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After 10 hours of stuff too gruesome for me to describe to some of my readers, I feel like a functioning human being again. I'm going to go out on a limb and say waterboarding wouldn't be as difficult.

(Last Letter from Dad)

6/1/01

Rob,

Not much to report from home. Went to St. Louis yesterday for checkup for next transplant. My shoulder is getting much better now. Not nearly as sore and immobile as before. Next go back to Dr. on June 12. Of course, your mother was required to shop while we were there. We went down the night before and stayed with Anne and Tom. Susie is having a baby shower tomorrow and your mother is going to it with Gow. Big deal I suspect, but I am staying home.

Beilsmith found that a crank case ventilator was clogged on Woody. He thinks this may have been the cause of Woody's suddenly using of oil. If you think you can get along with Woody for another year, we might want to consider keeping him and seeing if the oil problem is no longer a problem. It is unusual for a car to start using oil so quickly so Beilsmith my have found the problem. I hope so.

Jim Beilsmith wants to buy your mother's van, but when a replacement came in at Murphy's Jim didn't have the money. He is trying to sell some of the cars in his stable. Don't think he can be counted on for several months. We may just wait and buy one of the 2002 models instead.

The burn of the warm season grass caused the golden rod to jump out of the ground and take over from the warm season grass (wsg). I will ask Richard to mow the golden rod and maybe the wsg could get a start. We have had cool wet weather and that has favored the weeds and caused the wsg to grow slowly.

Jim McNeal has graveled the road to the cabin. I asked him to wait until it was dry, but he got in a hurry and got stuck turning around and had to dump a load in the field. I suspect he will clean it up. I have left a call for him to see what his plans are before he finishes.

I was able to get some tung oil for the cabin floor. I will now make some samples and see if we can get a look we like.

Eric planted the switch grass in between the parking area and the electric transformer. None has germinated yet, but it has had plenty of rain. The cool weather has probably slowed everything down. Our highs have been in the 60's and the lows in the upper 40's and 50's. This has made the grass grow and has kept our yard boy, Quinn, busy.

Read is coming home this Sunday to pick up Mary and Tim's washer and dryer, which he bought. He is going out with Annie tonight and tomorrow he is working on a job application for a researcher needed in the vet school. He will probably not come home to get the washer and dryer until Sunday. His article for the Blues may be published on the web site this week. I guess he will take the washer & dryer back in the pickup. Merrill leaves soon for band camp. He will be on a bus playing in various locations and traveling.

Everyone is asking how things are going with you. Mrs. Viorel said Steve was amazed that you are doing something so exciting and adventurous. I hope things are going as well as you had hoped. I would have loved doing something like you are doing. You are just like my grandfather (Gow's dad) who went to Cheyenne at the age of 18 to become a cowboy. He got a job on the train as a fireman to get there, then got a job as a cowboy and bought a saddle. However, when the winter came and the cold winds, he came back to Frankford and became a midwestern farmer.

Jim Nemes hasn't started on the cabin floor yet, I have the screws for the floor. I expect him to start any day now. We will put screws in the boards to hold them to the floor. Jim knew of some special finish screws for the purpose. I ordered 2000 screws from a place in VA.

Gumm's broken collarbone is not healing fast. Therefore, he has not been back to do any more painting. He thinks it will be at least another 2 weeks before he can do anything. The bone is not healing as fast as hoped. A gap can still be seen on the X-ray.

Be sure to check the air in the tires when you drive it. Don't want you to have any tire problems. Hope the Explorer is meeting your needs. Don't forget the things you put under the seat.

I would be interested to hear who some of the other workers are at the camp. What schools do they go to, where are they from, how did they find out about the job, etc. Also, what you have done at guide school. I have been watching the weather on the weather channel. Looks like you have been having warm weather.

Your mother sent more underwear and the Phillips 66 gas card today.

Be sure to get someone to take close up pictures of you in your activities when you have time. Don't need a lot of long distance scenery photos. This is an opportunity you will be glad to have photos to remember by.

Have a great adventure.

(signed) Dad

Burn Baby Burn, Wait Just Kidding

During Thanksgiving, Bro and I tried to burn my mom's woods. It went well for awhile.

We started our back fire and decided we were comfortable with the wind.

Things going well cutting in small back fires to speed up the process.

Hey, Bro are we sure we want to keep this up considering we are dealing with 40+ MPH gusts and we'll have two enormous brush piles? Shut it down.

At least we didn't burn the house down.

That is what a controlled burn is supposed to look like. Next time we light our fields on fire it'll be on the blog. You guys are welcome to come watch or help.

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving 2011. I'm thankful for life, my family, my friends and of course my readers!

My day started out with a 7.8 mile run with my BF and BFW. The run was cold at first but after a mile I realized I was much to over-dressed. I told them about being creeped on at a bar, which was fun. The creeping and telling of said creeping was fun.

Bro arrived around noon and we hit the road to the Northland. We ended up being tasked with what seemed to be a wild goose chase. We eventually found the cream of mushroom soup but not without having to visit walmart. walmart on Thanksgiving day in a small town is interesting. The people were either really friendly, happy, and into the day; or really pissed off at life.

We arrived at Gow Gow's and discussed the usual things first. These include but are not limited to politics, the turkeys in the back yard, the deer in the back yard, the squirrls getting into the bird feeders, leaves covering the yard, what tree is dying, the rental houses on the farm, health issues, and other various items.

As the cooking was progressing along the big issue was when would the turkey be done. Now Gow Gow is 95. She has been cooking for a few years now, she started at age 8 when her mother died. I'm not sure how long she has been cooking turkeys but every year the discussion becomes at what temperature is the turkey done. At one point my mom, aunt, and Gow Gow are all standing around the open oven saying things like 'do you think it is done?' 'is 160 hot enough?' 'where are you supposed to stick the thermometer?' After this went on for some time I said, "I don't think it will cook very fast if we stand around the oven with the door open." This was not exactly viewed favorably but it got the job done. The oven was promptly closed and Gow Gow opened her giant cooking binder that can't even be closed, flipped to the T section and pulled out her notes on turkeys. Now, I noticed a period of time longer then my life the temperature at which a turkey is done has ranged from 160 to 190. However, all agreed upon the location where one should check the temperature, stuffing and the inner thigh. (i like to check the temperature at the inner thigh myself) After another 30 minutes in the oven I tested the turkey and informed everyone of the temperature. After discussion it was deemed done and out he came.

Bro was tasked with carving the turkey.

While Gow Gow sat, I drank wine took pictures and helped on the gravy, Aunt Ann fixed the salad, and Uncle Tom watched.

Before we ate Bro said a very good prayer. It hit all the major points Granddad used to: thanks for providing, thanks for family present and away, let us make good decisions, help the politicians make good choices. Basic yay god boo devil kind of stuff.

We always have pecan and pumpkin pie for dessert. I only eat pumpkin as I find pecan too sweet. Gow Gow makes her own whipped cream. She puts some powdered sugar and vanilla extract in and it makes it better than heaven in your mouth. Also, I don't drink coffee much but Gow Gow only drinks it from a true coffee CUP and saucer so I think I have to for the sake of tradition.

Also, Mom had her cast taken off so now she is just in a splint with her pins sticking out of her finger. Cats are dangerous.

You are all welcome to come next year if you'd like!

The Greatest Chili in the World

Welcome to my kitchen! I actually believe I really do make the best chili I've ever tasted and I thought it was about time I share with you guys.

This is cooked in a crockpot and I'm not ashamed of that. Also, I use canned beans and tomatoes and frozen corn. Yes, corn. I know some of my readers are more into freshness than I am so substitute time and hard work as you please. I'm a single guy and this is how I do it.

I have to give a shoutout to Bin (interesting spelling) at Panera for the free coffee. I went in to buy a cup for this endeavor and he said, "This one's on the house." SCORE.

Matt&Kim's Sidewalks is the musical selection while we make magic.

I use about a pound of ground meat. I say meat because usually this is venison but I'm out. Today is beef from our farm or my great uncles farm, who knows. Start browning this first. My herbivore readers, I bet it is just as delicious without the meat, but I eat meat.

Once you have that going, wash your veggies. Red bell pepper, green bell pepper, 2 jalapenos, the biggest onion you can find, and a whole garlic bulb. You don't have to wash the onion or the garlic, at least I don't. Start cutting! (don't forget the browning meat, it's probably done and you don't want to over cook it)

The meat is now draining with a little help of cast iron.

I don't bother cutting stuff up too small. I like seeing what I'm taking a bite of. It also gives a varying texture in the finished product.

Same goes for the jalapenos, I don't think it is nice to surprise a person's tongue that doesn't like spice. This stuff will get spicy enough without sneak attacks.

All this stuff is going straight into the crockpot. On a side note let's make a deal; I'll be happy to cut onions for you but don't expect it to be pretty. Lets just say some pieces are bigger than others.

Now, peel and crush and mince that whole garlic bulb. Not just a clove, the whole dang thing. I find it easier to peel the cloves if i kind of crush them a bit first.

I don't have a bunch of little dishes like the cooking shows so you'll have to be satisfied with a shot or two of me measuring the spices, but I won't leave out any secrets.

Here is all the delicious spices.

4 teaspoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 2 teaspoons cumin, 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, 2 teaspoons oregano, 2 teaspoons cilantro. Now I'm not what you would call exact in these measurements. In actuality there is probably more in there than what I listed.

At this point I usually start the crockpot crocking.

Bean time!

30 ounces of chili beans, 15 ounces black beans, and 15 ounces dark red kidney beans. I drain these and kind of rinse them. You don't want to rinse out too much of the deliciousness of the chili beans. I use the different types of beans to make it look more interesting. I found most chilies to look boring. Varying the bean types and the different color peppers helps this.

Musical sidebar: I listened to Sidewalks twice, it's a really good album. Also, listened to some Peggy Sue thanks to @naurnie. I find myself liking it the more I listen.

Now, dump all those tomatoes in there!

30 ounces diced tomatoes, 24ish ounces tomato sauce. That picture really doesn't make it look very good, does it?

Ok, stuff is about to get real. It is time for Da Bomb. Seriously for realzz this stuff is da bomb Da Bomb. It is crazy hot but full of so much *flavor* it is insane! Dip a toothpick in this stuff and touch, just touch the tip of the toothpick don't lick it, to your tongue and it will light you up! A quarter to a half teaspoon of this stuff for 5 quarts of chili. This is powerful stuff that you don't joke around with. Today, I'm splitting the difference because I'll probably be the only one eating this but might take some to the cabin this weekend for deer season. Not sure if everyone there will be down for a runny nose and a steaming tongue. For me, this amount of spice is just enough to make me breathe heavy but at the same time doesn't slow me down eating.

Don't forget to put the meat in there.

And you can't forget the 3ish cups of corn! I use frozen corn for this. Most of the time I wait to put it in. Let it crock for a few hours and then put in the corn just long enough for it to heat up. Given my current time constraints for this batch it is going in now. This is another item added for interest. It brightens the bowl and also adds some pop as you chew.

Last item and it is crazy to most people. Brown sugar, just like a young girl should. (thanks, Mick and Keith) I usually let the amount mirror the amount of Da Bomb but in terms of cups not teaspoons.

Now, get in there and stir it up!

Yep, it is supposed to seem that dry. Don't add any extra liquid. Your juices will start to come out of the veggies as it crocks. It will be thick when it is finished, but who wants to drink chili? You should be able to EAT it.

It will take a minimum of 4 hours on high to crock. Normally, I start it right as I leave for work and let it crock on low all day, 9 hours or so. It's done once the veggies are cooked. I like it better when I make it over the weekend so I can turn it off while the veggies are still a bit firm. However, it is so hard to smell it all day and not get into it.

Enjoy!

To recap:

12 ounces ground beef/venison

1 big honkin' onion

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

2 jalapenos

1 whole bulb of garlic

30 ounces chili beans

15 ounces black beans

15 ounces dark red kidney beans

30 ounces diced tomatoes

24 ounces tomato sauce

4 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons cilantro

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoons Da Bomb Beyond Insanity

3 cups corn

1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar

5 quart crockpot or you are probably looking at an overflow. Don't say I didn't warn you.

The Bloodiest 47 Acres in America

That was the name given to Missouri State Penitentiary by Time Magazine in 1963. The prison first opened in March 1836, the same month and year The Alamo fell. The first prisoners were actually taken in before that date. They were tasked with building the prison around themselves. Bricks were manufactured and the stone quarried on site.

Saturday I went on a tour of this impressive and awful place. It was decommissioned in 2004. Part was torn down to make room for a new Federal Court House. According to our tour guide, Bill, hopefully they won't destroy anymore. I agree with him. This piece of history needs to be shared with as many people as possible.

The building you see at the top was originally the women's dormitory. It was built around 1904. Bill said it was a terrible place and the women had it much worse than the men. The youngest person to ever call that place home was only 4 months old. Later, after the women moved to a separate facility, it was renamed H-Hall and became the control center of the prison.

Those steal bars separated the free world from the world of incarceration. (Bill is in the red)

After walking through the doors we were greeted by, The Bubble. This was built to be the most secure area in the prison. It controlled the gates separating the two worlds. Here Bill tried to get us in the mindset of what it was like to be here. He should know he spent 30 years of his life behind the walls, as a guard.

In this most secure place in the prison you always had 4 people. 2 guards and 2 inmates. This little fact helped Bill illustrate what he sees as the most common misconception we have, you aren't locked up in prison. From about 5:30AM to 10:30PM the vast majority of the inmates were free to roam inside the walls.

After being emptied of prisoners on September 15, 2004 the gates were shut. In its day the paint was always fresh and the floors always swept. Time has been taking its toll.

They just walked out and left everything else behind.

The prison was a very violent place. Bill said there were and still are knives all over the place. During his time he would take 5 gallon buckets of knives to the Missouri River and toss them in. Inmates would have them hidden around were they worked, ate, hung out, showered, etc. After Bill first started he didn't really want to pat down the inmates. He was watching over the sewing factory and a pair of scissors came up missing. He thought he was going to be fired right there. His supervisor came down and started cutting open the cushions on the seats at the sewing machines. After cutting through a few he found a knife and after a few more another. He stopped and said to the inmates he knew they could make 2 knives out of the scissors so he took 2 of theirs.

On the roof right above Bill the mass escape attempt of 1954 was turned into the riot of 1954. Over 300 inmates overpowered killed and took the keys from several guards. On that roof a "friendly" exchange took place. An inmate below said to the guard with a shotgun, oh come on, you can't stop us. The response, "I will stop the first 8. Who wants to be first?" The escape attempt was abandoned.

I mentioned earlier that most inmates could walk around most of the day. Some were too dangerous to the others and had to be locked up the whole time. Their only hour of "freedom" was spent in these cages.

We made our way here. This was the oldest housing unit in the complex, built in 1868. Here Bill told more stories. Sonny Liston learned to box, a man murdered in cell 76 with his eyes gouged out, and a man that spent 18 years in the dungeon below the building.

This was an original cell door from 1868. It was around 4 feet high.

Back to the dungeon. For many years when Bill worked here he didn't think anything of the showers. They were down in a room under the floor. The stairs were in one end and open to the main hall. What he said he laughs at now is never realizing, they didn't have running water in 1868. Why would you build a pit in the middle of a cell block, solitary. Behind the shower walls was the real story.

This is the bottom of one of the original doors. Solid steel except for this small opening for food to be passed through. On the outside of this a wooden door. And at the top of the stairs another wooden covering over the stairwell. Guys would spend days locked up in complete darkness. One man actually spent 18 years in this hole coming out a couple times a month so he wouldn't be permanently blinded.

The last stop was the Gas Chamber. 40 people were put to death in this small building built by prisoners.

The handle to drop the cyanide tablets into the acid. Bill was very upfront about being very pro death penalty. He says he's talked to many prisoners that said to him they didn't do something because of the death penalty. However, he was very clear; the gas chamber is the most cruel wicked way anyone can die. It is too cruel to the person and too dangerous to the surroundings. Areas around the prison were evacuated when an execution took place.

One last item. Bill just came by work and reminded me of something. He spent 28 years working there. At first he hated it. He wanted to quit everyday. Over the years he became used to it, it became normal. Now, he looks back on it and realizes how far from normal it was. He could never go back to work in that environment.

The end of the line for me. I'll leave you with more pictures.