Front Yard Transformation

The LICHTE  tree splits and city arrives!

Last Sycamore falls - Jan 2013

Brian of BK  Concrete and Tree Removal

Trees live a long time.  Some live longer than others due to genetics or luck.  The 2011 Tornado damaged nearly every tree in the yard and the soft maples were the most easily damaged.  Before the Tornado, high winds split a huge tree that was from the Lichte Ash/Cottonwood hybrid stock that was brought to the area by the doctor many years ago.  As the many giant elms of long ago, this tree was  also lost.  The city dropped half the tree to avoid damage to their power lines and BK finished the job in fine fashion.  He and his crew also dropped many of the tornado damaged trees.

Dorothy Carothers Dulaney!

Marilyn Shepherd & Dorothy Carothers Dulaney

While eating dinner, my wife struck up a conversation with a lady and the subject of the Benjamin House came up.  She became animated an told us of her youth when she was friends with Eddy Jo Johns.  She recounted how she always admired Eddy Jo's graceful, ladylike ways.  "I was a bit of a Tom Boy, myself", the petite Dorothy giggled.  Together they played and the Benjamin House became a backdrop that they have never forgotten.  Stories like this are exciting for us and we hope to discover more.

Christmas - Anniversary - New Year!

 Jo Kampschmidt, Roger & Debbie Bowe, + Ivy JoAnne

The Holidays are great with family.  A key to remember is that it doesn't have to be YOUR family.  Like so many people, our days are busy but the kids are in Texas and Japan.  So, we borrowed family from our friends.  High School friends, their children, Jo Kampschmidt's family, Kathleen Wilham, and  several others helped Marilyn and I celebrate Christmas, New Years, and best of all - our Anniversary!  The weather was cold with a threat of snow, but we had the house warm and lighted from basement to belvedere.  One friend visiting for the first time had wondered about finding the house on such a dark night.  They said that as they traveled west on collage street they had no doubt when they sited the Benjamin House.  In fact, they said,"Oh my gosh"!  Another friend from high school said that he saw the house when he was passing Hunnewell (laughing).  The new visitors had a lot of questions and Kathleen bailed me out on the tough questions.
The biggest family was Jo's with son Don and wife, Leigh;  daughter Debbie with her husband Roger and their daughter and grand daughter.  They arrived from as far away as San Jon, New Mexico.  Having lived in New Mexico, I really enjoyed talking with them about the food, customs, and weather.