Day 109

8/31/22

We started out down by the beautiful, calm Rum River this morning. Gus got his walk in second today as Ranger needed a few minutes rest before heading to Walker Senior Residence.

After Ranger and I arrived at our destination, we stopped by a few of our favorites, met some new people and ended up with a man we adore...Don the harmonica player.

99-years-old tomorrow, he greeted us with love and recognition. Even with failing eye sight, he can tell the difference between the two littermates and greeted Ranger with outstretched hands. He greeted me warmly by name and then asked about Mac, Lilly, Gus and the family. Amazing!

I grabbed a chair and pulled it right up to Don. The only thing between us was sweet Ranger. The visit was special, heart-touching and memorable. It always is, but today he shared a special story that had me riveted!

In 1934, when he was about eleven, he heard a plane pass over the Monticello farmhouse where he lived with his mother, sister and brother. He loved planes and machines, so when he heard the plane's engine missing, he ran outside to look up to the skies. The plane sputtered, coughed and landed unceremoniously in a corn field. At this point in the story, Don laughed and said he bet the farmer was none too pleased!

He proceeded to jump fences, run through the fields and eventually come upon the downed plane with the pilot already tinkering with the engine. Don knew his airplanes and identified this one as a WWI Jenny biplane.

As he stood mesmerized, the pilot shouted, "Say son, can you catch a pair of pliers?" Don nodded as the tool flew through the air. Catching sight of the pilot's face, he recognized him as no other than Charles Lindbergh!

He ran over and was directed to take some staples out of a near-by fence. To this day, Don doesn't know what the pilot did with them, but he complied. Lindbergh reached in to the motor with the staples and seemed satisfied with the outcome.

Then, the famous pilot (you know...the guy who flew the Spirit of St. Louis from New York to Paris in 1927!) told Don to jump in the one-seater and start the engine. The young boy was beside himself with delight and awe! Lindbergh reached for the propeller, which was somewhere around eight feet in length, and cranked it down. Once, twice and third time was the charm!

He helped Don jump down from the plane and hoisted himself into the cockpit. Taking off through the cornfield, he finally lifted into the air with Don standing open-mouthed as the lone audience. Lindbergh then circled around twice, waving and thanking the young boy who helped a famous pilot continue on his flight.

What a story!!! What a man!!! Lindbergh wasn't so bad either!