Random Collection of Pictures May 2025

One of my favorite new things to do - explore the random pictures I save to share here. For the month of May there are more article clippings than in the previous posts.

From the year 1955, a sentence about moving houses to make way for the creation of  Webster Lake.

A dark cloud overhead on campus. Will be nice to wear short sleeve shirts again!

We went to nearby Dunlap to see if there was any water flowing at the Cagle waterfall - very little was streaming.

The Chattanooga area is blessed with cool sculptures. This one is at a city park near the Tennessee River.

Probably something I will never see, Teter Rock, a human made monolith used in the past as a guide for travelers but now as an off-road adventure to check-off for many. Located in the Flint Hills of Greenwood County.

Railfan me. I think this is just a stunning picture of a train in the Nebraska sandhill region. A promotional picture for a YouTube video about the train moving through this part of Nebraska.

I found this blurb fascinating about US Highway 72 which begins/ends nearby me in Chattanooga. It begins in Tennessee, goes through Alabama (Huntsville) and then through Mississippi, and returns to Tennessee to end/begin in Memphis. This is my go-to route to travel to Memphis and avoiding the Interstate (Nashville). It is a four-lane highway for the entire trip.

Not aware that US Highway 83 is still a Canada to Mexico highway and is called a road to nowhere. Looking at it on a map - it does avoid a lot of big cities. Been on it a few times (Oberlin, Oakley, Garden City, North Platte, McCook, Valentine, Pierre). 

Random Collection of Pictures April 2025

 Finally completing the month of April 2025 with some random pictures. 

Finally completed the reorganization of the office / storage area by putting this new storage shelves together. Really pleased with the increased office space and the tidiness of the storage space.

Presented a workshop at the Tennessee Library Association annual conference on Data Storytelling.

I had an added ribbon to my conference credentials -- official smarty pants LOL

The awesome library department team acting normal ha ha

The pink moon on April 13 streaming through the bedroom window

Past presidents of the Tennessee PTA who attended the Tennessee PTA annual meeting

April was Poetry Month - my display of poetry books for the library.

On my wish list to drive through some day in addition to seeing Lake Scott State Park (and the nearby Monument Rocks). Kansas Highway 95 cuts through the Ogallala Formation south of Lake Scott. The Ogallala is a massive layer of sand and gravel. In many places the Ogallala is unconsolidated, but in this area it is cemented into solid rock.

April 2025 Visit to Stockton and Mt Vernon

I didn't know if I wanted to travel anywhere more than an hour on Sunday, the day after the wedding and reception. The next two days would be long travel days. I'm not the road warrior I once was.

But thankfully, I was convinced to go to Stockton and Mt Vernon. In hindsight, it became the only opportunity in 2025 to do so. I had dreams that we would visit in August 2025 but those dreams never came true. Maybe next year.

Leaving from Great Bend gave us the opportunity to take a different highway, at least on the way up. We took 281 north to Russell - I hadn't been in downtown Russell for years. After stopping to pick up some postcards, we drove north on 281 to Osborne. I forgot how much beauty was on that drive - it had been at least 40 years since I last traveled that stretch. 

When we got to Osborne, we turned west on 24. I was thinking about Cawker City but thought the better of it - maybe next year.

We did drive past Alton - my mom was born there. Both sides of her family are buried near Alton but in separate cemeteries. One family on the east side and the other family on the west side. If you blink your eye, you'll probably miss seeing the entirety of Alton, Kansas.  But a lot of family history there.

I do like the brick main street of Stockton. Thankfully, so far, the brick has been retained as it is highway 24 through town. 

I read the Stockton newspaper - and by reading the past news sections, I discovered that I was awarded prizes on two occasions for the best costume: one at school and one at the VFW. My mom was creative on the sewing machine!

I wasn't sure how the roads would be west of Stockton with all of the rain. But no concern - it didn't rain west of Stockton the night before. We took old highway 24 and drove up and down hills. We drove past the old farm. What a wide valley that is. Nothing is the same as far as buildings and such but the Ash Creek valley remains the same.

And then we came to Mt Vernon to visit gravesites. I have so many relatives buried there - from both paternal branches of the family. It's like we can't visit them all. But we did visit mom and dad. Mom's gravesite still more dirt than grass despite 18 months of weather.

Paid our respects to other family members - grandparents, uncles, aunt. And a couple of great grandparents.

Well my sister surprised us with an invitation for dinner. So we rushed back to Great Bend after driving by an exceptionally low Webster Lake. Highway 18 to 183 to Interstate 70 back to 281. Webster - Zurich - Plainville - Hays - Russell - Great Bend. Felt like driving through my past and into long forgotten homes and memories.

We had a great supper with sister, brother-in-law, and the new bride! I had some delicious potato pancakes - reminded me of mom's cooking.

Peace and love.
Dwight