Pathogen

“Trumpism has infected the American polity like a foul pathogen. But it has also stimulated a powerful immune response that just may leave us stronger in the end,” Steve Chapman

Every so often, I come across an unfamiliar word, such as pathogen (a virus or other disease-causing micro-organism), in a column by Chicago Tribune editorial writer Steve Chapman titled, “Trump is Toxic: Americans Are Not.”  I’m so averse to thinking about our president that I find no pleasure in ruminating over our present political crisis.  Quite the opposite. Of course, it’s impossible to ignore Trump’s daily hate-spewing tweets and actions, such as calling refugees an infestation and smiling when a supporter at one of his rallies shouted, “Shoot ‘em.”  In my blog I generally let old friend from University of Maryland days Ray Smock speak for me.  Here’s Smock’s latest: 

    An Apology for the Enslavement and Racial Segregation of African Americans, H. Res. 194, passed the U. S. House of Representatives on July 29, 2008, on a voice vote. It was a long time coming but that resolution, which did not make a splash in the news media, is worth reading again.More importantly, and more timely, somebody should sit the President down and take his phone away long enough to read this resolution to him. He has no idea of American history, no idea of the history of African Americans, and not one iota of knowledge about the history of this nation of immigrants. Racism begins in ignorance and fear and then gets fueled by hate.

    An entire political party, the GOP, is currently enabling President Trump and not calling him out on such fundamental matters. I do not believe for a minute that all Republicans are racists. But the silence of this major party is deadly. Good men and women cannot remain silent on such a thing. No person in Trump's administration seems able to tell the president to stop tweeting racist and bigoted statements about black and brown people.

Russell Crowe as Roger Ailes

The mini-series “The Loudest Voice” concluded with Roger Ailes, (Russell Crowe) forced from Fox network in disgrace but with Trump’s being nominated for President, a phenomenon made possible by the dethroned evil genius.

Lane-Okomski gang

At the large family gathering over the weekend, there were a couple Trump supporters.  At one point I asked niece Andrea, who lives in Seattle and shares my lefty political views, whom she favored in the Democratic field.  Hostess Lisa almost immediately silenced me, emphatically stating that any discussion of politics was forbidden.  She got no argument from me.  Sunday afternoon Jackie Okomski’s well-read boyfriend Nick, a carpenter from New Jersey, asked what I thought of Trump and how anyone could support him.  On the latter point I mentioned one-issue voters, such as gun fanatics and those wanting to outlaw abortions.  Then without getting into specific political issues, I lamented Trump’s total disrespect for the political process or anyone who dared take issue with him. I briefly lost my composure contrasting his demagoguery with John McCain, who claimed Obama was a Muslim born, telling her that she was wrong, that he was a loyal American.  Draft-dodging Trump branded McCain, a POW for five and a half years (!!!) a loser rather than a war hero and had to be pressured into lowering flags to half-staff at his death. 

Schoolboy Q and Hanif Abdurraqib

In “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us” Black essayist Hanif Abdurraqib wrote about rapper ScHoolboy Q (Quincy Matthew Hanby), who grew up in South Central L.A., encouraging white people concertgoers to sing along to “Yay Yay,” which contains these lyrics:

I'm a drug dealin' nigga, cause them grades ain't get me paid
My agenda for today is to make bread or get laid
See my daughter need some shoes and my mom work overtime
So I'm standin' by that stop sign with nickels and them dimes

As one totally uncomfortable with the “n” word, I’m still analyzing why ScHoolboy Q would make that request. Abdurraqib wrote: “The reclaiming of the slightly modified ‘nigga’ is a political act.” Yet, on the other hand, Abdurraqib sees it as bowing to the comfort of affluent white ticket holders. He introduced the essay with this quote from one of my favorite Philadelphia 76ers, Allen Iverson, criticized by the media for his postgame appearance: “You can put a murderer in a suit, and he’s still a murderer.” “ScHoolboy Q defended his position by saying, “It’s not like these white people are racists, they’re at a rap show.”  True, but “Howlin’ Wolf was in demand at Deep South, all-white fraternity parties.  In 1970 I discovered that blue collar longhaired hippies from white working-class neighborhoods were a different breed of cat from those from the East and West coasts.

In a eulogy to author Toni Morrison Time contributor Tayari Jones quoted her favorite Baptist hymn “May the Work I’ve Done Speak for Me.”  Nice sentiment.  When Ton Dietz said he was spiritual but belonged subscribed to no rigid set of beliefs, I explained that Reformation leaders such as Martin Luther and John Wesley broke off from the catholic church over the doctrinal issue of good works verses faith, that due to original sin, no amount of good works could get one to heaven, only belief in Jesus as redeemer. Like me, he thought that the silliest thing he’d ever heard.

Obama signing Affordable Care Act

On International Lefthanders Day WXRT morning jock Lin Brehmer noted that Cubs star Javier Baez, nicknamed “El Mago” (the magician), grew up lefthanded but wanted to play shortstop, considered a righthander’s position; so he simply started batting and throwing righthanded and now he has the strongest arm at that position in the majors, yet still eats and writes lefthanded.   I began eating and writing lefthanded after getting my right arm caught in an old-fashioned clothes wringer that one used before hanging wash out to dry.  I was about two at the time.  Our past three presidents, Clinton, Bush, and Obama, were lefties.

William A. Wirt in 1917

I introduced Ron Cohen prior to his Senior College talk on William A. Wirt and the Gary schools, noting that Ron came up with the ideas for the Calumet Regional Archives, Steel Shavingsmagazine, and our pictorial history of Gary. Although Wirt was a brilliant educator, he was a cold fish with virtually no friends and three troubled children.  Ron mentioned that the Wirt family summered in upstate New York; the car ride took three days, and Wirt forbade any talking during the trip.  Billy fled at first opportunity and became a merchant seaman.  Younger son Sherwood and daughter Eleanor spent years in mental institutions. Born on a farm near Markle, Indiana, Wirt disliked city life and was a staunch Republican whose capitalist ventures into banking and a car dealership went bust during the Depression.  

Lanes and Cohen in in IUN library courtyard

With Ron were daughter Alysha, whom I knew as a little girl, and granddaughter Eva, a history buff who asked a question about whether students learned cursive, at present controversial, as some schools are phasing it out.  Both were quite charming. Alysha asked how Phil and Dave were doing. 

Charlie Halberstadt had an excellent bridge week, finishing over 60% two days in a row.  Our 67.19% at Banta is almost always enough to win but Mary Ann and Norm Filipiak earned 68.23%.  In the hands we played them, we each had a high board, and on the third hand they tied for best board by making 3 No Trump while all other East-West pairs played in Diamonds, with only one of them making 5.  Terry Brendel asked if I wanted to teach Social Studies in a Michigan City middle school. The only catch, he added, was that I’d have to start tomorrow.  I demurred. When I mentioned Temple Israel in Miller, Helen Boothe wondered if Rabbi Stanley Halpern was still there.  He retired, I replied, but returned to preside at the wedding of Herb and Evelyn Passo’s son Alex to Bianca.

Rabbi Stanley Halpern

I was a guest on the WLTH afternoon “Drive” with Karen and Steve Williams, who’d heard that I would be speaking about Vivian Carter and Vee-Jay Records.  WLTH first went on the air in 1950, and during the 1970s broadcast from Glen Park. One of its talk show hosts back then was arch-conservative Warren Frieberg, who took exception to Ron Cohen’s anti-Vietnam War arguments. When Ron noted that the French finally realized that holding onto South Vietnam was hopeless, Frieberg called the French a bunch of pansies, or something to that effect. WLTH moved to Merrillville before returning to Gary in 2013 and presently located downtown.

 With WLTH afternoon co-hosts on the "Drive" Steve Williams and Karen Williams

Co-hosts Steve and Karen Williams, who are not related, greeted me warmly.  Steve was very knowledgeable about Vee-Jay Records, and Karen, a lifelong resident, about Gary history.  A Roosevelt grad and member of St. Paul Baptist Church, she recalled when her place of worship burned down, and Rev. L.K. Jackson going for help in his big Lincoln.  She described Sunday services as at least two hours long and for some women like a fashion show when they’d go to the front to take communion.  The wife of policy boss Fred Mackey wore a beautiful silver fox stole, she recalled.  Jazz saxophonist Art Hoyle goes to her church, as does Chancellor Lowe’s administrative assistant Kathy Malone.  Steve tested me by asking if I knew the former names of various doo wop groups. I knew that the Spaniels called themselves the Three Bees and that the Impressions were the Roosters, but he got me on the Dells (El-Rays) and Dee Clark’s original group, the Cool Gents.  As I was leaving, Steve said he'd expected me to be a nerdy professor with boring facts and statistics but could see how much the music meant to me.

Granger

“You’ve got the right to wages and holidays and proper clothes; you don’t have to do everything you’re told.” Hermione Granger in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”

 Hermione and Emma Watson in Vanity Fair

While I’ve not read the Harry Potter books, just heard parts of tapes in the car, I saw most of the films and admired the character of Hermione Granger, played by Emma Watson, who in addition to modeling and movie careers has been a United Nations goodwill ambassador and outspoken feminist active in the fight against sexual harassment. In 2017 she took much heat – unfairly, in my opinion - for posing topless in Vanity Fair. Famous actors sharing her last name include English matinee idols of years past Farley and Stewart Granger.  The word originally meant one who worked in a granary.  The Granger movement of the late nineteenth century was a farmer protest against being ripped off by bankers, railway corporations, and grain elevator operators and ignored by elected officials. Goals included government regulation and democratizing the political process

I spent the weekend in Granger, Indiana (one of at least 11 American communities so-named) to attend a graduation party for grandson James, niece Michele’s son Nicholas, and niece Lisa’s daughter Grace, soon to be freshmen at Valparaiso, Purdue, and Oregon.  An affluent South Bend suburb, Granger dates back to the 1880s when named for National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.  After World War II Granger rapidly ballooned to a bedroom community of 20,000 in 1990; nearly double that at present.

 funny family photo; 3 graduates

Hosted by Lisa and Fritz Teuschler, the family gathering included a dozen Lanes and even more of Toni’s sister MaryAnn’s kids and grandkids.  Toni brought a huge pot of galumpkis plus rye bread, and Fritz cooked burgers, hot dogs, and corn of the cob on the grill.  I  spent the night at nearby Hampton Inn rather than opt for a couch.  Though I see Nicholas (from near Indy) and Grace at least once a year, still it was startling to observe how much they’d matured.  In the 8 months since he and Dave jammed on guitars at our condo over the Christmas holidays, Nicholas has become an accomplished player; he and Dave kept the group entertained with many of us joining in on the chorus of songs we knew.

late-night storytelling; golfers Phil, Connor, Fritz, Tom, Nicholas, Nick, Sean, Jim

Charlene and Jim Quinn, who live in Punta Gorda, came with sons Sean and Connor. When Toni and I made annual trips to Florida while Midge and stepfather Howard lived in Bradenton, I’d look forward to being with them.  Teenagers then (like me, Sean was a Jimmy Eat World fan), now they’re in their mid to late 20s.  Connor is extremely competitive (he won the late-night Texas Hold ‘em tournament) and as a 13-year-old insisted on playing as many games of ping pong as it took to beat me.  Sean, a brilliant intellect and well-read with an irreverent sense of humor, is about to earn a master’s degree from San Diego State.  His thesis is on Russia under Vladimir Putin, whom, he said, is a serious student of American history and admires strong chief executives Lincoln, TR, and FDR.  While his heavy-handed domestic policies are unpopular, Putin is admired for making Russia again a superpower after the humiliating days under Boris Yeltsin.  According to one story, American authorities once discovered Yeltsin on a street near the Russian embassy in Washington drunk, in his underwear, and in search of pizza.  The Robber Barons who seized control of the Soviet Union’s state-run industries after the fall of communism thought Putin would be a puppet, but before long he turned on those who would not cut him in on the spoils.

                                                   cornhole champs Dave (ponytail) and Anthony (hands on hips)

homeless newsboys

Our final day, outside on a beautiful afternoon, I played a little corn hole (Dave and Anthony were the champs) but, unlike Toni, stayed away from badminton. Sean recalled reading grandfather Sonny’s New York Post as a kid and finding its sarcastic headlines, sensationalistic stories, and eye-catching cartoons and suggestive illustrations hilarious.  I noted that the tabloids invented mean nicknames for celebrities, such as “Jacko” for Gary’s Michael Jackson.  A big fan of podcasts, Sean liked one (The Bowery Boys, I think) that covered the 1899 New York City newsboys strike against Joseph Pulitzer’s New York Worldand William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal.  We got to talking about comedians, and Jackie Okomski’s boyfriend Matt mentioned Rodney Dangerfield.  I brought up the Catskills borscht circuit where Jewish stand-up comics honed material at summer resorts.  He was unfamiliar with the term, so I explained that borscht was soup favored by Jewish patrons.   Joe Robinson, in from Seattle, clarified that it was Russian soup, which a former neighbor often made and was delicious. Many Russian Jews settled in New York City and, if successful, vacationed at Catskill resorts where Jews were welcome.  Before leaving, Sean gave me his email address, and we promised to keep in touch.

 Allison Schuette

first school in Gary

Ron Cohen will talk to Steve McShane’s Senior College students about the Gary schools first Superintendent William A. Wirt, whose work-study-play system became world famous.  VU professor Allison Schuette composed the following poem after observing a photo in Ron and my Gary pictorial history of students and teacher Ora Wildermuth at Gary’s first school:

A one room, one-story frame building with a gable roof, 

    unfinished on the first day of school. 

Mr. Ora L. Wildermuth rose to the occasion, 

  taking a stand on the stump in front of the schoolhouse, 

  ringing the children to school with a bell supplied by the board. 

A box of tablets of writing paper awaited them, 

  but no seats, no benches. The doors and windows went in that day. 

Who is the bully and who the mean girl? Who the teacher’s pet? 

Who is hungry and who has been well fed? 

Who will fall prey to lice and not give a damn? 

Who will fall prey to lice and burn with shame? 

Who will pay attention and fall in love with reading? 

Who will stare out of windows and dream of running? 

Who suffers abuse at the hands of a mother or father? 

Who knows genuine love? Who will grow up to be an addict? 

Who will call a union strike? Who will give birth to a civil rights leader? 

Who will lead from behind? Who will escape the Midwestern work ethic? 

Who will reject family norms and love whom they will love? 

Who will remember the day this photo was taken 

    and resent the morning of when 

    his mother forced him into his Sunday clothes and pressed his sister’s hair 

    and reminded him that he was setting an example 

    and more was expected of him? 

Who will cross his arms over his chest, tuck his chin

    in an effort to fold himself up like a letter into an envelope 

    that could arrive anywhere else but here, and pout?

 abandoned Lew Wallace H.S.

I grieve for young Black kids from Gary denied the opportunity to attend good public schools like those built under William A. Wirt’s auspices.  Gone is any trace of Froebel, the immigrant school.  Closed in the past 15 years: Horace Mann, Lew Wallace, and Wirt/Emerson. On its last legs: Roosevelt, once the pride of Gary.  Due to enduring boiler problems, its remaining students will start classes at the Gary Career Center.

Ain't No Better

“You’ve heard the news

An awful lie has been told to you

You’re the best thing in town – no lie can hold you down

So keep your silence, the truth is bound to turn things around.

We all know – ain’t no better than you!”

         Hollis Donald, “Ain’t No better Than You”

Ain’t, frowned upon in polite circles, is short for am or are not.  Midge (my mother) loathed the contraction as a sign of being poorly educated, but, like many postwar suburban wives, she was unduly influenced by etiquette books. I was constantly reminded to keep my elbows off the table, and drinking soup straight from the bowl was a definite taboo.  When greeting a stranger, one should say the meaningless phrase, “How do you do?”rather than the more natural, “Pleased to meet you.”  I could go on and on.

Jack Lynch in “The Lexicographer’s Dilemma” called ain’t “the most stigmatized word in the language,”  but it can be useful when employed for rhetorical effect.  The word can be found in many songs, including two favorites, “Ain’t That a Shame” by Fats Domino and “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.  Elvis Presley sang the lyric, “You ain’t nothing but a hound dog,”and Clarence “Frogman” Henry lamented, “Ain’t got no home.”  Presley once philosophized, “Truth is like the sun.  You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.”Depression-era pitcher Dizzy Dean once said,“I lot of people who don’t say ain’t, ain’t eatin’.”  Sojourner Truth made this point at a Woman’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, in May 1851:

 And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

 Sojourner Truth, circa 1870

A New York Times crossword puzzle asked what Senate Majority Leader succeeded Bill Frist, a Republican from Tennessee who had graduated from Harvard Medical School.  Answer: Nevada’s Harry Reid after Democrats won control of the Senate as a result of the 2006 election and served eight years until succeeded by present Majority Leader Mitch “The Bitch” McConnell.

The “Momma Mia!” sequel, “Here We Go Again,” had great Abba numbers that made up for the schmaltz, maudlin parts, and a whacky timeline. Cher, playing Donna’s grandma, belted out the Abba hit “Fernando” and looked fabulous.  Meryl Streep came back from the dead to reprise a couple songs as well. Sad to see fewer than a dozen others in attendance at the Michigan City AMC Showplace.  Will theaters go the way of video stores, I wonder, now that most everything is available on cable.

Hazel Hannell, "Dunes - Winter Day" (1959) 

 

Leafing through a 2017 “Sand and Steel” Brauer Museum exhibit catalogue, I was struck by the vividness of “Dunes – Winter Day” (1959), a watercolor by Hazel Hannell, who lived for 50 years in Furnessville, now part of Chesterton. Along with husband Vin (also a painter), she was active in Save the Dunes Council and traveled to Washington, D.C., with founder Dorothy Buell to lobby Congress on behalf of preserving the Indiana dunes.  Still painting when she turned 100, Hazel Hannell died at age 106 while living in Oregon with longtime dunelands artist Harriet Rex Smith.

In “The Destiny Thief” Richard Russo recalled being on a Bulgarian talk show when the band, knowing he was a Springsteen fan, played “Land of Hope and Dreams” from the 2012 “Wrecking Ball” album, in Russo’s opinion, perhaps the greatest anthem of his lifetime.  Recalling that “The Boss” had helped a weary nation get through the Vietnam War, the AIDS epidemic, and the World Trade Center attack, Russo teared up when the singer from Sofia came to these stirring words::

Grab your ticket and your suitcase
Thunder's rollin' down this track
Well, you don't know where you're goin' now
But you know you won't be back . . .

This train carries saints and sinners

This train carries losers and winners

This train carries whores and gamblers

This train carries lost souls . . .

Big wheels roll through the fields where sunlight streams

On meet me in a land of hope and dreams.

I said this train, dfeams will not be thwarted,

This train, faith will be rewarded,

This train, steel wheels singin’

This train, bells of freedom ringing.”

In the Post-Tribune was a photo of VU History professor Heath Carter, chairman of Valparaiso’s Human Relations Council, being wheeled across Lafayette Street by 11-year-old son Isaiah in an experiment to test accessibility of local businesses for disabled residents.  Carter told reporter Becky Jacobs: “Downtown is an older part of town. From the sidewalks to the entrances, things are tight.”  He added that it is daunting to realize what wheelchair-bound people have to go through  to get to a store or restaurant. Some have outside seating that make it too narrow for wheelchairs get by. 

Javier Baez is having an MVP season.  Today against the Padres, “El Mago” (the magician) hit a home run and triple and made a great throw home to nail the potential tying run. Games don’t get much better than that, nor the meal Toni made of ribs, rice, salad, and corn on the cob for Dave’s forty-ninth birthday. For a second birthday celebration the following evening at Kevin and Tina Horn’s, Toni made mango salsa with scallops that was so good it took all my will power not to devour more than my share.  

At Kevin and Tina's: Toni, Dave, John, Jimbo, Kris, Becca 

original section of Overseas Highway

At Kevin and Tina’s, daughter Kaela talked about seeing Bruno Mars at Lollapalooza and John English, about to embark on a trip to Key West, discussed being fascinated with the life of financier Henry M. Flagler, responsible for building a railroad line to Key West, which some branded “Flagler’s Folly.” Even though damaged beyond repair during the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, the roadbed and bridge became the foundation for the Overseas Highway, which was eventually abandoned after a new highway opened in the 1980s. Dave was grieving over a friend in critical condition after being a hit-and-run victim and two former students who died, one at a railroad crossing and another caught in a crossfire of bullets.  

Peggy Hinckley, emergency manager for the Gary schools has approved the auctioning off of 78 items, including Chicago sculptor Emory P. Seidel’s bust of former School Superintendent William A. Wirt.  After protests by historians Ronald Cohen and Kendall Svengalis and others, Councilwoman Rebecca Wyatt, chair of the council’s art, culture and history committee got the online auction postponed at the last minute by unearthing a legal requirement that Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson be notified at least 30 days prior to property being sold.  At the time, bidding on the bust had reached $6,000.  Wyatt told Post-Tribunecorrespondent Carole Carlson, “We don’t want to sell off our history. The historical  significance is more valuable than any money brought in.”  While the mayor expressed the view that historical artifacts should be preserved and not auctioned off, so far she has not taken action and the online bidding is continuing.

 English professor Carolyn Boiarsky

At an Open House celebrating the life of Historian Lance Trusty were several of his former Purdue Calumet colleagues that I recognized, including Bernie Hollicky, Naomi Goodman, and Marcia Gaughan.  English professor Carolyn Boiarsky solicited my advice about researching the history of land use in East Chicago, and I told her to check out city directories that she could find in East Chicago.  I told Jan Trusty that I considered Lance a mentor when it came to researching Region history and speaking to community groups.  She replied that Lance had respected my work and that their library contains many Steel Shavingsissues.

Kaylan Zimny, a 2016 Hobart H.S. grad and IUN Elementary Education major, kept a journal as a class assignment. Here are excerpts:

  February 26, 2018:I hope to teach second or third grade because those students are generally enthusiastic about learning new things.  If I’m not studying, I am probably working at Subway in Hobart or hanging out with my boyfriend of 3 years. 

  March 11, 2018:Scheduled begin to work at 6 a.m., I forgot we lost an hour because of daylight saving time and was 10 minutes late. Good thing the big boss wasn’t there. We were so busy, the lines were out the door.  That evening, my boyfriend and I went to Cappos, an Italian restaurant that makes the best pizza around. We decided to visit Indianapolis and Brown County during spring break. When we got back to his house, we researched places to stay and things to do during the trip. 

  March 12, 2018:My boyfriend and I went to Denny’s for breakfast and then to the grocery store for food for our trip. We got granola bars, muffins, cereal, frozen pizzas, hot pockets, and sandwich makings. We plan to go to the Indianapolis Zoo and do hiking and fishing in Brown County. At home I packed and played Uno, which is very competitive in my family, before going to bed early because we’re leaving tomorrow.

  March 13, 2018:I woke up at 6 and picked up my boyfriend at 6:30. After loading my car with luggage, we went to get coffee and breakfast sandwiches from Dunkin Donuts before we hit the road. The drive to Indianapolis went by quickly, and we got there too early to check into our Airbnb. Instead, we walked around downtown and got lunch at Buca di Beppo, an amazing Italian restaurant.  At the Airbnb, there was a lockbox under the porch with a key to the house. The owners had left breakfast foods, and the house was very tidy and homey. After a romantic dinner at St. Elmo Steak House, we relaxed the rest of the night. 

  March 14, 2018:  The Indianapolis Zoo was very well kept and the animals all looked healthy. My favorite part was the dolphin show. We stayed at the zoo all day, so we were exhausted when we got back to our place. 

  March 15, 2018:  We woke up a little later than we hoped, but, hey, vacations are for relaxing. The drive to Brown County only took about an hour. We rented this beautiful cabin in the woods (again from airbnb) with a private fishing pond in the back. It was raining, so we decided to stay in and watch movies. We foolishly watched Cabin in the Woods, which terrified me because we were literally in a cabin in the woods. 

  March 16, 2018:  At the pond we caught about 5 fish each and made a frozen pizza before we went hiking. Brown County State Park has many amazing trails to pick from. You would never have guessed that this was Indiana, there were so many hills. It was absolutely breathtaking. As the sun was starting to set, we made spaghetti and relaxed in the hot tub. 

  March 17, 2018:  In Brown County, an entertaining St. Patrick’s Day Bash took place at the Seasons Lodge and Conference Center.  I wore a green dress, while my boyfriend wore a green shirt and black pants. It very different than what we would have done in Chicago. 

  March 18, 2018:We woke up early enough to see the sunrise just over the pond while in the hot tub, a nice way to end our trip. After driving almost 4 hours, we finally made it home. 

  March 24, 2018:My boyfriend and I went to Fair Oaks Farms, a fun place for all ages, and did the Pig Adventure. I never knew how huge pigs could get! The baby pigs were so cute I wanted one.  Before we left, we had delicious chocolate milk and ice cream. 

  April 1, 2018:My boyfriend and I went to Easter church service and ate with our families afterwards.  We found an old dying kit and colored Easter eggs with a Star Wars theme; mine was R2D2 and his was Chewbacca. Then, we had a mini Easter egg hunt.

  April 7, 2018:For was my sister’s 13th birthday, I took her and friends to a hotel with a swimming pool for the night. After having cake and saying Happy Birthday, they all wanted to do “makeovers.” Little did I know they’d brought makeup and wanted to practice on me.  It was a disaster that took about 30 minutes to remove from my face. 

  April 14, 2018:My friend Hannah invited a bunch of us to her family’s lake house in Michigan for  her birthday. We fished and it was a very fun getaway with my girls.

  April 21, 2018:My boyfriend and I started planning a summer trip to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania to go white water rafting and hiking. Since my boyfriend loves the Steelers, we’ll stop in Pittsburgh and eat at a Steelers-themed restaurant.