New and old times

I had a well rounded day starting with some yoga and pilates exercising , went to lunch with a friend then drove out to see Aunt Count. She was just waking and glad to see me . I read her some stuff and then she asked if I could bring in the big Rapp family picture so she could tell me about some of the relatives that lived ever so close to the her dad's farm so I will have more to say about that later if I can find the picture.
Grace called to tell me that the Dr. said that she has shingles. I hope the meds take care of it.
I talked to my daughter Cecily to get permission to copy an essay that she wrote when she was seven or eight. Here it is: Titled MY DOG BITE
I was walking with my girlfriend (no names so to protect the inocent) when she usherd me into the neibor house. I didnt know they even had a dog, but presto before I knew it the dog had jumped up on me and scratched me. I sat down on the couch and the dog, named RASTISS, jumped up and licked me very hard. one of the boys called him away and he went immediately.
Mrs. X as I will call her, called me over to look at my scratches, I didnt think he did anything but scratch me. We soon left and I showed my girlfriend what he did to my back. She was alarmed and said it was bleeding. She took me home and her mother put aniseptic on it. Soon the Mr. came and said it was a mere nip and took me home.
Mother was upset because it broke the skin, but thought it was alright. Later when she was examining it carefully she got worried because it was a hole. Dad was mad because he did not hear about it until 10:00 because we forgot. The next day I had to get a tetanus shot. If the dog was a stray I would half to get 21 rabies shots. But it was a house dog. They half to keep it pened up regardless as a state law, and if it gets sick or dies of rabies within ten days I will at least have 5 rabies shots. I'm sure looking foreword to NO more dog bites. THE END

Spring is supposed to be where?

It is so spring in my heart and on the calendar but not in reality when I step out the door. This is Wednsday and I have a full day with library visits and my car needing an oil change. The museum will be open until one so maybe I will do some research there.
More about the Rapps here:
Aunt Count gave me a peek into uncle Wayne's personality. When everyone else was playing cards around the kitchen table at night he would be reading a book. He felt responsibility at a young age, and he was good with kids in her estimation. When his mother was having her first a heart attack he sent one of the older kids for help at the nearest neighbors while he stayed by her side and rubbed her arms because she was in great pain.

Since I just got back to this blog with the help of my daughter Grace Long Johnston, I am setting a new policy of telling a little about what is going on now before history takes over. Today the Johnstons are here to spend the afternoon and we are touring the greenhouse, watching movies and eating broccoli rice casserole . We took a little stroll over to uncle Chris's and he demoed his new guitar . It is good to know he has several band jobs booked up ahead and I hope to get to dance at most of them. My gentleman friend and dance partner just called to say that he thinks the old house he is restoring has a secret widows walk on the roof. How exciting! Now if we can just keep him from falling off it.
Rapp Family
I went to see Aunt Count this last week and she was telling me some things about her brother Wayne. She said she was closest to him and he is the one who gave her the name "Countess de Grasse. He read constantly so he may have gotten the name from one of the books he was reading.
She explained that he bossed most of the farm work while Grandpa Earl worked for his dad in the garage and auto business. I would like to know more about that.

I got rapp

Weko

Now is the time when Weko Beach seams a million miles away. This is Paul and Patrick Johnston (my twin grandsons) enjoying one of our annual trips to Lake Michigan on Weko Beach at Bridgeman Mi. which is under 2 ft. of snow right now. This trek has been a tradition since the early 1990s with our family. It started as a just the girls and kids camping expedition back in the sixties. Chris was pre, pre-K and Cecily was just old enough to dis-regard the warning to not touch the tent when trying to sleep while it was raining. This was the time of the infamous carrying Chris up Mt Baldy at Saugatuck incident but it would be inappropriate to go into that here.
Sometimes we go back up to Saugatuck or at least visit the interesting parts of St. Joe . This is an area that has many fruit orchards and winery's. Book ahead!!

If only spring was this easy

Grace helped me change autumn into spring (background) over the phone because it has been so long since I did that, I could not remember exactly all the steps. It involves lots of cutting, pasting, removing and saving-not necessarily in that order.

Present day into history.

My son, Chris Long has been connected with many bands but one of the most interesting and beloved is his long time association singing and playing bass for "King Johnson", his Atlanta blues band. He got word a couple of days ago that long time member, Adam Mewherper died there in Atlanta. Adam was a very talented, complicated musician. Chris was not going to attend the funeral because of the cost getting there. The working part of the band's fan base made sure that he could fly down and be with the rest of the guys. What a beautiful thing to do in memory of Adam.