New York Stars

There is this strange phenomenon with the houses here. I've never seen so many people with the same outdoor decor. People like to put these giant stars on their houses, barns, garages, whatever. I'm trying to think if there is something people liked in the South like this, but my best guess is those gazing balls in the garden. I don't think even they were this popular. I was just out for an afternoon and there were tons of these stars. I kinda liked them at first, but now I've just seen too many. What do you think?

And by the way, I could find dozens more. I just didn't think it was necessary to make the point :)

A Weekend of Fourth of Julys

Maybe it's that American history has some deep roots around here. Maybe it's that the most deployed division in the Army is right up the road. Maybe the locals are just very patriotic. Whatever it is, they did tons of fireworks shows and historical presentations of sorts for several days around Fourth of July. I missed the war reenactments (War of 1812, not Civil War...that's different from the South, right?), but at least I was off work in time for the fireworks shows. I basically googled some photography sites on how to get pictures of them, but some turned out pretty good. Now if only I had a tripod...

I wish you could see these full-sized. The tiny versions just don't show the clarity very well. Not that I'm an amazing photographer - I just picked my very favorite ones out of the dozens and dozens I took and I like 'em :-)

Hello Again

Hello everyone! (All 2 of you that still read my blog :-D ) I've been pretty slow on the blogging lately, I know. Most of the summer has been pretty uneventful but I've got some great stuff coming up in blogs. My parents have come to visit and we've been trying to hit most of the major sites of New York. We've seen New York City and all the local attractions (St. Lawrence river, the Thousand Islands region, Wellesley Island, Fort Drum, etc.), and we're going to Niagara Falls before they leave. I'll be blogging about all of that soon, but for now I just have to share one thing with you...

This picture was taken today (Mom's camera, Mom taking the picture, moving vehicle - sorry for the blur). Please look closely, then tell me what color you think the leaves are...

Red? Yellow? Why, yes, I believe you're right. It is now FALL! Leaves have been falling from the trees since the last couple of days in July. Summer didn't arrive till the 4th of July, and it's already ending. Now, before some of you who have been enduring the heat waves tell me how lucky I am, I just want to explain something. I genuinely feel sorry for you, but please remember what I get after fall happens - lots and lots of snow. And by "lots" I don't mean six inches of snow - I mean six feet of snow. Well, at least six feet is what is considered a "normal" winter here. We never had more than three feet this past winter but everyone goes on and on about how mild a winter we had.

So anyway...I'm a little bummed out.

A Piece of Family History

A lot has happened since my last blog post and I know I'm getting behind. I've got parts of a lot of posts together, but a lot of them aren't ready. In the meantime, I thought I'd share some family history. This won't be any stellar piece of genealogy or accuracy as far as time lines go, but it makes a good story. I think.

First off, this is about my dad's side of the family (so obviously, the Lentzes). His family comes from the Oklahoma/southwest Missouri part of the country, at least the last couple of generations. Many years ago, in the mid 1800s, my grandpa's grandparents moved to Missouri on a wagon train. Yes, in a covered wagon. They stopped with their traveling companions on a small river and founded what is now the town of Stella, Missouri, named for the granddaughter of the first mayor of the town. These early days are depicted in a large mural in the Newton County courthouse.

There were a lot of natives in the area at the time, many of them Cherokee.

Together with the Carter family, the Lentzes opened a general store, the only one in the county at the time.

Being such a tiny community, all the families were important. In addition to the general store, the Lentzes also ran the mill that you can see in the far right of the top picture. Once the town began to modernize, streets were built and named after families that played a role in building the town.

My grandpa's mother's side of the family was also involved with Stella. They were the Cullers family.

Of course, as time moves on, towns begin to age along with their buildings. Many of these pictures were taken in 2006 when I was in Missouri for my grandpa's funeral. At that time, the old general store was a run-down shell of its former self.

I didn't really expect the building to last much longer, but when I was back in Missouri this summer for my grandma's funeral I heard it had been renovated and a restaurant was operating successfully there. I was pleasantly surprised.

Paying homage to the building's origins, old drawings of both the general store and the old Lentz mill are displayed in the dining room.

And do you know what this restaurant is called?

:-)

I feel like things have come full-circle.