PONOGRAMS

 

Ponograms:

1-24  The First Twenty-Four
25-48  The Second Twenty-Four
49-72  The Third Twenty-Four
73-96  The Fourth Twenty-Four
97-120  The Fifth Twenty-Four
121-144  The Sixth Twenty-Four
145-168  The Seventh Twenty-Four
169-on  The Eighth Twenty-Four


73  Wunderkammer II
74  Wunderkammer III
75  Wunderkammer IV
76  Wunderkammer V
77  Wunderkammer VI
78  What Is Teaching?
79  A Gathering
80  Wunderkammer VII
81  Wunderkammer VIII
82  My Gluten-Free Test
83  Grandpa and FDR
84  Atomic Energy by a 12yo
85  Genealogy Quilts
86  Per Nilsson Västgöte
87  Hawaiiana 7
88  Wunderkammer IX
89  Maui First Class
90  Genealogy Kicks
91  Glass Art
92  Hawaiiana 8
93  Outlines of Paradise
94  Wunderkammer X
95  Aunt Rubie
96  A Family Visit, part 1

HOME


 

WUNDERKAMMER II

As expected, photographing the contents of my place goes on, and you need to bear with me as I reminisce.

There is no order or logic involved in the sequencing of these items.  They are presented as they were encountered in my search of the condo, or perhaps based on how the pics fit on the page.

 

Wine cups & big-ass beer glass

For some unknown reason, when JR and Stuart were growing up, I started sipping my wine from a measuring cup.  This distressed my wife a bit (maybe that’s why I did it, although more likely I was rationing my input) and she finally expressed her feelings by buying me a Waterford crystal cream pitcher.  I guess her thought was that it was more elegant. 

Well, I actually used the pitcher for a while and I still pull it out on occasion.  Last time the kids were visiting, Stuart presented me with a FOUR hundred milliliter beaker to help move me into the metric system when imbibing.  JR got one too.

While on the subject of imbibing I couldn’t resist including the big-assed beer glass I picked up when Stuart and I spent a few days on the island of Kauai.

 

 Berlin wall   Encyclopedia

In 1962, soon after the establishment of the Berlin wall, I toured Berlin and saw both sides of the wall.  Soon after it was taken down in 1969, my wife gifted me with a chunk of the actual wall.  It is a memento of the visit in 1962 and the long term effect on my German friends.

I think this great work came to me through my in-laws.  It is a 25 volume set comprising the 1931 Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Encyclopedia.  Each volume measures only 4” x 6” by less than one inch, but the information content is enormous due to 7 point type and very few illustrations.  It is fun to read the state of knowledge just before I was born and compare it to that of today.

The Space Shuttle and Shuttle on a Boeing 747 models (toys) came to me when I was working Shuttle activities in the 70s and 80s.  Based on their condition, I suspect the kids had them and they ended up in my “toy box” when the kids outgrew them.

 

 NASA award   OCS award

I’m pretty sure that nearly everyone who worked on Shuttle activities can sport a Certificate of Recognition for their efforts.  Here is mine, dated 1978, with an auto-signature by the Chairman, Inventions and Contributions Board of NASA.

The Boeing award “For Outstanding Support to the OCS Program” was given to me at my retirement luncheon and was of course well deserved.  By the way, what is this Boeing outfit?  I went to work for Rockwell!  (Just kidding, of course.)

 

 Grythyttan wine   Swedish love knot

In about 2009 I sought help transcribing and translating Swedish words.  Kjell was one of the Swedes who was very generous with his time and efforts and helped me a lot.  We became email friends and shared experiences and in 2010 Kjell decided to bring his wife, their son, and the son’s girlfriend to HI for a vacation.  It was Kjell’s 60th birthday and he wanted to attend a luau.  He invited me to share the experience with them.

Kjell brought a bottle of Cloudberry wine to me from Grythyttan where some of my father’s ancestors lived.  I don’t usually save wine bottles but this one is special.

We two shared the experience of each having a granddaughter after they were here.  We shared pictures and anecdotes.  Kjell developed abdominal cancer and had use for the online write-up of my colon cancer, since he went through many of the same things.

Kjell spent many months with treatments and partial remissions, in and out of the hospital, with artificial means of input and output, and finally died in 2013.

On the right is a Swedish love knot, sent to me by a Sandin-side cousin who lives in the Chicago area.

 

 Llama head   Squit

In 1994, Stuart and I and a friend of Stuart’s did some travel in South America that included Machu Picchu and other standard tourist stops.  At one point I got into negotiations with a vendor of water colors for this llama and she wouldn’t meet my ridiculously low offer.  I walked away without the treasure.  On the trip home, a taxi driver in Quito drove away with my suitcase including all the trinkets I had purchased.

When I got back to CA I received a cylindrical post from Stuart.  Behind my back, he had purchased the llama painting and mailed it to me after we returned.  I don’t remember how much I had offered and I don’t know how much Stuart paid, but I was taken by the painting and was very glad to get it since I had lost all the other trinkets.  I’m sure the elegant framing cost far more than the painting itself, but I like it!

The container holding a sheaf of wheat came from my in-laws.  My father-in-law called it a “squit”.  He said it was used to “squat and shit”.  I think it has a certain character or maybe essence about it.

 

 Receiving blanket   Gold coffee service

This little piece of thermal cloth used to be called a receiving blanket.  It was acquired some 40 years ago for JR and/or Stuart when they were babies/infants.  How it ended up in my pile, I don’t know, but it is just right as a chest cover for a nap on a winter day.  I think by now all of the infant juices have been washed out but it has small holes in it and the satin edging has been refastened more than once. Last time I had to sew all the way around.

My parents observed their 50th anniversary in Phoenix, AZ in 1967.  I was working in California at the time and drove over to spend the occasion with them.  My gift to them was this gold (plated) coffee service.  Years later, when I closed the sale of their house after they had moved to a nursing home, I took just a few things as memorials and this set was among them.  It is well over 40 years old and I haven’t taken very good care of it, but it retains memories.

 

AFTERWORD

The attentive reader will notice that many of the items featured in this series have no or very little real value.  Nevertheless, I’m hoping that my heirs will use the presentation as a kind of catalog and put their marks on items that have some interest to them.  Others are welcome to make bids (starting at $444) for items that tickle their fancies.