We thought it felt so good waking the last few days to the clouds and cooler weather. It didn’t take long before the clouds were burned off and sun was out in all its glory. The kids will be back in school in a week or so and maybe it means that fall is just around the corner.
Book club is scheduled for Sept 8th at Bev’s home (310). Hope you have some good books identified for our reading schedule. Be sure to let her know if you plan to join the group. I’m looking forward to the start of it. I do enjoy reading books I normally might now pick up and of course spending time with all our fantastic neighbors.
Television Shows
We have been watching a series on Apple TV named Long Way Home.. It stars Ewan McGregor and his friend Charlie Boorman and a crew of cameramen. They started in Ewan’s Scottish home and rode went all the way to the Artic Circle then down through Europe and back to Scotland, 10,000 miles and visited 17 countries. Ewan is known for his movies Gentleman from Moscow, Halston and Star Wars. This is the 4th in a series, Long Way South, riding from Central America to the tip of the continent, Long Way Down the length of Africa and Long Way Round, a 20,000 mile around the world. If you are motorcycle fans like Jerry and I are, ( we rode across the US many years ago) you will enjoy this series. if not, I think you would enjoy the adventure and scenery these guys experienced. You can get Apple for a month free, so take a look and see if you might like it. After we finish the Long Way Home, we are going to check out the other three.
Recipe Du Jour
I haven’t tried to make this yet but did have a taste at Central market where they were giving samples. One of their suggestions is to make it with children, I thought all you grandparents might give it a try with your little ones when they are over after school or the weekend.
Mason Jar Ice Cream
8 oz mason jar or something similar
½ cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp sugar
¼ tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
Step 1
Add cream, sugar, vanilla and salt to a jar.
Step 2
Shake for 3-5 minutes until mixture doubles in volume and resembles thick batter.
Step 3
Freeze jar for 2-3 hours until ice cream resembles soft serve. Shake jar every 30 minutes while freezing if possible.
Note
Optional add On’s. You can add sprinkles, crushed cookies, chocolate fudge or fruit jam, a million varieties of goodies to vary the outcome.
The recipe came from Central market,
1 serving
Scam Alert
I recently received an email that looked very believable – complete with the PayPal logo and fine print at the bottom – but it was actually a scam. The sender’s email address was listed as Service@PayPal.com, which made it seem very trustworthy at first glance.
The subject line was unusually long. It said:
PayPal BTC. A transaction of $823 to BTC was detected. If this wasn’t you, please call (828) 407-8971 to stop the payment. Otherwise, the amount will be deducted from your credit card or bank account invited you as a developer.
That alone raised red flags for me. When I searched for the (828) phone number online, I found it had nothing to do with PayPal.
If you ever get an email like this, please do not click on any links – especially the one that says, “Log in to your account.”
Instead, please contact PayPal directly using their official customer service number. In my case, I called them and also forwarded the suspicious email to their fraud department.
Please stay safe and vigilant! 😃
Submitted by Kay & Ian
New Neighbors
Terri McCauley is in #205, say hello if you see a new face in the halls or elevator. Give Terri a warm welcome to RMC..
Out of the Mouths of Babes
On a recent Sunday morning at Calvin Presbyterian, our 7-year-old grandson Stephen took his shoes and socks off in church. As he walked across the parking lot barefoot toward their SUV his mother cautioned him. His reply: “It’s OK mom; this is holy ground.”
One day his little brother Ethan, 4 years old, asked, “Mom could I have a snack? My blood sugar’s low.”
Submitted by Grandpa John Weschler
Ridge Report
THE SAGA OF DAN MC LEAN
The recent 160th anniversary of the ending of the War of Northern Aggression, April 9, 1865, reminded me of my great grandpa Dan. He was a “bigger than life” figure in our family, with many tales of his travels and frontier adventures. Starting genealogy, all I had was hand-me-down tales, but I found there was a real paper trail on Dan.
Dan’s father Neil lived in Natchitoches, LA for a while but was in Gonzales, Texas in 1836 when the Spanish tried to reclaim a cannon they had loaned the Texans to stave off raiding Comanches. An armed argument ended with the Texans laying siege to San Antonio (Behar). The Spanish Army agreed to leave, headed south, and, wouldn’t you know, they met General Santa Anna and his army on the way north. The Alamo tragedy happened March 6, 1836.
Shrewd fellow that he was, Neil scooted and got married in east Texas. Grandpa Dan was born on January 18, 1837. Neil was a propertied man soon after the Alamo and San Jacinta. The Republic of Texas gave him a “League and a Labor” of land for being in Texas before 1837 and more for being in the heroic “Siege of Behar”, so there was incentive for the travels that followed. (Land was all Texas had to give. Neil soon sold most of his grant for a handful of beans.)
The family moved back to Natchitoches (This is the oldest settlement in Louisiana, older and dryer than New Orleans.) where Dan was orphaned at the age of 12. He was given to his Texas grandfather to raise. A family tale says Dan killed three marauding Comanches before he was 16, probably near Seguin, TX where his grandfather also had grant land. (And…he made a razor strop out of skin from the back of the departed. I know, ick. The strop is in the possession of some of Dan’s descendants in Natchez, MS. It was a thing that was done back in the day.) Texas distances are not to be sneezed at. San Antonio is about 300 miles from the Sabine River. In the days of horse and wagon, a matter of a week or two.
At 19 years of age Dan joined the Texas Rangers in a retribution raid on a group of Indians and Mexicans in Piedras Negras, Mexico…across the Rio from Eagle Pass. His horse was shot crossing back over the Rio Grande, so he was happy to borrow one that happened to have a silver decorated saddle.
The 1860 Census has Dan back in East Texas at the home of the Mason family. (He married Molly Mason after the Civil War.) On June 20, 1861, Dan is listed with the Sabine County Volunteers answering the call from Jefferson Davis. His group was combined with others into “Hood’s Brigade” and was active with the Army of Virginia through the four years of the war. Dan was a blacksmith and eventually “the division blacksmith”. As such he steered his wagon full of coal, forge, and tools to nearly all Army of Virginia battles. He also took care of Robert E. Lee’s horse, Traveler, surrendering with Lee at Appomattox in 1865. Our family still has the horseshoe hammer he used for Traveler.
Dan had hepatitis in 1862 and was recommended for discharge. Two months later he was still there and remained so for the rest of the war. Nothing in the military records show that he ever had a leave. Dan told that he was wounded three times during the war and once had to swim the Cumberland River while scouting, to escape Yankee troopers.
Dan married Molly Mason November 30, 1865, in East Texas. I often wonder what that trip from Virginia to Texas was like through the devastated South in the month after the war. I suppose he walked much of the way. Horses and mules would have been hard to come by, and the railroads were severely damaged. Food supplies were thin. And then I wonder about the wedding prospects of women in the post war, when so many of the males had died. Dan started his family and had three kids, all living in Central Texas in 1872. (He eventually had eight children, seven growing to adulthood.)
Comanches were still a problem. Dan told that he was part of a group that ran down the last of the Comanches in Prairie Dog Town Fork of Red River, Palo Duro Canyon, in the Texas Panhandle in 1872. Such a battle did occur, Dan was 35 and a war veteran. I believe he was a participant. Whatever the reason, he moved his family back to Central Louisiana in 1873, settling in what is now Kisatchie National Forest near Alexandria.
Around the turn of the century with Dan’s family mostly grown, he moved into Alexandria. Dan’s daughter, Alice Belle, married my blacksmith grandfather, Victor Hinkle Ridge. Dan and Victor set up a blacksmith/wheelwright shop that lasted from about 1902 to 1915. Dan wasn’t able to do the work after that but got a job as a night watchman at the nearby train station and railroad yard. He was known as a calloused old timer that you shouldn’t cross and had very few problems.
As penniless Dan grew into his 80’s, with his cognition slipping, a daughter found out that there was a pension available for people who participated in the “Indian Wars”. Dan had a friend help him apply but had some difficulty because most of those who could vouch for his service were already dead. He was eventually approved for the raid into Piedras Negras and had retro payments totaling near $2400. Big money in 1922, and he bought a house.
Dan died January 16, 1924, at 86, two days short of 87. I do constantly wonder: How would I have held up under the challenges of his life? How many hard miles did he travel in his early life? All over Texas and Virginia and points in between. I think maybe I was never tough enough.
When Dan was born, he was Daniel Union McLean. Around the time of the Civil War, he became Daniel Neil McLean. My middle name is Neil, my brother is Daniel, and my sister is Alice.
Submitted by David Ridge
Traveling Neighbors
Chuck and Venita and I recently attended four plays at the Ashland, OR Shakespeare Festival. Enjoyed Julius Caesar; The Importance of Being Earnest; Quixote Nuevo; and Shane. As usual, there were great performances. A highlight was a visit on the return trip to Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards near Roseburg. Absolutely wonderful facility. Worth the visit if you are down that way. Check their website. www.reustlevineyards.com
Carole is back from a river cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna. It sounds like she really enjoyed river cruising. She was joined by her family and celebrated a birthday with her twin sister while they were cruising.
Laurie and Kaare took a cruise on Oceania cruise to Europe. Laurie reports they had a good time. They started in London and ending up in Iceland. These are some photo’s they took, I recognize a few places.
Neighborhood News
I recently was informed that Arnie’s in Edmonds has been sold to a developer who will be building a hotel in its current location. No information as to when this happens, don’t think we should look to making reservations anytime in the near future but do watch for some action down there.
Restaurant Review
Indigo Kitchen and Alehouse
425-741-8770
https://www.indigowa.com/
2902 164th St S.W. Bldg. F
Lynnwood, 98087
Hours Thur-Fri-11:00-12:00 PM
Sat-Sun-10:00-12:00 PM
Mon-Wed-11:00-12:00PM
Indigo is a bit further out but easy to get too and worth a visit. I ate there a couple of times for lunch, had their Cobb salad, which was excellent, service was good.
The Annual meeting of Richmond Manor Association will be held on Sept 18th. It will be held as usual in the third-floor common room starting at 7:00 PM. Two board positions are up for election. Don’t forget to put it on your calendar.
Hope everyone will enjoy the rest of the summer, maybe we will have a “Indian Summer”, they are the best.