Happy Halloween!

Unlike the rest of the world, we Trick or Treated last night on the 30th. Don't get me started on weird Des Moines traditions...

After twenty minutes of scanning Google images, Char decided she wanted a pumpkin with these eyes:

And this mouth:

I think I did okay.

Char seemed happy with it.

This year Char went as an ice cream sundae. The weather was pretty good last week for Trunk or Treat at church.

But Char and mom had to bundle up last night. It was pretty cold (even for an ice cream). Luckily the costume fit right over her winter coat. I stayed home to hand out candy. 

She doesn't know it yet, but after she goes to bed, this kid is going to be robbed of at least four Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. 

After the robbery, I'm going downstairs to watch Get Out. It's my Halloween movie pick for this year.

PS. Maybe next year I can convince Charlotte to go as a Bald Knobber...

Those Bald What?

I spotted this LP while flipping through a box of records at Goodwill. 

I didn't think much of Shepard of the Hills; I'm not into classic country music. I kept working my way through the box, but then I stopped myself. Did I see what I thought I saw? Were those guys wearing hoods?

I flipped back to "The Ballad of Jim Lane" and sure enough, those guys are wearing hoods.

What is going on here? Why are they armed with pistols and torches? 

The back of the album is just a group shot of the band. Not much help here. But apparently two of the band members play the double barrel shotgun. 

I showed the album cover to other people, and most reacted like Daphne did; she grimaced and said, "Gross."

It was then quite a surprise when my friend Tim looked at the cover, gravely shook his head and said, "Yea... look at those Bald Knobbers." 

*insert sound of a record being scratched here*

"What did you say?"

Tim explained that he has family in southern Missouri, and down there they know all about the Bald Knobbers. He probably could have told me more, but the bell was about to ring, and we both had class.

So, I did what you would do. I googled "Bald Knobbers". Turns out that Missouri, like a lot of places, was pretty unlawful after the Civil War, and a group of men who were tired of seeing what they thought were injustices decided to fight back. This first group of vigilantes met at Bald Knob Hill, and there their name was born. 

I think they initially thought of themselves as the "good guys" (why the masks, then?), but power corrupts, and soon their violence was probably on par with the "bad guys'" deeds. You can buy books on the subject on Amazon.

After cleaning the LP, I listened to "The Ballad of Jim Lane". The term Bald Knobber is mentioned once, but it is sung so quickly I wouldn't have heard it if I wasn't listening for it. Spoiler alert! Jim is killed by the Bald Knobbers after he announces that he's leaving their group.

Actually, the album cover is pretty tame compared to actual pictures of Bald Knobbers. 

"Depiction of Bald Knobbers in the 1919 film The Shepherd of the Hills" (wikipedia).

Home Sweet Home...

I have no idea if these two are Bald Knobbers, but since it is Halloween, I thought I'd include this picture. Look at that kid's expression. 

Over all, I'd say the Bald Knobbers were a scary and intimidating group. Well, except for this guy on the album cover. He looks like a Teletubbie.

I have lived in the Midwest for my whole life, and I've never heard of the Bald Knobbers until last week. This world is so big, and I only know a tiny bit about it.

Corn Maze Success!

It took another visit to the Pumpkinville Big Corn Maze, but after two more hours, we had our punch cards completed!

Charlotte and Mom took a selfie by the last punch station we needed to find.

Last time we missed it by one lousy punch, but this year Char braved the cool temps and the rainy mist. She also had fun with fake eyebrows. 

We then left the maze to celebrate: Char ran across the hay bales, I got myself a two-dollar hot dog, and Daphne filled out our punch cards for the drawing.

That pretty much sums up our personalities: Char's about fun, I'm about food, and Daphne's the responsible one.

Sing Me a Story

The Karen Acres music program put on their fall concert on Tuesday night. 

My chest tightens anytime I see my daughter's name in print. I don't know if that is caused by pride, love, or fear for her. It's probably a mix of all three.

I thought Charlotte might be nervous when she saw the crowd. But as soon as she was on the stage, she smiled broadly and gave her mom the *heart* sign.

Daphne suspects that Charlotte was lip syncing for part of the concert, but Char was doing her part during this song. 

Charlotte had a line to learn last year. This year she got to perform a cabasa solo instead.

When Daphne first told me Char was going to play the cabasa, I thought she said the kielbasa. 

I knew that wasn't right, but I was still hoping they'd have food at the concert. They didn't. So, we finished the night by going to Orange Leaf. I was too busy eating salted caramel fro yo with nuts, M&Ms, and peanut butter sauce to take a picture, though.

Day Care: Then and Now

Charlotte didn't have school yesterday, but Daphne and I had In Service. So, we had to find something for Charlotte to do. Char could have gone on a field trip with her Adventuretime group, but she asked to spend a day at Kim's house, where she used to go to day care.

Kim is very thoughtful, and every so often she would send us pictures of what Charlotte was doing while we were at school. It was a highlight of my day. Yesterday was no exception.

Char has gone from being fascinated by fall leaves to running through them.

Then:

Now:

She has also graduated from needing bottles to feeding bottles.

Then:

Now:

Did you hear that "Crack!"? That's the sound of parental whiplash. 

Wednesday Night

Our nice nights are numbered, so we took advantage of the warm temps and had a picnic at Saylorville Lake last night.

Daphne saved some of the bread from her Planet Sub sandwich, and Charlotte used that to feed imaginary ducks.

Then she and Maggie headed over to the playground equipment.

When we got home, Char wanted to play in the driveway. She handed me her sled and put the Beamo frisbee around her waist.

I am the sun, and she is Jupiter orbiting around me.  Sigh.

Even our cat Bo was embarassed for me.

In other words, Wednesday night was just like any other night.

1001, 500, and another 1001

I finished reading 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. It is a great book. I spent a lot of time listening to the recommended bands via YouTube, but I didn't listen to every album. I suppose I can't die, yet.

Overall, I think the late 60's to the late 70's is my sweet spot for albums. I found great music from all the years covered (1955-2005), but my list of records to buy is longest in that '67-'77 era. I was surprised how much I now dislike 80's music; that's the decade I was in high school and buying records and tapes for the first time. I guess nostalgia can't trump poor quality.

Another enjoyable (and quicker) read is Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Although there is some overlap, there are many records recommended by RS that do not appear in the 1001... book. (Link at the bottom.)

Now I'm looking forward to reading 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die.

I've paged through this book, and there appears to be a lot of bands in there that didn't appear in either publication. This should  be fun.

I'll end this post with a brief discussion about a song that didn't make anyone's song/album-you-must-hear list, but mine. I bought "The New Spirit of Capitol" LP at a Good Will in the late 90's for 59 cents. It's a great sampler record from 1970 with 13 different artists on it (including Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger, Pink Floyd, Grand Funk Railroad, and Mississippi Fred McDowell).

For me, the best track on this LP is The Steve Miller Band's "Little Girl". First of all, I had no idea that Steve Miller began recording music back in 1966. Secondly, a lot of his early stuff was psychedelic, and sounded nothing like his 70's hits (think "The Joker"). But "Little Girl" was a hint of the radio-friendly hits to come. 

I'll put a link at the bottom for this song, but if you are listening to it through tiny computer speakers or ear buds, you might not fully appreciate the rumbling bass line that opens, or the fun vocal and guitar interplay at 1:08. Still, it's worth a listen.

"Little Girl"

Here's a link to the Rolling Stone's online list: 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

A Weekend of Teamwork

When it rains like it did on Saturday, we often find ourselves at Flix. It's where we learn about teamwork.

Speaking of teamwork, Char sang in church with her Sunday school classes. They are using sign language to sing/ spell B-I-B-L-E. She is third from the right.

Speaking of teamwork again, the three of us returned to Pumpkinville's Corn Maze to explore this year's labyrinth. 

The goal is to find twenty posts like this one, and then use the attached hole punch to mark your card.

Char used a corn stalk to mark our progress in the dirt.

We were in the maze for two hours, and despite our best efforts, we didn't find all 20 posts. If the weather cooperates, we will go back. You don't have to pay again if you still have your punch card. 

It's funny how tired Charlotte was towards the end of our maze visit. She couldn't stop complaining, "I'm so tired, I can't walk anymore! Etc, etc. etc..." But when she spotted the hay bales near the parking area, her energy miraculously returned!

"Let's go jumping!"

Someone is pretty proud of herself. She couldn't make that jump two years ago.

She also spent about 15 minutes running back and forth across the "little kid bales".

Hey! I thought you were tired!

By the time we climbed into our car, we were all worn out and about an inch taller from the mud on the soles of our shoes, but at least this didn't happen: 

link. (Check out the Police Sergeant's name.)

2015 Corn Maze post: link 2

Anniversary

Mark Twain once said, "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times." I can say the same thing about falling in love with Daphne. That was the easiest thing I have ever done, and get I do it over and over and over.

Charlotte, exactly 15 years ago your mother and I were in our church basement holding hands and jumping up and down. We had just married each other.

I wish that kind of happiness for you someday.

(When I say someday - I mean when you are 30.)