Quadraklafter

Every now and then while doing genealogical research I come across something that is intriguing. A previous post was about Rosalie (nee Pelinka) Duscheck, one of my second great grandmothers. In that post I noted how part of my ancestral tree--the Duschecks and Pelinkas--were cottagers. Under the peasant system a cottager generally did not hold any land, although they may have had a small area for a garden. The Havel family, from available records, was somewhat different. By the end of the 18th century the Havel family were sedlaks, a higher level peasant farmer, and had land under their control. This blog post will present basic information on the land holdings under the control of Franz and then Josef Havel in the small village of Dolni Chrastany in southern Bohemia.  Josef and his family would emigrate to the United States in 1868, and by 1872 owned an eighty acre farm north of Fort Atkinson, WI. In departing Dolni Chrastany they left behind a land area measured in jochs and quadraklafters.

Unter Groschum German name for
Dolni Chrastany, part of 1837 Indication Sketch

Before I get into the land holdings of Frantisek (also referred to as Franz (German)) and his son Josef Havel a few things are important to know. First, land that a peasant held was not owned by that peasant, it was more like a long-term lease or permanent easement, with much power and authority still retained by the domain, under the control of the lord. With the 1848 peasant land reform the peasants were able to purchase the property they had used and on which they had paid taxes and rent. The payments could be spread out over 20 years. This is interesting as 1868 is the year the Hawel's migrated to the United States. The value of the purchase of the land from the domain was set by a special committee. The land reform act canceled all corvee (unpaid labor due to the estate or lord, also referred to as robota) and taxes due to the estate or manor. Second, Frantisek and Josef, given the land they possessed in 1837, would likely have been considered a sedlak farmer in that they had more than about 10 hectares (about 24 acres). Frantisek's father, Matheous Hawel, by some parish records, is noted as a sedlak farmer in Ratiborova Lhota. Frantisek was born in Ratiborova Lhota and moved to Dolni Chrastany upon his marriage to Teresia Jiral. They farmed on the land previously controlled by her deceased father.

18 Dolni Chrastany, c 1990
Photo by Mary B Hovel

Third, is the unit of measurement, the Klafter. Previously I had written about the hide, an earlier measure of area. Quadraklafter appears in specific land records from about 1837. Thus, the quadraklafter and joch replaced the hide. Klafter was a unit of measurement that could be used to measure distance, area or volume. A klafter in length was about a fathom, or often stated as an arm spread of about 1.8 meters. One Joch, a larger unit of area, is equal to 1600 quadraklafters, so it is not unlike our square feet and acres. To better understand in our terminology, one Joch is equal to somewhere between 1.42 to 1.43 acres.  

Part of Land Register
Source: https://digi.ceskearchivy.cz/720659/445/1798/1226/31/0

Let us delve further into the peasant system, particularly as it relates to sedlaks. A sedlak, (Bauer in German) "owned enough arable land for agricultural subsistence, paid the highest manorial dues and state taxes and owed the most forced labour to the overlord, often with draft animals as well as human labor." (Klein and Ogilve, 2016, p 505). Generally, according to Klein and Ogilve (p 504) 10.7 acres was the minimum required to support a family of five. In the case of Josef Hawel, in 1859 he had five living children and he and his wife to support. Three more children would be born from 1960- 1967. Klein and Ogilvie infer a different area than the 25 acres noted earlier from which I confirmation of from two separate sources (John Cherney, 1994 and Judy Nelson). Those latter sources noted the requirement for 10 hectares of land for a farmer to be a sedlak.  Part of the difference may be time-Klein was writing about the 17th century while the others primary focus was on 18-19th century; another may be that Klein notes arable land, while the others did not have that specific distinction. Richard D'Amelio, who knows a great deal in this area notes that generally a sedlak would have had a team of horses to assist in field planting and harvesting, hence making it more than simple acreage. In any event, it appears the importance of a sedlak was the level of self sufficiency by having more than the minimum area to support a family. Some cottagers, who were lucky to have had land, may have had up to 10 or 11 acres.  Most Bohemian farmers would have less than 10 acres under their control. A sedlak had land, horses and livestock. But, they had also an obligation to raise some livestock and horses for the estate as part of that corvee system. Like other peasants, they would also have been required to provide other goods, like food, to the estate. 

Klein and Ogilvie (p. 505) also note that the social stratum of sedlaks, chalupniks (and a whole host of other terms) was not necessarily a social or economic stratum, but one defined institutionally and legally, and hence likely why it shows up in many records. However, this status was changed in 1781 with the peasant emancipation promulgated by Josef II. At this point people could chose where they lived, how much education they wished to receive, who to marry, and their occupation all without the approval of the lord of the manor. Thus, when Frantisek married Teresia Jiral in 1796 he did not need the permission of the lord. However, judicially they still were under control of the manor (Olomouc, 2003, p. 116), and had to provide the corvee, that forced labor and material to the lord. The peasant terminology and status thus carried beyond the peasant emancipation of 1781. In 1848 the land reform act ended the noble's rights of property, the corvee, and serf allegiance once and for all.

1839-1842 Seignorial Register
Listing Franz Hawel, wife Katherina (2nd spouse)
son Josef and daughter Katherine
Source: https://digi.ceskearchivy.cz/53269/30/2724/2691/68/0

There was a strong incentive for peasants to properly take care of the property under their control, and from which they would derive their subsistence and livelihood. We know that the robota system required payment of money, goods and services to the domain. Yet, as noted by Family Search,  "there were also many heavy restrictions of serfs. One of these was called Odumrt or escheat reversion." That link goes on to say that at the death of a peasant "the lord could take a share of his possessions. Also at any time the lord could confiscate land with or without compensation." What would lead to land confiscation? Usually land mismanagement or poor behavior. Although, since they did not need a reason, it may simply have been because they wanted to.  A serf would need, until the peasant emancipation of 1781, the lord’s permission to move, putting serfs in a bind. Loss of serfs could lead to less income from rent and taxes, not to mention less free labor as required by the robota or corvee system. Although, the link also notes that "farmers did move within the lord’s holdings frequently."  One could easily lose their livelihood to a lord at the whim of the lord. The lord was not someone you would want to tick off.

Hawel Family 1838 Seignorial Register
Source: https://digi.ceskearchivy.cz/53268/31/2917/2376/64/0

Let me start to synthesize, and put this in perspective. By the time Frantisek married Teresia Jiral the control of the domain over peasants had lessened due primarily due to the peasant emancipation of 1781, but also due to a number of previous reforms dating as far back as 1680. With the ability to decide where they wished to live, who to marry, what to do, gave a whole new set of decisions to the individuals, more freedom. Over a several year period, starting about 1825, the empire undertook a specific survey of property often referred to as the Stable Cadastre. This survey appears to have been completed for Dolni Chrastany about 1837. I suspect that the empire knew what they planned to do and the survey was a method to obtain data for the final land reform of 1848. The survey maps are available online. A link to the Indication Map for Dolni Chrastany, like a draft map, may be found here. This map provides the owner name on each parcel so one can tell where and what property Frantisek Hawel, (or Franz Habl as it shows on the maps) controlled in 1837.  Associated with the 1837 Stable Cadastre, was a book that specifically laid out, in over more than 60 pages, the owner of each parcel, the use of the property (meadow, field, forest, vineyard) and the annual value of the yield from the parcel. 

Part Dolni Chrastany Indication Sketch, village is near top
Notice the long narrow land parcels

If one were to look at the parcel arrangement at the link in the above paragraph (or the map posted above), one can see a great deal of parcel fragmentation. One element of manorial control was that the manor often prohibited further division of property on the bases of the existing high level of fragmentation that is in place. As you peruse the map you can generally see long narrow parcels. Over the years the parcels were often divided lengthwise from the village out with the thought that was the most equitable distribution of property. The downside was the fragmentation that was created.

Part of 1 sheet Basic Plot Protocol, with headings
Habl Josef is identified in second row

Frantisek, and later Josef, according to the 1837 Basic Plot Protocol records had under their control 61 parcels of land. Some of the parcels were attached, most were not. It could not have been easy for our ancestors to plant, tend, and harvest such scattered parcels. Just the time frame of walking from one parcel to another would have affected their productivity. As a sedlak, the Hawel's likely used the labor of their children, but they also would have engaged hired help. For example, they would have employed a chalupnik, or cottager (someone akin to Theresa Pelinka's father, although he was in a far different part of Bohemia), or perhaps had a baracnik or celedin who were farm laborers and would have lived in the barn. Lodging was likely part of the payment to the workers. 

When I happened across the 1837 recording of the Stable Cadastre a few months ago, I took the time to create a spreadsheet of the Hawel land holdings. With this, I was able to more easily count the number of parcels they had under their control, and obtain other data. What I have not done is to try and figure out the wording on the parcels that may provide an inkling of what the parcel was used for, and perhaps what crop may have been grown. I would likely need some professional assistance to figure out and translate the wording. Heck, I had trouble deciphering the headings which were in type set, soI got some assistance from Richard D'Amelio and a few others.

Basic Plot Protocol, image 5 of record

Let us examine one of the many sheets where Hawel (Habl in the plot records) is identified. Above is the first sheet where Hawel (Habl) shows in the Basic Plot Protocol. This would be image 5 (of 66 images). Looking at Habl we will move left to right, by column. First is the plot number which would be consistent with those available on the Stable Cadastre map(s). There is a small mark in the second column to the right of the parcel number. This marks that the land is rustical ground (under control of the owner, and not domain land) and the parcel is tied to a house. A good deal of information for one small mark, but one needs to interpret the headings, which are not shown in the above image. The column where "18" appears is the house number, or address, of the Hawel house followed by the name of the owner. Then we see his standing, that he is a farmer. Things get more interesting on the right side of the page. Here we see the land classification, which in this case is forest. Following, as we go right, is the area, the first column is for joch, which is empty in this instance,with the next indicating the number of quadraklafter for the parcel. Here we see the two parcels owned by the Hawel's on this image are 963 (parcel 37) and 354 (parcel 38) quadraklafters, which would equate to about .86 and .31 acres respectively. Finally, we get to the annual yield measured in guilders (column is empty in this instance) and/or Kroners, which reads 54 and 20 for each parcel. Given annual yield, I interpret this to mean that the value of wood harvested off the property was 54 and 20 kroners. It could have been an assessed value, and the best indication of which it actually is lies in some obscure book written in German. Unfortunately, I do not have a good means of what kroner means in today's terminology of dollars or euros. The following is a map (this link indicates one of a few maps for Dolni Chrastany) of the two parcels mentioned in this inventory (parcel numbers highlighted).

We know that in 1837 our ancestors, Frantisek and his son Josef, had 61 parcels of land identified in the Stable Cadastre survey and land use records. These lands were spread out among the land that comprises Dolni Chrastany. If I did my calculations correct, the Hawel family in 1837 "owned" about 42 acres of land. I would have to go through each parcel to identify what was meadow, forest, or tilled, and to more easily do that I need to figure out their handwriting. The Germans liked their records, but whoever invented the Kurrent script should have been sent to the loony farm, preferably before they invented it. Experts even have a hard time figuring out the scribbles. We also know that the totaled annual yield for the property was 107 guilders and 2,025 kroners. 

Present day, 18 Dolni Chrastany

At this point we know about how much land the Hawel's owned in Dolni Chrastany. But, there was one more parcel which was identified in a separate record, and that was the Building Protocol record. From the Basic Protocol, and the parish records of births, deaths and marriages, we know the Hawel family resided at 18 Dolni Chrastany. The building parcel record, below, shows that the Hawel house, was on parcel #23, associated with house number 18. The area of parcel 23, the building parcel, which is not counted with the basic parcels, is 239 quadraklafters. The area is equal to 9,253 sq ft. The record indicates an annual value of 51 kroners. By comparison, the area of my lot is about 17,000 sq ft.

The maps also give us more information. We can see that many of the buildings were attached and formed an upside down L shape. The front part, which comprised the living quarters, being of masonry construction in keeping with government mandates to limit fires. The outbuildings at the rear of the site are attached to the house and are of wood construction. The wood buildings may not have been fully enclosed and had no wall on the side by the courtyard. There is also a small building to the right side of the courtyard sharing a wall with address #17. You can read more about house, or a dum in the blog post from a year ago at this link.  Likely with his retirement from farming Frantisek lived with his wife in what was referred to as the "Outer house." This separate house could be that building. From present day air photo we can see this outer house seems less wide than on the map from 1837. Further, the opening to the street has been enclosed with additional building construction--likely what we see as garage doors. The whole front of the house is about 46 feet. Behind the house and the attached outbuildings are gardens and orchard. The village chapel sits near the Hawel house.

Hawel House in Dolni Chrastany
Indication Sketch

What is interesting is the number of similarities we see today with our ancestors of 185 years ago. We still tax parcels, we have parcel numbers, parcel area is important, we have land use. Like the 1837 maps of Bohemia which identified building construction, we an get similar information from Sanborn maps of the 19th century. In fact, that Bohemian Stable Cadastre provides more information than we have mapped today, the key piece being they mapped type of building construction which the Sanborn maps did, but is not mapped, in many localities, today. Yet our lives and lifestyles were much different. We have central heating in our homes, they would have been lucky to have a wood stove; I type this on a computer, they used pen and paper. We drive, they walked. Some of the problems are still the same, fragmentation of the land resource being one. Fragmentation led to the domain to regulate land division, and in many cases, to allow no more division. Most municipalities regulate land divisions today. The domains highly regulated the land and who it could be passed down to, although they generally allowed it to be passed down to family members. In a sense there was an understanding of some of the same problems we share today.  

Part of Habl Franz owned land Dolni Chrastany
Indication map

Frantisek's father was referred to as a sedlak, which shows that the Hawel's were near, or at the top of the peasant structure. When Frantisek's father sold his farm to his son Johann in 1805 it notes arable land area of 14 jochs and 280 quadraklafter (20 acres), meadow 6 and 1002 (9.4 acres), and woodlot of 4 and 362 (6 acres). This is the first recorded reference of which I am aware identifying a Hawel as a sedlak, Matheous, Frantisek's dad, owned land in Ratiborova Lhota, while Frantisek would marry Teresa Jiral and acquire the Jiral property. Mathous Hawel's position is in contrast to some of our other ancestors at a similar point in time (late 1700's to early 1900's). The Duschecks, were identified as landed cottagers, the Pelinka's who were cottagers, and even lower were our Appl ancestors who were small cottagers.* We may never know the reasons why Josef, and Anna Hawel and their children emigrated to the United States, but one has to think it was the abundance of farming opportunity available in the United States for a family of four living sons and four daughters. The Hawel family would see their land area measured differently in the United States as they would need to change their methods of calculations from jochs to acres, and from quadraflafters to square feet. 

Footnote: 

*The difference between small cottager and cottager is not well defined. Some sources indicate that a cottager worked perhaps a couple hectares of land, and a small cottager none. Other sources say most cottagers may have been lucky to have a garden. In a sense I think it is more a social type of distinction, than a purely economic one.  A cottager would work for a farmer (such as a sedlack) or plied another trade. I have seen two different, but reliable sources that do not agree on the listed occupation with one listing chalupnik as a cottager or upper cottager, and the other chalupnik as a small peasant cottager.

Sources:

1. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Czechia_Land_and_Property

2. 2016 Klein, Alexander and Sheilagh Ogilvie "Occupational structure in the Czech lands under the second serfdom" The Economic History Review, 69,2 pp 493-521

3. https://ags.cuzk.cz/archiv/

4. https://www.familysearch.org/records/images/image-details?page=1&place=7257629&rmsId=TH-909-81190-74230-6&imageIndex=4&singleView=true

5. https://www.familysearch.org/records/images/image-details?page=1&place=7257629&rmsId=TH-909-81190-72620-4&imageIndex=4&singleView=true

6. Cherney, John. 1994 "Wisconsin's Land for the Landless: Examining the Push and Pull Forces of Czech Immigration, 1848-1870" University of Wisconsin.

7. Nelson, Judy. "Peasantry levels, occupations, and personal descriptions found in Czech records." 

8. Lomouc, Anna Oscacouva, 2003. "Serfs, Villeins; Nobles, et al

9.  Facebook post between author and Richard D'Amelio, 17 Feb 2022

Rigged?

The National Football League has embraced, to a certain degree, parity among the 32 teams. The salary cap is one way in which that is accomplished. Many point to the issue of parity as the reason why three of the four Divisional round and both of the Conference Championship games were decided by three points, and the one that was not was an overtime win when the Chiefs scored a touchdown to win by six points. This is a league that has seen a few teams rise to the top echelon in Super Bowl wins, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and New England Patriots having six wins each, and the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys having five each. The Green Bay Packers and New York Giants have four each. Two of the Packer wins, as Green Bay fans know, were the first two Super Bowls. For years I have wondered, has the NFL rigged the games to a certain degree?

Packer Head Coach, who cannot seem
to  sufficiently game plan W's to get his team to win a Super Bowl

The first time I had this conspiracy minded thought was in 1998. The Packers were about to play the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII. Two good quarterbacks, John Elway and Brett Favre would be featured in the game. John Elway was nearing the end of his career and the Packers had won the prior year Super Bowl by beating the Patriots 35 to 21. Before the game there was a news report that the television contracts would be opened the week or so after the Super Bowl. As we all know, the NFL is a big money organization and the bulk of that money comes from television contracts. To show how much money the NFL receives for the telecast of its games, the television organizations signed an eleven year deal with the NFL in 2020 totaling more than $110 billion. That is $10 billion a year. The television contracts are important to the NFL. So important, would they rig a game?  Perhaps. As Super Bowl XXXII was set to play the NFC had won 13 consecutive Super Bowls. At that time, my thought was the NFL will want an AFC win to get the television contract price up for AFC games. Add to that situation, that the NFL lead for the contracts was Pat Bowlen (now deceased) who owned, you guessed it, the Denver Broncos. Sure enough, Denver won. One could argue certain incompetence, as usual, on the play of the Packers, but I still hold the thought today that the game was rigged. A fourteenth consecutive win by the NFC would have had the those putting bids for mainly AFC games wondering why should they pay so much money. That and the desire to give John Elway a Super Bowl victory (he would win a second consecutive Super Bowl by winning XXXIII). Not unlike Peyton Manning getting a second Super Bowl while playing with the Broncos.

Let us fast forward to this last Christmas Day. My brother-in-law was watching a Packer team barely eek out a win over the Cleveland Browns. The Packers had difficulty putting the game away, and even my brother-in-law wondered if it was not rigged to keep television viewership high for the featured Christmas Day game. Perhaps it is the parity in the league, or maybe how they rig the game.

Packer President Mark Murphy
Who oversees a team that meltdowns like no other

That theory plays right into the close Divisional and Conference Championship games played this year. Most decided in the last minute of play, if not by the last play of the game. This year the Super Bowl features the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams. Cincinnati has a devoted fan base, and Tinseltown has trouble filling its new stadium. How much trouble do the Rams have filling their stadium? Well, they had to use a silent snap count in their own home stadium against the 49ers in both week 18 (last week of the season) and the NFC Championship game. That is because so many 49er fans were in the Los Angeles Rams new stadium. At first I wondered if the LA fans were simply stupid by yelling and making noise when the Rams had the ball, but when they showed a shot of the crowd there was almost as much red (49er color) as blue (Ram color)--an indicator of fan base. Of course, Super Bowl tickets are expensive so only the glitterati get in to the game, no regular Joe need apply. As much as the NFL talks about equity, they are an organization, that when it comes down to its final game of the season is about the money and moneyed interests. NFL football privilege. I am sure the LA glittering intelligentsia who fashion themselves as the harbinger of all that is good and right will be well present for the Super Bowl since it is in the Rams home stadium. The broadcasting network will show photos of LA Laker players, politicians and probably even Roger Goddell. 

Robbie Gould, kicking game winning field goal
as time expired. Just when one thinks it not possible, the Packers
find a way to rise to an even higher levels of incompetence.
On this play the Packers had only 10 men on the field.

This is the second year in a row that the Super Bowl game will be played in the home stadium of one of the Super Bowl participants. Tampa Bay beat Kansas City last year in the home stadium of Tampa Bay. This is concerning to some, so much so that the NFL is considering holding all Super Bowl games at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN, in a way to assure that a team does not make it to the Super Bowl to play in their home stadium again. Perhaps it should be Ford Field. (That is a joke.) 

In the meantime millions of people, including my wife, turn to television to watch football games. This year I knew the Packers would lose to the 49ers. How did I know? It is history. Let me count the ways of  Packer incompetence which has a tendency to show up in such games. This too plays into the rigged nature of the game. Is it possible that a team can be so incompetent, for so many years, in such playoff games?  It is not just Matt "Unprepared" LaFleur as their head coach. It happened with Mike Holmgren, Mike Sherman, and Mike McCarthy, too. Think of the loss to the Seahawks in January 2015 when the Packers had a 19-7 lead, and ended up losing the game in overtime. Or, in January 2004 when they lost to Philadelphia which featured Philly making a first down on the infamous 4th and 26. (It is so infamous it has its own Wikipedia page.) What are the odds that a team could be so incompetent in playoff games? Sure, the Packers have two Super Bowl victories since the Lombardi era (1997 and 2011), but the league throws them in to avoid people like me thinking the league is rigged. 

Packer Meltdown against Seattle

But, it is not just the players. Matt Unprepared LaFleur receives a great deal of money to have properly prepare his team for a game, and with the last loss (and others), he freely admitted that he was not properly prepared. What type of game does it take for LaFleur to be prepared? Is that a sign of knowing incompetence to throw the game? The incompetency of the Packers did not disappoint in this season's Divisional playoff game. I think it would be hard pressed to find another team that rises to such a level of incompetence during playoff games. On the other hand they were a team that could barely beat the Cleveland Browns, and lost to the Lions, so maybe they are just bad. In the last game of the regular season the Lions had the lead before the Packer first team skilled players left the field, so the highly regarded Packer offense did not produce against the fourth worst defense in the league. 

Part of 4th and 26 Wikipedia Page

Were the Divisional round playoff games rigged? I am not sure, but with all the close games, it makes one wonder if it is parity or the NFL rigging games to get even more viewership and money that is at play. The NFL is a money machine, but in the end does not produce much wealth but for some players and the oligarchs and its Commissioner. This year it is hard to say what will occur, and which way the NFL will go. Will they get an AFC victory for the upstart star QB with the Bengals, and to show the home team does not always win in Super Bowls? Or will it be the Rams in the hopes of actually getting Ram fans to attend a game, and not be out-voiced by 49er fans? This weekend will show which way Roger G., wants to rig the Super Bowl.

Images from Google searches

Finding Rosalie

On this date one hundred and ninety-three years ago Rosalie Duscheck, one of my second great grandmothers, was born (3 February 1829)  She was known in the Village of Sun Prairie and its environs as Grandma Duscheck. She was both a formidable, and remarkable woman. Rosalie was the mother of my great grandmother Amelia Duscheck Hovel. Doing genealogical research is a journey of dead ends, and brick walls, through script, language, finding place, and available records. This blog post will not really be about the specific record search for Rosalie, but rather, trying to figure out what type of a person she was. There are a few clues that provide hints as to the type of woman she was, but there will also be some speculation. Rosalie would enter this earth in a peasant cottage in central Europe, perhaps with a small garden; her life would end in the United States, with land holdings she probably never expected to have under her control. My journey in finding out about Rosalie would be nothing compared to the journey she would make.

Rosalie's birth/baptismal record, first row on page
Source: Zmarsk Archives, Czechia

Family records seem to indicate that Rosalie had a surname of Belenka, but she was born to Wenzel Pelinka and his wife Theresia, in an area east of Usti nad Orlici, in Horni Houzovec, known by its German name at the time as Hertersford.  At the time of her birth Bohemia was part of the Austrian Empire. At her birth, the Austrian Empire was ruled by a descendant of the Hapsburg line, Francis I. Francis I, and other nobility, would have led remarkably different lives from those of the peasants. From her baptismal record located in a downloaded Parish book from the Zmarsk Archives, we get a glimpse of the status of her ancestors. The record is not very long, but it does provide important clues to her socio-economic status. Rosalie was born to Wenzel Pelinka, a cottager, and his wife Theresia daughter of Matheous Skalitzky, who was also a cottager, and his wife. Cottager is not an occupation, but denotes they lived in a small house in a rural like area. A cottager was, generally speaking, a non-land holding peasant.

Plat Map Town of Milford, Jefferson County
Source:  Wisconsin Historical Society Archives

Knowing that they were cottagers is very important as it shows that they were not just of the peasant class, but  that they were near the bottom of the peasant class. Peasant cottagers were the most common group of Bohemians to emigrate to the United States. There exists cottagers and small peasant cottagers, with the distinction being a small peasant cottager held no land. A peasant cottager, unlike a small peasant cottager, may have had an area for a garden. If fortunate they may have had available a hectare or two.  Although this is difficult to know, because other times when a cottager has "some land" that is indicated. Since no occupation for her father is identified, at least in that record, I think we can assume that he worked as a farm hand for a sedlak or larger farmer. It is possible, however, that he was involved in a craft--tailor, shoemaker, etc. In this case, since the identified status is as a peasant cottager I think it is safe to say that Wenzel and his father-in-law were farmhands. If they had a garden, that likely would have been predominantly under the care of her mother. 

1920 US Census, Rosalie living with son Edward
in Sun Prairie, WI
Source:  Ancestry.com

This was not an easy life. The farmhand, at times, may have traveled miles to find work to eek out a living, as they would not have had sufficient livestock or land on which to support a family for a full year. They would also have had to provide free labor to the domain, which varied over time, but could be several days a year.  They also had to provide goods to the domain, which you can read about here.  This took away both time and goods that would have been available to the families of Wenzel Pelinka and his father-in-law, Matheous Skalitsky. 

Rosalie with daughter Anne Lohneis and Anne's daughter Marion
Source: Family archives, via Michael J Hovel
Perhaps only known photo of her

Rosalie would become the second wife of Josef Duscheck (born 1808), and they were likely married in 1851, as it appears Rosalie gave birth to her first child in June 1852 in Bohemia, and that child is said to have died in the year of birth. Records of the Duschek family found online indicate that she gave birth to a second child in Bohemia in 1853 (who also is said to have died at a young age), but I have been unable to locate a baptismal/birth record for that child. Death records for that year are not available on line to my knowledge. Rosalie would go on to give birth to seven additional children. Her son, Rudolph, which according to Rosalie's obituary, was born one day before the family arrived at the port of Quebec. In other words, he was born at sea.  In this situation we have a very pregnant woman making a nine week ocean voyage--and giving birth just before arriving at port. I am not sure what ship she was on, but immigrant ships were crowded and not very hospitable places. It certainly was no Queen Mary on which her grandchild, my grandpa Rudy, would travel from the US to Europe with his wife Ida in September 1956, 102 years after Rosalie left for the United States. The other four children were born in Wisconsin. Four of Joseph's children with his first wife, Viktoria, would live to emigrate to the United States with the family in 1854. If one looks at varied Duscheck websites you can see that half or more of the 1960's Sun Prairie was in fact related to Josef Duscheck, which is why Rosalie was simply known in Sun Prairie as Grandma Duscheck. 

Three daughters of Rosalie
Amelia (Hovel), Mary (Neis) and Anne (Lohneis)
Source: David Dixon

The family arrived in Quebec and then made their way to Jefferson County, Wisconsin where, according to an 1862 plat map, they farmed 80 acres in the town of Milford, generally southwest of Watertown, on what is, at least today, French Road. At some point, between 1862 and 1870 the family moved to the Town of Bristol just northeast of Sun Prairie, and about a mile east of the north end of Brazee Lake. The property is located at the northwest corner of Twin Lane Rd and Meadow Rd.  Josef would pass away in 1877 and is buried at St Joseph's Cemetery in East Bristol, WI.  Rosalie, with Josef having passed, was the sole parent for six of the nine children born to her and Josef, and five children of Josef's born to his first wife, Viktoria. Viktoria probably died 1851. Grandma Duscheck, according to her obituary, "showed her courage and business ability in managing the farm and looking after her children, three of whom were very young when their father died." With the help of some of her children she would farm the property after Joseph passed away. Farming was never an easy proposition, but she showed more than courage. She persevered in continuing the family farm. In 1891 she moved to the village to live with her son Edward, and it was in Edward's home that she passed away. In 1920, the village of Sun Prairie had a population of 1,236 persons, and perhaps more cows, horses, and chickens than people. She endured the "privations of a pioneer woman" when woman had more chores to do than one should be able to handle. This was a time when much of their food was home grown, and the livestock slaughtered, eggs harvested, butter churned, and chickens butchered. In other words, she was a Land Girl. 

1873 Town of Bristol Plat Map,
part of Brazee Lake to left
Source: Dane County Plat book

What stood out to most people who met her was not that she was hard working and was very courageous, those were virtues instilled in her when she was born in to the peasant class in an outpost of the Austrian Empire, rather it was her cheerfulness. Her obituary notes that "She was not only a devoted wife and mother but a true friend, beloved by a great circle of friends." She was a woman from a time now distant, split more by changes in values, virtues, and technology than by the over 100 years since her death. What stands out most about Rosalie, beyond her perseverance, was her piety.  

Theresa Skalitzky, Baptismal/birth record 18 Oct 1805
Rosalie's mother
Source:  Zmarsk Archives, Czechia

As stated in her obituary, she found great pleasure in going to mass, for the last thirty years of life a she "scarcely missed a day."  She would walk to mass regardless of the weather conditions. When she reached the age of 90 her health started to fail and she became confined to her home, and a little later to her bed. If she had one regret in her long life, it was her inability to attend daily mass. She had a great desire to see the new Sacred Hearts Church which had recently been completed, so a few months before she passed away her children took her to the church in a wheel chair. It was there "she found great joy praying at the altar." My father, born in 1918, would be one of the thirty-four great grandchildren she left behind. She passed away a few months shy of her 93rd birthday, and at the time was the second oldest person in the village of Sun Prairie. 

Rosalie's grave marker
Sacred Hearts Cemetery, Sun Prairie, WI
Source: Author photo

Rosalie Pelinka (also known as Belenka) Duscheck was a testament to the American dream. She was born near lowest class peasantry in the depths of Central Europe, to being a wife and mother in the Midwestern United States. A world apart in distance and time, but her values and ethics were formed by in the place of her birth. She was a wife and mother who tended and held together farm and family. Her greatest attributes were not, however, that she was a true pioneer woman for those in the Town of Bristol, rather it was the family she raised, and the values she instilled. Those values took hold through her greatest virtue, that of piety.  Piety through her strong faith allowed her to have courage and to persevere through the difficult and trying times. To mark her passing on that fall Friday the Sun Prairie church bells tolled. This was the Village's way of remembering not just the town's Grandma Duscheck, but a woman who gave back to the community more than she asked from it. In finding Rosalie, I found more than expected, which is a testament to her capabilities and strength of will.

Squandering Opportunity

The Green Bay Packers were in the playoffs and favored by many to win the Super Bowl. What stood in their was was another epic failure. I think a book could be written about epic Packer failures in playoff games (I think of games against Arizona, Seattle, New York Giants). The Packer organization, the only "community" owned team in the NFL, has squandered championship opportunities, even though having had, over the last thirty years, two multi-year MVP quarterbacks in Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. While the quarterback is not the whole team, and clearly the 49ers beat the Packers with a fairly decent but not great QB, many teams build around their QB. This post will be my thoughts on the Packer organization squandering opportunity.

Aaron Rodgers leaving the playing field
after yet another playoff loss. Paid $38 million
a year, he has been to just one Super Bowl

Over the course of that thirty years the Packers have won just two super bowls. They have failed to develop a consistent championship team. It appears that the Packer business model is to build a team good enough to win the NFC North, but not a championship team. Every year it is the same story, a loss in the playoffs with the fan mantra being--"wait till next year!" Well, next year never comes, and the Packer organization seems very fine with this level of advanced mediocrity.  After all,  why care: the seats are full and the merchandise sells. When Tom Brady left the Patriots and joined the Buccaneers, the Tampa Bay organization went all in--in all phases of the game--defense, offense, and special teams, to build around an aged QB. Last year of course, in Brady's first year with the Tampa Bay organization they won the Super Bowl. As we all know, the Packer defense failed as Tampa beat the Packers in the NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field to earn the NFC spot in the Super Bowl. In that game the Packer offense had issues in the red zone. Two years ago the GM of the Packers, Brian Gutekunst decided to pick a QB of the future in Jordan Love rather than adding a good receiver, or tight end, or some other position of need. I think, after Love's disaster in the second half at Detroit, it is safe to say Mr. Gutekunst wasted two Packer draft picks (he traded a pick to move up in the first round), and likely three or four since they will need to now pick, or perhaps trade for, another QB of the future in some upcoming draft. Gutekunst and Murphy have tied themselves to Love, much as Ryan Pace tied himself to Mitch Trubisky. 

Brian Gutekunst, the mastermind behind 
spending two draft picks to get Jordan Love

The Packers say they draft for the long-term, and that is all well and good, but they have failed to provide the necessary cast for past or current teams. It happened with Favre and now with Rodgers. This gets to the business model that I believe they have of put a good team on the field, to win games, and perhaps get into the playoffs, but not a championship team. Statistics show the business model of the Packer organization. From 1992 to this season, the team has had three losing seasons, with one additional season at 8-8. Since 1993 the Packers have only failed to make the playoffs just seven times. Out of all of this they have made the Super Bowl just three times, winning twice. They have not had a dynasty as have other teams since the Lombardi era, using just two examples, the Patriots and the 49ers.  By comparison, the New York Giants have won two Super Bowls since 2008 and Tampa Bay has won two since 2003.  My point is the Packers have decided to be somewhat better than mediocre, but not good enough to produce a playoff winning team. In addition, Favre and Rodgers have made up for deficiencies in personnel. The sad thing is the ownership seems not to desire to improve the deficiencies--that is why they drafted Jordan Love. 

Many will look to the failed special teams as the cause of last Saturdays disaster. Yes, they failed, but so did the offense.  Other than the first drive, the offense failed.  After the first drive, which gave them their only TD, the offense had nine other possessions in the game, and only came away with three points. THREE points, on NINE possessions!!! WOW, what an offensive power house!!!  I think it is safe to say Nathaniel Hackett is not going to be at the top of any head coaching search. It was clear the 49er defense, the third ranked NFL defense stymied the Packers after the initial drive. The Packers had no answer for the pass rush (Rodgers was sacked five times) or for the coverage of their receivers. If Matt LaFleur made adjustments at half time, it was to regress. Of the Packer wide receivers, only one not named Adams, I believe, caught just one pass. The Packer offense is not sufficiently talented, determined and/or appropriately schemed for work against a top defense in the league. They are also doomed by mistakes--like Kelly's wiggling his butt and getting a five yard penalty while in the red zone. Sometimes they are their own worst enemy with inconsistent play, arrogant attitude, and lack of discipline. My goodness, the Packer first team offense could not even make yardage, they actually lost yards due to a sack, when gifted a ball at the Detroit 35 a couple weeks ago--and that was against the 28th ranked defense in the league. The offense is under the play calling of Matt LaFleur. 

Matt LaFleur, whose middle name
must be "Unprepared"

Would a talented wide receiver or a good tight end drafted in lieu of Jordan Love had made the difference?  I think so. With Adams as the only decent wide receiver, and no good tight end to find openings in the middle, like the 49er tight end did to the Packers, the Packers were out manned. Or look what Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs can do. The Packers have asked their two MVP quarterbacks over thirty years to make up for a slew of lesser quality players. Some teams load with high-end talent in other positions and ask them to support, a better than average, but not really great quarterback. For example, take the LA Rams with Matthew Stafford, and the Jimmy Garapollo led 49ers who will meet in the NFC Championship game next weekend. If one were to ask, I doubt either would be one of the top five, or even 10 quarterbacks in the league, but they are surrounded by good talent on both sides of the ball which can make up for what they may fully not have developed. Kansas City has been to consecutive Super Bowls and will play for a third consecutive appearance this coming weekend. Their opponent, the Bengals, are led by Joe Burrow a second year quarterback who was in the draft class as Jordan Love. 

The 49ers made the plays when they counted, and Packers squandered opportunities. The problem with the blocked punt was that there was an offense that lost yards during that three and out series. An offense that could not gain at least 30 or 35 yards on the possession so as to not punt from near the end zone. In other words, a well tuned offense would not have stuck the special teams in a position being by their end zone. Earlier in the game they had to settle for a field goal attempt as the long play which set it up, a pass to Aaron Jones, was under thrown and he had to stop which likely caused him to not score a touchdown. On their last play of the Saturday night game, Rodgers missed an open Allen Lazard across the middle and an open Equanimeous St Brown who had beaten his man on the left side of the field. Instead he threw to Davante Adams who was doubled covered. Sometimes, I believe, Rodgers, particularly when the chips are down, focuses too much on Adams, which was certainly evident in this case. St Brown, if a properly thrown ball and catch made, likely would have scored a touchdown. 

Allan Lazard open across the middle
St Brown was open on the left side

After the loss this past weekend Matt LaFleur said: "Obviously I didn't do enough for our team to win a football game." LaFleur also claimed responsibility for when, on the final play, the Packer special teams unit had only ten men on the field. It is tough to block an extra point, but even more difficult with only ten men on the field. After almost every game he He makes this type of comment after almost every loss. Quite frankly, this shtick is old. First,why was he not prepared for this or, for that matter, any other game? Second, if he was not prepared with two weeks for this game, what does he need to properly prepare? (Given the week one loss to New Orleans clearly months of work is not sufficient for him to be prepared.) Will he ever be properly prepared? Third, putting it all on himself excuses the mediocre performance of the players--Aaron Rodgers included. And, some of the mediocre coaching, although he is in that league of mediocre himself. If LaFleur is not properly prepared to win a football game, it is time for the Packers to reconsider him as the coach. In fact, he should resign. And, that goes for the two men who hired him. Matt LaFleur (2-2 in playoffs), is closer to Mike Sherman (who was released from coaching a Canadian Football team), and is certainly no Vince Lombardi (9-1 in playoffs). David Maraniss, in his 1999 biography of Vince Lombardi When Pride Still Mattered has this quote by a sideline photo of Lombardi (photo insert by #'s 44 and 45): "Before a game, at halftime and after a game, his players thought of Lombardi as a genius. But once the game started, the joke on the team was that he was the most useless guy on the sideline." In other words, Lombardi prepared his team to properly execute at game time, and as a good manager he let them do the work. By his own admission, LaFleur lacks appropriate preparation skills.

The Packers may simply be not as talented or determined to win as many have made them out to be. A few players make up for overall deficiencies in the roster which leadership (GM and President) has allowed to perpetuate. It appears to me the Packers have an organization with a president more willing to live off long-past glory of the Vince Lombardi years with its Titletown District, and not caring about putting together a championship winning team, much less creating another dynasty. (When the Packers lost to Denver years ago, after having won the Super Bowl the prior year, then Packer GM Ron Wolf said "they were like a fart in the wind.") In fact, can Green Bay still make a claim to being Titletown? The Packers have put together a team just good enough to be above mediocre. Lets face it, they face the Chicago Bears twice a year which helps pad their statistics, and wins. They have so far been unable to take the steps to be a championship team, much less one that is a consistent championship team. Their claim to glory is to settle for being the best of four teams in the NFC North. The Titletown District needs to be renamed Squandered Opportunity District, as that is really what Mark Murphy has done. 

Mark Murphy, the man who has taken the word
Title out of Titletown

What is the solution? First, not practice in the Don Hutson center when preparing for a game at Lambeau Field, or another cold weather stadium.  The constant narrative of a southern or western team not being able to win in the cold of Lambeau can now be put to bed. (Even in the Ice Bowl, it took a last second touchdown for the Lombardi Packers to win, so Dallas was competitive through much of the game.) The cold did not keep the 49ers from winning the game, although it may have kept them from blowing the Packers out. Second, clean house from management--Murphy and Gutekunst to Matt LaFleur, and bring in a leadership team that is willing to build a champion and winning culture, over the current mediocre culture that is too apparent. Third, rebuild the roster, and with their salary cap issues, they may well have to do that. Fourth, if Matt LaFleur stays, he needs to put more emphasis on preparation for a game and less on his haircut. 

A winning culture and dynasty was done before in Green Bay, why not again? (Not with this leadership.) Does this business model go straight to the Board of Directors? If so, shame on us fans for continuing to be duped, and believing the organization really wants to win another Super Bowl. The problem is the Board of Directors will not require drastic action until there is a downturn in revenue--regardless of how mediocre the team is. With the NFL business model of shared receipts of TV revenue, that is not likely. There is no better NFL team at squandering opportunity than the Green Bay Packers. The Packers are a team where dreams of a Super Bowl go to die. That is why I would not fault good players for moving on. The squandering of opportunity goes to the top, and it is time for a change.

Images found on Google

Kondoizing

Sometimes finding topics for a blog post is difficult. When I have such trouble, I only need to look at my wife for a topic. Such is the case with this weeks post. My spouse has started watching shows featuring Marie Kondo on Netflix. Marie provides tips on organizing, and may be the only person on earth who loves organizing more than my wife. My wife really loves to organize and organizing puts a smile on her face. I came home from a walk recently and she was grinning ear to ear, and I knew to ask if she had been organizing. She started watching the television show in the past week or so, but had already been well accustomed to many of the methods Marie Kondo uses. I refer to it as Kondoizing, my wife says there is an actual term Konmari, to describe the methods Marie Kondo uses. I prefer my term, Kondoizing.

She wants me to see and understand the effort she puts into Kondoizing our household. I am not sure that is necessary as I do appreciate most of her organizing, but whatever brings her joy--as the saying goes, expressed by one man on the show, "Happy wife, happy life." Marie Kondo has two shows on Netflix, "Tidying Up" and "Sparking Joy." I have watched a few of the former, including one last night where a woman lost her husband to colon cancer and did not know what to do with his clothes, books, etc. Due to the loss of her husband she received a dispensation from the exacting Konmari method (to me Kondoizing) to deal with the husband's effects still in the bedroom closet, and dresser. Marie had to explain through her interpreter why she allowed the variation. Does it really matter if you do books first (Marie), over the clothes of her deceased husband the woman wanted to do? Marie caved in this instance. She is very exacting in her approach to not just organizing, but in what order stuff should be organized. 

A few years ago, but perhaps more, my wife started Kondoizing some of my dresser drawers. Let me state that I did not ask her to, she did this herself, and she did not even ask. The two main drawers are the t-shirt drawer, and the drawer which holds shorts in the summer, and mainly pants in the winter. The thing about Kondoizing is that the clothes are folded differently than what I grew up doing. I still struggle with the folding of pants. The problem I have with clothes on edge is that you cannot just put a shirt, as an example, on top and push down to get the drawer back in.  You have to stuff the shirt between other shirts. My wife would say my problem is in the use of verb form of stuff. I don't simply nicely place the item in, I stuff it in. Sometimes, for me, that gets messy. Every now and then, perhaps once a year or more, the wife goes along and reorders those two drawers. She recently redid the drawers as an education method for one of my siblings.

My then un-Kondoized drawer,

My sister wants to make room in a spare bedroom for her crafts. My wife suggested she read Marie Kondo to get an idea of organizing. My wife told her how little space is used for her clothes now that she has Kondoized her clothes. My wife got rid of her dresser. To help educate my sister, my wife was going to send a photo of my drawer. Well, first she had to take a before photo and then Kondoize it and take an after photo. I am not up to the Kondoizing standards when it comes to putting away my clothes.  I am not sure how long it takes for me to devolve the Kondoizing standards, of folding and clothes on edge. I think it is a process that goes on over time.

After my wife fully Kondoized the drawer

Marie Kondo asks people to lay all their clothes on the bed, and then the person is to go through item by item and ask themselves if the item sparks joy. My wife says you get the feeling if it sparks joy. I think you should ask a piece of clothing if it sparks joy before you buy it. As a prior post noted, the world is flooded with discarded clothes. If the piece of clothing does not spark joy, you are to thank the piece of clothing for its use and then move on. Now, I don't know about you, but one reason I think my drawers may now stay Kondoized longer than usual is that my wife thins out my clothes. She will take an old t-shirt and throw it out, or for some other use. Most of the time, I think, she asks, or to put it in a different way she insists. I think there are times when she gets rid of some my clothes without my knowledge. She would redo 85% of my clothes, if she had the chance. Just like Marie Barone did to Frank's clothes on an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond." I have clothes passed on from her brother, and hand-me ups from my kids. Now, if she discards some of my clothes without me knowing, I have no way of thanking that piece of clothes for its service for the greater good. In this sense, she fails to abide by the Kondo method.

My Kondoized t-shirt drawer

Recently, while watching one of the Kondo Netflix shows with my wife, I realized part of the process is to place clothes by color--and Marie Kondo suggests light colors to the right, dark colors to the left. I remembered this by thinking light is right. Yet, my wife, the rebel, puts her dark colored clothes to the right and the light colored clothes to the left. Would Marie chastise her for being out of synch with the process or simply smile and say, through her interpreter, "Whatever sparks joy"? Given how exacting Marie Kondo is, I have to say I don't think she would like someone playing with her rules of order and operation. At one time my wife had arranged my sock and t-short drawer by color. I don't think one needs to ask if they stay that way. When I put clothes away I just go where they fit best, or where it looks like there may be some room. I am not sure if the rebel nature of my wife is from her red hair. 

Kondoizing can go beyond the bedroom closet. In the kitchen, as with jewelry and other smaller items, Ms Kondo recommends use of small boxes in which to place like items. In our kitchen utensil drawer my wife has been doing this for a long time. It is like a silverware holder for other items. I know for certain that I place some of the items--into the wrong box. I did not know she had the boxes grouped until recently, I just threw the item in a box that looked like it had room for the item. One of my children and his spouse Kondoized their spice drawer the other day. She sometimes organizes too well.  

For years when we got our Christmas decorations out we packed away non-Christmas items in a box that held the now displayed Christmas decorations. Well, this past December, Antoinette Marie Kondo decided to store some of our kitchen, and half bath, towels with so far unused kitchen and half-bath towels, and not pack them in a box that held the Christmas decorations. After putting away all of the Christmas decorations I wondered what happened to the other towels, the kitchen and half-bath towel drawers lacked the usual amount of towels. At first, she could not find them. Why, because she changed her method of 30+ years. She did look with the other towels, but she did not notice them because they were so well folded that they looked brand new. If I had done the folding that would not have occurred. This could be a a downside of Kondoizing. 

My wife insists that Kondoizing saves space, and she points to my drawers as examples. One benefit of her method is rotation--remove from the front and replace in the back. I have (had) a tendency to pull out from the top or front and replace so that way I tended to wear the same t-shirts, or use the same kitchen towels, as two examples. Now, I have to wait and see if I will get upstairs someday to face all my clothes on the bed and I need to see what does and does not spark joy.  And, remembering to thank those that don't for their service.

Photos by Toni Hovel, Jan 2022

Ornaments

Christmas trees have traditionally been decorated with lights and ornaments. I am sure most of us have ornaments that evoke different emotions, or no real emotions. Evoked emotions in a specific ornament may vary by person.  For example, an ornament which has sentimental value to one person may not  conjure any emotions in a person from the same family, or the same household.  We are have different experiences which form our emotions. As we took down our Christmas tree last week, my spouse made a comment that she was wondering what would occur to our ornaments when we pass on. I did not ask if they would survive her downsizing desires. 

Large Bear Ornament

The spouse, or my Land Girl, makes sure the ornaments the boys made when they were young have a prominent place on our tree.  One has some Cheerio's on the ornament, and we had to move it up in case a visiting dog had other ideas for the Cheerio. When Land Girl suggested we move the ornament up, I wondered why a dog would want a 20+ year old Cheerio, but then again some dogs eat stuff that humans find abhorrent. This year we also tended to put soft, or not easily breakable ornaments near the bottom in case a dog tail inadvertently knocked an ornament. 

Potato

We also have ornaments that were owned by our parents, and probably grandparents. These mainly glass balls lose their color overtime, but they are actually add a certain elan to the tree. These ornaments can bring back family memories of Christmas times long past. 

Old Ornament from my parents

Ornaments come in a variety of types, although glass, wood and now resin seem popular choices. Some are very heavy, which makes me wonder if ornament makers think of the tree on which they will hang. I have never had an artificial tree, so I wondered if artificial trees had stronger branches, but when I still worked a fake tree was set up in the building and I determined that fake tree branches were not very strong. Although I suppose some may have better wire. Certainly, some branches on a real tree may not be very strong due to how new they are--perhaps only that growing season depending upon how the real tree may have been pruned. The heavy ornaments are then placed on strong branches, generally to the inside, although some lower branches near, but not at, the outside may work. 

Glass ornament with watermelon ornament behind

This year we were fortunate to have a volunteer tree which had grown up in what was once an old farm field and cut down by the county for a prairie restoration project. This tree provided plenty of area for ornaments to hang, yes hang, a rather novel idea on some tightly packed and sheered trees.  I think of the white or Scotch pine trees, which many years ago were a staple at the Christmas tree lot, but have little room for hanging ornaments. When I was a child, you went to a lot to get a tree, there were no known cut-your-own places.  I call those long-needled trees that are tightly sheered toilet brush trees.  I suppose they are faster growing, which made them ideal for tree lots. Our tree was a white spruce rather different from the Balsam Fir we normally acquire. The nice thing about the volunteer tree was that it held almost all of our ornaments. Except for a couple boxes of Disney character ornaments, which are heavy and have not used for years, all of ornament collection was able to fit on the tree this year.  

Another old ornament

We have a few really large ornaments--a bear, a big Santa Claus, and a large clear pine cone. The tree this year was great in finding spaces for these large ornaments. While a Christmas Tree may look Charlie Brown like, when it is decorated it can become magical. Think of what Linus did at the end of "Charlie Brown's Christmas" special. Even the tree for which Charlie Brown was so mocked became special and led the Peanut gang to sing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." 

Our 2021 Christmas Tree

Of course, some ornaments evoke where we have been, or experiences we have shared. Perhaps the most telling ornament on our tree is one of St Mark's Church in Venice. We were on our honeymoon to Italy, visiting Rome, Florence, Venice, and Milan. This year, 2020, will mark our 32nd wedding anniversary. We also have baby boots of the year each of two children were born. Our camper ornament conjures memories of camping trips, whether in the camper (2019 to present) or prior years in a tent. 

Ornament of St Mark's Cathedral in Venice

My wife has made some ornaments, including small cross-stitched stocking ornaments, which are nice and light and can hang from any branch. These have special meaning due to her hard work. Our youngest son made us a wood ornament, turned on a lathe, as part of our Christmas present this year. So we have ornaments he made over 20 years ago in pre-school, or perhaps kindergarten, which was a Christmas Tree cutout with glitter, to one this year being a well turned wood ornament. His wood working ability and attention to detail are amazing. 

Cross Stitched ornament

Glass ornaments tend to be lighter weight, so can be near the outside, but we do like to hang a good number of glass round ball ornaments to the inside of the tree to reflect the lights.  When I put lights on the tree I work from the trunk out, and that is how I do ornaments.  The lights and ornaments inside enhance the visual depth and color to the inside of the tree. I never understood that it was unusual to put lights to the inside of a tree until a discussion one Christmas with some of my sister-in-laws. As usual, the Hovels were the somewhat odd ducks, at least in their minds. 

Pine Cone

With a Christmas tree, some ornaments are religious in nature. We have a small "nativity" set of ornaments, of Mary holding the baby Jesus, Joseph, the three kings, and an angel.  My wife bought this German made set many years ago, and she is the one, more by circumstance than by tradition, who places them on the tree. These ornaments have to be the best packed we have as they came in their own lightweight wooden box with shredded paper. 

Mary and baby Jesus

Some of our favorite ornaments, some were gifts, and others purchased or given to us. What do our favorites include? First, there are sea shells which seem odd to hang on a Christmas Tree, but sea shells often symbolize birth, good fortune and resurrection. Second, we also like colored glass pine cones in varied colors. Pine cones fit the motif of an evergreen tree. These pine cones even have glitter on them to make them sparkle more. The pine cones, like the sea shells appear very fragile, but I am the one that tends to hang them since they generally go to the top of the tree. I use the step stool (used to be a chair) and reach the top. I have no doubt that I am chosen to place them on the tree since I am very careful, so careful that at times I used it as my middle name. I stopped using it as my middle name when in January 2020 I fell through ice on a skating rink in McFarland, which you can read about here. Hence, I really no longer say my middle name is Careful, because I do not wish to be jinxed. There are many other ornaments that we like, and the Land Girl makes sure to put the Old World Christmas ornaments together in a few smaller boxes. Third, are the icicles, and many of the crystal ornaments.

Sea Shell

Then of course is my collection of fruit and vegetable ornaments. My mom's favorite ornament was a peach, and while I do not know what happened to that ornament, perhaps a sibling has it, I am not sure if it informed my fruit and vegetable collection. I tend to think it was my liking for food. The collection includes chili pepper, pickle (supposed to be two), eggplant, potato, corn, and a few others. I think it appropriate that food ornaments be part of a Christmas tree. Food is an essential for living, and the whole purpose of an evergreen is to provide greenery during the dark months of winter. Our tree, probably a white spruce, even sprouted new growth this year. There is a small hedgehog ornament we have, which I gave Land Girl one year. I am not sure why she likes hedgehogs, perhaps she thinks they are cute.

Corn, with some other, including pine cones
and hedgehog behind the corn cob

I suspect a few ornaments the boys like that they would like to keep. We have a wood toboggan ornament and while rather heavy, was able to hang on a lower outer branch of this years tree. Sometimes we lay it on a branch so to better spread its weight, and mimic going down hill. I have always liked to toboggan. I rather think my youngest son will not be taking that ornament. One winter, when the boys were young we loaded the toboggan on the van and headed to Lake Kegonsa State Park.  There is a nice large hill that had a nice sled run at the time, it seems narrower now, but we trudged up the hill with my youngest son in front, the oldest son in the middle and me, who did the pushing to get great speed in back.  We were really moving and at the bottom of the hill when the youngest son falls right over the front of the toboggan and the toboggan with two persons runs right over him. As we approached him, he seemed alright, but blamed his brother for having pushed him off. I was more interested in controlling the device and looking ahead, so I did not see what happened. Needless to say, I wanted to do more tobogganing, but that incident put an end to tobogganing that season. 

Toboggan ornament

Christmas tree ornaments can bring a series of emotions. Often they invoke a nostalgia for times past and make one think back to their childhood. In the end, we really don't know at this point what will happen to the ornaments. The kids may decide to take some, and the rest given to other family members or to a second hand store. While always a possibility, the wife could channel her inner Marie Kondo and selectively cull the ornament herd. If the ornaments find a happy home, I hope they will spark as much joy for others as they have for us.  

A Series of Misfortunate Events

Sometimes the most unexpected things occur. Events not for-see or fully under ones control. This post will be about a series of misfortunate events I have experienced since mid-November. I was hoping my luck would be better in 2022, but, on January 2, that was not the case.

It all began in late October when I received a call from my sister that the garage in Sun Prairie smelled like gas. I went out that evening, while she and her husband dined with my son and his wife. Yes, I found the leak. The fuel pump, which had been replaced about a year earlier had failed.  A one year old Kawasaki fuel pump, for a Kawasaki engine. No one tell me about how well Japanese parts are made. On Saturday I called a few places and drove out to SP to see what I could do about the fuel pump.  I spent the better part of Saturday trying to find the pump, and getting the tractor out of the garage so the smell would not be as strong, and limit the danger of a fire in the garage. No luck so Monday I had to find the right part to order, and then was told it would take two weeks to get in, even though they thought they would have it the following week after their order came in. Fortunately, the leak occurred between mowing and plowing.

Leaking Fuel Pump

A couple weeks later, in mid-November, my spouse and I, with three family members were on our way back from a show in Fort Atkinson at about 10:15 on a Saturday night when a deer slammed into the side of my vehicle. Due to the weather I was travelling slightly under the speed limit, and now realize if I had been travelling the speed limit, I would not have been hit, at least by that deer. We had varied routes we could take, but took a four lane route that we thought would minimize the possibility of a dumb deer running across the road without looking both ways and running into us. I wonder if we jinxed ourselves by worrying too much about a deer hit.  Apparently, the deer are not aware of the stop, look left, right, left again when crossing a road, much less a busy road. That night, when we got home I called the insurance company, and on Monday made an appointment for an estimate of repair. Both the insurance, and the repair company noted the high number of deer crashes that fall. Every hunter seemingly wants the trophy buck while deer become as common as squirrels.

Gasoline spill from leak

The Thursday appointment for our estimate of repair and we received our estimate within about an hour--we waited so I could get the explanation.  We then found out they were booking out to the New Year. I think we were the first appointment for January, which turned out to be third day of the first month of 2022 at 9:00 am. They indicated that the long lead time would likely mean the required parts would all arrive on time. We even asked they not start until all parts had arrived.

Deer Hair stuck on Car

Well, my series of misfortunes continued. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I was supposed to have a PT appointment for my aching feet, but less than an hour before I received a call and was told the therapist would not be in and would call me to reschedule the following week. I did not hear from him, for the whole following week so I called Monday following the full week after Thanksgiving. A day shy of two weeks after when the appointment was originally scheduled. He returned my call and we scheduled an appointment for later that week.  

The series of misfortunate events did not stop at that point. On December 13 I was washing my glasses and a lens popped out.  Eye glasses are my life blood for sight.  I had noticed, back in November that the lens placement was not quite correct, and I tried to correct it, but was not able to get the screw out. I had been hoping the misaligned lens would wait until I got new glasses. (In 2020 on a camping trip the screw came out of this lens, and when I got back they put a new screw in, but one that is of a slightly different size, lucky the lens stayed in and a replacement screw in my handy glass repair kit at least held somewhat, with some wire.) Which would have been soon--like a couple weeks, since I had an eye appointment scheduled for the next day, Monday, Dec. 14. Showing there is some fortune in my life, on that morning of Dec 13, I was finally able to get the screw out, and even better found I did have a good fortune of getting the lens seated correctly.  Many times I have tried that and failed, so I made trips to the optician. I think I prayed to St Jude, the patron saint of hopeless cases, since that is about what occurs when I lose a lens. That good fortune was helpful because on Monday, at about 7:45 am, when I was going to leave in ten minutes for the 8:30 eye appointment, I got a call canceling my eye appointment. As the UW Health call came in, I told my wife my eye appointment was going to be canceled.  Why else do you get a call before the start of business hours? They told me to call later to reschedule. I called shortly after eight, and low and behold, I now cannot get in until the later part of May 2022-- more than five months out. I actually called twice to make sure they checked other doctor schedules for availability and they said that had been done. I asked if I could be put on a waiting list (they did not offer a waiting list, I had to ask), but I am not holding my breath, unless of course, I have something with a priority scheduled, and with my misfortune that would be the day they call for an appointment due to a cancellation. 

One of the areas of damage, as well as rear passenger door

Here I was hoping that January would bring a better year, and among all of the Omicron news and its level of contagiousness, my wife and I have decided to hunker down once again as we did in March of 2020. Sunday morning arrived with a couple inches of light snow, so we go out to shovel the drive. My wife likes to complain that I take as long to get ready as a toddler going outside. Well, it was cold, about 3 degrees, so I put on my Carhart overalls, a sweater, my Carhart jacket, and get my orthopedic insoles into other footwear while she is going out to the garage. She hits the garage door and it will not open.  I get out there and we check the cables and the springs, and all look good. Try it again and well, a series of misfortunes hits.

First of all, I can see the door trying to go up and pulling and bending the door inward.  She tries to stop it but it started to cavitate and after much too long of a time it finally stopped. As it vibrates at the ceiling level, a ladder I had hanging from, and tied to hooks, at the ceiling hits my car and puts a dent in a window trim and a nice long scratch in the paint. I still don't know who the ladder fell, particularly when tied. With all of my misfortune, I find that at least it occurred the day BEFORE we take the car in to get its deer damaged fixed.  And, best of all, the scratch is on the same rear quarter panel that has to be repainted from the deer damage anyway. The garage door was frozen to the concrete. Land Girl had the bright idea to use shims to see if we can loosen the door from the concrete.  It worked. To open the door, I pulled to unhook it from the garage door opener, and lifted it up. All of the tracks seem sturdy, just the door may have a bend, but after trying to unbend it, I decided to leave it as is. Knowing me, I would probably make it worse.

What I realized is the vehicle was last used, and the garage door last opened, on Thursday 30 December when it was precipitating--rain and some snow, which dripped off to under the door. I usually put salt on the concrete at the bottom of the door to avoid this, but given how warm it was that day, it never crossed my mind.

A series of misforutnate events, at least had a couple good events. It would have been extra hard to take if the ladder had fallen on a freshly repaired vehicle. Here is hoping that my series of misfortune ends, and the more fortunate events occur.