That's My World-Twin Lakes Wildlife Management Area

When I got Miz Winnie(photo in sidebar) from Basset and Beagle Rescue of the Heartland in November last year she did not like to get in the car. She was okay once she was in the car, but getting her in was problematic. Since I don't abide dogs that don't like to go in the car, I immediately set out to change that. There is a McDonald's about a half mile from the house, so every morning I went through drive through for my breakfast. It was a quick in and out of the car and it soon accomplished it's purpose. She now thinks she has the dog given right to go with me every time I go.

This morning I went for breakfast and when we got home she didn't want to get out of the car, so I left the car door open and came in the house and she soon joined me. When I went back out to close the car door, she was back in the car. So I decided that her idea on how to spend the day was better than mine (vacuuming, etc.), so off we went. Decided to go to Twin Lakes.

I saw a fair number of birds including this first of year Grasshopper sparrow. (Photo cropped)



There were a fair number of butterflies around some flowering bushes. Saw my first of year Monarchs, Silver-spotted Skippers and much to my delight I saw a White-Lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moth. They are difficult to photograph because their wings go at about the same speed as a hummingbird. This one stayed well out of range of my macro lens, but I snapped a couple anyway and one turned out fairly well(photo cropped)



Another photo (this one was taken at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area in August last year)


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All in all, it's obvious that Miz Winnie had the best idea for how to spend the day, however, I suspect that I'm going to need to do some reverse training regarding "going for a ride in the car"!

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That's My World--Naval Ammunition Depot

A couple of months ago the AAA magazine had a short article about how Hastings, a small town (population about 25,000) west of Lincoln had created Greenscape Park. It was created where a building in downtown had burned down. There were supposed to be thousands of tulips, shrubs and trees. When I read the article, I thought perhaps it would make an interesting "That’s My World!" post. I went last week because the tulips were blooming in Lincoln, so I figured they would be blooming there also. One would think that a place large enough to incorporate thousands of tulips would be fairly easy to find. Well, so much for what one thinks. I never found it. Miz Winnie (picture in sidebar) accompanied me, and for some reason she was unusually restless. Perhaps she sensed my mounting frustration at not finding the Park.

Fortunately, I had a second destination for the day. It was the Naval Ammunition Depot.

Hastings was buzzing with excitement on June 10, 1942, six months after Pearl Harbor, when Senator George Norris and Congressman Carl Curtis announced that the Navy had authorized the establishment of a $45,000,000 Naval Ammunition Depot southeast of Hastings. The Hastings area was chosen because of its abundance of electrical power from the Tri-County project, its location equidistant from both coasts and the availability of railroads. The government immediately began the process of taking 48,753 acres of farmland, located mostly in Clay County, from 232 owners.

From the Adams County Convention and Visitors Bureau

The Naval Ammunition Depot known locally as "The NAD," was the largest of four munitions depots in the country and was known for supplying 40 percent of the Navy's ammunition supply at one point during WWII.

The facility produced bombs, rockets, torpedoes, mines, bagged powder and all calibers of smaller ammunition.

There were three other NAD plants located in Burns City, Indiana; McAlester, Oklahoma and Hawthorne, Nevada.

After the NAD served it’s military usefulness

…in December 1958 disestablishment was ordered, to be completed no later than June 30, 1966.
In September 1964, 10,236 acres near Clay Center were transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the Meat Animal Research Center. The administrative headquarters, comprising 640 acres and 28 buildings were transferred to Central Community College in 1966. During 1966 and 1967 surplus land at the NAD was sold to various business and industrial firms who comprise what is now known as Hastings Industrial Park East.

I went to the NAD with a wonderful map (pdf) provided by the Convention & Visitors Bureau.

This was the NAD Administration Building. In Naval terms it was referred to as “Mainsides”. It is now part of the Community College.


Buildings like this were used for “inert storage” or storage of materials to make the munitions.


And these are the bunkers where the munitions were stored. They go on for about five or six miles, and I must say they are kind of an eerie sight.




During WWII civilian employees were paid 75 cents an hour and the work week was 60 hours. Weekly pay was slightly less than $45.

More of my photos are here

The most comprehensive information about the NAD is here

The Historical Society has photos from WWII here

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That's My World--Squaw Creek NWR

I spent last Thursday and Friday at Squaw Creek NWR. The weather was pleasant and there were a fair amount of birds to be seen.

Have you ever wondered why Double-crested cormorants are called double-crested? During the breeding season they have crests. The crests are very evident in this photo. Kind of neat, huh?



There were lots of Blue-winged teals



And then I had quite a surprise. My first thought was that is sure a strange looking heron. Must be the light. Then I looked through the binoculars and realized the “heron” was in fact a Sandhill crane. Now one does not go to Squaw Creek in late April and expect to see a sandhill crane, but there he/she was.

I cropped the crane so it can be seen clearly. The original photo is here.



The rest of the Squaw Creek photos are here

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That's My World--Young Cabin

The Young Cabin is at the Young Cemetery and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The cemetery was established in 1855. The cabin was built by the National Youth Administration, a New Deal work project and vocational training program established for the country's young adults. A dwelling originally constructed in 1856 on the William Young family homestead was disassembled in 1941 and its materials, including the hand-hewn logs, were used in the construction of the Young Cemetery Cabin by National Youth Administration workers .

About the National Youth Administration

The huge numbers of unemployed youth of the 1930s underscored several fears adults had for society. Conservatives saw disgruntled young people as a fertile ground for revolutionary politics while liberals mourned the disillusionment and apathy spreading among American youth. Educators feared that without some type of financial aid, colleges would suffer irreversible damage. ER [Eleanor Roosevelt] worried that long-term unemployment and borderline poverty would undermine young Americans' faith in democracy. She told the New York Times that "I live in real terror when I think we may be losing this generation. We have got to bring these young people into the active life of the community and make them feel that they are necessary."
ER, working closely with educators and relief officials, pushed FDR to address this problem. Although at first FDR did not want to develop programs for young people, this lobbying effort changed his mind. In June 1935, he signed an executive order establishing the National Youth Administration (NYA), a New Deal program designed specifically to address the problem of unemployment among Depression-era youth.
The NYA sought to cope with this problem in two ways. First, the administration provided grants to high school and college students in exchange for work. This allowed young people to continue studying while at the same time preventing the pool of unemployed youth from getting any larger. Second, for those young people who were both unemployed and not in school, the NYA aimed to combine economic relief with on-the-job training in federally funded work projects designed to provide youth with marketable skills for the future.

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That's My World!--Filley Stone Barn

Filley’s Stone Barn

Filley's stone barn -- best known feature of the area -- was built, in part, because of the need for employment during the terrible grasshopper plague and drought that struck in the early 1870s. The project kept many settlers from losing their land. Built into a hillside, the lower level had stalls for 60 animals. The three-inch plank that covered the main floor was caulked with oakum (made from hemp) and covered with melted pitch to be water-tight for 30 additional stalls. The loft held 100 tons of hay. Completed in late November, a stone inscribed "Built By Elijah Filley - AD 1874" was set above the west door, and a grand barn dance was attended by everyone in the community.

The barn, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, was described as the largest limestone structure presently known, and one of the most magnificent barns in the state. The cost of restoration through grants and by the Gage County Historical Society was many times the original cost of the building. It is now available for numerous activities and hopefully will stand as a land mark for another 100 years or so.

Once in awhile you encounter an informational site and you wonder why you never found it before. Such is the site that the information about Filley’s Stone Barn is quoted from. The site isNebraska…Our Towns. It has, among other things, historical information about six hundred cities and towns in Nebraska.

Boy am I going to bore everyone to tears now! giggle

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That's My World!--Here & There

I was feeling very uninspired about a post for That’s My World! as I looked through pictures this morning. So I’m posting some photos of things that tickled my fancy when I saw them. In most cases they evoked a giggle, or a "huh?" as in the last photo.

First up are these water towers in Pratt, Kansas

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These bales of hay were taken somewhere in northern Oklahoma. If I recall correctly the sign next to them advertised someone selling hay.

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This sign was on the road into Salt Plains NWR in northern Oklahoma

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I saw this sign in several Oklahoma State Parks

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That's My World!--Gothenburg Pony Express Station

While in central Nebraska last week I paid a visit to the Pony Express Station in Gothenburg.

According to the plaque on the building it was originally built in 1854 on the Oregon Trail four miles east of Fort McPherson and was used as a fur trading post and ranch house. From 1860 to 1861 it was used as a Pony Express Station. From 1862 to 1931 it was used as an Overland Trail Stage Station, dwelling, bunk house, and storage house on the Upper ‘96’ Ranch. In 1931 the building was donated by Mrs. C. A. Williams to the city of Gothenburg. It was moved from its original site and restored in Ehmen Park by the Gothenburg Post 64, American Legion.

It is dedicated to all the Pioneers who passed this way to win and hold the West.


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That's My World!--Pawnee Lake State Rec. Area

It feels kind of strange to post these first couple of photos on a day that it is 75F, and the furnace is off, the slider to the deck is open, as are a couple of windows. Hopefully this will be the last of the wintery photos!

Last Thursday I went out to Pawnee Lake SRA. Tuesday we had freezing drizzle, Wednesday was very cold and windy. It was somewhat warmer on Thursday, with no wind. The effects of the wind are evident in these two photos.


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I noticed there was a fair amount of bird activity around a couple of trees, so I parked and waited to see what I would see. My patience was rewarded by this Northern Flicker.


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That's My World!---Wildwood Lake

One of my favorite lakes to visit is Wildwood Lake. It's north of Lincoln, and just south of the town of Valparaiso.


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It's a wonderful place to sit and watch ducks and geese during the spring and fall migration. It's also a wonderful place to see songbirds.

The range of the Eastern and Spotted Towhee overlaps in this area. I have been fortunate enough to see and photograph each at Wildwood Lake.

Eastern Towhee

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Spotted Towhee

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That's My World!---Squaw Creek NWR

Can you imagine 1.6 million Snow geese in one place, at one time?

I paid a visit to Squaw Creek NWR last Wednedsday, and that was the estimated count for the day.

Imagine if you can, driving for more than a mile and this is what you see.

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There were constantly geese in the air as well the geese in the water.

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The din from the geese was phenomenal. My dawg that normally snoozes in her bed in the back seat was sitting up and staring out the window. One really wishes at times like that you could read the doggy mind.

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That's My World!

Saturday morning I needed to do some errands, so I stopped at the neighborhood drive-through and got some breakfast to go. Headed to nearby Oak Lake Park to eat. It was a foggy, misty morning. This was my view as I ate my breakfast.

As it was in the mid-thirties, the ice on the lake was partly melted. It created for some interesting reflections.

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To the left of center in this photo is Memorial Stadium, home to the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. The stadium holds more than 80,000 and on football Saturdays, it is called the third largest city in Nebraska. Totally not visible slightly to the right of the stadium is the Nebraska State Capitol Building.

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Another view

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That's My World! Minnesota Lighthouses

A large part of the reason I went to Duluth in September was to see and photograph the lighthouses.

This is the Split Rock Lighthouse.


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The station derives its name from the appearance of the rock as it is approached from the open lake. The octagonal brick tower 54 feet in height was built in 1910. Because of the height of the rock, the light was 168 feet above the level of the lake and could be seen for 22 miles. An incandescent oil-vapor lamp was used inside the third-order lens, producing a light of 450,000 candlepower. The station was also equipped with a compressed air-operated diaphone fog signal, sounding a blast every 20 seconds in time of fog. Split Rock Lighthouse is one of the most frequently visited lighthouses in the United States. The light was discontinued in 1969.

This the Two Harbors Lighthouse


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Construction began on in the Spring of 1891. The light was first lit on April 15, 1892...
The light tower and keeper's house are attached. This allowed the keeper to go directly from his house to the tower. The tower is built three bricks thick. The house is built two bricks thick. So where the walls meet is five bricks thick. The idea behind this thickness was, with the oil that was used in lighting the lamps in the tower, there was a level of protection provided the keeper and his family.
The tower is about 12 feet square and 49'6" tall.

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That's My World!

It's been very cold here the past few days. Not that different from elsewhere in our country. Perhaps because it will be my first Christmas without my Mother, I've been thinking about some of the stories that she used to tell. She and her triplet sisters were born in North Dakota. The parents and older siblings were living in a sod house. They were born in November in the midst of a blizzard. What a present on a blizzardly day those triplets must have been.

Last spring I took these pitures of a sod house near Eustis. There were no signs by the sod house, so I don't know if this is the original location of the sod house, or if it was moved to this location.


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More information about building and living in sod houses can be found here and here


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