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Life in the Loony Lane

~ Getting through life one chuckle at a time.

Life in the Loony Lane

Category Archives: Events

Ghosts of Eldo Past

03 Wednesday Feb 2021

Posted by June in events, history, nostalgia, Places, Senior Citizens

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bandstand, carnival, classmates, diner, growing up, high school, home town, Memories, Missouri, Nostalgia, Park, picnic, rock wall, romance, spring water, weddding

I was a skinny 11-year-old girl going from store to store in downtown El Dorado Springs looking for work. Being tall, I could pass for thirteen but they had a way of asking my age first thing, so I had to admit to being only eleven.  I was usually told they’d had kids thirteen years old but never eleven.  No employment was found.  Not even at the drugstore I loved so much with its amazing smells,  paddle fans, ice cream, and comic books.

Later, when I was old enough, I did find employment at the 4-Corner Diner.  Then I could buy the black and white saddle oxfords, can-cans for underneath my dresses, even those hideous hoops that were in style.  How on earth did we manage to sit down!  I seem to remember that they went out of style pretty quickly.

The three-story school building that we attended had concrete steps and I don’t recall ever using a handrail – or even if we had any.  I just zipped up and down them, no problem, and never stumbled.  Now I would have a hard time with them even with a handrail.

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Lloyd Baker, Centenarian Surveyor and Singer

28 Saturday Jul 2018

Posted by June in Blog, Events, History, Humor, Places, Senior Citizens, Wyoming

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Born in Afton, Wyoming in 1911, he was raised on a farm south of Etna and graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1940 with a degree in civil engineering.

With very primitive tools, Lloyd performed his first survey in Cokeville, Wyoming, about 75 miles down the road from Etna, the town he settled in when he “came home.” The loop within those few miles took him from coast to coast working as a surveyor.IMG_9727 Lloyd Baker age 106

Wyoming was calling him home, however, and he returned to Etna in 1974.  After obtaining his license, he established Lloyd B. Baker and Associates which continues to this day, now with  Astech GPS, Traverse PC, and Visual Cadd software.  He told me he could find any point he needs to on his 4-wheeler with tracks, under the four feet of snow we usually get during the winters. Lloyd continued working until past the age of 106.  He said he didn’t see any reason not to!

Baker loved to dance and especially loved to sing.  He entertained at two rest homes in the valley on Sunday evenings. He could still mostly remember fifty songs.  One of those, “A Nest, The West, and You, Dear,” he sang for me, which was a delight. 

Cheyenne Frontier Days was a highlight for him this past summer.  It was the first time he had attended and had the delightful privilege of being photographed with ten beautiful Rodeo Queens! 

Lloyd had always been an advocate of taking care of your body.  He believed our bodies were meant to last a thousand years and if we give it what it needs for nourishment and don’t give it junk that is not nourishing, we’ll be fine.  He relayed to me that he had arthritis once but it was interfering with his work, so he quit drinking milk, starting using real butter instead of margarine (which he feels is plastic) and stopped taking his vitamins.  It wasn’t long before he felt fine.  Lloyd ate a little meat, had a bit of “sweets” after each meal – always carried Peanut M & M’s in his pocket,  consumed no chlorinated or fluoridated water, no bleached flour in anything, and was a believer that proper elimination is a must.  He also used no soap.

Lloyd had five children,  17 grandchildren, over 40 great grandchildren, a couple of great, great,-grandchildren. 

The last time I saw him I asked, “ What are some of the benefits of being a 107?” He quickly replied, “Everyone treats you better.  After 100 you get treated a lot better.”

Lloyd left us on July 9th, 2018.  He’s probably already surveying the heavenly clouds!

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© Copyright 2013 Life in the Loony Lane | June Johnston. All Rights Reserved
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Speaking of Love

08 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by June in Blog, Events, flowers, Food, Humor, Love, Places, Valentine's Day

≈ 2 Comments

IMG_1319

February is the month when you will find the florist’s shops overflowing with roses.  Floriography was a method used by Victorians to send messages to others without uttering a word – thus the roses became symbolic of love, especially for Valentine’s Day.

There are several other flowers or plants that suggest love as well.  Lovegrass is a very beautiful perennial with ornamental, wispy plumes. Its Greek name is eragrostis:  eros meaning love and agrostis meaning grass.   It’s also used as fodder for livestock. Continue reading →

Fly, Turkey, Fly!

22 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by June in Blog, Events, Food, Humor, Places, Thanksgiving Day, Wyoming

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The first Thanksgiving in this country has many variations including what was for dinner. (Hint: it wasn’t beef.) They had whatever they could get their hands on which included different kinds of birds, deer, and crops they had grown. The cornucopia, also called the horn-of-plenty, is a symbol of those crops.
The origin of the turkey as the preferred bird for the meal is also debatable but the story I like best is that in the 1950’s the Saturday Evening Post ran a Thanksgiving cover (painted by Norman Rockwell) of a family around the dinner table with a scrumptious turkey as the main dish. It caught on like wildfire!
We all strive for the perfect
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Sunday Morning Breakfast

27 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by June in Blog, Events, Food, Places, Restaurants, Wyoming

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Sunday Morning Breakfast.

I love small towns!  It’s just that simple.

We have been blessed to go to breakfast with some very special friends on Sunday mornings at Tootsie’s in Thayne, Wyoming for several years now and I am ever more aware of just what a gift that is.   They are wonderful people.

I also enjoy the camaraderie of the other breakfast guests in the restaurant.  Friends may wave at each other across the room, call out a greeting, or just smile – but it’s special.  Some may stop for a minute Continue reading →

Crazy Woman Creek – The Story of a Heartbroken Woman

20 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by June in Blog, Events, History, Nature, Places, Wyoming

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Twelve miles from Buffalo, Wyoming, you can step back in time and feel the presence of a woman gone mad.  Wyoming has never been an easy place to live – you have to really want to be here, but at the beginning – when this wonderful chunk of real estate was not yet a territory – things were much more difficult. 

There are a number of stories as to how the name Crazy Woman Creek, Crazy Woman Canyon, and Crazy Woman Battlefield, came to be – the name alone conjures up visions of horror

One of the most valid stories seems to be that during the era when whites traded Indians for their furs, a misunderstanding led to some Indians scalping a white man right in front of his bride (also white). Her blood-curdling cry was so horrifying that the Indians were afraid of harming her.

She, no doubt, had the same dream most of us have – a future- with her husband, children, a warm, loving home, only to have it shattered right in front of her eyes.  In a split-second, all of that was taken from her.

She wandered the hills alone the rest of her life, never finding her sanity again.  Often she was sighted and fed by various mountain men, only to disappear once more.  One kindly gentleman built her a cabin and she was eventually found dead there, apparently of starvation, years later. 

If you listen carefully, while winding your way through that hauntingly beautiful canyon, you may hear the maniacal cry of a distraught, heart-broken woman.  The wind gently whispers its sad secrets as the creek ripples through the canyon, leaving history in its droplets. Such tragedy in the shadow of the beautiful Big Horn Mountains is beyond sad.

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© Copyright 2013 Life in the Loony Lane | June Johnston. All Rights Reserved
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The Magic of A Wyoming Morning

30 Sunday Jul 2017

Posted by June in Animals, Birds, Blog, Dawn, Events, Nature, Places, Poetry, SAunrise

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Poetry

 Warmth of the coffee mug clutched tightly in my hands

Contrasts sharply with the chill of the early morning.

Three deer meander through our yard, munching, carefree.

They look my way and go on about their business.

My love joins me.

Together we look across this beloved part of our world Continue reading →

The Oregon/California Trail Center

21 Sunday May 2017

Posted by June in Blog, Events, History, Links, Patriotic, Places

≈ 2 Comments

IMG_8557IMG_8552

We went to Montpelier, Idaho yesterday and visited The National Oregon/California Trail Center there.  It has so much to offer!   You can step back in time and visit a gun shop and mercantile, or ride in a covered wagon simulating the rock-n-roll of an actual journey, except it’s done inside in comfort.

It’s hard to  imagine the “luxury” of riding in a wagon across this wonderful chunk of real estate, changing off to walking because it was hard to determine which was the least miserable, stopping at night in the middle of somewhere, taking care of the animals, laundry, fixing meals, tending children, maybe being pregnant, ill, or any number of difficulties that had to be dealt with on the journey.

I applaud our ancestors who braved those trips, giving up all they had, not knowing what lay ahead.  It was a daunting endeavor and many lost their lives doing it, but it was part of settling this country.  We owe them so much!

There is a gift shop, rail exhibit, art gallery,  and murals to enjoy.  Restaurants and motels are nearby.  It’s time well spent.  www.oregontrailcenter.org

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© Copyright 2013 Life in the Loony Lane | June Johnston. All Rights Reserved
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Building Our Nest

22 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by June in Blog, Events, Places, Snow, Wyoming

≈ 2 Comments

 

 

In 2006 we sold our home and art gallery in Evanston, WY. and moved to Star Valley. I came up here kicking and screaming – I did not want to leave Evanston. (Now I’d be kicking and screaming if Bob tried to move me from here!) We rented a house up the street while he built this one, almost by himself.

Continue reading →

Thank You Veterans

11 Friday Nov 2016

Posted by June in American Flag, Blog, Events, History, Patriotic, Places, Veterans Day, Wyoming, Yellowstone Nat'l Park

≈ 2 Comments

img_2054We appreciate your sacrifices!

 

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The Write Spot Blog by Marlene Cullen

Just Write

Haderlie Farms

Farming at 6000 ft in the mountains of Wyoming and loving it...

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Sheila Moss writing about the funny things in life that happen to everyone

Life in the Loony Lane

Getting through life one chuckle at a time.

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Wife. Mother. Everyday Me.

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(Somewhat) Daily News from the World of Literary Nonfiction

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A Poet's Place | Wolff Poetry Literary Magazine is Publishing Poetry Submitted by Published & Emerging Writers,

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