Remember When?

Signboard outside Kirkland's tobacco shop

Cigar boxes for $7 or 2 for $10

Getting ready for the new elementary school year always involved a trip to Max Cannon's cigar store on Main Street in London. He gave us cigar boxes for the school supplies we kept in our desks at school. They were just the right size. I wonder how many boxes Mr. Cannon gave away every year. 

Cannon owned the business for about 45 years. After the store closed, the contents were donated to the Madison County Historical Society and the shop was recreated at the museum. Pauline Persing wrote about this on her blog. Check it out here. In her blog post there's a picture of newspaper boys and the turkeys they received from Mr. Cannon. Uncle David Holton is one of those boys. 

Phyllis Doyle Burns wrote a poem about her cigar box and its school supplies. Click here 

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I wonder - Did Dad buy his pipes and tobacco at Cannon's? I don't remember his going there. 

In the Air Again

on the way to Columbus to see family & friends

so much water!

Seattle is in the midst of ocean, sounds, rivers & lakes

It's interesting to watch our flight across the country. 

Our plane did turn around & didn't go into Canada.

The Plains States & Illinois & Indiana

Approaching Columbus - I was a few weeks too late for the brilliant fall colors

First order of business - take my winter coat out of my suitcase 

Wonders of the World - in Columbus, Ohio

I remember these wonders of the world at the Great Western Shopping Center on the west side of Columbus. We saw the "wonders" when we went to the S&H Green Stamp store* in the shopping center.

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*We had avocado colored luggage "bought" with S&H Green Stamps. Those suitcases lasted forever!

Children's Spaces

“Given half a chance, children create their own nooks in the leftover places of the adult map.” Alastair Bonnett talks of children making “dens.” “The meaning of each place was entirely at our disposal and was constantly being transformed to fit with our changing fantasies.” “Den-making is a particular kind of play, not with dolls or toy guns but with place. It’s a form of play that is particularly private and vulnerable.  Any adult or teenage presence can destroy it at once: a looming face would reduce Paul’s and my dens to a dull clutter of sticks.” Alastair Bonnett in Unruly Places

This brought back memories of "den-making" in my childhood.

~There were forsythia bushes in one corner of our backyard. We liked to play there in all the "rooms." It never occurred to us that we were probably totally visible to Mom and her friends who were sitting at the kitchen table and looking out periodically to check on all the children.

~Margaret Farrar, later Reynolds, lived behind the vacant lot next to our house. I have a vivid memory of raking leaves there and making leaf houses, very elaborate (to us) with "walls" for rooms and openings for doorways. Were we supposed to be raking her yard or did we go there because she had the most leaves in the neighborhood? 

ca 1955 Susan at creek on Madison Road

~We spent a lot of time at the creek of Madison Road. We thought it was our own little world - and it was. We spent hours and hours at a time playing in the water, swinging on a rope swing, catching tadpoles, walking on top of the REALLY HIGH bridge on Chrisman Avenue (somehow it totally shrunk in later years). The only time we saw adults was when MaryF was with us. Her mother was "always" with her. We figured it was because her parents were older and she was an only child. As in the quote above, the magic was "destroyed" by the presence of an adult. It became an ordinary creek when Mary's mother was there. Interestingly we didn't play much, that I remember, at the creek on Oak Street. We went over to Madison Road probably because it was a bit further from home.

~One wonderful "den memory" - I think Betty was with me. We got a huge pile of books from the library and took them to this little "island" in the creek to read. My memory is that the island was covered with tall, thick, vibrantly green grass - a perfect place to read.

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Dad was a great accomplice in den-making. He made us several teepees over the years. The lean-to appears in quite a few backyard pictures. It was turned into a stable for a Christmas card picture. 

Dad made this teepee in 1952 - Julia, Tom & Susan

1958 - Susan, Julia & Tom with teepee & lean-to

1955 - the fort - Susan, ?, Tom, Jan & Billy

The Texas Tower is in the back right of this picture. Dad modeled it after an oil rig platform. Our tower had a ladder and cargo net that could be pulled up, thus controlling access to the "high" platform. Photo 1958 Julia & Susan

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Then there was the "deep forest" in our yard at North Street. Our grandson named this when he was about three. To his young eyes I'm sure the two pine trees with their low branches made a perfect hiding place, his own den. Little did he know that we could see into his little world from the house.

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Den-making - fun childhood memories

Doors

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." Helen Keller

I was going through drafts of blog posts that never were published. This one was initially saved in June 2011. I'm sure the quote resonated with me because of our recent move from Ohio to Washington. The Ohio "door of happiness" had closed behind us and I still wasn't sure how I felt about the Kirkland door.

That Kirkland door has indeed been one of happiness. We have been blessed and our lives have been full as a result of our move.

top - leaving Ohio home for the last time, March 2, 2011

bottom - our new home in Kirkland, March 2011

Friend & Brother

Ray Emerson Pepper was born 6/19/1915 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County OH. Ray lived in Cleveland until about age 10 when his parents were divorced. He then lived with his grand or great grand Mother Roe in Lima for a while (year or two) Mr. Roe was a picture on the wall; Ray never met him. Ray then left for California with his Father who was an accountant. 

He lived with his father in California until his Dad’s death in 1932. They lived in a room and mostly ate out. In fact they were eating in a restaurant when his Dad dropped over on the table dead from a stroke. At age 17 he got on a bus back to Ohio.  He then lived one year with Charles Pepper (William’s brother) for his junior year of high school but they didn’t get along at all. Ray then lived with the Ailes (a teacher) family who befriended him for his senior year. The Ailes family, Mother, Father, and children were life long friends of Ray’s. (Joe Todd) 

This image from the 1940 census shows Ray living with the Ailes family in Pemberton, Ohio - Sidney & Lina with their sons Wayne, Ned & John. They had three lodgers - Ray Pepper, Frances Newhouse & Nettie Mendel. Ray was working as a nickel plater. 

See the PepperRay label on the right for more information & photos of Ray Pepper

census image - familysearch.org

Joe - Boxing & Racing

Joe had an interest in car racing from an early age. His Grandmother Neely, Mamaw, took him to races at the Indianapolis Speedway. As an adult he loved to go to the races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. We attended Formula 1 races at Watkins Glen in New York. 

Mementoes

~The stop watch was used in many races. 

~"The Unfair Advantage" by Mark Donohue - We saw him race at Mid-Ohio many times. Read about the book here. 

~Small Formula 1 car - Joe doesn't remember the story behind this car. 

~Postcard - picture of Janet Gutherie, the first woman to earn a starting spot in the Indianapolis 500. Joe followed her career for a long time. 

Joe has a boxing story too! When he was at Howe Military School he boxed. Then, during his freshman year at The Ohio State University, he boxed for two quarters.  He enjoyed following several boxers for a number of years. 

ca 1949 @ Howe Military School & 1951-52 high school senior

Ohio Pumpkins In Seattle News

Circleville's pumpkin show was featured on local news here. Fun!

Missing

This time of year I'm missing delicious, 

still-warm-from-the-garden Ohio tomatoes

gift from a friend - fresh off the vine

Most years it's difficult to grow tomatoes here due to the cooler climate and short warm season. Often they develop on the vine but don't ripen. One of the only good things that can be said about the ten 90 degree days we had this year is that tomatoes had enough hot days to ripen!

I eagerly cut into these tomatoes and savored the taste - probably the best we've had since moving out here. But, not too far back in my memory is the taste of Ohio tomatoes, especially those grown in that wonderful Ohio River mud in Gallipolis - now that's how a tomato should taste!

Ohio in the News

It's always fun to run across articles about Ohio in magazines and blogs. Just this week I saw two references (I'm not counting the frequent political connections).

Shawni Eyre Potier and her husband enjoyed watching their son play in the national volleyball championship tournament in Columbus. They gave a shoutout to the North Market. See more here. 

Reading through The Week magazine it was interesting to see a reference to the Hocking Hills. Headline read "Ohio's kooky Hocking Hills." The short article included: "Moonshine and wonderfully weird destinations make middle-of-nowhere Hocking Hills a surprisingly fun getaway...  known for spectacular waterfalls, valleys, and caves - including a cave that's considered the secret birthplace of the United Mine Workers. But wackier man-made attractions grabbed my attention. The town of Logan is home to both America's last remaining washboard factory and a pencil sharpener museum that packs 3,400 examples into a tool shed. Nearby, sleepy New Straitsville, once known as the moonshine capital of the world, started producing legal hooch several months ago at the Straitsville Special Moonshine Distillery. I took one whiff of the stuff and my eyes bulged. 'One more eye-opening experience in the Hocking Hills.'"  (July 24, 2015, page 27)

image 

Journey

When I went back to Ohio in April, I found myself driving up and down High Street quite a bit. I thought about the hundreds, probably thousands, of times I’ve driven High Street between Worthington and downtown Columbus. I thought about the conversations I had with God as I journeyed back and forth to work on Glenmont Avenue in Clintonville – those were some intense, and often teary communications as I pondered and prayed.  What does it mean to be a daughter of God? What does God want me to do with my time here on earth?  How do I handle personal challenges? What do we do about family situations? When should we go on our mission? ….. Those were very intense times journeying up and down High Street over the years. As I traveled the route in April, some of those strong feelings came back to me.

During my April trip I spent a day with my best friend since second or third grade. I am thankful we’ve chosen to stay close throughout our journeys. Our conversations and friendship over the years have strengthened both of us. It’s precious to have that much history with a friend. 

Family  - getting together with three generations of family in Columbus is precious beyond description. I think it’s really four generations because I feel Mom’s and Dad’s pleasure that the family is close and enjoys getting together. DNA and marriage link us. Love and loyalty keep us together. The choice to share each other’s joys and sorrows results in blessings and relationships that are beyond measure. 

When I went to church while in Ohio, I was overwhelmed by intense feelings of love for my Worthington church family. Some of the people in the congregation have been with us from 1981, the very beginning of our discipleship journey. We’ve served together, learned together, grown together – cried, laughed and supported each other through good times and hard times. The quick hellos, hugs, and “how are yous” at church were nice. Even better were the longer visits I was able to have with a few of these good people. 

My life’s journey certainly didn’t turn out the way I thought it was going to. But then, how much do we know when we’re thinking about these things in our late teens and early 20s?! I started on one path. Divorce and remarriage were unanticipated reroutings. Discipleship and yoking myself with Jesus Christ added a depth and breadth to my life that was unanticipated and is totally awesome. I even got a transfer to Seattle – who would have thought I’d end up in the Pacific Northwest! 

The specifics and timing of our future are unknown. Part of me would like a lot more answers than I’m ever going to get. While we don’t know the exact route, the detours, the bumps in the road, we do know that the journey leads back to life with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We have the word of God to hang on to. We have communication with God, the example and teachings of Jesus Christ, and the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, to guide us.

Journeys are easier, and more fun, when you have companions. I am thankful for Joe, my eternal companion. I am thankful for family and friends who have chosen to accompany me and let me be part of their journeys. The adventure continues!

Puzzles And Help From The Other Side

When Ray Pepper, Joe's step-father, went into the nursing home and it was time to sell the house in Urbana, we found shoe boxes full of photos. Most of them didn't have any names, places or dates. Those with notes on the back usually referred to people and places we didn't recognize. 

When I do a long term project I like to have it tucked away somewhere so the clutter can be shut behind a door. The Todd-Pepper-Neely photo project was going to take much more space than what was available behind "closed doors." 

Photos were on almost every surface in the kitchen-dining & living room areas. We put up two additional tables. Unfortunately Joe was as clueless as I was concerning who the people were. After days of staring at these pictures we identified those we thought were Todds & Neelys (above right).

That left this table full of people - below

Every morning when I came downstairs I wondered who they were. We didn't recognize anyone. The few notes on the backs didn't help us with identification of the people. I was very taken by the beautiful couple in what looked like a wedding photograph (middle right of picture). After days of stewing about who they were, I came downstairs one morning and "heard" or felt - "We are Ray Pepper's parents." The man has a very distinctive wave in his hair. I started looking for him in other pictures and soon found a very young boy that certainly must be Ray Pepper. I hope I'm able to verify this identification through other sources. But for now, I'm very comfortable with the identification. 

William & Florence Norcross Pepper

Then the notes on the backs of photos made sense. When Ray was about 10 his parents divorced. Ray went to live with family in Lima, Ohio. Then Ray and his father moved to California. Many of the pictures were from William's and Ray's trip across country. Ray and William were in California a year or two when William died instantly from a stroke. He and Ray were out to dinner when it happened. Ray rode a bus back to Ohio and lived with an uncle for a while. When that didn't work out, Ray was taken in by the Ailes family for his senior year. Mr. Ailes was a teacher at the high school. 

This is just one of many times I've had the experience of people on the other side wanting to be known. No one wants to be forgotten. 

Family Connections

Southwest's February 2015 magazine has articles connected
to two of our family's cities. 

Shakespeare in Detroit

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

A Bit of Ohio

Recently a friend told how a long ago coworker made up his lunch for the week. Starting with a loaf of bread and pile of bologna, he alternated slices of bread and bologna - no mayonnaise, mustard or other fixings, just bread and bologna. Then he put the whole thing back in the bread bag and took out something to eat every day. 

That story brought back memories of Trail Bologna from Ohio. We didn't have it very often but periodically our bodies would tell us it was time for some Trail Bologna. Every once in a while on my way home from Mom's and Dad's I would stop at the Cheese House in Plain City and get 3-4 slices of Trail Bologna and matching number of slices of Baby Swiss cheese. That always took care of the craving for a while. 

Click here for a story about this family business that's been operating for more than 100 years and what makes this bologna so good.  Here's another article.  I always thought Trail bologna was named for Trail, Ohio. This website says that's the case. But the Troyer's website says - "Originally named not for the town it was produced in but for the fact it was the most portable meat that could be eaten after not being refrigerated for quite some time." Trail bologna was eaten on the trail. This article talks about the Midwest and bologna; Troyer's Trail Bologna is mentioned. 

These days you can find about anything on the Internet - even Troyer's Trail Bologna from Trail, Ohio. We had some shipped to the west coast last week. Now, if we could only find a way to get broasted chicken from Der Dutchman out here :) 

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After typing bologna so many times for this post, I started wondering about the origin of the word and why it is spelled bologna and pronounced baloney. dictionary.com's explanation includes connections to Italy, Ireland, Poland, and politics. 

GPS & Maps - Stories from the Class of 1964

Joe and I have been using a GPS for a number of years and have had some adventures and misadventures with it. Right before my recent trip to Ohio and Michigan I learned how to use Siri with Apple Maps and Google Maps on my phone. I had varying amounts of success with voice navigation on my travels. I like old-fashioned paper maps and usually have one on hand for a trip to unfamiliar territory. I also print out directions from MapQuest, just in case the GPS doesn't work. I like to be prepared. 

My generation started with manual typewriters. We are now using computers, smartphones, GPS, and all sorts of devices that didn’t even exist when we graduated from high school. I joined a few of my classmates for lunch on the weekend of of our 50th reunion and traded stories. Some of the funniest tales concerned our experiences with the transition from maps to GPS devices. Here are three of the funniest stories from the Class of 1964. I wish you could hear them being told - hilarious!

One woman started her trip in Philadelphia where she was visiting her daughter. She told her daughter to give her directions to Interstate 70. From there she knew how to get to London, Ohio. She followed her daughter’s directions and thought something was wrong because she wasn’t getting to I-70. So she stopped at a gas station to get a map. “A map???” said the gas station attendant. It was as though she was asking for some long buried artifact! I can’t remember if they located a map or not. It was just funny that something as common as a map (common when we were in high school) is no longer common. 

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Another woman had an adventure with her brother. They set off on a trip from Ohio to the East Coast. For some reason their GPS quit working (or they couldn’t figure out how to use it). They too stopped at a gas station to get a map. No maps at the station. They were referred to a nearby Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel had maps, but only for the surrounding area. She hilariously told about traveling across country, stopping at a Cracker Barrel every time they “drove off their map” and needed a new one!

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Another classmate and her husband were in a major city visiting their son and his family. They stayed at a hotel and were looking forward to the young granddaughters staying with them overnight at the hotel. Everything was going fine and people got ready for bed. The youngest girl started crying, wanting her parents. Eventually the older girl said, “Grandma, it’s not going to get any better. You’d better take her home.” It was midnight. My classmate put her coat on over her PJs and asked the hotel person to get her car. She programmed her son's address into the GPS and started driving. After driving a while she knew she was lost. She knew there were parts of this city she shouldn’t be in at night but didn’t know where those parts were or if she was in them. The little girl whined for her mother. The older girl asked if they were lost. My classmate was worried about being lost in this city at that time of night. In her PJs with her young granddaughters in the car! Finally she saw a street name she recognized so she exited the freeway and eventually found her way to her son's. Their street is very narrow with cars parked on both sides. Backing out of driveways can be tricky. Since it was the middle of the night she “parked” in the middle of the street, took the girls up to the porch and timidly knocked on the door so she wouldn’t wake the baby. No one came to the door so she finally pounded on the door which brought her son to the door. Then a neighbor, who had been at a late party, drove up behind her car and was irate that she was blocking the street. She got back in her car, put in the address of the hotel into her GPS and found that she had to make just two turns and she was at the hotel!

So it goes. 

Travel Observations

I recently went back to Ohio to visit family and friends and attend a high school reunion. Then I drove to Michigan to see our daughter and her family. 

One of the wonderful parts of traveling is the people you meet. I took a cab to the airport because I had to leave so early in the morning, 4:45. The cab driver moved here from Ethiopia about 6 years ago. We had an interesting discussion about Islam and Christianity in Ethiopia.

From Detroit to Las Vegas (on the way home; that’s a pretty southern route to take when trying to get to Seattle) – the man and woman next to me were going to Las Vegas to “people watch.” She said they don’t gamble. As we talked I found out she not only knows where Juddville, Michigan (the little deserted crossroads town started by our ancestors in the mid1800s) but she drives by the Juddville Methodist Church every day! What are the chances that any of the 175 people on that plane would know about Juddville much less end up sitting next to me! Waiting in line to board in Las Vegas, I spoke with a couple who ran the marathon in Detroit the previous day. They said they really enjoyed Detroit. Their goal is to run a marathon in every state. Michigan was state #35.

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My phone contains my watch, my alarm clock, my scriptures, my camera, flashlight, a GPS - and a multitude of other goodies. Lightens the load in the suitcase for sure. 

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It's interesting to compare the various airports I visited on this trip. I’ve been through Chicago Midway so many times over the years that I know the lay of the land. We won't even talk about the gambling machines in the Las Vegas airport. It's always interesting to see the variety of ethnic groups in the Detroit airport. 

 

Seattle’s airport has some unique features. Where else would you find Bigfoot paraphernalia? Or salmon swimming on the floor, leading to gurgling water fountains? Or a seafood place open at 5:15 am!!I love Ivar's clam chowder but that was a bit too early in the morning for me. 

The color scheme depends on the home town team 

blue and green for Seattle and scarlet and gray for Columbus

Prescreening - what bliss. I’m not sure how I got on the prescreening list, but it’s certainly nice. It prints out on my ticket and I get waved into a separate line. Don’t have to take anything out of my bag, don’t have to take off my shoes, … I don’t know if I’m prescreened just for Southwest or if it’s for all airlines. This relieves a huge part of the airport hassle.

How travel has changed - we make our own reservations online instead of going through a travel agent. I remember when all that changed and how it took a while to get used to not having a "real" paper ticket. 

People dress differently now too. People used to dress up to travel. People dress much more casually now. I switched from dresses or skirts to slacks when a friend died in a plane crash and there were articles about dressing so you could easily exit a plane. No nylons because the material melts onto your legs; skirts make it difficult to climb over seats and so forth. Most of the people in that crash died not from the crash but from the resulting fire because they didn’t get out of the plane quickly enough.

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Remember when you had to search high and low in airports to find outlets for recharging computers – often ending up sitting on floors to access an outlet? Now there are charging options in abundance. 

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Flying into Columbus I didn't see much color in the treetops. Fortunately the trees in other parts of Columbus and in Michigan were much further along in their gorgeous fall beauty. 

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It was raining when we landed in Columbus. I smiled since everyone talks so much about Seattle and rain. The red sign on the side of the terminal also made me smile - "Leave parking brake set." I had visions of a huge airplane drifting into the building if someone forgot to set the brake. 

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Home - It’s still strange to come into the Columbus airport as a visitor and not be coming “home.” Driving through Worthington and past our North Street house is interesting. It's still a wonderful community and a very nice place to live but it's no longer "home." 

These visits felt more like I'm on the other side of a major transition than I have been in previous visits. I guess it's about time since we're almost through our fourth year in Kirkland. On the drive to Michigan I saw many out of state license plates. When I saw the familiar Washington plate on a truck, I thought "home." 

I am thankful for the abundance of family, friends, and good memories that fill Ohio and Michigan. We are creating good memories in Washington.