Arbor Day

Arbor Day was started in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Today every state celebrates Arbor Day. The custom is to plant a tree. On the first Arbor Day on April 10, 1872, an estimated 1,000,000 trees were planted.

I used this photo of a tree because to me, it shows the strength of a tree that can grow out of a rock. I took this photo on Scottsbluff.

Nebraska Nellie

Colorada River Scenic Byway in Utah

Wild flowers at the Arches

Arches National Park

Balanced Rock at Arches National Park

Sheep Rock at Arches National Park in Utah

On the way home from Hollywood, I took the opportunity to take more photos, particularly in Utah. I also ran into a retired couple from Plattsmouth, Nebraska at a number of the stops in the park. I highly recommend Arches National Park. It is so different from other places I've been to.

I drove north on I-15 to I-70 across the state. Utah has many different looks throughout the state. There are numerous national parks and I plan to visit more when I have the opportunity.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy Belated Birthday to Sandy Dennis

Sandy Dennis was born on April 27, 1937 in Hastings, Nebraska. She grew up in Kenesaw and Lincoln, Nebraska. She was a high school classmate of Dick Cavett. She attended Nebraska Wesleyan University and the University of Nebraska. She performed at the Lincoln Community Theater. She moved to New York to pursue her acting career.

She was in the soap opera, Guiding Light, and then acted in films and on Broadway. Read more about her at imdb.com.

She died at age 54 of ovarian cancer.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy Belated Birthday to Daniel Freeman

Daniel Freeman is very important to Nebraska history. He was the first to file under the Homestead Act at the time of the Civil War. The government would grant you 160 acres but you had to live on it and farm it for several years.

His homestead is four miles outside of Beatrice, Nebraska and is a National Monument. They recently built a new building for the monument and it is quite impressive. One of Freeman's decendants, Beverly Kaplan, wrote a book about Freeman and it is available at the Homestead National Monument. Beverly Kaplan lives near Hickman.

Freeman was born on April 26, 1826. He died in 1908. He was married twice and had a number of children he raised on his homestead. I apologize for not getting this birthday posted on Monday, but I was traveling and got behind on my famous Nebraskan's birthdays.

Nebraska Nellie

On the road again......

This morning I left Hollywood at 7 am to head for home. I drove through California, Nevada, a corner of Arizona and north on I 15 in Utah and east to Green River, Utah. Utah is gorgeous. I was glad when there were finally places to stop to view the beauty. This is one of the stops.

Nebraska Nellie

PS I have lots more photos but will save them for another day. I'm planning on taking more tomorrow.

This is the hand that Tony Curtis kissed.

This hand belongs to a very nice young woman who bought Tony Curtis's book, got his autograph, and got a kiss on the hand. She has vowed never to wash it again. She came from Canada for this film festival.

I have met so many nice people here.

Nebraska Nellie

Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis had an art and book signing today. He has written books and is a painter. He is quite charming and there was a long line for his autograph in his books.

Nebraska Nellie

Sabatuer

This afternoon I saw another Hitchcock film--Sabatuer, starring Robert Cummings. The plot is similar to some of his other films where a man is falsely accused of a crime and must find out what is behind it to save himself.

Leonard Maltin introduced the film and afterward, interviewed Norman Lloyd, who was one of the antagonists. Lloyd ended up falling from the top of the Statue of Liberty. Lloyd is now 95 years old and is still acting. He has some interesting views on current movies, which most of the audience seemed to agree with. He feels that many of the new directors are more in love with the equipment than the story.

Nebraska Nellie

Hotel Roosevelt

This hotel is the venue for much of the TCM film festival. There is a great deal of Hollywood history that has taken place including the beginning of the Oscars. We have had panel discussions and Club TCM here. Tonight is the final party for the festival. TCM has done a fabulous job for their first film festival and I have been thrilled to be able to attend it.

There was so much to do that we couldn't do it all. The movies were fabulous and such fun to see on the big screen. Most, I had seen before. A few were new to me. It's still a different experience to see it in a theatre rather than on a television screen.

Nebraska Nellie

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Brunch at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills

This morning I met a friend for brunch. It was a delicious brunch with many choices. Among them were fruits, salads, waffles, prime rib, sushi, ham, potatoes, vegetables, omelets, salmon benedict, juices, coffee, desserts, and more.

We ate and talked for sometime. The dining room opened at 10 am and we were there shortly after. By noon, the restaurant was filled. The brunch was pricey but delicious.

I had a star sighting at the brunch. Rena Sofer was sitting at a table with about 10 women. She has been in soap operas and on a number of prime time shows. I've most recently seen her in NCIS as a defense attorney. I have always liked her as an actress.

Nebraska Nellie

North by Northwest

Yet another favorite of mine that I had the pleasure to see for the first time on the big screen. This Hitchcock film stars Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. She and Martin Landau (a new actor in this movie) were at the screening and were interviewed by Robert Osborne. The discussion was fascinating. Landau explained that he played his character as a gay man--but subtly. It was certainly subtle enough that I never caught on to that until he said it.

They told about a couple of small things to look for in the movie that weren't meant to be in but were left in.

Eva Marie Saint said it was fun to be able to play the sexy spy lady with Cary Grant. I would think so.

So many star struck fans are here to watch these films. I love it.

Nebraska Nellie

Leave Her to Heaven

This morning I had the pleasure of seeing this movie for the first time on the big screen. Gene Tierney, Cornell Wilde, and Jeanne Crain starred in this fabulous movie. The beautiful Gene Tierney played the most evil person one can imagine. I have seen this move many times on television. Darryl Hickman plays Wilde's younger brother who drowns in the picture. He was there for the movie and was interviewed afterward by Robert Osborne. Hickman was in over 100 movies as a child actor. He acted with Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Henry Fonda. He has an autograph book with autographs from all those famous people. He said one of his most treasured was from Henry Fonda in the Grapes of Wrath. Fonda signed it to his younger brother, Hank Fonda.

I am a particular fan of Jeanne Crain. She has been in a number of great film favorites of mine such as Pinky and A Letter to Three Wives. However, my all time favorite of hers is Cheaper by the Dozen. She was the oldest of 12 children and she had to lead the way for the children and also help care for them. She is also very beautiful and seems like a very nice woman.

This film festival has been such a treat to be able to see and hear stories from stars from these great movies.

Having a great time.

Nebraska Nellie

Casting Secrets

This morning after breakfast, I went to a panel discussion on casting secrets. It was interesting to hear about how these casting directors put together casts of such great movies as The Godfather and American Graffiti. They said how they look for people to fill the director's dream of the movie or try to steer the director in a new direction. It was interesting to hear it from the movie and the HBO perspective. It is clearly a lot of work to find people to fit certain roles and to have the right chemistry with the other actors. We all know what it looks like when it is right.

Nebraska Nellie

Robert Osborne and me

This morning the Spotlight pass holders got to have breakfast with Robert Osborne. He went from table to table to meet and greet everyone. I bought his 80 Years of Oscar book last night and he signed it and my Spotlight pass. My table was mainly women who traveled to the film festival alone and we all are having fun getting to do whatever we want. We all got his autograph and it was worth waiting for him to come to our table.

Nebraska Nellie

Lucky Devils

I had lunch at Lucky Devils--owned by Lucky Vanous, one of our famous Nebraskans. This restaurant is about four blocks from the Hotel Roosevelt so it was handy and definitely on my agenda for this trip.

The staff was very friendly and seemed to enjoy their work. I had the chicken Caesar salad. It was a huge bowl and was very fresh and delicious. There are a number of items on the menu I would like to try. I want to have a liege waffle before heading back for Nebraska if I can make it happen.

I enjoyed eating at this restaurant.

Nebraska Nellie

The Sweet Smell of Success

Tony Curtis introduced and starred in this movie with Burt Lancaster. Their characters were mean people who would stop at nothing to destroy people they didn't like, regardless of the consequences. Lancaster never looked so mean and vindictive.

Curtis is now 84 years old and was very interesting as he told about this movie and other stories he had about acting.

I had never seen this movie before and thought it would be interesting. It was and I'm glad I opted for this one of my four choices at the time.

Nebraska Nellie

The Bad and the Beautiful

This movie stars Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner and several other wonderful actors. The movie was introduced and discussed by and with Robert Osborne and Cheryl Crane. Ms. Crane has a book out about her mother, Lana Turner. According to Ms. Crane, her mother had a great sense of humor. She also said that Lana Turner said this is the first film where she had both a great script and great costumes.

I have seen this movie on television several times and it certainly shows how rough it can be in Hollywood. This movie won five Oscars--including one for Gloria Graham as best supporting actress.

It is an excellent movie and any classic movie fan should watch it.

Nebraska Nellie

A Star is Born

A Star is Born was shown as the opening movie for the Turner Classic Movies last night. This one was made in 1954. Judy Garland and James Mason costarred in this one. It was recently restored and because some of the film was damaged, stills filled in where the damage was done. They had found the complete sound track and included two songs that were cut from the original. It was a long movie with an intermission.

There are two other versions of a Star is Born--one in 1937 and one in 1976. The 1936 movie starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. This is my personal favorite. The 1976 remake starred Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. This is the one I saw first and in the theater.

The film was introduced by Robert Osborne and was great to see on the big screen instead of on a television.

Nebraska Nellie

Nebraska Nellie has gone Hollywood.

Yes, I've gone Hollywood. I'm here in Hollywood at the Hotel Roosevelt. I wonder what famous people have stayed here in my room before.

This place is fancier than the typical hotel I stay at--and far more expensive. It's been amazing to have so many people here to see classic movies. Peter Bogdonovich was on the same elevator with me when I first checked into my room.

Soon after, I had to check in at the TCM room to get my gift bag. I met a very nice young woman who came here from Canada. She is originally from Scotland. I thought I would find her again before the movie but with all the people, I never saw her. However, I met two other people at the welcome party. One woman was from near LA. A man was in line right behind us for the food and we talked to him. It turns out James is from Waverly, Nebraska but has lived here for 25 years.

The first film I watched was A Star is Born with Judy Garland and James Mason. It's newly restored and is a great film. However, there are three versions of this film. Robert Osborne introduced the film and called Alec Baldwin to join him. He said there were over 40 celebrities in the theatre. I saw a number of them. Martin Landau, Eli Wallach, Gene Kelly's widow, Cheryl Crane (Lana Turner's daughter), Diane Baker, and several others.

There is so much going on that you can't be everywhere. By going to that film, I missed Neptune's Daughter. Esther Williams was there.

So far, it's great fun. Much more to come in the following days.

Nebraska Nellie

Desert Holocaust Memorial

This evening we went to the Desert Holocaust Memorial in Palm Desert. This memorial was built by donations from the citizens which include 90 holocaust survivors who live in Coachella Valley. The art is very moving and it is a lovely memorial to help us remember such a horrible time.

Nebraska Nellie

Rock piles in Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park has huge rock piles which are good for climbing if you're good at that sort of thing. Unfortunately, I'm not but these piles of rocks are millions of years old. They are granite which started out as one big slab about 15 miles below the surface. With time, earthquakes, water, and erosion, the slabs were pushed above the surface and these piles of rocks are the result.

Nebraska Nellie

Datil yucca flower

This is the flower on a very sharp yucca plant. I got to find out how sharp as I leaned over the plant to take this photo.

Nebraska Nellie

Desert dandilion in Joshua Tree

Cactus flower in Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park

Today I drove through Joshua Tree National Park. In all the times I have been to California, I had never made this trip. This is a Joshua Tree, however, it is not representative of all the trees. Many of them are not well balanced as we are accustomed to seeing. The high desert is interesting. I did not see any animals roaming around but there are bobcats, cougars, coyotes, roadrunners, and turtles that make the desert their home.

Nebraska Nellie

Bob Hope

Our beloved Bob Hope is also honored in the park for all his decades of entertaining the troops.

Nebraska Nellie

Remember this?

Anyone familiar with World War II has probably seen the photo that inspired this statue. There are several WW II statues in this park area by the Midway.

Nebraska Nellie

The Midway

The aircraft carrier The Midway is now a museum for people to tour. It is right by The Fish Market. We did not tour it but I would like to some day.

Nebraska Nellie

The Fish Market

After our tour of the San Diego harbor on the seal tour, we had lunch at the Fish Market on Tuna Lane. I hadn't eaten at this Fish Market before. My niece had monkfish and I had halibut. Both were delicious. For me this is a special treat so worth the high prices. I love seafood.

Nebraska Nellie

Seals tour

Next on our agenda, we went to Seaport Village in San Diego and took the seals tour. We travelled in a vehicle that goes on land and water. We toured San Diego and then went into the harbor. A California gray whale had come into the harbor and we saw it several times. Whales generally do not go into the harbor and it's late in the season for them to be there. There were two women in kayaks in the harbor and the whale went over by them. They looked very "concerned". I would have been also.

I learned several new things about the Navy. Did you know that the Navy trains dolphins to go under ships to examine them with a video camera attached to it's fin? If the people see areas on the ship that are a concern, they signal the dolphin who comes back up and then takes a buoy and attaches it to the area so that divers can check it out later. They train them in the harbor.

The Navy also trains sea lions. They can take a leash and unhook it from themselves and attach it to a missile that sunk to the bottom so that it can be towed out of the bottom of the ocean. The sea lions we saw must have been on vacation.

San Diego has several bases and a lot of military personnel. It is the biggest industry in San Diego with bio technology and tourism following closely according to our tour.

Captain Jim and First Mate Tom's tour was entertaining and educational and it was worth the $35 ticket.

Nebraska Nellie

Coronado, California

Yesterday morning I had breakfast in this diner/ice cream shop on Orange Street in Coronado. It is a 50's style diner. I ordered the short stack French toast which consisted of two huge pieces of French toast. Neither my niece nor I could eat it all. It was delicious and very reasonably priced. I embarrassed my niece by having to take pictures of the diner before we left. I guess my job is done.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy 117th birthday, Harold Lloyd.

Happy Birthday, Harold Lloyd. Lloyd was born on April 20, 1893 in Burchard, Nebraska. The house where he was born was renovated a few years ago and can be toured. They sell some memoriabilia at the house.

He became one of the three big silent movie comedians. He was on the same level as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. He was very athletic and did his own stunts. In one movie he lost part of a hand in an explosion. He wore a glove after that in the movies but he always did his own stunts--which included climbing buildings and hanging from clocks. His most famous movie was probably Safety Last.

He married his leading lady, Mildred Davis, in 1923. She died in 1969. Lloyd was also a photographer and has a couple of books of his photographs, which include famous movie stars.

A few years ago, I attended the Silent Movie Film Festival in San Francisco at the Castro Theatre and saw many of his movies. What fun to see people lined up around the block to see his films. His movies are also sold in a set for under $100.

For many people today, silent movies sound like they would be boring. However, I have shown them to my nieces and nephews when they were young and they thought they were fun to watch. The plots may be less complex than we are used to but the movies are very entertaining. His movies can also be seen on Turner Classic Movies.

This week I will be attending the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival and two of his movies will be shown there. Can't wait.

Nebraska Nellie

Hog's Breath

Monday night we ate at Hog's Breath in La Quinta. It is a very nice restaurant and the hostess and waitstaff were very friendly. I was unfamiliar with this restaurant and saw all the Clint Eastwood movie posters and photos as the wall decor. I asked the hostess and she told me that Eastwood is a part owner and had just been there on Friday night.

I had the red wine braised short ribs, mashed potatoes, and brocollini. It was delicious. The meat was very tender and well seasoned. I always love mashed potatoes. The price for the dinners was in the $23 to $30 range. I would recommend it and would go again.

Nebraska Nellie

The Yard House

Today I had lunch at the Yard House in Rancho Mirage. The atmosphere was casual and the food was delicious. I had a roasted turkey cobb salad and my sister ate a chopped salad. The ingredients were very fresh and the portions were generous. The prices were moderate and I would definitely go there again. Check out their website at yardhouse.com. They have restaurants in several states.

Nebraska Nellie

Nature's art is everywhere.

Look at the inside of the this cactus leaf. Interesting shapes are imprinted on the inside and outside of each leaf. Probably more cacti to come........

Nebraska Nellie

Note: I stand corrected. This is not a cactus but a succulent. Looked like a cactus to me......

Welcome to Palm Desert, California!

Last night I got to my sister's house in Palm Desert. This is her backyard. It doesn't look like the ones we have back home in Nebraska, does it? Weather.com says it's 88 degrees but feels like 85. It also says the high is 83 today. I guess in California 83 is higher than 88. They do thing a lot different here in California--lots fancier. I had a chocolate croissant for breakfast--fresh out of the oven. Delicious! Wish we had a Trader Joe's in Lincoln.

What will I be doing tomorrow? Any guesses?

Nebraska Nellie

Grand Canyon

Another view of the Grand Canyon at one of the stops along the south rim.

Nebraska Nellie

Little Colorado River Wash

I stopped here on my way into the Grand Canyon National Park. This is on tribal land. You could see the river moving slowly through the rock canyon.

Nebraska Nellie

Grand Canyon

Sunday morning I spent at the Grand Canyon. What a beautiful place. Photographs do not do justice to some of these beautiful places. I traveled the south rim of the canyon and stopped at the viewing places and did my best to show some of the scenes.

In this photo, you will see a larger view of the prior photo. This was just before the people went out on the ledge. In this photo, you will see a man near the top in the middle of the photo. He was taking pictures of the two from the prior photo.

The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long and the places you can drive to are but a small part. More adventurous people go hiking--even overnight. I'm not up to that but I could see so many beautiful places where the river below has cut through the rock. I remember from science that with water and rock (or anything else), water always wins. How true. Over the millions of years the water has made the canyon. You can see the Colorado River below in some places.

Yet the world is such a small place. A week ago tomorrow, I saw a woman I know from Beatrice that said she would be at the Grand Canyon on Sunday and I told her I would be as well. It seemed unlikely that we would run into each other in such a huge place with so many places to stop. We ran into each other in the women's bathroom at the visitor's center. Weird, huh.

Nebraska Nellie

Welcome to the Grand Canyon!

I generally try to avoid having pictures of people in my nature photos unless I really want the people pictures. However, I wanted you to see the size of this with the people in it for you to see how massive it is. In my next blog, I will show you the picture I took immediately before this one. There are no people by this tower, but you will be able to see how small this is compared to the canyon.

Nebraska Nellie

New Mexico

This is near Laguna, New Mexico just off of I 40.

Nebraska Nellie

Nebraska Nellie hits the road for another adventure!

Friday, I drove from Lincoln on I 80 to York and headed south through Kansas. For living so close to Kansas, it's amazing how seldom I go to Kansas. I need to go back and do some more exploring. Before going too far into Kansas, I saw a sign for Norway. I had no idea the Norway was in Kansas... Clearly, Kansas also has an Agenda.........

Recently, I had the good fortune to meet the parents of a Norwegian foreign exchange student. I got to spend an evening with them and they wanted to look for some Bill Gaither DVDs. They wanted to buy me a gift and bought me a CD of Bill Gaither and other singers. The music was beautiful and I listened to it several times as I drove through Kansas. I sang along with Amazing Grace and learned the words to some of the others. I love to sing in the car when I'm alone.

The land was very flat as I traveled south. Before too long, I saw oil wells. I could even smell the oil as I was driving. I saw signs for lots of towns that I've seen in westerns or even that westerns were named after. I stayed in Dodge City. Who doesn't remember watching Gunsmoke. They still have front street and Boot Hill. I arrived late and left early this morning so I couldn't explore, but now Dodge City is on my list of places to go. I'm kind of thinking I may need a cowboy hat and boots. We'll see. That seems a little out of character for Nebraska Nellie--but it's OK to be a little eccentric.

Traveling on southwest, I saw signs for Cimmeron, and Dorothy's house. One town had the Dalton Gang's hideout.

After leaving Kansas, I drove through the pan handle of Oklahoma. I listened to the sound track of Oklahoma and sang along at full volume. Gordon MacRae is one of my famous Nebraskan's. He lived in Lincoln the last 20 or so years of his life. He has a beautiful voice and so does Shirley Jones.

I then drove through a corner of Texas and then across New Mexico and on to Flagstaff, Arizona. It was a long day. I played all kinds of music--Leslie Gore, lots of 70's music, Rod Stewart, Vonda Shepard and whatever else I had. Normally I listen to books on trips but I was singing my heart out. Burt would be proud. One of the 70's songs was by Paul Revere and the Raders--yet another famous Nebraskan. Loved it. Another song on the CD was "Easy Come and Easy Go" by Bobbie Sherman. Diane, I thought of you with this one. Loved it. Just checked and he has a fan website--bobbysherman.com. Check it out. Tomorrow I plan to listen to a book I have with me.

Driving through New Mexico was so interesting. I got a few photos but when traveling on an interstate, it's hard to take photos.

Today was Day 2 of my travels. Lots more to come over the next 10 days.

Nebraska Nellie

WHERE INTHE WORLD IS NEBRASKA NELLIE?

Yesterday, I took off on another road trip adventure. I have a number of activities I will be doing in the next few days. Feel free to post a comment or guess what the next day's activity will be. What do you think I'll be doing Sunday? Where will I end up at the end of the day? Where am I now?

I plan to have some real fun with this blog as I travel. I'm going to tell you about what I've seen and where I've been. I also plan to be a travel and restaurant reviewer. I think I'll give my opinion about everything. That should be fun. I'm going to be the next Hedda Hopper. Do you know who that is?

I left Lincoln yesterday around 3:00 p.m.--about 3 hours later than planned but I felt good about how I left things.

I traveled about 400 miles before stopping for the night in Dodge City, Kansas. One of the things about traveling is that you always see what more you should be stopping to look at or photograph. Some that has to be saved for another day but I'm planning on taking lots of photos on this trip. Can't wait to show them to you.

More later if I can stay awake. I've driven 800 miles today and I could drop at any moment. If I ever give up my current career, I may become a truck driver. I've always thought that could be interesting but no doubt, hard work.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy Birthday, Julie Sommars.

Julie Sommars was born on April 15, 1942 in Fremont, Nebraska. She grew up in the midwest and won awards for her oratory skills. She is married to her fourth husband and they have three children. The role she would be best remembered for is as the prosecutor/girlfriend on Matlock. I enjoyed her character and the show. When she was younger she appeared in a number of shows like Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and one of my all time favorites, Perry Mason.

Julie, I hope you have a great birthday.

Nebraska Nellie

Magnolia tree

I had to show you a bigger shot of the tree. It's loaded with the blossoms. Beautiful.

Nebraska Nellie

Magnolias are blooming!

The magnolia tree down the street is filled with blooms. I saw it as I drove down the street and I had to walk down with the camera and take some photos of those beautiful flowers. They are only there for a short time.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy Birthday, Lucky Vanous.

Who can forget the 1994 diet Coke commercial where the women were ogling the shirtless construction worker drinking his diet Coke. He was one of People's 50 most beautiful people the same year.

Lucky Vanous was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on April 11, 1961. I found conflicting information on but according to my research, he grew up in Lincoln then joined the Army. In the Army, he was selected to be in the 1st Ranger Batallion (Black Berets)--an elite anti-terrorist and anti-guerilla response team. As part of the team, he traveled the world. After the Army, he attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. While vacationing in New York, he was spotted by an agent and became a model. He studied acting and acted in a commercials and in television programs.

Today he owns a restaurant in Los Angeles--Lucky Devils. The website for his restaurant is www.luckydevils-la.com. I will be in LA soon and will visit his restaurant. It looks like a fun place and I'll give a review here. In the meantime, have a great birthday to another famous Nebraskan.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy belated birthday, Ward Bond.

Ward Bond was born in Benkelman, Nebraska on April 9, 1903. The family lived in Benkelman until 1919 when they moved to Denver. Bond graduated from high school in Denver. He attended USC and played football on the same team as John Wayne. They became lifelong friends.

Bond was a character actor who appeared in over 270 movies and television shows according to the Internet Movie Database. He was in It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. He was in a lot of westerns and often played a gruff, but kind character. Other classic films he was in included classics such as Fort Apache, Drums along the Mohawk, It Happened One Night, Sargent York, The Maltese Falcon, and Gone with the Wind.

Bond died at age 57 of a massive heart attack. We can only imagine how many more movies he would have been in if he hadn't died so prematurely.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy Anniversary.

Today is my the 78th anniversary of maternal grandparents. I am the oldest of their 15 grandchildren. I had the good fortune to have four great grandparents and all four grandparents when I was born. I lost all the great grandparents before I was 10 years old, but what an honor to have known them. I was 29 years old when I lost the first of my grandparents--my maternal grandfather. He was 80 years old. In 2006, I lost my maternal grandmother. She was 96. My father's parents died between those times. In 2002, on their 70th anniversary, I went to visit grandma. I took her to the Niobrara River because it was a favorite place to go for her. When we returned to her home, she gave me her wedding ring. I was so surprised and honored that she gave me such a treasure. I've thought of them often today and we all miss them.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy Easter.

Tomorrow is Easter--a very important Christian holiday that we celebrate each spring. Families get together and go to church and eat big meals. Children hunt Easter eggs and we all eat too much. The daffodils in my yard are blooming and I played around in photoshop for this effect. I hope you all have a lovely Easter with your family.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy Birthday to Marlon Brando--known as the greatest actor of all time.

Marlon Brando was born on April 3, 1924 in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother was an unconventional woman of her time. She was an actress and wore trousers. Her parents were separated during part of his childhood. His mother also suffered from alcoholism. His father was a talented amateur photographer.

Brando was a rebel all his life and was expelled from his high school. He went to New York and studied acting. He first acted on Broadway and one of his first roles was in I Remember Mama. I wish I could have seen him in it. It is one of my favorite movies with Irene Dunne, but Brando was not in the movie.

Brando was a brilliant actor and made many great movies, including A Street Car Named Desire, Julius Caesar, On the Waterfront, and of course, The Godfather--to name just a few. Brando was also very interested in civil rights. He refused his best actor award for The Godfather because of how Indians were depicted in film.

He had a long acting career that we can still enjoy. This is but a very brief synopsis of his life and I would encourage you to read more about him on imdb.com.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Brando.

Nebraska Nellie