We left Olivia MN early on the 28th of June, stopping around noon at Elynor's cousin Edythe Cavanaugh's farm house near Lohrville IA. We called ahead of time, as is the courteous thing to do, and found out that Edythe's daughter Mary Louise and granddaughter Rose with greatgrandsons Cassius and Frank were visiting! How fortunate to be able to see all.
We had the pleasure of meeting and entertaining Mary Louise when she came to Seattle about 30 years ago to go to college.Pictured above are Mary Louise, holding six-month old Frank, with his 92year-old Great Grandma Edythe looking on approvingly.
As we drove into the farm yard, we were greeted by young Cassius sitting at a tea party which he had established under a grand old American Elm tree. Grumpy accepted Cassius' invitation to have tea -- with cookies! "NOT the eating kind", Cassius explained, "They were the kind you dip in your tea and then suck the soft part off of."
Cassius' and Frank's mother is Rose (Mary Louise's daughter), pictured here, holding the ever-in-motion Frank. Grumpy was succesful in making friends with Frank to the extent that he sat contentedly on Grumpy's lap for a pleasant time while we all visited after a lovely lunch provided by these Cavanaugh ladies.
Before we could leave Edythe's home, we had to watch young Cassius swing on a swing hung from a huge, overhanging branch of the same American Elm tree that also served for his earlier tea party.
Continuing on to Altoona IA (just East of Des Moines) we found cousin Harry Kunkle convalescing at his home. We learned that Harry had only recently been hospitalized for a breathing problem, part of the complications of MS, the disease he has been battling for over 20 years.
Despite his ever-present illness, Harry remains amazingly active and an always gracious host and an ever-delightful conversationalist. Elynor and Harry chatted away for about an hour, recounting memories as Grumpy recorded other interesting items, including this tree Azalea of which Harry was particularly proud. He also showed us photos of his granddaughter and the honors she had earned.
A visit to Harry Kunkle's is not complete until you take note of his rare animals. Here on the right is Lewis, an African Grey parrot. Lewis is a bundle of nerves; in order to "calm" himself, he picks the feathers from his breast and legs. Or maybe he thinks he needs to line a nest? He talks, but only to young men like Ramiro, who met him a few years ago.
The other unusual animal is Francesca, an Italian greyhound. Francesca is a "little overweight", according to Harry. She needs more exercise -- a daily walk of a couple of miles would do just fine. Ramiro was honored to be asked by Harry to take her for a walk when he was here!
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