Doc Jordan and Friends

Doc Jordan and Friends 08-29-2015_0357The lights were burning late at the Cape Girardeau County History Center in Jackson Saturday night. Doc Jordan and Friends were having an old-fashioned pickin’.

Harry Chapin done well

Doc Jordan and Friends 08-29-2015_0366Friends this evening with Doc – Steve Jordan – were Pastor Stan Hargess, Dr. Hugh Tewis, Terry Wright, Barney Hartline and Carla Jordan.

Doc and Wife Carla teamed up to sing Mr. Tanner in a way that would have made Harry Chapin proud.

A toe-tappin’ crowd

Doc Jordan and Friends 08-29-2015_0336Some combination of players show up monthly. The next pickin’ will be at the history center from 7 to 9 on Saturday, October 17. A handbill says to “bring your banjo, guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, bass, or just pull up a chair to sing along or listen.”

A couple who didn’t know about the event saw the lights, heard the music and were made to feel welcome.

Other pickin’ pix

Click on any photo to make it larger, then use the arrow keys to move through the gallery.

99% Full Moon

99% full moon 08-28-2015I noticed this afternoon that my Droid Moon Phase ap said that Saturday was going to be the full moon, then I dismissed it. After a really nice meal at Tractors in Jackson, I decided to meander on the way home.

Just as I turned a bend on CR 640, this is what I saw.

I was on a curve with no good place to pull off, so I had to back up 50 or so feet where there was enough room to get my passenger side doors on a narrow shoulder that dropped straight down onto Scism Creek.

It would have been nice to be able to make the moon bigger, but I had to make a choice: show the barn or make the moon big.

Reach for the telephoto

99% full moon 08-28-2015I thought I’d try for a compromise: make the moon bigger and sacrifice part of the barn.

In the couple of minutes it took me to walk back to the car and get set up, the light had fallen off dramatically, which was good for the moon, but bad for the building.

Neither shot is earthshaking, but the car didn’t go over into the creek, I got the door closed before the van filled with mosquitoes, and I checked off another nearly full moon photo. That’s not a bad evening.

Click on the photos to make them larger.

 

Steinhoffs Had a Gas Station?

DX service station premium glasses 08-26-2015Man, you never know what you’re going to find when you scrape the Mississippi River mud off an old glass. I had intended this to be a quick nostalgia piece about the days when you got all kinds of giveaways when you filled your gas tank.

Little did I know that it would let me discover something about my family that I never knew.

A search hint

Missourian search resultsHere’s a little hint if you want to search The Missourian’s archives. In this particular instance, I typed “DX service station” in the search box. (The quote marks means return that exact value, not every story with the words “service” or “station” in them.) Then, when I hovered over the SEARCH button, I waited until choices came up, then selected “Archive since 1918,” which will return the most results. (That’s a hint from Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders who has a blog of her own.)

Above is what came up. Click on the photos to make them large enough to read.

Employed by Steinhoff DX Service Station?

1945-10-04 MissourianpMy eye went straight to the last entry: “…employed by the Steinhoff DX Service Station.” What the heck is that?

The link took me to an October 4, 1945, war brief about two soldier sons of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Lacy who had been serving since 1944. The story said Pfc. Donald Lacy, a graduate of Central High School, was employed by the Steinhoff D-X Service Station on Broadway before his induction in October, 1944.

That’s the first I had ever heard of such a station. This is one of those times when I wish I could ask Dad or Mother for background info.

Bill Wescoat station at Broadway and Perry

Wreck at Broadway and Perry Ave c 1966The next story I checked was a brief from July 18, 1940: “Workmen have started to build a concrete drive and areaway at the Bill Wescoat D-X service station at Broadway and Perry avenue. Also a lubrication and washroom is to be built on the west side of the station and adjoining it. Westcoat is building the annex and the Midcontinent Petroleum Corp. is making the driveway.

The station at the far right of this wreck photo taken in the mid-60s is probably that station, although it was a Texaco here.

H.H. Steinhoff, Proprietor

1946-03-19 Missourian clipI struck paydirt with this March 29, 1946, ad. H.H. Steinhoff was listed as proprietor of Steinhoff’s D-X Service at 1700 Broadway. H.H. was Hubert Steinhoff, my dad’s brother.

1700 Broadway is the intersection of Broadway and Perry avenue mentioned in the 1940 story.

Uncle Hu

Hubert SteinhoffHubert – Uncle Hu we called him – was the “funny uncle,” and not the kind that the family keeps locked in the attic. He was a jolly guy, always ready to fool around with us boys.

He particularly enjoyed giving us presents that would drive my parents crazy (until they came to a agreement that live animals and toys that made loud noises were not appropriate gifts). I don’t claim to be a snappy dresser, but I AM happy that I didn’t follow in Uncle Hu’s sartorial footsteps.

I don’t know how long he was associated with the service station. When I knew him, he was working for an asphalt company in Illinois. I was always impressed that his car had one of those long, low-band two-way radio antennas that went “twanga-twanga-twanga” when you came to a sudden stop.

Our monogrammed glasses

DX service station premium glasses 08-26-2015I don’t know where the glass came from that started this search, but it appears that it DOES have our family initial on it.

 

 

 

 

 

Hurricane Erika – Stay or Go?

Huricane Erika 20-08-26 AdvistoryI wasn’t much concerned about Hurricane Danny. Every model predicted unfavorable conditions that would inhibit development. Hurricane Erika had a bad feel about it, though. She was following Danny like a girl hoping be noticed at prom time.

I particularly didn’t like Wednesday’s 11 A.M. track that showed the center of the cone knocking on our back door. The only problem was that different models said it would dissipate before it got to us, would swerve north to spin fish in the middle of the Atlantic or would come out of the Bahamas as a piddling Cat 1 storm, with the potential of cranking up to a Cat 2.

Before you dismiss my “piddling” Cat 1 hurricane, imagine yourself in the back of a pickup truck going 75 miles per hour. Now imagine yourself trying to hold up a 4×8 sheet of plywood while being blasted by a firehose.

Wife Lila and Kid Matt have been trying to talk me out of coming home. They both subscribed to the No Big Deal models, and Matt said he’d put up the storm panels if I wasn’t there.

This looks a little better

plot20150826-2255The model spaghetti is beginning to favor a northward turn before it gets to the coast of Florida. The state will probably get some much-needed rain, but be spared high winds. If the 11 A.M. Thursday advisory keeps the turn, looks like Cape is going to have to put up with me a little longer.

I’ve seen a few storms

We had four hurricanes pass over us in the 2004-2005 season. Here’s an account of Frances.

Here are some good disaster preparedness tips that are useful even if you aren’t in a hurricane area. I chased 13 hurricanes and had more than half that many chase me. Experience is a good teacher.