It Really is ICE

Most of the time, you can count on the weather predictions here in Middle Earth. There are no mountains to change the trajectory of the storm. This one has been right on, all week. They said about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice, and it is! The dogs went hurriedly out the door for potty time and Bailey was 'a--holes and elbows', as they say. He doesn't get it, either, doesn't slow him down. On the other hand, Herman, our black and tan dachshund stepped carefully on the part of the sidewalk that wasn't frozen. For around noon, the prediction is 50 degrees and winds gusting to 45 mph. Oh yeah.

Before too much time goes by, I wanted to share these cool photos of a farmstead house I came upon when I returned home from Shawnee. It is about 6 miles from Aurora, Ks., just a sighting off of Highway 24, a beautiful drive BTW! They could use the scenery on that highway for their own version of "Kansas Highways" magazine. Hey, maybe that would be a neat job? Photographing Kansas! Or has someone else already beat me to it?

Anyway, as I was taking lots of pictures, here came the homestead owner in his p/u with a trailer. He opened the fence/gate and then walked over to talk to me. He was very nice. Usually, I encounter people who don't really appreciate my interest. He said you never know who you will meet, Greenpeace, PETA, or something like that, I told him, "No...I'm just an artist/photographer that likes to capture cool sights like this one." He told me about the house. As you can see, it was built in 1888. (Click on picture to enlarge.)
Their family name is "Trahan", you say it "tran". His mom and dad were down the road in the more modern home if I wanted to go talk to them about this house, "'Course dad's had a stroke, but mom can translate for him!" I really wanted to but knew I had better step it up a little, so as not to be late for the dentist. They lived in this house until about 20 years ago, so he grew up here as a boy. You can see where the house was added on to. (You can see it by enlarging photo 1 or 2 above.) He said the roof, just recently started falling off. It was sweet!


I thanked him, over and over for being so helpful and letting me linger on the photo shoot. I could poke around stuff like that, all day! I guess that is one of the perks for living here, cause this area is full of it! What is special is that you get first hand info sometimes, like this one. Lots of history still showing, where as in the city, it is either modernized, or torn down.

Also BTW, you say you are from the Smith Center area...and people talk and talk about our HS football team! They ARE a national sensation, and maybe in the wrong league!