So very sorry to hear of the passing of Sara Hohe of Rockford. She was the daughter of Mary Weinberg Hohe of Augusta. She often visited Mary and attended church with her. Children are supposed to outlive their parents. Please keep Mary and her family in your thoughts and prayers.
Governor Big Jim Thompson also passed away this week. That brought back several memories. I was on the state Board of the Illinois Education association when Big Jim was Inaugurated. As a result of being on the Board, I was invited to the inaugural ball in Springfield. Ben and I had just gotten married and if you know me well, you know that my “wedding dress” would not be traditional. So dressed in my wedding outfit, complete with gold strappy sandals, we went to the ball. My memory of the festivities was that it was very cold and snowy and my feet were really cold. Another result of being on the IEA Board was that we were invited to the governor’s mansion for breakfast. I am not sure that Jayne Thompson prepared our breakfast but it was nice to be invited. We were again with Big Jim many years later. Ben and I were doing 3rd Sunday Market in Bloomington. Don Raycraft, owner of the show, placed Governor Thompson in the booth next to us at one show. Ben spent the whole day of the show saying “You remember Governor Thompson” because apparently no one did remember him. It was an interesting day. Though the governor was interested in antiques, I do remember not being impressed with his booth., was even a reproduction or two in his collection.
Took one of my mini vacations on Sunday afternoon. Headed to the Mississippi River bank with a tuna sub and just enjoyed watching the river flow for a couple of hours. Was surprised to learn just how many of my friends do the same thing when I mentioned this on face book.
There was a wedding in the Amish community this week. That brings drivers to my B&B. Started out with a gentleman who had stayed here before on Monday and Tuesday. A second driver just walked up to the house on Tuesday evening and asked for a room. Had a room so he stayed for two nights. Another driver came on Wednesday also. This became a problem when I had a reservation for a lady on Thursday. All worked out. Loved the lady. She had never stayed at a B&B before and was also new to driving the Amish. She had a lovely new van. She had also recently lost a son. We “hit it off” immediately. Hope to see her again. She was from Iowa and their farm had suffered extensive damage in the storm last Monday.
Noticed that the Plymouth Police car was being driven around town this week. So good to see a policeman on duty!
On my way to Quincy on Monday, I must have been passed by at least a dozen trucks and vans that said “ Kiowa Line Builders” on the vehicles. I assume they had been in the Cedar Rapids area rebuilding the electric lines and were headed home to Tipton, Missouri. Iowa suffered so much damage, yet I have not seen a lot on the news about the disaster. Perhaps it was there and I just did not watch the news.
Did watch quite a bit of the Democratic National Convention. A virtual convention was different, yet I thought it was well done. Was especially impressed with a clip showing Biden and McCain working together in the Senate to get things done for the country even though they were not in the same political party. Politicians must start to work together again for the good of our country. All are elected to work for their constituents, not to bicker and block real progress.
Looked at the Gene Whitford auction just north of Plymouth. It was an on line auction, which I now despise. Bid on a whole page of items and got one.
Niece Marcella and nephew Roger stopped by the store on Saturday. We ended up going to Macomb for dinner at a restaurant with outdoor seating. Was nice to have an almost normal evening. I just don’t eat out any more because of the virus.
Got an interesting call this week. The drivers paid in cash so I went to the Augusta Bank to make a deposit. Later I got a phone call from the bank saying that some cash was dropped on the floor and that their camera showed it was probably mine. I asked if it was folded in the middle and it was. It was so nice of them to call and not for someone to have just pocketed the money. There are really a lot of good people in the world, we just don’t hear about them.
Supposed to be a hot and dry week. Take care if you work outside. Make sure both you and your pets have plenty of water. Scatter Kindness.