little Helen and her DOll - a member of The Mentz Family of South Dakota 1925

I was fortunate to have a woman write to me out of the blue and ask if I wanted to look at a photo album and see if I wanted to buy it. She said she had met me a year ago, maybe in Oregon on my travels there. I said yes, she mailed it to me. What a lucky break. It was of a family named Mentz from South Dakota. Here is little Helen the youngest of the group with her doll on the farm. You cannot see but behind them is an endless landscape of land. This was probably difficult for her mom as she left her home and moved here from Indiana. Her sister eventually moved there as you can see and married one of her husband's brothers. Probably met him on a visit to her sister. They are newleyweds with no children yet and still romantic as he has her hand pulled back behind her to hold his. Helen's dad is the oldest of his clan and he holds a shotgun in hand. His father stands apart from the group on the left. The somewhat mysterious younger brother barely peeks through from the back and I feel he is probably a little off mentally. The youngest boy with hands in his bib overalls appears to be about 17. What a life for these women and the men. What hardships they might have encountered out there in the Dakotas in the early part of the century. I think we often forget how this country was settled and found because we often don't "look" back but are always focused on the future...what will we have for dinner, where are we going next vacation, how will I possibly retire? When times get tough think of those who came before us, they were mostly people who never had an ounce of fat on their bodies and now we spend a good deal of time trying to figure out how to get rid of it where as back then they were happy if there was a meal on the table.
I have to think back because honestly if it wasn't for these brave men and women where would we be now. They went to uncharted territory because it was there and because everyone had a sense of adventure. America has lost that and adventure now means going to Disneyland... don't get me wrong, its a great place but don't forget about your past. It is a wonderful reminder of how you got here and why you can enjoy so many things that our relatives and ancestors did way back when.

I hope to write a short story about my grandparents at some point who came over on the boat from Ireland. I am thinking about it lately.

I also hate to tell you our temperatures are in the high 70s and they say it will continue for a week then go down 65 degrees. This is nice but scary as it portends global warming and anything warmer in Arizona and we will cook our meals on the sidewalk this summer...
but for now.. get ready to enjoy spring. I am going out with my camera today and get some photos to show all of you to prove our weather!