The Sandwich Life

Random Pictures from A Saturday Drive

I worry about these tiny little Midwestern towns. What is going to happen to them?

Meandering

The drive yesterday did help cheer me up. We headed over to Decatur to check out the Wabash Depot Antique Mall's open house. We drove through the country on county roads to get there, and on the way we drove through Cerro Gordo. I stopped to take a picture of a nice building but I got real dizzy and cut off the top of it so no picture. I took a picture of tree glowing red, and another building that is a lesson in bad window replacements. Then we passed a storefront that had the Don't Tread On Me flag and something else that looked vaguely white supremacist, so we moved along. 

We got to he Wabash Depot and managed to get through the whole place without spending any money although I was tempted by a couple things that I didn't need at all. Nice railroad views from the windows and the women's bathroom had great windows, and there was a group of musicians playing old country songs. Such are the small pleasures of life.

After that we just drove around Decatur, with me periodically yelling, "turn left," or "turn right," when I saw something of interest. There were some other antique/flea market kind of things but we were done. Ernie's limping from his leg stuff (come on MRI) and I am hobbling with joint pain...hopefully this new diet will reduce some of my inflammation and help with that all. As Owen said recently, "It's as though you guys were fine, and then you just suddenly got old." I have assured him we both will get better.

Nothing makes me happier than wandering around looking at old building, so it made for a lovely afternoon. I gasped in delight when I saw all these windows looking back at me.

Some more buildings near the train station:

Note the sign that says Illinois Central Freight Station:

And last, but not least, a nice old neon motel sign.

We got home and curled up, reading and computering. I threw together a half assed dinner that turned out pretty good actually. Diced baby bok choy and zucchini (best zucchinis in the world from Farmer Greg) with some curry powder and coconut milk...added some fish sauce, lime juice, and the last of the bay scallops. It needed a bit of sweetness, so we served it over rice, with diced fresh apple on top. Here's a not so beautiful, but tasty bowl that I had for breakfast. Now I'm off to research recipes.

Onward.

 

Driving My Spirit

I love just driving out in the country but I haven't been doing it as much of late. Yesterday we were restless, so we meandered north of town a bit. We found a tiny little cemetery, eventually wandering through Crystal Lake Park, which was just glowing.

It's good for my spirit. 

Weekend Balance Sheet

Friday afternoon burial service for Ken Gunji. Heartrending.

Saturday morning memorial service for Ken.

Got to see Heather briefly when she brought me a huge bag from her garden.

Saturday afternoon drinks with old friends Pam and Pete Schleifer. A treat.

Saturday evening: drank some wine and made a so-so dinner.

Sunday morning trip to Negangard pumpkins with Owen and Ernie.

Sunday midday sat in yard and read. A woodchuck (?) appeared in the yard, then a hawk, and then a bird shat on my head and my laptop. I decided outdoors was being a tad aggressive and went in. The enormity of Owen's bellows of laughter when he heard about the bird cannot be adequately described. At least somebody was happy.

Got restless and wanted a Bloody Mary. Researched local Bloody Marys but then found that Hardly Strictly Bluegrass was streaming. Aha.

Watched streaming from Hardly Strictly Bluegrass for hours. First Secret Sisters, then Jon Langford, then Kane Welch Kaplin, then Aaron Lee Tasjan, then the Flatlanders (damn!) and then John Prine. John Prine, who made Ernie cry. Lord I love them. And as Brian Wright stated perfectly a moment ago in a reply to my Facebook comment, "I wouldn't trust a man who didn't" (cry when listening to John Prine). Because we are good parents we cut John Prine off to switch to Cheap Trick for Owen. I love Cheap Trick but I was underwhelmed. Overall however, amazing music. 

Sunday evening had Chinese food delivered because I didn't want to cook.

A good weekend. A full weekend. Some sadness, balanced by the beauty of driving in the country with Owen's music playing (everything from Flamin' Groovies to George Harrison to the Strokes). The fields looked beautiful and golden. And then finished it off with beautiful music.

I'll mark it a win. 

Healing, Healing, Healing. Yet Again.

Man, I had kind of a crappy day yesterday and got home in a foul mood. We were supposed to go to the panel discussion at the library about John Isberg's local music documentary. I was in such a bad mood that I started wavering. Owen went full court press convincing me to go, and Leo was sweetly sympathetic. God I love my boys. I finally went, not that I really wanted to at that point, but I knew I'd be pissed as hell at myself if I didn't. 

I was glad I did of course. John did a fabulous job putting this together and I think it meant a lot to a lot of different people. It took me a while to get myself into the right mode...but I got to see some people I love and I got a hug from Brad Elvis and that always makes me happy. We sat with Debbie Stewart and Sasha and that helped too. Listening to so many people talk about Mabel's and Screams and the CU scene and the fucking BOND we all feel...it slowly started to soften my edges. Afterward we talked to a few more people we loved. 

We got into the car to head home and Owen sent a text. "parents the oven is still at 400 do you want me to slap in a pizza or something for when you get home?" Snort.

Ernie and I sat in the living room decompressing and Owen sat on the couch playing guitar. He asked me what I wanted to hear and I told him She Tore Me Down. As he played it the last of my bad day seemed to slink away.

October 27, 2017....Peter Case with the Taxi Boys. It will do your heart good.

 

General Housekeeping Notes and Lack of Lightning

I spent some time this morning, an inordinate amount of time really, getting the Sandwich Life House Concerts Facebook page relatively up to date. We've got next Friday's show with our beloved Eric Brace, Peter Cooper and Thomm Jutz, then in April we have My Darling Clementine, a British due of Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish. Peter Case had recommended them to us some time ago but the dates never worked so I'm very excited to have them here next month. Make sure to click on over and read up a bit and listen! Then in May we welcome back Adam and Chris Carroll. They absolutely blew us away last year. We'll see what happens after that.

Also, a couple of people had mentioned to me that they use to get emails about blog posts but they no longer do. I had tried to figure out why to no avail so today I buckled down and have hopefully solved the problem. You will need to sign up again (in the right column of the blog). Give it a try if you like and do let me know if you have problems.

In other news, apart from the temperature being 40 degrees lower this Saturday (crazy) our day was basically like last Saturday. We shipped Owen off to band practice and then headed out for a drive. Last Saturday had been such a heavenly little trip that we trying again. We had a good time, but alas, lightning did NOT strike twice. We headed over to Danville and tried the Moon Glo, a place that can only be described as a roadhouse. On a crossroads southeast of town, with a smattering of houses on one side and empty cornfields on the other, I imagine it looks as it did many decades ago. We went in and started with a margarita. I never drink margaritas but my sister Judi loved them and it was her birthday today so we drank one in her memory. We also ordered a cheeseburger. The thing was HUGE. The little square of American cheese barely covered about 30 percent of it and wasn't visible without exploration.Unfortunately it was sort of bland. It was juicy enough (as per the oil stain on my dress) but not a touch of salt and no salt shakers to be seen. Onions and pickles and lettuce were on the side and I found if I put enough pickle on it got a bit more flavorful but eh. I was a tad disappointed as, for God's sake, it's called a MOON BURGER. Ernie ordered fries and they were so bad we only ate a couple and when does THAT happen? We had a good time nonetheless, and I bet, on a Saturday night, with a bunch of friends, that burger tastes great. Today...not so much, but I got to drink a toast to my sister and hang out with my guy. All good.

 

 

Random Pictures from the Sandwich Life

Along old Route 66 in Lexington....the remains of an old drive in...

Just some sky, and country roads

My beautiful boy with late afternoon sun

Too full to stop, even though they had a sign about patty melts

Healing Powers: a Drive, a Cheeseburger and a Cemetery

What a difference a DRIVE makes. As you may or may not know, I've been a bit blue of late. Nothing more than the time of year, coupled with memories  and everyday worries...just one of those periods that we all go through occasionally. The last few weekends I've haven't even wanted to go out for a drive. Normally that is what solves whatever is wrong with me. Something about driving out in the country releases tension in me but I couldn't even work up enthusiasm for it. This week I was feeling tired of feeling tired so I thought I am going to have fun this weekend if it KILLS me. Fortunately it did not.

I've been poking about online recently as I'm trying to figure out where Ernie and I might go for a night or two this spring break. The guys have officially declined to go with us so we are free. We like hitting little towns or small cities a few hours from here. We've had delightful times in places ranging from Evansville to Quincy to Columbus, Indiana. This year? We can't quite decide. Recommendations are welcome. So in my time perusing spots I came across a mention of Green Gables in Hudson, Illinois, just north of Bloomington. I'd never heard of it but it sounded like a good destination. A 1929 gas station that had been expanded over the years to a grocery and a tavern and was famous for its burgers. Finally, I'd found a destination.

Ernie liked the sound of it, so yesterday, after we got Owen off to band practice in early afternoon, we headed out. The day was gorgeous. We ambled west on the highway but once we hit Le Roy we got off and headed north on the Le Roy-Lexington Blacktop. Oh man I love it when roads are named things like that. When we used to go out to Ernie's parents' house we'd sometimes take the Flatville Slab. Ah, I love roads. So we took the Blacktop up to Lexington, Illinois, a cute little town that Route 66 used to go through. We headed west to Lake Bloomington and at a little crossroads across from the lake we found Green Gables.

We headed in and found two seats waiting for us at the bar. The place was loud and the waitress was hustling. The only draft they have is Budweiser but they've got other drinks as well so I was able to get my glass of wine. It's a L shaped building, pretty bright, with a grocery to one side, a few tables and booths in a corner and the small bar with a grill behind it, in the other part of the el. We ordered double cheeseburgers and fries, because it seemed the thing to do. We waited forever but watching them make burger after burger at the grill, we knew they were going as fast as they could. Honestly, the wait didn't matter a bit because it was the perfect place to be sitting, right there and then. They brought us our burgers, just wrapped in paper, no plates. The jukebox got turned up and it was the Eagles' Heartache Tonight. I don't even care for the Eagles but it was so damned right at that moment. The burger was as perfect as I've ever had. Not a huge juicy burger, but two smashed patties done just right on an old seasoned grill. We took  them with everything which was onion, lettuce, tomato and pickles. The fries were crinkled and perfectly crispy. Everyone was friendly and I felt ridiculously happy.

Next time I want a seat at the other end of the bar so I can watch the grill more. If you look, in this picture, you can see the big balls of ground beef they let sit on the grill for awhile before they smash them.

We eventually trudged out. I took a couple of not so great pictures because I was so full I could hardly move. Next time perhaps a single cheeseburger or no fries.... It was late afternoon by that point and the sun was getting low but it was still warm and the air felt soft.

Aways down the road we passed a small cemetery. We stopped and walked, looking at the headstones and the farms beyond.

We drove on, feeling content and peaceful. We watched the sun go down, glowing behind a grain mill. I knew I couldn't capture a picture of it so we headed on our way.

Amazing what a difference a drive can make.

 

The Sandwich Life 2016

2016 will not go down as my favorite year in many ways, but on a personal level it was FAR from the worst. It felt good to look back a bit when I did this slideshow. Thanks to all that are in it, or share some of these times with us, and the many of you that I didn't get in pictures. More than ever we feel fortunate for the communities of friends we have.

The music is by Bap Kennedy, an old song, and then a new one from his posthumous release. RIP Bap.

 

 

Fields and Games and Boys

Last night Ernie and the boys picked me up and we headed down to Tuscola for a visitation. Our beloved Bonnie, from Fries and Peanuts, lost her father. Ernie and I had decided that we wanted to go to the visitation. Ever since going through these things myself I realize how much it can mean when someone makes an effort to show they care. We told the boys they didn't have to go, that it was up to them to decide. They both said they wanted to go. That touched me. If I had said, "we should all go," then I wouldn't think twice about it, but the fact that they both decided on their own that they wanted to be there for Bonnie made me very proud of them. They have such good, good hearts.

The evening was beautiful, rain had just passed through and the sun was setting. The fields looked stunning. On our way home we watched lightning flashing in the clouds and not long after we got home a nice long rain began. We sat and watched the Cubs game and again, I say to you sports fans, "how do you DO it?" It's SO STRESSFUL! The boys even came down and watched the end of it with us. I am so happy for Chicago. We couldn't help but wonder what it was like at our old neighborhood bar in Chicago, the Lighthouse....

No pictures to share but lots of them in my mind.