Transformation

Transform sorrow energy to sympathy and it will bring you love.
Yoko Ono

Memorial Day

Wish You Were Here

Dear Dad-
It's raining today, just like it was a year ago when you died. Last night I parked on the same street I parked on a year ago, that night when I got the phone call from Brendan and stood on the steps of a rowhouse in the rain. I passed that house last night and it gave me the chills.

I've learned a lot since that night. I've learned that when you say goodbye to someone, it might be the last time you ever see them. I've learned that much of life is sound and fury, signifying nothing. And that death don't have no mercy in this land.

I have plenty to be grateful for but I wish you were here.

Wendell Jones
July 21, 1937-April 3, 2008

Harold Johnson, September 30, 1918 - June 15, 2007

My uncle Harold Johnson died this past Friday morning. He was one of a vanishing breed. He was a farmer, like his father before him and like his son is now. He never traveled by jet and never had a desk job. He lived his whole life in the house where he was born. He was easygoing, witty, and had a love for the land and his place on it.

West Central Tribune obituary
WILLMAR — Harold Alexander Johnson, 88, of Willmar, died Friday at Rice Memorial Hospital.
The service will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Svea Lutheran Church. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

He was born Sept. 30, 1918, on the family farm near Svea to Axel T. Johnson and Emily E. (Bouska). He grew up in rural Svea and attended the Sunnyside School. On Nov. 19, 1949, he married Millicent Forsberg in St. Paul. For many years he farmed on the family farm. He was a former member of the Sunnyside School Board, the Svea Coop Store Board and the church council.

He is survived by his wife; six children, Rebecca Johnson of Lake Lillian, Deborah Johnson of Willmar, David Johnson of Willmar, Jennifer Johnson of Willmar, Barbara (and Wayne) Stomberg of Renville and Douglas (and Teresa) Johnson of Willmar; three grandchildren; a sister, Barbara (and Wendell) Jones of Ridgefield, Conn.

He was preceded in death by a brother and three sisters.

Media Mavens

Wow, what a day! Stereogab's commentary gets published and this video promo for the Open House project is screened at a press conference in Congress. That jangley song on the soundtrack? Pure Leafy Green goodness! Yowza!

Forty Years Ago Today

On March 6, 1967 my mother,my father and yours truly departed from Dulles airport outside Washington D.C. bound for Saudi Arabia. My dad had been assigned to the American embassy in Jeddah. We did not know when we would return to America.

We flew on Pan Am 2 to London, then Frankfurt, then Istanbul, then Beirut. We landed in Beirut in a heavy rainstorm after lightning hit one wing of the plane. It took us so long to get our things together we went into the airport on the crew bus. We arrived in darkness and rain at the Phoenicia Hotel where we were staying. The next day we woke up to the beautiful Mediterranean sunlight.

You Did It!

You persevered, you didn't lose hope,

and you made it happen. This is just the beginning. Doesn't it ROCK?!

Touch of Gray

chefwendell
Originally uploaded by stereogab.

Deep in the dog days of summer it's time to celebrate my dad's birthday today. Happy Birthday Dad!