goodbye uncle jim

it was with sadness yesterday that i read the email from nicole, informing that her grandfather had died and letting all of us know the funeral arrangements. gisel had emailed earlier in the week to say that he was very ill and in the hospital in sioux falls and so he was already in our thoughts and nicole's mail wasn't entirely a surprise.

but, our sadness isn't really for uncle jim, it's for ourselves, isn't it? those of us who are left behind--especially aunt mary and his children and grandchildren. it's difficult to imagine being sad for him, because it's difficult to imagine a life better lived than his. he surely went knowing he had given his all and satisfied with the mark he had left behind on the world.

his success in farming, the successful children he raised, the huge flock of grandchildren and in turn great grandchildren they have produced. the beautiful home he and mary built and lived in, enjoying the beautiful view of the south dakota prairies stretching out on every side. the stories that make up a rich and long life. there was little else he could have asked for.

he will be missed. i can hear him telling stories of US senators coming to hunt in his drawl. i can hear him laughing. i can picture him dealing out another hand of tell, tho' i'll admit i'm not sure he ever really understood the game. i still laugh remembering some of the answers he came up with in games of balderdash--they almost always involved wildlife or crops or ancient farm implements. 

we were all privileged to have him in our lives and he will be sorely missed, but his life is one that should be celebrated and aspired to.

i hope someone will record the stories that will inevitably be told at his prayer service, funeral and at the family reunion next week. that's the best way to celebrate his life...through laughter and remembering. and passing the stories on.

travelin' shoes

this small person is packing her bags.  in two days, she will board SK943 bound for Chicago. on a big adventure all by her little 7-year-old self. she's headed for summer camp at Aunt Monica's house. there she'll have swimming lessons, do arts and crafts, tie dye a t-shirt, go bike riding, show her cousins how to really play with Lego, and attend the Nachtigal family reunion. we are hopeful someone puts her on a horse while she's there.

she is convinced that the 7.5-8 hours to Chicago is a short flight, which it is in comparison to 13 hours to manila. she will be looked after onboard and escorted by one of SAS's Sexy After Sixty flight attendants through passport control, helped to get her baggage and clear customs, and be delivered safely into the hands of Aunt Monica at terminal 5 in O'Hare.

her parents are trying not to worry. it's going to be awfully quiet around here for the next month.

these boots were made for walkin'

just ran onto these pix of a very small sabin.  those were her first little cowboy boots ever. she's much bigger now, but still loves a good pair of boots. 

can you guess?

what questions this picture mosaic might be the answer to?

1. Nachtigal, 2. i'll take this end of the boat ok?, 3. Driving to Eastern South Dakota - 7, 4. purple colored black butterflies, 5. Bill Clinton 7, 6. Hendrick's Gin, 7. stellenbosch_delheim 240, 8. Delicious Cheese, 9. Underwood, 10. Not available, 11. From above...12. Not available

news bulletin

small person with long hair on the right coming soon to a family reunion near you.

father's day tradition

last sunday was father's day.  i suppose all of you knew that.  i, however, must have missed out that little bulletin, despite the fact that i hang around in front of the internet quite a lot and should probably have realized it.  i even think it was father's day in my country of residence, so i have no excuse.  and we equally forgot "far" on this side of the Atlantic as well.

what we used to do for father's day in the old days (when i was a kid), was go to the big South Dakota paint horse association paint-o-rama in Huron, thereby leaving dad at home alone in peace.  this way, he could commune with his tomato plants and then head to the golf club undisturbed by all that family togetherness.  we'd bring him home a dinner that we picked up at taco john's before we headed home and he seemed quite content with that.

the one and only time we dragged him to a horse show other than the local 4-H show when it was in Platte, was an open show in Tyndall.  i'm not sure it was father's day, but i'll tell the story anyway.  it was a beastly hot summer day.  like 106 degrees in the shade.  the lunch stand ran out of cold beverages.  then the swimming pool across the road dried up.  and the whole town eventually ran out of ice and liquids of any kind.  but did we go home?  no we did not.  we did halter classes, western pleasure, reining and stayed 'til the bitter end with the barrel racing and the pole bending.  only when it was all over did we pack up our wilted bodies and go home.

that was dad's last horse show.  and he didn't even have to stand around in the sun in polyester pants and a long-sleeved shirt and cowboy hat.

happy belated father's day, dad!!!

Article from South Dakota Magazine

I came across this article from March of 2005 entitled "SDSU Honors Nachtigals, including Renegade Ralph".

South Dakota Magazine Filed by Bernie Hunhoff at 8:23 am

S.D. State University in Brookings honored the Nachtigals of South Dakota as its Family of the Year. We know lots of Nachtigals, and in our book they deserve the honors. They're all nice people who love South Dakota and most have stayed right here.

Emil Nachtigal went to SDSU in 1915. Six of his ten kids and about 14 of his grandchildren have graduated now. They're teachers, businessmen, veterinarians ... and then there's Ralph, the renegade journalist in Platte. After graduating from SDSU, Ralph landed a dream job on the sports staff of the big Argus Leader in Sioux Falls. But soon after he started, the paper's corporate fathers instituted a new dress policy that required a jacket and tie. Ralph said he just didn't want to wear a tie. They said he had to. He said he wouldn't. So he left.

He went home to Platte, where the local editor said he could do a little writing to help out. Within a week or two, the editor sold the paper to Ralph. He must have thought he looked okay without a tie. The Argus Leader editor called about a month later and basically admitted they couldn't find anybody good who would wear a tie, so they would amend the dress policy. Ralph said not to bother. He ran the Platte Enterprise for many years, and it became one of South Dakota's great weeklies. His "Bottom of the Barrel" column, which he still writes though he sold the paper to an employee, is a huge hit throughout the region.

Congrats to Ralph and all the Nachtigals.

the stories we tell

i want to read stories on this blog.

stories by people other than me.

i know you have stories. i know some of you younger computer-saavy nachtigals can interview some of the computer illiterates and write their stories here for them.

write about:

~walking uphill both ways to school, barefoot.
~warming bare feet in a fresh cowpie on a frosty morning
~watermelons in under the trees
~being dumped off a horse into a water tank
~beagle puppies

and more. go forth and interview. come back here and write. i know you can.