Rich's First Beach Trip

When I had been back at work for a year, we were able to take a vacation in San Diego.

Rich was only a year and a half old and naturally a little wary of the water. But soon enough he was running up the beach, laughing as he got away from the waves.

Rich and Lori's Wedding

The wedding was in Balboa Park and was a grand affair. It even included members of the Bolshoi Ballet. It was a chance to see all the cousins. There are two from each of the Andersen girls.

Tim and Elizabeth are Robie's, while Lindsey and Meredith are Sue's. We got them to sit still for a second to get a picture of them with the two Helens. Helen Andersen on the left and Helen Lindberg on the right.

It was a beautiful setting. Here is Helen Andersen with her daughters Pat and Sue shortly before the start of the wedding.

Rough Duty

I spent four years in the army at the end of the 60s. One of the years was spent on the Czech border with West Germany. It was a single Army Security Agency company and we were the first line of defense if Russian tanks ever came across the border.

It was not very much like being in the Army at all. We got $18 a day, double the usual temporary duty pay and lived "on the economy". Pat and I drove all over Europe and had a great time.



The Command wanted to show the dedication of the Agency so they picked a picture of the worst looking duty station they could find, ours. The place was tiny and the picture shows about a third of it. Luckily we didn't actually live there, just rode up the mountain in the back of a "deuce" for our work shift.

Christmas in Napa

Pat and I lived in Oakland and went up to visit the Andersens in Napa often. This picture is from Christmas 1964.

Sue was in high school and was already dating David.

My Lucky Day

My mother, Helen Lindberg, grew up a farm girl from Illinois. She never talked much about it but wrote this in 1989.

In the early years of the twentieth century, an important source of energy on midwestern farms was equine. Our small farm depended most on a team of big mules, Tom and Jerry. As in all animal communities, the pecking order had been quickly established and Jerry Mule was undisputed king of our barnyard. Any animal arguing with his right to drink first or eat first would be immediately reminded by the dynamite in his two hind legs.

As a three year old, I loved to meet my father when he returned from the fields. One sunny day, escaping my mother's vigilance, I toddled into the barnyard carrying a few stalks of timothy hay. Going up behind the drinking mule, I proceeded to tickle him above the hind hocks. My father emerged from the stable fifty feet away just in time to see Jerry squat to release that powerful kick. Then the mule paused long enough to look around. Seeing that his annoyer was a child, he relaxed and went on drinking.

Because Jerry Mule had "horse sense", I lived seventy three years to tell the tale!

Helen Lindberg was the youngest, seventeen years younger than her next older sister. The picture is from about 1910.

Back Packing

During the 1970s, Pat and I were part of a small group of hard-core backpackers. We were recreational and did not hike all the time, but the hikes we took were real hikes, not strolls along a park trail. And we tried to leave everything as it was, as if we had never been there. That's Pat leading the way down to the lake.

The hikes were too hard for Rich and Mike and they stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Andersen. But as Rich got older, we took him on a hike or two where we tent camped in the VW bus.

This is a late summer hike on Donner Summit. Rich is eating snow with a drink mix powder on top.