Nebraska

Saturday, June 13, Day 82 (cont'd)

We have crossed into Nebraska and are closing in on my sister's place.  I see the state motto, "The Good Life" but have to wonder why the sign is full of bullet holes!

As we drop south, we soon parallel the Platte River, and see McConaughy Lake, one of the largest

reservoirs in the region.

Temperatures are rising!  My sister didn't tell me about this heat wave!  It would climb another degree to 105 as we passed through the town of Ogallala, which was founded as a terminus for the great cattle drives from Texas. 

We are in an area covered by the huge Ogallala Aquifer.  The aquifer covers eight states and 174,000 square miles.  It holds about 3 billion acre feet of water.  The depletion of the aquifer due to irrigation farming has accelerated in recent years, and the estimates to replace the loss with groundwater is 100,000 years.  Plus, the growth of oil and gas extraction, which takes massive amounts of water, has everyone worried.  The area is currently experiencing drought conditions that have gone on for a few years.  The aquifer also provides about 82% of the drinking water for over 2 million people in these states.  The proposed Keystone Pipeline skirts this aquifer on the eastern side, and lots of people in Nebraska are worried about what impact a spill could have on the water so critical to this area. 

Nevertheless, is the most productive region in the country for livestock, corn, wheat and soybeans. 

We have seen a lot of these coal trains passing by.  Lots of products and crops are transported through here and out of here via railroad.  

Hay and alfalfa is also grown out here for cattle feed.  With drought conditions, production is down, and lots of farmers, including my nephew, are having to sell their cattle because they can't grow enough feed and it's too expensive to ship it in.  You can tell where irrigation is being used - better yielding crops, but more groundwater coming from the aquifer.  Terracing and better crop rotation makes a difference.

We drop down into the valley near McCook, Nebraska, and we are almost there.  It's been two years since I've seen my sister.  We are soul mates and we talk all the time, but it will be good to see her! 

Someone has created a new sign for the town-- I personally think they should have considered some other designs.  I'm not sure what this even represents! 

My sister Beverly and I.   This picture was taken on my last visit. There is 13 years difference between us, and we really didn't grow up together, but we are so close as sisters! 

Sunday, July 13 - Saturday, July 20, Days 83-89

Over the next week all we did was visit.  My sister has eight children.  Normally we would travel
most of the state to see all but a few who have moved away, but on this visit, we pretty much stayed put!

My brother-in-law, Cy, passed away last year.  He came back to Nebraska to farm after his older
brother was killed in a car accident.  My sister never expected to be a farm wife, but she became a good one, and they raised their large family and ran a successful farm for many years.  They were married 58 years.

One of the first things we did was go out to the cemetary to pay our respects.

The family had recently had a reunion.  They had taken vacation time to be here, and now are back into their busy lives.   As Bev and I sat and visited, I counted up her descendants, including spouses, grandchildren and now great grandchildren.  There were 91 on my list!   These are just some that came to the reunion. 

Her kids treat her really well, and for the reunion, put her in this "Lily Tomlin" style chair.  These are six of her eight kids.  

When Bev and Cy had their 50th anniversary, this family portrait was taken. In the eight years since,   lots more kid have been added, but it gives an idea of how big her family is!  She has done her part to keep Nebraska populated! That's my brother-in-law, Cy, the patriarch, in the middle front. By far,  I'm not the only one who misses him.