We thought we'd put
Celia's picture here first, 'cause she's lots cuter than Joe. From the look on
her face, I think she just shot the moon . . . and won! We still don't have a
nice picture of the two of them; you can find what was here before -- you know,
the one that looks like it should be hanging in the post office? -- at the end
of the reading material.
As you probably all know, Joe and Celia live in America's Dairyland, home of the Packers and official cheesehead
capitol of the world. They've been living outside
Burlington since Joe retired from U.S. Steel back in the mid-80s and bought
their present house: a four bedroom red brick ranch overlooking Joe's one-acre
pond.
Joe's biggest project
to date, and it's not dead yet, is the infernal bypass. If it really goes through
it will
cut right through their property. Whether Joe is successful in
fighting it remains to be seen. He recently came up with a new plan for a
different bypass . . . one that is shorter, cheaper, safer, etc. (and, by the
way, doesn't go through his property).
Of course, the city fathers want
the bypass to go through Joe's property. For years, he's been actively lobbying to keep the school board from
needlessly building bigger and more expensive schools which, according to Joe, really aren't
needed. He has the figures to prove it, too. He's become such a thorn in the side of those who have been pressing for 'bigger
is better,' they figure this is the only way they can get rid of him. Will he be
successful in fending off the bulldozers? We'll keep you posted.
Joe's pond still keeps him busy:
keeping it stocked with bass and northern
pike, rimming it with stones, keeping the aerator working, feeding stale bread
to the bluegills, and running a line from the mighty Fox into the pond to keep the
water level up.
Then there's the rest of what's
outdoors that always needs work: the lawn (and there's a lot of it) needs to be
mowed, geraniums need to be planted, willow trees (he hates willow
trees) need to be cut down,
cut up and burned, geese have to be chased, and the garden has to be planted and
then, before you know it, it's harvest time on the farm. And, as if all of that isn't
enough, he stays up most nights 'til around 2:00 a.m. working on his
stocks.
Joe got a computer not long ago and
has been doing really well. Who says old dogs can't learn new tricks?
As for Celia, she still plays cards with Joe every day
(she "shoots" constantly)
and shops 'til she drops in the bustling city of Burlington, visiting with her lady friends and
makin' eyes at the guys. But what she loves more than anything in the world is her
grandchildren; she just can't get enough of them and wishes she lived
closer so she could see them more frequently.
We two go up to visit as often
as we can, spending most of our time there playing hand after hand after hand of
pinochle (one weekend, we played 124!). By the time we leave, no matter how much
we've played, one of the families pockets an extra dime or two.
Joe and Celia celebrated their
fiftieth wedding anniversary in 1998. We wish them many more healthy and happy
years together.
The two of them at Dan and Anne's wedding, October 1999
