Obert Life is Good

After two heart attacks and a ruptured appendix in less than three years, Mary & I have adopted a new philosophy about life, and that Life is Good. We try to take nothing too seriously, and have as much fun as possible. Work will always be there tomorrow. Sorry Liz- Don't hold your breath for your inheritance!

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Who are these kids???





For those of you old enough to remember the Our Gang movies and subsequent re-play on TV, these 2 pictures could be stills from the show. To the left is a photo of my Mom, Marjorie Cushing, taken in Chicago.

To the right, on the pony, is my Uncle Bill. On the left side of the photo is my dad, Earle Obert, and on the right side is my Uncle Art. Everyone said I looked like Art. This photo was taken in Cincinnati.

It was not uncommon for photographers to go through the city with a pony or sometimes a monkey and get the housewives to have their children pose. Of course they would be looking for money if you wanted the photo. Since these photo's were taken during the Great Depression, it is a little remarkable that my Grandparents bought them, particularly the one of my Dad since Grandpa was a night watchman and did not make a lot of money, but at least he was working.

It would appear that these photos were taken in the early 1930's. Bill was born in 1926, and I'd guess he's about 5 or 6 in the photo, so that puts the date about 1931 - 32 and makes dad (born in 1921) about 10 - 11 years old. I'd like a cap and knickers like Dad has on!

It looks like mom (also born in 1921) is a little older in the photo, maybe 12 or 13, putting the date about 1933 - 1934.

Monday, August 28, 2006

A little history


On June 24, 1911, my grandparents were married at St. Pius Roman Catholic Church in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Cumminsville. Cumminsville is located near the old Art Deco railroad terminal. North of Cumminsville is the neighborhood of Northside and north of there is Spring Grove Cemetary. My great great grandfather (Charles) worked as a gardener at Spring Grove as did his father (Sebastian) who came to America in 1854.

The photograph at left is of my grandparents Clara Elizabeth Holdgreiwe, seated on the left, and Harry Obert, seated on the right. I've yet to confirm this, but the woman standing I believe is Harry's sister, Sarah FitzGerald, Matron of Honor, and the Best Man is is standing, Clara's brother, Charles Holdgreiwe. The Flower Girl is Clara's cousin, Marcella Schneider. The Celebrant of the Wedding Mass was Fr. John H. Berning.


The photo at the left was also taken on their wedding day, presumably at the reception. I have yet to identify the people at the left side of the photo. Harry & Clara are on the right side of the photo. It appears Harry had slickened his hair for the wedding and he let it "hang out" later in the day.

To the right is a copy of the newspaper announcement about their 50th wedding anniversary. Sorry it's so small, it's the best I can do.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

It's Hard to Believe that......


Twenty one years ago Liz was born... I'm not that old. We took her to Olive Garden last night and then her grandparents and great aunt and uncle came over for cake and ice cream. Of course she and her beau Kyle had plans to go out later. The good news is that she didn't have to work today.

Liz - Aug. 21, 1985







Liz - Aug. 21, 2006 and with Kyle

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Something Different


Today we decided to head to the closest thing to the Grand Canyon I've seen in Ohio. I know, it is a stretch, but it is also only an hour away.

We drove the Saab up this morning and had a late breakfast at the Clifton Mill, an antiquated grist mill that still operates on the Gorge. They operate a full service restaurant at the mill.





Clifton Gorge is a canyon carved through the limestone near Xenia and Yellow Springs, Ohio. In one place, the pass between the rock faces is only about 10 feet across.








While on the trail we passed this patch of Black-Eyed Susans. There was some Poison Ivy (see the leaves in the upper left of the picture), that I tried to keep out of the picture. Hopefully Marsha does not catch Poison Ivy just based on the picture.





Mary finally wrestled the camera from me and took my picture. We hiked to the bottom of the gorge, which took us about an hour after stopping for pictures and reading all the descriptive plaques. We headed back up the trail since Mary is still nursing her torn tendon and it looks like I may have messed up my knee a little. I'll find out more in about a week. I really don't want anything to mess up the rest of golf season, but if I need to have it fixed I want it done this year since I have all my deductables met.