Jill's big Wedding and Starfruit (249)

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

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


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

Visiting Yesterday (248)

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

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


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

Semper Fi.!

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

Lafayette Rehab Services (247)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scar High Beans and Recouping well (246)

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

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

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

Shopper Chopper and Great Grandson Grant (245)

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

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

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

GOING HOME (244)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Putting and recoverying at Creasy Links (241)

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

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

The Rehabing of the new knee (240)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An eventfull Marvelous Day (238)

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

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

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

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

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

Going Under the Knife (237)

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

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

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

First Poppy and Happy Corn Week (236)

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

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

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

Lovin Arizona even more now (235)

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

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

Back to Reality and hard work.(234)

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

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

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

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

Clint an Karie's Wedding (233)

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

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

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

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

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

The Raised Garden (232)

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

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

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

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

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

Cinco De Mayo (231) and Senator Coats

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

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

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

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

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

The Dayton Alumni (230)

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

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

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

My Sister Florence Patton (229)

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

My First Tea Party (228)

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

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

An Open Primary Election (227)

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

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

Daffodil Dam & Recreational Farming (226)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Easter Everyone (225)

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

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

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

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

Takes a real Man to Apologize (224)

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

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

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

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

Are you a Generous Farmer? (223)

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

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

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

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

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

www.giftsofgrain.org

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Heapin big Helpin of Communism (221)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whizzer Time and Fishing Time (219)

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

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

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

The Story of two Whizzer Motor Bikes (218)

First off let me say I am back in business here as my camera has been found...No more "cussy darn" going on here...it was in the motor home under a little basket holding a salt and pepper shaker...now I should have known...SP found it for me, truth be known she probably lost it for me also but we won't go there, I may have put it there....but today were talking Whizzer's.........

My title could be Life and almost Death on a Whizzer, as it very nearly was except for a lady maybe an angel who lived just across the road from where my first Whizzer became a twisted total mess as I too almost did....

But lets start at the beginning...these Whizzer Motor Bikes started to appear I guess during World war Two in the early 40's they tell me that you could purchase the motor, gas tank and pulley for your back wheel and mount it on a boy's bike and you were in business...all for about 60 bucks I guess...during the war with rationing and all the government tried to shut them down but the Whizzer people convinced congress that they were necessary cheap transportation to allow people to get back and forth to work...Well after the war as we grew just a tad bit afluent these bikes started to appear around the Dayton Indiana area with kids riding them...boy it looked like fun, and in the spring of 53 I talked my dad into allowing me to purchase one so that I could ride to my off the farm, farm job about 5 miles away each day that summer...gosh I loved that thing...held a full gallon of gas that cost a full quarter of a dollar...and it would go 100 miles on that gas...I would hop on it and start peddling and it would start and away I would go down the road to where ever I needed to go...Life was good...I was just a little short of the 140 bucks needed to buy the two year old model from Glenn Electric in Lafayette but my pops helped me out with the rest...I could hardly sleep at nights for the first week or so anticipating the next days excitement of riding just anywhere..just to feel the air hit me in the face, man I had arrived....

I was only 13 not a legal driver but no one was watching much...Dad told me to take the back roads and not get caught by the State Police so I did...I took old Haggerty lane west from 900 east, all the way past the wild cat creek and on past present day Subaru auto plant to I think it was 400 or 450 east and then south across 38 and 52 to the Kirkpatrick farm on about 450 south I think...took me maybe a half hour each way and I loved the ride each day...it was a good summer and my very first job, don't remember what my wage was but I was working and having fun...Mick Blair was the farmer I worked for that summer and the next summer also...

That fall after school had started I rode my Whizzer to Dayton to play some ball of some sort one Sunday afternoon...Coming home that afternoon I took the chance of riding home on 38 past the cemetery...I followed a very slow old pick up truck through Dayton and after we started down the hill east I could see nothing was coming so I tried a passing manuever around the old truck...As I was even with the truck and passing it the two gentlemen in the truck decided to turn left, without signaling into the cemetery, and came over against my bike sending me carrening into the ditch at the entrance to the cemetery...The old truck had been in a previous wreck and the left front fender was torn and as I hit the fender it tore my right thigh a deep gash cutting it from the knee, almost to the hip all the way to the large bone of my leg...I slid across the gravel drive way of the entrance and landed in the ditch just east of the cemetery gates...I jumped up immediately and looked down at my leg as it felt wet...it was wet alright, and I could actually see my leg bone exposed and my first thought was that should not be that way and I took the two halves of my thigh and pushed them back together over the bone, at which time a huge amount of blood gushed from my wound....I then just sat down on the edge of the road not knowing anything else to do and each time my heart beat a lot of blood came out...I really figured I was a gooner for sure....Out of no where my angel a Mrs. Robinson came out of her house there at Adams Road and 38, ran over and looked at me and turned and ran back to her house...then reappearing right away with a rag and a wooden spoon...she tore it into a turnicut and tied it around my upper leg...took the spoon and put it through the rag and twisted it until the blood stopped running out... she saved my life that October day in 1953....I saw it all happen but was not sure of course I was going to make it.. I remember the ambulance ride to St. E. Hospital in the Baker Funeral Home Hearst I think they called it which double for an ambulance in those days....Four hours and 140 stitches later I woke up, and a new in Lafayette Dr.William Furgeson, told me I was a lucky lad... I then had a months stay, and about 3 more months at home...Leg got totally stiff so took several more months before I was back to normal but thank God and Mrs Robinson that day did come....Feeling returned to the right side of my thigh maybe 15 years later.

So that was the end of my Whizzer days, I thought...lots of years passed by but about I think 2000 or 2001, I was driving past a bike shop on 38 east, and something caught my eye and I thought was that a Whizzer?, I turned around and went in the shop, and sure enough they had started to make them again, and they looked just about like before...Someone my age, had paid the 2200 they were now selling new for and got real winded trying to start it by peddling it....they traded it in on something with a key start...I asked how much an was amazed at the stated price of 750 bucks for a new Whizzer with 69 miles on it...I went home and thought about it for all of about an hour maybe and went back and said, "hey if you throw in a helmet, and take 700 I will ride that puppy out of here"...I rode my second Whizzer home on a cold day in Febuary.....

My wife Linda said to me when I got it home, "did you not almost get killed on one of those, what are you doing"? I jokingly said, "well maybe I am trying to finish the job"...

I was back in the Whizzer business for a few rides and enjoyed it remembering the old days. It was fun till one day someone just for fun passed me at very high speed and almost brushed me...maybe a foot away or less, and I thought of what could have happened if I had weaved just a foot to the left not knowing they were coming by...it took the fun out of it that day...I parked it, never rode it much after that. About a year later I showed the guy I sold it to how to peddle it to start it and it was gone.He was about my age from the West Point area, so watch out for him on that bike..So now, I am Whizzerless and glad of it, thanks for listening....

Wrapping up Naples and Cussy Darn (217)

Each time I re-enter the great state of Indiana (if I have been gone longer than a week or so) I feel duty bound to sing the song "BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA"...Granted when Jim Nabors finally gives up the job of singing it at the 500, they won't come looking for me, I know that and sweet pea knows that too...But never the less, I do it, I sing like no one is listening, well almost...well anyway back to todays story, that happened a couple days ago when we were in the middle of the bridge over the Ohio coming from Lou a vall, as the tucky people say it....Since I had been gone almost 6 weeks I laid the whole two verses I know on her...she was kind, saying "not bad", I knew she was lying....

Going to do a wrap on Naples today, pictures to the right show scenes from the Mullet Festival at Stans Bar in Goodland...the home of the Contest where brave women wear costumes that makes them appear to look slightly like Buzzards...and they do a dance called the Buzzard Lope...making motions much as maybe a buzzard would do having found a nice jucy rode kill along the roadside...they choose a queen each year and it is all in good fun...thousands of people come to this goofy event each year, half of them maybe on Harley's but who's counting...it is a hoot and everyone needs to see it at least once...I guess I personally am tiring of this event and may not bother ever again, thus I better give it some mention here and maybe put it to rest, well unless SP finds some feathers and wants to try her luck at the dance....

More fun than Stans Idle Hour Bar and the Buzzard Lope is Back water fishing just south of Marco Island...Now that is a lot of fun...Just being out there on that gorgeous water is worth the effort...the water just smells good...the blueish green fast moving water as the tide moves in and out is just something to behold...I do love it...Would love to own a place that would afford a boat dock and ocean access to and from this paradise fishing area also known as the 10,000 islands....But I know I am dreaming here, but it is fun to dream of such things...Maybe more practical would be just a small fishing boat to be stored somewhere when not in use...that is just not as much fun dreaming about as the house with gulf water access...it does not hurt to dream now and then as long as one realizes it for what it is, just that...

The fishing holes are many and the fish in them like the sheep head the lady to the right is happy about just make ones day...Being out there is great, if you are lucky enough to catch a few fish it is wonderful...and if you catch enough for a fish fry it is, well marvelous....we usually buy about 4 dozen live shrimp and breaking them in half then gives you 96 chances to land a fish legal for keeping...Sheephead need to be 12 inches long minumum and 16 to 22 gets your excitement level to a peak...the bigger the better but that size you need a net to get them into the boat without chancing them breaking the line lifting them out..

I know from cleaning them that a 16 inch will yeild the same amount of fish as two 12 inch fish. Already I have about maybe 10 months to wait but feel the excitement of casting the line into that perfect spot where they will be...and feeling the tug of a "sheephead bite"...I usually wait till maybe the second or third tug hoping they will get stronger as he falls in love with the taste of the live shrimp before giving a quick jerk on the pole to hopefully "set" the hook in his mouth somewhere to keep him hooked until you work him over to the boat...some times it works, maybe a third of the time, the other two thirds, your just looking at a bare hook to be rebaited for another try...all part of the amazing fun of back water fishing in the salt water...

Once in a while spotted trout are caught, or mangrove snapper, or redfish, or snook or even sand trout...but for the most part the catch is Sheephead and that is fine with me...occasionally a trash fish like the catfish is caught and if I am close enough and the little coons are waiting for a handout I have been known to toss that type fish to them...they love a good day in the backwater too...

Cussy Darn is part of my title here tonight, cause I seem to have lost my new camera I got as a gift for Christmas...don't have a clue where or how but it is missing so pictures for the blog for awhile may be scarce...may have to go back and use the many I already have instead of new ones...someday though I will get another one, as I do like taking pictures and working with them with my photoshop program...and sometimes I even enter photo contest while in Naples, never winning but learning from the process the better ways to focus on subjects, with proper backgrounds, lighting and all the rest that goes into good shots...if it comes down to fishing or photography well you will see me headed out with "poles", not a camera anyway...but a small camera is good to have along with you as those really nice fish always want their pictures taken for some reason...

T'was the coldest dam winter in Florida I have seen in the 17 years I have been there....this global warming is just not working out at all...poor AL Gore if he escapes a good tar and feathering he will be lucky.....but some still think its for real so they will be happy when summer comes and maybe we can hit 100 a couple days in July or August...I did have about 10 days in late January that we hit 80 down there...and one day about a week ago we hit 80 again...other than that it has been in the 60's to 75 most of the time...OK if you had on the blue jeans and not the usual shorts...and you better have a sweater handy cause you usually needed it...

So in closing it's not too bad being "back home again in Indiana" for the most part. It's a little colder but hey cold is cold so I am now here in position to await the first signs of spring...my favorite season of the year...I love the first flowers, the greening up of the grass, the smell of fresh mowed grass, the buds coming out, fish spauning, water lillies first blooms...its all good and just around the corner....

Editor's note....funny thing below I see the Key West Shuttle is advertising on my blog....ha go figure after the story I did about how not to see Key West...maybe google is not as smart as I give them credit..

How NOT to do Key West....(216)

Going to Key West is always fun, but getting there can be a nightmare if
you do like we did and take the boat from either Marco Island or Ft.
Myers. The Marco Island boat kept getting cancelled everyday because of
weather, which for people of intellect would have figured it out that it
maybe is not the thing to do. But for the hard nose,stubborn and just
plain not the smartest bear in the woods, this became a challenge to be
met and conquered….Well we did that alright by driving all the way to Ft.
Myers and taking the bigger boat that was advertized to be able to take
rough water much better so it is hardly ever cancelled. It was four hours
of wave bouncing hell with sweet pea getting a tad sick going down. I
burped a few times because of the mixing I guess happening in the old tum
tum but kept it all down.
Bottom line is I would not recommend this way of getting to key west
anymore, it just was not fun and the trip back was just as rough and just
as long…Probably the best thing would be to drive down maybe stay
overnight or just make a long day out of it and drive back that evening
after sundown. …For us if we ever want to go again would be to take the
motor home to Blue water Key just 40 miles from Key West and stay a few
days there going back and forth each day and avoid the high lodging rates
of that town…Maybe the place is best enjoyed by the young and dum…older
and dum just don’t have that much fun there anymore I guess.

Funny stuff from the internet and wasting away in Margarittaville(215)

Well before you go any further do this...click on the title here which will take you to a very very funny video about an arangatang and a coon hound....it by itself is worth the price of admission for today's blog....ha

We were going to go to Key West today on the boat but we screwed up...the boat was full and we were thinking we did not need to make reservations...boy were we dum and asleep now that I think back on this...one yesterday was cold and rainy, two,  tomorrow is going to be cold and rainy...today was perfect....Hello when would people want to take the boat to Key West....if you answered TODAY, THE DAY OF GOLDEN SUNSHINE, then by golly you get a gold star.... and we get the dunce cap for not being very smart....

But that is the beauty of living here in Florida, we kind of hang loose like they do in Hawaii....yes siree, and we will brave the cooler temps of tomorrow and take the boat to key west then....and by golly we have a reservation too...we ain't pulling stupid two days in a row......Well maybe we are...they just called and said the trip for tomorrow was cancelled because of "incliment weather"...so now we be going thursday instead...
So I guess we will just see...interesting as a lot of folks I would say half of them got on the boat today with luggage intending to spend a night in key west and come back on Wednesday.. so these lucky folk will be stuck there another day...boy Margarettaville is fun.....

Today sweet pea relaxed with a good book and a couple good drinks...you will see the results of that to the right here....she's had a tough winter and needs some relaxing time...she is getting it....

Six toed Cats.... and lots of wild life here in Florida (214)......

Well as you can see by the pictures to the right side here, my camera has been busy of late....S.P. is coming to town tomorrow and that is good, real good...We will be heading down to Key West probably Monday on this boat, the Whale Watcher...I think it takes 2 hours and then by 10:30 we will be taking in the many sites of Key West...Will take her up to Hemmingways' place and check out the six toed cats that own his house there...If you click on the title here it will take you to the link and tell you all about the cats that he let kind of run his home there and when he died he left the place to the cats...yep they own the joint and lay around on the beds and do just about anything they want to do....then the museum that have all the pirate gold they have found on sunken ships in the area..And then there is the Truman White House also that is interesting....lots and lots to see in old Key West and sure we will have fun....

I enjoy a camera club that I am in down here...I need a wild life entry for next weeks contest...so will be on the lookout down there but may enter one of these shots to the right side here if I don't find anything better...I like the blue herron I think the best...but the other goofy bird whatever he is looks cool and of course the cute little coons may get entered just not sure...I have to decide can only enter one picture so maybe will let sweet pea help me decide which one to use....OK its bed time here as I got to get up early clean this place up an then head on up to the airport.....later....

The Coons and what we gotta do...(213)

It was a great day on the back water south of Marco Island...Did not see these coons today but last week they talked me into throwing them some junk catfish and oh my how they loved fresh fish...we are freinds for life...hopefully mine longer than theirs but ya never know...But today the "honey hole" that is there where the coons are yielded 4 nice sheephead over the 12 inch size limit..Three for me and one for Bud Lampkin and our Captain Ernie Maier caught fish but they were among the many we had to throw back to grow up.....there is no better fishing than the backwater of the Gulf of Mexico which lies west of Florida....We fished, we listened to Limbal on the radio and we injoyed the sunshine...Just being out there is what makes it so good, the catch is always a plus but just being there in that beautiful water and clean air, wow...And we are glad that the guy who chose to end his life in the airplane in Texas only claimed two lives, that could have been so much worse...Will be interesting when the full story comes out on this man and his hatred of the IRS....I suspect that possible the paying of taxes in general was the route of his hatred....we will see...

An insurance add on TV states will this be the great recession or the recession that make our country great?
I like this commercial because it will all depend on us as to which way this sucker goes...But we do have it in our power to make it the recession that will make our country great...But, we have to do it, not the fregin government...they screw things up big time...people have to step up to the plate here and do the job...they screwed up the bail out which should have never happened and they will continue to screw things up especially with the democrats in charge...but we the people must do it from the ground up not from the idiots's down to us...and don't forget about our duty as voters to research in depth the candidates and send the ones to hold down and conserve on money we just don't have to spend...when your upside down you knock off the frills.....

Jobs is the answer to our problems and until we all get a grip on this it is going to continue...But when we spend our dollars we MUST start from here on to make sure that it builds jobs for America and not China or Japan or anywhere else outside the USA....Look at labels people and make sure what you spend your dollars on is made here in this country...it is the only way we will build jobs...and you may be called upon as Americans to spend just a little extra to buy a product made in the USA... I hope you are up to it if you not and you always go for the lowest cost and don't look at labels then my friend you and I may be part of the problem and not the solution.

Another thing we can do is support the tea party movement in this country....We have to stop this spending in congress that is money we don't have...we got to tighten our belts for sure and we need to support reform...for get about party lines we need to do what is good for our nation....

:Lots of work ahead for us it is not going to be easy and quick, we are in for a long effort but we can make this the recession that made America great...let get started.....

Politics getting very interesting...Tis good......Huckabees Book (212)

Boy what a day...Evan Bayh Indiana's junior but good democratic senator announcing he will not run for office...No way is Evan afraid of getting beat in a coming election...And even if he were to get beat, it would not be the reason he is not running...My opionion on this is but one reason, Evan will challenge Obama for the Democratic Presidential nomination....Mark my word he will do it...Why? because he would be twice the President that Obama is...I think he has a chance, I know the country would be better off...Would I vote for him? Well not if Mike Huckabee was on the other ticket for sure...Or Mike Pence...But if McCain was running against Bayh, believe it or not this guy would go for Bayh, yes I would....Obama will come to regret not bending a little and making Bayh his VP candidate...But Bayh would have overshaddowed Obama so he chose instead the not to swift Joe Biden...

And today I hear that McCain is being challenged by some guy called JD....Don't know who he is but he says he is more conservative than McCain....no doubt that sucker turned liberal during the debates for the election against Obama...Still a better choice than Obama but not by much....I say Go JD, kick the liberal out of the Senate and end his career...

But for the ultimate candidates we have got to get Huckabee and Pence 'hooked up' and there we will have it...A President and Vice thinking alike...And thinking alike on good conservative governnment...A friend of mine today told me that Huckabee told her that Pence is his very favorite congressman...so I think this all could happen...God willing and I sure hope so....it could at least start to save our nation...

Today I finished the Huckabee book "A Simple Christmas"...get a copy and read it and then dare tell me that this man is not qualified to be one of our best presidents ever....this man has it together....I love what he stands for and his ethics and ideas on government and his ideals on life in general....His moving into TV and Radio is no accident, he has worked in Radio since he was 14.. He is a communicator much like Mr. Reagan...Go Huck, Go all the way and take Mike Pence with you as your VP.....

Neat Church/ Randy Kington and good ole Fishin (211)

You know what is neat about this ole blog?  It's neat cause I can write about anything I want to...And today, I will write about something similar to what I wrote about a year ago...my buddy, a well decorated Viet Nam Vet Randy Kington...author of the best war story book on Nam I have ever read "What a Life"....
And I will write about a church that also impresses me, The Celebration Community Beach Church of Naples Florida and I will also finish by writing a little about what else empresses me down here, Fishin.....

Ok, lets get on with it all....Today Randy was invited to give the sermon or "his story which is a sermon" for the, he said 6th year in a row here at this church...And Randy always tells basically the same story but always in a different way, which I guess is why I keep going to hear him...I guess I just want to see how many ways he can tell this story...His story is basically a story about a horrific battle in Nam in which he recieved a severe life changing wound to the spinal cord with a bullet from a very brave Viet Nam soldier's rifle...And how that moment then affected the rest of this man's life....actually it all turns out OK because he met a great women who then became his wife in a VA hospital and the two of them with his darling wife's leading the way turned life's biggest lemon into lemonade.....if you know of anybody who is down and out because of a bad turn of events you should buy Randy's book and give it to them...it is a great beacon of hope.....

As per usual today Randy did a great job and Randy invited me to go to breakfast with them and some of his other friends after the service...Met a guy who actually fought on Iwo Jima at that breakfast today...sat right beside him.... he is 92 and looks like 80....plays golf and tennis, a very nice, very funny gentlemen....he tells me that he also was invited to and attended the dedication of the Marine Museum back in 2006 that my wife and I attended, and he also shares my position that the two of us have contributed enough money to that museum and are now waiting on some other good Marines to pitch in and finish the job....I was glad to hear him say that as I did not want to be the only one feeling that way...but like many good causes once they get your name man they just don't want to let up...I have given good sums about four different times the last of which was in August last year while at the Museum...I know there are lots of good Marines out there who have not even been asked so General Ron Christmas that is who you need to contact, the rest of them...

The Celebration Beach Church needs a plug here also there motto is "go to church, get a tan and change your life......it is a large church and has no building..they meet in city parks like the one today in downtown Naples...Next week there is an art fair there so they move to another park even closer to me, and if she will go I plan to take a guest there, sweet pea is coming down and I want her to experience this church, where we will meet on a beach and there will be hundreds of people there and the money they raise then goes to the poor and underpriviledged of Naples, Haiti or anyplace out that needs help...no building to maintain what a novel idea....

The fishin, my favorite topic while here in Florida, went twice last week with a good friend Ernie Maier who live here in the park also and owns a little pontoon boat...but we found a honey hole, and jerked 9 really nice Sheep head out of that hole in two trips into the backwater...They look like Convicts these Sheep head but that is just the way God made them...with stipes...actually come to think of it convicts, of old wore suits with stipes running horizonal on them...Sheep head God made with Vertical stripes...They are gorgeous fish and they are delicious to eat....I ate both sides of a 16 inch Sheephead last night...he can be seen to the right here posing with me....Its a shame it has to be that way but, I bet if he has been a 16 foot Sheep head and given half a change he would have eatin me instead, if I had fallen out of the boat....

The weather is horrible these days, even in SW Florida it has been of late 15 degrees below normal...Al Gore, the Drum Major of the Global Warming Craze and winner of the NO Bell peice prize for his efforts, could have not been further from the truth....This is a really cold winter and if anything is going on we may be getting colder as we go not warmer....The whole thing is a "joke"....to think that we have had anything to do with it and an even bigger joke is to believe we could do anything about it....Government is oversized, over extended and overdosed on addictive ideas that they can fix anything and everything, even problems that do not exist....

Reading great book and that horrendous Debt.....(210)

Reading a book titled a Simple Christmas by Mike Huckabee....Today in chapter 3 he writes about an uncle that came a couple times a year to visit and how he would beat him in checkers over and over until one day he was able to beat the uncle and how fulfilling that was...he writes this, "this might be hard to believe for those that are so afraid of hurting a childs self asteem, that they have created a society in which" everyone gets a trophy.....and no one loses, no matter how little they practiced, or how poorly they performed.   And goes on to state, "THIS IS THE RECIEPE FOR CREATING INCOMPETENT CEO'S who, when their companies fail miserable, rush to the government to rescue them, because they are "too big to fail".   It is also creating 'total idiots' in government, who feel they are doing these poor businesses, as well as the rest of us, a favor by bailing out the losers at the expense of the winners so everything will be fair....he goes on, "Call me crazy, but I believe there's something to be said for competition and for rewarding hard work, talent, and intelligence instead of laziness, incompetence and stupitidy.......

This book is a composite of stories about Christmas times in his early life time...I have laughed out loud so many times reading this book so far...but it gives insite into a man who really has it together in my opinion...I have watched him on his Huckabee show several times at 8 pm on Fox on Sat and Sunday evenings...Gosh the guy has so much wisdom and such a heart...Read the book if you get a chance, watch his show...I am thinking what a combo he as President and Mike Pence as VP would be together in 2012 to challenge the present set of "total idiots" we have trying to cram stuff down our throat that we can ill afford or even need..

I see that our national debt now has reached such a monumental status that if we divide all the people in our nation into the debt it would be over $40,000.00 per person....Can you imagine that if you are a family of 6 your share would be a quarter million dollars.  What the hell have our polititicions done to us over the years?

We have got to get a handle on this and soon, we I believe are moving very close to national bankruptcy and no one wants to talk much about it, nor address it...Only a few and we must seek their leadership and heed the warnings....Most nations in Europe are also bankrupt and at some point the dominoes could and someday will fall....Let us be about getting our house in order before it is too late....

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