Post 31/2020. Goshen, Indiana. I'm posting a short, personal note. I had cataract surgery on Monday and the wonder is that I can see in the distance like I've never been able to do without glasses. All those corrective lenses from the wire frame glasses I once left hanging on a garden fence while we …
Author: John Bender
Hi, my name is John Bender, retired and loving it. I'm writing to help interested people cross bridges to and from the past. Stories from the past can shed light on life in the present and illuminate the future. We've got a lot of living to do. Let's do it!
All things 4-H
Post 30/2024 / Elkhart County 4-H Fair / Goshen, Indiana. Nine days of all things 4-H gave fairgoers oodles to chose from. For starters: Parade through Goshen. Animals. Exhibits. Grandstand entertainment. Harness racing. Carnival. Commercial vendors. Food (75 vendors). One had a choice of many, many activities from the gates opening at 8am until the …
Doesn’t anyone stay at home anymore?
Post 29/2024 Goshen Indiana. Marianne stays at home in her senior community in New Hamburg, Ontario. She doesn't drive anymore. Eschews WIFI. Is happy to stay mostly put. Yet this nurse who practiced in northern Canadian regions and in southwestern Ontario and served with her husband Ray in Botswana, is as active as almost ever. …
Birthday celebration
Post 28/2024 New Hamburg Ontario. The weather portended a storm. We left a day early for the seven-hour drive to southwestern Ontario. Right choice. On Wednesday we sat inside at our destination and watched the rain, torrentially at times, tumble down. We came to celebrate brother Willard's milestone birthday. It was planned as a surprise …
Balancing Rocks and Weathering Storms
Post 27/2024 Goshen Indiana. For some it's a vacation. For others it's a holiday. Same thing. The English publication, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage by H.W. Fowler (Oxford University Press, 1983), says, "vacation is in America the ordinary word for what we call a holiday. In Britain it is not so used except (often …
A middling cantaloupe
Post 26/2024 Goshen Indiana. Bought it. Cut it. Eating it. The cantaloupe is middling in ripeness, taste, and satisfaction. The grapes and cherries we had for lunch, too, were less than stellar. Kind of what one expects when the local harvest awaits its season. I'm not complaining, just making an observation. I'm enjoying this iteration …
‘Just the ticket’ in a past police exchange
Post 25/2024 Goshen Indiana. In sorting files this week I found correspondence concerning a traffic incident of 24 years ago. It happened on May 28, 2000 in south western Ontario, Canada. On August 18, 2000, still smoldering some about the incident, I sent a letter to Chief A (I'm using single capital letters for the …
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Minding the heat
Post 24/2024 Goshen Indiana. Early mornings last week were a gift. Cool. Fresh. A walkable start in waking up to days of long light. The troubling part is the forecast of sustained higher temperatures this week. When is heat too hot to handle? Mind you, we'll be minding the thermometer and limiting our time out …
Scenes of the week, with some T-shirt trivia
Post 23/2024 Goshen IN. A few words will suffice for today's post. The too many words swirling around in news await comment at another time. The photos I've selected are scenes from home, from walks this week in Goshen, from a drive to next-door LaGrange County, from the last night of Pat Sajak hosting Wheel …
Continue reading Scenes of the week, with some T-shirt trivia
June, let it bloom
Post 22/2024 Goshen IN. It has been a quiet week after the noisy last leg home from Canada (see Post 21). We had a nice few days with Gerald and Mary and Richard and Sharon at Oliver Lake. Richard and I pressure washed the deck. That task, come to think of it, was pretty noisy, …
It's About Now 