Well I surely am not going to admit that I went to upper Michigan mushroom hunting and came back skunked, nor will I admit I am not out planting the last of the beans because the ground is still too damp, but I will take this opportunity to enjoy and share some pictures from my son showing my Pastor and my little Grand Daughters Brook and Haylee.
All of my grandchildren have captured my heart of course but this preacher has also.
It all started about twenty years ago I was making some hay and a friend Don Miller showed up to buy some out of the field and he said I brought our new pastor along as he has horses and wants some hay also...The preacher was a joy to meet and although not my preacher I felt I had not seen the last of this guy...
A land fill was attempting to go in not far from my house and in the Dayton area, most were against it of course, and a big meeting of the Area plan commission was held one night not long after at the Mars theater in Lafayette so as to hold the crowd that was expected. In line to speak against it was this Dayton preacher I had met...I am thinking, what is he going to say. His turn finally came, and although I think a lot of the APC members were for siteing the land fill in the county when he was done speaking to them and I can not even tell you what he said, but he did quote scripture a little, but mostly he just talked to them from the heart about doing the right thing. Anyway when the vote came about the first couple of them said jokingly, "well, I sure as heck ain't gonna be voting against GOD", and that seem to set the pace and I think the vote went unamamous to not allow the land fill in the area at all. I suggested to Linda driving home and she agreed maybe we should visit this church....
Not long after we did and I am a firm believer in the work of the HOLY SPIRIT in guiding us in what we are comfortable with and in telling us when things "ring true"...I firmly believe this when I hear preachers talk some things don't ring true, very much of that and I leave those pews empty and search for a new church with a preacher who does say what my heart and mind, thanks to you know who, tell me is ringing true. I also believe if allowed to do so that this same "HOLY SPIRT", the third person of the trinity can guide and lead a good man of GOD preacher...I think this is happening most of the time with Pastor John Walls of the Dayton Indiana Methodist Church...Linda told him once he preached like a Baptist some times...I think what she meant was you are not the norm of Methodist preachers and he is not.....Any way he is human of course some times I have not even liked him but not often and not for long.....He has a way of getting back on your "fond list", if you give him half a chance...
But in the pulpit when he is in his element, and relaying what GOD has placed on his heart he is 95+ some percent of the time dead on the money, and ringing as true as what I know true to be.....That feeds my soul and encourages me to go and do likewise when opportunity knocks....I wish all could hear the same in all churches each week... It could be why he has taken this church with the help of a lot of good Christians that make up this church from less than 100 to 650...
One more thing he did his first weeks in Dayton was to knock on every door in the town and invite all to attend the church...Now Linda liked to refer to it as the Church of "what's happening now", south of the tracks.....funny but true....
Any way a lot of time he heard no, we don't like getting dressed up and getting up early on Sunday...Guess what???? He started a late service on Sunday and made it casual dress and to make them comfortable he changes from the suit he preaches in at 8 am to blue jeans an cowboy boots....They get the same message and the service is by far the largest of the two....
One of the pictures to the right says "born 150 years late"...That may be true, he would have loved to have been a circut riding preacher that went from town to town on horse back delivering the gospel to early settlers....But for the people in this neck of the woods, the present day "settlers", were glad he was not....
That's my preacher...as long as that HOLY SPIRT keeps saying, Yes its ringing true.....
PS... Today would have been Linda's 61st birthday. In grieveing class they taught us to prepare for these days and to not get "blindsided" by not preparing...This post has helped me in that....JL
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The Corn is Coming in the Heartland
Well we seem to be having a normal spring, not what we are used to but just normal.
And "normal" is not what we really enjoy and prefer. We have been spoiled the last several years with temperatures that moderate in even early March sometimes and then we have been off to early summer weather. Not the case this year. I got a mailing from my friend Jim Hopf yesterday who is my former seed sales supervisor, boss what have you. Anyway Jim shows on a chart what I have suspected this "normal" spring that we are way under on "growing degree days" as compared to last year but that for a 30 year average we are pretty much "normal"....All this boils down to proof for me that Al Gore is a profit NOT and that the Good LORD is still in charge around here and that we are winding through our normal curves of climate constant change up and down that has been around for centuries. Well that gets my political statement off my chest for the day and so back to the corn.....
My ugly corn field is looking prettier every day. As you can see in the picture my mulch is in place to conserve moisture and protect the soil from erosion when hard rains fall. But you also see the slots throught the field, that my planter made, where my seeds have been placed and they are out of the ground kind of hard to see in this picture but if you look close you may detect a faint shade of light green that is corn plants about 1 to 2 inches tall, skinny but finding there way into this world. They are kind of yellow tinted from the cool damp "normal" temperatures we have had now for several days. Warm will come soon and with that better pictures as we watch this corn crop do its magic this growing year of 2008.
Still some soybeans to be planted yet but for now the soils remain too damp and we must wait for the perfect window of what is needed to place these seeds in an inviroment that will allow them a good start. That is it for today am going to Michigan for the week end to hunt mushrooms near Traverse City. Beautiful motor home park to explore and check out... And it will get me away from yellow corn and soils that are hesitant to become that perfect envirement that I am counting on they will be next week...Maybe will have a mushroom picture for you maybe not...
And "normal" is not what we really enjoy and prefer. We have been spoiled the last several years with temperatures that moderate in even early March sometimes and then we have been off to early summer weather. Not the case this year. I got a mailing from my friend Jim Hopf yesterday who is my former seed sales supervisor, boss what have you. Anyway Jim shows on a chart what I have suspected this "normal" spring that we are way under on "growing degree days" as compared to last year but that for a 30 year average we are pretty much "normal"....All this boils down to proof for me that Al Gore is a profit NOT and that the Good LORD is still in charge around here and that we are winding through our normal curves of climate constant change up and down that has been around for centuries. Well that gets my political statement off my chest for the day and so back to the corn.....
My ugly corn field is looking prettier every day. As you can see in the picture my mulch is in place to conserve moisture and protect the soil from erosion when hard rains fall. But you also see the slots throught the field, that my planter made, where my seeds have been placed and they are out of the ground kind of hard to see in this picture but if you look close you may detect a faint shade of light green that is corn plants about 1 to 2 inches tall, skinny but finding there way into this world. They are kind of yellow tinted from the cool damp "normal" temperatures we have had now for several days. Warm will come soon and with that better pictures as we watch this corn crop do its magic this growing year of 2008.
Still some soybeans to be planted yet but for now the soils remain too damp and we must wait for the perfect window of what is needed to place these seeds in an inviroment that will allow them a good start. That is it for today am going to Michigan for the week end to hunt mushrooms near Traverse City. Beautiful motor home park to explore and check out... And it will get me away from yellow corn and soils that are hesitant to become that perfect envirement that I am counting on they will be next week...Maybe will have a mushroom picture for you maybe not...
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Mono Man nearly busted watching beans grow...
This Mono is interesting. I spent some of the afternoon lying in the sun soaking up D and drinking orange juice and some milk. Tonight I thought after my bath I'd check and see if that corn is up yet and some of it was but not much probably in a couple more days you will be able to see all the shoots out of the ground on that ugly farming scene.
But on my way back I nosed my car into a soybean field and rolled down the window and looked at some baby soybeans coming up in the field across from the house we used to live in. Actually I was wondering if they are 10 or 12 or 14 dollar soy beans, and it is just hard to tell when they are such babies yet, and have just come out of the ground and not knowing what the growing season will be like here in Indiana. .I was not there long and a Sheriff car pulled in behind me as I was probably looking "suspecious"...Sure enough he looked at Mono Man and felt sure he had a "problem man" on his hands..He said, "how you doing sir"? and I replied ok, I am just setting here looking at these soy beans coming up..."oh he said glancing out where I was looking and probably not seeing what I was seeing. He said you got a license on you, I said yes, and he said I'd like to just check this out OK... I said sure why not..He got behind the car and called in the plate number and stuff.
He came back up to the window and said where you coming from? I said well I was over on Peshewa drive looking at corn coming up and on my way home and decided to see what is happening in this field also...He said, "have you been drinking quite a bit today Mr. Lahrman? And I said, "well, yeal matter of fact I have been...I been drinking a lot of orange juice and milk"...He said, "really", and I said, "yeal I got full blown mono, and I have to drink a lot".. He backed up a couple paces and said I never heard of anyone your age getting mono, I said "yeal that's what my doctor said also"....It makes me appear to be a little bit squirrley and out of it... He said yeal it does... I said yep, that's mono ok....He said can you make it home ok Mr. Lahrman?... I said oh yeal I just live a mile away and soon a I get home I am going to have some more to drink and then go to bed....He said well OK then take it easy and I said I will, I appreciate your doing your job... he said thank you sir...
And Mono man made it home and is downing yet another large orange drink and thinking about turning in and maybe not taking pictures of baby beans and corn until I get my color and normalcy back in place...Gosh if I were in a line up they'd be busting me for everything that has happend the last few days....I'll stay in bed all night and hope not to attract too much attention at church in the morning....
Good night all.....
But on my way back I nosed my car into a soybean field and rolled down the window and looked at some baby soybeans coming up in the field across from the house we used to live in. Actually I was wondering if they are 10 or 12 or 14 dollar soy beans, and it is just hard to tell when they are such babies yet, and have just come out of the ground and not knowing what the growing season will be like here in Indiana. .I was not there long and a Sheriff car pulled in behind me as I was probably looking "suspecious"...Sure enough he looked at Mono Man and felt sure he had a "problem man" on his hands..He said, "how you doing sir"? and I replied ok, I am just setting here looking at these soy beans coming up..."oh he said glancing out where I was looking and probably not seeing what I was seeing. He said you got a license on you, I said yes, and he said I'd like to just check this out OK... I said sure why not..He got behind the car and called in the plate number and stuff.
He came back up to the window and said where you coming from? I said well I was over on Peshewa drive looking at corn coming up and on my way home and decided to see what is happening in this field also...He said, "have you been drinking quite a bit today Mr. Lahrman? And I said, "well, yeal matter of fact I have been...I been drinking a lot of orange juice and milk"...He said, "really", and I said, "yeal I got full blown mono, and I have to drink a lot".. He backed up a couple paces and said I never heard of anyone your age getting mono, I said "yeal that's what my doctor said also"....It makes me appear to be a little bit squirrley and out of it... He said yeal it does... I said yep, that's mono ok....He said can you make it home ok Mr. Lahrman?... I said oh yeal I just live a mile away and soon a I get home I am going to have some more to drink and then go to bed....He said well OK then take it easy and I said I will, I appreciate your doing your job... he said thank you sir...
And Mono man made it home and is downing yet another large orange drink and thinking about turning in and maybe not taking pictures of baby beans and corn until I get my color and normalcy back in place...Gosh if I were in a line up they'd be busting me for everything that has happend the last few days....I'll stay in bed all night and hope not to attract too much attention at church in the morning....
Good night all.....
Mono Man has teamed with Mayo Clinic experts
Now your in for it...Your gonna know MONO like the back of your hand, below to get us started is something I got off the Mayo Clinic site today. What I am searching for is to find if there is a "season" so to speak for getting and spreading mono, A couple doctors and a nurse or two have suggested that April/May are good months to get MONO...other have told me anytime so that is my study going on and why I don't know probably because I need a subject for my blog, really who gives a ----. But I will look and see what I can find...just for you that is why, it is just for you my loyal readership...ha I know your excitement levels are very high...
Am a good week into my treatment the only treatment for mono and that is bedrest and good fluids...I am feeling better every day, and I got good news yesterday from Dr. Hagen on my knee...He looked over my MRI and did an exray and says surgery will be a 3rd option that we most likely will not need...He told me I do have torn cartledge but he thinks if I take it slow with therapy and start to introduce bike riding and some walking maybe swimming I am gonna be fine...that was good news as these two things I had going on at the same time a knee injury and full blown mono really complicated each other and the treatment of each...now we have them seperated and addressing both for what they are...At first I had myself convinced and maybe even been able to convince my doctor that my knee swelling infection had spread throughout my entire body even making my eyes bug out and turn yellow...Had myself convinced and I think he was even buying into it...ha But now I know that is a classic symptom of MONO in an older person...Thank goodness he ordered more blood test and got some science involved in this process and not allowed the patient to direct the treatment for too long a period....sorry Doc.....but you have to admit it was a good story.....
OK here is what the exerts at Mayo say on Mono in the opening page......
from the Mayo web site on MONO
...............................
Infectious mononucleosis (mono), or glandular fever, is often called the kissing disease. The label is only partly true. The virus that causes this disease is transmitted through saliva, so kissing can spread the virus, but so can coughing, sneezing, or sharing a glass or food utensil. Mononucleosis isn't as contagious as some other infections, such as the common cold.
The cause of mononucleosis is the Epstein-Barr virus, although similar signs and symptoms are sometimes caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV). Full-blown mononucleosis is most common in adolescents and young adults. Young children usually have minimal symptoms, and the infection often goes unrecognized. In lesser developed countries, mononucleosis is more frequently acquired at a young age, so classic signs and symptoms of mononucleosis aren't as common as they are in developed nations.
Mononucleosis usually isn't very serious, although the virus remains in your body for life. Most people have been exposed to the Epstein-Barr virus by the time they're 35 years old and have built up antibodies. They're immune and won't get mononucleosis again. Treatment mostly involves bed rest and getting adequate fluids.
........................................
OK its me again and don't you just love the sound of that treatment? BED REST and Adequate fluids...Boy there is a lot of adequate fluids around this house and a bed that just says stuff to me as I walk by like, "Hey I am here for you", and "maybe you should just lie down here and look at your grandkids pictures"? That one gets me everytime and in the sheets I go....I think it makes me sleepy lying there looking at them and trying to count them all before falling asleep maybe...kind of like sheep....well going to post this for now but will add to it if I can find any fact on a season for MONO, I kind of doubt there is as I think mono is a self inflicted ailment that while you are getting there your on a mission and after that you realize maybe you raised the bar a notch or two to high....
Later
Am a good week into my treatment the only treatment for mono and that is bedrest and good fluids...I am feeling better every day, and I got good news yesterday from Dr. Hagen on my knee...He looked over my MRI and did an exray and says surgery will be a 3rd option that we most likely will not need...He told me I do have torn cartledge but he thinks if I take it slow with therapy and start to introduce bike riding and some walking maybe swimming I am gonna be fine...that was good news as these two things I had going on at the same time a knee injury and full blown mono really complicated each other and the treatment of each...now we have them seperated and addressing both for what they are...At first I had myself convinced and maybe even been able to convince my doctor that my knee swelling infection had spread throughout my entire body even making my eyes bug out and turn yellow...Had myself convinced and I think he was even buying into it...ha But now I know that is a classic symptom of MONO in an older person...Thank goodness he ordered more blood test and got some science involved in this process and not allowed the patient to direct the treatment for too long a period....sorry Doc.....but you have to admit it was a good story.....
OK here is what the exerts at Mayo say on Mono in the opening page......
from the Mayo web site on MONO
...............................
Infectious mononucleosis (mono), or glandular fever, is often called the kissing disease. The label is only partly true. The virus that causes this disease is transmitted through saliva, so kissing can spread the virus, but so can coughing, sneezing, or sharing a glass or food utensil. Mononucleosis isn't as contagious as some other infections, such as the common cold.
The cause of mononucleosis is the Epstein-Barr virus, although similar signs and symptoms are sometimes caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV). Full-blown mononucleosis is most common in adolescents and young adults. Young children usually have minimal symptoms, and the infection often goes unrecognized. In lesser developed countries, mononucleosis is more frequently acquired at a young age, so classic signs and symptoms of mononucleosis aren't as common as they are in developed nations.
Mononucleosis usually isn't very serious, although the virus remains in your body for life. Most people have been exposed to the Epstein-Barr virus by the time they're 35 years old and have built up antibodies. They're immune and won't get mononucleosis again. Treatment mostly involves bed rest and getting adequate fluids.
........................................
OK its me again and don't you just love the sound of that treatment? BED REST and Adequate fluids...Boy there is a lot of adequate fluids around this house and a bed that just says stuff to me as I walk by like, "Hey I am here for you", and "maybe you should just lie down here and look at your grandkids pictures"? That one gets me everytime and in the sheets I go....I think it makes me sleepy lying there looking at them and trying to count them all before falling asleep maybe...kind of like sheep....well going to post this for now but will add to it if I can find any fact on a season for MONO, I kind of doubt there is as I think mono is a self inflicted ailment that while you are getting there your on a mission and after that you realize maybe you raised the bar a notch or two to high....
Later
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
A Tooth Holiday that was today....
Twice each year I volunteer to do one of my very favorite things. The cleaning process is really a treat for me...I know I am different because I enjoy it all. The water pic jack hammer or whatever they call it... The scraping and vacuming, the polishing, the measuring the pockets to see if I get a good score. Man I am into this stuff and to prove that there is never any blood. That is the sign that you have been a good boy in your dental hygene habits...and I am I do the floss I do it all...
But this year was different as I felt I should alert my hygenist and the Doctor and the exray person that I am a MONO MAN...They seemed not real frieghtened of my declaration.. I told them all three right off that they were probably being adults amuned to picking anything up from me... I did suggest that just to be safe they should maybe refrain from any substantial kissing of me while in the vulnerable chair posistion. They all laughed I don't know why, and agreed that they would "hold back"....
But my long time hygenist announced she is moving to Tenn to live in Cooksville as her relatives have purchased a resort their...Old friends of mine and I wish them well...if you like Dale Hollow and fishing they probably got what you want so check them out on the web....www.cedarhillresort.com Some day I will have that kind of energy again as soon as I sleep another few days....Good night all its bed time somewhere in this world.
But this year was different as I felt I should alert my hygenist and the Doctor and the exray person that I am a MONO MAN...They seemed not real frieghtened of my declaration.. I told them all three right off that they were probably being adults amuned to picking anything up from me... I did suggest that just to be safe they should maybe refrain from any substantial kissing of me while in the vulnerable chair posistion. They all laughed I don't know why, and agreed that they would "hold back"....
But my long time hygenist announced she is moving to Tenn to live in Cooksville as her relatives have purchased a resort their...Old friends of mine and I wish them well...if you like Dale Hollow and fishing they probably got what you want so check them out on the web....www.cedarhillresort.com Some day I will have that kind of energy again as soon as I sleep another few days....Good night all its bed time somewhere in this world.
Monday, May 12, 2008
No Tillage Corn Farming
To ugly for most Indiana corn farmers but to an experinced "ugly farmer" it is a thing of beauty. We who are into "no tillage" of the soil for many reasons have to quickly get used to farming ugly and learn to deal with it least we will fail.
You see in the two pics to the right the residue of last years soybean crop still lying there and also the previous corn crop residue from 2006 and several years residue previous to all of that...But if you get your mind made up that it can and will work it does and has for me for several years now. If you look close you can see where my planter has parted the soil and precisely placed the seed corn 2 inches deep and then covered it with firm moist soil. This 6 inch wide ban will now draw warmth from the sun and not reflect heat like the adjacent areas will...That is good though also as summer arrives and becomes very hot but the area has been pre mulched you might say with all the residue from those previous crops that have yet to be eaten and turning into soil by earthworms. So the 24 inches of the 30 inches between the rows is mulched by design and will not only reflect heat but will conserve moisture that falls and not allow it to quickly evaporate. Also during hard rains the soil will be protected from erosion that occurs on bare soils.
In a few days I will add a picture of the emerging corn plants that are right now swelling in the warm moist soil and sending down a tap root into the soil and a plant shoot towards the surface that will start the reproductive process we know as growing corn...We will follow this area from here to harvest this fall at least twice a month as everyday something changes in the corn field and exciting stuff happen some of which is not going to be like a good movie but you may find of interest as this summer passes by.
My first day of my three days of corn planting was the most challenging of my career as the MONO had a pretty good grip on me and was yet a few days before I knew what was taking me down. But usually the first day of planting season one is out early excited and ready to start a new year. Not for me that day which was a week from today. I did not get up until noon and I told myself I must get started so I went to the barn and did dig my planter out prepare it and air the tires. I came in the house thinking I would eat a bit and then plant corn... Instead the bed looked so good I got back into it for two more hours... I finally got to the field about 4 in the afternoon and did plant 20 acres of corn before dark....at least I was started.
But mono is an interesting illness and until you are told you got it and to go to bed you just hope each day that it is the worst and that tomorrow you will recover...It never comes till you admit that only sleep will cure you...which is where I am headed in about 5 minutes and have been doing most of this day....
You see in the two pics to the right the residue of last years soybean crop still lying there and also the previous corn crop residue from 2006 and several years residue previous to all of that...But if you get your mind made up that it can and will work it does and has for me for several years now. If you look close you can see where my planter has parted the soil and precisely placed the seed corn 2 inches deep and then covered it with firm moist soil. This 6 inch wide ban will now draw warmth from the sun and not reflect heat like the adjacent areas will...That is good though also as summer arrives and becomes very hot but the area has been pre mulched you might say with all the residue from those previous crops that have yet to be eaten and turning into soil by earthworms. So the 24 inches of the 30 inches between the rows is mulched by design and will not only reflect heat but will conserve moisture that falls and not allow it to quickly evaporate. Also during hard rains the soil will be protected from erosion that occurs on bare soils.
In a few days I will add a picture of the emerging corn plants that are right now swelling in the warm moist soil and sending down a tap root into the soil and a plant shoot towards the surface that will start the reproductive process we know as growing corn...We will follow this area from here to harvest this fall at least twice a month as everyday something changes in the corn field and exciting stuff happen some of which is not going to be like a good movie but you may find of interest as this summer passes by.
My first day of my three days of corn planting was the most challenging of my career as the MONO had a pretty good grip on me and was yet a few days before I knew what was taking me down. But usually the first day of planting season one is out early excited and ready to start a new year. Not for me that day which was a week from today. I did not get up until noon and I told myself I must get started so I went to the barn and did dig my planter out prepare it and air the tires. I came in the house thinking I would eat a bit and then plant corn... Instead the bed looked so good I got back into it for two more hours... I finally got to the field about 4 in the afternoon and did plant 20 acres of corn before dark....at least I was started.
But mono is an interesting illness and until you are told you got it and to go to bed you just hope each day that it is the worst and that tomorrow you will recover...It never comes till you admit that only sleep will cure you...which is where I am headed in about 5 minutes and have been doing most of this day....
Saturday, May 10, 2008
MONONUCLEOSIS Oh Yeal....Mono Man.
I have full blown Mono, sounds scary huh? It really is not so bad, matter of fact I think I may have the designer disease of seniors...Give me your tired, your weak, your exhausted get your self down a few more cogs. Maybe pick up a fever that stays with you for a couple weeks. Finally friends start sayiny, "you know you just don't look good"...Your eyes are really puffy and blood shot...So you go to CVC thinking I need I eye drops...The pharmasis says "gosh you really look bad what all you got going here?
Any way my diagnosis was complicated and delayed because a month ago while on my way down to this level, I damaged a knee running my 3 miles every other day. So the injury took my attention and was even blamed for my run down condition...So it delayed things and the two conditions hand in hand supported each other so to speak and until this week I knew I was sick but did not really want to admit it. Well I am admitting it and business may pick up here on the blog as I got time to burn. I have wireless and a laptop and even now snuggled into one of my most favored spots, "MY BED"....
After several test the Doc walked in the room and says this is very interesting. We don't usually see this in folks your age, you have Mono....I said does this mean I have to quit dating? He laughed and said "no, most adults are amuned to this, if she has not got it things will be fine in a couple weeks...I can not help you with pills this is a virus and your going to bed for a couple weeks and then you should be fine...
Getting Mono was kind of fun, having it was much less fun but getting over it is going to be a dream come true...sleep for 2 weeks as much as you can and drink nice juices and eat good food...I mean someone pinch me here, this has to be the designer disease of all time....Mono where have you been all my life.....
Now in my second day of recovery which has been just as much fun as yesterday I am loving this...ON doctors orders there is no guilt here of waking up after a nice long nights sleep and eating a little something and just getting back in here and taking a nap till noon...another bite to eat enjoy the gorgeous day out side but then saying you know I think I will just sleep all afternoon..and doing it...and my temperature that has been with me for weeks has left, the first sign that things are going to turn out fine here...
AS the office staff prepared my mono screening test order and made my appointment with a knee specialist, I said well I guess the old guy has MONO huh? They said kind of looks that way, don't see that much at your age, kissing disease they say?
I said well however I got it, I am taking this as kind of a "badge of honor", they laughted and said "why not good attitude Mr. L....In January my triplet grandaughters and I were on a back water fishing trip into the waters south of Marco Island. One of them had just become engaged..Our old salty Captain looked at my Grandaughter and said well, I have failed a time or two, I have been around awhile but I think I have a worthy piece of advise for you young lady. He said " if that man is not spoiling you so dam rotten that no other man would ever want you, then you need to drop that sucker at first opportunity"...We laughed but I began to think of what he had said and it is true, if it is not happening in a blooming relationship like that then it probably will not. I think his words sunk into her as she has since broke off the engagement. And like her grandpa may be cultivating a new one.grandpa has started a friendship with a fine lady he met in a greiving class, and those words are still in my head and maybe have taken grandpa down mono lane...Well maybe that and the Marine training of focusing on an objective and not stopping until it is achieved. Probably the biggest culprit in all of this has been an agressive exercise progarm I began in December this year when I arrived and settled into Florida..I enjoyed walking the beaches and I enjoyed watching weight loss happen and cholesterol and blood pressure levels drop...I knew I was doing my motor good like in that song "Maybaline", an so I probably ethusiastically abused myself somewhat wanting to be as healthy as I could and that landed me here, but however I am here, I have enjoyed getting here and am now totally enjoying sick bay here for the next two weeks.
So here I ly and as these days go by sure a story or two will be generated so check out the corn and bean man, aka MONO MAN, as there will be activity here I think....
Any way my diagnosis was complicated and delayed because a month ago while on my way down to this level, I damaged a knee running my 3 miles every other day. So the injury took my attention and was even blamed for my run down condition...So it delayed things and the two conditions hand in hand supported each other so to speak and until this week I knew I was sick but did not really want to admit it. Well I am admitting it and business may pick up here on the blog as I got time to burn. I have wireless and a laptop and even now snuggled into one of my most favored spots, "MY BED"....
After several test the Doc walked in the room and says this is very interesting. We don't usually see this in folks your age, you have Mono....I said does this mean I have to quit dating? He laughed and said "no, most adults are amuned to this, if she has not got it things will be fine in a couple weeks...I can not help you with pills this is a virus and your going to bed for a couple weeks and then you should be fine...
Getting Mono was kind of fun, having it was much less fun but getting over it is going to be a dream come true...sleep for 2 weeks as much as you can and drink nice juices and eat good food...I mean someone pinch me here, this has to be the designer disease of all time....Mono where have you been all my life.....
Now in my second day of recovery which has been just as much fun as yesterday I am loving this...ON doctors orders there is no guilt here of waking up after a nice long nights sleep and eating a little something and just getting back in here and taking a nap till noon...another bite to eat enjoy the gorgeous day out side but then saying you know I think I will just sleep all afternoon..and doing it...and my temperature that has been with me for weeks has left, the first sign that things are going to turn out fine here...
AS the office staff prepared my mono screening test order and made my appointment with a knee specialist, I said well I guess the old guy has MONO huh? They said kind of looks that way, don't see that much at your age, kissing disease they say?
I said well however I got it, I am taking this as kind of a "badge of honor", they laughted and said "why not good attitude Mr. L....In January my triplet grandaughters and I were on a back water fishing trip into the waters south of Marco Island. One of them had just become engaged..Our old salty Captain looked at my Grandaughter and said well, I have failed a time or two, I have been around awhile but I think I have a worthy piece of advise for you young lady. He said " if that man is not spoiling you so dam rotten that no other man would ever want you, then you need to drop that sucker at first opportunity"...We laughed but I began to think of what he had said and it is true, if it is not happening in a blooming relationship like that then it probably will not. I think his words sunk into her as she has since broke off the engagement. And like her grandpa may be cultivating a new one.grandpa has started a friendship with a fine lady he met in a greiving class, and those words are still in my head and maybe have taken grandpa down mono lane...Well maybe that and the Marine training of focusing on an objective and not stopping until it is achieved. Probably the biggest culprit in all of this has been an agressive exercise progarm I began in December this year when I arrived and settled into Florida..I enjoyed walking the beaches and I enjoyed watching weight loss happen and cholesterol and blood pressure levels drop...I knew I was doing my motor good like in that song "Maybaline", an so I probably ethusiastically abused myself somewhat wanting to be as healthy as I could and that landed me here, but however I am here, I have enjoyed getting here and am now totally enjoying sick bay here for the next two weeks.
So here I ly and as these days go by sure a story or two will be generated so check out the corn and bean man, aka MONO MAN, as there will be activity here I think....
Friday, May 9, 2008
Advice from way "out of the box" to Christian ministres...
Well I said about a week ago I would do this "tomorrow"...I guess its is like the spanish version sometimes Monyana hardly ever comes...But today it has because I need to do the promised so tomorrow I can begin anew with a new designer disease that I have discoverd for semi retired as I...
But first lets run this patch threw the bore and see how it may go...
I realize I am way underqualified to even offer ideas but I do want to throw it out along with ideas that I have heard expressed by other good Chritians that support ministries around the world. The others that have shared with me lend some credablity to my thoughts.
A man I respect very much said recently about giving to the ADF in honor of Linda, "you know I enjoy this gift and especially the good work they do, but what I will not enjoy is getting a report and request for more funds about every month or even two weeks in the future."
I know it is a real challenge to the men and women who work for these ministries to try and win the hearts of those who give and support the cause. But he is right it affects me at times in similar ways. It is often too much I know they want to share their achievements and need for more funds but it takes some getting used to. Especiall on days that maybe three arrive from different good ministries all the same day. And in an overload short circut all three go into the trash can unopened.
Sorry but that does happen especially if all three of them maybe have written to you two or three weeks prior....It bothers me less I think to both recieve them and throw them away until I feel in my heart it is time to give to this ministry again. But I think of what this must cost of in funds that could just be for ministry and not fund raising...I think my good friends additional remark was and "then they maybe spend half of what I have given them wanting more funds"...I understand I have had the same feelings...I have arrived at kind of a blind love for the ministry in just overlooking it and saying hey it must work for some people so let it go and read he reports and then not feel bad about not giving on the request until such time God moves me to do so not because some guy wants to match my funds...Let him give all he wants and I will also give what God lies on my heart...
So that is my crude words of sort, no hurt intended, but they finally got said and now we will run a nice lightly oiled patch threw the bore and be ready for another story tomorrow....
But first lets run this patch threw the bore and see how it may go...
I realize I am way underqualified to even offer ideas but I do want to throw it out along with ideas that I have heard expressed by other good Chritians that support ministries around the world. The others that have shared with me lend some credablity to my thoughts.
A man I respect very much said recently about giving to the ADF in honor of Linda, "you know I enjoy this gift and especially the good work they do, but what I will not enjoy is getting a report and request for more funds about every month or even two weeks in the future."
I know it is a real challenge to the men and women who work for these ministries to try and win the hearts of those who give and support the cause. But he is right it affects me at times in similar ways. It is often too much I know they want to share their achievements and need for more funds but it takes some getting used to. Especiall on days that maybe three arrive from different good ministries all the same day. And in an overload short circut all three go into the trash can unopened.
Sorry but that does happen especially if all three of them maybe have written to you two or three weeks prior....It bothers me less I think to both recieve them and throw them away until I feel in my heart it is time to give to this ministry again. But I think of what this must cost of in funds that could just be for ministry and not fund raising...I think my good friends additional remark was and "then they maybe spend half of what I have given them wanting more funds"...I understand I have had the same feelings...I have arrived at kind of a blind love for the ministry in just overlooking it and saying hey it must work for some people so let it go and read he reports and then not feel bad about not giving on the request until such time God moves me to do so not because some guy wants to match my funds...Let him give all he wants and I will also give what God lies on my heart...
So that is my crude words of sort, no hurt intended, but they finally got said and now we will run a nice lightly oiled patch threw the bore and be ready for another story tomorrow....
Friday, May 2, 2008
Alliance Defense Fund***** Worth a pat on the back
Today post is not a fun one for me, and posting a picture that is not becoming of the beautiful lady I was blessed with for 29 years also hard to do. But I want to use it to make a point, about GOD, and Country and Personal salvation through belief in HIS Son Jesus Christ. Those statements may end the visit for a a few here, but for the most of my good friends it will not, and recently I recieved yet another Notification from the Alliance Defense Fund that over a year after her death money is still being given because she asked people to do so in leiu of flowers in her obituary and at her funeral. The latest being Marine Boot Camp buddy Don DeWitt and his sweet wife Beverly.
The significance of her picture and why I needed to post it shows her on the phone calling her 4 favorite Christian Ministries, just 18 days before her death. She told each of them of her plans to have an evening service that people could attend and not be working, and about 400 did. She told them her pastor had assured her that her service would be one of joy for her and a good salvation message, and he assured her he would also throw in some humor now and then like he is so good at as Linda said "to make them laugh". And last but not least she told them each to send out 100 copies of their best literature about their ministry to be displayed and picked up at her funeral and that she would ask that they donate to her four favorite ministries in leiu of floweres that would just shrival and die. She said this way God would be pleased and much better served.
It is all almost a blur for me now but I do remember UPS trucks frequenting our drive way just the week before her passing. They each left a big box that I did not open as I knew what it was and just was not ready for it yet but I did assure her when each one came that what she had asked for had arrived. I think the last came just a couple days before she may have not understood but probably she did, she was now ready for her final act of dieing well....The good pastor came at 6 on April 12th, the family gathered around for prayer and before the Pastor had cleared the drive way she took her leave.......
But we as Christians know she instantly went to be with the Lord that day. I like the thought that business must have picked up in heaven of late, and he just needed a pleasent lady that could flash a cute dippled smile as a greeter and I think she is on that job today happier than anytime ever in her life here. That is our hope that the scriptures are GOD inspired and that as stated, by true belief we also will one day share in God's plan.
OK one of those ministries to me has kind of risen to the top of the heap and deserves a "pat on the back" and that is what this post is really about, but I wanted to lay the ground work as painful as it was, to bring you to follow the path of one of "Linda's favorite minitries" to now one of My favorite and appreciated ministries. For the last 30 years at least the ACLU has caused a lot of havok for our land. They have been unchallenged and have intimidated many a city, county and states goverenments, to passing laws grating special treatments to some, at the expense of others. Since unchallenged they won a lot of court cases that they should have not won...Everyone was intimidated by lawyers who wanted God out of everything not for just themselves but for everyone.. Below is the first ammendment to our constitution.
Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
A few years back a few strong Christian leaders realized we needed a new sheriff in town, that the towns had been kind of taken over by bullies, and people were frightened and intimidated. Thus was born the Ministry of which Linda knew was happening and followed it to the point of her death. She shared it with me I did not share the keen interest she had in it, I have to be honest but I do today. For Alliance Defense Fund, this nation needs to be thankful and appreciative, as they have taken back the towns for the most part, they are currently in the process of taking back the campuses across our land. They have given courage to many and offer support when ever Christian ideas that the first amendment does guarantee (or prohibiting the free exercise there of) to us all...we kind of lost track of all of that when this ACLU the last few years were on the rampage of intimidation, of anything with God connected to it, or promoting and making special certain life styles. Well the pendulum swang a little too far and good men and women everywhere said "enough is enough". ADF has actually won hundreds of cases dealing with religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and marriage and the family since we started in 1994. (In fact they win well over 75% of every case they litigate to a conclusion, including 34 wins at the U.S. Supreme Court.) Recently ADF has an undefeated streak specifically with cases that are on the public university campuses, that continued with our latest win last month (the 40-0 that I mentioned).
They have given city and county and state government new hope that the peoples representatives will set policy for the people, and not a group of ACLU lawyers. God bless them in their work, I will support them at least for a few years and I hope that you will consider also supporting such a cause as we have not seen for a long long time. Type in the name into a Google Search on your computer and you will see an array of heading describing the good work they do below I will list their address also
Alliance Defense Fund - Defending Our First Liberty The Alliance Defense Fund is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth, through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.alliancedefensefund.org
here is site http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/main/default.aspx that will take you to their home page where you can look them over sign up for email updates etc.
Also will give you below an address and a gentleman who would be glad to accept any donations you have in Linda's honor if so led...Of all the four minisitries they have been by far the most grateful even featuring Linda in the monthly news letter last August with her picture telling how results of her efforts keep coming to them.
Maybe a couple more will come also...
Kyle Hawkins
Constituent Relations Manager
(800) 835-5233 x 8127
(480) 388-8127
(480) 444-0025 (fax)
khawkins@telladf.org
www.telladf.org
ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND Attn Kyle Hawkins
15100 N. 90th Street
Scottsdale, Ariz. 85260
While not necessary as her presence in heaven is assured but you can tell them Linda sent you if you like....
One more point related to the good work of the ADF, is the empowerment that our state legislator have had the last few years. A boldness that resulted in the issuing of this beautiful current 08 License plate. And the ACLU did recently challenge this plate in court and were sent packing by a judge that told them that the legislators elected by the people did not violate any law in offering this plate to those that wanted it.... And a different plate to those who did not...
So all in all good things are happening and this ADF has to be credited with the battles they have waged to defend our First Amendment right...they are warriors worthy of your support....
Jack
Comming tomorrow I will offer some advice to ADF and all the Christian Ministries that I know of about good steward ship of our funds and our time...
One final thought on The Alliance Defense Fund......
When you bring a new Sheriff into town and he cleans up crime and keeps it out it is worth something, you should all know that....It takes a lot of money to hire even part time attorneys stand up for the rights of the First Amendment...That is why I know it is important, you stop paying a Sheriff and he gets another job guess who comes back to town....think about it...JL
The significance of her picture and why I needed to post it shows her on the phone calling her 4 favorite Christian Ministries, just 18 days before her death. She told each of them of her plans to have an evening service that people could attend and not be working, and about 400 did. She told them her pastor had assured her that her service would be one of joy for her and a good salvation message, and he assured her he would also throw in some humor now and then like he is so good at as Linda said "to make them laugh". And last but not least she told them each to send out 100 copies of their best literature about their ministry to be displayed and picked up at her funeral and that she would ask that they donate to her four favorite ministries in leiu of floweres that would just shrival and die. She said this way God would be pleased and much better served.
It is all almost a blur for me now but I do remember UPS trucks frequenting our drive way just the week before her passing. They each left a big box that I did not open as I knew what it was and just was not ready for it yet but I did assure her when each one came that what she had asked for had arrived. I think the last came just a couple days before she may have not understood but probably she did, she was now ready for her final act of dieing well....The good pastor came at 6 on April 12th, the family gathered around for prayer and before the Pastor had cleared the drive way she took her leave.......
But we as Christians know she instantly went to be with the Lord that day. I like the thought that business must have picked up in heaven of late, and he just needed a pleasent lady that could flash a cute dippled smile as a greeter and I think she is on that job today happier than anytime ever in her life here. That is our hope that the scriptures are GOD inspired and that as stated, by true belief we also will one day share in God's plan.
OK one of those ministries to me has kind of risen to the top of the heap and deserves a "pat on the back" and that is what this post is really about, but I wanted to lay the ground work as painful as it was, to bring you to follow the path of one of "Linda's favorite minitries" to now one of My favorite and appreciated ministries. For the last 30 years at least the ACLU has caused a lot of havok for our land. They have been unchallenged and have intimidated many a city, county and states goverenments, to passing laws grating special treatments to some, at the expense of others. Since unchallenged they won a lot of court cases that they should have not won...Everyone was intimidated by lawyers who wanted God out of everything not for just themselves but for everyone.. Below is the first ammendment to our constitution.
Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
A few years back a few strong Christian leaders realized we needed a new sheriff in town, that the towns had been kind of taken over by bullies, and people were frightened and intimidated. Thus was born the Ministry of which Linda knew was happening and followed it to the point of her death. She shared it with me I did not share the keen interest she had in it, I have to be honest but I do today. For Alliance Defense Fund, this nation needs to be thankful and appreciative, as they have taken back the towns for the most part, they are currently in the process of taking back the campuses across our land. They have given courage to many and offer support when ever Christian ideas that the first amendment does guarantee (or prohibiting the free exercise there of) to us all...we kind of lost track of all of that when this ACLU the last few years were on the rampage of intimidation, of anything with God connected to it, or promoting and making special certain life styles. Well the pendulum swang a little too far and good men and women everywhere said "enough is enough". ADF has actually won hundreds of cases dealing with religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and marriage and the family since we started in 1994. (In fact they win well over 75% of every case they litigate to a conclusion, including 34 wins at the U.S. Supreme Court.) Recently ADF has an undefeated streak specifically with cases that are on the public university campuses, that continued with our latest win last month (the 40-0 that I mentioned).
They have given city and county and state government new hope that the peoples representatives will set policy for the people, and not a group of ACLU lawyers. God bless them in their work, I will support them at least for a few years and I hope that you will consider also supporting such a cause as we have not seen for a long long time. Type in the name into a Google Search on your computer and you will see an array of heading describing the good work they do below I will list their address also
Alliance Defense Fund - Defending Our First Liberty The Alliance Defense Fund is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth, through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.alliancedefensefund.org
here is site http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/main/default.aspx that will take you to their home page where you can look them over sign up for email updates etc.
Also will give you below an address and a gentleman who would be glad to accept any donations you have in Linda's honor if so led...Of all the four minisitries they have been by far the most grateful even featuring Linda in the monthly news letter last August with her picture telling how results of her efforts keep coming to them.
Maybe a couple more will come also...
Kyle Hawkins
Constituent Relations Manager
(800) 835-5233 x 8127
(480) 388-8127
(480) 444-0025 (fax)
khawkins@telladf.org
www.telladf.org
ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND Attn Kyle Hawkins
15100 N. 90th Street
Scottsdale, Ariz. 85260
While not necessary as her presence in heaven is assured but you can tell them Linda sent you if you like....
One more point related to the good work of the ADF, is the empowerment that our state legislator have had the last few years. A boldness that resulted in the issuing of this beautiful current 08 License plate. And the ACLU did recently challenge this plate in court and were sent packing by a judge that told them that the legislators elected by the people did not violate any law in offering this plate to those that wanted it.... And a different plate to those who did not...
So all in all good things are happening and this ADF has to be credited with the battles they have waged to defend our First Amendment right...they are warriors worthy of your support....
Jack
Comming tomorrow I will offer some advice to ADF and all the Christian Ministries that I know of about good steward ship of our funds and our time...
One final thought on The Alliance Defense Fund......
When you bring a new Sheriff into town and he cleans up crime and keeps it out it is worth something, you should all know that....It takes a lot of money to hire even part time attorneys stand up for the rights of the First Amendment...That is why I know it is important, you stop paying a Sheriff and he gets another job guess who comes back to town....think about it...JL
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Negotiating this Blog.........it is easy...
A couple of you have asked of late how to get to the older stories I have posted on the blog starting on Feb. 2 when I launched this endeavor. Well it is real simple, as the blog only keeps the last month of stories showing but if you simply tab all the way down past all my pictures I have on the right hand side you will come to a "BLOG ARCHIVE" and under that it currently says April (10) March (9) and February(24). So then just click on say Feb. and it will then show all 24 stories for that month...Some of you were not exposed to this blog back then so if you like you can get at those stories..Some are interesting.
Activity should pick up here now on this site as the crops grow this summer and family events take place and vacation or two I have planned all of which I will try and make into a story of some sort. Probably the most exciting will be "sex in the corn field" of which I will try and tell how all that happens out there that then brings us corn flakes and ethanol, and sweetner for your soda pop....Yes it all starts with sex, so if your ears are tender you may want to turn on your filter along about the first of July when the polen begins to fall....
Hey have a good day out there. I still have not planted a seed yet, but lots of the corn around me is planted. Mine are still warm and cozy in the bag but I know I must send them into the soil soon at a 2 inch depth and allow them to become a new plant and have their season of life this summer of 2008. After that I will just be an observer for the season and will share some of what is happening.
Activity should pick up here now on this site as the crops grow this summer and family events take place and vacation or two I have planned all of which I will try and make into a story of some sort. Probably the most exciting will be "sex in the corn field" of which I will try and tell how all that happens out there that then brings us corn flakes and ethanol, and sweetner for your soda pop....Yes it all starts with sex, so if your ears are tender you may want to turn on your filter along about the first of July when the polen begins to fall....
Hey have a good day out there. I still have not planted a seed yet, but lots of the corn around me is planted. Mine are still warm and cozy in the bag but I know I must send them into the soil soon at a 2 inch depth and allow them to become a new plant and have their season of life this summer of 2008. After that I will just be an observer for the season and will share some of what is happening.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Mulberry Indiana Sesquicentennial
June 2nd to June 8th.............
Have just learned from my brother Joe some info on the Mulberry Sesquicentennial. Will be held in Mulberry of course from June 2 through June 8th...With a Parade and fire works happening on June 7th...The picture at the right was taken of my bro and his now deceased wife just 50 years ago...I am not sure but I think I saw both of them in a western of the ear when John Wayne was hunting down the James brothers, yeal, sure I did they must have just took advantage or growing that beard for that and then a scout was no doubt there from Hollywood maybe...Anyway sure he played the second oldest James brother...The one that Wayne took out of the saddle with a single well aimed shot...
Well anyway that big word just means 150 years so that dates old Smallberry back to 1858 or two years before the civil war....Mulberry has been a thriving small town as like Dayton to the west both were put on the map pretty much permanent after the rail road decided to come right through the edge of town....They even had a car dealership at one time...Big grain elevator no doubt a black smith and I know they had a big dairy on the east side of town...I remember my folks stopping in to buy us a cone there and it was the best ever ice cream...Only problem with it all it did not happen often enough to suite most of us. Our farm was maybe only 5 miles west north west of Mulberry, but it is odd because we only went there a couple times a year maybe on our way to Indy to visit my sister or for something at Mulberry like the annual basketball game between our two small townships. But most our travels were through the little town of Dayton maybe 3 miles west south west of our farm and then on to Lafayette the major city in west central Indiana.
Well sure Joe will be on hand and while not with his sweet wife of a long long time I would guess you could find him knee deep in kids and grandkids at most any given moment. So maybe see you there at least for the fireworks....
Have just learned from my brother Joe some info on the Mulberry Sesquicentennial. Will be held in Mulberry of course from June 2 through June 8th...With a Parade and fire works happening on June 7th...The picture at the right was taken of my bro and his now deceased wife just 50 years ago...I am not sure but I think I saw both of them in a western of the ear when John Wayne was hunting down the James brothers, yeal, sure I did they must have just took advantage or growing that beard for that and then a scout was no doubt there from Hollywood maybe...Anyway sure he played the second oldest James brother...The one that Wayne took out of the saddle with a single well aimed shot...
Well anyway that big word just means 150 years so that dates old Smallberry back to 1858 or two years before the civil war....Mulberry has been a thriving small town as like Dayton to the west both were put on the map pretty much permanent after the rail road decided to come right through the edge of town....They even had a car dealership at one time...Big grain elevator no doubt a black smith and I know they had a big dairy on the east side of town...I remember my folks stopping in to buy us a cone there and it was the best ever ice cream...Only problem with it all it did not happen often enough to suite most of us. Our farm was maybe only 5 miles west north west of Mulberry, but it is odd because we only went there a couple times a year maybe on our way to Indy to visit my sister or for something at Mulberry like the annual basketball game between our two small townships. But most our travels were through the little town of Dayton maybe 3 miles west south west of our farm and then on to Lafayette the major city in west central Indiana.
Well sure Joe will be on hand and while not with his sweet wife of a long long time I would guess you could find him knee deep in kids and grandkids at most any given moment. So maybe see you there at least for the fireworks....
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Return to the Parker Place with Camera
Well this one will be short and mainly of interest to my Sister and two Brothers. But as threatened I did return a couple weeks ago to the Parker Place that is near the new Arnett Hospital going up along I-65.
I did so as a follow up to one of my first stories on this blog on Feb. 10 called "the Parker Place"...As you can see by the pictures all that is now there you can actually see from the interstate driving by. The house is still there and the corn crib. Lots of old foundations from sheds etc. from the past. The house and barn will soon dissappear I would guess and I guess I have my pictures so I am ready when ever it happens. My dad and mom grew up close by and this was the place they farmed when they began thier married farming life. I think they lived here about 20 years maybe and then purchased their own farm on Harding Road...Which I notice the barns are leaning more all the time at that place and probably the subject of my next camera taking outing if I can be granted access to the farm...A time that has passed by and was a time of hard work and faith in yourself, your country and your GOD...
I did so as a follow up to one of my first stories on this blog on Feb. 10 called "the Parker Place"...As you can see by the pictures all that is now there you can actually see from the interstate driving by. The house is still there and the corn crib. Lots of old foundations from sheds etc. from the past. The house and barn will soon dissappear I would guess and I guess I have my pictures so I am ready when ever it happens. My dad and mom grew up close by and this was the place they farmed when they began thier married farming life. I think they lived here about 20 years maybe and then purchased their own farm on Harding Road...Which I notice the barns are leaning more all the time at that place and probably the subject of my next camera taking outing if I can be granted access to the farm...A time that has passed by and was a time of hard work and faith in yourself, your country and your GOD...
Friday, April 25, 2008
Bloggers Note on Buddy....
Well just as Buddy asked you not to do he did get a couple rave reveiws suggesting even that he was a "better writer" than the blogger....Buddy appreciated the comments and said to me, "well at least this way I won't be writing a lot here will I"?....I agreed that maybe some day but that it could be a problem.
But I must say he is an impressive well trained little dog. I was sleeping so good this morning that he came woke me and then got down but I lingered to long and fell back asleep. No problem for Buddy, he waits patiently at the back door for quite some time but does not make a mess. He tried again and again I feel asleep. The third time Buddy probably felt nature calling loudly and got on the bed and just licked my ear until I did get up and say, "OH hey buddy lets go outside". He then leads the way to the door. He likes the big lawn alway a new exciting place to "find" for his happy time..He wanders a bit while I observe but soon returns to the door for his treat and maybe a nice snoring nap.
Quite a dog... I find of interest what he wrote about Semper Fi, and it brought to mind my new friend Peter from Naples who is in the Marine League there with us US Marines but he actually servied in the British Royal Marines which if memory serves me well was the model used for our Marines in 1775. But what Buddy said sticks in my mind and I now have to ask Peter, "What the Mascot is for the British Marines"? Maybe the Cavalier King Charles is it, as they were the favored dogs of British Royalty, and as Buddy did say they are lovers and not fighters...that statement may find its way to Peter through the Naples connections and we may have our answer soon maybe but it would be good to know about these matters.
For as sweet as a dog as Buddy is he does have a way of 'stiring the pot', so to speak. But he is correct the term Semper Fidelis meaning "always faithful" sure was not invented by Marines... That term was practiced by great dogs like Buddy for hundreds of years before....But a good model for us all to immitate this day and age.
I just did some google search work and I see that the English Bull dogs the unofficial mascots of the Marine Corps were first donated the article claimed by British Royal Marines. Also Googled Mascots of British Royal Marines but came up with nothing so maybe Peter will shed some light on if they even have one or not...
The fact that the Marine Mascots are unofficial is interesting because I think every major Marine base maintains one for parades etc.
But I must say he is an impressive well trained little dog. I was sleeping so good this morning that he came woke me and then got down but I lingered to long and fell back asleep. No problem for Buddy, he waits patiently at the back door for quite some time but does not make a mess. He tried again and again I feel asleep. The third time Buddy probably felt nature calling loudly and got on the bed and just licked my ear until I did get up and say, "OH hey buddy lets go outside". He then leads the way to the door. He likes the big lawn alway a new exciting place to "find" for his happy time..He wanders a bit while I observe but soon returns to the door for his treat and maybe a nice snoring nap.
Quite a dog... I find of interest what he wrote about Semper Fi, and it brought to mind my new friend Peter from Naples who is in the Marine League there with us US Marines but he actually servied in the British Royal Marines which if memory serves me well was the model used for our Marines in 1775. But what Buddy said sticks in my mind and I now have to ask Peter, "What the Mascot is for the British Marines"? Maybe the Cavalier King Charles is it, as they were the favored dogs of British Royalty, and as Buddy did say they are lovers and not fighters...that statement may find its way to Peter through the Naples connections and we may have our answer soon maybe but it would be good to know about these matters.
For as sweet as a dog as Buddy is he does have a way of 'stiring the pot', so to speak. But he is correct the term Semper Fidelis meaning "always faithful" sure was not invented by Marines... That term was practiced by great dogs like Buddy for hundreds of years before....But a good model for us all to immitate this day and age.
I just did some google search work and I see that the English Bull dogs the unofficial mascots of the Marine Corps were first donated the article claimed by British Royal Marines. Also Googled Mascots of British Royal Marines but came up with nothing so maybe Peter will shed some light on if they even have one or not...
The fact that the Marine Mascots are unofficial is interesting because I think every major Marine base maintains one for parades etc.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Hello. My Name is Buddy
Hi, I am honored to be the first "guest columnist" on this blog to date. My name is Buddy and I am spending 4 days with "farmer jack" a.k.a., Happy Hoosier...My owner is on vacation with her brother an sister in law and since he offered to keep me I took him up on it and am enjoying being a "farm dog". I kind of like it here cause he lets me sleep on his bed and lick his face sometimes. For a dog that ain't too bad especially with almost a stranger that I only met a month ago. As you can see by my picture to the right I am one cute little puppy you might say although I am about 5 years old, maybe 6, time fly's when your having fun. I took him for a walk around the pond early this morning, he was telling something about when he built the pond, yeal right. Then this afternoon we deliverd something to Suzette for tomorrow's garage sale, and I met a new friend Sophie Post. She is going to be a vet someday...She loves animals and who knows maybe some day she will be one and she will be good with cute dogs and cats like me...Met some alpaca's today also, I hope she don't have to work on them as they look like they could maybe bite ya before you even know it...
OH, by the way I am kind of a special breed called "Cavalier, King Charles"..I included a web site here where you can read about my breed..We don't bark much, and were not into this hyper stuff either, we shed just a tad but we make it worth your while with the affection we have for people. When left alone for a bit, we like to tell you about it with a kind of dog chat and then after we unwind we go lay down and relax till bed time. Happy Hoosier says that my shortened slooping cute nose kind of reminds him of a favorite car he likes called a "mini cooper"....at least the side view he said.
I may get to ride in a tractor later this week possibly as we looked at a field today to see how the soil was drying out...We pulled back clumps of corn stalks and although most of the surface is drying nicely we did notice that under those piles of debris, which are numerous, that we could make a mud ball out of the top inch of soil. Jack said that is not good, as when the planter passes through those areas that the slot sometimes does not close and give good seed to soil contact for germinating the soybeans. I suggested that maybe another day or two of wind and sunshine that these could become a very small percentage of the total acreage we were looking at...He agreed and said that "maybe" I would get a tractor ride for a few hours if that happens. That should be fun to do that, as I love riding in cars and trucks so farm tractors could be just another notch in my belt called life. But I noticed on tonights weather that a rain is passing through tomorrow. So that may be the end of my tractor ride for this time out.
Well it looks like we are thinking about calling it a day and going to bed now. We mulched flower beds today, they look great and Happy Hoosier has a "sniff test" appointment in the morning and then poll worker training in the afternoon but I will have my pottie breaks inbetween, and plenty of time to romp an stomp around this lawn.
OH, lots of rabbits around here, but just never have gotten into chasin those things. Rabbits run fast and jump in the air sometimes. Anyway what would I do if I caught one? Eat it maybe? I don't think so..
Thanks for stopping by to meet me, don't be giving me any rave reveiws now on this site, as he quizzed me quite a bit about any previous writing skills before he ever agreed to letting me "maiden voyage" on his blog. Also one other thing, I see the words "semper fi" used quite a lot on this blog. Well let me tell ya, we doggies invented semper fi, long before there were any U.S. Marines.....probably exactly why they chose a dog as their mascot....The Bulldog was a good choice as we Cavaliers, well were lovers not fighters.
Semper Fi,
Buddy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalier_King_Charles_Spaniel
OH, by the way I am kind of a special breed called "Cavalier, King Charles"..I included a web site here where you can read about my breed..We don't bark much, and were not into this hyper stuff either, we shed just a tad but we make it worth your while with the affection we have for people. When left alone for a bit, we like to tell you about it with a kind of dog chat and then after we unwind we go lay down and relax till bed time. Happy Hoosier says that my shortened slooping cute nose kind of reminds him of a favorite car he likes called a "mini cooper"....at least the side view he said.
I may get to ride in a tractor later this week possibly as we looked at a field today to see how the soil was drying out...We pulled back clumps of corn stalks and although most of the surface is drying nicely we did notice that under those piles of debris, which are numerous, that we could make a mud ball out of the top inch of soil. Jack said that is not good, as when the planter passes through those areas that the slot sometimes does not close and give good seed to soil contact for germinating the soybeans. I suggested that maybe another day or two of wind and sunshine that these could become a very small percentage of the total acreage we were looking at...He agreed and said that "maybe" I would get a tractor ride for a few hours if that happens. That should be fun to do that, as I love riding in cars and trucks so farm tractors could be just another notch in my belt called life. But I noticed on tonights weather that a rain is passing through tomorrow. So that may be the end of my tractor ride for this time out.
Well it looks like we are thinking about calling it a day and going to bed now. We mulched flower beds today, they look great and Happy Hoosier has a "sniff test" appointment in the morning and then poll worker training in the afternoon but I will have my pottie breaks inbetween, and plenty of time to romp an stomp around this lawn.
OH, lots of rabbits around here, but just never have gotten into chasin those things. Rabbits run fast and jump in the air sometimes. Anyway what would I do if I caught one? Eat it maybe? I don't think so..
Thanks for stopping by to meet me, don't be giving me any rave reveiws now on this site, as he quizzed me quite a bit about any previous writing skills before he ever agreed to letting me "maiden voyage" on his blog. Also one other thing, I see the words "semper fi" used quite a lot on this blog. Well let me tell ya, we doggies invented semper fi, long before there were any U.S. Marines.....probably exactly why they chose a dog as their mascot....The Bulldog was a good choice as we Cavaliers, well were lovers not fighters.
Semper Fi,
Buddy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalier_King_Charles_Spaniel
Monday, April 21, 2008
Purple Martins Return
I took the picture of the Martin setting on one of my houses a couple days ago. I knew when I saw him there that others would soon arrive...Some say they are a scout but I kind of doubt that, I think he was just the one to get here first, probably caught a good tail wind that some did not. But today others have arrived and the place is starting to buzz with activity...They are checking out the two twelve unit homes that are available for them. Deciding which home to live in this year at the north end or the south end of the pond and then which unit a lower or an upper. And then sunrise view or sunset, like people they must have a preferrence or if they get here late it could be take what is available.....
After "she" makes the choice they will both turn to bringing in cornstalks and grass from the surrounding fields and mud from the edges of the pond and make a nest out of all of it...She will then lay the eggs, usually 3 or 4 and then set on them and he will bring her bugs to eat during this time. I do enjoy watching out for them each year and putting the houses up maybe a week or so before they are likely to show up. It is always a thrill to walk out to the house when they first arrive and say something like, "hey where you been", "did you have a good winter?"....They make there little clicking or chirping noices as they fly around me as to ask me the same and say they are glad to be back for another season of kid raising.
I believe they winter in South America somewhere. They leave here for that flight as soon as all of the kids are taught to fly well and catch bugs and learn to fend for themselves...Some years it is fun to watch as they maybe get the kids to fly up to the top of the TV antenna and then they seem to freeze there and the parents hover out in front of them churping away coaxing them to take flight again...Sometimes it takes almost all day but before you know it they are all doing the soaring that is so much fun to watch. They are very social depending completely on man for the housing they need. They surely earn thier keep as they eat hundreds of mosquitoes each and every day while they are here. I never recieve a mosquitoe bite while they are present so they are very valuable especially around water sources....
But as soon as they depart for the south within just a few days I do see mosquitoes again but usually it is mid to late August and not far from the fall season when they are not so bad. They sometimes fly through the porch if I am setting out there to almost "buzz" me just for attention. Then they may go high into the sky over the pond and catch the bugs that the wind currents are bringing in....
Lots of fun all of the birds that seem to have learned to live here and glad to have this season underway...
After "she" makes the choice they will both turn to bringing in cornstalks and grass from the surrounding fields and mud from the edges of the pond and make a nest out of all of it...She will then lay the eggs, usually 3 or 4 and then set on them and he will bring her bugs to eat during this time. I do enjoy watching out for them each year and putting the houses up maybe a week or so before they are likely to show up. It is always a thrill to walk out to the house when they first arrive and say something like, "hey where you been", "did you have a good winter?"....They make there little clicking or chirping noices as they fly around me as to ask me the same and say they are glad to be back for another season of kid raising.
I believe they winter in South America somewhere. They leave here for that flight as soon as all of the kids are taught to fly well and catch bugs and learn to fend for themselves...Some years it is fun to watch as they maybe get the kids to fly up to the top of the TV antenna and then they seem to freeze there and the parents hover out in front of them churping away coaxing them to take flight again...Sometimes it takes almost all day but before you know it they are all doing the soaring that is so much fun to watch. They are very social depending completely on man for the housing they need. They surely earn thier keep as they eat hundreds of mosquitoes each and every day while they are here. I never recieve a mosquitoe bite while they are present so they are very valuable especially around water sources....
But as soon as they depart for the south within just a few days I do see mosquitoes again but usually it is mid to late August and not far from the fall season when they are not so bad. They sometimes fly through the porch if I am setting out there to almost "buzz" me just for attention. Then they may go high into the sky over the pond and catch the bugs that the wind currents are bringing in....
Lots of fun all of the birds that seem to have learned to live here and glad to have this season underway...
Thursday, April 17, 2008
UPDATE on LUCAS COLE
Update on my Grandson Lucas B. Cole Sgt. US Army in Iraq.....
Lucas is probably not real happy about this, but it looks like his brains and knowledge of mine detecting equipment is pulling him off of direct contact with the enemy. Other than the incoming mortors that could blow you to smithereens in a mega second, it seems Lucas's safety percentage has went way up. Maybe not his choice but surely good news for his Grandpa and others....
My daughter Sherry's update below......
Suzette asked me today to send an update on Lucas. I don’t have much to tell you as he has very little access to the internet or satellite phones and I have only been able to catch him online one time since he arrived in Iraq.
He was able to call Mindy about a week ago and talked for 8 minutes before the phone went dead. He told her that he has been moved back into the technology and electronics area and will not be doing the conveys as first planned. He said they didn’t have enough soldiers there working on the warfare equipment so he got pulled. He also told her that he is working 16 hour days without a day off. He said his workload is enough for 3-4 people, so I guess he is very busy. He told her that Camp Anaconda is a very big place, that they ride buses to get from one side to the other. They have incoming activity daily.
This week he was traveling to Baghdad to a school. He was concerned about traveling as the US had several casualties in this area last week.
We thank you for your prayers for his safety. We hope that Lucas is feeling protected and safe as we are certainly showering him with prayers from many families and our churches. Mindy and Monica pay visits to his house and pick up the mail almost daily. I am the chief bill payer and manager of his finances. We will be going over for a spring outside spruce up at his house in a few weeks and putting down some mulch and so on. If anyone would like to help out with that you are certainly invited. It would be fun to send him some pictures of a group of relatives at his house taking care of what he is so proud of. Let us know if you are available on a Saturday or Sunday.
His two motorcycles might need a spin around the block too.
Well, I am sorry I don’t have more to say. I hope once he gets settled into a shop where he will be working he will be able to communicate more with us. Until then, we patiently wait and hope to hear something from him.
Snail mail is the greatest to a soldier away from home. If you have time to drop him a card or letter, please send it to:
SGT Cole, Lucas B.
TF 1-293 INF TMC
OIF 08-10
APO AE 09391
The Mom
Lucas is probably not real happy about this, but it looks like his brains and knowledge of mine detecting equipment is pulling him off of direct contact with the enemy. Other than the incoming mortors that could blow you to smithereens in a mega second, it seems Lucas's safety percentage has went way up. Maybe not his choice but surely good news for his Grandpa and others....
My daughter Sherry's update below......
Suzette asked me today to send an update on Lucas. I don’t have much to tell you as he has very little access to the internet or satellite phones and I have only been able to catch him online one time since he arrived in Iraq.
He was able to call Mindy about a week ago and talked for 8 minutes before the phone went dead. He told her that he has been moved back into the technology and electronics area and will not be doing the conveys as first planned. He said they didn’t have enough soldiers there working on the warfare equipment so he got pulled. He also told her that he is working 16 hour days without a day off. He said his workload is enough for 3-4 people, so I guess he is very busy. He told her that Camp Anaconda is a very big place, that they ride buses to get from one side to the other. They have incoming activity daily.
This week he was traveling to Baghdad to a school. He was concerned about traveling as the US had several casualties in this area last week.
We thank you for your prayers for his safety. We hope that Lucas is feeling protected and safe as we are certainly showering him with prayers from many families and our churches. Mindy and Monica pay visits to his house and pick up the mail almost daily. I am the chief bill payer and manager of his finances. We will be going over for a spring outside spruce up at his house in a few weeks and putting down some mulch and so on. If anyone would like to help out with that you are certainly invited. It would be fun to send him some pictures of a group of relatives at his house taking care of what he is so proud of. Let us know if you are available on a Saturday or Sunday.
His two motorcycles might need a spin around the block too.
Well, I am sorry I don’t have more to say. I hope once he gets settled into a shop where he will be working he will be able to communicate more with us. Until then, we patiently wait and hope to hear something from him.
Snail mail is the greatest to a soldier away from home. If you have time to drop him a card or letter, please send it to:
SGT Cole, Lucas B.
TF 1-293 INF TMC
OIF 08-10
APO AE 09391
The Mom
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Today April 12, 2008 I Remember
At 6:20 this evening on this date one year ago my sweetie Linda L. Lahrman left this earth, and passed through the gate to eternity with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I miss her, but her memory lives on with all of us who knew her. I met her on another 12th of the month in January 1979, and we flew together in a plane to Chicago.
But during that flight we planted seeds of interest for both of us, and after our seperate trips we did see those seeds sprout into a courtship. And then on another 12th of January a year later at 3:45, exactly one year to the minute we were married and she was my dear wife for 28 years and 3 months until another 12th of the month in April last year took her away.
I remember her finding an old log book in our attic of the old house were we enjoyed so many years together. It was the book of a blacksmith who had lived in that house a hundred years before. It had a page for each his clients and what he had done for them and what date and what he charged them for his work. But on a empty page she found a date only that said January 12 1879. That was all it said but she said isn't that odd that date was exactly 100 years from the day we met.
I mention it because maybe it just says time does march on. And I guess it does and now she has logged one year which means but a micro second when eternity is your calendar. Even the 29 years and 3 months we knew was a micro second and even the 130 years and three months since that date was written in that book for what ever reason.
Some of my kids are coming by this evening for Ham and Beans that have been cooking in the crock pot all day. And some are bringing corn bread and some deserts and we will pause for a little remembrance at 6:20 this evening as they were all here a year ago when she died. It will be tough, but soon then the first year will have passed and I will try and move ahead with the life that I now have. There will always be a tomorrow and I feel that I have properly grieved her loss and am now ready to see what tomorrow will bring and what may lie ahead....
Tomorrow I may talk about tomorrow....but first I must face today....
I miss her, but her memory lives on with all of us who knew her. I met her on another 12th of the month in January 1979, and we flew together in a plane to Chicago.
But during that flight we planted seeds of interest for both of us, and after our seperate trips we did see those seeds sprout into a courtship. And then on another 12th of January a year later at 3:45, exactly one year to the minute we were married and she was my dear wife for 28 years and 3 months until another 12th of the month in April last year took her away.
I remember her finding an old log book in our attic of the old house were we enjoyed so many years together. It was the book of a blacksmith who had lived in that house a hundred years before. It had a page for each his clients and what he had done for them and what date and what he charged them for his work. But on a empty page she found a date only that said January 12 1879. That was all it said but she said isn't that odd that date was exactly 100 years from the day we met.
I mention it because maybe it just says time does march on. And I guess it does and now she has logged one year which means but a micro second when eternity is your calendar. Even the 29 years and 3 months we knew was a micro second and even the 130 years and three months since that date was written in that book for what ever reason.
Some of my kids are coming by this evening for Ham and Beans that have been cooking in the crock pot all day. And some are bringing corn bread and some deserts and we will pause for a little remembrance at 6:20 this evening as they were all here a year ago when she died. It will be tough, but soon then the first year will have passed and I will try and move ahead with the life that I now have. There will always be a tomorrow and I feel that I have properly grieved her loss and am now ready to see what tomorrow will bring and what may lie ahead....
Tomorrow I may talk about tomorrow....but first I must face today....
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The Fair Oaks Farm Dairy
A couple weeks ago visiting my son and family after returning from Florida, they told me they were on vacation this week and were going to visit a dairy farm for a little day trip the next day. Well I have missed so many trips to that dairy farm in the past couple years always hearing about it the day after a group visited that I kind of invited myself along and they said that would be great and let me tag along the next morning....
It is open to the public all day every day and located at Fair Oaks Indiana about an hour north of Lafayette on I-65 leading to Chicago at exit 220, it is the only thing at the exit so its hard to miss it...
But what a stop it is you need at least 3 hours to do it justice...Great stop with the kids or grand kids. There are 10 diary farms there within just a few miles but the one close to the interchange is the one open for viewing. There is a birthing barn off to the side where about 6 to 8 times a day a new calf is born. They alert you while you are there that it is about to happen and then everyone goes over and takes it all in. You set on a seating balcony kind of like sea world and watch the show live as it happens. There are always two cows there about to have calves. As soon as she does they give them an hour to bond and out they go to the real cow world and in comes another expecting momma moo.
And unlike see world she does not splash you but it is a nice thing to watch as the calf is being born and how she then stands up and licks the baby and then the calf gets to its feet and drinks its first milk...Then they load you on a bus and take you on a tour of the other barns the most spectacular of which is the milking parlor turnstyle. I am still seaching my files for my photo of the turn style that holds maybe 100 cows at a time. It is amazing it is a huge wheel turn style that the cows all by themselves are trained to get on it and be milked three times a day in the time it takes it to make one revolution. Then they back out and head on back to the barn where they eat more feed drink lots of water and make us more milk....
I tell you God did have an imagination when he designed us and all these things of this world.. And I will tell you also that only a fool would even consider for a moment that all of this crawled up out of the slime and just happened...Just a little wisdom for you today now back to the story.
They have shows to watch, they have a gift shop, they have a restaurant and an ice cream parlor all of which you will enjoy with your family or by yourself. I passed out a few of my blog addresses to some employees and told them I would make them famous and to them sorry I was so long in getting this story posted...The phone number for the dairy is 877 536 1194 if you have any questions about anything.
Gosh I wish I had written this story the next day as I did not take notes but I think this one farm maybe milks a couple thousand cows maybe three times a day. Every hour the turn style produces 2000 gallons of milk. It goes through a big pipe into a big holding tank is then loaded on semi trailers that within 24 hours of leaving the cow delivers it to far away places like Atlanta or even Miami...Which reminds me I need to go get a half gallon today sometime. The milks leaves the cow at 101 degrees and then is chilled to 34.5 in just minutes..they said the tankers that transport it are insulated so well that it only rises to 35 degrees when it arrives at a processor plant maybe 1000 miles away. There it is pasturized and processed into the cartons that you grab to wet down your cereal each day...or make that milk shake...
OK wish my memory was better but anyway you have a taste of the diary to savor. Oh they have a cheese factory there also and first hand my friend and I can attest it is 'good'........
It is open to the public all day every day and located at Fair Oaks Indiana about an hour north of Lafayette on I-65 leading to Chicago at exit 220, it is the only thing at the exit so its hard to miss it...
But what a stop it is you need at least 3 hours to do it justice...Great stop with the kids or grand kids. There are 10 diary farms there within just a few miles but the one close to the interchange is the one open for viewing. There is a birthing barn off to the side where about 6 to 8 times a day a new calf is born. They alert you while you are there that it is about to happen and then everyone goes over and takes it all in. You set on a seating balcony kind of like sea world and watch the show live as it happens. There are always two cows there about to have calves. As soon as she does they give them an hour to bond and out they go to the real cow world and in comes another expecting momma moo.
And unlike see world she does not splash you but it is a nice thing to watch as the calf is being born and how she then stands up and licks the baby and then the calf gets to its feet and drinks its first milk...Then they load you on a bus and take you on a tour of the other barns the most spectacular of which is the milking parlor turnstyle. I am still seaching my files for my photo of the turn style that holds maybe 100 cows at a time. It is amazing it is a huge wheel turn style that the cows all by themselves are trained to get on it and be milked three times a day in the time it takes it to make one revolution. Then they back out and head on back to the barn where they eat more feed drink lots of water and make us more milk....
I tell you God did have an imagination when he designed us and all these things of this world.. And I will tell you also that only a fool would even consider for a moment that all of this crawled up out of the slime and just happened...Just a little wisdom for you today now back to the story.
They have shows to watch, they have a gift shop, they have a restaurant and an ice cream parlor all of which you will enjoy with your family or by yourself. I passed out a few of my blog addresses to some employees and told them I would make them famous and to them sorry I was so long in getting this story posted...The phone number for the dairy is 877 536 1194 if you have any questions about anything.
Gosh I wish I had written this story the next day as I did not take notes but I think this one farm maybe milks a couple thousand cows maybe three times a day. Every hour the turn style produces 2000 gallons of milk. It goes through a big pipe into a big holding tank is then loaded on semi trailers that within 24 hours of leaving the cow delivers it to far away places like Atlanta or even Miami...Which reminds me I need to go get a half gallon today sometime. The milks leaves the cow at 101 degrees and then is chilled to 34.5 in just minutes..they said the tankers that transport it are insulated so well that it only rises to 35 degrees when it arrives at a processor plant maybe 1000 miles away. There it is pasturized and processed into the cartons that you grab to wet down your cereal each day...or make that milk shake...
OK wish my memory was better but anyway you have a taste of the diary to savor. Oh they have a cheese factory there also and first hand my friend and I can attest it is 'good'........
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Florence Patton *farm wife, mother of five*
My folks had 4 boys and 4 girls...The oldest is this sweet heart featured here today, the youngest is the author, her "baby brother" she likes to introduce me as to the residents of Mulberry Lutheran assisted living center in Mulberry Indiana. I think I know why I am the 'baby brother' as she was 22 when I was born and soon made me an uncle 5 times with 5 great sons Bill, Ed, Denny Jim and Tom....Meet my oldest sibling but surely not ready to even think about calling it quits, Florence Lahrman Patton, one great mom to five sons and like the hat says in the shadow box in the hall outside her room, "This is no ordinary Farm Wife you are dealing with".....
They farmed about 3 miles from us if you took the road but only a mile if you went through the woods which we kids usually did to get into trouble every chance we got.
It was an interesting trip, the short cut, as we had a small stream running through our farm that you jumped across and then a maybe 3 acre swampy shallow ponded area about half way in the woods, and then an area of large oak, maple and ash trees on their farm before dumping out into the quarter mile lane headed to their barn.
They had a steep hillside area caused by the glacier melt which formed wildcat creek eons ago but afforded us the greatest wildest sled rides you would ever want if you could avoid the gully's, the trees, and with high speed snow the fence along the road.
Florence is new at the Mulberry home as she spent a few years at Rose Walk Home where she had a great room and her own car for a while and if a bus was going anywhere this lady was on it....now she needs a little more help and her family wisely chose the best place for that, mainly because her brother Joe lives very close and sure there will not be many days that he does not stick his head in the door and make sure his sis is OK.....
All her other sibs are in Florida this week for the annual wine tasting Sarasota event and also a memorial tree planting this afternnon on the beach (where they all spent many spring breaks), for my sister Pegs husband Charles Ritchie who passed this winter... So the not so great at visiting baby brother, had to be activated, and told to get up there and check on her by my sister Peg.
So yesterday I did that as requested, and I am so glad to report to them and to you that I may have elevated my standing with my sis from maybe the basement to the roof top in one single day. Maybe not but I did score some points and I had so much fun doing it that it will be hard to not try and keep my image maintained in the future.
Joe will eventually regain the #1 spot living that close...Larry probably #2 because he is the oldest and most considerate and concerned bro you could ever want. But I could maybe take advantage of sliding into the 3rd spot ahead of my sis Peg solely because she lives in Anderson and won't have the opportunity to visit that often.
But if I end up in the basement again which I could I admit, as farming lies ahead for a few weeks and I will have the pleasure of cultivation of corn, beans, and Sweet Pea, preferably in reverse order.
My visit went so well. I arrived just afer noon and she was so glad to see her brother. She did get a really big smile, I guess absense does truly make the heart grow fonder, not a good excuse but maybe a fact of life. She told me she had went to lunch and not stayed in her room for lunch that day as she said she had the day before. I looked around her room and noticed she was a little short on shoes, and knowing most gals can not have too many shoes I ask her if maybe she had a couple pairs of brand new shoes if she would be more willing to put them on and feel better about making those meal time appointments. She smiled and said you know that is a good idea. I laughed and said well good deal lets take a look at your shoe size which she knew and I said JC Penny's here I come. I will be back before dinner and we will be doing that together in the cafeteria...She said, "oh good that will be so much fun"....I got to the store and the gentlemen and ladies after being told what I was up to all got into the act, it was slow in the shoe department, so we all got into the effort... I left there with 10 pairs and a promise to take them all back if need be and they were all on sale, how could I lose....
Well as a clincher for the number 1 slot that day in my sister life I had noticed a shadow box with shelves outside each room and hers was empty..I went by the house on my way back and got some "stuff", pictures, a chick fil a cow, a bed bug, a hat that my sweetie had owned that said "this is no ordinary farm wife you are dealing with" and a toy tractor a picture of Dayton school and her parents and others of her siblings...all 8 of us in the days gone by...
Anyway with all that I was confident I'd be number 1 for at least a week till the competition returns from spring break with their families on the beach....
I got there early and she was already setting in the cafeteria waiting on me. I put the sacks of stuff in her room and joined her. She said this is so much fun, I sure like having company. Maybe since your a pretty big guy you could just take me home with you. I said no but I will come see you and after we eat we have shoes to try on. She said well maybe you can stay all night I have an extra bed...She has it pretty much together except for she does not remember her parents dying and ask about how they are...Then wanted to know who died first...other than that she has it pretty well together and should not be in that locked down area and hopefully will be evaluated soon and into an area where friends can better be made with other residents.
We sat at the table for quite some time because of our early arrival. Another woman in a picture at the right showed up and looked at us. I said, "would you like to set with us"? She said, "well if I set anywhere its gonna be right on your lap".. I absolutely became a little embarrassed but laughed like I have not laughed maybe in months as did the whole cafeteria. My sis then turned around and told Janice was her name, "I think not if anyone is going to set on his lap it will be me"......so Janice smiled and went to her normally assigned table next to us. I could not resist having my picture taken with her when my daughter Sharla and son in law Jeffrey arrived with my camera that I had went off without as per my request...When a nice looking woman offers to set on your lap and then another one says no way its gonna be me if anyone, will the ego kind of hits the top of the scale and maybe even over the top...Janice is married to a "big guy" some of the nurses advised me so we will just be friends passing in the halls or smiling in the cafeteria...but I have learned that as early as last Christmas, that nursing homes do offer potential for relationships. Yesterday visit to see my Sis and others reinforced that discovery.
One funny encounter in the hall way with a gentleman walking the halls, was his asking, "are you going to use all of those"? pointing to the floor behind me. I turned and looked at the bare tile behind me and said, "no there all yours if you want them", he said, "ok thanks"...
It was a good day she tried on all 10 pairs of shoes and kept telling me this was crazy that she did not need these shoes but I finally talked her into two pair but there was a third pair that was kind of catching her eye and I said, "I think you need a pair for all three meals each day...She finally agreed and thus the pic at the right showing her holding two and wearing one...she said, "now if I can just remember I got all of these shoes"...I put them in a drawer under her TV and left the drawer open, she should be good to go...
To her family that will be seeing her often I want to say change anything you want in her shadow box but don't you mess with my sister new shoes...It was my great pleasure to see her this happy that day....
They farmed about 3 miles from us if you took the road but only a mile if you went through the woods which we kids usually did to get into trouble every chance we got.
It was an interesting trip, the short cut, as we had a small stream running through our farm that you jumped across and then a maybe 3 acre swampy shallow ponded area about half way in the woods, and then an area of large oak, maple and ash trees on their farm before dumping out into the quarter mile lane headed to their barn.
They had a steep hillside area caused by the glacier melt which formed wildcat creek eons ago but afforded us the greatest wildest sled rides you would ever want if you could avoid the gully's, the trees, and with high speed snow the fence along the road.
Florence is new at the Mulberry home as she spent a few years at Rose Walk Home where she had a great room and her own car for a while and if a bus was going anywhere this lady was on it....now she needs a little more help and her family wisely chose the best place for that, mainly because her brother Joe lives very close and sure there will not be many days that he does not stick his head in the door and make sure his sis is OK.....
All her other sibs are in Florida this week for the annual wine tasting Sarasota event and also a memorial tree planting this afternnon on the beach (where they all spent many spring breaks), for my sister Pegs husband Charles Ritchie who passed this winter... So the not so great at visiting baby brother, had to be activated, and told to get up there and check on her by my sister Peg.
So yesterday I did that as requested, and I am so glad to report to them and to you that I may have elevated my standing with my sis from maybe the basement to the roof top in one single day. Maybe not but I did score some points and I had so much fun doing it that it will be hard to not try and keep my image maintained in the future.
Joe will eventually regain the #1 spot living that close...Larry probably #2 because he is the oldest and most considerate and concerned bro you could ever want. But I could maybe take advantage of sliding into the 3rd spot ahead of my sis Peg solely because she lives in Anderson and won't have the opportunity to visit that often.
But if I end up in the basement again which I could I admit, as farming lies ahead for a few weeks and I will have the pleasure of cultivation of corn, beans, and Sweet Pea, preferably in reverse order.
My visit went so well. I arrived just afer noon and she was so glad to see her brother. She did get a really big smile, I guess absense does truly make the heart grow fonder, not a good excuse but maybe a fact of life. She told me she had went to lunch and not stayed in her room for lunch that day as she said she had the day before. I looked around her room and noticed she was a little short on shoes, and knowing most gals can not have too many shoes I ask her if maybe she had a couple pairs of brand new shoes if she would be more willing to put them on and feel better about making those meal time appointments. She smiled and said you know that is a good idea. I laughed and said well good deal lets take a look at your shoe size which she knew and I said JC Penny's here I come. I will be back before dinner and we will be doing that together in the cafeteria...She said, "oh good that will be so much fun"....I got to the store and the gentlemen and ladies after being told what I was up to all got into the act, it was slow in the shoe department, so we all got into the effort... I left there with 10 pairs and a promise to take them all back if need be and they were all on sale, how could I lose....
Well as a clincher for the number 1 slot that day in my sister life I had noticed a shadow box with shelves outside each room and hers was empty..I went by the house on my way back and got some "stuff", pictures, a chick fil a cow, a bed bug, a hat that my sweetie had owned that said "this is no ordinary farm wife you are dealing with" and a toy tractor a picture of Dayton school and her parents and others of her siblings...all 8 of us in the days gone by...
Anyway with all that I was confident I'd be number 1 for at least a week till the competition returns from spring break with their families on the beach....
I got there early and she was already setting in the cafeteria waiting on me. I put the sacks of stuff in her room and joined her. She said this is so much fun, I sure like having company. Maybe since your a pretty big guy you could just take me home with you. I said no but I will come see you and after we eat we have shoes to try on. She said well maybe you can stay all night I have an extra bed...She has it pretty much together except for she does not remember her parents dying and ask about how they are...Then wanted to know who died first...other than that she has it pretty well together and should not be in that locked down area and hopefully will be evaluated soon and into an area where friends can better be made with other residents.
We sat at the table for quite some time because of our early arrival. Another woman in a picture at the right showed up and looked at us. I said, "would you like to set with us"? She said, "well if I set anywhere its gonna be right on your lap".. I absolutely became a little embarrassed but laughed like I have not laughed maybe in months as did the whole cafeteria. My sis then turned around and told Janice was her name, "I think not if anyone is going to set on his lap it will be me"......so Janice smiled and went to her normally assigned table next to us. I could not resist having my picture taken with her when my daughter Sharla and son in law Jeffrey arrived with my camera that I had went off without as per my request...When a nice looking woman offers to set on your lap and then another one says no way its gonna be me if anyone, will the ego kind of hits the top of the scale and maybe even over the top...Janice is married to a "big guy" some of the nurses advised me so we will just be friends passing in the halls or smiling in the cafeteria...but I have learned that as early as last Christmas, that nursing homes do offer potential for relationships. Yesterday visit to see my Sis and others reinforced that discovery.
One funny encounter in the hall way with a gentleman walking the halls, was his asking, "are you going to use all of those"? pointing to the floor behind me. I turned and looked at the bare tile behind me and said, "no there all yours if you want them", he said, "ok thanks"...
It was a good day she tried on all 10 pairs of shoes and kept telling me this was crazy that she did not need these shoes but I finally talked her into two pair but there was a third pair that was kind of catching her eye and I said, "I think you need a pair for all three meals each day...She finally agreed and thus the pic at the right showing her holding two and wearing one...she said, "now if I can just remember I got all of these shoes"...I put them in a drawer under her TV and left the drawer open, she should be good to go...
To her family that will be seeing her often I want to say change anything you want in her shadow box but don't you mess with my sister new shoes...It was my great pleasure to see her this happy that day....
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Baby Fish Day/ No April Fool
Sorry Mandy, Gunny Conner and Randy Kington but time moves on and your pictures slip farther down the line with each post. Two or three days of fame is all that is allowed here on the corn and bean blog....Spring is on the way and there are things to be done before we get into planting crops. One of those things happened today and thus the pics to the right of the pond. Its April fools day but this is not a joke this really happened, I got into the pond with the fish. Well you might have known I would get caught up in the excitement of it all..
You see twice a year Farleys Fish Farm from Arkansas sends a semi up through this area and they park it for two hours at Buckles feed store on 4th street and we pond keepers show up. I ordered 100 black crappie a week ago but when I got there lots of guys were ordering 50 of this and 50 of that, and well I kinda got caught up in the fish shopping mode and did a little extra. I got my Crappie Ok and then I got 50Red Eared Bream and 50 Channel cats along with 1000 fat head minnows for something for the bigger fish to chase and eat until my new little buddies get acclamated into their new home and find the really good hiding places until they are big enough to eat someone, grow up, and get caught, and then as my fishing buddy said, "we eatem".
Well they put them in large plastic bags and I had 5 of them to deal with. Now the Arkasas water in the tanks was warmer than the April Fools day water in the Pond, so the drill is to place the bags in the water for a half hour and let the water temp change gradually. So I did that and I thought coffee would be good while I wait, so went in for that. The wind had other ideas for my large inflated plasic bags which were kind of like sail boats you might say. And I noticed from my kitchen windows some bags had left the edge of the pond. I ran out there and saw one about 10 feet out sailing away, and just went in after it...Got wet to the knees or above a little...It was chilly and then I noticed a couple bags in 10 feet of water and I used my head a little not wanting to get in that deep...All I had to do was wait until the sailing vessels went across the pond to the spot where maybe God wanted me to turn them loose and that is what I did. Nothing like an April wind and God's help with the release of baby fish.
The top picture to the right is the dam end of the pond where the Channels and 50 crappie got their freedom. The second pic is the middle where the three sailing ships left the bank,and sailed to the other side. Carrying the "pilgrims" to the other shore and thus the new home for the rest of the crappie, the bream, and the fathead minnows. Also you will see in this pic a new device that some of us mature kids installed last fall there on the dock. It is a swing of sorts that we will hang knotted ropes from and kids of all ages will then swing in pairs if they like as there are two of them out over the water and drop down feet or head first depending on how acrobatic they feel that day. It should be a fun summer for 19 grand kids and maybe even the author......and others....
You see twice a year Farleys Fish Farm from Arkansas sends a semi up through this area and they park it for two hours at Buckles feed store on 4th street and we pond keepers show up. I ordered 100 black crappie a week ago but when I got there lots of guys were ordering 50 of this and 50 of that, and well I kinda got caught up in the fish shopping mode and did a little extra. I got my Crappie Ok and then I got 50Red Eared Bream and 50 Channel cats along with 1000 fat head minnows for something for the bigger fish to chase and eat until my new little buddies get acclamated into their new home and find the really good hiding places until they are big enough to eat someone, grow up, and get caught, and then as my fishing buddy said, "we eatem".
Well they put them in large plastic bags and I had 5 of them to deal with. Now the Arkasas water in the tanks was warmer than the April Fools day water in the Pond, so the drill is to place the bags in the water for a half hour and let the water temp change gradually. So I did that and I thought coffee would be good while I wait, so went in for that. The wind had other ideas for my large inflated plasic bags which were kind of like sail boats you might say. And I noticed from my kitchen windows some bags had left the edge of the pond. I ran out there and saw one about 10 feet out sailing away, and just went in after it...Got wet to the knees or above a little...It was chilly and then I noticed a couple bags in 10 feet of water and I used my head a little not wanting to get in that deep...All I had to do was wait until the sailing vessels went across the pond to the spot where maybe God wanted me to turn them loose and that is what I did. Nothing like an April wind and God's help with the release of baby fish.
The top picture to the right is the dam end of the pond where the Channels and 50 crappie got their freedom. The second pic is the middle where the three sailing ships left the bank,and sailed to the other side. Carrying the "pilgrims" to the other shore and thus the new home for the rest of the crappie, the bream, and the fathead minnows. Also you will see in this pic a new device that some of us mature kids installed last fall there on the dock. It is a swing of sorts that we will hang knotted ropes from and kids of all ages will then swing in pairs if they like as there are two of them out over the water and drop down feet or head first depending on how acrobatic they feel that day. It should be a fun summer for 19 grand kids and maybe even the author......and others....
Saturday, March 29, 2008
And yet another Hero for me.
I know I am getting a lot of them, but I found another today on the Purdue Campus.
My granddaughter Mandy Rutherford sister of another of my grandchildren Lucas featured below serving now in Iraq. She is in her second year in the Naval ROTC program at Purdue. Mandy will be a good Naval Officer one day before we know it. She tells me this summer after her sophmore year that she will spend a month on a cruise on a Navy ship. She hopes to be stationed on an nuclear attack air craft carrier one day like the one in the picture to the right. But today Mandy was the Officer in Charge of this event. The OIC the gunny refered to her as.
Her gunnery Sgt William Conner who is a Marine Corps Gunny and trains well the future Navy and Marine Corps Officers at Purdue tipped me off to this event while I was in Florida. He said you should try to be here as Mandy was put in charge of organizing and planning this event last year and it looks like she will pull it off in fine style.
The event was the first annual Boilermaker Naval ROTC Open Time Matrix. She got several surrounding Colleges to send NROTC members here today to compete in Marching Drills,Color Guard,Rifle and Pistol shooting, Basketball and Indurance Running. That girl was all over the campus today making sure that all of the events were happening as planned. Most of it was in the Armory but some were in other locations on campus. Teams were from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Miami of Ohio and Missouri and Purdue.
I quickly purchase a T-shirt that told of the event so that I would "fit in" and not just look like the Mandy's grandpa for this event...Tried for a picture of Mandy and I with our matching T's but she said there will be plenty of time for that later Grandpa...Well you don't see the picture do you?
But that is OK Mandy I got my shirt on right now typing this so what the hey....
It was a good day I got a little bored watching the shooting events and asked Mandy if I could take a nap somewhere... She said sure grandpa go upstairs to the midshipmans lounge and tell them to get out of there so you can take a nap on the couch... Well I did not do that I put my ear plugs back in my ears so I could not hear all that shooting downstairs and the bull being shot in that room plus the TV. And off to dream land I went..A little side note, I talked for a bit with a Naval officer from Miami of Ohio college today and told him I was Mandy's grandfather. He had recently been station as an officer on a US Navy attack submarine in the Pacific. He said your granddaughter gave an excellent breifing today to the visiting officers before this event started....yes it was a very good day. Mandy congrats on a job well done...
Check this out also....
http://www.trdaniel.com/Marines/index.htm
My granddaughter Mandy Rutherford sister of another of my grandchildren Lucas featured below serving now in Iraq. She is in her second year in the Naval ROTC program at Purdue. Mandy will be a good Naval Officer one day before we know it. She tells me this summer after her sophmore year that she will spend a month on a cruise on a Navy ship. She hopes to be stationed on an nuclear attack air craft carrier one day like the one in the picture to the right. But today Mandy was the Officer in Charge of this event. The OIC the gunny refered to her as.
Her gunnery Sgt William Conner who is a Marine Corps Gunny and trains well the future Navy and Marine Corps Officers at Purdue tipped me off to this event while I was in Florida. He said you should try to be here as Mandy was put in charge of organizing and planning this event last year and it looks like she will pull it off in fine style.
The event was the first annual Boilermaker Naval ROTC Open Time Matrix. She got several surrounding Colleges to send NROTC members here today to compete in Marching Drills,Color Guard,Rifle and Pistol shooting, Basketball and Indurance Running. That girl was all over the campus today making sure that all of the events were happening as planned. Most of it was in the Armory but some were in other locations on campus. Teams were from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Miami of Ohio and Missouri and Purdue.
I quickly purchase a T-shirt that told of the event so that I would "fit in" and not just look like the Mandy's grandpa for this event...Tried for a picture of Mandy and I with our matching T's but she said there will be plenty of time for that later Grandpa...Well you don't see the picture do you?
But that is OK Mandy I got my shirt on right now typing this so what the hey....
It was a good day I got a little bored watching the shooting events and asked Mandy if I could take a nap somewhere... She said sure grandpa go upstairs to the midshipmans lounge and tell them to get out of there so you can take a nap on the couch... Well I did not do that I put my ear plugs back in my ears so I could not hear all that shooting downstairs and the bull being shot in that room plus the TV. And off to dream land I went..A little side note, I talked for a bit with a Naval officer from Miami of Ohio college today and told him I was Mandy's grandfather. He had recently been station as an officer on a US Navy attack submarine in the Pacific. He said your granddaughter gave an excellent breifing today to the visiting officers before this event started....yes it was a very good day. Mandy congrats on a job well done...
Check this out also....
http://www.trdaniel.com/Marines/index.htm
Friday, March 21, 2008
"Back Home again in Indiana"
Well that has happened to me. I am here and Hoosiers owe me big time, as I brought them nice weather. The fact that a front is approaching and the nice weather will be gone is not my problem...I brought it, and they could not hold onto it, so I guess we all suffer together here. It is always good to get back home where my family and Hoosier friends are near. Always also good to go the other way in the fall and see again my Florida friends. It was a good trip it went fast I made it to a cracker barrel parking lot the first day about 30 miles north of Atlanta. I had free internet there climbing on some "Days Inn" wyfi and liked that and did some emails.
That was 650 mile of the 1200 so the next day the last 550 was like falling off a log and I got home at 5:30...I marvel at my "Co Pilot" GPS guidance program I have in my lap top. with an antenna attached to a printer port it takes constant readings off satalites and leads me to any address I put in it. I call it "Oscar" for short as it has a male voice, is sometimes obnoxious when I get off for fuel and get more than 1000 feet maybe from the designated road course. It starts telling me to go to the next road and then follow its course around a few blocks to get back on the interstate..When I got a new computer this fall and did a update download they did make the guy a little more user freindly. He used to just say as soon as I was off course "TURN AROUND" in a rather loud voice..Some one must have complained, personally I got a kick out of it, but anyway now he in a politically correct manner, just starts me on a path around a block that will turn me around and back on course. Any way he is so reassuring for a lone traveler with no "breathing" co pilot as any time a course change happens he alerts me at 2 miles out then again at 1 mile then at 300 feet and even a forth time right at the intersection.. Tells me which way to turn and what road to take. It is a good program and does deliver me to where ever I want to be.
Each year as I cross the Ohio river into Indiana I break out in "back home again in Indiana" the song. Now of course Linda and I used to do it together in a somewhat guarded voices as neither of us were really star search material. But now with no one around I let it happen, I put it out there, and hey it just ain't even too bad if I have to say so myself. And hey I know I am not going to be challenging Jim Nabors with the singing of this song at the Indy 500 each year, nor would I want to but I have learned most of the song, I like the song and so I sing it each time I enter Indiana after an absense of any time to speak of. No I will not come sing it for you, its just one of those things that they say, "you just had to have been there". You were not, you missed it.
Planting will start in about a month maybe if weather permits. I look forward to that each year as I do this year. Corn usually goes into the ground first and then the soybeans. Last year field conditions were so that I reversed that but as a rule that is the drill here. Then I will after a couple weeks of my hobby level farming have the rest of the summer off to do what ever I like. Will be doing some fishing some mushroom hunting, maybe occassional golf, in May after the 15th will take my motor home to Traverse City Bay RV resort in that city in Michigan and agressively hunt those big supposedly plentiful sponge mushrooms. And consider purchasing a lot in that RV park that many people I know in Silver Lakes do already own lots there. I doubt that I will do that, but I am going to consider it. Not sure just why, well yes I know why, because so darn many people have told me I should. So I will take a look, and take a feel of the place and see what comes of it all.
OK that is it for today you know of where I am so I think it may be time for a nap.
That was 650 mile of the 1200 so the next day the last 550 was like falling off a log and I got home at 5:30...I marvel at my "Co Pilot" GPS guidance program I have in my lap top. with an antenna attached to a printer port it takes constant readings off satalites and leads me to any address I put in it. I call it "Oscar" for short as it has a male voice, is sometimes obnoxious when I get off for fuel and get more than 1000 feet maybe from the designated road course. It starts telling me to go to the next road and then follow its course around a few blocks to get back on the interstate..When I got a new computer this fall and did a update download they did make the guy a little more user freindly. He used to just say as soon as I was off course "TURN AROUND" in a rather loud voice..Some one must have complained, personally I got a kick out of it, but anyway now he in a politically correct manner, just starts me on a path around a block that will turn me around and back on course. Any way he is so reassuring for a lone traveler with no "breathing" co pilot as any time a course change happens he alerts me at 2 miles out then again at 1 mile then at 300 feet and even a forth time right at the intersection.. Tells me which way to turn and what road to take. It is a good program and does deliver me to where ever I want to be.
Each year as I cross the Ohio river into Indiana I break out in "back home again in Indiana" the song. Now of course Linda and I used to do it together in a somewhat guarded voices as neither of us were really star search material. But now with no one around I let it happen, I put it out there, and hey it just ain't even too bad if I have to say so myself. And hey I know I am not going to be challenging Jim Nabors with the singing of this song at the Indy 500 each year, nor would I want to but I have learned most of the song, I like the song and so I sing it each time I enter Indiana after an absense of any time to speak of. No I will not come sing it for you, its just one of those things that they say, "you just had to have been there". You were not, you missed it.
Planting will start in about a month maybe if weather permits. I look forward to that each year as I do this year. Corn usually goes into the ground first and then the soybeans. Last year field conditions were so that I reversed that but as a rule that is the drill here. Then I will after a couple weeks of my hobby level farming have the rest of the summer off to do what ever I like. Will be doing some fishing some mushroom hunting, maybe occassional golf, in May after the 15th will take my motor home to Traverse City Bay RV resort in that city in Michigan and agressively hunt those big supposedly plentiful sponge mushrooms. And consider purchasing a lot in that RV park that many people I know in Silver Lakes do already own lots there. I doubt that I will do that, but I am going to consider it. Not sure just why, well yes I know why, because so darn many people have told me I should. So I will take a look, and take a feel of the place and see what comes of it all.
OK that is it for today you know of where I am so I think it may be time for a nap.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Randy and Patty Kington
Update.....
The date for Randy Kington speaking as decribed below has been changed.....
They will now be here and speaking on Sunday August 17th at the 8 and 10.30 service at Dayton Methodist Church and again also on July 18 at 7 on Monday evening, and not July 27th as described previously in this blog....
Jack
A web site of Randy's speaking engagements... http://www.randykington.com/speaking.html
Many wonderful things and people have crossed my life this past, soon be a year, since loosing my wife of 29 years to the monster cancer. It has actually been or is becoming fun again to awake each day and see what happens between sun up and sun down. Finding this bunch of Marines as recommended by my freind Bill Slepcevich the Financial wizard in Naples,has been like walking into or joining a family that wants you there.
And then in the middle of that has been meeting Randy and Patty Kington. It happened at the first Country Club dinner setting I went to and was introduced around by Loran Loy. When I first shook Randy's hand and seen his smile and heard him speak I knew he was a man of great charactor. I have since read his great book "What A Life", about how the Nam war affected one Marine. I tell you all, this is the best book I have read in years, it is both a factual account of the war as Randy saw it, and he does is so well. The first maybe nine chapters are rivoting as he takes you from boot camp to taking the bullet that paralized him for life below the waist. But the very best part is the last couple chapters or so when he meets the love of his life Patty in the VA hospital. It then turns into one of the best love stories you will ever read...Get the book you will treasure it, and you will think of people who also would be blessed by reading it.
At one of the weekly luncheons someone said something about Randy speaking at a church that next Sunday. I sent him and email and kind of invited myself and he told me where it would be in downtown Naples. I pictured a small woooden church with 50 people in it so I did not take my camera so my eyes are the picture I am showing you now. As I approached the downtown I noticed an awful lot of traffic headed to that area, and I thought well something else must also be going on there that day...Parking was a problem and when I accomplished that I headed toward that park. People were coming in droves from all directions and suddenly my little wooden church kind of evaporated and there was this amphitheater with folding chairs everwhere under the trees. I grabbed one and found a seat maybe a couple hundred feet from the stage. Our color guard was there as the church was honoring veterans that day and the featured speaker was setting patiently off to the left side in his chair. He was in full dress blues bedecked in his many medal he had earned. I knew I had made a big mistake in not bringing the camera that day.
All the different services were ask to stand and honored, lots of Marines were there and then they sang some worship songs, and introduced Randy Kington. He rolled his chair out to the center, was totally in control and relaxed, and delivered one of the most uplifting testimonies about his Nation, His Marine Corps, and His God, that I think I may have ever heard. When it ended 1100 people were on their feet applauding this man for who he was, and for what he had said to them. If your ever get a chance to hear Randy do this, well its just something you need to do, you don't think about it, you just do it. And I think no one is prouder of this Marine than his gorgeous 5 foot red head wife Patty. Randy gives her credit over and over again for all he is and has been able to accomplish. He claims humorously that the Nation was so good to him, that they even issued him a wife. You see Patty visited Randy on a good will basis in a VA hospital. After the two hours of that visit it was love at first sight for both of them. Neither of them stood a chance of getting out of this single from that day forth. I was honored to have dinner with them one night a month ago and it was such a delight to be with both of them. I suggested to them something that Randy agreed with also, that the government did not issue him a wife. As he had been issued an angel, and that only God issues angels. Acutally I think Randy pretty much admits and protrays that in his talks.
You who are stuck here in Paradise called Naples will have the chance next year at the same church under those trees probably in Feb. to again hear this man, he changes his message from time to time so it will not be the same but my guess is the affect on people is the same. But for those of you who read this blog from my home town of Dayton Indiana near Lafayette, put August 17th and 18th on your calendar and don't even think about it....Just be at the Dayton Methodist Church one of those days when Randy and Patty have agreed to come and speak and all of those people will be blessed as were those 1100 that day. Randy's book will be available that day also, and I will be helping Patty sell those to the wize. He will tell his story at both the 8 and 10:30 services on Sunday and the 7 PM service on Monday evening. This will allow any of you who do not want to miss your own worship service on Sunday to catch Randy's good message on Monday evening.
I hope they bring plenty as after that service in that park a huge line formed to buy his book and have Randy sign them and shake his hand. I laid back and did not get in line as I was thinking maybe they would sell out...They did about 100 did not get to buy one that day but am sure got one at a book store here in Naples later.
My pastor John Walls back home hears your name once and he has it. I think Randy has been blessed with that also as I enjoyed standing about 25 feet away and just watching Randy talk to peeople and sign the books. He was talking to a gentlemen and caught me in the corner of his eye and said after meeting me only once, "Hey Jack", and never missed a beat continued that conversation.
So yes the Marine Detachment and the City of Naples and the County of Collier are all pretty darn proud of their own, the Kington's Patty and Randy.
Semper Fi, Randy and Semper Fi, Patty
Jack
The date for Randy Kington speaking as decribed below has been changed.....
They will now be here and speaking on Sunday August 17th at the 8 and 10.30 service at Dayton Methodist Church and again also on July 18 at 7 on Monday evening, and not July 27th as described previously in this blog....
Jack
A web site of Randy's speaking engagements... http://www.randykington.com/speaking.html
Many wonderful things and people have crossed my life this past, soon be a year, since loosing my wife of 29 years to the monster cancer. It has actually been or is becoming fun again to awake each day and see what happens between sun up and sun down. Finding this bunch of Marines as recommended by my freind Bill Slepcevich the Financial wizard in Naples,has been like walking into or joining a family that wants you there.
And then in the middle of that has been meeting Randy and Patty Kington. It happened at the first Country Club dinner setting I went to and was introduced around by Loran Loy. When I first shook Randy's hand and seen his smile and heard him speak I knew he was a man of great charactor. I have since read his great book "What A Life", about how the Nam war affected one Marine. I tell you all, this is the best book I have read in years, it is both a factual account of the war as Randy saw it, and he does is so well. The first maybe nine chapters are rivoting as he takes you from boot camp to taking the bullet that paralized him for life below the waist. But the very best part is the last couple chapters or so when he meets the love of his life Patty in the VA hospital. It then turns into one of the best love stories you will ever read...Get the book you will treasure it, and you will think of people who also would be blessed by reading it.
At one of the weekly luncheons someone said something about Randy speaking at a church that next Sunday. I sent him and email and kind of invited myself and he told me where it would be in downtown Naples. I pictured a small woooden church with 50 people in it so I did not take my camera so my eyes are the picture I am showing you now. As I approached the downtown I noticed an awful lot of traffic headed to that area, and I thought well something else must also be going on there that day...Parking was a problem and when I accomplished that I headed toward that park. People were coming in droves from all directions and suddenly my little wooden church kind of evaporated and there was this amphitheater with folding chairs everwhere under the trees. I grabbed one and found a seat maybe a couple hundred feet from the stage. Our color guard was there as the church was honoring veterans that day and the featured speaker was setting patiently off to the left side in his chair. He was in full dress blues bedecked in his many medal he had earned. I knew I had made a big mistake in not bringing the camera that day.
All the different services were ask to stand and honored, lots of Marines were there and then they sang some worship songs, and introduced Randy Kington. He rolled his chair out to the center, was totally in control and relaxed, and delivered one of the most uplifting testimonies about his Nation, His Marine Corps, and His God, that I think I may have ever heard. When it ended 1100 people were on their feet applauding this man for who he was, and for what he had said to them. If your ever get a chance to hear Randy do this, well its just something you need to do, you don't think about it, you just do it. And I think no one is prouder of this Marine than his gorgeous 5 foot red head wife Patty. Randy gives her credit over and over again for all he is and has been able to accomplish. He claims humorously that the Nation was so good to him, that they even issued him a wife. You see Patty visited Randy on a good will basis in a VA hospital. After the two hours of that visit it was love at first sight for both of them. Neither of them stood a chance of getting out of this single from that day forth. I was honored to have dinner with them one night a month ago and it was such a delight to be with both of them. I suggested to them something that Randy agreed with also, that the government did not issue him a wife. As he had been issued an angel, and that only God issues angels. Acutally I think Randy pretty much admits and protrays that in his talks.
You who are stuck here in Paradise called Naples will have the chance next year at the same church under those trees probably in Feb. to again hear this man, he changes his message from time to time so it will not be the same but my guess is the affect on people is the same. But for those of you who read this blog from my home town of Dayton Indiana near Lafayette, put August 17th and 18th on your calendar and don't even think about it....Just be at the Dayton Methodist Church one of those days when Randy and Patty have agreed to come and speak and all of those people will be blessed as were those 1100 that day. Randy's book will be available that day also, and I will be helping Patty sell those to the wize. He will tell his story at both the 8 and 10:30 services on Sunday and the 7 PM service on Monday evening. This will allow any of you who do not want to miss your own worship service on Sunday to catch Randy's good message on Monday evening.
I hope they bring plenty as after that service in that park a huge line formed to buy his book and have Randy sign them and shake his hand. I laid back and did not get in line as I was thinking maybe they would sell out...They did about 100 did not get to buy one that day but am sure got one at a book store here in Naples later.
My pastor John Walls back home hears your name once and he has it. I think Randy has been blessed with that also as I enjoyed standing about 25 feet away and just watching Randy talk to peeople and sign the books. He was talking to a gentlemen and caught me in the corner of his eye and said after meeting me only once, "Hey Jack", and never missed a beat continued that conversation.
So yes the Marine Detachment and the City of Naples and the County of Collier are all pretty darn proud of their own, the Kington's Patty and Randy.
Semper Fi, Randy and Semper Fi, Patty
Jack
A bigger story than just a parade.
Yesterday's parade was great, but there is a bigger story here, one that unexpectantly unfolded for me as I arrived an hour early and began taking pictures of my fellow Marines, especially the ones of the World War Two vintage. They represent what is so good about America, they represent an era that America saved the world from the tyranny of dictatorships. When our boys were trained and went "over there" in two directions things got better for this world. These men made it happen, cleaned up the crime, and some came back home. Some did not, a lot of them did not, and of course they are now our revered and most galant of hero's.
But yesterday as I took these pictures, I realize that I needed more than pictures. I borrowed a pen that I did not return, and I found a reciept in my pocket and I started asking questions of these men. Everyone loves are Sgt. Major Miller and he is now 94 years of age and I don't see any sign of stopping in this guy. He is a veteran of the firt major battle in the Pacific on Guadalcanal. We salute you Sgt. Major and may God continue to bless you with good health and you one day ride in this parade a proud Marine of 100 years of age. You can do it Sir.
And I talked to Pappy Wagner who also is a Iwo Jima veteran. I think I may have borrowed the pen from his daughter not sure, but I know if it was she understands that it was for a good cause. Also talked and photographed Tom Leavey in the Red Coat and Ron Lucas both of these men are veterans of Iwo Jima. And yet another that still fits into a sharp looking set of dress blues and that is Everette Short. Everette is a veteran of Guadalcanal, Bouganville, Guam and Iwo Jima... These guys just kind of got hauled out there and left to do the job till it was done. Iwo was the bloodest battle I believe that the Marines ever faced. I set by a Marine in my church each sunday in Dayton Indiana who also walked off or lived throught that battle, his name is Ken Bettag, Ken told me last summer when I talked to him about it that only 17 of the 250 in his unit walked off the island.. He also told me that interestingly that the first 2 weeks he was scared that he would be killed. But he then said that the last 3 weeks of the 5 week non stop battle he worried that he would not be killed. I think I understand that, in that loosing so many of your guys you knew so well works funny things in your head, why am I not like my buddies and dead?
We have so many good warriors in this unit, several from Korea where at the Chosen Reservoir the 1st Marine Division was surrounded by 12 Red Chinese Divisions, newspapers proclaimed that the marines would most likely be wiped out, but yet they were able to inflict heavy damage to these enemy, and fight their way in almost constant below zero temps to the safety of Navy ships on the coast line. And then be reentered into the battle later on. Our Nam Vets are numerous and served equally well for freedoms cause. America changed in that era and lost the pride of country that we once had. These guys were so unappreciated and it was indeed a shameful time for the nation to have allowed this to happen. Our nation is comming back to the sense of pride that we need and once had....And veterans groups across this land are banding together and they will not allow this to ever happen again. They gather anywhere they are needed to protect our national monuments and or shield our present warriors from the shameful disrespect of the uniform of our armed forces...
I feel a sense of pride and honor to be a part of this Marine unit. I told them that at my first meeting when introduced, I told them I wanted to make it clear that unlike most of them I had been in only one war, and that war actually took place in San Diego California in the summer of 1956. And that war was between the Marine Corps and me, and that I was glad to annouce that the Marine Corps had won that war and then allowed me to become one of them. We were well trained but the call never came for us as it did for so many of the good men who gather each week here about 60 strong and eat lunch together. And then once per month they do and evening event with their ladies fair. But they are not just about fun, they do a tremendous amount of good volunteer work in this great community of Naples Florida....
A couple appreciations need to happen here my thanks to Grant Nuttall for some of the parade pictures that are taken from the sidelines, I suppose maybe his wife Maureen may have taken them but I asked for any that was out there and they responded and even one of I in the second rank on the march.
Also Homer Helter had everyone come by the Museum after the parade and he had a cook out for us. Good food, I even shook hands with a Medal of Honor winner there. Thanks Homer it was a nice gesture.
And I appologize to a few that I failed to talk to and recognize. Actually probably as many as I did recognize here. Maybe next year there will always be next year.
Come back tomorrow I want to tell you about Randy Kington.....
But yesterday as I took these pictures, I realize that I needed more than pictures. I borrowed a pen that I did not return, and I found a reciept in my pocket and I started asking questions of these men. Everyone loves are Sgt. Major Miller and he is now 94 years of age and I don't see any sign of stopping in this guy. He is a veteran of the firt major battle in the Pacific on Guadalcanal. We salute you Sgt. Major and may God continue to bless you with good health and you one day ride in this parade a proud Marine of 100 years of age. You can do it Sir.
And I talked to Pappy Wagner who also is a Iwo Jima veteran. I think I may have borrowed the pen from his daughter not sure, but I know if it was she understands that it was for a good cause. Also talked and photographed Tom Leavey in the Red Coat and Ron Lucas both of these men are veterans of Iwo Jima. And yet another that still fits into a sharp looking set of dress blues and that is Everette Short. Everette is a veteran of Guadalcanal, Bouganville, Guam and Iwo Jima... These guys just kind of got hauled out there and left to do the job till it was done. Iwo was the bloodest battle I believe that the Marines ever faced. I set by a Marine in my church each sunday in Dayton Indiana who also walked off or lived throught that battle, his name is Ken Bettag, Ken told me last summer when I talked to him about it that only 17 of the 250 in his unit walked off the island.. He also told me that interestingly that the first 2 weeks he was scared that he would be killed. But he then said that the last 3 weeks of the 5 week non stop battle he worried that he would not be killed. I think I understand that, in that loosing so many of your guys you knew so well works funny things in your head, why am I not like my buddies and dead?
We have so many good warriors in this unit, several from Korea where at the Chosen Reservoir the 1st Marine Division was surrounded by 12 Red Chinese Divisions, newspapers proclaimed that the marines would most likely be wiped out, but yet they were able to inflict heavy damage to these enemy, and fight their way in almost constant below zero temps to the safety of Navy ships on the coast line. And then be reentered into the battle later on. Our Nam Vets are numerous and served equally well for freedoms cause. America changed in that era and lost the pride of country that we once had. These guys were so unappreciated and it was indeed a shameful time for the nation to have allowed this to happen. Our nation is comming back to the sense of pride that we need and once had....And veterans groups across this land are banding together and they will not allow this to ever happen again. They gather anywhere they are needed to protect our national monuments and or shield our present warriors from the shameful disrespect of the uniform of our armed forces...
I feel a sense of pride and honor to be a part of this Marine unit. I told them that at my first meeting when introduced, I told them I wanted to make it clear that unlike most of them I had been in only one war, and that war actually took place in San Diego California in the summer of 1956. And that war was between the Marine Corps and me, and that I was glad to annouce that the Marine Corps had won that war and then allowed me to become one of them. We were well trained but the call never came for us as it did for so many of the good men who gather each week here about 60 strong and eat lunch together. And then once per month they do and evening event with their ladies fair. But they are not just about fun, they do a tremendous amount of good volunteer work in this great community of Naples Florida....
A couple appreciations need to happen here my thanks to Grant Nuttall for some of the parade pictures that are taken from the sidelines, I suppose maybe his wife Maureen may have taken them but I asked for any that was out there and they responded and even one of I in the second rank on the march.
Also Homer Helter had everyone come by the Museum after the parade and he had a cook out for us. Good food, I even shook hands with a Medal of Honor winner there. Thanks Homer it was a nice gesture.
And I appologize to a few that I failed to talk to and recognize. Actually probably as many as I did recognize here. Maybe next year there will always be next year.
Come back tomorrow I want to tell you about Randy Kington.....
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Everyone Loves a Parade
Especially in Naples Florida and one of their best efforts Is the St. Pat’s Day parade that happened yesterday. Always a parade watcher, yesterday I was in one, and it was so much fun and felt so good. It felt so good because a month ago I joined the Marines again right here in Naples, and was welcomed by this contingent of the Marine Corps League, who are a magnificent cross section of men who has served their nation so galantly. It is a tradition going way back here that the Marines lead the St. Pats Parade, well truthfully we were second behind the Collier County Sherriffs Color Guard. (pic to the right)
Ten of us marched the maybe 2 mile course that was lined on both sides with well wishers clad in a sea of green. In the 5th Ave. area they were maybe 15 deep, and with all the “Semper Fi’s” and the “OOHHRRAA’s”, we got and “thank you for your service”, I tell you it swelled your chest and your heart. We were led by our color guard carrying the Marine and Nations flag and two men with M-1 garand rifles. Followed closed by our own Randy Kington in his motorized wheel chair and then we marchers, by the way a couple times I heard people proclaim “my gosh they are all in step”. In step we were most all of the time thanks to some candence called by our British Royal Marine member Peter Kingsley Thomas.
I never turned around to look, but I think behind us was a float filled with our many men who served in World War two and Korea and Viet Nam but chose to ride this one out. It was a hot day, and they all had spent many a day “marching to the sound of guns” for the cause of freedom, and surely had earned this ride. Also trailing us was our pick up truck with a model of the Marine Flag raising over Iwo Jima. It had a PA sytem playing the Halls of Montizuma at appropriate times. By the way we have several of these guys who were there and saw that happen while watching their buddies hurt and die in that 35 day loss of 7,000 brave Marines. I guess when it gets down to it, that is why we march in Parades to honor those fallen hero’s that answered the call and paid the highest price. We hear the “thanks for your service”, but we know we hear it for them as well. I guess that is the part that sometimes makes the eyes get a little moist.
Also back there was our Commandant Bob Knee driving a BMW German WW TWO motorcycle with side car with some real fire power. This piece of equipment provided by another Marine I have come to respect Homer Helter who owns the Military Mall here at 5510 Shirley Street here in Naples. If ever in Naples don’t even think about it, just go there, you will be amazed at how much stuff can be cramed into 12,000 sq. ft., but yet be displayed so well and most of it is even for sale. I like this guy, he maintains an area inside where veterans can hang out and reminisce and swap the saltiest of sea tales of the soldiers of the sea.
I think that was our presence I hope I have left nothing out. But anyway the pics will give you a flavor of what it was like here as we did what Marines love to do, “impress the ladies fair”.
Ok come back tomorrow when I will feature some of these men who are members of this E.T. Brisson Detachment of the Marine Corps League who I have come to love and respect.
I will close to just again state how dam good it felt to again be digging that left heal into the black top as I heard candance called. It just all comes back rather quickly. I actually expected a boon dock to be applied to my rear as the first 100 yards I did have some trouble snapping out of my “cheap civilian shit” and again becoming a part of the nation’s finest. You see farmer steps are maybe 34 or even 36 inches. Marine marching steps are a precise 30 inches and you have to get it and get it quickly…I did, and then it did feel so dam good to be doing it again. I think adrenaline somehow swells ones chest and maybe your heart with some pride to have been and still a part of this Nations armed forces. I really would have loved to do one more “column right” and went around the 2 miles again but we had our turn and others awaited theirs. It is a huge parade and when we finished and dismissed it was a full hour before the last of the parade left the starting gate.
Thanks for marching and riding along with us….see you tomorrow
Ten of us marched the maybe 2 mile course that was lined on both sides with well wishers clad in a sea of green. In the 5th Ave. area they were maybe 15 deep, and with all the “Semper Fi’s” and the “OOHHRRAA’s”, we got and “thank you for your service”, I tell you it swelled your chest and your heart. We were led by our color guard carrying the Marine and Nations flag and two men with M-1 garand rifles. Followed closed by our own Randy Kington in his motorized wheel chair and then we marchers, by the way a couple times I heard people proclaim “my gosh they are all in step”. In step we were most all of the time thanks to some candence called by our British Royal Marine member Peter Kingsley Thomas.
I never turned around to look, but I think behind us was a float filled with our many men who served in World War two and Korea and Viet Nam but chose to ride this one out. It was a hot day, and they all had spent many a day “marching to the sound of guns” for the cause of freedom, and surely had earned this ride. Also trailing us was our pick up truck with a model of the Marine Flag raising over Iwo Jima. It had a PA sytem playing the Halls of Montizuma at appropriate times. By the way we have several of these guys who were there and saw that happen while watching their buddies hurt and die in that 35 day loss of 7,000 brave Marines. I guess when it gets down to it, that is why we march in Parades to honor those fallen hero’s that answered the call and paid the highest price. We hear the “thanks for your service”, but we know we hear it for them as well. I guess that is the part that sometimes makes the eyes get a little moist.
Also back there was our Commandant Bob Knee driving a BMW German WW TWO motorcycle with side car with some real fire power. This piece of equipment provided by another Marine I have come to respect Homer Helter who owns the Military Mall here at 5510 Shirley Street here in Naples. If ever in Naples don’t even think about it, just go there, you will be amazed at how much stuff can be cramed into 12,000 sq. ft., but yet be displayed so well and most of it is even for sale. I like this guy, he maintains an area inside where veterans can hang out and reminisce and swap the saltiest of sea tales of the soldiers of the sea.
I think that was our presence I hope I have left nothing out. But anyway the pics will give you a flavor of what it was like here as we did what Marines love to do, “impress the ladies fair”.
Ok come back tomorrow when I will feature some of these men who are members of this E.T. Brisson Detachment of the Marine Corps League who I have come to love and respect.
I will close to just again state how dam good it felt to again be digging that left heal into the black top as I heard candance called. It just all comes back rather quickly. I actually expected a boon dock to be applied to my rear as the first 100 yards I did have some trouble snapping out of my “cheap civilian shit” and again becoming a part of the nation’s finest. You see farmer steps are maybe 34 or even 36 inches. Marine marching steps are a precise 30 inches and you have to get it and get it quickly…I did, and then it did feel so dam good to be doing it again. I think adrenaline somehow swells ones chest and maybe your heart with some pride to have been and still a part of this Nations armed forces. I really would have loved to do one more “column right” and went around the 2 miles again but we had our turn and others awaited theirs. It is a huge parade and when we finished and dismissed it was a full hour before the last of the parade left the starting gate.
Thanks for marching and riding along with us….see you tomorrow
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Fishing in the Big Cypress Swamps
My honey hole fishing spot has changed, now there are competitors and I think they ate my lunch. I went yesterday to my favorite fishing hole 47 miles down US 41 from the Collier Blvd and 41 intersection. In previous years I could catch 25 fish and hour there and expected to again to obtain the main ingredient for a summer fish fry.
In the top picture to the right you see that "ditch fishing" spot. When I arrived there was two large gators across the ditch as seen in the second picture suning themselves. Also a larger one I think maybe 12 feet in the center of the channel.
They pleased me by dashing into the water, and out of sight and I baited up and began what I had hoped to be a 3 hour 75 fish afternoon. I fished about 15 minutes with zero bites, moving from hole to hole that I had found so productive in past years.
I had not seen gators in this exact spot before but began to wonder if these guys had not cleaned out my honey hole. I think they have cleaned it out because about that time my freinds returned, they were no longer doing what gators are supposed to do and that is making themselves scarce. As you can see in the third pic down there were "Irish eyes a shining on ME." And soon just off to my right was another of the gator patrol and I began to wonder if I was the only one fishing there.
I tossed them a few stones and they snapped at them but did not go away. Instead slowly moving closer. I don't know but I have heard about how fast they can climb a bank and run at pretty high speed for maybe 100 feet...My car was about 200 feet away and the fish were not biting anyway, these guys had already eaten them, and now they may have been hungry again. I think the larger one to my right was smiling at me. You know what? They sell nice perch at Sams club back home...I think I like nice Perch or Talapia even better than Oscars I was trying for.
So my secret fishing hole is now public because I am hereby turning it over to the camera buffs who love to photo these fish pirates. I think they are getting thicker and braver here in SW Florida. May be time to bring back gator hunting and gator eating but the inviro whacko's have the upper hand in this nation so now we have lots of gators and not enough oil.
That's it for the day. The Canadians are doing their semi-season gormet breakfast at the club house and then I am headed to the St Pat's day parade in downtown Naples where I will help the Marine Corps League lead the parade as they do each year here.
Should be fun and sore feet maybe....ha
In the top picture to the right you see that "ditch fishing" spot. When I arrived there was two large gators across the ditch as seen in the second picture suning themselves. Also a larger one I think maybe 12 feet in the center of the channel.
They pleased me by dashing into the water, and out of sight and I baited up and began what I had hoped to be a 3 hour 75 fish afternoon. I fished about 15 minutes with zero bites, moving from hole to hole that I had found so productive in past years.
I had not seen gators in this exact spot before but began to wonder if these guys had not cleaned out my honey hole. I think they have cleaned it out because about that time my freinds returned, they were no longer doing what gators are supposed to do and that is making themselves scarce. As you can see in the third pic down there were "Irish eyes a shining on ME." And soon just off to my right was another of the gator patrol and I began to wonder if I was the only one fishing there.
I tossed them a few stones and they snapped at them but did not go away. Instead slowly moving closer. I don't know but I have heard about how fast they can climb a bank and run at pretty high speed for maybe 100 feet...My car was about 200 feet away and the fish were not biting anyway, these guys had already eaten them, and now they may have been hungry again. I think the larger one to my right was smiling at me. You know what? They sell nice perch at Sams club back home...I think I like nice Perch or Talapia even better than Oscars I was trying for.
So my secret fishing hole is now public because I am hereby turning it over to the camera buffs who love to photo these fish pirates. I think they are getting thicker and braver here in SW Florida. May be time to bring back gator hunting and gator eating but the inviro whacko's have the upper hand in this nation so now we have lots of gators and not enough oil.
That's it for the day. The Canadians are doing their semi-season gormet breakfast at the club house and then I am headed to the St Pat's day parade in downtown Naples where I will help the Marine Corps League lead the parade as they do each year here.
Should be fun and sore feet maybe....ha
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Grandson Clinton my Hero Too
Recieved this from my Grandson about a week ago..He has a good head on his shoulders. He has one more year yet in the Purdue School of Restaurant and Hotel Management. He is doing quite well and has several offers from Indianapolis hotels for intership this summer and one or more for full time employment after graduation.
Clint said it was ok to print this and share it with you all...He makes many good points here about the restaurant business and how maybe common sense and self discipline needs to happen instead of government interference. Can not help but be real proud of this young gentleman as he has come very far to achieve what he is about to achieve...I must tell a joke on myself when he was in about the 8th grade he was getting a poor grade in Algebra and I was somewhat disgusted with this as I had taken freshman algebra and surely I could help him out. I asked him if he wanted me to help him and he said yes Grandpa I would...So I said, "well you get that book home tomorrow night and I will be over to show you a few things"...
Well I went over and I read the lesson for that day and I was blown away...This algebra was far more advanced than any I had when I was a year older than he...I finally closed the book and said, "Clint your in big trouble cause I have not got a clue as to where to even start"...Some how he got it and ended with a passing grade.
So read his paper here he does have some good ideas.....
Clint Sheets
HTM 291
3/2/2008
Restaurants and Nutrition
Contrary to current legislative debate over the issue, I do not believe that restaurants should be required to publicize their menu items nutritional values. This is completely ridiculous and is a perfect example of a radical liberal view that has become more and more common in the United States. That view is to always place the blame on someone else. If life hands you a lemon, no worries, just pitch it at the closest innocent bystander. Someone sues a marble company because the person was dumb enough to get a marble lodged in their nose, another sues a glue company for not mentioning on their label that the glue should not be eaten, and of course there is the infamous lady who sued McDonald’s after spilling coffee on herself because the coffee was, “too hot”. These absurd cases are no different than current lawsuits that have begun to come to surface from overweight individuals who are attempting to blame restaurants for their own obesity.
There is no question that obesity is a serious epidemic that continues to grow in the United States. 65% of Americans are considered overweight and 31% are considered overly obese. Obesity has serious consequences including the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, some types of cancer, and many other health problems. Childhood obesity is growing rapidly and this is even scarier because the risks are even greater when obesity is present at an early age. Even though this is a major problem, it is unfair to place the blame on restaurants. Nutrition experts state that, “weight gain is caused by burning fewer calories than we consume.” The growth in childhood obesity is just as much a result of a lack of physical activity as it is unhealthy eating habits. The number of children walking or biking to school has dropped by 75 percent and almost a third of all high school students do not engage in physical activity.
The restaurant industry is not what is causing obesity. While many restaurants do serve high calorie items, it is ultimately the consumer’s decision to choose what they eat. Many restaurants have stepped up in recent years and offered healthier alternatives on their menus. In most cases these items are well advertised and reasonably priced. The ironic thing is that most of these items do not bring in profits anywhere close to the less healthy items. This is because many consumers are choosing the higher calorie items over the healthier options, knowing very well that they are not making the wisest choice. You cannot tell me that customers are completely oblivious to the idea that a Big Mac is a high calorie item. Adding full nutritional details next to each menu item will not contribute much to people making healthier choices. People will continue to seek comfort food for pleasure because bad habits are hard to break.
I believe it is a moral responsibility of restaurants to provide nutritional information in some form, but this does not need to be publicized next to menu items. Many restaurants, like Subway for example, provide nutritional information through other channels such as websites, napkins, and handouts. These channels along with the introduction of healthier alternatives on menus are a sufficient effort by restaurants to decrease obesity. Even after these measures were added, the obesity rate continues to grow at an average 2 pounds per year which illustrates my point that publication will not stop unhealthy habits. Listing nutritional information for every item on a menu will only cause aggravation for both restaurants and consumers. Health information will only clutter the menus, increase the number of menu pages, and take away the sense of escape that people seek when going out to eat. People do not seek to be educated when dining out. Increasing menu size will mean higher printing costs for restaurants, especially for restaurants that have constantly changing recipes. The cost to conduct a nutritional data analysis is another financial burden presented to restaurant companies, with an estimated cost of $1000 per menu item for analysis. This may not be as significant for large restaurant corporations, but for smaller companies this is back breaking.
The solution to decreasing obesity is not to slam restaurant companies with litigation as public interest groups in Washington may suggest. The solution is that people will have to make a choice to live healthier lifestyles. This means choosing healthier food items, eating smaller portions, and getting plenty of physical exercise. If public interest groups would spend less money lobbying congress to hit restaurants and spend more on school programs to educate the general public we may finally see this epidemic begin to subside.
Clint said it was ok to print this and share it with you all...He makes many good points here about the restaurant business and how maybe common sense and self discipline needs to happen instead of government interference. Can not help but be real proud of this young gentleman as he has come very far to achieve what he is about to achieve...I must tell a joke on myself when he was in about the 8th grade he was getting a poor grade in Algebra and I was somewhat disgusted with this as I had taken freshman algebra and surely I could help him out. I asked him if he wanted me to help him and he said yes Grandpa I would...So I said, "well you get that book home tomorrow night and I will be over to show you a few things"...
Well I went over and I read the lesson for that day and I was blown away...This algebra was far more advanced than any I had when I was a year older than he...I finally closed the book and said, "Clint your in big trouble cause I have not got a clue as to where to even start"...Some how he got it and ended with a passing grade.
So read his paper here he does have some good ideas.....
Clint Sheets
HTM 291
3/2/2008
Restaurants and Nutrition
Contrary to current legislative debate over the issue, I do not believe that restaurants should be required to publicize their menu items nutritional values. This is completely ridiculous and is a perfect example of a radical liberal view that has become more and more common in the United States. That view is to always place the blame on someone else. If life hands you a lemon, no worries, just pitch it at the closest innocent bystander. Someone sues a marble company because the person was dumb enough to get a marble lodged in their nose, another sues a glue company for not mentioning on their label that the glue should not be eaten, and of course there is the infamous lady who sued McDonald’s after spilling coffee on herself because the coffee was, “too hot”. These absurd cases are no different than current lawsuits that have begun to come to surface from overweight individuals who are attempting to blame restaurants for their own obesity.
There is no question that obesity is a serious epidemic that continues to grow in the United States. 65% of Americans are considered overweight and 31% are considered overly obese. Obesity has serious consequences including the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, some types of cancer, and many other health problems. Childhood obesity is growing rapidly and this is even scarier because the risks are even greater when obesity is present at an early age. Even though this is a major problem, it is unfair to place the blame on restaurants. Nutrition experts state that, “weight gain is caused by burning fewer calories than we consume.” The growth in childhood obesity is just as much a result of a lack of physical activity as it is unhealthy eating habits. The number of children walking or biking to school has dropped by 75 percent and almost a third of all high school students do not engage in physical activity.
The restaurant industry is not what is causing obesity. While many restaurants do serve high calorie items, it is ultimately the consumer’s decision to choose what they eat. Many restaurants have stepped up in recent years and offered healthier alternatives on their menus. In most cases these items are well advertised and reasonably priced. The ironic thing is that most of these items do not bring in profits anywhere close to the less healthy items. This is because many consumers are choosing the higher calorie items over the healthier options, knowing very well that they are not making the wisest choice. You cannot tell me that customers are completely oblivious to the idea that a Big Mac is a high calorie item. Adding full nutritional details next to each menu item will not contribute much to people making healthier choices. People will continue to seek comfort food for pleasure because bad habits are hard to break.
I believe it is a moral responsibility of restaurants to provide nutritional information in some form, but this does not need to be publicized next to menu items. Many restaurants, like Subway for example, provide nutritional information through other channels such as websites, napkins, and handouts. These channels along with the introduction of healthier alternatives on menus are a sufficient effort by restaurants to decrease obesity. Even after these measures were added, the obesity rate continues to grow at an average 2 pounds per year which illustrates my point that publication will not stop unhealthy habits. Listing nutritional information for every item on a menu will only cause aggravation for both restaurants and consumers. Health information will only clutter the menus, increase the number of menu pages, and take away the sense of escape that people seek when going out to eat. People do not seek to be educated when dining out. Increasing menu size will mean higher printing costs for restaurants, especially for restaurants that have constantly changing recipes. The cost to conduct a nutritional data analysis is another financial burden presented to restaurant companies, with an estimated cost of $1000 per menu item for analysis. This may not be as significant for large restaurant corporations, but for smaller companies this is back breaking.
The solution to decreasing obesity is not to slam restaurant companies with litigation as public interest groups in Washington may suggest. The solution is that people will have to make a choice to live healthier lifestyles. This means choosing healthier food items, eating smaller portions, and getting plenty of physical exercise. If public interest groups would spend less money lobbying congress to hit restaurants and spend more on school programs to educate the general public we may finally see this epidemic begin to subside.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Triplamania to the Max
If you scan down to my 9 girls on a blanket story, you will see these gals and now they have surfaced again on my blog. My Triplet grand daughters are pretty close, I guess it all starts with 9 months of rubbing elbo's and hey, you get used to each other. So used to each other that recently one of them shared with me that they had made a campus to campus visit and made the mistake of taking pictures and sending them to Grandpa.
You see two of them Elizabeth and Lilly are Purdue Boilermakers and they missing their sister Abby who is a Butler Bulldog went down to spend the night with her one week end. I guess they played a lot of ping pong and enriched themselves with a visit to a art museum to raise their culture level a little....I think they had fun there. Recently they visited me here with their family and went backwater fishing with me into the 10,000 islands of SW Florida....They do care deeply for each other and I am sure will always be the best friend that each of them will have, maybe with the exception of their future husbands who will spoil them so badly that no other man would ever want them...And they will deserve it I am sure....
You see two of them Elizabeth and Lilly are Purdue Boilermakers and they missing their sister Abby who is a Butler Bulldog went down to spend the night with her one week end. I guess they played a lot of ping pong and enriched themselves with a visit to a art museum to raise their culture level a little....I think they had fun there. Recently they visited me here with their family and went backwater fishing with me into the 10,000 islands of SW Florida....They do care deeply for each other and I am sure will always be the best friend that each of them will have, maybe with the exception of their future husbands who will spoil them so badly that no other man would ever want them...And they will deserve it I am sure....
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Asian Night at Silver Lakes
Wow, what a production we saw last night. This one will be held as a target for future events at this Paradise retreat I have come to love. The show definitely had Joy Davidson’s fingerprints all over it and I understand and hope I have this right that Char Davis wrote the script and also I may add kind of stole the show with participation as one of the Three maidens that just happened to land at Silver Lakes, a nice warm place a far piece from the Orient.
Everyone who participated was just marvelous, a number of attendees almost equaled the cast with their attires…It was hard to tell them apart…
And the food, fabulous, the committee gets a smart salute.....
All in all a fabulous night at a little place located on the road to Marco….
See my pics on the side.
Everyone who participated was just marvelous, a number of attendees almost equaled the cast with their attires…It was hard to tell them apart…
And the food, fabulous, the committee gets a smart salute.....
All in all a fabulous night at a little place located on the road to Marco….
See my pics on the side.
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