The Wanderer's Billfold

 

Adventures await!

And we're ready for them. Our good friends, Jim and Betty Sellers, gave us a unique, hand-crafted gift for our retirement. They didn't take heed of the "No gifts please" for our reception. And while their presence - and that of our other friends and family - would have definitely sufficed, the one-of-a-kind gift will soon get its inaugural use.

We plan a trip to several U.S. National Parks this fall. Going along for the ride will be our Wanderer's Billfold, handcrafted by Jim. 

The note inside reads (just in case you have trouble seeing it in the photo):

WANDERER'S BILLFOLD

Inspired by Betty's grandfather's 1900 billfold. He sold his business in Illinois to WANDER to the Nebraska Sandhills and the Pelican Lake Ranch. 

He and another Sandhill's rancher established a WANDERING service to take educational materials to isolated-room schools located on ranches throughout the Sandhills - and the beginning of the Nebraska Rural Bookmobiles.

The 1800s style floral carving is from Jim's 1895 R.T. Frazier saddle. Originally belonging to a WANDERING Scotsman who ran a ferry and livery on the Green River between the modern Flaming Gorge Dam and Dinosaur National Monument.

Mr. Jarvie's client and customers included other area ranchers and WANDERERS of the West - itinerant cowboys - even the Wild Bunch. Who knows where this saddle WANDERED!

BEST WISHES on your retirement!

Have Fun!

Be Inspired!

Wander Wide!

Wander Well!

 

The note about the Nebraska Sandhills made me think about a trip we took through that area in 2010.

Nebraska Sandhills - 2010 trip

I could just imagine Betty's grandfather traversing the miles between those isolated ranches, carting books and other educational materials. (That book toting makes him sound like my kind of guy!)

This one was taken at the Prairie Club Golf Course near Valentine, Nebraska, but it still shows the terrain.

 

Also The Prairie Club Golf Course - 2010

 

Taken near Valentine, Nebraska, September 2020

 

Jim and Betty also included brochures in the pockets of the billfold. We may not get to those destinations this time, but we'll be ready if the time comes!

Stay tuned! I'll be taking a vacation from blog posts for awhile. I may post some photos to my Facebook page. If you're not currently my FB friend, please ask to be. I can be found at Kim Moore Fritzemeier on Facebook.

I'm the Map, I'm the Map, I'm the Map!

My farmer likes maps. While I don't "read" them like novels (unlike another I could name), I prefer a hand-drawn map to help me complete my next "go-fer" duty. It's a lot easier to follow than an convoluted explanation. And, bonus: I can take it with me for additional reference. (The map above was my guide to picking up two bags of sorghum silage seed in a hidden-away building down a twisty dirt road at the Iuka branch of the Kanza Co-op.)

He used a cut-and-paste method to make a map to help orient our new farm employee, who started yesterday. Randy hopes it will make it easier for him to learn the names and locations of the fields we rent or own. 

Evidently the "map gene" is one that got passed down to another generation. When we took the girls to Manhattan's Sunset Zoo, the ticket seller asked Randy if he wanted a map. When Kinley saw Grandpa's map, she needed one of her very own.

If you look closely, you can see Kinley has her map in hand!

And if Kinley has something, Brooke has to have one, too. (That is officially the Law of Younger Siblings.)

As Grandpa and the girls consulted their maps, I couldn't help but think of the Dora the Explorer song we'd heard multiple times on the car's DVD player on a trip back from Iowa. Dora often uses a map on her adventures, and the map sings a catchy song, "I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map." (OK. It's annoying, too, but it is catchy.)

Kinley the Explorer helped us discover the nooks and crannies of the Sunset Zoo. Even though it's in Manhattan - my home away from home - I'd never been to the Sunset Zoo. Randy hadn't been since college ... and that's been a year or two (or 39).

 

My creature photos weren't all that great, except I was thrilled that we saw the peacock with its feathers spread.

We enjoyed watching the monkeys and the chimps. but the photos didn't do the experience justice. 

 

But the cutest creatures of all are our map-reading granddaughters.