Display Name Change

[Janet Harrington]

What a wonderful thing to say about our frawgy, Rudy.  I'm glad he joined this forum and glad that you joined it, too.

I can also see why you are a writer.  You use such wonderful words as does frawgy.  The only thing I can say about the two of you...You Go, Guys.

[flo]

wow, Rudy, very touching and very true.  Frawg, it is a lot easier to answer someone's smart-ass post that something so humblling, isn't it?  Really never thought you'd ever be at a loss for words.  I have a brother in law who is in the last stages of MS but he still isn't giving up.  He was first diagnosed 27 years ago and basically said it wasn't going to change this farmer and it didn't until the day he did something wrong and ended up on the ground with the tractor on top of him, where he laid for hours till someone found him.  He continues to keep busy every day, but spends more time in the house and has given in to a cane.  He falls, makes a joke about having too much to drink (never drank alcohol in his life), laughs and grabs something to get up. Hardest for him was not being able to go out and care for the cattle and having the car keys taken from him.  Have known others with MS and then learned that there are different strains that effect victims different ways. Some are bedfast after only a few years,  and it always seems to happen to such nice people. 

[Wilma]

But don't follow them, Janet.

[kdfrawg]

When we move, my wife always lets slip to the new neighbors that I have MS, lest they think I drink. Your brother-in-law seems to have the only attitude that works. You just have to keep going, and one of the best ways is through a sense of humor. Right after I first met my (step) daughter, we were out together at a Walgreen's store. I asked her what she would do if I just fell over on the way through the store. She rared back and hollered, "Pick-up on aisle four!" I knew right away that she and I would get along fine. Heck, she was only 11 or 12!

That takes me back to the last time, I think, when I was without words. Without telling either my wife or I, she wrote a letter about me to the MS Society. I was on the Board of Directors for the Kansas City region, and therefore went to almost all of the public meetings. At the award banquet that year, I was sitting with my wife and some friends, lending applause to the winners. Then they announced the winner of the Father of the Year Award, and it was me.

My wife had to push me out of my chair and I thought furiously about what I could possibly say at the microphone. Although I didn't yet know how it had come about, I did the only thing I could think of. After all, I had to say SOMETHING! So I spent several minutes talking about how great my daughter was.

All I can say, right now, is that Rudy is obviously one hell of a good guy.

[Jo McDonald]

I am sitting here with tears in my eyes.  The most wonderful thing about this forum is reading and feeling the love that can be conveyed through words that tug at the heart strings of folks that are online friends and it feels like you are all in the same room - touching hands.
Frawdg and Rudy -- may I say,  I think you both are Two hell of a good ole' boys.  I am so glad to have made your acquaintance through this love and hug forum.
Bless you both - may you always be blessed.

[kdfrawg]

That feeling is mutual, Jo. Even though I have never been there, I feel a real kinship with the people in this forum. It is difficult to explain how that happens, but it did. I am just incredibly pleased to have stumbled across this wonderful haven on the Web.

[Rudy Taylor]

Doggone it. There are tears in my Cheerios, folks.

[Leonardcrl]

Kermit:

I just took a quick pass through your Genuine Kansas site and have some questions.

• Is there a "table" in this coffee shop where wire and/or bit heads gather? I'm an apprentice in the blog business and would like to "set at the feet of the Masters" about ways to handle some of the complexity


• In your history of Elk/Howard County there was no mention of the trading post with the four furrows.  Perhaps not unusual but I believe is was recorded in the WPA history of Elk County.  Or perhaps you missed that story 


• I'm a Civil War buff and have started a participation time line of the Kansas Regiments.  I'm aware of the Kansas Guard web site and I see you have pages for Baxter Springs and other battle sites.  I'll be back to check those out.  Do you have any recommendations for other online sources?  I've visited Fort Scott and Mine Creek sites in June of this year.

[W. Gray]

Carl,

I would like to jump in.

One of your questions is quite interesting and triggers a mental question I have had for several years.

I believe the trading post you mentioned was Howard when it was located three miles to the north on Paw Paw Creek.

I checked my copy of the WPA history of Kansas and do not see a mention. Longton, Elk Falls, Moline, and Grenola get a short story but there is nothing for Howard. I am looking at a 1939 edition. Perhaps there is another book out there.

Henrietta Elma Mann in her A Brief Historical Sketch of the Settlements of Elk County mentions two men making an 18-mile long plow furrow that extended south to a major wagon trail. That trail meandered clear across Howard County parallel to the southern boundary. At the intersection of the furrow and wagon trail, they placed a sign pointing to Howard. There being no roads, immigrant wagons on the trail, if they were so inclined, followed the furrow. One of the plowmen was named O'Neil.

I have always wondered why O'Neil and company would spend their time going that far south when there was a major wagon trail just to the north that ran diagonally northwest from Wilson to Butler through Howard County. Both wagon trails were old well-worn Osage tribal hunting paths.

But, from what you are saying they must have plowed in at least four directions? That would make more sense although west might not have been a good choice.

[kdfrawg]

Leonard, here is a page that you have to know about if you don't already. It has all kind of great stuff one it:

http://www.kancoll.org/

What I am mainly doing with www.GenuineKansas.com right now is getting a page for every county and every city over 1,000 people. All of the interesting stuff is full of references to these very basic items, so I want to get them in place first so they will be easy to link to. I think I'm up to 730 pages, going in alphabetical county order, and I'm finally into the O's. Along the way I've tried to pick up the famous people that all the places claim as natives, and I couldn't help but do some of the history pages that are real basic.

I have taken a little time off (my wife says I was becoming obsessed) to do some other things and handle some non-Web problems. I'll be ready to make a push through the end of the boring stuff about August 1. Then I can start doing the interesting stuff like you are talking about. I would be happy to give you a second outlet for your material. I also have the main page buttons to add Kansas-related blogs to the site, if you are interested.

In the other direction, I'd be happy to render assistance where assistance is needed. I guess we could just start a thread here in the coffee shop, or if that would bore everybody to tears, we could take the discussion off line and into email. It might be that the people here may be interested in what we're up to. Why don't you let me know where you are in your project now and where you want to be, and I'll see what I can do to help get you there.

Michael