Johnson Journals part 390

Jean Edwards doing fine. Busy, busy, busy.

an exhibit of SW Indian weaving.

Immokalee for a wild pig barbecue.

To church with Jean. As was the case several years ago, the minister asked the new guests to stand and introduce themselves. A cold breeze thru the place when I said “Don and Layna Johnson, International Falls, Minnesota”.

Met, and had lunch with, Helen and Carroll Bond, Carole’s parents.

Estero Island cluttered with condos- The only reason that the north end does not tip into the sea is that the south end balances it

Had severe dizzy spell shortly after awakening. Had to cling to the bed as room went round and round. Came out of it in a few minutes- scared! – no shakes.

heard president Reagan outline his program to put economy back on track. Grim!

Jean showed slides of her trip to Holy Land. Sure made me wonder why anyone would want to fight over that God forsaken sand pile.

We have been with Jean for 8 days. Every one a pleasure. It will make it easier to do things for her if she comes to Rainy Lake next summer.

Overnight visit with the Bonds

Claremont

to top of citrus tower. They say that 17 million orange trees can be seen from there and I believe it.

Cleveland, Tennessee

Visited Myrl and Mary Holt Brooks

Admired their new home

Civil War battlefield at Chicamunga.

dinner at the Chattanooga depot. Good service, good food, great surroundings. Home after dark. To bed early.

Memphis

Etta and Richard gave us a warm welcome.

dinner at a converted old Southern mansion. with the two Jenkinson families.

Kevin delivered Erin to the door but didn’t come in. She is a honey.

Des Moines, Iowa

Had a mild but frightening dizzy spell as I got out of car at. My legs a bit shaky. What the hell is going on in your body, Johnson?

St. Paul

Jernbergs. Jimmy told a sad tale about hockey loss. Sally home about 3:30. The usual thrill at seeing her. John with account of a week’s skiing in Colorado. Jim with sport news.

Layna and I to LaBelle shopping for a calculator. I feel the need for one in preparing income tax.

Viking exhibit at museum. A well planned project- made me proud of my ancestry.

3/6/81 Last leg! Stopped at Hinckley for coffee and small piece of pie. $3.00 please! Lunch at Cotton and on home by 3:30. All in all a memorable- and happy vacation. Stopped at post office where 2 months of mail waiting for us. We were busy until bedtime sorting out mail. First crow! A week early.

3/7/81 Much of day spent in reading papers. Made a small dent in the pile. Went for a walk around Point of Pines. The dogs (some of them) have forgotten me. I got a couple of them with my walking stick.

3/8/81 Karen and Layna to Episcopal church for mother and daughter deal. I wonder if I would have gone with Buck if it had been father and son. On further thot, there is small chance that he would go for it. To K&R for lunch.

3/9/81 I owe about a dozen “thank you” letters and bravely faced them this a.m. Wrote to Brooks and Burrocks and ran out of steam. When the mail came there was a note from Mary Holt inviting us to spend the winter with them next year. A nice gesture. Dick and Joan came at 7:30 and stayed for a couple of hours. Good people.

3/10/81 To Buck and Dales after lunch. They were good listeners- showed interest in our trip. Buck wanted to leave snowmobile at R.L. Lodge. We drove around and picked him up. A dead looking place. I am glad it is not ours.

3/11/81 Buck here in am to pick up projector. Stayed for a good visit. Bernice here for lunch. Fun!

3/13/81 Layna and I, plus Jim and Barit took on foot for NWI. Not a speck of snow on glare ice. A slippery deal. We gave island a good going over. No sign that anyone had been there- a relief. Layna and I took rather bad fall near laundry. No injuries.

3/14/81 Layna helped Karen all day on house cleaning. She is a good mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and a great wife. (also great-grandmother!). I made an effort to start income tax. At 4:30 my butt said I needed to exercise. Caught up with Jim and Barit and walked with them around loop. They don’t put much zip in it so I doubt the value of it. Back to their house for coffee and a donut. No value there for sure.

3/15/81 Karen and 3 kids here for dinner. Robin at work. Karen relaxed and kids in good behavior. They left at 2:00 PM just as Gerald and Olive Wagness came. They stayed for a couple of hours. Much to talk about. We have similar backgrounds and our paths have crossed often over a period of years- mostly good. Our colds in the running stage and we blew up a full box of Kleenex.

3/16/81 We checked our finances. Although we haven’t all the figures on hand we can plainly see that we are doing OK despite inflation.

3/17/81 Pat Bartlett here for lunch. She is a good interviewer and we were willing to talk freely about events on Rainy Lake in the early days. Despite our colds (or maybe because of them) we had a long discussion concerning the fate of Norway Island. The Hvoslefs held onto it as long as they were physically able to take care of it. Have we reached that point?

3/18/81 To see Dr. Walter. I told him about my dizzy spell while in Florida and he was quite concerned. No medication but he wanted to be told if it happens again.

3/19/81 Buck here about 9:30. We decided to let him in on our discussion of yesterday. The first outcome was that he had confidence in us doing the right thing and was behind us all the way. I wish I had the same confidence in myself.

3/20/8 I have been reading literature on Parkinsons. Some of it is reassuring, some downright frightening. I know now that it will never cure itself, that I must live with it until either it or something else does me in. Layna takes this in very calmly (outwardly). What a gal! My mother much in my thoughts. “I am 75 years old, Reverend, surely there must be something wrong with me!” She said that to Lutheran minister who wanted her to go to a faith healer for her arthritis.

3/21/81 To see the Seegerts in PM. Whole family working on re-modeling the old Lutheran parsonage. A big job, but they are equal to it. We sent check for $35 to public TV. It took away the guilt feeling of freeloading.

3/22/81 Layna and I picked up Sarah and off for ice follies at high school. An enthusiastic crowd watched hundreds of skaters go thru their paces. Very much worthwhile.

3/23/81 I met with great confidence the income tax but got bogged down shortly- so badly that I called Francine Fish for help. She wasn’t available and I sweated my way out of the problem.

3/24/81 Jim Froehlich here to show off his latest toy. A Honda 3-wheeler. There is a lot of boy wrapped up in that big frame.

3/27/81 At 9:30 am Karen called from Eveleth to say she was in trouble. A hind wheel had locked causing her to lose control (Gene’s car) and caused some undetermined damage. She was quite calm- only wanted a ride home. We were off in less than ½ hour. The one thing in the minds of all of us “she had a close call”.

3/28/81 One of the bulletins about Parkinsons says that it befuddles the mind and one has problems working with numbers such as tax problems. How true! The Federal looks right but, me oh my, what a mix up on the state.

3/30/81 President Reagan was shot by a 26 year old assailant as he came out of a Washington hotel where he had given a speech to a union group. Rumors flying thick and fast but by evening it was ascertained that a small caliber bullet was removed from his lungs, and he was out of danger. It also was made clear that press secretary Brady was shot in the head and in serious condition. To see Dr. Walter. He took my blood pressure and shook his head. It was way high and he put me on same pills that Layna has been taking for years. I am becoming a bona fide pill popper.

3/31/81 The president had a good night and TV kept the world advised. He has maintained his sense of humor and many of his witticisms quoted and re-quoted. To K and R for supper at 5:30 and off for musical program at high school, Karen, Layna and three kids. It was a great performance. Sarah came home with us.