14 April? Sounds good.
I’m hoping to be there - I will e-mail for directions closer to the date.
Playoffs are NOT going well; the Snakes lost the first two in a best of five series.
Holy . . . man, that ain’t good. Keep us posted, and we’ll let you know what time I plan on firin’ up the grill.
Tripler
Man, I hoped they’d be doing better–I still wanna make it to a game or two.
Heeeeyyyyyy! Nice how you slipped that in there. Congrats, you two!
UncleBill and The Dudes and I might like to make this. Is anybody else coming but not participating in the clean-up? Bill wants to bring the weed-whacker and help out, but I don’t know that having two toddlers underfoot would work too well, and I don’t really want to either take two cars or take them off somewheres by myself for however long this shebang takes. Anybody wanna help wrangle two very active but cute monkeys? Alternatively, we’ll just come down for the eatin’ and schmoozin’.
The Snakes won on Sunday in Jacksonville; the next game is Tuesday and we have to win it to stay in. The next home game is this Friday, if we win Tuesday.
Go Snakes!
Yay, go Snakes! Let us know if they win tomorrow, we might could make it Friday.
//hijack ovah//
GeoBabe, I’m sure there’ll be a group of people not in the actual clean-up; the cemetery’s at the end of a cul-de-sac and there’s exactly one inhabited house within 500 yards. Puh-lenty of room to run, play, ride trikes & Big Wheels, etc. We’re gonna give the heads-up to the rest of the neighborhood, which is small but nice.
Then, ya’ll can see the ring…and the smile!
Well, folks, the weekend’s festivities are off. Something suddenly came up, so suddenly that I could not stop in time and rear-ended a stake truck on Pio Nono Avenue in Macon with my brand new car at lunch today. No one’s hurt but the bag deployed and the front end of my Mazda is crunched up badly.
I have a thousand dollar deductible. sigh 
:smack: :mad:
We’re going to take it easy this weekend, and maybe a few after that. I hope ya’ll understand.
Peace.
Nawth Chucka
:eek: Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear about this. That really sucks. Totally understand not being up for having guests; take it easy and just lay low for a while.
Yeah, unfortunately, we had a minor fender-radiator-bender today, but no big deal; everybody’s okay–a little shaken up, but otherwise alright.
Hey, I mentioned it to Nawth Chucka, and I am thinking of two alternate dates: a 4th of July weekend, or a rumored airshow weekend at Robins AFB (We do have the Georgia Aviation Museum, ya know).
I’ll throw those on the table. Any thoughts?
Tripler
Seriously, the 4th of July is like my second birthday.
Sorry to hear about the accident; glad it was just the car and not you! Whenever ya’ll decide to get together let me know!
Hey, I’ve got one for you:
Southeast of Iowa City, Iowa there is a single gravestone for a man named Robert Ford. It’s sort of out in a cornfield, and they just plow/plant around it.
I’ve always wondered about that one (count me as another cemetary fan)…were there more people buried there, but that’s the only marker left? Was he a vampire and not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground? :dubious:
I don’t know. The last owners of the property (since I’ve been there) had built a sort of fence around it out of pvc pipe, but when I first saw it, it was just sitting there in the field all by itself.
It was marble, but I don’t remember how old. Pretty old, though (80-100ish years). It looked strange out there all alone.
We also have a (or around here, “the”) Black Angel, which is very cool, and has an interesting story attatched to it.
(Are we still talking about graveyards here? Nawth Chucka: sorry to hear about the accident. Glad everybody’s okay!)
It could be several things:
A) There is a whole cemetery there, and it was the only monument left. . .
B) He could have been a traveler (I’m picturing a Conestoga Wagon) that died and they just buried him there. . .
C) Yeah, he could be a vampire. Watch your back.
I’m really starting to get into some of these out-of-the-way cemeteries. Up in Jersey (where I grew up), a lot of 'em were old Colonial family plots, and it seems to be the same down here in Georgia as well. I mean, heck, you’re a farmer in 1816, and your wife just died. You’ve got all the land of your estate to do what the heck you want with! Ain’t no laws against burying your kin on your farmstead. Your son is going to have this farmstead. His son will prolly have it. . . But the wife, you want to bury her near the family. How about that unproductive land out in the back forty?
Head down to your library or county. They might have records . . . That’s how I found info on the Akins/Garvin cemetery.
Tripler
. . . and it was all because I asked the clerk when I was filin’ for my pistol permit. 
Apparently this is still legal. 10 days ago a childhood friend of mine had two of this three children ( and his ex-wife, with whom they were staying that weekend ) die in a fire that burned her house to the foundations.
He said the kids are buried on his farm. It broke my heart to hear this, and I don’t mean to drag down this thread, but I share it by way of saying that at least in Pennsylvania, you are legally permitted to do this.
I’d like to know where that is by Iowa City.
Also, I tried to go and take pictures of the Black Angel and we couldn’t find her. It was late at night so we could have been turned around and it was my first time in the cemetary.
There is one cemetary that I used to hang out in all the time when I was a teenager. Thing would start getting loud in my house and I would take a book and just sit there and read or wander around a bit and wonder about the people.
I also like to stop when I see random older cemetaries when the children and I do our summer traveling. They are starting to enjoy it too, unless it starts to get dark then they start spooking each other.
I have some pretty cool pictures.
I can fix you up!
I don’t know how well Mapquest links parse and transfer, but I’ll try one (it will be approximate, but I can give you directions as well). If you find Muscatine Avenue, and take it east out of town, it eventually turns into SE American Legion Road. At some point, it begins to curve from going east to going south, and the grave of Robert Ford is right about at that curve in the field to your right.
Try this, but I’m not promising anything. It’s showing me the location, but may not work for you.
Okay, I’m done fiddling with Mapquest, because it lets me scroll around without fixing the url. American Legion Road SE around 420th St. SE is where you’re going to find this. It will be to the right as you leave IC, and probably very visible right now since the crops are small.
As for the Black Angel…I love this thing. It’s much easier to find in the daylight, though. Oakland Cemetary (at the east end of Brown Street) is where it is, but you do have to drive in a bit. It’s a beautiful cemetary, lots of hills, lots of trees, lots of history. I’m not certain of the exact directions (I’m thinking drive in and bear to the left sorta, and you’ll see it after you go over a hill), but it’s worth finding. I actually have some greeting cards with a pic of it on the front, but my scanner has decided to jam up and I can’t scan one to show people. It’s a beautiful statue, though (although the stories about it are mostly not true…the truth, however, is rather fascinating).
I’ll tell you what. I need an excuse to get out of the house today, and since I have a video camera that will take still shots, I’ll get up there and not only shoot a few images, but also get you exact directions to it so you can find it next time you’re in town.
Am I a peach, or what? 
Oh no! Sorry to hear about the accident. Hey, if you want a good deal on a mustang convertible (like UNDER dealer trade-in blue book) let me know ^___^
I’m getting rid of mine before I leave for Germany.
Speaking of Germany, as long as we have a Dopefest before then, I’m there. Except 4th of July weekend. That will be my last weekend with family in Florida. (anyone want a free ride to Tampa for the weekend?)
Anyway, that is the only weekend I plan to be unavailable between now and August. So the Airfest weekend sounds perfect! (Whenever that happens to be)
Also, let me know if anyone is going to another Snakes Game. You two are welcome to crash at my place if you dont want to drive back home. On base lodging is always full. Provided your house doesnt call you again saying there’s a burglar loose like last time.
Anyway, I have two couches and a futon, and a soft floor. You two are welcome to stay here anytime you’re in Columbus.
Sorry, Bear_Nenno, the Snakes are done for the season. Some of them have already headed back to Canada for summer jobs.
Whaaaaaa!
Bring on the Catfish!
Well, I’m back to confirm my peachitude.
Kricket: I’ve got you as close to the grave of Robert Ford as I can from memory. It’s about 6 1/2 miles from my apartment, which makes it too far for my lazy butt to walk, too cold to bicycle, and I don’t have a car. For some reason, I have a vague memory of you living fairly close, so you should be able to find it.
As for the Black Angel, I hiked up there this afternoon, and can tell you the following:
Once you enter the cemetary, stay on the main road (there are some turnoffs, but ignore them…and stay on the pavement). At one point, you’ll have to go left or right, but the left option says “Do Not Enter,” so don’t do that. Just past that you will see this vista.
As you can see, the Black Angel is about dead (no pun intended) center, just a bit above same. The road will swoop to the right, and then swoop to the left, and then you will get a triple choice: left, middle, or right. Take the right, because by then you will be within a few dozen feet of the monument anyway, and once you take the right, the Angel will be on your left.
The story that I heard about this marker from the town historian is rather wonderful and sad, if anyone is interested. There are (of course) spooky ghosty type stories, too; but the truth seems to actually be better.
Here’s a pdf file on the Black Angel monument from the Iowa City website, if you’re so inclined.