Thursday, August 06, 2015

Once in a Blue Moon...

we get down to southern Minnesota for a weekend. This past weekend we made a quick trip to the Cleveland and Nicollet areas to visit friends and to introduce some of the family to a little Enter Family History.

Friday night shortly after we arrived at Lael and Doug's, the Blue Moon rose over the lake and it was way more beautiful than the camera can capture.  That is a gazing ball in the foreground.

 
 
Saturday morning, our first stop was at Aunt Delores' home; a house that was built before the Civil War and withstood the Dakota Indian Wars that were happening at the same time in Minnesota.
 
 

When we take people to this home, I love to show them the cellar.  I am confident that jars filled with each years' home canned garden produce have stood on these shelves for over a hundred years.


You can see the supports for the house; the sturdy timbers still have the bark on them.


Many of the jars have the old glass covers with wire latches holding it in place.


If an inanimate object could talk, I would love to hear the story this doorknob would tell.  It is the original one unhooking the cellar door.  It is the one that women of the house would have used to hide from the Indians in the 1860's and the one all family members used to bring up good things for supper and the one turned when family members were seeking shelter in tornado weather. 


Aunt Delores was a nurse many years ago and her arms still love to cradle a baby, especially one named Henry Enter who is only one month old.


Rickey liked playing on the old swing.


Of course, we all had to pose for pictures.  Here is Mike's son, Brian, and grandson, Mac, with Great Aunt Delores.
 


Jim's family.


Even Mike and I had our pictures taken.


This is a five generation picture.  I'm only sorry that Henry wasn't included with the other Enter men.


The house, the woman,


and the pump all tilt a little.  But we all stand a little taller after a visit.


Next on the tour was the farm on which Mike's mom, Marion, was born and raised.  This building has stood since before she was born.


The barn doors are a little weathered.


All farms need some kittens and this was a good guard.


The wind mill on the cupola looks like it may have been used for target practice once or twice.



When we got to Shirley's house, Stevi and Rickey enjoyed the hammock.  Notice the building over Jim's shoulder.  It is the old smokehouse which is now used for garden tools.  Since the day was filled with humidity, you could actually smell the smoke still penetrating the timbers of this brick building.


The adults enjoyed imagining what it might have been like when the first Henry Enter came to America.


I wish this picture came complete with sound.  Mike was thrilled to discover they still had the old '40 that he used to drive when he was a youngster.



They shared a story about this oldster being pressed into service as a camper back in the '50s when the guys went up north fishing and hunting.  A structure was built on its back and then removed when the trips were over. 


Pretty simple interior, no backup cameras... not even a rearview mirror.


The Henry Enter Family Home


The Henry Enter Family - one of the three little fellows on the left in the front row is Mike's father, Wilbert.


A far less formal portrait taken later that night of the guys hanging out with Doug around the firepit - too bad it was too warm for a fire. 


Ladies enjoyed the porch.


Again, the moon impressed us.


On Sunday, we attended church and got to see many of our friends and supporters.  The people at Our Savior's in Cleveland support our work in Mexico with prayers and donations; we loaded up all kinds of toys and clothes to take south with us. 

And then we headed over to Kenyon to catch up with the Fischer Clan.  We gather in memory of mom and dad.  These are my brothers Rich and Jim.


No, we aren't auditioning for an Opera, just happened to be a sign with Kenyon on it... too bad that doesn't show.  Anyway Rich, Anita, Mike, me, Monica and Jim . We ate some of the foods mom used to prepare and talked about what was happening in our lives. 


And then we drove home - 240 miles.  It was a busy weekend; thank heavens that pace only happens once in a blue moon. 

1 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Love the Enter flashbacks.

9:02 AM  

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