Reminders The Friendship Patio is a roofless three-wall "shelter" near the flower garden in Comstock, Nebraska. It is what's left of the original electric generation plant built in the 1930's. A few donated chairs, some scattered toys and the remains of a stove and refrigerator is what welcomes visitors to the patio today. Thought for … Continue reading Friendship Patio
Tag: Nebraska
SW Omaha Construction Site Three months ago this was an idyllic farm setting in the Southwest corner of Douglas County, Nebraska. A crushed rock drive that wound its way through lush green corn fields to a proud white farm house where the porta-potty now sits. Large stately elms trees shaded the house and a sturdy … Continue reading Progress?
Comstock City Park The city park of Comstock, NE does not look like the typical small town city park. It's about the same size, one city block, with large shade trees, but that's where the similarity ends. There are no picnic tables, no swimming pool, no bandstand or anything else to accommodate large gatherings. With … Continue reading Comstock City Park
Hidden Treasure Twelve miles north of Taylor, NE (pop.200) there is a sign for the Bootleg Brewery, which lies at the end of a 3 mile gravel road. I'd heard of this place and was eager to check it out. Men's Restroom Expecting an old barn or some run down shack from the 50's, I … Continue reading Bootleggers
Resting Comfortably Another interesting site I found along Sargent-Ord Road in northeast Custer County, Nebraska is this barn squatting on its haunches. With the words, "Cross Wind Mercantile" painted on the front, it appears to have been a business, possibly an antique dealer. The white vinyl fence in front looked totally out of place, as … Continue reading Sagging Barn
Comstock Windmill Festival Heading east on Main Street out of Sargent, NE is a nice paved county road that eventually ends up in Ord, Ne. It has no road number, just a name: "Sargent-Ord Road". For a one-mile stretch near Sargent the road is called "Airport Road"; yes, Sargent, NE (pop. 506) has an airport. … Continue reading Windmill Festival
Hazy Sunset The smoky air from the wildfires in western Nebraska and the west coast provided an apocalyptic scene at the Comstock Lodge in central Nebraska. This shot was taken about an hour before sunset. Thought for the Day: Stop worrying about the world ending today. It's already tomorrow in Australia.Charles M. Schultz
Comstock Lodge Custer County is the 2nd largest county in Nebraska, located in the geographical center of the state. One hundred miles north of Grand Island, NE lies Sargent, NE (pop. 509) in the northeast corner of Custer Co. About 3 miles NE of Sargent is the Comstock Lodge, where we spent two nights. Formerly … Continue reading Comstock Lodge
Snapping Turtle The oldest and largest Common Snapping Turtle in the world resides at the Schramm Educational Center south of Gretna, NE. Over 80 years old and weighing 95 lbs, he is a crowd pleaser at feeding time. As ferocious as he looks, a head scratch from his handler is always welcome. Thought for the … Continue reading Big Snapper
Butterfly Rest Stop First of July and the butterfly garden looks to be in good shape. In full bloom are Gaillardia (yellow), miniature Cone Flower (pink) and Soapwort (white), commonly called "Bouncing Betty". Behind these colorful perennials are Common Milkweed, where Monarch Butterfly lay their eggs. Also, Goldenrod, Nebraska's state flower, and giant Sunflower. I'm … Continue reading Butterfly Garden
Crazy Address Addresses with "1/2" added to the house number are not uncommon in the old parts of large cities. Why? During the Depression, people decided to rent out half their house to make ends meet, so they divided their house into two "residences" and "1/2" was added to distinguish the two. But, this picture … Continue reading 4147 1/2
Frosted Leaf Just when I thought we had seen the "last gasp" of Ole Man Winter, we get five inches of heavy wet snow. The flower beds had been cleaned of mulch and winter debris, flowers blooming, trees were leafing out, the grass was emerald green and recently mowed, and spring vegetables had been seeded … Continue reading April Snow
Easter Church Service The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc around the world and the Easter holiday was no exception. Our local church in Nebraska has been closed for almost a month, providing services on-line. They even tried drive-by communion one Sunday, but have since resorted to "self-serve" communion at home during the streamed services. We … Continue reading Easter, 2020
Howler Monkey There are always new "finds" at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. No matter how often you go, there is always a new adventure. I've been in the Lied Jungle several times, one of the world's largest indoor rain forests, and have seen every species of monkey. But, this time a Howler … Continue reading Howlers
Joslyn Museum It looks like these four have nothing better to do than stare at the wall. Maybe they're just resting their feet after hours of touring the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, NE. At best, maybe they're admiring the artwork in front of them. What this picture doesn't show is the animation of this … Continue reading Digital Trees
Scoops Galore The Mormons spent the winter of 1846 in what became Florence, Nebraska, now Omaha. While here, they built a mill to grind their corn, wheat and rye. The mill still stands today. While milling around (pun intended) the current art gallery, I found some relics from the old mill, like the wooden box … Continue reading Scoops
Willa Cather Prairie Heading south from Red Cloud, Nebraska on US 281 there are few natural landmarks to mark your progress. Rolling hills of corn and bean fields and ranch land lies on both sides of the highway as far as the eye can see. Just before entering Kansas, there is a gravel road heading … Continue reading Native Prairie
Moseying across Nebraska near its southern border, a beautiful white church caught my eye. It was a mile north of US 136 in Jefferson County, but shined like a beacon against the cloudless azure sky. As I approached the church from the south, I noticed the cross was leaning to the west. Not much, but … Continue reading Crooked Cross
40 acres of sunflowers On US 136 five miles west of Fairbury, Nebraska, I found a sea of sunflowers in full bloom. Three feet tall, standing shoulder to shoulder, soaking up the bright sun with hardly a cloud in the sky. Pollinators were gorging themselves. It was a great day to be a sunflower! Thought … Continue reading Sunflowers
Round Barn - lower level Starke Round Barn One of the largest round barns in the US is near Red Cloud, Nebraska. It is a truly circular barn, not polygonal, three stories tall and 130' in diameter. Built by the four Starke brothers in 1902, the massive timbers are held in place by tension -- … Continue reading Round Barn
