Katherine J Krein

Airborne Seeds and More

I have posted in the past about Maple helicopter seeds (whirly gigs). I ran across this Swamp Milkweed seed picture this morning and was impressed once again by the beautiful silky fibers of this seed. These fibers allow the Swamp Milkweed to go airborne (in a different way than the helicopters). I have posted the picture to show you the beauty of these seeds.

I have been thinking about planting a Swamp milkweed again. It really does bring in the Monarch butterflies. It is a host plant for them. I have been getting out into my garden, though today the weather is making me stay inside. Outside feels like an intense sauna.

Yesterday morning I started organizing all my garden supplies by cleaning out my long deck storage box and my garden shed. I have many old garden gloves, however, the two long sleeve pairs I had are now damaged. So, I ordered two more long garden gloves to protect me from all the bad plants that could hurt me. I also found my head netting that goes over my garden hat, and protects my face, ears, and neck from garden bugs.

Looking through my pictures brings back plant memories to me. I also found a cool picture of the aster flower with a flower spider and its prey. Perhaps I will plant more of these. Look below.

I also ran across a picture of a beautiful dahlia flower that used to grow in my garden. I used to order dahlia corms from Swan Island Dahlias. Dahlias do not grow year round in my garden because we are in a plant zone where you have to dig them up to keep them. I still get an occasional email from Swan Island Dahlias, so now I am considering whether I could grow them again. My garden has changed drastically since then. Here is a picture of the beauty from the past.

I need the weather to move out of the danger zone before I can make serious progress. I have been taking advantage of early mornings and late evening for some garden clean-up. Patience is needed right now.

Stay hydrated if you have to be out in the heat, and be careful.

The Storm is Over, Power has been Restored, and a Heat Wave has been Forecast

The recent storm caused power outage pushed me to rearrange the deck and uncover my Big Green Egg. I had a big enchilada casserole in the oven when the power went out in the late afternoon. I waited, thinking the power would be restored soon. After a couple of hours I covered the casserole still in the oven. Around 6am the next morning when the power was still out I fired up the grill, and placed the casserole on the stone shelf. It finished cooking this way. It was delicious!

We kept the two refrigerators cold with a generator we had not had to use for over 10 to 15 years. Neither my husband or I could remember exactly the last time we had an extended power outage, though we knew it was a long time ago. The small portable Jackery power station my husband uses occasionally with his business came in handy for smaller electrical necessities.

I read about the heat wave that should be arriving this weekend or early next week. I prayed that our power would be restored before this time. The power came back on last evening when the day was winding down. Thank God, and thank you Dominion Energy and all your dedicated service workers.

The picture above captures my mood this morning.

Another Birthday Rolls Around

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM!

Old school pictures are so much fun to look at. It is too bad your haircuts were not the best (ha, ha, ha).

You look great for your age today! Love, your wife, Kathy

Memorial Day 2025: Spotlight on Pfc Ludwig Otto Krein

This Memorial Day I decided to see if I could research the history of my husband’s uncle that died in World War II. In the past when I asked my husband about his middle name, Ludwig, he told me he was given this name in honor of his father’s brother that had died in World War II. After doing a little research I discovered that several men in my husband’s family had the name Ludwig, including his grandfather Ludwig Jacob Krein. I was surprised to see that his country of birth was Moldova which is between Ukraine and Romania. This brought home the current conflict to my mind.

Ludwig Jacob Krein obviously had immigrated to the United States long ago, and he married a German woman, Magdalena Schoepp, and they lived in South Dakota and raised a large family.

Ludwig Otto Krein was the second to the youngest of their children. He was born in 1925 and died in 1945 in a battle in France. I was surprised to see that he was buried at Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial –Epinal, Department Des Vosges, Lorraine France. Later I discovered that there are many cemeteries and memorials around the world, outside of the United States, where our American soldiers have been buried.

Ludwig Otto Krein was only 19 years old when he died in a bloody battle. My husband never got to know him since he died before my husband was born.

Five thousand two hundred and fifty-two of our military dead are buried here. Many were probably just as young as Ludwig was.

Here is a old colorized photo of Ludwig Jacob Krein and Magdalena Schoepp Krein. Notice the blue eyes of Ludwig J. Krein born in Maldova. These are Ludwig Otto Krein’s parents, and my husband’s paternal grandparents.

Hartell Reunion 1993

Grandmother & Grandfather Hartell’s church

I recently received some old family pictures from my stepmother Marilyn. She is my father’s widow. Most all of the pictures were from a Hartell family reunion that took place in Plattsburgh, Missouri back in 1993. I had forgotten the exact date, and the pictures did not help with this. Then I remembered the quilt square my cousin Pam had made for all of Florence Hartell’s grandchildren. Fortunately, she had written the date of the reunion on the back. I have taken good care of my square.

I was surprised to see the picture of my husband, Jim, holding our daughter Laura. She was 3 years old at that time. He is dressed up and smiling. I had never seen this picture before I received this recent package. I had to post this to show what a handsome man I married.

I was raised a Disciples of Christ. My grandparents Hartell attended the First Christian church in Plattsburg, Missouri. My parents, siblings, and I attended the First Christian church in 7-Corners, Virginia. I posted a screen shot of the Plattsburg church, and a screen shot about the Disciples of Christ faith. I was baptized in the First Christian church in 7-Corners, Virginia (Falls Church) I posted my grandparents church because several reunion pictures were taken there, and I remember attending this church from time to time when we were visiting them. The picture of my husband and daughter was taken in the general vicinity of this church.

Red Hats

I just finished reading Ursula K. Le Guin's book Voices. The priests in this book all wore red hats. They were called the Red Hats.

Coincidentally, I have been seeing a lot of red hats in catholic news these days.

The Red Hats in Le Guin's book were not kind men. I am not making any kind of comparison to the real cardinals wearing red hats and working together to pick a new pope in the Sistine Chapel.

Out of curiosity I did a quick search of catholic hats. I was surprised to find so many official hat names.

Earth Day and Pope Francis

My time has been preoccupied with family illness.
Today is Earth Day.
Pope Francis spoke up about our responsibilities to take better care of our planet Earth. May he rest in peace with God.
Both need to be honored on this day.
I discovered today that a plant was named after him.

This picture was taken from the URL copied into the picture. The naming of this plant was many years before his death.I saw evidence that an orchid was also named after him.
I do not have more time today to research this, however, I needed to take the time to honor Pope Francis's devotion to God, our planet, and the common man on this Earth Day 2025!

Natural Bridge in Virginia

The 2025 calendar on my refrigerator was purchased from the National Park Foundation. April 16 in 1908 the National Bridges National Monument in Utah was designated.

Our family trip to Natural Bridge, Virginia came into my mind, though, this is a Virginia state park, and is not the one advertised on my calendar. We have not been to the Natural Bridges in Utah.

This was a pleasant reminder of our trip in 2011. I have posted a few pictures from our trip.

Perhaps one day we will visit the National Bridges Monument in Utah.

This is a screenshot. It is incorrect with the claim of it being the largest natural land bridge in the North American continent. I believe the Rainbow Bridge in Utah might be the largest.

This is the park my calendar was referencing.

The Mission by Ennio Morricone (1928-2020)

Something reminded me of one of my favorite albums today. I listened to the song, The Mission, over and over again many years ago when I was mourning the loss of my parents. See below to listen.

Now I listen to it rarely. I decided to share it here and easily preserve it for my enjoyment.

I will share one more song, and this one is in memory of my mother. Her second husband was born in Paraguay. He speaks Guarani, Spanish and English.

This week of spiritual reflection seems like an appropriate time to revisit these songs.

Three Poems

This photo was taken by Katherine June Krein in the year 2008.

Hairstreak
Small in size, about an inch, it still captivates. Up close it is more attractive than from a distance. Usually, the opposite is true, especially true of humans.

There are different types and variations of the hairstreak. It has a scientific name. I don't have it memorized. You can look it up.

The sky is overcast today. We are in the future now, and not in the past with this. I have not seen any butterflies yet in 2025.

Honeybees were swarming the skip laurel hedge yesterday. I read it provides an early spring nectar. They seemed a nuisance, but they are important pollinators, so they will be left alone. I am insignificant to them, and probably not even noticed.

The overcast sky today has changed to intermittent sunshine. A storm is forecast for later tonight.

Rose Hips
The season is over, and all the petals have fallen.
The stark and brittle rose stems are left standing.
They remain armed and dangerous with thorns intact.
The blossom bases that were once green begin to redden and ripen.
These jewels are called hips.
They hold value and should be picked.
Fresh or dried they can be used for tea or jam.
If left alone, the birds will find them and be thankful.
These rose hips might even keep the doctor away.
(July 12,2020)

Not exactly dirty, hot, and sweaty! AI generated image.

Unadorned
No necklaces, no manicures, no pedicure
Uncut, unpolished, and rough.
Sweaty, grimy, hot and dirty.
I sit completely unadorned in the garden.
The plants, insects, and garden birds take center stage.
The only spotlights are the sun and moon.
In the garden I'm the watcher and director,
When nature decides to acquiesce.
(I deleted it and typed it again today. The original date has been lost.)

P.S. I combined two old posts. I was going to delete them, and decided they could stay here. Why not?
P.P.S Today I added a 3rd poem.