11-22-13 Field Trip

Tuesday started out with this beautiful full moon to the west,

with a beautiful sunrise to the east.

After Jacob finished milking, we loaded up and headed north to Kevin & Jolynn’s. At first there wasn’t much debris, but as we got closer to the path of the tornado, there was more.

To the left are Roger and Judy, friends of the Hodels’ (Judy was a bus driver when Kevin was in school); Kyle Strietmatter and Tate Wyss are to the right. In the background is the site of Kevin & Jolynn’s house.

There were a lot of smaller pieces that Josh helped pick up, and when his little legs got tired, he just plopped down for a rest.

This is looking northwest; to the right of the picture is Kevin’s folks’ place.

Looking east toward Kevin & Jolynn’s farmstead.

Candi & Audrey also came to help, and they brought with them Audrey’s tutor Leah and her friend Dan. To the right is Marcia Koch.

Getting acquainted as we worked – come to find out, Candi is related to both Tate and Kyle. Who knew?!

Notice shirt sleeves – everyone warmed up as the day went on.

Back to the chicken coop for lunch, we saw this salvaged toy (the road set, not the tractors) – of which the kids have many fond memories since at one time it was ours.

They call this the chicken coop because at one time it housed several thousand(?) chickens. Since it was damaged by straight-line winds in 2010, Kent and Janet have re-made it into a beautiful gathering place. Currently it is being used for sorting and cleaning rescued items; also there is a kitchen in another corner from which we were served a delicious lunch.

More sorting. No more px of the chicken coop because I was busy eating.

Back to the field -

Equipment being hauled away for repair. The combine was already gone.

Random….

That’s just how the shirt was lying in the field, still on the hanger.

Our driver was Ernie Knecht, who was Grandpa Kaiser’s twin, although they’ve never met and Grandpa Kaiser is a few years older. Same kind of jacket, same kind of hat, same kind of pants, same kind of shoes, similar height and stature, same kind of old tractor (kind of), same occupation (retired farmers), same mannerisms. We enjoyed getting to know him.

Left, Candi’s friend Jill also joined the crew.

This piece of debris was wedged about a foot in the ground. Interesting.

Josh was a good little trooper, but he was pretty happy to ride for the last while. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, too, if you haven’t noticed.

Another tired trooper.

This was interesting. At one point several of us counted trucks, and we came up with around 47, all on that stretch of road. Here I’m looking east,

and looking west down the same road.

Tree in the path of the tornado; neighbor picking up debris from his field.

Others had to leave at various times; the last bit was just us and Ernie.

After a short snack at the chicken coop, we headed south again, stopping for a look at the house and farm on the way by.

On the road again.

Home in time for chores and supper.

Grandma Kaiser brought out this quilt that Kevin’s grandma made for them. She didn’t take a before picture, but she said it looked like Drew’s airplane quilt. After she and Grandpa did the garden-hose-over-the-washline treatment, it looked better, but it still needed more work in a machine with soap. She asked me to wash it because I have a bigger washing machine, which I did, and it turned out really good, I thought.  These little splinters were fascinating.

This was the only torn part of the quilt, and I know that Grandma will have that patched up in no time.

There are a couple of blocks that are still a little discolored, but I think most people won’t notice them.

And if they do, well, what of it? It’s still a gorgeous quilt, and a precious heirloom; and, after all, it survived a tornado.