Not Bloggin but Tiling (149)

Gosh its been 9 days since I posted a blog..Shame on me this maybe my longest dry spell. But I have a good excuse. Been doing some remodel work on the house. Maybe my contribution to the "stimulus movement". Spending money to get this economy moving, sure hope it works, but even if it don't maybe the house will be nicer..Sweet Pea and I we been painting a couple rooms and now we have taken out a couple walls. My son in law Jeff and I changed the wiring around a bit too, Ya tear out a wall with a bunch of outlets and switches and guess what they have to go someplace. Now another son in law JR well he and his crew came today and fixed the dry wall on all those ceilings where those walls were..Gosh they are good, you can not tell a wall was ever there. But the last two days or maybe 3 as you kind of loose track of time when having this much fun, but anyway I have been installing porcelane tile in the guest bath..Man, what a job first tearing out the old vylnel and then muding in a cement board and then mudding in the tile. It is a tedious slow process and this blogger is getting tired of it already..Maybe its because I decided to lay it on the diagonal and not straight like anyone with common sense would do anyway..Well it will be my last diagonal tile job for sure..From now on it's nice straight rows and maybe that will help. Maybe my creativity is making this a lot harder than it really should be. Especially it being my first tile job in maybe 40 years..Used to do wall tile back then but never a floor with the cementing process...I went to a training session at Home Depot on this work and it really looked rather easy...Maybe I need to go to another session there when they have one..
Till then I will drudge away and do my best and will try and keep you updated here on the old blog as to the local stimulus for Tippecanoe County Indiana.

By By Winter..HELLO SPRING IN INDIANA 148

I had a good winter break from the worst of it I am told. Six weeks in a place called Naples, the 3rd phase of my yearly rotation of Corn then Beans and then Naples...It's is truly a good rotation that rejuvenates both my soil and my soul...

Sweet Pea came down for a couple very short visits, and the last of which was a couple days on the Naples beaches and then help me guide the motor home to Indiana. Stopping off to see her brother Mark Borton and wife Terry in Pensacola Florida. Pictures to the right are me and the birds in Naples, and then the view the Borton's have from there 16th story (maybe a couple hundred feet in the air) condo on the beach there...We will be going back for some beach time their in August it has been suggested.

But the main thrust of this blog is what's happening right here and now and that being Spring has sprung here in the heartland of Indiana...The first flower appeared shown at right the day before spring arrived...It was such a surprise to see it just out the back door...It greets me each year and is so delicate but it has guts to come forth so early while snow could still be in the wings...Matter of fact the worst snow I saw all winter was in lower Alabama not too far north of Pensacola on our way home. But soon as we neared Tennessee it cleared, and have not seen another flake since. Nor do I care too, so there Mr. Weatherman, let it be know Spring has Sprung.
Another sure sign is George Lumley has worked some ground on the ends of his field along 52 in preparation of NH3 application....Soon others will follow and the black smoke of diesel tractors will catch the eye of travelers along Indiana highways...Soon after that in very early May corn rows will appear as this years Hoosier Gold makes its journey of the Indiana summer....All of that will unfold right here on this blog...even maybe some sex in the corn field..and other headline grabbers as they come along...It's gonna be another great summer....

Hankolulu..........(147)

I want to put in a little plug here for a fellow blogger...Stan Hankins, born of great parents in Stockwell Indiana and now for a long spell a resident of Hawaii..I once sold his parents a automobile in my early years, and they have never held that against me. I think the new VW bug turned out to be a car they enjoyed...They now are both residents of the Indiana Soldiers Home.

Stan their kid, is almost a "shirtsleeve relative of mine"...and I say that with pride and respect as he is a brother to my niece Nancy's husband Glenn Hankins..so that makes him a shirtsleeve relative in my book...I know well three of those Hankins boys and they are all "good people"....this one called Hankolulu the youngest "Stan" is no exception...He is a missionary working with "Ambassadors for Christ"..He travels a lot all over the world proclaiming his commitment to this "lifes work", he was chosen for.

I hope you will visit his blog, maybe making it one of your "favorites as I have", and then visit him now and then and see what "the stockwell kid" is up to now. He visit's his family here a couple times a year and sometimes preaches at the Dayton or Stockwell Methodist Churches....I enjoy his approach to this task and his vision and words that lends him to be about "His Fathers Business"....

We share a burden of the "persistant returning dietary struggles"....He shed some of the waistline about a year before I and not only gave me courage but now keeps the pressure of achievement before me....

So let me end this by saying to Hankolulu, "your blog is good, be bold and keep it coming." Here's to Hankolulu, and he can be found at www.hankolulu.blogspot.com

Clint will soon be a Texan (146)

My grandson Clint is about to graduate from Purdue Hotel and Restaurant Management School...Sure am proud of his accomplishment. Last night he was in charge of the Purdue Stone Hall Restaurant. Lots of us were invited to attend this affair to see how all this training falls into place. Sweet Pea and I really enjoyed the evening and the food....His Spinich/Artichoke appetizer was fabulous only topped by the special entree of Lamb Chops graced with special mashed spuds and baby carrots...

Well tell you what, I took the camera with me but when we got out of the car we were running a bit late and forgot it...Probably truth be known my tummy was in gear but the brain had slipped into neutral....OH, a couple Alabaster Beers were pretty darn good also...but I do regret not covering this story with a pic..if anyone took a good one send it to me and I will post it...

Clint is off to Austin Texas now after graduation...He says the hotel company he will be working for has about 25 hotels in the Austin area. He sounds excited and seems to be looking forward to becoming a Texan at least for awhile...Sweet Pea's son Jeff also lives in Austin..She said she likes the town so would guess in months ahead we will "kill two birds", with one stone and just most likely visit that Texas town. Good Luck grandson, use the Purdue smarts to the best of your ability and start climbing the ladder of success.....

Market Wedgies and the New Party (145)

I hope you all are starting to get used to the stock market action since the Make Believe Party took over...Man these "wedgies" we have been getting almost daily are starting to affect how my underwear looks on me...you stretch that elastic daily like that and things look a little saggy...I tend to agree however with the markets in its assessment of the new deal stimulus package. Rewarding those most unresponsible, doubling our foriegn aid dollars, throwing our grand kids money into black holes, man I don't know we could be in for a real life nightmare here...

I am thinking about starting a new political party...not sure what to call it just yet. But one that I think the country is obviously ready for...I think it will be kind of easy to win the next election...We will promise whatever we think the people may want. Weather we can do it or not makes no difference, we will just promise it. And whatever is currently happening that is a problem in the least we will be against that and promise change from all of that and see a new day just ahead...I think it is a novel idea, its bound to work....

Seriously, we probably are near a bottom I pray in this nightmare we call reality. Gosh I find myself awakening from dozing off at my laptop, swating at huge "no see'ems and yelling "SELL"...

As a student of the Contrary Opinion we surely will see a bottom soon..The percentage of people who are negative this market has to be in the high 90's...that should do it for no other reason. I sure hope so, I'm running low in underwear..well maybe my Under Armor stock will at least go up....

Hang in there....

Stop Smoking Now (144)

I just read this post by my deceased wife's Cancer Specialist at IU Medical center. Gosh I really feel for this guy as his words below explain how it must be for a Doctor who see's people all day long who most likely will soon die. I went to the Lungs for life Walk the summer after she died. I remember seeing Dr. Hanna there and he kind of looked away and we did not speak. I understand now how these many many people and families of those dying must affect him. I remember the look on his face when he broke her heart and told her to go home to die, but to embrace life until she does. It has to be something that would get to you for sure. And then his words below about seeing kids still smoking. Maybe this will help someone. JL


Dying breath
Posted by Nasser Hanna, M.D.
"Thank you, doctor." Hearing those words, I leave the room. Sixty minutes prior, I met a 41-year-old female patient and her husband. She had started smoking when she was 15 and quit when she became pregnant at 34. The cough that wouldn't go away was due to lung cancer. I tell her she will die from this wretched disease. While she appreciates my candor, her husband suffers in silence. She has two children, 6 and 4. Her 4-year-old asks me to "Make Mommy better." Mommy dies four months later.
These patients keep coming day after day, week after week. They keep dying. They don't want to suffer for too long. They come in all ages: my youngest is 19, my oldest 91. They never see it coming and when it comes, they wish it would go away. For most, it is too late.
Before I leave for the day, I sign another bereavement card. This happens most days of the week, every week of the year. As I drive towards home, I pass the IUPUI student center, lined with college kids lighting up near no-smoking signs. Another lost generation? Most will never quit. Tobacco will control their lives. It may already.
I can't sit idly by, for I've seen too much. A Greek proverb states, "A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under which they will never sit." Cancer-Free Lungs, an organization my wife and I founded, is busy planting trees. (www.cancerfreelungs.org) Won't you join us, or one of the other organizations fighting smoking?
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Fishing..Church...and Mustgoes all in Paradise(143)

Wow, my last weekend here in Naples..Next week this time I will be "Freezer Bound"....Probably a lot of sympathy I will not get for most of my readership are already "freezer bound" and we all know misery loves company....

But forget what lies ahead let me tell you of a good week end my last in Naples Florida for this season...Work draws me home, work on my house and work on my farm after that...work that I love and with those that I love...so sympathy I really am not after, I am blessed and know it....But George and Gladys took me again into the back water and we caught fish like crazy..keeping the legals and tossing back the inch or two short of legal but all fun to catch and tonight we enjoyed eating that pile of fish you see in the grass before I cleaned them....Well almost we had some "mustgoes"* that I will eat tomorrow...I fixed the green beans wrapped in bacon along with the fish and we had a good cold slaw and some fruit...we did good, we had fun...that was yesterday and a good day it was...

Today, I attended for the second week in a row the "Celebration Community Beach Church"...A church without a church building, they don't even want a building..they meet in public parks here in Naples..Usually under the big Oak trees in the park in down town Naples but today since it was in other use they met in another county park....Thier thinking is (the Holy Bible be the church) not brick an mortor but The Word of God, be their church...I like the idea and of course here in almost perpetural sunshine and warm during winter how perfect can it be to set in a park and listen to a good preacher deliver a great message from Scripture...He talked about Peter walking on water during the storm.. and asked "What is your boat"?....
He said our fears will tell you "what is your boat"...To be of service we have to get out of our comfort or our boat, maybe telling God "hey I may be small potatoes but this bud is for you"...Ha it was a good message..They send a lot of food to Haitti to feed starving children there, I like that..Why Saturday alone while I fished 500 people of that church worked at a Naples School and packed 52,000 meals for shipment to Haitti..Hope I am spelling that right, no spell check on blogspot...the church has a blog I guess I have not been on it but will, maybe you would be curious... www.celebrationbeachchurch.com

He also noted and a good thought for today's mess and that is "Failure does not shape you", but the way you respond does....tough, but good thoughts for tough times...Well "sweet pea" will join me thursday, yippee and we will be beach bums for a day or two and then head north...We will do our best to bring an early spring back to Indiana with us...if we succeed send checks to my home address please for whatever you feel it is worth...if we don't succeed remember what the preacher said...and I hope I do not get "freezer burn"...

* note...mustgoes is a nice way of saying "left overs"...you know, "everything must go"....

Most of you probably already know (142)

A good teacher about ways of the computer, I am not!
But I did discover something this morning while waiting on my coffee to brew. And always willing to share what little I know here goes...

Well I discovered today how useful the little white search blog box is just above the green area at the top of this blog. Its just a white box that say's "Search Blog"...well that means just this blog so not to be confused with the multi colored seach box higher up that takes you out into the internet.

But anyway this thing is pretty cool and could be very useful in finding something I wrote in the past year in the 140 some articles I have done. I do mention from time to time about a previous topic that I may have wrote about. Maybe for instance when I had Mono real bad last spring. I wrote about it maybe 3 or 4 times. So if you just type in mono and hit the "enter" key it will pull up those articles. Or for instance I am up early today because I am going to the big outdoor church under the trees in down town Naples because the Marine Randy Kington is speaking there today. And I have offered to help his wife Patty sell Randy's book to people after the service. So if you were to wonder what this guy is all about if you were to type Randy Kington in that white box and hit enter then all those articles with his name in them will come up..or what I may have written about my preacher John Walls...Or if your a grand kid of mine and your saying well the heck with Randy Kington and John Walls, has grandpa ever written my name in this blog well you know the drill by now, type your name in that white box kiddo's and see...

So pretty exciting day huh? Jack learned something after a full year on this site and well now you know why I have always considered myself a "slow learner"...

One thing I am slowly beginning to learn is not to be afraid to click on buttons and see what the hell they do...I for one have been timid about those things..afraid I will set off some chain reaction that will wipe out my whatever and loose it all down some imagined whirly gig cyber drain somewhere...you know the kind of stuff night mares are made of...

What amazes me even more is when you do these searches and these stories come up that the google ads at the top of the page change instantly to correspond with the subject matter of that article...the wonders of the internet are endless...

So my fellow Americans, "yes we can", we can do this stuff one small step for man and one more stumble for mankind...

Marine Corps League and Peon Powder (141)

Each week I am honored to take a load of Marines from my RV park to a nice downtown Naples Florida Restaurant for the weekly luncheon of the E.T. Brisson Detachment 063 Marine Corps League..It is a good bunch of guys and one gal that assembles for a great lunch and a short meeting about what is going on and the efforts of this active group I have joined. Last week we may have set a record with 79 members I believe showing up...Usually around 60 to 70 make the show each week...It is fun to rub elbows with these remnants of men who served the nation during world war two in the Pacific Island battles..And the Korean conflict like the Chosin Resevoir campaigne...Then on to a large group who served in Nam and now and then one straggles in from more recent service such as Irag or Afganistan theaters....some into the 90's in age but still enjoying gathering each week to keep the Semper Fi spirit alive and well in this land....

Which brings me to Peon Power that shined up today the Alcoa wheels on my motor home.
As you can see yours truly the "the peon" who was the powder or the power to make them shine. I never will forget one NCO in the Marines who during thursday evening field days always referred to we workers as "peon powder". So if you look closely at those wheels you will see the peon powder reflecting back at you with camera in hand....A lot of effort or elbow grease but gratifying when it is done and one can so well see the guy who did it smiling back.....

Waxing a Coach and Promoting Marines (140)

Well I feel some better, today is a warm day in Naples in the 80's and a great day to add some wax to the motor home. I washed it a week ago in preperation here of this annual event when it gets its yearly protection..may take two days but it will get done before I go home to Indiana which is not too far off in my plans. Sweet Pea had a good visit as you can see in the slide show to the right here. Back in the freezer and her power is out because of 60 MPH winds in Indiana last night...Sure lots of "noise" in the news these days, congress, and wall street scrambling to cover up decades of abuse...Maybe we all need to forget looking for help, shut off the news, Trust the Lord, work hard, watch out for family and forget the handouts.
We are all in it together and together we will get through it...

Got to tell you about two opportunities today. We have all read the emails about reactions from people on airplanes as our hero's killed in action were being escorted home by members of the military and the rituals they follow. All have been touched by them or at least should have been. If you have HBO or know some one who does, or can talk someone you know, into getting it by Feb. 21 you should watch this show coming out. It is titled "Taking Chance". It is a true story about a Marine named Chance Phelps, who is killed in Iraq and about the Marines who "take him home" to be buried...No doubt one that will touch us where it leaks....keep the klenex handy.
It airs at 8 PM eastern time...find someone who has HBO and talk them into watching and inviting you over....

Last one, I have promoted before, but yesterday at the Marine Corps League luncheon my friend Randy Kington told me that the Cambier Open Air Church in down town Naples have asked him to speak at their service this Sunday at 9.30...I wrote a story on here last year in February about this same event. It was the first time I had been to that church and Randy spoke that day also..when he was done 1100 people were on their feet applauding what he had said, and the way he said it...I will be there again this Sunday, as most of this crowd will be knew. It is just a large open air stage with folding chairs all around and people on vacation come their to worship service from the nearby hotels...I like watching the effect he has on them and on me.... Have a great day the sunshine is calling...

Kidney Stones, Colds and Hurricanes (139)

Well I am just finishing up one heck of a cold down here in Florida. So bad that I decided to name it Alvin in keeping with the National Hurricane Reporting where they start with the A's each year and name them something.

Yes Alvin has been with me now for about a week. I have never seen so much "stuff" come from such a normally happy nose..yes that Alvin has been a hurricane in my head, even sending me to bed last night with a headache. Actually I think this may have been my first one in maybe a couple of seasons..Had my flu shot and my pneumonia shot and before I left home even a "shingles" shot, so I should have been good to go but I guess I got a little careless maybe on washing the hands and picked up a cold bug somewhere. I think it is in the last phase I hope at least..I think they say a cold is 3 days coming, 3 days staying and then 3 days going...so hope mine is "going".

Which the naming process I have to tell you my kidney stone story of a few years back. Yes, my wife and I had just paid the price to get into a movie and had just settled down in our seats taking a bite of popcorn, which generates a "second mortgage" as you know...But all of a sudden it was like someone kidney punched me, I told her you know my back hurts so bad I think I will go stand in the back of the theater, you stay here and watch the movie. Well soon I was lying on the floor in the back of the theater but to make a long story short the movie finally ended and she came back and discovered that although I was in emmence pain I was not about to leave that theater without our getting our moneys worth..We started for home but I said lets just go to the hospital instead..thought I would die while the check in processing was needing to be done but finally I was exrayed and they said yes you have a dandy in there and soon he will come out we hope...go home, take meds drink water and pea in this strainer so you will know...Well a couple days later my first born "Albert" did make his presence known with a loud "clunk" into my strainer...there he was, my son, Albert....He is still in a little jar, not real jagged or anything but a nice size grey rock....my boy Albert...

So soon it will begin again Hurricane season and they will start with an A....so if its Alvin it could be wet or if it Albert well it could be little rocky...I am being responsible however and trying to limit my "family" size by taking a daily pink pill called Allopurinal....Hopefully Albert will be my "only one"....

I'll do better tomorrow we all have an off day now and then....

Backwater Fishing and Marco Island Sunsets 138

Sunsets on Marco Island or anywhere along the gulf coast are spectacular..they are just magnificent, the very best when the huge red ball hits the water it don't get any better...and 3 minutes and maybe 15 seconds later it is gone completely even the last sliver...Well the sunsets are nice and I love them but even more I love being out on the water backwater fishing around the 10,000 islands that start at Marco and run all the way down along the lower Florida coast to the Florida Keys. Gosh the water is just to clean and refreshing. The air smells perfect and the sound of the water moving with the tides in and out around the islands is just wonderful. Now if you catch fish on top of all of this, well its a bonus but not an absolute necessity for sure. And then to end the day with a nice meal consuming a couple bottle of Brown County Wine makes it perfect..Make that Brown County Old Barrel Port and well were talkin a perfect day..It was good. Tomorrow we are set for a ride through Shark Valley National Park again where we will "dance with the gators"....

The Tree and Me and the Fishing Pier (137)

First up let us visit a great fishing pier that just "ain't"...It ain't because the powers to be on marco island don't want it to be...I loved fishing off this pier the last few years. It is or was a great "equalizer" in that those of us without boat, could get out into the channel and fish maybe not as good as those with boats but close. But the hurricane a couple years back lifted one of the sections off the pilings on the Marco Island end of the bridge. It did not damage the pier on the east side of the bridge but they came in and lifted the section allowing access off the pilings thus closing it down for now...even the Marco end there was no reason to close it they could have just as easy baracaded the end where the section was missing and most of the pier could have been used....It is big money talking as far as I can see, the residents of Marco Island do not use it and thus it don't get fixed. But this Collier County has money for everything desired and this project should be fixed and reopened..I took my grandson Lucas there to fish last week and was deeply disappointed that this pier was not accessable any longer... .This writer has taken up the cause with a letter to the editor...the paper asked for pictures that I provided..Hopefully they will take up the cause.

The Tree and Me picture to the right. Well about 1993 or 94 my wife Linda and I owned that lot and planted that tree. We found a nice looking coconut under a tall coconut tree next to the hardware store on the Tamiami trail (US 41). We placed it beside the big rock on our lot half way in the sand and half way out lying on its side if I remember right..the next year we were excited with a 18 inch shoot shot up out of the coconut and each year tremendous growth was noted...Now it stands as maybe the healthiest coconut tree in Silver Lakes RV Park. It is tall and loaded with coconuts as you may see..has a great shape as you would want a coconut tree to have...Only thing is parking under it can be dangerous on windy days...those nuts are heavy...I should have planted it in the back of the lot hanging out over the water...Could of, should of, and would of, like selling stocks a couple years ago...

NOTE: Been at this gig for a year now, it all started last year on Feb. 2nd...

Lucas Update.....(136)

LUCAS UPDATE...Put him on the plane this afternoon and then went shopping...Just talked to him at 5.30 and he was home just turning into his addition...he is ready to man the snow shovel and clean the snow out of his driveway....He's back in the freezer.....But let me tell you he left his mark here in Southwest Florida..Several people came by to wish him well today..Also he is a computer wizard..why even the margins of green on this blog are thinner than they used to be because Lucas changed the HTML or whatever it is called..he figured it out, and we now have more area for print, and less margins...He hooked up a new wireless system for my neighbor to the north and hooked up a TV system for my neighbor to the south...He is generous with his time and enjoys helping others who appreciate it greatly..he noticed the comradreship of this park and our website that keeps everyone informed...he went to work and has designed one similar for his addition now where he lives....he will go far let me tell you....

Story 135..A day at Ft. Myers and Mustering out Lucas

Grandson Lucas and I enjoyed lunching with about 65 marines wednesday noon and then running up I 75 to Ft. Myers to take in the Henry Ford and Thomas Edison Summer Homes and Museums....See the slide show on the right side marked 135 also..click on the pictures and you can view them larger and slower with tags explaining what your looking at...That Mr. Edison sure had a nice 14 acres of trees and beach front property..He was a brillian man and help pattens on 1093 different things...He was also very wealthy and dabbled in about everything he invented...Henry Ford liked hanging out with Edison so he purchased the land next to him and built a home almost as nice as Edisons....Great place to spend an afternoon, especially for a soldier just home from Irag as the museum lets them in free and all those in their family gets in for half price....So quite a deal and yet another reason to go there just because they are patriotic.....

Well Lucas heads back to the freezer tomorrow afternoon..he will be scooping snow by dark I would imagine as he is going home to about 10 inches of that wonderment...
We have had a good two weeks, played several games of golf, enough to loose most of the balls in both bags into the ponds of Silver Lakes..But Lucas purchased some "second chance" balls at Wal Mart so I am good to go on that. We fished a couple days but caught zippo the second day but had a tremendous day with the Thompsons the day before...We tanned at the Marco Island beaches and picked up sand dollars one afternoon out on Tigertail beach. We cooked a lot and dined out a lot also..Of course don't forget our daring ride threw Shark Valley with the likes of our friend Ernie Maier....Today Lucas shot a 45 and I a 46 on our little golf course here at Silver Lakes.....All in all it was a good visit...So tomorrow evening I will be alone for a few days preparing for my next guest coming in a week....sweet pea...
Well turn to now and clean the coach inside and out even try to throw a little wax on the outside...That is no easy task when the job is do-it-yourself...Usually taking about 3 days to achieve the like new look again like the day when it was..

(134) Today on Marco Island

Well as you can see by the picture on the right today was oldies day on Marco Beach..Lucas and I ran into these three gals who looked like they stepped out of the 30's maybe or the 40's....Yes they did, we tried to choose the best looking suit but just could not decide...Who would you pick?....

Next question?...the two homes for sale on the water...which one should I make an offer on...Both say make us and offer so I may...If they take it I hope to be able to at least make the down payment and then wait for the governemnt to write down my mortgage to where I will be able to stay in my new home and pay the insurance and taxes...I like the plans talked about on the view and by Ophra about helping out people who just happened to purchase way more home than they can afford...I gotta get in on this deal....So help me choose which house and which beauty queen?????
This stimulus package is going to be pretty much something for everyone and we gotta be ready...

Folks in Indiana tell me kids are home from school today, too much snow on the ground. They say I gotta be missing all of that by being down here in 80 degree temps...Well there wrong, truthfully I like looking out the windown at a big snow fall but only one time..the second time I look out the window and if it's still there then I am ready for it to be gone. Well take care if your up there negotiating the snow...Use those four wheel drives...OK do this, make a nice snow ball and put it in my freezer..I will try and enjoy it when I get home...

One Fine Coach Story 133

Another Big day in Paradise...Started out slow with we attending the 9 am service on Marco at the Methodist Church...Randy gave a good message but the church was only maybe 30% full...But Randy did good as good Randy always does....But I left my Bible in the pew...So after we breakfast at Porky's we went back thinking the 10.30 would be over...It had just ended and the full to capacity crowd were on their feet giving Randy a standing ovation...So while waiting for the crowd to leave I asked Randy's wife Patty if she needed help selling Randy's Book he wrote, "What a Life"...She said yes so I did that for a few minutes maybe peddling at least 20 some books on my own or more...About that time someone yelled out is Jack Lahrman here?...I said yes and my Bible was then delivered to me...did not even have to look for it...you see know one steals a Bible...never

First off we visited the Million Dollar Motor Home show at Pelican Lake RV park next door..Heard there was some over 2 million dollar coaches there so just had to see..They are nice no doubt about it but golly, when its all said and done Marble scuptured counter tops and a testosterone shower just maybe are not worth an extra 1.7 million or so...even adding in a for real home refrigerator and stack washer and dryer, the desire for me is just not even close...Don't have anywhere near that kind of money but even if I had I would have to put it to other uses better than "fluff and foo foo's".....exit Pelican Lake and move on....

After that took Lucas to the Mullet Festival at the south end of Marco Island...A crazy place called "Stans" where each Sunday people dance and drink and set in the sun and watch crazy's do crazy things....This was no exception..check out Lucas's blog for a picture of him with one of those crazy women dressed like a Buzzard...click here for Luke's fine blog

You see at the annual mullet festival at Crazy Stan's outdoor bar crazy women dress as buzzards and do a dance called the "buzzard lope"...That is supposed to be an immitation of the dance a buzzard does around a freshly found road kill before he eats it....I know it sounds pretty crazy but it all seems to make sense at Stan's place....

Well anyway Lucas was not impressed at all with all that drunking goings on so we left and headed to our last destination for the day...The famed "Tiger Tail Beach"...where you can almost walk your butt off just getting to the end of the tail out there in the ocean...We finally made it and turned around and headed back..My knee was starting to talk to me a just a bit, but I made it back...And just as we got back to the area to leave the beach the big red ball in the sky came to rest right on the edge of the far western sky...It was fabulous maybe Luke will post that also, but it was a beautiful sunset and end to another great day in Paradise...

A steak, baked sweet tater and corn on the cob set us up for doing our double barreled blogs for the day...enjoy....

Today in Paradise (132)

Every time the Thompson's take me fishing (George and Gladis), I can not help but fall in love all over again with the back waters south of Marco Island...Its know as the 10,000 islands. Doubt anyone ever counted all of them but its probably a good guess. These islands are small for the most part usually under one acre and consist of a pile of sea shells with mangrove trees growing on them...Mangrove trees are known as "island builders", as these mangrove can attach them selves to the bottom sand and hang on until a storm brings in lots of shells..they catch the shells and they pile up under the trees and an island starts and continues to grow.

I love these back waters the air is always so clean and crisp, the water is always pure and clear, and the fish are very healthy and so darn much fun to catch. And then maybe if one is lucky like we were today you have a nice fish fry just as the beautiful sun is setting in the west..I think it would be really hard to have a "bad day" of fishing these waters...

Well today the Thompson's graciously took me and grandson Lucas out there to enjoy all of the above...As per usual Glady kicked our butts...I tell you that woman is a true "Pescadora" (fisher woman)....We had five keeper fish and she caught three of them and the largest. Pic at right shows her with a nice Sheephead she caught. Below that is Happy Hoosier with a beautiful "Snook" fish that just did not meet the between 22 and 36 inches so I had to release him...But he was a nice fish and cleared the water a couple times after I hooked him..Lucas Cole my grandson did bring in a nice sheephead keeper...but my camera broke down and now I must turn to my big camera for the rest of my time here...it don't fit in my pocket so my pics will need to be planned and not alway have it with me...Actually the shutter sticks shut and will not open, maybe it can be repaired, I hope so...

Well we must be off to bed soon, tomorrow we are looking forward to attending the Marco Methodist Church and listening to a Marine's Marine tell his story one more time...His name is Randy Kington...It will be good to hear him again and glad my grandson is on board for this one....

By the way my grandson started a blog yesterday and today he has done his second post to his new blog...tape on it and take a look....we set here now each night as he said on our laptops doing a "double barreled" blog....

click here to see his blog





Semper Fi,

Shark Valley (131)

The Everglades National Park also know as "Shark Valley" located about 70 miles down US 41 south east of Naples Florida...We went there yesterday, Lucas and I and we took our bikes and rode the 15 miles with friend Ernie Maier...It was fun it took us just over 2 hours to make the circut...Gosh we seen at least 100 aligators I would guess...ranging from 5 to 12 feet long I would guess...some with thier tail lying out on the black top trail and we would ride out bikes past them within a couple feet of them...at first it seemed risky but after a while we got used to it..Literature states that only one person has ever been attacked by a gator and that was when a small boy fell off his bike onto a gator...I think they have too many gator along the trail, I would clean about half of them out of there and into the frying pan if I were manageing the park....but lucky for the Al E. Gators I am not...

Lots of pretty bird life there also it is a camera buffs paradise for sure...When sweet pea arrives here we will do this little ride again...she will like it, I am sure...Ernie Maier said it was the most fun he has had this year here in Paradise...It is a great place to spend a few hours..and across the street from the entrance is a restaurant run by the local Indians in these parts...Real Indians too not the imported variety...the kind that chased Custer you know....Also they have a pretty good looking airboat operation there...I want to try that out soon its 10 bucks per person and I think it is a more authentic everglade swamp than the airboat rides that are closer to Naples...after seeing the territory the Indians take you too I think it is well worth the extra drive a little further down 41....

OK I am getting sleepy and fussy so am signing off....

Two of my Favorite things in Naples....130

Hoosier Farmers in Florida don't take a lot of entertainment...there just so dam happy to be here that everything here seems pretty darn nice...Today though I took Grandson Luke to my favorite barber shop up on the trail...Haircuts By Joe Cool....

I got my usual excellent 5 to 6 minutes in Jake's chair...but always perfect, the guy is a wizard of a barber...but Lucas did not fair quite as well...we walked in and someone told us that Frank the new guy was pretty darn good...give him a try they said and Lucas said, "Ok I will"....Well Frank somehow did not pick up on just what Luke wanted...and he pretty much gave Lucas another boot camp haircut...Lucas ended up getting his hair cut "no charge" so what the heck, he surely got his money's worth and will be another extra week before he need's another...

After that I took Lucas to Homer Hectors' Military Museum located on Shirley Street off Pine Ridge here in Naples...I love going there as it is kind of a hang out for Marines of all ages, but mostly old timers....And Homer has about one of every thing in his antique and military store...He allowed us to "play" with the old BMW World War two motor cycle...Hitlers Army had many of these wild machines...A cool bike with side car and a 30 calibur machine gun to mow down anything in your way...Luke enjoyed setting on it as you see on the right side here...

I knew a German who lived here in Silver Lakes a few years back...Paul Siebert was his name...He rode one of these while he was a member of Rommels little Army in North Africa...The Brits finally shot his third tank up and captured him, much to his benefit as he was sent to a war camp in Canada and then turned loose after the war to become a very successful Chicken Farmer in Canada...I liked Paul and his wife Hilda...Paul reminded me so much of Lawrence Welk and actually could dance about as well also....

But the best story I have about him is taking my visiting brother who was a mortor Platoon Leader under General Patton's 3rd Army over and introducing him to Paul one fine day...I did not tell Brother Bob anything about him only that I wanted him to meet him...It was not love at first sight...Quite the contrary, as the accent just did not play well with my bro...I finally confessed that I had set this up just for my own entertainment and every thing calmed down...I just wanted to introduce a General Patton Warrior and a General Rommel(the desert fox), Warrior and see what would happen....Nothing happened but there were no hugs, maybe a decent handshake and a nice to meet you, that was all....

Tomorrow we will watch the swearing in of the 44th President...

Take care, God Bless America

Me and Luke and the Admiral (129)

Yesterday Lucas and I were busy. We played 9 holes of golf here at Silver Lakes RV and Golf Resort....We both did pretty lousy...Luke hit a house and got the owner next door riled up..he told us to "club down"...after asking what club we used..But over all we did OK and had fun..I lost my sand wedge on hole 5 and never found it..Hope someone turned it in need to go check tomorrow for sure...then after that we headed for the Marco Island beaches...We took this picture of a sea gull that I called the "admiral"....He was a confident proud guy...liked having his picture taken but I think he was expecting a hand out as he then raised his head and let go with a few noisy calls or screams like maybe hey where the hell is my treats guy...

We walked at least two miles in the sand looking for valuable shells or sets out of large diamond rings...found neither but still got good sunshine and good exercise...Then today we went to the church of what's happening now on the Isle of Capri...Then we rode our bike's like the wind for a half hour and then went and worked out in the weight room for a bit before a swim in the pool....after that a relaxing rest on the lounge chairs soaking up the warm sun...unreal how warm it is just 1100 mile south of the freezer that we call Indiana....

Ran into lots of old friends around the park and other spots around Marco and Naples...One was Joe Chard the owner of Exit Realty...He said hey Jack I sure like your beard...I looked up and Joe had my beard exactly...but he claimed to my grandson that I had his beard and was "copying him again".....Another was Doc Jack and his lovely wife Mary, they are wonderful folk for sure, even being from the east coast...I told my grandson that I probably have almost as many good friends here in Florida as I do in Indiana...Only here three months and Indiana for nine but down here it is just different...Up there everyone is working and busy as hell...Down here we are on vacation and reaching out to others for friendship I think...so I think the short time here is friendship weighted and the net result is that I probably do have more great freinds here than at home....maybe not, maybe I am just so dam glad to be out of the freezer that it just seems that way...Anyway freinds are great people to know and either place a huge asset to ones life....howdy to all my good friends and family here and the freezer....semper fi.....

Me and Luke in Paradise 128

Timing is important, the longer I live the more I realize that. It's below zero in Indiana and I ain't there...Grandson Lucas and I flew the coop three days ago and headed south, just ahead of the oncoming cold front. It's coming all the way to Florida though as I hear that Tallahasee will be about 17 tonight...But we are not there either we are in Naples, and currently its about 60 but would not surprise me if we don't dip into the low 40's by morning...But the good thing is in a day or two we will bounce back into the 70's and that will be good..Lucas and I spent the day shopping for batteries for the motor home..I noticed the last couple days before departure a strong gassy smell coming from the batteries as it sat in the pole barn.

I told Lucas about it coming down and he said "Grandpa that is not good". And I told him they were also beginning to buldge out on the sides and he said "that ain't goood either Grandpa, my guess is you need new battiers"....he was right and today after much internet searches and store shopping we found the best buy in town at Sam's club...By dark thirty tonight we had them changed out, or I should say Lucas did...He said that he does that kind of stuff all the time on Army tanks and such, and it all went well like he said it would....

Well its getting late, my mechanic is already snoring and grandpa is struggling for much more to say so maybe the best thing is nothing at all....Tomorrow Golf and Camera Club, maybe both maybe one or the other....Life in Southwest Florida is just kidda like that, way more things to do than time to do it...Later....

Happy New Year So Far (127)

Honky Tonkin in Nashville Tenn was fun at New Years and I imagine about any night of the week there is equally exciting. That was our New Years destination and it did not disapoint us. If you like country music and plenty of it, it is to be had there in downtown Nashville. Don't remember the street we were on but it was lined on both sides with clubs that all had country bands playing all those country favorites.

It is a fun scene for sure if you have never done it, do it sometime. I imagine its where a lot of singers get their start, playing these clubs for "tips" only and hoping to get discovered somehow before they starve to death...It was a fun night spent with Mark and Terry as we soaked up an evening full of country music....

Our host Jessica seen in the pic's should probably be proclaimed Nashville's "Rachel Ray", as she threw open her house and refrigerator and food pantry to the likes of all of us...sweet pea's brother Mark with help from the Dixie Chics brought forth a New Years Day dinner that would bring even downtrodden stock holders of the 2008 crash lots of Good Luck for 2009....I sure hope it works, as we ate all that stuff, corn beef and cabbage, blackeyed peas, cornbread, some kind of herring fish that was "yuck" and not sure what all...But we ate it anyway and we toasted the new year with Brown County and other wines...All went down good and stayed down...Lets hope it all works..actually "family" is always the best part.....HAPPY NEW YEARS TO "Y'ALL".....

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