Custom Made Totem Pole in Elkhart Indiana

Driving home from work today I heard a story on the radio about a man in western Indiana who won over $50 million on the Hoosier lottery. Wow... how cool would that be! He is a retired steel worker who plans to put the money to use helping his church and his family. I hope the man has a trusted financial adviser. How sad it would be for him and his family to get overwhelmed by sudden wealth and end up like the Florida lottery winner who turned to drugs and ended up living in a rental storage unit.

Then I got to thinking that I should buy a lottery ticket. Surely I would be able to make good decisions and do good things with the money. So, I drove over to the nearby convenience store to buy a couple of chances in tonight's drawing.

As I pulled into the parking lot I noticed the scaffolding was gone from around the tree at the business behind the convenience store. And, the custom-carved totem pole is now complete. I walked over and saw a man packing the scaffolding in his truck. He was the artist, Doug, out of Wakarusa. He doesn't carve for a living, but it's his passion.

The finished totem pole is a very unique sign for the business Boulderman. So, the next time you need a custom-carved totem pole, stop by Boulderman on Ash Road on the county line between Osceola and Elkhart and ask them how to get in touch with the artist.

Modern Day Totem Pole

While driving down Ash Road, the dividing line between St. Joseph and Elkhart counties, I saw a scaffolding around a tree.

I turned my car around to get a closer look. The homeowner has stripped off all of the limbs from a 50' tall tree and now they're turning the remaining trunk into a totem pole.

Neighborhood Cat on the Prowl

I haven't seen Orange Cat around for several weeks.
I'm guessing he used up the last of his 9 lives. Orange Cat lived in the culvert under our neighbor's driveway. When that house sold a couple of years ago, the former owner asked the new owners to continue feeding Orange Cat, which they did.

Now it appears we have a new neighborhood cat. This one is mostly black, with a bit of white on his chest and paws.

This morning I saw him sitting under our bird feeder. I guess he's waiting for a snack.

Fall Lawn Cleanup

Former neighbors Paul and Judy were over today raking up the leaves so their yard looks nice for potential buyers.

We joined in on the fun, pulling our yard vacuum behind the tractor and then dumping the leaves on their burn pile.

Now this was just our first weekend of raking leaves and we ended up with a pile about 4' high and 10' long. There are still plenty of leaves on our trees so I'm guessing we'll have a few more days of leaf cleanup before the snow flies.

Happy Halloween from FrankenSpike

Happy Halloween everyone. Don't you just love my costume.

Here's a version with one red contact lens and one green one.


I've been feeling much better lately and wanted to thank everyone for their words of encouragement while I was sick.

Fall Display

The first year we lived here we put mums, corn stalks, pumpkins, hay, a scarecrow and Indian corn in the woods in front of the house.

Then, every evening I'd drive around the neighbor hood just to verify that our house had the nicest fall display.

Now, four years later, I've gotten over myself, but still put out the display. It makes a nice transition between the summer flowers and the winter snow.

Rest in Peace Jack Sullivan

A couple of months ago, when I learned Jack Sullivan had cancer, I went to visit him. Sitting in his room at the assisted living facility, he was smaller than I remember him being. But then, I've probably built him up in my mind in the years since I last saw him.

I knew him as JG; my boss from 1988 - 1996. He liked to tell the story of my hiring as him rescuing me from the gas station. In reality, I had just lost my job at a radio station, after the new owners replaced the entire staff. And, I had picked up a part time job doing the books at a gas station. I wasn't anxious to go to work for another radio station; I wanted to do something more. In high school I had worked at a newspaper and in college I had worked at a TV station. I liked it all -- radio, TV and newspaper. I started thinking there should be something out there that would let me be involved in all three. Turns out working at an advertising agency was the answer. I sent my resume to two agencies and was offered jobs at both. Not sure where I'd be today if I had selected the other one... not even sure they're still in business.

My favorite JG story is the time I asked him if I could have a typewriter. He said there was a girl in the front office with a typewriter and she was called the receptionist. If I had any typing that needed done, I should give it to the receptionist. Right then I knew he was setting me up for success.

I learned quite a lot from JG. The three things that strike me as being most important are attention to detail matters, give your client what they need which is not necessarily what they ask for, and make your message appropriate for your audience.

JG was pretty hard on me at times, but I always knew he was trying to teach me and trying to make me better. I had a basketball coach in 9th grade who was harder on me than on any other girl on the JV team. I couldn't understand why and got so discouraged that I quit the team. Only then did I find out that she was so hard on me because she saw potential and thought that pushing me would help me get good enough to move up to the varsity team. Had I not had that experience, I don't think I could have appreciated what JG did for me. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to thank him for it.