Guest Bloggers (126)

As Grandpa mentioned Ryan and I have some exciting news! As you might have already guessed we have recently became engaged. Grandpa wanted to share it with everyone and we weren’t sure if he would get all the details right and who better to tell it then us! I have always secretly wanted to blog a bit…

It all started over a year ago. Ryan and I met inside Purdue Christian Campus House. We both attended church there and were actively involved in a service group. We had both been asked with two others to help transport toys to Lafayette Urban Ministry’s for their Christmas Jubilee. It was actually a very short meeting and quick service opportunity but that was the first time we met. In our short chat back to campus we realized we had both signed up to go on a short four day service project in Chicago. The place is called JPUSA (Jesus People USA) you can read up on them on the internet but most people describe them as hippies who live as a community in an old hotel they bought to outreach to the Chicago north side. They take care of elderly people in the old hotel and run three different shelters. After getting to know each other more while in Chicago it all really just took off fast from there…

Now to the engagement story…We all know there is usually a lot of pressure put on the guy to make the proposal special and memorable. Ryan and I had planned to go to Chicago for two days as our Christmas present to each other. We had planned it at least three months in advance and I wasn’t suspecting anything. We left early Sunday morning arriving to -28 degree wind chills in the WINDY city. We went to Navy Pier, checked into our hotel, and then about four we headed down the Magnificent Mile (Michigan Ave). It was so cold out we were getting what felt like brain freezes. So we would walk about five stores and enter the sixth to get warm again. Ryan’s parents had bought us a carriage ride for Christmas and we were ultimately walking to find them. We get to the street where they are suppose to be picking up and they are no where to be found. (Meanwhile Ryan is freaking out a bit because the carriage ride was where he wanted to propose). We finally hear from someone it is probably too cold for the horse to be out. And I was thinking no kidding its too cold for people to be out! J Well we were hungry so we walked back down Michigan Ave. to get some Chicago style pizza…

Throughout the mile or more walk Ryan is texting. Little did I know him and his parents were trying to come up with plan ‘B’. We get to Giordano’s pick out our pizza. Ryan then asks if I want to go to the top of the John Hancock building and see the city at night. I ask him where the building is-he replies, “All the way past where the carriages were supposed to be.” We made a deal to take a cab there and back! ;)

We get to the John Hancock building and the entrance down into the building is all blocked off with ropes. At this point Ryan is thinking he can’t catch a break. We go around the building and find our way in. We get to the top(94th floor) and it is absolutely beautiful to see all the lights at night especially around Christmas time! We walk all the way around the four sides and Ryan says lets go out on the sky walk. Well it was closed due to high winds. Poor guy!! ha! Well he pulled me aside said a few words, pulled out a little black box, and asked me if I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. And I said YES!

Enjoy the pictures, hoped you enjoyed the story, and I hope the critics are not too hard on me as this is my first blog J
We hope you and your families had a Merry Christmas! Love and Prayers for a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Lilly and Ryan

Connecting Links and the Three Bears (125)

In greiving class last year we learned about "connecting links", which are objects that remind us and tie us to to a loved one who has passed on. The night we were to bring one in for class I took my wife's stuffed monkey that she had kept from childhood...His name was Zippy and came with a book about him that I also have kept. It is a connecting link, and then as seen in a previous post here, I made an even more meaningful connecting link, by designing a gold arch that suspended our wedding rings woven together, and below an airplane, representing the day we met and the life we shared...I have it on my desk and an inscription reads, "love was in the air"...

Comes now, the Three Bears, another connecting link that sweet pea designed for her three grand children to remember their grandfather...I think it is a most clever Christmas gift, using shirts he wore to work and setting in hats that he also wore probably fishing in Wisconsin..... Sure these will be preserved for many decades ahead..each has a name of the grandson on the bottom of the foot...I know they will surely treasure them....A great "connecting link" for these lads and along with pictures will always be a reminder of someone very special, but passed to soon.....

Probably my last post before Christmas....Wishing each and all the Very Merry Christmas that you need to fill your life with good memories, good friends and good days ahead....and even more so, the reason for the season, A life guided from above by Jesus Christ......
Merry Christmas................

Ropkey Armor Museum (story 124)

Day before yesterday, my friend Mike Emmert took me to a hidden gem in Montgomery County, the subject of todays blog, the Ropkey Armor Museum...Owned by yet another "Marine's Marine" in the person of Fred Ropkey...free will offering for admission and a great place to spend a morning or afternoon this winter or a warm day next summer...Just be careful going in the summer as you could get run over maybe by a tank...you see he has most all this stuff in good working order and sometimes gets them out on special occasions...maybe the 4th of July even, not sure did not spend a lot of time talking to Mr. Ropkey but did some...We exchanged our "semper fi's" and then the conversation kind of got lost in what a great job he had done gathering all this stuff up and bringing it all back to life, and displaying it in such a way that makes you think you may just be on a military base and not in the rolling hills of Montgomery County...Also shared with him that I has served in the 3rd Amtrac Bn. at Camp Del Mar, California..He knew all about the C-3 amtracs from Korea and WW two and also the new ones that replaced those while I served the P-5 and A-5 armor amtracs. Those eventually were put to good use in Veit Nam...

But what an array of armor this man has put together and willing to display...Also some aircraft, jeeps, halftracks, even a swift boat I think from the Korea or Nam era not sure...a few guns, helmets, you name it, you will probably find it there on this farm between Darlington and Crawfordsville Indiana...I had no idea it was there, Mike has been telling me about it for a year now maybe...I hope to generate some lookers for him as he and his employee "skip" are usually on hand to give you the tour or just let you wander around at your pace.....Skip is very knowledgeable about most all the equipment...Fred shared with me that the new "Museum of the Marine Corps", in Quantico Virgina has several pieces of armor and amtracs that he restored for them...I have seen those and they do look great...I shared with him that my wife and I had been on hand for the dedication ceremony of that museum on Nov. 10, 2006.
And that it had been the final trip that we had taken together in the motor home before her death of cancer the following April. Mr. Ropkey shared with me that he also had lost his first wife to cancer....

I do count him in the few Marines I have met in my lifetime as a "Marines Marine".
I do not know him well of course but any Marine that would go to this extent for a hobby is gonna get listed as such in my book....Now you army guys don't shy away from this place...He gives Army equipment equal time there also...some Navy stuff as well and one of the aircraft is the trainer plane that led to the building of the Lunar Landing vehicle for the moon mission....

OK if you don't do anything else after reading this blog do yourself one emmense favor. Go to the right side here and click on my link that says "be sure and watch this"..click on that...then go down to the 3rd video called Across Indiana...sit back and watch it. it is kind of a classic....

Well that's about it for today, check out my pics on the right hand side and do someday visit this nearby one hours drive from Lafayette or Indianapolis maybe...it is well worth your time....

Wine a Bit/ Wine a lot.....and Christmas (123)

Had our Christmas with what is left of our family Sunday less our sister Florence who is currently in a nursing home...in Anderson Indiana, we all went in one car...Days past the drive ways would be choked with cars and the houses we held it in would be bulging at the sides to contain it all...times change and families get older and smaller...such is ours but we carry on the tradition of gathering together for a meal and maybe some good wine or Manhattan's or some good old slush even...The great dinner my sister had prepared was wonderful complimented by her two daugters who also live there in Anderson serving us, so "mom", could just relax with the rest of us.

But this years event was special because 1...... my life is again filled with love and 2.....the lost recipe has been found....Love makes you happy once again to be alive, does not erase beautiful memories, but it brings forth a rebirth of excitement with life in general...it is especially good if you both feel enough love for each other that you would, if you could, wish that what happened to the other could be reversed, and that life could again be as it was...but knowing full well it can not, not feeling guilty about capturing and enjoying the new bond found between us...it is good....it is very good.

So let me share our Christmas tree, our favorite fire place and my family and my new hero my sister Peg...she is my hero this day as she has found what we all thought was lost forever...the recipe for the wine our father used to make each summer...a few years back I got to thinking about maybe taking up wine making and making it as good as my dad used to every summer....he would make about 20 gallons plus each August when our concord grapes would ripen...I think I may have written about stomping grapes in another story on this blog...Anyway a few years back I started inquiring about the recipe...no one had it....I had given up hope for ever finding it...was pretty well pissed off that we had allowed it to be lost but, we won't go there....But Sunday my new hero sister (wine a bit) Peg handed me a recipe card from her file and said, "hey Jack I found this in my recipe box".... I read it quickly and the last thing on the recipe was "fill with water daily to replace what has fermented out the top"....I knew then it was it...it has to be it, as is the last thing we did in the process each summer was to go into the wood shed and watch the purple bubbles boil out of the keg and run down the sides...then add enough water each day to fill it to the top to continue the purification process.....and then it would finally quit, and dad would say it is done fermenting, and we would then cap the wine keg and move it to the basement...that fall my father would finally tap it and serve the wine to us all..it was fabulous...probably 20 plus percent alchohol maybe, I don't know... I do know it had a kick to it...and it was most always as clear a water..even though made from purple concord grapes....

So I now have it again.. thank you sister Peg for finally finding what had been long lost and I thought was lost forever...To me it is a big deal..because it was very special wine...I remember time an time again people telling my dad that it was the best wine they had ever tasted in their life...and asking him how it was that it would be clear as drinking water but yet be made from purple grapes??????

Well next summer we will find out...Currently I am searching for the "just right" oak barrel...will also try a glass container maybe but he did it in an Oak barrel so that I must have...I know where there are some concord grapes that are cuttings from the old grapes that my father used that originally came from Germany....I planted them and I know they will share them with me..especially if I offer to trim the grapes for them next spring as I watched my father do each year...I doubt this every grows into a Sweet Pea Winery or anything like that.. but it will be fun to try, looking forward to it and to a Happy New Year....

Merry Christmas from my Family (122)

We recently met for a gift exchange...All the Happy Hoosiers pictured to the right wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and New Year. Five great families pictured here..my son and four daughters and their family...totaling 19 grand children in all...Monica was working and missed it all...she would have been in the first picture...great to have Lucas in that first picture also rather than in Iraq...He is enjoying his home south of Indy that his family completely painted and spuced up while he was over there...

Great time of year is Christmas, somewhat stressful with so much to do and so many places we would like to be...All the hustle bussal of the holidays...We were reminded yesterday by Pastor Eric, that it kind of always has been that way...right from the start...with Mary and Joseph making there way to Bethlehem to be counted for the cenus that was ordered by the Roman rulers...Never mind that she was almost 9 months pregnant and had to ride a donkey for 60 miles to meet a deadline, and then after getting there no place in the inn to have a baby because it was full of other people also required to return there to be counted...Very humble beginning for our Savior to say the least, but the way GOD wanted it...

So when your overwhelmed with this season just keep in mind that the reason for the season also felt kind of pushed and shoved into a corner or manger to be borne...Came her to change the world and us...Love don't get any bigger or better than that boys and girls...Thats why we do it and I guess that is why it is fitting that it is a season of preparation and joy...

Merry Christmas

Stocks and Bonds (121)

I heard on a newscast yesterday that so many people were taking money out of stocks and trying to buy T Bills that they are bidding interest to almost nothing just to feel that there money is in safe hands...the report said that some yields were lower even than 1 percent interest.

So in that case for my freinds I want to do another update on "I Bonds"...Now I am not sure what the "I" in US I Bonds stands for...it really does not matter, probably it is interest or investment is my guess...But I have found that these wonderful investment tools are limited to $5000.00 per social security number or in other words per person per calendar year....So thinking that it being near the years end, and so many people seeking safe haven for their money why not put it where it earns excellent interest...Now through April the rate of these bonds is 5.62%...That is a higher rate than any CD offerings that I know of my freinds....

And all you have to do is go to any bank and ask for the I bond application...Simply fill it out and return it to them with your check for up to 5000 bucks and you have made a good investment...The Bond will pay interest if you leave it there and compound each year for 30 years...Or you can cash it in at anytime in the first 5 years and only loose 3 months interest...Now that is not a bad hit at all when you consider the interest rate they are paying in that even if you do cash it within 5 years your net interest earned is most like much higher than if you had that money in a CD....

So my fellow America's this is my Christmas tip to you all...Do your 5000 right now before the end of the year and then do your next years 5000 in January...You will have 10 grand for yourself and 10 grand for your spouse or each of your kids if you want to get creative....invested at a very high rate by todays standards and as safe of an investment as you can make...

Now if your a gambler here is one maybe slightly better than lotto tickets...The RV industry is really on the skids along with a lot of others...But I think there may be a chance that this could change with fuel prices coming down and looking like they will stay down for an indefinate period of time....So my tip is a great RV company that I not only own one of their fine motor homes, but also some of their stock..The stock is currently trading for 12 cents a share...120 dollars buys a thousand shares...a couple years ago it was over 12 dollars a share I believe...

Maybe they will go bankrupt and you will loose like you would with lotto tickets...but maybe just maybe the fuel prices staying about half of what they were causing the RV business to go sour...So maybe folks who are baby boomers and do have some money left to buy a motor home will say, hey fuel is affordable again, let us hit the road momma and drag our Chevrolet along behind....The company is Fleetwood or stock symbol (fle).....don't know the General Motors symbol but if they all drag a chevy that may not be a bad buy either........

All a big gamble yes, but no doubt there are some great buys out there in todays stock market, it's just picking the right ones....no easy task and one that I am sure I will make plenty of mistakes trying to do...but maybe just maybe I will pick a couple that do have a light at the end of the tunnel and that it turns out to not be a frieght train coming....

Semper Fi,

Jack

Christmas Parade and LCL Breakfast (120)

Huge Weekend just ended....Lower Picture of the decendants of Lawrence C. Lahrman, who by the way not only had decendants by ten's but also was Tippecanoe County's Champion Corn Shucker...(past story or post on this blog)...

Each year brother Joe organizes a breakfast meeting before Christmas of all the male decendants of our Dad Lawrence C. Lahrman, farmer and father extrodinare....he's gone now would have been 118 years old on December 1st....times we thought that he would probably last that long...he used to say if he knew he was going to live this long he would have taken better care of himself...He got into the 90's as did his dad Charles also a farmer in the Buck Creek area about the time they were still talking about what a great President Abe Lincoln had been...he mowed down his wheat with a cradle, my dad a binder and we boys and grand son's use today's combines....
Truth is we don't grow much wheat anymore...Corn and beans is better usually and beside we like to party on the 4th of July and not spend the day in a hot combine trying to beat the possible thunderstorm at that time of year....

Anyway we been at these breakfast now for over 20 years, and probably will do it for a few decades yet till we grow in numbers too large for the restaurant on teal road..

But one other thing happened this week end and that was the annual gift exchange with my youngin's...this year we tried a brunch at 9:30 on Sunday morning...was a great success as its less food, less waste and we were done in time to take in the Lafayette Christmas Parade this year....Last year Caulin Post was snow Prince from his school...This year it is Tabby Russell's turn to shine...She was as you see in the top two pictures, a cute little snow princess this year from Cole Elementary..Representing them well in the annual Christmas Parade...her proud mom Shirley is riding shotgun in the converty driven by her Uncle John....

I guess the Christmas season is now fully underway...hope you and yours, along with me and mine, will all enjoy the season...Building memories is great, they will always be with you...only downside of it all is reliving some of them after the losses of loved ones that some of us have suffered in our lives...I guess the memories are not the problem it's the losses that we wish had not happened at all that hurts..not the memories, at least we have them.....Merry Christmas

Happy Hoosier Still Blogin....(119)

At this now for over 10 months with 120 post to my blog site. On Feb 2nd I set out to post a few stories I had written in the past and hopefully I would think of some others as time went along. I really did not know how long I could keep this going, and still don't. Some day I may just decide I have said enough, maybe I am getting closer to that day...Not sure, maybe I need a change of scenery to inspire me...that may happen one day, I may just make it to Florida in January not sure yet.

Or if I don't, I am thinking of doing a makeover on my home, maybe that would make a topic or two to share, maybe I will rip out a wall or two...Maybe we will get a 5 foot snow drift in my lane, maybe that would be exciting enough to write about...maybe a pic of my snow plow blowing a five foot drift over into the corn field....maybe the pond freezing over and I cut a hole in the ice and pull blue gills out to eat..Maybe I have some wine and cheese with that fish...I know what your thinking maybe I fall through the ice and then the cyber space is free of one vibration....Don't count on that, probably I won't as I just don't like thin ice...
I don't even like ice fishing that much...its cold out there and those fish will still be there next summer when its warm and we need to have another fish fry.

My readership varies from maybe 10 to 30 a day that check my sight to see if anything is new according to my site meter....So I guess I will keep this up for a bit more at least. It is interesting how topics just seem to keep arriving here as time goes on...I usually don't have to imagine them they just arrive it seems. As one of the men in my Promise Keepers Bible Study says, with GOD'S help, I guess I will just keep on "keeping on"......

Thankgiving In Indiana (118)

I love Thanksgiving and to the right is pics of how it went down here in Indiana..
Lots of food and lots of family. The Saturday before the first pic was at sweet pea's house with her equally large and very nice family. Got to meet everyone now except for brother Mark in Florida and Son Jeff in Texas. Great food, way more than we needed but that is what its all about this day, a day of abundance and thankfulness for it....

Then on the real turkey day we headed to Greenfield Indiana to daughter Sherry's home. Second pic is lady fair having been talked into exercise instead of a nap after the dinner by my granddaughter. After that we go to the real reason for thankgiving according to the newspaper and that is to get your ducks in a row for black friday shopping.

Then we see that the Christmas Catus that has been in my life for a few years and winters in Florida is right on the money of blooming now instead of Christmas...Always has, I guess always will and then it throws in a couple extra blooming periods in February its way of saying thanks I guess for taging along to Florida...

And then the last pic the morning of Thanksgiving when a couple deer gave me a photo opp as they walked along the pond in search of something good to eat.. All in all lots to be thankful for, good health, good freinds, good family and maybe we will leave it there and not venture into the economy and prospects thereof....that we have seemingly no control of anyway...everything else is good and we are thankful...

Sgt. Lucas Cole Home from Iraq (117)

Yes it is true, he is home and looking good...My grandson marched into the hangar where we gathered and spent an hour plus with his family before being bused to Camp Atterbury for debreifing and check ups.....

Lucas Cole has spent the last 10 months in Iraq serving his country...thank you Lucas, you did good....the Indiana unit suffered three casualties which I am so thankful that it was only three...it could have been a lot worse but can not help but honor here and suffer with these families as they experience the homecoming of the unit each day when these planes arrive...Knowing of the terrible loss that they sustained this past year....and reminded of daily as these flights arrive in Indy and are covered by the TV stations...God Bless and Keep them for this terrible loss...

Welcome home to the Thousands of Hoosiers who served so well these past months...

Merging into the fast lanes (116)

Attended a recent game at Purdue, just across the river from me maybe about 10 miles to the northwest of my "little house on the prairie"....Sweet Pea landed me 3 free tickets so I quickly rounded up a couple grand kids to impress with some quaility time with Grandpa...
With the technology of today that is a chore..merging into the fast lane of 6th graders Paige Russell and Caulin Post is a tall order...Wow, they talk so fast and change subject in mid sentence even....with blackberries or raspberrys or whatever those noisy apparatii are they carry around, it finally boils down to just kind of guiding them to where your going and getting them back home safe...I did get a quick review of who's dating who at Wainwright and what teachers are pregnant and funny and others that are pretty strict...Ball game was a blow out with Purdue of course doubling the score on Loyola of Chicago....but we stayed to the end and watched Purdue Pete do his victory dance which he pretty much does all night long...

Will keep at the grandparenting thing but it is tough, these kids this day and age, are pretty well self sufficent, confident and pretty well engaged and entertained...Actually I prefer to lie on a floaty in the pond and score them 1 thru 10 in the proposed olympic "rope swing release and water entry" event during the summer...no black berries to distract them when in and out of the water of course.

Well off to the prepare for the first Thankgiving dinner of the season tomorrow...Lots to do to get ready, most of sweet pea's family will be enjoying that and some of the wine we got in Brown County Indiana...And maybe offering her an assessment of who she met in greiving class a year ago....Will tap my Marine training and stay "squared away".....Semper Fi.....

IT IS GETTING COLD IN INDIANA (115)

Yes it is, lows are now drifting each day to the lower 20's. But still nice and I guess good weather for enjoying Thanksgiving here coming up soon...And then Christmas, got to have snow up to your wahsoo for Christmas right? Well all that being said, sweet pea and I just conversed with our freind George Thompson at Silver Lakes..George and Glady's own the lot south of us, a beautiful corner lot by the way with the nic'est lounge chairs in the whole wide world...Anyway they are dear special friends and George just told us its super nice down there at the adult playground between Naples and Marco Island Florida...Southwest Florida, just about as close to paradise as you can get without dying....or maybe jetting to the french riviara or something like that...notice the small f in french...that's a left over hard feeling from the war...but anyway forget the french it is all pretty darn nice right there on the lower extremity of the USA called Florida...George said my trees were needing some work and said he would work on them a little if it was "alright with me"...He said the club house was full of people as it is each Monday morning drinking coffee and enjoying a doughnut and good conversation...planning their week ahead, so much to do and so little time to do it all...somehow though each week down there you get it all done...I mean its tough but someone has to do it....gosh I am getting homesick.....Well hey the best part of any vacation is the "planning", so between now and some time a few weeks from now we will enjoy the holidays and then we will someday then lock up the house, load the coach and work our way south to where the sunshine is a little more friendly than here in the land we love Indiana...

Series "I" Bonds pay 5.64%

Not an overly exciting blog topic today, BUT this rate is far and above what is being offered by most banks for 1 to 2 year CD rates. I see those rates at 3 to maybe in some cases as high as 4.5%...So Uncle Sams offer to sell us I Bonds between now and April at 5.64% looks good to me.

Make good Christmas presents to offsprings and grand offsprings alike. Everybody needs or could always use a few more of these especially at Christmas time...Especially this year with the whole world being a bit shaky...How safe you ask? Well for my money its as safe as you can get...If uncle can not back up his promises we are probably all broke and on our way to the bread lines..Lets hope not, lets pray the answer man Obama will have some good people around him and we get this bow out of the water soon and power to the prop...The economy is limping badly and probably enough guilt to cover the entire business spectrum from government to CEO's to greedy businessman and bankers...All coupled together one disgusting mess...

We all should have seen it coming with loans being made on homes and auto in the 130% of value range, hindsight tells me inevitable that this ship would soon hit a really big chuck of ice.....Lets hope there are enough life boats to go around, the water will soon be cold....I wish no bail outs would have came...I think it would have been better to allow the weak mismanaged ships to sink and the strong to move on along..The course we have taken will then weaken us all...But government has always prided itself to saving people or making it appear that way..more of the same is on its way, epecially when the democrats take the reins....Sinch your saddle another notch or two could be a rough ride for awhile...

Clicking on the title above will take you to the I bonds website..but you have to ask for and order them from your local bank...they do not like selling them of course because the rates are higher than thier CD rates...they usually plead ignorance when asked what I bonds are paying...I guess its all in the game...

Today the Marines are 233 and still Ready

Today as every Nov. 10th since 1775 there are Marines ready to do whatever the nation ask of them...It is a birthday that Marines worldwide celebrate every Nov. 10th. I remember when I was on active the great meal we were always served and the big birthday cake...Marine Corps Balls are held at every installation around the world even in Iraq and Afganistan they alway make sure to remember the past and remember the task at hand...

There is a bar in Boston Mass called Tums Tavern and supposedly that is where it all started...There is a replica Tums Tavern in the Marine Museum at Quantico where Marines can buy a drink and toast the past history of the Corps while right there at the Museum...Linda and I did that while there two years ago today...A bitter sweet memory of that trip...the dedication of the museum with President Bush doing the honors and then viewing the history there and then the bitter part of driving back home knowing full well it was probably the last trip we would enjoy together in our motor home ever....

In about 22 months from now our Boot Camp Platoon will enjoy our 54th reunion of our association together at that museum...it will be good and sure that tums tavern will be on our "must see and enjoy" list of things to do...Hey who knows maybe the 56th reunion we will go to Boston and raise our glass in the still in existance real MCCoy "Tums Tavern"...where it all began...


Semper Fidelus

Jack
1601680 USMC

Happy Birthday Marines

PS....check out the dog story...

Talking USMC Dog!
A guy is driving around the back woods of Tennessee and he sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-style house: 'Talking Dog for Sale '
He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard.
The guy goes into the back yard and sees a nice looking Labrador
retriever sitting there.
'You talk?' he asks.
'Yep,' the lab replies.

After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says 'So, what's your story?'

The Lab looks up and says, 'Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA and they had me sworn into the toughest branch of the armed services...the United States Marines. You know one of their nicknames is 'The Devil Dogs.'

In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders; because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running, but the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger. So, I decided to settle down.

I retired from the Corps (8 dog years is 56 Corps years) and signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals. I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired.'
The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.
'Ten dollars,' the guy says.

'Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?'

'Because he's such a bullshitter...... He never did any of that shit. He was in the Navy!'

YES WE CAN

Me and and the earth worms, yes we can, we can make this farming thing work and work well....yes we can, as you can see in the pics at the right, I am applying the nitrogen for next years corn crop in the form of Anhydrous Ammonia...A gas made some how from natural gas they tell me...it is 82% nitrogen and the product is called NH3...Don't know a lot more about all that except I dam sure respect it believe me...It is dangerous stuff for sure..it can take your eyes out if it leaks and hits them..it can freeze your thoat if you breath the stuff...I know that first hand and one time I did that, breathed way to much of it and it did freeze my throat...I lay there almost paralyesed thinking I was a gonner for sure...thinking how stupid I was to do what I had just did...maybe 30 seconds later maybe longer my throat "thawed out" I guess and I was able to breath again and thank GOD for a second chance and promise HIM I would never be so stupid again...

But back to my story...This is a great way to farm...and the only thing that I do that resembles tillage in any way...I do this in the fall to the fields that I have harvested soy beans from...and next year intend to plant yellow dent corn too...Corn that will be sold to Tate and Lyle corn sweetner plant and end up in the soda pop as the sweetner that all you folks out there may drink....But I do love the system of farming called "strip till"...I place the nitrogen gas about 6 inches or so deep in the soil with the applicator and it raises the soil in this about 6 inch wide stip and it lies there all winter...Next spring after rains and snow the soil is mellow but the strip warms up quickly and is a welcome host to the seed corn placement directly over the nitrogen...and we start the cycle again in late April of another corn crop....sexsational corn again maybe...sex in the corn field again in 2009...can you believe it? YES WE CAN....Obama likes that phrase and so I must find a way to get excited about it all...So I relate it to what I do, I grow corn and beans and I go to Naples in the winter time when the snow is deep....And in the mean time my partners the earth worms they continue to devour the residue left from my no tillage farming the residue that is left between these raised ridges, it lies there waiting on the earth worms to come up from below and eat it and take it deep into the soil and poop it out....these guys build soil like the have done for thousands of years....They are the Senior partners, I just do whats easy...they do the hard stuff and I guess they enjoy it as they keep doing it year after year...no contracts to sign, no unions to deal with, they just do it...So between the two of us...
YES WE CAN!!!!!!!

Farmers here the question in the fall, "are you done yet"?

Well YES I am done, today I finished the NH3 applications all next years corn acres are done...Next years bean acres are done also...as the corn is harvested, and the corn stalks lie there waiting for my soybean drill to pass through them and place the soybeans in warm ground and knock the remaining corn stalks over to be eaten by my buddies the earth worms....

Semper Fi.....

Obama Wins/ I Pray America did too....

I bow to the majority choice 53% or so chose Obama to be our President...So he is now OUR President elect. It is exciting, and will be to see what he is able to do as our President. Who he will bring to his cabinet to help him fulfill some of the promises that he made to win this election. And how they will go about it. Prayer will be needed that in deed America did win this election...I think we have, I think the majority is probably right, and with Prayer God will continue to bless America.

It was good to see that Hoosiers again wanted Mitch to be our govenor..He has done a pretty good job as was evident by the vote. Tony Bennett edged out Richard Wood for school superintendent and I think Hoosiers won there also...Congressman Buyer and all other Indiana Congressmen were returned to office...Good move on Hoosiers part as these bozo's have asssured they get paid for life if they serve two terms...So hey we may as well if they are still trying to serve us justly allow them to do so rather than put another person on the payroll and be paying two of them...Also good that we are returning experience to Washington as a good foundation will be needed to build a new America that Obama talks of....

Tippecanoe County Government remains in conservative control with the council at large seats a very close race indeed. Wow closer than maybe John Basham a good government advocate and a freind was comfortable with...Congrats John I think some Obama coattails made this a really close race...So OK we will now look forward to repsonsible county government from the Commissioners down.....

Good Job Hoosiers, Good Job America now we can all get back to real life without all the emails and commercials on TV...Praise God we made it through.....

Purdue's Siller is a thriller

In his first Purdue start at quarterback Justin Siller thrilled the crowd and probably thrilled Coach Tiller as well....Will be interesting to see if he is rewarded with a starting job next week, seems like it would be the thing to do but being the first to admit I know not much about football, I will leave this important decision to coach Tiller....But the 48 to 42 win and the coolness that Siller has in that spot is pretty impressive....only a freshman no doubt we will see this guy in action for quite a spell ahead...GO BOILERS.....

Purdue Pete always fun to watch when things slow down was as usual at the top of his game also...and my past Pioneer Seed boss Mr. Hopf, and his sweet wife Terry, no doubt are even bigger Purdue fans than even Pete had a great tail gate party with a great breakfast and fabulous spike tomato juice....the kind with celery sticking out the top...we had a grand time...Gosh the weather was prescription football and fall color variety...I have to say the peak week for fall folige and for Purdue Football in W. Lafayette Indiana.....

Dermatology and Baby Owen

Well you know the two go hand in hand...No one has better skin than a new baby and since I sometimes like two subjects at once here goes...

First and foremost as shown in pics to the right my sweet pea has now 5 grandsons all under the age of 6...A basketball team maybe and all five are real good looking guys....Baby Owen is no exception as you see in the picture...He is a looker for sure.....For grandma it was love at first sight on this guy, I could tell...and he took a couple peeks at her and I think maybe he felt the same way. He's about a week old now and should be home doing fine and am sure the two will meet again soon..

Dermatology is on my mind because today was my semi annual visit to see Dr. Robert W. Martin III, MD.....he is my dermatologist and he has burned, cut, and scraped me from all angles and still can not find any cancer...good for him but he got that can of nitrogen after me again today on two or three spots, but for the most part he said I was looking good and don't come back now for another year...

I told him about the chicken fat now present in my left knee and about the new lie soap shampoo I have been using from the Brookston popcorn festival...he said it all sounded good, shook my hand and said I was good to go for another year....

But at this time I do wish to share with you all the Rules of Three for the skin that my doc says we need to do...

Bathe in shower or tub three times a week for 3 to 5 minutes, no more....
and not to hot of water..within 3 minutes of finishing pat yourself dry, leaving beads of moisture and then apply lotion....

and then the one no one would ever do but he says to apply lotion then 3 additional times each day.....yeal right....



Tomorrow its Dr. James Watson's turn to look me over...he is my GP and will be looking at my colesterol score as well as other things...sure he will be more interested in my chicken fat report and the cancer study cancellation that has just taken place with my oncology study for preventing prostate cancer...started that about maybe 8 years ago or so, and was either on placebo's or vitamin E or Selineum or both or nothing, one of those blind studies that no one seems to know what is going on...But anyway NOW they discover that none of the stuff is helping to prevent prostate cancer, but that the stuff can cause diabetes and some other terrible thing...So I hope to find out what I was on, the placebo's or the supplements....and hope diabetes is not just ahead for me because of it....I hope the southwest oncology study group will level with me and share the info....

Harvest is done..Got done Tuesday...Corn yeilds were indeed the best of my lifetime...corn average yeild for all my 75 acres was about 185 bushels per acre...way up there for my type of "average" land.....but it was what I had hoped for and kind of expected knowing the growing season that we had this summer...never seen one so perfect and probably will not again...But should the GOOD LORD wish to bless us again, well I will thank him again, and give him the honor and the praise for it....He does control it all...

Sweet Pea and I cast our votes for the Maverics McCain and Palin last Saturday night in early voting....We hope many of you will do the same...Remember the dates now Republicans vote on Nov. 4th and Democrats then on November 5th....ha

I pray God's hand will continue to be on America.....

You may notice that October only had 6 blog post...busy month here for farmers...
Promise to get back to writing more in months ahead.....

Brown County Indiana

Nashville Indiana located in Brown County famous for fall foliage and fine wine...Sweet Pea and I found them both yesterday right after a lovely dinner at the Stair Home in Greenfield Indiana, right after a great church service at St. James Lutheran Church in that nice little town...My little Granddaughter Allison recieved her first communion and we all got to share in that with her...I was designated to be last and it was suggested that I should consume all the wine that is left in the challace that Allison had made for the event....Well I smiled and said "yes I would be happy to"....well Allison, her parents, and Todd's parents and sweet pea did not leave me a lot to consume, so it left me ripe for what followed when we arrived in Brown County later in the afternoon....We checked out a lot of artistic shops that are all over Nashville and did purchase a small picture saying "wine a little and you will feel better", and then came upon the Brown County Winery there...Gosh the wines they have were good, very good especially the 20 percent one called 'old barrel port'....oh my, I have acquired a pallet for fine wines, which ends up costing one a little more money in the long run, but, once acquired must be nurtured as life goes on...But this wine is one of the tastiest, smoothest wines I have experienced, so as we selected wines to fill a case that was such a savings over single bottle purchases, sweet pea reminded me, I found my self time and time again asking the host to "hit my tasting glass again with that old port", I referred to it as, and she knew which one I meant...after a couple taste I found myself saying time and time again, "put another bottle of that one in the case would you please?" Well that happened about four times I think I counted and finally my consultant suggested we needed to move on and get back to Lafayette and she would be doing the driving to the Halloween party at the Post House....That was fun also, no wine but great chilli, two kinds cooked over an open fire all day by the master chilli dude JR Russell.....Yes indeed he is not only a wizard at dry wall but my pallet also knows he does fine chilli...Susan's dog buddy went along to the party and shared in some of the good foods offered him or "found" in the grass that some folks had dropped....he had quite a time playing with Sandy a blonde dog somewhat larger than he but who cares...Anyway come time to leave he stopped in the lawn on our way to the car and hid behind a bush...He was just not ready to call it a night yet....We finally musceled him into the truck and got him out of there...He is such a party animal...

Have a great day all over this land...corn to harvest yet so must be on my way....

Sarah Palin in Indianapolis

Last Friday evening Sarah Palin came to Indiana...Sweet Pea and I just could not resist, we picked up two tickets and headed over for the event...It was fun, 20,000 of us thought so, and we got some good pictures of this fine lady also...

My democrat freinds think she is some sort of a joke...not sure how that logic works, but that is the way a few portray this lady...For my money to some day watch her do a state of the union message would be pretty exciting I believe...To see her standing there telling about what she wants to do as our first woman President would be awesome...To hear her warn big oil, and lobbiest that the fun and games are over, would be a treat...And to watch a woman president that was pleasing to the eye for me would be a plus...For some I guess the thought of her name not being Hillary just sends them into spasams of some sort...

Indiana has been a red state for about 20 years now but Mr. Obama is spending millions to try and paint us blue...He may get the job done who knows, but for me, I will be casting my vote for Mr. McCain and Mrs. Palin come election day...I am probably maybe "old fashioned" so to speak...In a President I mainly want a good "commander in chief" of our armed forces, not someone promising the world to every one... I think having both arm broken in captivity so many times he can not raise them over his head earns this man the right to be commander in chief...The other guy had not earned anything as far as I can see...he is very talented however, he is a super salesman, and has a keen sense of what the audience wants to hear and that he can deliver, he promises all to everyone....just not sure we can afford "all to everyone" but should he win and the democrats control both houses of congress I guess the show will begin and it should be quite a show....For now I will keep praying that we stay the course in our nations willingness to protect freedom not only here but elsewhere in the world...we are the "cop" for the world...it will not be a pretty world at all, or even a pretty nation should we decide to turn in our badge and leave our "beat" unattended....

Well enough for now in two weeks will know what we will be about for the next four years....

Semper Fi, Jack

PS...just recieved this email and want to add this gosh this is a wonderful idea..

THE JOB - URINE TEST
(Whoever wrote this one deserves a HUGE pat on the back!)
Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem. What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test.
Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them? Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their A--, doing drugs, while I work. . . . Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?
Pass this along if you agree or simply delete if you don't. Hope you all will pass it along, though. . Some thing has to change in this country -- and soon!!!!!!!
I guess we could title that program, 'Urine or You're Out'.

(me again) What makes more sense than that??????

Indiana's Covered Bridge Festival

We went, we ate, we shopped and we enjoyed the Covered Bridge Festival in West Central Indiana...It' about an hour and half ride from here but scenic this time of year and good winding roads with turning trees so why not???? We had fun and about every little town in the area down there does still have a covered bridge to celebrate..But Bridgeton the one sweet pea selected to visit also has a still operating mill that grinds corn and wheat into flour and meal to make the really good stuff we all like to eat..

It was last Sunday, that we attended, and it last all through this week yet so we may even go back possible as it is fun to see all the stuff the merchants come up with to sell at those places...especially the food...gosh sausages wrapped in a pumpkin pancake, biscuts and gravy, blackberry cobbler, pumpkin ice cream, I mean it just does not end and how much can one try in just one day, so maybe we do need to go back this week end....

But surely not Friday come to think of it as we have tickets to the Sarah Palin rally in Indianapolis....looking forward to seeing this gal that who knows maybe someday be President of our Land....were going and with camera of course..hope to catch a photo of her giving a famous "wink" and maybe even saying those famous words, "you betcha".....till then I will be still engrossed in shelling the corn that is so abundant this year...so abundant that the price is dropping like a rock and good news to food buyers and ethanol producers accross out great land...

Semper Fi,

Jack

Very Sexcessful year

It truly was the year of the "easy" rain. 2008 will most likely be the best growing season for crops this farmer has or will ever see...If one was to write a prescription for weather 2008 would be it. Never that I remember have I seen a year when the grass in the lawn at some time did not "brown off" just a little bit anyway. Gosh I have seen years when it seemed certain to be dead not dormant. But rains later would always 'green' it up again but usually too late or too little for real good crops.

And the picture to the right is what we have here in the heartland of Indiana. The average ear seen here is 18 rows of kernals around the cob and the average kernals in a row is close to 40...If my Dayton School math is correct that is 720 kernals of corn on the average ear out there...So biblical writings speak of reaping grain at 100 fold, or 100 time what you planted, and this is 700 fold...At 28,300 kernals planted and growing per acres that is a "lot of corn"...My guess the final yeild will be between 160-185 bushels per acre...In another two weeks I should have that info to share..But believe me, sex in the cornfield that I wrote about in July did happen and happen well. Every kernal got polinated and grew well all the way to the tip of the ears....The soybeans averaged very close to 60 bushels per acre this year, not a record but pretty darn good, surely satisfying this semi retired, hobby level farmer....

So I wrote a couple times as the year progressed about "Sex in the Cornfield", and how that all takes place...As you can see in the picture this truly was a very sexcessful year......

God has blessed this nation again abundantly, why I am just not sure as we seem as a nation to move further away from Godlyness each and every decade...How long will he smile and graciously bless this nation? Your guess could be better than mine, time will tell I guess. The door is open for our nation to return and be thankful..That season is coming soon so maybe just maybe a lot of our people will on that day set down together and offer thanks for a nation so abundantly blessed that at times, we have to remind him of totally spoiled brats...Always wanting the latest and the greatest. I myself think that we still have enough Christian believers that God continues to pour out blessings for the most part on us...But as those percentages shrink each decade who knows when the scales will be off enough to trigger a new age?

Hey got a date tonight with a granddaughter, Elizabeth Plaspohl, a Purdue University Junior...We are going to hear the Presidents own United States Marine Corps Band in the Elliot Hall of Music at Purdue...Should be fun will wear my Marine Hat and enjoy the marches...maybe enjoy an ice cream after....Semper Fi......

Inch of rain yesterday, clearing sunshine today, harvest begins again tomorrow...

The Current Mess

Whatever goes up must someday come down, something we all know but must have forgotten. We allowed our governement to force us into way to liberal of practises during these last two decades...Now there is a price that must be paid...But most will not agree and are instead buying into the "winds of change" and actually believeing the promise of more and more government interferance will fix this mess we all allowed to happen.....

The Clinton administration set us up for this by pushing and allowing these fanny mae and Freddie mac government loan institutions that pushed and allowed liberal loans to minorities that should never have happened….Now all that liberalism is coming home to roast and I remember the roast in our old chicken house at home always had lots of droppings under them….that is what happens when government makes an ”artificial good times” like we have had the last 15 years…we grew too fast too soon because we were building a lot of “things” , that never should have been built…..no matter who wins this election this nation is now headed to a time of recession where we will pay the price for over building, over lending, over liberalism….a pendulum swings just so far and then it swings back, its on its way back and it swang too far because of government trying to make the perfect world for all our minorities….it just don’t work to allow people to purchase a home they can not afford…sooner or later it all falls apart…that is happening right now…Bush Is not at fault….Our congress is and the American people are, who allowed it all to happen without saying loud enough that this is wrong and some day we will pay a price… There is enough guilt to go around in at least some degrees to all of us......And the irony of it all is that people even though we have had it so good with all the “stuff” we have, are still not happy, we all want more, we are the most spoiled generation of people who ever lived on the earth….if someone starts to say maybe we have to much, we get upset and blame others…..

If the democrats get in and also control congress we will see mega government at its worst….Hang on and hope and pray for the best.....we will survive it but rough waters probably lie ahead.....

From Chicken Fat to Paw Paw's

It's always something going on here in Hoosier land...Today sweet pea and I rode our bikes with a definate goal in mind...We headed deep into Sherwood Forest to look for yeal you guessed it "paw paw's".....Why Sherwood Forest you say? Well one thing you learn here in the land of Indian's is you never give away your favorite spots for hunting Mushrooms and surely not Paw Paw's...They are both just too darn good to share..the fruits of the hunt or the location, it's just something you don't do....

One tip on paw paw hunting is look down once in awhile...opposite of mushroom hunting you are always looking down and sometimes tap your head on a low limb. But with paw paws you be lookin up for a sign of the elongated leaf of the paw paw tree..
I have 3 nice gashes in my leg from the first second and third strand of barbed wire, that was where I maybe should have been looking...Rusty wires too, thank goodness for tetinus shots....

But we had fun we came onto a huge patch of paw paw trees large and small...sweet pea would stand under the tree watching where they would land and I would shake the tree hard enough to drop a monkey out of....Down they would come plop plop and we would be on them soon after they hit the ground...we had a pay less brown grocery plastic bag and we almost filled it up with our one hour hunt...nice walk in the woods, lots to see, good exercise and fresh air....Some were actually dead ripe and it has not even come close to frosting yet so my previous statement of pretending to know when they ripen was not so right...They ripen when they dam well want to I guess so some of them went right in the freezer wrapped in newspaper and the rest are lying on the patio table to soak up more sunlight and then they will be eaten an enjoyed for sure....And we will never forget nor never tell the location of the bonaza of a paw paw patch in Indiana....

Gotta Run.......

Synvisc/Hylan G-F 20-/Chicken Fat

Chicken Man, Chicken Man that's me I guess..Picture at right brings it home to roost for yours truly...This is my second injection of this material that is derived from the comb of Roosters...Yes chicken combs the little red crowns that chickens carry around contains something that will make my knee better is the word on the street...

One more injection next week and they tell me I will be good to go for 6 months maybe after that who knows...But I have a friend Dane Yoder who tells me that he had these shots a couple years ago and has not had any knee pain since....I'd like to have those results as well...Next step if not Doctor Hagen tells me is the new knee operation...Like to hold off on that for a few years at least, maybe never...

But there are side effects to this business...I was picking apples from a neighbors tree this week and had a real desire to get up in the tree and go to "roost" maybe for awhile...Probably a good thing the stock markets are down like they are or I could be trying to crow about my great decisions or stock choices...All kidding aside its good to know a lot of others ahead of me have allowed chicken fat to help them along the way...I will give it a good test and keep you posted....

Soybean harvest is progressing rapidly in this area of the midwest...Yeilds are good, hearing maybe high 50's to low 60's for the most part....that is good beans and with prices above 10 bucks a bushel, the farm economy is GOOD.....

Have a good evening.....JL

Fall and Harvest Began Yesterday

Gee does it have to come so soon? I guess we all love fall with turning of the leaves and cool temperatures and no heating and no cooling draining our pocketbooks.
But its the later part that ushers in winter that is kind of a bummer...

But anyway it begins the sun crossed the equator yesterday intent on blessing the southern hemisphere with its warmth more so than us who have been left to fend for ourselves until March 21 when our old buddy the sun heads across the equator again and blesses us with another growing season...

But also Harvest began yesterday, little did I suspect but it did..SP and I were riding our bikes yesterday about noon and passed my first planted soybean field..The one that the Sheriff thought he had a drunk on his hands..(See May 17th blog), Well anyway as we passed I said you know I think all the green is gone from this field we may just try and cut these beans later today...She said well if there ready lets turn around an go back and get started now. Well we completed the 6 mile ride and then I spent 2 hours of lubrication on the old but still good 1985 combine, a 1620 Case IH rotory model..SP wanted to help so I said well I guess the windows on the combine could stand a wash job...She got inside and said, "good greif I could spend a week in here cleaning"..."I see lots of places for spiders to hide"....Well the windows are clean and no spiders challenging me so far...
We pulled into the field about 3 maybe and sure enough they went through like greased lightning and we were making dust and beans were falling into the hopper. We got out to check behind the combine to make sure the settings were correct and we were not blowing these 11 dollar beans out the back onto the ground...

This was sweetpea's first ride ever in a combine and she startled me when about the second time around the field she said,"you know I think I could run this"...and I said, "really?".....So after a couple hoppers and giving her a few pointers while I was operating the combine I changed from the operators seat to the buddy seat and let her have a go at it...I have to admit she was right, it was not more than about 3 rounds or so and sure enought "she could run this" and almost as good as I could.

She did find that "operating" a combine was a little more than just "driving" a combine but she was "good" and catching on fast to details of keeping the header width full and the crop coming into the combine at the optimun speed and effecientcy....Well anyway pretty and darn good, and when she is around and I get fatigued at the wheel of the machine she will probably be a willing relief operator when needed...Well today is not her day off and so I am on my own and had better get out there as I am burning perfectly good sunlight as I type....

Good day to all and GOD Bless....

The Axis of Idiots.....

Came to me in an email and after reading this good peice of work I have to agree and could not improve on his thoughts so will publish this as is....Jack

"The Axis of Idiots"



Jimmy Carter, you are the father of the Islamic Nazi movement. You threw the Shah under the bus, welcomed the Ayatollah home, and then lacked the spine to confront the terrorists when they took our embassy and our people hostage. You're the runner-in-chief.





Bill Clinton, you played ring around the Lewinsky while the terrorists were at war with us. You got us into a fight with them in Somalia and then you ran from it. Your weak-willed responses to the U.S.S. Cole and the First Trade Center Bombing and Our Embassy Bombings emboldened the killers. Each time you failed to respond adequately, they grew bolder, until 9/11/2001.





John Kerry, dishonesty is your most prominent attribute. You lied about American Soldiers in Vietnam . Your military service, like your life, is more fiction than fact. You've accused our military of terrorizing women and children in Iraq . You called Iraq the wrong war, wrong place, wrong time, the same words you used to describe Vietnam . You're a fake. You want to run from Iraq and abandon the Iraqis to murderers just as you did the Vietnamese. Iraq , like Vietnam , is another war that you were for, before you were against it.





John Murtha, you said our military was broken. You said we can't win militarily in Iraq . You accused United States Marines of cold-blooded murder without proof and said we should redeploy to Okinawa . Okinawa , John.? And the Democrats call you their military expert! Are you sure you didn't suffer a traumatic brain injury while you were off building your war hero resume? You're a sad, pitiable, corrupt, and washed up politician. You're not a Marine, sir. You wouldn't amount to a good pimple on a real Marine's ass. You're a phony and a disgrace. Run away, John.






Dick Durbin, you accused our Soldiers at Guantanamo of being Nazis, tenders of Soviet style gulags and as bad as the regime of Pol Pot, who murdered two million of his own people after your party abandoned Southeast Asia to the Communists. Now you want to abandon the Iraqis to the same fate. History was not a good teacher for you, was it? Lord help us! See Dick run.






Ted Kennedy, for days on end you held poster-sized pictures from Abu Ghraib in front of any available television camera. Al Jazeera quoted you saying that Iraqi's torture chambers were open under new management. Did you see the news, Teddy? The Islamic Nazis demonstrated another beheading for you. If you truly supported our troops, you'd show the world poster-sized pictures of that atrocity and demand the annihilation of it. Your legislation stripping support from the South Vietnamese led to a communist victory there. You're a bloated, drunken fool bent on repeating the same historical blunder that turned freedom-seeking people over to homicidal, genocidal maniacs. To paraphrase John Murtha, all the while sitting on your wide, gin-soaked rear-end in Washington .






Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Carl Levine, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Russ Feingold, Hillary Clinton, Pat Leahy, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, the Hollywood Leftist morons, et al, ad nauseam: Every time you stand in front of television cameras and broadcast to the Islamic Nazis that we went to war because our President lied, that the war is wrong and our Soldiers are torturers, that we should leave Iraq, you give the Islamic butchers - the same ones that tortured and mutilated American Soldiers - cause to think that we'll run away again, and all they have to do is hang on a little longer. It is inevitable that we, the infidels, will have to defeat the Islamic jihadists. Better to do it now on their turf, than later on ours after they have gained both strength and momentum.






American news media, the New York Times particularly: Each time you publish stories about national defense secrets and our intelligence gathering methods, you become one united with the sub-human pieces of camel dung that torture and mutilate the bodies of American Soldiers. You can't strike up the courage to publish cartoons, but you can help Al Qaeda destroy my country. Actually, you are more dangerous to us than Al Qaeda is. Think about that each time you face Mecca to admire your Pulitzer.

You are America's 'AXIS OF IDIOTS.' Your Collective Stupidity will destroy us. Self-serving politics and terrorist-abetting news scoops are more important to you than our national security or the lives of innocent civilians and Soldiers. It bothers you that defending ourselves gets in the way of your elitist sport of politics and your ignorant editorializing. There is as much blood on your hands as is on the hands of murdering terrorists. Don't ever doubt that. Your frolics will only serve to extend this war as they extended Vietnam . If you want our Soldiers home as you claim, knock off the crap and try supporting your country ahead of supporting your silly political aims and aiding our enemies.

Yes, I'm questioning your patriotism. Your loyalty ends with self. I'm also questioning why you're stealing air that decent Americans could be breathing. You don't deserve the protection of our men and women in uniform. You need to run away from this war, this country. Leave the war to the people who have the will to see it through and the country to people who are willing to defend it.






No, Mr. President, you don't get off the hook, either. Our country has two enemies: Those who want to destroy us from the outside and those who attempt it from within. Your Soldiers are dealing with the outside force. It's your obligation to support them by confronting the AXIS OF IDIOTS.

America must hear it from you that these self-centered people are harming our country, abetting the enemy and endangering our safety. Well up a little anger, please, and channel it toward the appropriate target. You must prosecute those who leak national security secrets to the media. You must prosecute those in the media who knowingly publish those secrets. Our Soldiers need you to confront the enemy that they cannot. They need you to do it now.

Semper Fi,

J.D. Pendry - Sergeant Major, USMC, Retired

FRUIT/FISH/FLOWERS

Its Hump Day Wednesday, gorgeous day in Indiana. I mowed the hay field (my lawn), what a summer, never has turned brown and after last week ends tale end of Ike I dumped 4 inches from my gage and figured if I did not want deer hiding in my lawn maybe I should mow it....The soybean crop is maturing quickly now..With the forecast 80 plus days ahead it will accelerate that even...Some beans in my area will be harvested within a week..mine maybe two weeks (remember I was suffering from MONO), but they look like a bountiful crop coming on. The corn is maturing well also probably a month away from serious day to day harvest of this years corn crop...

But hey take a look to the right of those delicious succulent and even taste "real good" red fruits of the dogwood trees in my lawn...They have now become very large, very ripe and very good to just suck that goodness right out of.....My catfish as show are beyond harvest size. I started with 300 channels and have eaten all but about a dozen that I leave in just to scare the grandkids and also help control the bluegill population that is always a problem...I really don't intentionally feed these monsters, but when I feed the blue gill, a few bass and these monterous dozen "fish hogs" show up to try and claim more than their share...

Last but certainally not least is my Susan Lilly, still blooming, all summer long, still beautiful, and promising by it all to most likely be here next year and hopefully many years ahead...I love those yellow flowers by far the best too...

More thoughts on the Red Bull Motorcycle Racing

I need to add some thoughts on the event itself. I think I may go again some day, it was fun to watch them go around those curves. And it seems to be safer than I had originally thought also as we saw one bad spill when a rider lost it on turn 1 at probably well over a hundred miles an hour some say they take that curve at 140.
His bike slide down the track for maybe a quarter mile at least sliding onto the grass. He slid along behind it first on his tummy and then when he slowed a bit he flipped over onto his butt and then slid the rest of the way setting up until he hit the grass area of turn two and then just stood up and walked away over to his bike...

The leather outfits they wear must be very resilant to say the least...Of course the track was wet which would no doubt help a lot on the friction part of it...

But I enjoy it when they all take off from a standing start at the starting line and then zoom zoom for a few laps around the track...It reminds me actually of a bunch of honey bee's leaving the hive looking for honey...really does and then after a few laps they return to the pit areas kind of like a bee would do...And they kind of sound like a swarm of bees also as they move around all those turns in the quickest pace they can muster....

So I went because I wanted to see one of those races as I never had seen a motorcycle race ever...And the fact that the first races at the 500 track actually were motor cycles and not cars drew me there also...it was 99 years ago I found out at the "Indianapolis Hall of Fame Museum" that the first race was held at the track..Cars came along a couple years later but bike's were there first so I guess it is fitting they return. It is too bad it rained so much Sunday as it would have been pretty exciting with four seperate races taking place under drier conditions...

Maybe next year, one thing for sure it could not be any wetter...Wet they have had and these guys do run, rain or shine, so it does not stop them very long...A monsoon like was going on for a while did delay, but as soon as it let up they were out there and going...

The riders range in age from 14 or 15 up to 30 something...They are mostly small men of maybe 5 foot to 5 and a half feet and weight usually less than 150 pounds..it all helps with the quickness if the bike is not carrying a big guy...

We noticed that about half the spectators arrived on cycles of all types...and probably 75% were from out of state all over the nation, was fun to just walk along behind the bikes, admiring them, and looking at the plates where they were from...And the spectators also contained many who flew in from all over the world...So they do have some loyal folk who love to watch this sport...I think the stands were maybe less than 5% full so talk about starting from the bottom, they did...But I predict that this thing will grow, those loyals will all be there next year and I think curiousity will bring more and more locals as time move on...

Well that is my thoughts on bike racing, for me not as exciting as the 500 race or the brickyard 400 but maybe that is just what I am used too...I do have new respect for those men who have reached such a level of expertise as to ride on two wheels at 200 miles and hour into a curve at 140 laying it over where their knees almost hit the black top, quickly stand it back up and then lay it over to the other side to take the next curve...some duck tape a piece of steel to their knees so as they can actually let it hit the black top and make a few sparks as they make those turns....pretty darn exciting stuff all in all....

Red Bull Indy Motorcycle Races

Well, lets say it was a vacation...A vacation is doing something different that is fun...Maybe that is what we did by attending the first motorcycle races at the Indy 500 track in 99 years...

First pic is a stunt rider an probably as much fun as I had the four days as far as a spectator is concerned...watching these kids ride like crazy on the one wheel both front an rear at times....

Second pic is a disaster...the opportunity of a life time, well maybe a slight overstatement but the security man we met also from Lafayette McQuinn also a Farm Bureau agent on 350 south invited us to climb to the roof of grandstand E and took our picture....Let me tell you what you don't want to do and that is jerk your camera out of your pocket without checking the lighting setting and hand it to the nice gentlemen and say all you have to do is click it...What a photo opp and I blew it..but still impressed enought to blog it...ha

Third pic is a visit we did to the Indy 500 Hall of Fame Musuem on the race track grounds...This is a good day trip visit in itself folks...Only cost 3 bucks open about any day till 6 pm and parking right inside the track to see it off 16th street at the south end of the track...All the past winnering cars and drivers pictures and more inside to see...will take a couple hours to see it all pretty well....

Forth pic down is of one of the races, can you imagine 190 plus down the straight away and then leaning it over to almost touch your knee and then 140 MPH through turn one?????? These riders are young very young some as young as 15...I think they have to get them before they get to smart maybe...But hey some of them make 30 million a year so maybe not real dum either....

Fifth pic is of the forth day I was at this event...Rained like crazy.. I now have new appreciation for the people of New Orleans who live below sea level..A sweet pea sat to my right and damed the water from the bleachers from getting to me..She got real wet, a gentlemen you say I am not? Well she did ask for the seat on the end...what is a guy to do????

Paw Paws / The Indiana Banana

The Paw Paw Trees of Indiana, the best kept secret for delicious fruit are worth the time spent looking. It happens each fall they ripen shortly after the first frost of the season. They are one of my very favorite fruits, mostly found in the wild, but some of us are bringing them into our lawns, and why not? They are a pretty tree with large elongated leaves and the purple blooms in the spring are always a welcome sight. The fruit is just delicious as you cut them in half and then spoon the fruit out and enjoy much like a cup of custard...The large flat seeds that come with it need to be delt with but if your smart you will save them, placing them into the freezer or refrigerator and planting them in the spring time.

They are not plentiful in Indiana usually found in semi wet areas of a woods, not swampy lets say "damp" areas....And they are not restricted to Indiana by any means, I believe I have read where they actually are located from central America all the way to Canada even. With some variatal changes as they progress northward...Indiana's version is probably as good as it gets or at least good enough for me and mine...I located one in a fence row behind my daughter Suzette's house. The whole family is now well aware of the "sacred tree" growing behind the house and up to speed on protecting it from any harm. I have about a half dozen growing in my land scaping at my home and thus the picture you see at the right.

My first experience with the Indiana Banana or Paw Paw was about 60 years ago when my sister Peg and hubby Charlie Ritchie lived along US 52 about 6 miles south of Lafayette...They told me I could come stay with them a few days and sell some Paw Paws that were in big numbers in a woods next to the house...Mom loaded me up with her fresh eggs to sell and dropped me off. I went into the woods and quickly picked a couple big buckets full of the delicasy that I knew nothing of only dollar signs for me...I placed some tables near the road in front of the house with a Paw Paw sign, also finding bitter sweet and added that to my array of goods to be turned into cash.

I was not there long and a little Crosley auto went whizzing by and applied the brakes and did a U turn and came back to my stand. He got out and said, "wow I have not had a paw paw for years can I eat one right now"? I said yeal if you pay for it when your done...He devoured a couple of them and then purchased just about all that I had picked. So back into the woods I went with new respect for this fruit that now had "demand" written all over it...Before the day was over I even got the nerve to try one of these myself...Can not say it was love at first taste, this is one of those things that have to kind of grow on you..But once it does, your hooked big time....for life....

As life went on I kind of forgot about paw paws, I guess until one day there was an article in the Lafayette Paper the Journal Courier, about a Mr. Paul Bauer close to Monitor that kind of was the Yule Gibbins of Paw Paw trees..Showed pictures of him and his trees and paw paws....Not long after that I met his son Bob and wife Cathy and asked about the paw paw man...they directed me over to meet him and he gave me some of the trees no doubt maybe the one that has the pics at the right here...I also sometimes dig them up in a woods if they are very small, as they quickly get long deep roots making it almost impossible if they have much size to them...Actually the very best way is just to save the seed placing them into a little nursery and then transplanting them when about a foot tall or so.

Anyway Mr. Bauer told me and it does work that if you are lucky enough to come onto say a hundred of these that you can wrap in newspaper and place in the freezer for a year or so, as the shelf life is short for these guys...I did it and they are as he said "wonderful" to thaw out and cut in half and spoon out the delicous custart thet they hold inside that ungly skin that with freezing has turned black....

Well that is my report on the most underrated little tree in Indiana, hope you will join me in adding them to your landscape, they are well worth the effort....

Mackinaw Island upper Michigan

Been there done that last weekend matter of fact. It was fun top pic to the right shows how much fun RVing can be...always fish to fry, alway's good wine and always 5 o'clock somewhere. George, Gladis, Jim and Kay all of Cold water Michigan where the water I suppose is just not cold enough so they travel 4 hours north to northern Michigans best RV camp ground near Traverse City and find even colder water I am sure. But a place where no doubt they find a lot of good freinds also to enjoy the surroundings of the north woods..Many of these same folk find their way to Silver Lakes RV park in Naples Florida each winter...Kind of like snow birds should do when the snow falls in the midwest and the sun shines and the fish bite down there...

Sweet Pea and I headed on up there just to say hi to them and while we were there Kay suggested and then we decided to visit Mackinaw island just about 90 miles farther north...It was fun and next pic down shows how you get there from Mackinaw City on Michigan's north shore...
Takes 17 minutes on the high speed ferry and you are smelling horse poop and fudge...
No cars allowed on the island, just "hay burners" and walking...we walked and after two good nights sleep and the last one in my bed with 10 hours of nighty night, I think I may make it....

Next pic is one of the coaches from the Grand Hotel with a tourist looking on. Horse and buggies are the center peice of the Island......Lots of little shops on every street...Lots of fudge for sale, and all looks so darn yummy...Desired so by the dummy, but advised as to what it would do to the tummy so we left it all there except for one piece that I am proud to say is only half gone....

Last picture is of the Grand Hotel with a tourist also looking on, we are told that it can cost as much as 600 a night to stay there, gosh that is more than my diesel fuel burned all the way up and back plus the RV park fees....Had a great time, may do it again sometime in the future....

One high point of the trip was watching Fox news again as I cancelled my dish network about a year ago...Had not realized I actually missed it so much...They are fair with the reporting as they say, simply can not stand the CNN's and MSNBC with the slanted views of reporting they do each day....Probably as bad for your brain as all that fudge is for my tummy....Had a nice show on one night called the "American Woman" highlighting the past life of one of the Vice Presidential candidates...the one that I hope will win the election with her running mate McBrilliant for picking her and cut a lot of the fat out of this government and then reduce taxes....and stop the incessant handouts of the past to ungrateful nations and people...

Well all that being said got to run putting peaches in the freezer today...Never done that before but I just know it will turn out wonderful....I hope...

Vice President Sarah

It is late but sleep will wait. We have just heard from the next Vice President of this great nation...We are in good hands....The woman is incredible the Man she promotes deserves his turn at the Presidency....

We have a candidate, a pit bull with lipstick, with experience, with poise, with intelligence and a proven leader...and we will now win the war on terror. Guaranteed my freinds the terrorist of the world will not be rooting for McCain/Palin.......

I can not help but believe there is divine guidance for this nation taking place, it has happened...God is Good, Still in Charge and still blessing this land that we all love....

Good Night

The Republican Convention and Sarah

Or maybe my headline should read "Sarah" and the Republican Convention. In any case I agree with the video on the right side of the page here that this lady is "hot".

She is cute and attractive but what makes her "hot" for me is that she will energize this election and deny the inexperienced "wizard of change" Obama the chance at the White House...Sarah will put John McCain in the oval office, I am pretty sure. She has the right stuff to be his running mate and if need be the President of the Nation. Taking on corruption, big oil, the good ole boy system, firing people, that kind of stuff is refreshing as hell to me....Girl where have you been all our lives...Well we know where you have been in Alaska where the Press seldom goes unless on a fishing trip but you have been preparing to be the spark needed to win this election in November....

I liked the comparison from Fred Thompson last night about how Obama has governed no one and has never sponsered a major bill in congress....He is a wizard of change, but no one knows nor does he what that change would be...We know what we have with McCain and Palin we have seen them in action. We know of their charactors, not so with Obama. With him we are seeing one side of the coin as far as his background. Little is known of his muslim roots from the other side of the family..It is kept very quiet. To me this is huge and should be for this nation...This is serious business, we are at war with these people in the middle east and to even think of setting a President with any kind of links to these roots is propostorous.

Could the country be that naive? A week ago I was starting to wonder, have been praying all summer that we would not be. I think Sarah is maybe the answer to prayers to bring forth excitement and a reason to move away from putting a man with Muslim roots into our office in this time of war...She will do it I do believe. As soon as it was announced sweet pea said that McCain is a smart man. That this lady will energize women voters and Christian voters. I did not know because I was wanting Huckabee to be the VP choice here. But after hearing this lady talk about taking on the establishment and fighting corruption in government which we all know it is full of...Well I will go a little further even than sweet pea and say I think McCain made a "genius" move picking this running mate....he has shook things up good and brought intense excitement into this fray...I look forward to learning more tonight about this lady...The democrats and the press are falling all over themselves to paint her with problems...It will backfire on them big time starting tonight....

Hallalluya.........for after all God is still in charge......

Getting Rid of Ants

It was war this summer, they started to appear very gradual, down on the floor an occasional small brown ant would be seen...not to worry I thought, sweet pea will probably never notice them down there. A man left in charge of a home is probably a perfect storm as far as ant production is concerned. Sometimes a banana peel or spilled sugar on the counter, one of those things that can be put off for a day or two until it rains and you have more time to clean the place up.

A month passed and these guys moved to the counter tops but stayed kind of out of sight for the most part hiding under the coffee jar or behind the dog treats, in and around the spice tray..Not a huge problem but becoming one, the perfect storm for them is becoming the perfect storm for me it seems.

Then it happened, peices of a partially spoiled peach were left out on the counter over night, (I ate the good part) and as I moved to the counter to make my morning coffee there they were. It was like watching the old movie "wagon train", no Indians but man the long line of what could have been pioneer wagons looking down from an airplane maybe. There was a dual highway more or less as they were out in huge numbers and were harvesting that delicious jucy sweet peach (I should have ate all of it I guess)...The lines were from the back of the stove and about 6 feet long to the end of the counter top where the food source awaited them....

I knew action needed to happen here and happen quick, I jumped in my car and headed to D and R grocery store.. I said I think I need "ant traps or baits" of some sort.
He said don't have that try the dollar store next door I bet they will....They did, they had "RAID Ant Baits", a little expensive I thought but then I remembered the wagon train at home and grabbed an arm full of them and checked out. As I drove home I knew those boys days were now numbered...I read the instructions and put them out along the back of the counter tops where the trails of ants were scurrying hether to and fro and back again....I thought this will be like shooting fish in a barrel...I then stood and watched them as they came to the small white 2 inch by 2 inch igloo like plastic structures with holes in them and then they would take a turn and went right around the bait trap and then continued on their merry way to look for food intened for me and maybe sweet pea...

This was war and my artillary was not working. I stood and watched this for maybe an hour, thinking what the hell is going on here? I finally arrived at the logical conclusion that the dollar store had purchased no doubt a bunch of outdated worthless ant baits and selling the defective war materials to poor inocents like myself...I grabed a bait package, and there was an 800 number to call for help...I got a nice lady on the line and told her I think my baits are defective and that there was no scent from them and my ants refused to enter in and feast upon the poison I wanted to provide for them. She then told me what I needed to do to make them work, why this info was not on the package I wondered...Then after recent thought of proper housekeeping I realised that probably only men left alone in a house experience this...she said you have to clean the counter tops before you put the bait out for them, because when and ant finds a food source he then leaves a chemical scent trail back to the nest so others can then follow that path. So that is how they do it I thought, thanked her for the tip and did what men left alone in a house usually don't do and cleaned my counter tops. I used clorox with bleach spray and that in itself scares the hell out of and even kills some of the ants...

After my good clean up I again placed my baits out on the counter as the enemies started to once again appear seemingly disoriented because I had distroyed all their little trails to the food...Sure enough the little buggers ran up to and entered into the bait stations...Got themselves and big arm full of the poison and took it back to the women and children at "home"....Well it was kind of like this current war in Iraq for quite a few days...If I remember we killed a bunch of the bad boys over there but they kept coming...Our President said what I was thinking God Bless him, "hey bring it on", let invite all the bad boys in from all around and "praise the Lord and pass the ammunition", and kill them all. Well anyway back to "my war", it was a very slow process, way to slow for sweet pea, she would come out and look at my counter tops and grab my clorox spray and just "open up on these guys", reminisant of a Marine gunny behind a machine gun even....I told her we had to have patients here and allow these workers to carry this delicious poison back to the family behind the cabinets....She would look at me like I had just told her the earth was flat and again open up on any "still kicking" poor little al-kida type ants. I held my ground and kept the bait stations in place..When she was not visiting I would allow the enemy to wonder all around and harvest these little bait stations...

I am happy to report that today and maybe for the past 2 weeks I am 100% "ant free"..
Those Raid ant baits if allowed to work do the job and do it well...{*considering you are a normal house keeper and occasionally clean your counter tops) you got to destroy those chemical trails now and then...That I have learned this summer, that cleanlyness leads to happyness....All probably in the learning process of a "man left alone in a house", has to go through....

It is a great day here, not an ant in sight.........

69 and Summer keeps on coming

Well tardy from this blog for a full week I have to appologize and get some words down here to fill this gap. Sorry will try and do better but as summer's days are numbered from here on, one has to grab all the wonderment one can, and that has kept me away from my blogger duties....

Remember the beauty of the Kousa Dog wood tree from early summer? I said I would share when I start to eat the fruit and now is the time...I break them in half and they have a soft center with a taste all its own...not a lot of fruit inside but who knows what special capability it could hold inside? Maybe kill some form of cancer?, maybe make me smarter than the average bear? Guess we will never know for sure unless maybe this blog is still going 30+ years from now. Call me Yule Gibbens, call me a half a bubble off, I don't care, I like paa paa's even better.

Sweet Pea and I spent a couple hours floating in the pond yesterday. We removed the "redneck" (she calls it), airiation system I built before the water cools too much. She photographed a few of my bluegills eating some food...they have taken a liking to me feeding them this summer and now come right up to me in the water..Now and then giving me a thrill by trying to "taste" my legs and feet in the water. In the long run I will get them back one day when I fillet and then deep fry some of them...

Been a great summer for the roses that continue to blooming process until a hard frost shuts them down. They seem on a mission to produce as many of these perfect flowers as possible before that day. Very few Jap beatles this year to devour them, this has been as close to perfect a year as I have ever seen.

Water was warm yesterday as seen in pic 4 down. I took to the swing and have started to work on my form of water entry when I release and Susan snaps my picture and then gives me a rating...Yesterdays best was a "2", gosh I know she does not want me to "peak" to quickly as the next olympics are a long way off but I really worked hard on practice and I think maybe I may be under judged just a little bit, thinking more like a 3 or maybe a 3.5 even...notice the nice curve in the rope too, that should count for something....

Crops continue their path to maturity now. Corn is still healthy but ears are starting to give up moisture and shucks are browning a beganing to lossen. Soybeans are still just so healthy just a slight hint of turning yellow in spots. Very tops of plants continue to finish blooming and filling pods with beans. It should be a "best ever" year for the American farmers in my area and west of here all the way to Omaha...Sure some of those way to wet areas of last spring have or will suffer some yeild reductions from very late planting, early or late frost will tell the tale on those areas...thats it for today will try and get back here again before another week passes.....

OH, yeal the reference to "69", well it keeps coming also as this month I ate some birthday cake and am now 69 and 12 months and 7 days...I like that age, 51 weeks from now I will be 69 and 24 months...I like the system and it will keep my freinds sharp doing math in their heads as I roll these larger numbers at them....

Boys Town Nebraska plus Hart

Well today is the highlights of my Marine Reunion in Omaha Nebraska. First and foremost I was touched by Father Flanigan's founding and still operating city of Boys Town Nebraska.....Gosh what a place and they took the time to welcome the Marines of 3002 as we entered the History building there. It is a great place open to girls now too by the way. I was impressed by the layout of the city. The homes the kids stay in along a tree lined street there are large homes on each side...Well kept with the host couples name on a plague in front of the house...A host couple can have their own children also but they then take care of maybe 6 to 8 of these at risk children helping them recover and return to their original inviroment if it is safe for them to do so. Average stay at Boys town now is 18 months they told us. Focus has changed from homeless boys to problem boys and girls that need structure in thier lifes to help them catch on to what they are missing..A nice high school and grade school on campus there..About 1200 acres in the Middle of Omaha now but not part of...They are their own city with fire and police the whole 9 yards.

We were fortunate to eat lunch with the priest that heads up boys town now and also 8 boys and a girl who were then sworn in as boys towns newest citizens. They all were asked to give their names and the 3 things they like about boys town so far. Also the 3 goals they have for their stay there at boys town...then the priest ask each what has been the worst thing to happen to them since arriving in the last week or two...Lots of answers but one small boy said missing his family...A good sign I think and probably his goal will be to get help and then return there someday. I think I will become a Boys Town supporter in days ahead. One of my fellow Marines from Boot Camp Wayne Hart told me as we were arriving for our tour that he has supported boys town all his life...

I want to tell you a little more about this fine young man now as I have posted his picture to the right. He is a grand story teller...I find myself totally captured by his tales of the Marine Corps, wild experiences while on liberty from the Marines or just "Wayne's life" in general...He is a great story teller that you just can not tune out...If Wayne is speaking most folks are listening..I know I am I find myself even if he is not talking to me listening to these tales...Hell he may rival Garrison Keiler in my book, I get lost when both start a story.

One more thing about Wayne Hart...About our second or third week at Marine Recruit Depot San Diego I think the Drill Instructor Sgt. Thurmond as we were preparing for bed time asked if we had any singers in this pathetic bunch of beady eyed misfits?

Well Hart of Lanesboro Iowa, raised his hand and said, "Yes Sir, I can sing"...Thurmond then said well get your sorry ass up here Hart...So Wayne clad in his skivvy drawers (boxer undies) and shower shoes as was the rest of us there standing in formation. He said what can you sing Hart? Wayne said I like to sing "Courtin in the Rain" Sir....

Well after that at least a half dozen times or more on Sunday evening he would call him out..He would say "old man Wayne Hart, get up here and sing us that stupid song again"...Hart would do it, with all his heart...he knew it so well and we all kind of enjoyed it..with no radio's TV's or candy bars or ice cream or nothing, hey Hart was our "headliner", he was our concert so better than nothing we listened to all the corny verses of that song....When we held our 50th reunion in San Diego in 2006 he agreed to sing it to us one more time..But he said Jack I have forgotten the words...Marines love challenges even Marine wifes guess it kinda rubs off...anyway Lois Paulson's daughter found it on ebay in an old country antique magazine...cost us and arm and a leg but the objective was taken, we had our song and we had our singer....he did it again for us Friday night at the 52nd and I for one am looking forward to hearing it "one more time in 2010" when we gather again in Washington DC...over and out for now, I gotta mow my lawn, oh and one more minor point. Today I am 69 years and 12 months old..on this day in 1938 a golden child was born to Lawrence and Lena Lahrman, one they actually planned I always say, the first seven of course were accidents...But any way I hope you get my drift here next year I will be 69 and 24 months...