don't know. I'm sure there are many! Anyway, Marie and I found him alongside the road in northeast Ohio. His name is Berea.

We found him on a day that we passed some interpretive signs for Berea sandstone, and a lot, lot, lot of sandstone buildings, foundations, steps, etc.

Berea sandstone was named for the town of Berea, Ohio, where tons of it were historically quarried. It's a fine-grained pinkish-gray sandstone. The sand that formed it actually came from far north, in Canada, and was carried down an ancient river to Ohio. It was laid down about 400 million years ago. I was not there to verify this. I just read Wikipedia.

Anyway, that's the duck's name, and you can follow the link below to see some cliffs of Berea Sandstone. The pictures are from the day we found him.

Perhaps on some other slow news day, you'll see others of my little stuffed animals. They sit on top of my desktop computer, which needs to go away because it is too old, but it still runs one game I like, so I haven't worked too hard at getting rid of it.

In other news: I worked on an editing project and chilled.

See Buckeye Trail Berea Sandstone