Where I'm from and learned to speak

 I took a 25 question test in the NYT that was supposed to show me where my specific micro-dialect was spoken.  As you can see, among other places, Watertown and most of NE South Dakota was it.    Perfect

 

So I haven't put anything up for a long while but I took a two week plus trip that was kinda interesting so here's my report.  I left Sunday 3 weeks ago headed to a HS class reunion ('68) and also to give my HS sports scrapbook to Watertown HS and my college sports scrapbook to Black Hills State University.  I left Sunday hoping the traffic would be light going through Atlanta but it was still slow.  Two days later I'm in Watertown staying at Mike & Sharmell Murphy's house.  Mike has been, and still is, a construction foreman in Watertown after being both the main quarterback and shortstop for Watertown and Black Hills back 50 years ago.  Mike I've known since 6th grade, Sharmell 3rd grade.

As I had some free time before the reunion,

--I talked to Christy Lickei at Coddington County Historical Society who was also interested in the scrapbook if WHS didn't want it.  I've known Christy for a number of years ever since she wanted info on our family business, Club 20, as she was helping Jane Miner do research for her book about Lake Kampeska.

--Saw the principal at WHS, whom Mike had told me was the niece of our HS and college football coach Gene Schlekaway.  Obviously, she was interested and we made plans to get the scrapbook to her after the reunion.

--Mike and I had dinner Wednesday night with his two sisters Cathy and Jan

--Went up to Fargo Thursday to take my daughter, Asiya, to dinner.

--Both days of the reunion (Fri & Sat) went well BUT when we got home Sat night Mike got a phone call that his sister Cathy had been taken to the hospital.  When he got down there he called back and said she had passed away from some problem with her heart.

Monday I dropped the scrapbook at the HS and took off for Spearfish and BH, a 6 hour drive.  As I got into town....

--Stopped first at Schlekaway's house.  Norma and Gene were just getting back from shopping.  Gene had turned 90 since I last saw them and the years were catching up on him.  Norma looked better.

--Took the other scrapbook to the Archives Dept. at the BHSU Library.  They seemed happy to have it.

--Dropped in to Tim and Kathy Gusso's house.  Tim was from Florence, a tiny town NW of Watertown and we managed to talk him into coming and playing Legion Baseball with us as well as then going to BH  as part of the almost all Watertown infield.  Tim also played basketball at BH (at 5'6") then coached Spearfish's HS team for many years.  Tim's basketball and Kathy's brains (Math Major) rubbed off on a couple of their daughters as one is head girl's coach at Nebraska and the other's got the head job at Minn. St at Mankato.

 

 The next morning I got up early and decided to head to Billings, MT.  Now I hadn't cleared it with the woman I was going to visit but she was somewhat impulsive herself so what could go wrong.  I called her when I got there and she was already out with the girls doing thrift stores.  Later for dinner should be ok, she said.  But then later came and a guy she was interested in was coming to town for a dinner she had already agreed to but wasn't sure it was going to happen.  Oh well.  I did get to see her new house and I was going to be able to tell our friend Annie in St Augustine that Patse (picture) is alive and well enough to still look 30 years younger than the rest of us.

Anyway I decided to stay in Billings for the night so I found an Econolodge and woke up the next day --sick, so I stayed another day.  Ok the next day, I headed back to Spearfish.  When I got there I gave Schlek an audio book I'd been listening to, an historical novel about Sherman's march to the sea.  And then I was back on I90 and headed to Rapid City.

Rapid City found me with my longest senior moment of the trip.  Even though four years before I'd stayed at Tammy Jacobi’s house for 2 weeks it still took me over an hour to find it.  But, when I finally did, nobody was home.  40 years ago Tammy was my first serious girlfriend, and even though it didn’t work out, we’ve stayed great friends.  So I called Tammy Glover.  She and her husband Mel have been almost spooky touchstones in my life which is another story.  Tammy G was home, glad to see me and waiting for Mel.  When Mel got home we went to a deli to get dinner, my treat, and, since we were close, stopped at Jacobi’s house to say hi.  She had daughter Maran’s family staying with her so it was old home week.  Maran is Reed’s age and she had a new two year old who looked and acted just like Reed at that age.  As Tammy’s parents had moved to Iowa I told her I’d stop and see them on the way back to FL.  The next day was Friday and Catherine’s memorial was Saturday from 4-6 and Glovers had a trip planned so we were all gone by 9am. 

 Four hours of driving and I decided to stop in Miller SD at a “colorful” motel.  By colorful I mean my usual price range which in this case meant having to kill about 2 dozen flies while I watched the news, etc. I think there was one left who stayed well away from me.

 

The next day I had plenty of time to get back to Watertown for the memorial so I took the back roads and visited some of the small towns south and west of Watertown.  One of particular interest was Willow Lake.  Now I couldn’t remember if I’d been to Willow Lake before but supposedly I was related to about half the people there (pop 250-300).  Things were pretty quiet as I got into town but a lady came to get her mail and as I explained my situation she said we probably weren’t related but that I should see the Willow Lake Museum.  Now it was only open Wed. mornings but the lady who ran it sometimes forgot to lock the door so check it out.  So I walked over.  The door was unlocked.  Spent 15-20 minutes looking around.  As I left the museum an older guy drove up to the post office.  I explained my situation and told him I was a Schmidt.  “Which Schmidt are you?”  My grandfather was Herb Schmidt from Clark.  “Oh! Herb married Gusty and Gusty was my grandmother’s sister.”  Which means we’re... like... second cousins.  Nice to meet you.  The only other second cousin I’ve ever met is MJ Schmidt (picture).  “MJ? Oh Mary Jane.  She’s here someplace.  I just saw her.”  And there she was.  Walking across the street.  I called out to her and she turned and looked and said “Who are you?”  RA Meyer from Guam.  “I thought that might be you.”  We’d met 5-6 years ago.  MJ’s fun.  She’s from a side of the Schmidt family that got most the music genes.  Her sister’s in Nashville, playing in a band and married to a songwriter.  When I told MJ about the museum and the door being unlocked, she told me she was the lady who ran the museum and she didn’t realize she’d left it unlocked.  We went over to the museum and had a nice talk.  Soon, however, it was time to get to Watertown for Cathy’s memorial.

I got to Mikes house just in time to change clothes and get to the mortuary.  It was nice and I saw some people I hadn’t seen for years.  Cathy would have liked it.

The memorial was slowing down a bit when I said goodbye to the family members and got in my car.  The next day I stopped in Atkins IA and visited with Joe and Carolyn Jacobi.  They were expecting me as Tammy had called and I finally got back to Jacksonville about 10pm Monday.  Long way.