One of the most influential people in Grandfather's life as he was growing up was his maternal grandfather, Mr. James F. Miller.
He lived for many years in an elegant old home in Saginaw, Michigan; a relic from the days when Michigan's virgin ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: Great Grandfather’s Stained Glass Bullseye Windows
Grandfather Says: My Adventures With Model Airplanes
From about age 12 or so, Grandfather has built and flown model airplanes. These were free-flight models, before technological progress made radio control inexpensive enough for anybody except the military.
In his teens, grandfather ...
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Grandfather Says: The Little Kite That Could
One day Grandfather made a "Little Kite that Could."
About a half-century ago, the local Jaycees put on a kite building and flying contest.
On the day of the event there was practically no wind and ordinary kites wouldn't fly at all.
But ...
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Grandfather Says: The Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg
There is a Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, West Virginia.
Back in the days when Andrew Carnegie was presiding over his empire, he occasionally travelled on his railroad into West Virginia, to look after his anthracite coal mines. The coal was baked ...
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Grandfather Says: The Discovery of Argobrite’s Cave
Grandfather says there is a natural cave on his property: Argobrite's Cave, named after an itinerant physician who made calls on horseback to local subsistence farmsteads in the early nineteenth century. Local legend has it that he discovered the ...
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Grandfather Says: Are You Ready for Retirement?
Grandfather knew when he retired nearly fifty years ago what it would be like.
He thinks the reason that he knew was because there were things he wanted to do that he had to forgo when he was hired out to "the other man" and would now have free ...
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Grandfather Says: A 4th of July to Remember
Grandfather says Grandmother sewed period costumes for the family, which we wore to the nations bicentennial celebration in Washington, DC in 1976.
Grandfather and family traveled to Wolf Trap National Park, where the day was celebrated by a ...
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Grandfather Says: High-Wire Theater and Church Improvements
Grandfather says he supposes you've noticed how many technical credits are listed following a movie. Amateur productions also need some of that kind of support.
In productions Grandfather helped with, there were chronic technical shortcomings in ...
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Grandfather Says: The Story of Dan and Ralph
Grandfather says he thinks you might be interested in the story of Dan Blakeslee and Ralph William Blakeslee.
Well, Grandfather's going to tell it to you anyway.
Dan Blakeslee made his way up the Chilkoot Trail into the Yukon in 1899, built a ...
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Grandfather Says: Political Anarchy
Grandfather says he is a political anarchist, more than anything else.
Then he favors youths dressed in black and wearing masks and hurting people and breaking things, you ask?
No, Grandfather's anarchy is not violent; it merely avoids ...
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Grandfather Says: A Fond Look Back at My Love of Fishing
Grandfather says nearly as far back as he can remember, he has loved to fish.
He was on a footbridge over a creek at a family picnic when he was, oh, maybe 4 years old. When he saw minnows in the water, he bent a reed into an "L" and dangled one ...
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Grandfather Says: The Beauty of Alaska
Grandfather says Alaska is a magic place -- even though life at its far Northern latitude is brutal, sometimes.
Magic is central to the native peoples. The Tlingits recognize the spirits of ravens and eagles and belong to the matriarchal clan of ...
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Grandfather Says: Remembering an Old Friend
Charlie Kidd has been gone for quite awhile now -- may God rest his soul.
Charlie was from what Tom Brokaw called "The Greatest Generation." Charlie was an infantryman throughout WWII, fighting through Africa into Italy and then onto the beaches ...
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Grandfather Says: I’m ‘Bout Half
Grandfather says years ago, Grandmother taught piano in the living room. She was, among other things, a model of deportment for the children.
Well, one evening we were enjoying a pitcher of beer and a giant pizza at Pizza hut, when in walked a ...
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Grandfather Says: The Difference Between Cats and Dogs
Grandfather has always lived with dogs, but now that he's married to a cat lady, it's:
Grandfather admits he loves dogs, but he also admits cats are easier, at his age.
And they do things differently than dogs.
For example, cats ...
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Grandfather Says: Strange Dreams
Grandfather says he supposes everyone has weird dreams from time to time.
For example, last night Grandfather had a cow hitched to a plow and walked her up a ramp. She broke through the ramp and got one leg stuck.
Then Grandfather woke up, ...
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Grandfather Says: A Look Back at the 29 Cars I’ve Owned
Grandfather says he has lived through most of America's golden age of the automobile.
In fact, he's owned twenty-nine of them over the years, some of them bought for one or another of his five children to drive.
Here's the entire list, from ...
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Grandfather Says: Observations About Blessings
Grandfather has some observations about "blessings."
He sees where clergymen bless babies and the hounds in fox hunts.
God's blessing is often asked for, by God-fearing families as they sit down to a meal and nations as they go to war. ...
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Grandfather Says: My Life as a Soldier
Grandfather says he was a soldier once, in the Army during Korean War times.
Grandfather had developed a lot of stamina on his high school track team and, independent cuss that he was (and is), he stood during basic training forced march rest ...
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Grandfather Says: Remembering Grandfather’s Grandfather
Grandfather remembers his grandfather, James F. Miller, a man respected and honored as the family's patriarch.
He sired eight children, one of whom died in infancy; a common occurrence which was accepted stoically, in those days.
Grandfather ...
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