Photo of the Week: Priest

 

Garden update: It's been awhile...

Because there isn't much garden work that can be done in Iowa in the middle of winter. The first sign of Spring came on February 1st when my daffodils began pushing up through the mulch. Some of them are now in full bloom.

The best of the group

Angle 2

This afternoon I went out and planted seeds for several cool season crops: radishes, carrots, peas, and onions. I also planted onion sets for the first time. Those are in a separate section so we'll see how they turn out. I'm also going to try my hand at: broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, and kale. I had no success with those last year so I'm starting them indoors this year.

For warm season crops I'm planning on corn and sweet potatoes. I've saved three ears of corn from last season and am hoping at least some of the kernels will be viable. I really liked the sweet potatoes I grew two years ago and this time I'm going to try creating slips to overwinter indoors.

For non-food plants I've saved two heads of bee balm and planted seeds from those in about ten jiffy pots and planted those out in the garden. I hope these work out because bee balm smells wonderful and is right up there with lilac in my opinion. I also sowed seeds from cup plant last fall to try and kickstart a 'native' garden.

The biggest news is I finally got around to planting my year-old apple sapling outside on Friday. It looks a little worse than last summer but it still has green leaves. It was quite windy today and still gets chilly at night so I put a tomato cage wrapped in cloth around it to protect it. Hope it survives but if it doesn't I've got about twenty seeds chilling in the fridge that I could try.

Better times last summer

Photo of the Week: Sea dog

 

Milestone

I've reached a milestone recently: no posts on Facebook since February 18th. Of course that was helped out by people not interacting with me. But I'm beginning to accept my station in life. The next challenge will be going on a year, and then ceasing altogether before maybe disappearing from the web entirely.

Photo of the Week: Sisters

Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna and baby Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna

 

Photo of the Week: Steps

 

Photo of the Week: 1903 Costume Ball

 

Jim Hedges, Prohibition Party Leader, Dies at the Age of 85

https://ballot-access.org/2024/03/11/jim-hedges-prohibition-party-leader-dies-at-the-age-of-85/ 

Photo of the Week: Nicholas and Alexandra on horseback

 

In Memoriam: Corey Tyler DePooter

From aColumbineSite:

Born March 3, 1982

17 years old

Corey DePooter was a former wrestler who loved to hike, golf, hunt, and fish. He loved wrestling, golf and in-line skating, but fishing was his passion. He had recently taken a maintenance job at a golf club to save up to buy a fishing boat with a friend. Someone Corey used to fish with said: "It was the times we didn't do well that his personality really shined." Another friend said of him: "When you're going fishing or camping, I know he's going to be there, watching and making sure you're doing everything right.

A junior at Columbine at the time of the shootings, Corey is described as an all-American kid who put schoolwork above everything else: He had his wisdom teeth removed that year and was upset that the procedure had forced him to miss school. His sister Jena was a freshman at the high school when he died. He taught her how to fly-fish. Jena said she likes to imagine her brother doing something he loves.

Corey was hiding under a table near the windows with his best friend Stephen "Austin" Eubanks, Jennifer Doyle, and Peter Ball when the shooters entered the library. While his friend Austin watched, Dylan Klebold aimed his semi-automatic at Corey and pulled the trigger, killing him almost instantly and injuring Jenny and Austin.

Austin Eubanks later said about Corey: "People said he was the kind of guy people like to be around. I know I sure did. Corey was always able to pick our spirits up in a gloomy situation."

Though Austin survived, sadly he died from an accidental heroin overdose on May 18, 2019, just weeks after Columbine's 20th anniversary. He struggled with opioid for years after the shooting, having gotten hooked on painkillers while recovering from his injuries. Corey was never far from his thoughts in life; he spoke about him often when he was at public speaking events.

"Corey would have told us to move on," his mother Patricia told the Denver Post. "He would not like us moping around." But: "There are days you just cry and cry and cry."

Corey died in the library from multiple gunshot wounds to the neck, chest and left arm. His funeral was held at Trinity Christian Center. Soon after his death his grandmother, Fern Hamilton, contacted the Marine Corps about holding some sort of ceremony for Corey because he'd always wanted to become a Marine. On May 3, 2000, Corey was granted that dream during a ceremony at his gravesite in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Littleton, Colorado, where he was made an honorary Marine.

Austin Eubanks and Corey DePooter