Reunion of Platoon 3002 (257)

Our Marine Reunion went well in Washington DC. Picture here has our platoon posing in front of the high water mark of the Marine Corps, the statues that were created from the most reproduced picture of World War Two. The flag being raised above Mt Sarabachi on Iwo Jima. It happened early in the 35 day non stop battle and some say maybe caused the 20,000 japs on the island to fight to the death, which most of them did. The Marines lost dearly in this battle also with 7,000 Marines also killed in action here. It was sometimes called a battle of human flesh against reinforced concrete...the marines were the flesh the japs were behind the concrete in bunkers...actually the Marines had more casualties than the Japs did totaling 21,000...that would be 7,000 dead and 14000 wounded...The japs 20,000 were all dead. I think less than 200 surrendered.

Sorry about that, supposed to be talking about our reunion here, but the price paid by those Marines on Iwo Jima was such that it is hard to not get engrossed in what happened there on that island...if you click on the title here it will take you to a site showing the Marines who were awarded the medal of Honor during that battle...it was enormous....

Ok the war was over long ago, we were never in a war, except for maybe boot camp, where it was us against the Marine Corps and guess what?, they won, but we still feel a connection to these battles as we were trained during our time to be ready for the same. Lucky for us the call never came during our time in at least for most of us...We did have a couple who stayed in and were part of the Viet Nam war but for the most part we were serving between two wars, Korea and Nam our training was good but not needed...
Our Senior drill instructor had served in World War two our junior drill instructor had served in Korea, and both of these men stayed in to serve in Nam and both died prematurely of agent orange related deaths...I wish they had not it would have been so good to talk to both of them again...The Pentagon helped me find them but it was too late, but I did talk to both families.

Back to the reunion...Memories are made sometimes when you least expect. For instance we stayed on base last week at Quantico and decided the first night to waltz across the parking lot to the "officers club" for dinner...none of us had ever had that opportunity to eat with officers...Well guess what, the service was horrible our food after an hour and half came cold and dried out...some help had not showed up, it was a disaster but one that memories are made of and they apologized and gave us 50% off our meals...That was how our reunion started, with a memory to remember..But when we returned to the hotel, my sweet pea had let the cat out of the bag that it was my birthday and a cake had been purchased and they sang to me, it was a total surprise and very nice.
Then Thursday we loaded onto a Marine Bus with a Marine Gunny to guide us and had some fun. We visited the helicopter squadron that supports the President and his staff...we got to walk onto one of the copters all painted up with Marine Green..It is the same units Marines use in combat operations to ferry Marines from place to place...Got my butt chewed on a tad bit when I photographed a combat unit chopper...always good to find out where the boundries are when opportunity is knocking...Sure our enemies have seen these choppers many times just before our marines landed and gave them a butt kicking...and I will keep that picture to my self as requested....
From there we were taken to an area where they train K-9 dogs for combat duty..it was interesting about how they are trained...after that we visited the Marine Archives building which was a little boring for most of us...they did ask us to donate things about the Marines when we are done with them...Maybe I will give them my tray from the 8th and I mess hall someday, that I did not steal but was given to me...maybe not, sure my kids will fight hard for that...ha We also visited the Museum of the Marine Corps near the Quantico base...it lies along I-95 and is a eye grabber as you drive by with its huge beam rising into the sky ahead as you approach from the south...Most never see it but it is a worthwhile stop for all...it is free to the public and truly shows the history of the Marines from 1775 to present days...
It is built and still being built by money from Marines like me, no government money went into this building...Proud to say I helped, was not called upon to give life or limb so I figured the least I could do was to help support this history and appreciation shown to the many who have served all these years and still do...
Friday we got on the Marine bus again and went to Arlington Cemetery, touring the Kennedy graves, the changing of the guard at he tomb of the unknown's and then something I had not seen the mansion overlooking Arlington that was the home of Robert E Lee the confederate commander during the civil war...His plantation was across the river from DC and the union took it away from him during the war...burying their dead in his front yard so to speak..after the war his family won a settlement from the government for the value of the plantation and it remains our national cemetery...We saw a funeral in progress as they said they are doing about 35 a week now...Then we went to the Memorials like Lincoln, Nam, Korea and the new World War two memorial...After that we attended the Evening Parade at the Marine Corps base in DC called "8th and I"...the oldest base in the Corps being formed in 1801...it was as it always is a great parade of troops and the two elite Marine bands that are there, The Presidents band and the Commandants Band...
We had a banquet Saturday evening at the Globe and Laurel restaurant near Quantico..A time honored tradition was upheld when Wayne Hart again led us in singing "Courtin in the Rain".....Gunny and I received 4 tumblers with Marine Emblems on them in appreciation for our work on this reunion...and guess what? The majority of them want to continue this drill again in two more years...Plans are to change the format from visiting Marine installations and just have fun and get together every couple years...Next stop is Branson Mo....should be fun, our member Jon Dermott who lives near there and a veteran of all three reunions, stepped up to the plate to organize this one...I look forward to it, maybe couple it with some trout fishing nearby...I think it could spark more interest from our platoon members as it will be a nice drive from the midwest and who does not like Branson.....

Note..you can click on the pictures to the rights side and enlarge them...

The Last Marine Reunion (256)

Next week I head to DC for the last reunion of my old platoon from Marine Boot Camp.
75 of us were thrown together in June of 1956 to become Platoon 3002. All we knew for sure those first few days is that we had made the very biggest mistake of our lives. It seemed so romantic, daring, I don't know maybe we saw too many of those old John Wayne WW Two movies of Iwo Jima, Tarawa, Guadalcanal, but man we (about 6) of my High School class, we just thought we needed to do that....and we did it...well the recruiter told us if would be tough but we really did not know just how much till we got there and experienced it first hand...And we put on good faces during the day but when the lights went out at night finally after 10 and we lay there exhasted and in almost semi shock at times until the 5:30 reveile, we knew for sure we had made a big mistake, but one that we most likely would survive and someday maybe we could hopefully look back and say well it was not so bad afterall...

Well we did our 50th in San Diego the scene of the crime in 2006 and between 20-22 of the 75 showed up...In Omaha in 2008 we had about 14 maybe of the 75 and now in DC we will have only 9 so I think it will be time to quit while we are ahead and make this the last one. It will be about 54 years next month since we graduated from that training, we were proud to have made it and now called Marines instead of "beady eyed recruits", or "shit birds", or, well I better not go further...looking back it is comical to think of some of those exchanges between the D.I. and us, was not then, but it sure is now...Purpose of it all was to eliminate any pride, self esteem that you may have, completely, and if it did not disappear willingly they would just knock it out of you...some needed that, mine went willingly, for the most part...and then the plan of action was to slowly build you back the way the Marine Corps wanted you....All in all, for the most part it went well, we had maybe two or three who went over the fence in the first couple weeks never to be seen again, one kid in a neighboring hut in Plt. 3003 hung himself on a Sunday afternoon which was sad...We all had to walk by and observe him, I guess so we would not repeat the event maybe.
I think all in all it set us on the road to manhood rather quickly. I think the Marines did have a plan, and for what they needed us to be, it was a good one....I do, having observed how they make Marines since then a few times, I will say they get better at it every year. The end product just keeps getting better and more professional than we were. I do love to go as we will do next week and observe Marine training...it will be fun and it will be our last meeting....

No doubt I will be led to do a story or two of what we see, and maybe what it is like to look men in the eye that shared the experience, shake their hand and say "I remember you as if it was yesterday"

A great growing year in the Garden (255)

About 22 post back (232) I did a story about a raised garden that Susan and I built this spring. As you can see by the pic taken yesterday it has been a great growing year in Indiana this year. And it is amazing just how much food one can get from a small garden like this one. It is a circle maybe 16 feet in diameter is all. But I think putting it close to the house is key, where it will not be forgotten about and where it will be noticed. Noticed by you and your friends, I think keeps one on their toes both keeping it weeded and watered if need be. Has not taken a lot of water this year, maybe a half dozen times I watered it a bit, but the rains have come all summer pretty much an average of maybe an inch a week. That produces crops for sure, both gardens and corn and beans in the large fields across the midwest.

But as you can see, the "busy" garden is producing lots of red potatoes, tomatoes, squash, green beans, cantalope, onions, peppers, okra, strawberries and it not only looks good it even taste good too....Right now the okra is really coming on strong as well as the potatoes and tomatoes...The okra is one of my favorites and I have been successful in getting others to try it and most like it or at least say they do. I grill a lot this time of year and I just put whole okra maybe 2 to 3 inches long right on top of the meat or what ever I have on the grill and kind of steam them. Add salt before eating and they are delicious. The tall plants to the right side picture here is the okra. It just keeps growing kind of like and Oak tree sending out branches and blooming its head off every day...Nice yellow blooms that soon turn into these elongated vegetable, that can be cooked many ways or even eaten raw right in the garden which I have done on occasion. Another favorite way of getting this okra down the hatch into the tum tum is to slice it cross section about a quarter inch thick and then fry it in a skillet...Probably with olive oil or with bacon grease if you want to mix a little bacon in it...or with fried potatoes also goes well..It is a kind of southern veggie but one that grows on you if you get exposed to it....

So that's about it for today, just wanted to show off my good looking veggies, by the way we had some friends over last evening and actually ate most of this stuff and then afterward ask ourselves why we had tummy aches? It's summer time, that's why and besides people may be starving in China...

But maybe not anymore since most of what we buy comes from there, they probably are eating a lot better. We have all the low cost "stuff" we need and our unemployment numbers continue to rise each year...someday we will figure this all out I hope.

Scan down the right side pictures here to (232) and take a look at what it was just a few weeks ago....God has been good to Indiana again....

Great Weekend and Hillarious Asian Carp in Indiana (254)

Just finished a great weekend. We went to a wedding in North Carolina and it was great. Setting was a really nice Winery and then the reception was there also...very nice had a good time. Was one of Susan's very best friend's daughter and since the bride's parents rode the Motor cycle to the wedding, our vehicle transported the clothes to be worn by them, so our presents was greatly appreciated. To get there and back we visited 5 states but also added another one of our favorites and that was Tennessee. We visited for two days our friends Randy and Patty Kington. Randy, I have written about a couple times at least on this site, one of my most favored Marine Corps hero's. Author of probably the best Veit Nam Book you could read "What a Life", about how Nam affected one Marine's life...Great Book packed with action about Marine's for most of the book but then the last 2 or 3 chapters one of the best love stories you ever will read...Going to attach Randy's web site under the title here so if you are inclined to order his book, here it is. Just click the title and your there...Well they showed us around their town of Morristown, and had a great cook out including another couple that had recently lost their mates in death, and then gotten together, kind of like me and sweet pea...also included was a couple who used to live just down the road from me but was asked to pull up roots and start a TRW factory in Randy's town...Max and Marsha Biery, I went to school with Max's sister Jo matter of fact my 6th grade girlfriend. But awfully nice of the Kingtons to include them so we could get reacquainted. And after looking over the beauty of the mountainous area around Morristown, I can understand why Max and Marsha stayed right there after retiring, it is a very scenic wonderful place to live.

Back to our visit with Randy and Patty, gosh they were great host, have a gorgeous home there, Randy cooks a mean hamburger for sure, and Patty and Susan made it too the mall while Randy and I took naps one afternoon. All in all a great visit. Randy and Patty visited Lafayette two years ago and spoke at two churches here about how Nam had changed their lives. Some of you heard him I know, and I learned that Pastor John has booked him to speak at Kokomo's St. Luke's Methodist Church in Sept of 2011.
If you click on the title to look at Randy's site you will see he is booked every Sunday way out there....quite a popular guy...Last time I heard him was the Greenwood Mayor's breakfast in Greenwood this spring....

OK the other half of the title here you need to go the right side under the picture of the Kington's house and click on the Asian Carp in Indiana...It is quite a coincidence but while visiting Randy he asked me if the Asian Carp had gotten to Indiana yet? I said yes I think they are in the Wabash River as I heard about one jumping out of the water and hitting a guy and almost knocking him out of the boat about a year ago...Well, watch this video sent to me by Bob Cornell, it is hilarious, would love to see it some time in person as it must have been very funny. Actually the more I watch this the harder I laugh, hope you enjoy it also.
For some reason the noise from boat motors make these unwanted, worthless carp from Asia jump out of the water and as in this video right into the boat...

Then as a grand finale on the return trip we dropped in on the returning honeymooners Matt and Jill who were the subject material for this blog just a few days ago...they had returned from the Greek Isles and organizing and getting used to their newly remodeled home...I know sweet pea is most glad to have them safely home and now starting their lives together...and some days ahead will hopefully provide her with more grand children...but Jill, Matt, don't tell her I said this but, take your time, lot of time ahead for all life has to offer...

New Knee Good to Go (253)

I went to see my Doc pictured here yesterday. He looked me over and said I did not need to return to see him anymore, that my knee was functioning well and with some additional daily, on my own therapy, and bike riding and chasing SP that I was "good to go". I thanked Dr. Daluga for doing an extra special good job for me. He being modest said that he just made the cuts and installed the stuff and that my good therapy was the most of the success. I know it is important but I still think that having a really good surgeon is very very important... While I was there I picked up the mock up of my Stryker Knee he installed for me and took some picture of it and they are here to the right for you to look over. I think they are interesting, especially the precise cuts they have to make on the thigh bone and the leg bone to receive these new knee parts. But those cuts make it fit so tight that it should never budge from where he put it and hey I think that is important. Now I also added a picture I took today of my Indiana Hibiscus flower I purchased at Sams club last spring...it is totally blooming its head off of late...I gave it a good shot of miracle grow a couple weeks back and it sure is showing its appreciation of that.

I will share one therapy exercise he told me about yesterday..He told me to do it every day 10 times on each leg for the rest of my life...I think I just may do it as it is simple and no doubt beneficial. You stand on one leg balancing yourself and do 10 small squats then do the other leg the same. Try it out maybe it will be good for you too...He said it is a great balance exercise as we age and start to loose some of that...

So I have enjoyed sharing my experience of knee replacement here on this site, hope you enjoyed it. Probably will be the wrap up on this endeavor today. Now on with the rest of my life I guess...Looking forward to it all and wishing you all the same, good health to us all....

One Fancy Kentucky Wedding (252)

Went to a fabulous wedding in Lexington Ky last week end. This fine couple Matt and Jill Tutt. Matt is a Surgeon and Jill is a Nurse and no doubt about it this one was made in heaven, maybe prompted by prayer but no doubt made in heaven. More about the wedding but first I had to share this picture my quick camera caught in this impromptu moment when we took some things to the house late that night and Matt said, "Jill come up here so I can carry you in the door"...She did and he did...it was cool...


Jill, as I have stated on some other pages, is the daughter of my gal Susan, author no doubt of the prayer spoken of above here. Susan gave her away walking down a long isle in a huge downtown Lexington church. She did marvelous holding back any tears she feared would flow on this emotional moment. Some of us did tear up a bit but she and Jill held it together, they pulled it off in fine style.

It was the very largest and well planned wedding I guess I have ever attended. Many was heard to say those same words that night. The wedding planner Arni was all over this event making sure everything went like clock work...He did earn his fee relieving a lot of stress for all concerned. Will post a picasa of pictures of the event to the right side here. Oh, the wedding cake, pistachio, man was it good and lucky me still has one large piece in my fridge.... The happy couple are winging there way to a great vacation spot in Greece, they will have a memorable honeymoon for sure. Best of everything to them both...Click on Picasa to the right to enlarge pictures......

Let's raise taxes, yes indeed.(251)

Been thinking about the Bush tax cuts that the Democrats want to let expire...I think it probably is the best thing to do...I think for too long we have had way to much services and benefits that we kid ourselves, wink, look the other way and pass the bill onto our grandchildren...I think it best we bring that to an end as soon as possible. Getting kind of tired of the argument about lower taxes means jobs, I think that reteric is getting a bit tired. I say lets let Reagan rest in peace and proceed from here all by ourselves.

I am convinced that the best way to get this excessive spending to stop is to "pay for it". Pay for it as we go instead of cutting taxes, winking and keep on spending and saying we are shifting the debt to our children. I really believe that to 'pay as we spend', will be the best way to control spending. I guess the best example of that is to look at our own personal experiences about spending. When we whip out the credit card it is so easy to just go ahead and get maybe a few more things we may like. But when we have to produce the cash, we start to weigh things a bit more and conserve as to what we want and what we actually really need. I really believe it could work the same for us as a nation. When we know our taxes are going up we will maybe watch what our leaders are doing, what they are spending money on a lot more than we have in the past.

Because for years now, we cut taxes, go further into debt, wink, smile at each other and say life is good...well it is not good so let us wake up here and face the music.

County Fair Week in Indiana (250)

Probably the biggest funnest week of the summer except for maybe the family vacation, Fair week is happening in many counties across the land. Tippecanoe County is no exception this week and I spent a portion of two days hanging there watching grand kids show goats and pigs. Now comes the hard part and that is parting with the animals on Friday night at the auction..Pay day for the grandkids but some take this pretty hard giving up these pets and knowing what lies ahead for them...In the old days of my farm kid life we never gave it much thought..Because we seen hundreds of chickens pigs cattle all go to market that is how our parents got paid for the hard work...it was smiles when the truck rolled out the gate, but for these small suburbanite country kids it's understandable a little different, they get attached to these critters...



Goats have gotten really popular in our county...when I was in 4-H there may have been a half dozen goats if there was any...now they showed goats all morning long. I know there are more goats in Tippecanoe county than current Obama supporters, without a doubt...Especially with the white house currently caught up in trying to decide who is and what is racial these day and trying to lay it at the door of the T-party movement. So goats prevail here for sure...they are cute, my son's two daughter each had one this year...they followed them around the yard when they would go into their play house the goats would just jump through the windows to join them. They are very cute and they do kind of grow on you...as a kid I was under the impression goats were dirty and stinky and who in their right mind would ever even want one...Now they are everywhere and as mentioned even more prolific than Obama democrats for sure.

So good luck to Caulin Post and Brook and Haylee Lahrman hope you get lots of money for your animals and the so long's are manageable...Next year will roll around and you can do it all again...

For me my therapy went well today..My knee is just getting sexier every day that goes buy...The swelling is almost gone...completely gone when I wake up in the morning...why they look almost alike but then as the day wears on the wounded knee starts to get a little fatter and looses the nice looks it had when I rolled out of bed...ice helps but I am usually too busy or too lazy to apply it...I am headed for a 7 mile bike ride as soon as I hit he Publish Post button here, maybe when I get back I will have the wisdom to ice it down...

Tomorrow we roll for Lexington and the Social Event of the season...well maybe not come to think of it my grand son Clinton had a great wedding just a couple months back...maybe that was the social event of my season...I will decide later I guess...well one thing for sure this will be the social event of my new knee's season.....Where's my bike its time to "Saddle Up"......

Jill's big Wedding and Starfruit (249)

Jill Sims seen to the right here reminded us today on facebook that there is only 8 more days till her big wedding date July 24th...Seen in this picture at a recent shower in her honor in Lexington where the wedding will be held....Jill will be beautiful bride...Marrying Mathew Tutt a handsome practicing Doctor in Lexington as well...Or at least will be when they return from a great honeymoon east of the Atlantic Ocean. It should be at least for me the "social event of the season", no doubt the largest wedding I may ever attend...
Off to the left of the picture is her mother otherwise known in these pages as 'sweet pea', now you know where Miss Sims gets here gorgeous good looks, and what keeps this old horsey at least 'trotting'....oh by the way the wedding reception is being held at the race track there in Lexington...should be quite a day...They are a very attractive couple and I know Susan is planning on them being fabulous parents some day ahead. Click on the title so go to their personal website.....

Off to the far right you will see a picture of the starfruit I grew this past year on my little 35 foot wide piece of Florida sand...Now today I received this picture from George Main my neighbor across the street...George also has a even larger Carambola tree which is the real name for starfruit...Anyway I am not going to spend a lot of ink on this as I see not too long ago I did a story about it and maybe used the same picture...this is what happens as people age, so get used to it...


And as an update for those of you following my rehab about my new knee...
Yesterday I road my bike on a 7 mile loop and did real well...should have iced it when I got home but I forgot....next time I will, again this is what happens as we age...but went to rehab today, my man John told me I was doing well...I did have to beg off on some of the one leg lifts he tried to get me to do...I should never have told him I was 65, sometimes lying can come back to haunt you...

Visiting Yesterday (248)

I am involved in organizing a Marine Reunion in our nations capitol next month and today sending out a final letter about it to the surviving Marines of my old platoon seen to the right. It all happened 54 years ago this summer in San Diego California.

Of the 75 in our platoon about 15 have died, about 10 could not be found but about 50 are still kicking and some of us will gather and visit the sites of DC, Two Marine Corps bases, one at Quantico Virgina just south of DC and the oldest Marine Base of all located very close to the Capitol building called "8th and I"...it is a small base just blocks from the main part of DC...The Marine Corps Commandant lives on the base in the oldest government residence in DC. It was built in 1801 at the request of our 3rd President Thomas Jefferson who helped lay it all out, and remains and is the home of the Presidents own Marine Band and two crack rifle companies of 400 US Marines that handle all kinds of stuff from service at the White House to burial details at Arlington Cemetery to possible riot control in DC should it ever be necessary and let us hope it does not. They also do a great parade on Friday nights during the summer at the base and we will be in attendance on the last parade of the summer of 2010. It is held after Sunset and rightfully called the "The Evening Parade". Click on my title here for link to the Parade.


We will stay in the Hotel on the base at Quantico and be witness to all kinds of training happening on that base, probably be the last gathering of our platoon. It will be fun to once again touch the roots of our past, see Marines do what Marines do so well and what bonds us together..Oh single picture of me here is the very best "john wayne" imitation I could muster....Gee I may even get motivated to do a blog story about this reunion some day, ya think?

Semper Fi.!

P.S. I see here below an add for Stryker Knee Replacement, the kind I have and find it funny that when I visit a friend this afternoon at Clarian Hospital that he was lying in a Stryker Hospital bed....guess you had to be there...

Lafayette Rehab Services (247)

If you click on the title it will take you too Lafayette Rehab's website. The place where this patient is getting what I feel is good guidance to get me back healthy again as far as my new knee is concerned.

More later will have a picasso of pictures to the right but right now I have a happy hour I need to be enroute too....

Happy Hour was at the Nursing home I resided in a couple weeks back after the surgery, so not totally exciting but it is unique in that a nursing home would have a happy hour every Friday and actually offer beer and wine to the residents...Anyway the day they had it my doctor said he would prefer I not partake being on heavy pain pills...So I did not but did promise them, I shall return when I am walking good and able to drink a beer with you all...By the way I was impressed as after 3 weeks most of the help called me by name...

OK back to the topic of the day my rehab center I am currently attending twice a week. And my therapy guy who I feel is one of Lafayette's best, John Edwards....In the photo here you will see us both...Interesting as I had this same Mr. Edwards when I did therapy two years ago at the same location after my orthoscopic surgery on the same knee...Doc told me then that the next step when I decided would be replacement, he was right, bone on bone can only be tolerated for a while....
But anyway I like their therapy I am receiving there and I like the fully equipped with lots of devices to challenge one in many ways...The weight machine where I lie on my back and push out is one I like the least well actually it is not so back until he tells me to put my good leg down and only now use my recently operated on leg to do it all...That does hurt and I think causes some swelling each time afterward...especially yesterday...we may have to negotiate the amount of weight next week maybe...But unlike the nursing homes rehab center which essentially had practically no equipment this one has it all and thus I feel like maybe I am getting better therapy...

All in all with a little over a month now behind me I am getting along pretty well. As you can see in the picasso of pictures to the right if the one of my knee that it is looking a lot better...less swollen and scar not nearly as noticable. I see my Doctor again on the 27th and I hope by then I am nearing the end of the therapy...Probably will always be needed in a small amounts but sure will be good to get back to close to normal...it is getting a tad boring and I see how some could get into trouble thinking you were maybe "good enough" and just slack off a lot and not do it...

About three days ago I started to want to nap a lot and seemed to have lost my energy level...I told sweet pea about it and right away she asked me about my Hemoglobin levels...I had a blood test a couple weeks ago so I had that and it was somewhat low..I guess being married to a Doctor and working for him in the office has made her aware of symptoms and she advised me to call my Doctor and relay to him that I was pretty tired and lost my pep...I did and he told me to pick up overcounter some Ferrous Sulfate 325mg tablets...I did that and I think after taking the second one today that I am less tired and a little more peppy....Its I guess an iron supplement and seems to have put a little spark back into me....

Well that's it for another week the patient is progressing and progressing well...thank you....

Scar High Beans and Recouping well (246)

Three weeks ago today I got my new knee, time does fly and I am getting along well with the recovery rehab process I have going. And now walking well enough without the walker or cane to moasy across my soybean fields today to check for weed presence....And I noticed that my beans are now taller than the scar on my knee...so I guess I got "Scar High Beans before the forth of July", and off to the right here you see my corn is also pretty darn tall for it still being June 29th. But the corn is ready for Sex in the Corn Field here next week...the tassels are coming out, that the males and the silks or the ear is emerging from the stalk, that is the female...and next week the two of them will do their little mating muster and corn will be the result of all that oohing and aahing out there...

Am doing my exercises for the knee 3 to 4 times a day as my therapist tells me at Unity I need to do...Yesterday I went in for my bi weekly appointment with him..he put me on a bike and told me not to worry that I could not make a full revolution but to stop and go the other way until it hurt again...He left for a bit and by the time he returned I had gone over the top and was making the full rev's on the bike and it felt good...I tried my real bike today but am not quite ready for that..it hurt a little and just did not want to make it all the way around...am content to wait until it is easy, then I will resume my bike riding maybe as soon as next week I hope. I mowed with my riding mower today and that went real well probably mowing about 2 acres getting ready for the 4th of July celebration here at the pond...

Cooler temps have hit the midwest today and the AC is off and windows open again...I think it will last a day or two or more we will see..
I may wrap this up here and slip on my swim gear and try a swim in the pond, probably good for the old knee and the new one also...

Shopper Chopper and Great Grandson Grant (245)

Well there I am to the right side here, my Shopper Chopper idling in the Express Lane, as I wait to check out with my grub. I sure hope it was my first and last ride on one of those. Lots of places in my store where they are not 'chopper friendly'. you get manuering between end displays and some times you find you can not continue on and have to back out. I have seen people on these backing up with disgusted looks on their faces, now I know why...But all in all it was good to have as I had several items to pick up. But I hope next trip I am back to the pushing cart.

Had a good fathers day, my kids all stopped by with food in hand and we ate some of it and now I have "must goes" to enjoy the rest of the week. Grandaughter Mandy showed up from Georgia with husband Naval Officer Eric and my new Great Grandson Grant in tow....was good to see them, especially Grant as it was our first meeting....We hit it right off, and things we like to do in common...Like setting and grinning at each other, we were big on that, my bad dream the other night about him taking all the doors in my house off the hinges, were slightly premature I guess...he ain't even crawling yet so until he shows up some day wearing a 'tool belt', I am just going to relax.

Babies kind of look a little bit like everyone it seems, so just for fun the picasso of pictures off to the right will include one of myself taken a long long time ago...I think maybe a gene or so may have showed up in this guy, but you never know for sure till they get grown up I guess. Looking ahead to the day he catches a bluegill in the pond and swings off the rope into the water but not wanting it to happen real soon, time flies fast enough all by itself. Don't be afraid to click on the pictures of Great Grandson Grant and Great Grandpa to enlarge them for a better look at this handsome pair...

GOING HOME (244)

Yep tomorrow noon this "ressy", is out of here....It has been a good stay at the Creasy Springs 'brand new' Nursing Home. My brother and my sister in law and sweet pea, and her dog 'buddy', and Jeff all visited tonight and as they were leaving my bro Larry said why was it that years ago something was 'brand new', like a car for instance...I suggested well sometimes people would buy a demo maybe with 5000 miles on it, still to them a current year new car, no one knew if they did not look at the odometer...but if like my dad it was not a demo then it could be labeled 'brand new'..or in some cases you could even add that it was 'brand spankin new', now that my friends was 'NEW'and I mean new...

Ok back to my happy day tomorrow, I do think I am ready...tonight I graduated my self from my walker to a cane, kind of like the one Grandpa Lahrman had back in the 40's, I bet he had a bad left knee too but they did not fix them back then you just hobbled around and glad you still had your leg. Anyway I took a lap down the hallway past a few rooms turned around and made my way back with the cane. Yep I test drove it and things went well so I do think I am ready...I could stay 6 more days on Medicare and help with the stimulus but the helping would cost the tax payers an equal amount, so what would we have gained...Oh my gosh it just dawned on me that our Presidents genius stimulus idea does the same dam thing...spends it but then we tax payers pay for it...gosh don't make a whole lot of sense does it now?

Well anyway on the way home I need a prescription filled and some TV dinners so for the first time I will get to ride in one of those electric shopping carts...wow I am looking forward to that...hopefully my first and last time I will need those things. I see a lot of people using them, that I sometimes mumble to myself that they probably don't really need it and may actually need some exercise to boot...but I know I am sometimes wrong in that judgment call...Then Susan will drive me past a couple of my fields of corn and beans and I will marvel at how they have grown the last 11 days I have been 'away'......

My leg is still swollen and bruised but I think I am 'as expected', and will continue to do better each day. I will be able to shower as I have done here by myself, dress myself, the main challenge will be to not over do it and not allow myself the proper 'healing time'.........Also I will miss the pampering that the staff here has offered me and I will even miss seeing some of the residents I have come to know.....But, all in all we all know there is "just no place like home"...

Obama says Gulf Coast needs Tourism? (243) and landing on the Hudson

Doing better today in my role as a "Ressy" (Nursing home Resident)...I learned a lot the last couple days. Enough that I think I will leave here soon and recoup at home. But what I learned the last couple days are 'my boundries', that I have them and what they are. Two days ago I got to feeling pretty good, and I dropped the ball, I kind of forgot of what I had done to get me there...I quit elevating, putting on ice, even took relatives on tours of the Premo Nursing Home here...that night and yesterday I paid for that mistake. Yesterday was a day of starting over from square one and again today, I am trying real hard to stay alert as to what I should and should not do...So learning these important lessons I think I will move myself to the graduation phase and save Medicare a little money and check out of here soon. Sorry to say I am still bound to the "slow learner" label...Once I get it, I am good to go, but it seems I always have to "get it" first, I always have to learn the 'hard way'....It's just me and I am satisfied with that, better than never getting it.....ha

So I have been lying here thinking now that of the Mr. Obama repeatedly saying that the best thing Americans can do is get on down there to the gulf states and enjoy a vacation...And I lie here and wonder, if that is so why are we not seeing 'very special' offers on vacations there...and why is not the media telling us of such offers???? It seems as though the Hotel, the Airlines, all of those who benefit would be all over this...Do I have to think of everything???? Double Ha....

And lastly today is kind of some excitement for you...off to the right or just clicking on today's title will also take you there...It will take you to a birds eye view of the excitement that must have been felt the day that plane hit those birds and then landed in the Hudson river....Go ahead I promise it all comes out OK, click on the link and take a ride with the good pilot that saved the day and many lives...

Being Cautious and slower and my therapist "Darshan Patel" (242)

Did not realize it till last night after Sharla and Jeff had dinner with me that I may have done a couple things wrong yesterday. 1. I may have overdone the mobility yesterday. 2. I for sure under done the care yesterday. I did not elevate at all yesterday and today the cooling machine and elevation is going to be my game plan. By doing so I expect to feel a lot better this evening and tomorrow perhaps. I obtained this advice from my trainer in therapy and from a couple phone calls I made to friends...and it just feels good doing it, so why not? I just got a little careless yesterday, hopefully with advice I am today on top of the situation. Just finished a half hour on my 43 degree water machine and keeping it elevated I am just resting and may be tempted to take a little nappy poo here just anytime...so if you see something here like ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// well its not code blue here at Creasy Springs its just little boy blue slipping away to some zzzzz time....

I like my therapist Darshan Patel, he is a native from India. He is pretty good, his English is pretty good also. When I stopped to snoop this place before coming here I asked to see the therapy room since that is why I am here basically...He was there and our first couple exchanges were not great, my lazy ears did not quite pick up what he was saying. I worried about that mentioning it to sweet pea that, "maybe I would luck out and not get him for therapy".

Well as you see, and actually I "did" still luck out, and I got Darshan for my therapy work. Good pic of him here and since he is today's topic that is all that needs to be. Darshan tries really hard in his work, his English is actually very good, he has it pretty well mastered, once I got my lazy ears paying attentions and then used to the accent that he does have. So we can communicate and his abilities in this field of therapy I believe are pretty good. Now I realize I don't have a lot of comparison to base my assessments on, but I do know this his heart is in the right place, he tries really hard to assess each day what I have going on and need for improvement...So one at this point maybe a novice, but I think he will do just fine....He is busy too I have seen him handle 2, 3 or even 4 of us at the same time and stay focused on what we were up too...I think Creasy Springs here made a 'good hire', the day he came on board....

Putting and recoverying at Creasy Links (241)

Well that may be a bit of stretch but there is a putting green here and believe it or not I did sink this 12 foot putt that you see happening. Warren my therapy manager's ball followed mine into the same cup...Life goes on....

Matter of fact I told Warren just today, "if you want this place to really rock you need a beach"...he thought my idea may even have merit or at least he humored me and listened...Yep I can see it right now take a commons area out there outside that is just boring rock and shrubs and add a couple tri axle loads of beach sand..Maybe a sign saying "no diving", room for a couple beach lounge chairs in the sand...Maybe add a little pond with water lillies, couple frogs, hey maybe get USDA over here and declare it a "wetland"...Although that, probably not a good idea, you get government involved and then flexibility free thinking is out the window...Yeal better to keep it private and just let your imagination run, but can you not appreciate the marketability of saying, "come to Creasy Springs Health Campus, where on a good day you can not only sink a few golf putts, but even go to the beach"....and all that on top of premium dining and care....

The Rehabing of the new knee (240)

I have now landed in a upscale nursing home here in Lafayette. Creasy Springs if you click on the title above it will take you directly to the website for them. It is just across the road from the hospital where I had my knee work done. The food is good we had prime rib for lunch, topping that off with a small dish of chocolate ice cream. But actually the hospital spoiled me...it was nicer than this in that you ordered from a menu also but a wider range of entrees....but its pretty good at least there is choices and some nursing homes are more like Marine Corps chow halls in days of old where everyone got the same thing..

Needed a nap right now so will finish this later on maybe...
OK Dinner over, Jack is Back...........I think they got me on something called Percocet and it is a great pain pill...When I pop one of those my pain is pretty well gone and I can just really get into a good sleep...The kind of rest one dreams of when one is run down and loaded up with things going on. And the best part of it for me is there is nothing here to do so no reason not to just really get into this rest and recouperation...Nice generous thundershower moving through the area right now. I see all next week in the mid to high 80's so we are going to have yet another "happy corn week" coming up...No doubt about it corn will be tassled out by the 4th of July, should be a good corn year and a great sweet corn year to boot.

I had two therapy sessions here today one on the knee area and one upper body weight work...it felt good and allowed my two therapist to dip into the Medicare till. I get the day off tomorrow so will work on some exercises on my own and then Mon through Friday I will be doing two sessions at least each day.....by end of the week I should hopefully be showing some signs of recovery....

Lastly today notice the putting green here that sold me on coming here...not that I am a big golfer, not even a little golfer but telling people my nursing home has a putting green area is just pretty cool...look at the pictures to the right, there I am trying it out right after "check in".............

Half Effort and half attitude.....I like that (239)

Some good soul left a comment on yesterdays blog to me about rehabilitation...I like it saying that recovery is half physical and half attitude.....Gosh I think it is so true, you can not get around it, no pain, no gain...I know it will be painful and get old doing all the stuff they want you to do but I also have been tipped off by my GP Doctor Watson that a successful joint replacement surgery is 10% surgery and 90% therapy...so I am ready and welcome what ever they want me to do for however long I need to do it...I want a new knee not a mess and I think I got my moneys worth on the 10% part with great doctors. Now it is up to me to attain success with my effort and I think my friend is right on the money about that 90% maybe being 45% effort and 45% attitude....

So today off to the right is a scar to be proud of don't you think? No wimpy scar here, he said I had a 'big' knee to remove so I guess it took some manuvering room to cut that baby out of there and install the replacement. The scar needs to be big enough to do the job right...and notice those black lines drawn perpendicular to the scar...is that not smart or what...he drew those on there before the cut was made so when it was time to staple it together that it all lined up....I liked that too, otherwise you could end up with extra stuff on one end maybe....

Today therapy had me walk all the way to the end of the hall...it went well they even complimented me by calling me an over achiever, at least I took it that way.
The cooling machine on my knee is great for holding down swelling circulates 43 degree water around the scar most of the day...I take it off now and then for maybe a half hour or so...sleep with it all night....

The new hospital here is plush, love ordering my meals from the menu anytime I want...sticking to healthy stuff though, although tempting I do know what is good for me...I like the menu as it has carb scores by each thing you can order..helps a dummy like me.. I get to stay two more nights here and then they kick me out, but wait till you see where I am going next...it will make an interesting blog story...
Well got to hit the bathroom and then order my delicious dinner...so far me and knee are getting along just great, getting to know each other one step at a time....

An eventfull Marvelous Day (238)

I slept like a baby last night, cool outside windows open, slight breeze, AC OFF, you know you go to sleep counting nickels being saved and looking forward to a "new knee" tomorrow.....

Well tomorrow came and it was instant stress when I realized I had not taken my two coumadin tablets that are needed before surgery...I took one Sunday night but just plain forgot about the two for Monday night...I called the hospital they said with 5 hours to go before surgery take them now with a little water...down the hatch they went, stress was gone. Reported to St. Elizabeth hospital at 10 with all my gear, and by maybe 10.30 they had me relaxed in surgery prep room...at 11 they were done with 2 hours to wait before the old knee goes bye bye and the new one says, "here I am Jack, lets roll"....

Dr. Daluga, Lafayette's very best joint replacement surgeon came in the room to talk to Susan, Sharla and I at about 12. Probably had done maybe 3 already and headed for lunch..He said see ya soon...Well what he meant was he would see me, as I kind of went out fairly soon after they gave me something to relax me, yeal right...
Oh almost forgot Dr. Fisher Lafayettes very best anesthesiologist, came in maybe a half hour later...wanted to know if I wanted to go to sleep or stay awake with a spinal block? I thought about it for bit and then said, "would I be able to watch TV"?, he said "probably not,but you will hear all the sawing noise", so I chose to get knocked out...Daughter Sharla remembered that I was a half lung short of two lungs which I had kind of forgotten, he then fished out of me that I may have a little gas reflux and gave me something for that...Then he had the prep room nurse slip me the mickey and I never saw either one of them again....

But these guys are artist as I woke up in recovery about 3 not the least bit droggy or sick....moved to my nice room on 3rd floor at about 4, had a great dinner and conversations with my sweet pea and Sharla and Jeff...Got a great nurse Jacob whom I forget and call Jason at which he calls me John instead of Jack....Took a walk with my walker down the hall and into the bathroom twice so far...I tell you this day has just been up hill all the way since I got permission to down the coumadin tabs....

Tomorrow may bring some pain but not today it's near 10 PM so maybe I better post this and get some shut eye....But so far, things have went marvelous, prayers I think were answered and Healthcare has been delivered to me on a Silver Platter......

Going Under the Knife (237)

Soon I will be under the knife and my old worn out knee will be removed and in its place will be a shiny new stainless steel I imagine replacement. At least that is what the one I played with in the Doctors office looked like while waiting on his appearance in the room. I am looking forward to the operation and the recovery from it in days ahead. My GP Doc tells me that the surgery is only 10% of the procedure not to take anything away from the surgeon for sure but what he was stressing was that the effort I put forth in the recovery process is maybe 90% of the total outcome...

So that in mind I will work hard and welcome the pain and deal with it if it comes. No pain, no gain they say and medications I guess will help a lot with that. God willing this will all go well and I will be in better condition for years ahead because of it....

But I am not going in alone. My laptop and my camera are accompanying me along this journey and I will try and do a post or two from the front lines of health care being delivered to me, good or bad I will report it. The crops are all looking good no more weddings or reunions until late July and August so the time is right to repair damage and get ready for more good things ahead. I recall of late my dad saying many many times when I would jump off a loaded hay wagon instead of climbing down carefully, "Son someday you will wish you had not done that". And I guess he was so darn right. He was always so darn right, cause he cared as we all do about our kids and grandkids. But one thing never changes, young people think they pretty much have it all figured out and don't really count what parents say for much. I wish I had of I guess but on the other hand if I had I would not be headed for this experience and this unexplored source of blog stories....Prayers are always good..thanks..................................

First Poppy and Happy Corn Week (236)

They don't last long but they sure are pretty and eye catching...and as I mention below the picture this is a lucky poppy too. You see last year about this time sweet pea made an honest mistake. I do have a few thistle in my flower bed and poppy leaves do look very similar to thistle...So guess what this poppy was plucked out root and all and lying in the lawn...I was sad but hey it was a very honest mistake and she felt really bad about it when I told her I had rescued this poppy from Bennett's dried up late in the season close out sale..It was like an orphan, dried up almost dead and not body wanted it...but I seen a little green on it and the price was cheap so I brought it and another one home. They both lasted for maybe 5 years then a couple years ago the larger one just died. This one held on but not real healthy last year and even less healthy the day we pulled thistle.

But about 3 weeks ago, miracle of miracles, up it pops from the root down deep I guess she did not get all of the root and it was exciting. I immediately gave it a doze of miracle grow, one miracle deserves another I always say, and it has responded well...and today in late May under sunny skies and temps in the 70 and 80's the big green bud exploded into brillance as you can see....It is back....

And the rest of the story of this gorgeous week ahead is that this is the first truly "happy week" for the Indiana Corn Crop. Yes it will be, you see corn absolutely loves 86 degrees. Agronomist tell us that corn just is really really happy when it is at or near 86 degrees....and guess what they are saying all this week in the mid 80's....My corn is just getting its 4th and some the 5th leaf. Wow with these temps and sunshine and plenty of moisture in the ground, you may, you just may "hear" the corn grow...I would say by weeks end I will see maybe the 7th leaf unfurled from the center of the plants. And they like the poppy will be all very very happy and will be most likely shoulder high by the forth of July.....

Lovin Arizona even more now (235)

I wish there was a Marine Corps base in Arizona, because if their was I would try and change our Marine Reunion in August from DC to Arizona. But for sure some day I will pass through and I will take my time going through. Maybe spending a couple extra days at the Grand Canyon, maybe a couple more in the desert...And I will be darn sure to fill my 100 gallon diesel tank in that state before I leave. I admire them for doing what our federal government has not been doing and that is try and enforce the laws on illegal citizens being in our nation...I watched with disgust again today as our President again ridiculed this law about to go into affect. What is with this current bunch of loonies in our national government. Is it just me or are others taken back but what they do almost each and every day of this long long 4 years we have to indure, because a lot of people were hoodwinked by the super duper unkeepable promises made to get him elected????????

I do hope that many people will patrionize that state this next year. I hope many conventions being planned will give these patriots priority as to where they hold their converntions this next year...They deserve our support and surely have mine....
Go Arizona, hold true to your cure for what ails these border states. And I hear that Indiana and several other states will soon follow suit with similar laws...I surely hope they will...

Back to Reality and hard work.(234)

Don't todays political climate just about make you sick at times? Boy it does me and then I see something refreshing I just gleaned off of facebook of a newsclip of the governor of New Jersey. Watch it and tell me if I am wrong thinking this guy is refreshing?

On the other hand we have an administration in DC currently that is making fun of the state of Arizona for trying to enforce laws the federal government refuses to do...That surely is not refreshing is it? That is just plain disgusting...this same bunch of baffoons has trouble in calling terrorism what it is and labeling terrorist as extremist...they like to do the kind of things this governor is talking about, beat around the bush to not offend anyone...Man this kind of Chicago two step dancing is just about enough to make one a little ill....

OK that is your reality dose for the day, the wedding was great last weekend but the reality of this pussy footing politics we have going on brings one back in a hurry. Oh by the way this story about the wedding had more hits the last 3 days than any story I have ever posted so far...So I guess maybe we have a couple popular kids here that got married last week.

Hard work has moved back in on me out of necessity. Not the farming the farming is coming along picture perfect so far this year. All the crops are up and going at it.
But I have a knee replacement scheduled the first of June and I still have some tile work to get laid in a bathroom before then...I have put it off long enough and I have been told that after a new knee one has trouble being on one's knee's for a spell...So work is needed here for a few days but I will take a break now and then and catch up on the oil leak, the next to the last shuttle mission, the President and his men's pure political games and then the fun of watching how CNN and MSNBC just admires the hell out of whatever this guy does and reports it that way and then fox news reporting more on what is really going on from both sides of the issue...I have to admit it is both entertaining and highly troubling...but what is a guy to do?
Work hard, stay healthy, enjoy life and party when you can...I have another wedding to go to Saturday evening...It is also a big one in Indy of my great niece Amanda Moore...should be big fun...

Clint an Karie's Wedding (233)

I have a new grand daughter in law, Karie Poffitt Sheets, married my grandson last Saturday evening in Wabash Indiana. Karie's hometown and church, but married by Pastor Deke Jones of the Dayton Methodist Church, where they have been attending. Karie is one great gal, my grandson was a lucky man the day he attracted this little lady. But Clint is a fine young man as well, and they will make a fine couple for what ever lies ahead for them. It was really a fun wedding for all who attended it for sure. Well planned, a great rehearsal and the dinner after, and then a really super wedding.

The church was packed, every seat taken for the event, and it all went like clockwork. Well except for a little humor added when Pastor Deke accidentally had Karie take Clint to be her wife, but that was quickly corrected, and she took him to be her husband before the ink dried..

It took a while for them to dismiss each and everyone with a hug, but that is such a nice touch and we all enjoyed our chance to tell them it was great and wish them the best. Then we headed to the Charley Creek Inn, a newly reopened 1920 hotel with all kinds of character. Once we got everyone in the basement also packed, the big celebration began. The dinner was great, and I guess after that it was time to party, cause party we did, as you will notice in the picasa of pictures to the right that takes you from the pictures taken before the wedding, a smart idea I think, up to the time we all called it a night.

Clint, Karie, it was a wonderful wedding and we wish you a great honeymoon, enjoy it and enjoy your marriage each and every day...You have both done marvelously well...

A couple foot notes...if you click on the pictures to the right they will enlarge for you...Also I want to add that Pastor John Walls is recouping from a bout with cancer and was the intended to marry Clint and Karie. He has temporarily lost his voice and could not attend. We wish him well, I know God will heal him and he will be back with being used by HIM soon...But we surely missed having him do the honors but the Dekester did a marvelous last minute replacement job....

The Raised Garden (232)

Sweet Pea and I built it about a week or so ago. It turned out pretty nice as you can see off to the right here in the Piccaso of Pictures of it. We worked real hard on it using the level quite often to keep it, you guessed it "level"....

Anyway its not that hard you just start at the low point in the lawn if you have a slope and you go both ways and if your lucky like we were the two sides come together, "level"...

Anyway there it is and its all planted in Strawberries, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Peppers, Okra, Cantalope, Squash, Radishes, Spinach, Onions and green beans...it looks small but there is a lot of stuff planted in it and maybe this size garden I will take care of all year long. I remember a few years back having a pretty good size garden with a big tiller and they always start out looking real ambitious and neat and then the weeds come and the heat and you head for the shade and hope no one will notice.

But this garden, I think being close to the house, will be taken care of by someone, that someone is left to be seen but maybe two someone's will want to take care of it a bit who knows. Also it is close to a garden hose for watering when the dry weather comes and the heat. I think it will be fun and we probably will get a lot of vegetables to eat from it...Cost effective will may take a few years to recoup the 330 bucks for the landscape block. But the soil and the labor was free and the wear and tear on the level was very minimal for sure..

Have a great and joyfull day out there...this weekend my grandson Clinton Sheets is getting married to a very pretty inside and out gal named Karie Proffit. No doubt grandpa will be packin a camera and it just may be a blog story coming up...

Cinco De Mayo (231) and Senator Coats

The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, The 5th Of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico, and especially in U.S. cities with a significant Mexican population. It is not, as many people think, Mexico's Independence Day, which is actually September 16.

So my fellow Americans, if they only celebrate it in one state in Mexico and the rest of the states don't give a rat's ass about it, then why in the heck do we in this nation give it even the time of day?

Go Figure.......well glad I did not buy a whole car load of fireworks and go out to a Mexican restaurant tonight...

And I see our goof ball President who will not observe the national day of prayer tomorrow is celebrating Cinco De Mayo tonight with a special celebration at the White House....some how I am not surprised....

And lastly congrats to Dan Coats the next Senator from Indiana, I hope....He is a good man..I regretted it when he chose to retire 12 years ago imposing term limits on himself...He was a good Senator and will be again....

The Dayton Alumni (230)

Yes, it rolled around again, the first of May always on a Saturday night they gather.
At the Trails usually, the dying breed, the survivors of the Dayton Indiana High School, first the happy hour which at least gets half of them talking while the other have listens...Then comes the great meal and then the part where they introduce everyone in the room...Then some honored classes like the 50 year class and the 60 year class...always different each year the people I mean, but really about always the same...about the same stories and about the same memories.

I keep going every year for fear they will do something different and I will miss it.
Last year was sweet pea's first year to attend with me...she said it was more boring than watching paint dry...I told her she was missing something, how could it be that boring and I attend 90 some percent of the time???? This year when it started she said, "hey that's the same stuff they talked about last year isn't it"? I had to admit it probably was explaining to her that, "hey it's a small town", "there is not a lot of stuff every happened and in most cases it just happens over and over again"...She looked at me and gave me a sympathetic look. But about that time she happened to spot her Principle Mr. Charlie McDonald who she said she did like and that gave her a whole new assessment of DHS...actually it was his wife that attended Dayton not him but I did not tell her that as she was quickly upgrading her interest in what was going on...We sat at a table with my brothers and sister and in laws and nephew Bill Patton from California....he of course is here for his mother Florence Patton's funeral and I got him a late reservation for this BIG annual festivity...He was so grateful I think he may have slipped out without paying for it...But they will eventually track him down if he did...we have great secretaries and treasurers...

It was a great school to attend, we are as we are told each year very lucky to have had such a good school with such good teachers and principles...maybe that is why I go each year just to hear it one more time, I don't know...I may not go next year, it is borderline boring even for me...surely they would not miss me...no graduates since 1965, so we are an "aging" group...each year they do a memorial for those passing that year...Maybe that is why I go to see who died, maybe that is it...Maybe I will go every other year for a while...I'll attend at least every 5 years for sure, someone has to be there at the last to turn out the lights....

My Sister Florence Patton (229)

On April 2, 2008 I wrote a story on this blog, quite a long one about my sister Florence. If you care to read it just type in Florence Patton on the search box on the left corner here and up it will pop....She was a young 92 then but has spent the last 2 years since in the Mulberry Nursing home. And the last year I know has not been good at all, and it is so sad when one gets to the point of being ready to pass on but the old body just hangs on for dear life and prolongs the passing. But I am told by my brothers that she quit eating about 10 days before and that usually is a sign that the end is not far ahead. Her four surviving sons and the rest of us will all miss her, but I know we are all comfortable with this turn of events that has sent her on to the life after joining her husband, her son Tom and her parents and sisters and brother that went before her. Going to keep this short if you have the time try and pull up my story of two years ago about her. Her son Jim took this picture with his cell phone awhile back..it is pretty good of her.

My First Tea Party (228)

Last week I think it was Tax Day I left a perfectly good working corn planter for a couple hours to attend my first Tea Party. Folks were giving speeches and lots of signs to see and lots of flags. I do think this T Party movement is good for our nation. People are waking up to the fact of our responsibility in government. Not to take care of everyone like the clowns in DC would like to do, but to take care of the business of sending to Washington people who will be about the basic business of our government. Downsizing it, repealing the boondoggle healthcare bill, maybe getting us out of NAFTA, and all this envolvement with climate control and foreign aid to everyone. I mean we have been led down the garden path the last 30 years or so thinking our representative were doing a good job. Actually they like all of our government enities have just taken on a life of their own. It is true government it seems likes to grow and do more things so they can grow even more. Trouble is someone has to pay for this stuff and that someone is all of us. We have allowed ourselves to spend ourselves into oblivian a we probably have a very limited amount of time to correct this and reverse this process...I hope the American people will be up to the task...

But I would not be surprised with the Washington arrogance of fixing everything for everybody all over the world that maybe they will pass an emergency bill to stop this volcano from erupting in Greenland...you know pass it, let Obama sign it and see what happens...it makes as much sense as climate control so give it a whirl...

An Open Primary Election (227)

Recently I heard of this idea, of an open primary election. If we were to adopt such a primary election all candidates of all parties would file for office and we would all have opportunity to vote for one or maybe even two of them. Then in the fall the two highest vote totals would oppose each other, regardless of political party. To me this just seems to make so much sense that the two most popular would be opposing each other for the job. No doubt the present two party system would oppose such a change because they would loose the power they hold over candidates. A lot of power would be in the hands of the candidates and the voters. But we as voters, the people with the power to elect like thinking people could make this happen. This could be tried on a state by state basis first, but then to extend this to a national primary would get pretty exciting. Think about it, the more you do the more sense it makes.
Maybe such an idea could be on the State ballot for a popular vote?

Yesterday was 3 years since my wife of 28 years, died. Last night I looked at pictures and listened to some cassette tapes. I swear it does not get any easier as time passes. But it is my choice I guess to remember as best I can on occasion, so maybe as time passes one tries less hard to remember, I don't know......

Daffodil Dam & Recreational Farming (226)

Fourteen years back this farmer was in Lowe's store in the fall and saw they had daffodil bulbs on sale..it was late in the year and they were trying to clear them out to make room for maybe Christmas stuff maybe. Anyway an idea hit me to buy maybe 200 of these things and plant them on the back side of the dam that I had just finished building. Maybe in the spring if it was covered with yellow flowers I used to refer to as "Easter lillies", but know better now they are daffodils. So harvest was over I had the time to plant them I figured. And I did just that but I think maybe I planted them about 6 inches deep or more and it must have been a little to much. They came up OK the next spring but not one bloom, just the spiky tops.

Well 14 years have passed and each year they come up but never a bloom. A couple times I thought what I should do is did them up and plant them more shallow...Well you know how that goes its easy to know what you should do but doing it is sometimes another matter. Much to my surprise last week as I walked around the pond spraying a little chemical to control algae I noticed some large yellow blooms. I thought well how about that finally one daffodil has decided to bloom. As I walked a little farther I then noticed maybe 20 or more clumps of blooming flowers...

The only think I can figure is time has done it for me maybe. I know as these bulbs grow they do produce other bulbs and maybe just maybe as they did that each year they moved up toward the surface and were shallower than the older ones. And finally this year the new bulbs must be shallow enough to do what daffodils are supposed to do this time of year...It was a nice surprise as you can imagine...
So if you click on the Picasso of pictures to the right and look closely you will see some of the Daffodils blooming right now on Daffodil Dam...And if you click on the picture it will bring up a larger version of them that reveals the pretty flowers I am trying to write about here.

The sign was a gift from a painter friend named John Getz who has passed away. Susan added fresh paint this year but the work and the words were John Getz who was an artist...I remember when we named the dam a lot of people kind of got a kick out of our choice of what to name the dam if it even needed named...Well we thought it did as we named about everything around here, the grain trucks the tractors they all had character and so they had names to maybe try and match that character....Daffodil Dam seemed to fit well what else after planting 200 daffodils that then never bloomed, until 2010, this year....

Farming season has started here. Many of my neighbors are out doing "recreational farming" I call it...they pull large equipment across the fields tearing it up leaving a trail behind them of freshly worked black soils..it does look nice and gives one a real sense of accomplishment...and it is not without merit its just that the cost of the machinery and fuel for some additional yield potential in my eyes is just not worth it...I love the "no tillage" system of farming that I and a few others are engaged in these days. I know for sure that the bottom line is about the same, some years it may be more so one way or the other one never knows...but I do know also that the soils need to be protected from erosion and with no tillage the residue from last years crop does hold the soil from eroding and being wind blown. I like the system and it allows me to do other things as I wait for the right weather and soil temperatures that will allow my seeds to get off to a good start....

So when you see these farmers recreating out there wave to them...there hearts are in the right place, they are as convinced that the system they are using is the right one as I am that it is not...

Happy Easter Everyone (225)

Happy Easter everybody out there. It is a great season for sure, as the price was paid by our saviors death on the cross but the thing we celebrate this day is not the death but the empty tomb they put him in. That is something to get kind of excited about it. You know the old saying none of us are going to get out of this alive?

Well that may be true but for some of us those who believe in Jesus as your Savior and what he did, well we are going to get out of this with eternal life in heaven...He showed us the way and extended it to us with his rising from the bonds of death...that is exciting and why we celebrate Easter....

So, wow it used to mean getting up Sunday morning to a basket full of green plastic grass chocked full of great candy to enjoy, not even thinking much about what we were celebrating...That was then, now its just thinking about what it means for all of us and maybe just a very small piece of candy...Reality sometimes just has a way of sneaking up on us does it not?

But in the end candy or not we do have a risen Savior to celebrate and an eternity to look forward too....Happy Easter see ya in heaven some day...

Takes a real Man to Apologize (224)

Here it is folks, I apologize to our wonderful President Obama. He truly is such a wonderful leader for our nation. We had no idea what we needed as a nation until this brilliant man came from nowhere, and told us that change is not only possible but if elected he would see to it. I was dead wrong this guy has it together, and along with Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, why they have done truly wonders for this nation. Even though we are doing it on borrowed money it is without a doubt all good...I mean what good is borrowed money if we don't just spend it for wonderful things for the American people?

And it does feel good to finally get this off my chest, I have been feeling this need now for quite sometime, that I need to join in and realize finally what a great leader the majority led us too. This new healthcare bill is going to make things so much better for all of us. The one they are working on now the global warming is so needed and will eventually pass when the stupid Republicans just "get it" and quite struggling to stop it. It also will be so good not only for us but the entire world if not the entire universe maybe. I say throw open the doors and just let it happen, amnisty for all, maybe legalize marijuana, lets get it on, why not, the only thing stopping us now from total freedom is nothing. We have the people in power to do the things we all know is best for us...

So there you have my sincere apology for having struggled with all of this for the past year...and also you have my sincere APRIL FOOL......

Yes I would never say any of this but on a day like April 1...

Are you a Generous Farmer? (223)

Probably you can count on one hand the farmers that visit this blog occasionally. But, regardless of the number, I want to do this post today on a "vehicle of giving", that I have come across and am currently using to the benefit of both myself and the benefactors of my giving.

If you click on the title here it will take you to the web site of this vehicle. It is called the "Foundation for Christian Stewardship". And basically how it works, and works well is a farmer can give an amount of grain to the Foundation, and then direct the foundation to give the money to the church or churches, and Missionaries or Ministries of his choice, as long as they meet basic standards set forth by the foundation.

Why do this you ask when I can just write a check for my giving desires and have it over with? Well glad you ask. By giving grain, you can still use the deductions for growing the grain in your farm expenses but you avoid paying federal and state and county income taxes and social security taxes on your giving amount. Because you don't report the value of the grain in your income nor do you report the value in a deduction on your tax papers. But it is legal to still report the cost of growing the grain within your farm expenses. What this means is that you can without costing you one red sent actually give maybe 30% to 50% more money to these organizations of your choice from a liberal viewpoint..Or from a conservative viewpoint you could give the same amount to your choices and actually cost you maybe 30% to 50% less...However you look at this and to what level a giver you want to be is of course up to the individual...I guess truthfully sometimes I look at it one way and sometimes the other maybe depending on how good a year I feel I am having.

I actually started doing this maybe 15 to 20 years ago after reading an article in the Indiana Prairie Farmer magazine on this subject. The article stated that the practice was legal and beneficial to all if one chose to do it. I began delivering a certain amount of grain to the grain terminal in the name of a certain church. I sometimes then directed the church to give a portion of it to maybe a missionary or two that I wanted to support. But some churches do not like to be involved in dispensing money to others in this way. But this foundation that I found this past year works so much better and is designed to do just what we wish to do and that is give a portion of what we have been blessed with back to the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Gifts of Grain is a service of the Foundation for Christian Stewardship. The local chapter is here in West Lafayette Indiana with a phone number of 765 807 2810 and its web site is

www.giftsofgrain.org

I just wanted to share this opportunity with my fellow farmers, I think perhaps there is opportunity to also do a similar thing with other types of property and stocks etc....Have a great day out there....

Consider forwarding this to any Christian farmer you may know that could benefit.

The 2010 Cowrolla...very safe...(222)

They say necessity is the "mother of invention" and I think Toyota has acted exspediantly and responsibly by rolling out their latest new car....This Cowrolla as seen to the right in the picture is not going to have any runaway or braking problems....I look for other companies to follow suite on this before years end...

Corney you say? Well yes, but we needed a chuckle and relief from the current day to day news stories...My buddy Jim sent this my way an hour ago so blame him if you think its a little on the lame side...

How about those Butler Bull dogs...beating Syracuse tonight and taking them into the final 8????? Gosh I hope they win again this week end and could finish in the final Four...Would be so cool for them to play right at home in Indianapolis next week....the hometown Cinderella....Go Butler

Spring has sprung for sure here in Indiana, today a Fed Ex truck dropped off three Persimmon trees and 3 exotic grape vines to be planted. Just what I probably did not need but remember how excited I get about persimmon pudding? You betcha and that's just about wild persimmons...Hold the phone when and if I ever get any big fancy Japanese varieties...One is even called Chocolate, man now that will be some kind of persimmon pudding for sure.

The grapes, well they will be fun never heard of any of these varieties so it will be fun to nurse them along and see what they look like and taste like a few years down the road....You would think with over 400 trees I have planted here that one would call it enough, but I guess not, always room for something new....

It's bed time in Hoosierland.....

A Heapin big Helpin of Communism (221)

Well today I watched Mr. Obama sign the Health Care Bill on TV. He laid it on pretty thick about how wonderful it all was...I wish he had told the truth and said, "here you go America, have a nice big heapin helpin of Communism"....

So a lot of Americans are probably feeling like, 'well maybe it will be OK'....Well America wait till you get the bill for this...Of course you won't find out the bill till after the fall elections, you did not elect idiots last election, just very liberal smooth talking politicians, smart enough to get past these mid term elections before we have to figure out how high the bill will be....

I wonder what is next, maybe cap and trade, immigration, hard to tell but rest assured they all one by one will be ways of spreading the wealth around...Yes these clowns are out to do that and do it well, call it what ever you want and like it if you like, but for me it's communistic and I for one don't like it at all...

But he did promise change and by golly were getting it....and the euphoria will prevail for some till we get the bills, hang onto your money folks as Uncle Sam will be calling....

Can you believe it? Our Congress????(220)

If pro is opposite of con, then what is the opposite of progress?
Congress!
Men's restroom House of Representatives,
Washington , DC

This was meant to be a joke but turns out as of maybe tomorrow it will be true...I can not believe that congress is about to pile this boondoggle of a health care bill upon us..We are steeped in debt that may very well take our financial system and all our finances DOWN....and they still insist on adding more red ink to our system...

And somehow passing this bill without actually having to vote on it???? Is that to keep voters from pinpointing who needs to be voted out??? I think so... Well my prayer will be if these liberally handicapped bazzoons pass this bill and the equally liberally handicapped President signs it into law that somehow the voters of the nation will have their day this fall and we retire these guys.

And then we urge the new class of legislators to repeal this mistake and while they are at it repeal the special benefits of being a member of congress....I would vote for or will vote for a man or women who states, "I am against the congress getting any type of special benefits"....

This whole system is reminding me of the Roman empire where these senators just all became little almost kings and the whole system came crashing down around them...Today one of Rome's attraction is the big broken down Collisium that still remains from a time when they would go there and enjoy watching Christians being ate by lions....Will some day a Capital Building collapsed be something that bears an equal reminder...I hope not but we are headed that way and congress is about to put their foot even more on the accelorator...

Whizzer Time and Fishing Time (219)

Just found this picture that relates I guess in a way to yesterdays story about two Whizzers...I see this picture was taken during my Whizzer ONE days...so it was the first vacation so far of my young life...taken on my 15th Birthday on a lake in Wisconsin on Aug. 25th 1953..My mother wrote on the bottom, (Phil, Jack and Ralph getting ready to go fishing)...So when it was taken I had enjoyed my Whizzer getting to work all summer in that first job...but prior to returning to school and then my not so hot encounter with the intoxicated gentlemen turning into the Dayton Cemetery in Oct. of 1953...

The handsome dude riging a fishing pole is Ralph Hengst, my brother in law and also his daughter Phyllis, mother of Rick and Kirk Callahan, and Roxy Winnings...A very fine lady who passed a few years ago from breast cancer. Matter of fact of all the people who were in this party my Parents, Sister Frances and Ralph and Phyllis, gosh they are all gone, all passed away. My dad just did not care for fishing at all, I don't think I ever seen him with a pole..I did see him shoot some carp once with a .32 calibur rifle in the stream in our farm...he liked shooting them instead of catching them...And come to think of it I saw him jump once into the steam with a pitch fork and spear some carp...he had his ways to get fish just not legally with a pole...Thank God he was not into dynomite.....

Anyway my love for fishing and maybe then passing that to some of my kids all came down from this man, Ralph Hengst, the best fisherman I ever knew, I think I said at Ralph's Funeral, "the best part about fishing with Ralph was watching Ralph Fish"...You just knew something was about to happen, he just knew where fish were and how to attract them...I picked it up a little as time when on and my son John has picked it up also, maybe better than I, but he also was trained by the master shown here...Not me so much, but Ralph...he was the best....This day and age he would have made good money as a fishing guide...His personality would have carried him even on the days the fish were not biting...I still think of the days not a lot but a few that he and my sister would stop by not too many years ago to fish in my pond, even then, things were about to happen when he picked up a pole....