As with anything else, taking a break from blogging is, well, not a good idea especially if you’re trying to finish something you started two years ago! Looks like Feb. 21^st was much the same at home, weather reports, turning on and off the gas, a report of Mimi’s whereabouts but then a road trip. They came and visited us, then my Uncle Stanley and his family where they were joined by my dad who then my dad headed off home. It doesn’t seem to me that all of those places are all that close together. Arlington, Georgetown, New Braunfels, and San Antonio.

So Arlington to Georgetown is 172 miles, Georgetown to New Braunfels is 74.7 miles, and New Braunfels to San Antonio is 33.9 miles. So, on Feb. 21 Poppa drove a total of 246.7 miles, I guess that’s reasonable given the rest stop in Georgetown. So that means my dad was on his way home when he stopped in to visit at Uncle Stanley’s. Thanks for the assist in understanding Google.

Finally! ‘KSJ’ stands for ‘Knights of San Jacinto’ which is/was a special recognition bestowed on active members of the Sons of the Republic of Texas! That was driving me nuts. Fraternal organizations are weird. I wonder what the people for whom the organizations would think of them? I get the camaraderie aspect and the remembrance aspect but in the long run who is really being honored/remembered?

Ha! I thought it said minerals were ignorant! I wonder why he put so much effort into underlining, “Nature makes minerals”? Foreshadowing his devotion to his faith? Or establishing his faith was already set? Ok, the German doctor’s quote about Pepto-Mangan begs a lot of questions. The patient was his servant? Who had not menstruated for nine months? Wouldn’t that mean she was pregnant? And he administered the medicine 3 time a day after meals and with wine?! Medicine was practiced much differently back then; I guess.

I know that property he writes of on the Comal River had many a good time shooting the Flume then floating down the river to that property. It’s located in a great spot at a bend in the river. You can put your tube in on one side, float around the bend, grab your tube, walk across the parking lot and put in for another float. Good Times. Apparently my uncle also owned a motel with a restaurant. Not surprising he was a great businessman. That gene skipped my dad. (Sorry dad.) Poppa seems to be troubled by not only physical ailments keeping him awake, but also bad dreams. Must’ve been a worrier of sorts. I want to ask him more about his dream. And why write about putting four heavy chairs in the servants quarters I’m guessing that was the ‘Broken Arms apt.’ above the garage, so named because apparently someone fell out of it and broke their arm, I’m sure there were other mundane occurrences that day, why did the chairs merit noting?

Those are the first page numbers I’ve seen, don’t think they refer to the journal maybe he’s taking notes from a book and not listening to a lecture. The top of these pages is still the best part to read. For example, the attribution on the 24^th “Pepto-Mangan (Gude) is a true blood-builder. Scientific tests have proved this fact.” Reminds me of Ron Burgundy after he says men’s brains are larger than women’s, “It’s a fact. It’s SCIENCE!”

Yay! Four hours of sleep! I wonder what the “Survivor” synopsis was and why he sent it off to all of those relatives. Sort of reminds me of the time my Uncle Valin sent everyone a DVD of his biography which was interesting if not a tad narcissistic. I think ‘Caterpillar Man’ would be a lame superhero. Each time I read about him turning the gas on or off I’m reminded of my dad explaining to me that when gas heat was added to the house it was basically open gas burners like you’d find on a modern gas stove! Talk about a fire hazard. I imagine those burners were replaced by 1969. Regardless, the house is still standing. Huh, guess he had Prince Albert in a can. I wish he had added more detail about his dream.

Again the top is more interesting. Among his scrawlings of ‘Woodward’ is the name “Felix”, Felix the Cat? I find it interesting that the testimonials about Pepto-Mangan include places such as Germany and Mexico. Well, that Germany is included isn’t that surprising, but Mexico is. I find it hard to believe that Mexican doctors would be quoted today. Not that they shouldn’t be, I just don’t think they would be.

What in the world does “Had a cup of coffee in John where Jesus was in Samoria? a couple of days.” mean? Sure “John” means “bathroom”, but what the heck is the rest of it? The remainder of the 27^th is also a little confusing regarding whether or not he wrote a letter and if he did where was it completed relative to his sending printed materials of his activities over fifty years? And what was the printed material? Journals? Articles? A typed up list? And doggone it, what was the interesting conversation with ‘Dutch’? Holy cow, one of his acquaintances grandparents had 39 grandchildren?! I have no idea who most of the names he recounts are, but one I am curious about is ‘Jeff Woodward’ that’s a new name to me.

Life is odd. As I write this I am at my uncle’s ranch in Paso Robles and am visiting several tap rooms and the first thing I see for Feb. 27, 1908, is “Beer + Porter = Lager”, which I’m pretty sure is wrong. And how did he go from writing about oxygen and nitrogen to beer? And what “______ is from the French who got it from the Spanish, who got it from the Arabians and means autemonie or gelenia to point the eyelids”?! Point the eyelids?! Google was not helpful this time, probably because of the spelling. My goodness Pepto-Mangan is amazing! Among the other things mentioned it’s apparently also good for Typhoid, Diphtheria, Pneumonia and surgical applications! Amazing.