Happiness is an MP3 player

I've got to tell you, after all these years of searching I have finally found happiness.

It's an MP3 player or an IPOD with your own music downloaded.

I've got 154 songs on mine and climbing by the day. What's so great about it in my viewpoint is that if I choose I never have to listen to a bad song. No bad songs is made even better by the fact that I don't have to listen to any advertisements.

Hard to beat life with earphones blasting some of your favorite music right into the depths of your soul.

This has brought about a new hobby for me as well. Almost daily, I search Youtube or other sites for some new songs that I might want to download.


Life is good with an MP3 player, my friends. Very, very good.

Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee is now one of my new favorite cities in North America. I hadn't ever been there until a few days ago and we are already planning another trip there so we can spend a little more time exploring.
I'm not a huge country music fan, but the city has other things to offer even besides country. The AT & T building is one of the coolest buildings I have seen and the downtown skyline in Nashville is beautiful.
The football stadium that the Tennessee Titans call home is one of the nicer looking stadiums I have seen and even though I am not a huge NFL fan, I wouldn't mind taking in one of their games sometime in the near future.
The pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland River is one of the nicest I have seen.

We only got to spend a short time here on our way to Greenville, South Carolina but plan on coming back in the not too distant future.

More later.

Memphis Rendezvous

When we first schemed up this big trip to South Carolina, my mouth quickly became lustful of getting some ribs in Memphis.
We had seen on both the Food Network and the Travel Channel this great restaurant in downtown Memphis with supposedly the best ribs in the world.

Not true at all. Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous was pretty overrated, overpriced and I felt gypped. When we left, we saw BB King's Blue's Cafe and we wished we had tried that instead.

However, Memphis was great and is worthy of a redo. Love to go back and spend some time doing some of the historical sights and walk around downtown and listen to some of the best music in the world in the Blues capital.

But, that will be another trip

Live for Today

As I blog and search for meaning in this life, I tend to find myself asking more questions about God. I've always had a lot of questions about the future and a lot of wonderment on how things will turn out not only for myself but for human kind.

Not that I am some kind of Nostradamus, but sometimes, it's hard for me to live for today when there is so much to do tomorrow. There is so much planning and thinking to get done, making it often hard to live life in the present.




A lot of my blogs are going to be about movies, songs or other things that are important to me on a daily basis and this one is getting to that as well.

The Grassroots were a popular rock and roll band from the late 60s and early 7os and one of my favorite songs of theirs was a hit called "Let's live for today". They weren't a band like Aerosmith or the Stones that were always together, but they went through a lot of different members and changes. But, they were pretty popular from about 1966 to 1975.

This song is kind of corny, but it's pretty obvious what the meaning is. Living for today and not worrying about the consequences or the future.

There's a couple of ways I can go about living for today. One thing that comes to mind is no cares about what happens to me tomorrow and to just do whatever I want. That pretty much goes against everything ingrained in me from who knows what or when.

But, somehow with that philosophy, you know deep down inside that everything is going to be all right so why not live a little.

Another way to think about living for today is that what you do today makes a difference in yours or somebody else's tomorrow. Today matters so much because you either have a chance to do something great or to set yourself up to do something great in the next few days, months or even years.

But, it's not all about me all the time as hard as that is to believe. By helping somebody in need today, I can enable them to get by another day or possibly make a difference later on in somebody else's life.

So, the song may be a little of a teeny bopper gig of yesteryear and may be corny, but I grew up loving this song and still love it to this day. I do like the thought of living for today when that can make a huge difference in the outcome of things. Instead of worrying about tomorrow, I can think about things I can do this day to help lives get better.

I'm not going to stop thinking about God or the future any time soon, but I can stop and take a breath and think about things I can do today and really live for the day. Put enough of those difference making days back to back and you have that future you always wanted.

It''s a good day to die

There's not another human being in the history books that I admire more than Crazy Horse. There are some others that are close, but Crazy Horse is definitely my favorite.
I suppose I'm not the only one that admires him because there is a memorial built to honor him and his people in South Dakota.



He was credited with saying 'it's a good day to die' to motivate his warriors to fight. Seemed to work pretty well for him.





Tašunka Witko was his Lakota name. He was a member of the Oglala band of the Lakotas otherwise known by you white eyes as the Sioux.












Crazy Horse never wanted leadership. It just fell on him and a leader he was, one of the best ever.


He was a bit of a mystic and he never lost a battle. Against other native American peoples or against the great US Calvary he went undefeated which is quite an accomplishment.
He only lived to be about 30 to 35 years old, depending on who you talk to, and there is controversy over who killed him. Some say it was a US soldier, others say it was one of his own people. Either way, he was stabbed in the back while in captivity.

As I wrote in another blog, I have always been obsessed with the Vietnam War and I always believed I would have gone. One thing I do know about war is that you never how you will react to battle until you are actually in one. Bullets start flying and you pretty quickly know just how brave you really are.

Audie Murphy was one of the bravest soldiers of all time. Highly decorated in WWII and one of the more decorated soldiers of all time. He was rejected by the Marines and the paratroopers because he was too slight of build. In his prime, he stood all of five foot five.
But, like Crazy Horse, he displayed bravery that was rare in a man.
They say we are all afraid and that the only difference between a brave man and a coward is how they react to that fear.

What I don't know and may never know about myself is how I would react when the bullets start flying. Guess I will never know whether I am a warrior like a Crazy Horse or an Audie Murphy.
All I do know for sure is that Crazy Horse was a hero and in spite of what he said to excite his people to fight, today is not a good day to die.

Man on Fire

Do you think God can forgive us for what we've done?

How hard core is that? Must have been one bad hombre to ask twice in the same movie if God can forgive him for what he's done.

Denzel Washington is one of the better actors out there. A guy like that can pick and choose his roles and I believe he has done well with his movie selections. I can't think of many bad movies he's been in.
Man on fire is pretty incredible to me. Sure, it's pretty violent and you don't see a lot of films where the good guy sticks a bomb up the butt of one of the bad guys but this one has a scene like that.
Lots of bad guys met their end in this flick.

The main character played by Denzel had turned to booze to help himself deal with the pain he felt in his heart for doing so many deeds that he even questioned whether God could forgive him. He was hired by a very shady father to be a bodyguard for his little girl.
The best thing about this movie, to me, is the relationship he developed with the little girl he was there to protect.

The little girl loved him almost instantly and he was not so open to that, but she won him over and changed his life.

That part of this movie reminds me of my own life. Even though I have never killed anybody or committed the deeds that the character in this movie had done I have been a bad one in my own right, but I am not going to talk about that.
Like the movie character, I was changed by little girls, my own little girls.

This movie does not have a traditional happy ending but it does end well in the lessons that it teaches.
Caring for another person whether that person is lovable or not can often change their lives.

I blogged about changing the world a few days ago and was told by one of those little girls that I had indeed changed the world because I had changed her life.
If we can help one person on their way we can change the world a little at a time and make this planet a better place to live.

And, that is my goal, to make this world a better place for being here than it would have been if I had never been born.

If that happens, then maybe God can forgive a hard case like me for the things that I have done, just as I am sure he could forgive the guy in this movie.

Kiko and the Cali Girl

Today was the California Girl's birthday and we had a few plans in the works mostly wrapped around the best restaraunt in the area.

All our plans were changed early this morning when I got a phone call from a guy saying he thought he had found our cat, Kiko. Cali Girl made up some flyers when he turned up missing on November 17th and we posted them all over the neighborhood.

I actually didn't have that great a feeling about the call. There are a lot of loose cats running around and a lot of them look pretty much alike. I had already received several false alarms and thought this might be another.
I called the Cali Girl and told her about the call. She said to call if it was him.

It was him and I didn't call. I just showed up and surprised her.

I'm telling you that the Cali Girl has had a few birthdays. But, this one had to be the best ever.

Cali loves her some cats and Kiko is an outstanding one.

Poor little fella probably has had a rough time of it because he's been sleeping since he got back pretty much.

Almost lost in all of this is another important life lesson.

I had been driving around looking for him since he turned up missing. I walked the neighborhoods, checked the pound, helped Cali with the flyers and everything else I could think of.
But, recently, I had given up.


Never give up.

No matter how hard life turns or what your obstacles are and no matter what kind of suckage life becomes, never give up.

Welcome back Kiko and thanks for another lesson.

You never get too old to learn.

Ten Years After

Ten Years After is kind of a forgotten band from the late 60s. What a sad thought, to exist but not have anyone remember you.

I've heard, not sure if it's true or not, that their name came from the band being formed ten years after Elvis Presley became famous.

Like most everyone else, I've apparently forgotten most of their music except for one song.



I'd Love to Change the World.





The chorus of the song goes:



I'd love to change the world

But I don't know what to do

So I'll leave it up to you



Nothing sums up how I am feeling about the world today than this chorus. I'd love to make changes in the world but I have no idea what to do or possibly what I actually can do. So, I do nothing.

I'm leaving world changing up to you.



I thought I could buy a difference, but that didn't work out so well.



The song is great in itself and so 60ish, but the words 'I'd love to change the world' haunt me.



Some day, I will stand before God and will I have made any kind of difference in this world I live in?

Not enough of a difference, if any, and that hurts deep down inside.

Big Jake and the California Girl

Every man from my generation that thinks of himself as a tough guy, as I obviously do, liked John Wayne. He was an icon.
My favorite John Wayne flick was Big Jake by a long shot. To me, Big Jake is John Wayne at his finest and the movie has a lot of memorable lines.

I'm not going to go into many details about the movie but when times got hard people called for the character played by the Duke. When his name was brought up one of the movie's characters asked "you mean himself?"
Being called Himself is pretty telling on how huge of a person you are, larger than life.

How does this relate to the California Girl?

She hates Westerns. She didn't like the Duke. She would never watch Big Jake.

But to me, like big Jake, she is larger than life. We use the names himself and herself around the house and I don't come out and call her Herself. But, it goes without saying that she is Herself.
She's one of a kind and in a class by herself.
One guy I work with calls her the colonel and I am fine with that, but she should have a higher ranking than that. Probably Herself should be a general.

Either way, she is my everything.

Tomorrow, December 12th, is her birthday and I am hoping she has the greatest birthday ever. It's probably not going to happen since her babies are spread out all over the world and it's been a hard season for Herself.

But, just as winter turns to spring, her season will change and things will get better.

To me, Herself is larger than life.

Happy birthday, Herself.

Stuck in Lodi again.

Without a doubt, Creedence Clearwater Revival is my favorite band of all time. No doubt at all about that and it's probably not really all that close.

Lodi, according to what I heard John Fogerty say, is based on a true happening in his early career. A struggling musician is stuck in a small town and out of money and not much hope. In reality, Fogerty and CCR, got out of Lodi and made it big. Actually, they made it huge and had many hits. Fogerty himself had a few hits on his own later, but many consider them the greatest band of their day.
Fogerty says in the song that he is out of songs to play.




Right now, I am stuck in my own little Lodi. Only mine is called Abilene.
I am stuck, out of money, and I don't even own my truck.
But, like Fogerty, if anyone thinks I am really out of songs then they are sadly mistaken. Fogerty went from Lodi to greatness. Wonder if that is possible for me?



An event has happened recently that I have just been made aware of and I will seriously think about whether to write here or not in the future.

Mean People Suck and I'm going to rant

I didn't make up the line 'mean people suck' but I wish I had because they really do suck.

If you hate another person just because they have a different color of skin, then you suck. If you hate somebody just because that other person is of a different social standing than you, then you suck. On the other hand, if you hate a person just because they have more than you do, then you suck, too.


The California Girl and I not too long ago got back from watching Australia. Sometimes I get into my own little world and I forget what life can be like for others. Maybe things have changed a lot since people were treated so harshly, but I am sure some of it exists to this day.
This movie was very good, but a very grim reminder of just how mean people can be. The little boy star in this movie was half white and half aboriginal (I think that is the right word).
He never really felt a part of either race. Things worked out for the boy, but I have to wonder why people can be so mean to others at times.


I grew up in a town that was mostly Hispanic and the few white boys in my school pretty much hung out together and we didn't mix much. I remember one Hispanic kid that I was friends with early on.
I went to his house a couple of times and his mom made home made fresh tortillas. I didn't go there much and I don't remember this kid being around later on, but he was one of the first kids of a different race that I was friendly with.
We coexisted pretty well together in Weslaco, Texas but I do remember a few fights. Every time a fight broke out between a kid of the same race it was one on one. Any time a fight broke out between white kids and Hispanics it became a race war, unfortunately. There were no black kids in my class and my first experience with blacks didn't take place until I moved in the 8th grade. My first experiences with blacks did not go so well and I was picked on pretty frequently. Hey, I was one of the smallest kids in school.

Later on, in high school, I get really big and was left alone. At that point, I never wanted revenge for past treatment, I merely wanted to get along.

I never really understood any of it and I basically just wanted friends regardless of skin color.


Mean people suck.

That will never change.

Block Island

I had never heard of Block Island before 2006, but after visiting it is now one of my favorite places.

There is not a lot to do there for young people, but I think that's part of what I like. It's not as touristy as nearby Martha's Vineyard. It has more of a homey feel to it.

Oh yeah, it gets plenty of tourists. There are B and B's everywhere and lots of businesses that cater to the tourists.

One such business is moped rentals. The California Girl and I had never ridden a moped before and this was pretty funny.

We had to practice in the rental place a few minutes before we were allowed to drive around town. A moped is the perfect way to see the entire island pretty quickly and unfortunately, the natives are a little resentful to the moped riders.

I can certainly understand why.

I took to them pretty much instantly after I got used to it, but had to wait on the Cali Girl to learn to appreciate driving fast. I was way out in front when we passed a young teenage boy that reminded us of our son, Tyler, and his friends. He had the long hair and the clothes of that age group and the skateboarder look going.

When he saw the Cali Girl, he yelled at her "you have to go faster, lady".

We both laughed for a long time over that and still laugh about it to this day.

The ferry ride over to Block Island with 10 foot waves was an adventure in itself and we both survived.

Block Island is green and beautiful. It's not very large and can be seen pretty quickly, but I'd love to go back and see it all again.

If you are ever in Rhode Island, I highly recommend Block Island. We didn't make Nantucket, but I preferred Block Island to Martha's Vineyard.

The Keith Syndrome

Keith came into my life right after my Pappy died. I liked him instantly.
We hit it off like two peas in a pod and like we had known each other our entire lives. The guy worked for me and could fix anything and taught me a lot about repairs.
He was funny. He was entertaining and easy to talk to.
We loved a lot of the same things. We were two grown men that loved to mix it up and rastle around the house.

Only thing is, he had a hard time with telling the truth. It would be hard now to remember every celebrity that he knew or every tall tale. It would be hard to remember all that he had done or places he had been. He was business partners with basketball player Karl Malone. They had a ski resort together.
He was great friends with country singer Neal McCoy. His family owned everything in East Texas and they were loaded. So he said.
That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Secretly, I kind of hoped everything he said was true. However, what little brains I do have knew that nothing he said was true.

My last conversation with Keith was about jet skiing and how they owned several of them and would take us out on the lake. Needless to say, that never happened.

Keith was just one such individual that I knew like that.

Alex was pretty much the same way. Once, I called him and he had call waiting and he told me he was on the other line with Mel Gibson. Yeah, I am sure he would cut off Mel Gibson to take my call.
Maybe I should have been honored by that. Or, by the other 500 hundred lies he told me.

Then, there's Gaylon. He can shoot sub 70 in golf on any given Sunday afternoon. Problem is, people that have played with him say they haven't seen it. That he hits the ball into the woods and makes as many blunders as most golfers.
Takes quite a golfer to break 70 and he ought to be a pro if it were true. Please tell me why he's a maintenance man.

Everything you have done, they have done one better. Everything you are going to do, they have already done.
Doesn't matter how great or grandeur your accomplishments were, they were always better and have beaten you before you even start.

I'm sure we all know people like these.

Sad thing is, they would have been liked by me for just being who they were. There was absolutely no need for stretching the truth for impressing me. When all was said and done, I was actually unimpressed by the constant need for lies.
I just need an honest friend who can be his or her self.

Baileys by the Sea

If you look closely enough at the picture above, you can see just between the water and the clouds part of Martha's Vineyard.
This was the view from the porch of the bed and breakfast in Falmouth, Massachusetts called Bailey's by the Sea.

I normally like to stay at cheap accommodations, while the California Girl likes a good B and B. I am not really opposed to a B and B because the breakfast is usually outstanding.

Bailey's by the Sea is my favorite B and B so far.

Great views, great food, great owners and dog lovers to boot. The woman that runs the place is the only B and B owner that has ever hugged us when we left and I wish we had kept in touch.

I can't think of many places that would be better to sit and write on your laptop than the front, glassed in porch of this fantastic place. Watching boats pass by during the day and the moon's reflection off the sea at night is awe-inspiring to say the least. Of course, you'd have to have a glass of the complementary Bailey's Irish Creme in your hand.

If you get tired of relaxing on the front porch, you can take a short stroll to the British Beer Company which is a fine restaurant and bar.

If you're ever in the southern part of Cape Cod, you might pay a visit to Bailey's by the Sea. It'd be worth your time.

Facebook

Seriously, I have no idea why I signed up for Facebook. I don't spend a lot of time there either, but I get emails whenever somebody contacts me from there.

I'm not into collecting friends on Facebook, but I have searched for a few people I used to know. I'm not having a lot of success looking for really old friends, but a little more with younger people.

Don't let it get out, but I am actually enjoying Facebook. I've hooked up with a few guys that lived in my town but once they graduated from college they moved back North where they came from.

It has been exciting getting to know these guys again and catching up with what's happened in their lives.

I'm looking forward to more good times on Facebook.

I just won 1.5 million dollars

I suppose the authors of the 10 emails wanting to send me money that I receive daily think I look like this guy pictured above.

I realize that I am a dreamer and believe good things can happen to people but these emails are ridiculous.

Either I have inherited 7 million dollars, or I have won the lottery, or somebody wants to bring 20 million into our country and needs my help. Of course, I would be richly awarded for my efforts.

I'm not really sure how these scams work, but I will admit that when I get tired of the constant barrage of emails I like to get even a bit. Normally, I just delete the emails but sometimes.....

Occasionally, I like to reply to them and play along a little.

Some of them can be a good time actually and they think they have a sucker on the line.

One of them wanted to send me a check for several hundred thousand dollars. I am reasonably sure how that scam works is to get your bank account and rob you of all your money.

I replied that he could bring me cash and to meet me at the Wal Mart in a certain city. He replied back that he would send me a check and I responded again that I wanted cash and I would be easily recognized because I would be the rather large fellow that would be surrounded by my Samoan bodyguards.

No more responses from this crook.

Basically, I just want the emails to stop and to be left alone.

I'm not really sure what a blog is supposed to be about. I assume it's whatever a person wants it to be.

If this is my blog and it's about me, then replying to crooks with smart ass replies is part of my life.

I get probably 50 to 100 junk emails a day and the very least I can do is have a little fun with a dirt bag crook.

Ok, ok, I know I need to stop and I need help.

My brother Roger

I was just informed that this is the one year anniversary of my brother's passing. I did not remember because that time is just a blur to me right now.

My heart goes out to Gayla, Justin and Clay at this moment in time. It'll get easier with time as all painful things do, but that doesn't change the fact that we all miss him.

I don't want to be gloomy tonight so I am going to think about some of my favorite Roger memories.

First thing I thought of was a little incident at Garner State Park.
Our family was camping out at Garner with our relatives, the Wheelocks. Roger, our oldest brother, David, and myself rented a paddle boat.
Keep in mind that David was 4 years older than I was. Roger grew early and was huge even as a youngster. I, on the other hand, was a little runt.
Garner State Park is beautiful and the area where you get to paddle your boat was usually peaceful. Not on this day, as we were soon attacked by other boaters. A group of boys from Houston, not unusual for representatives from that lovely city, started ramming our boat to start trouble with us. There were a lot more of them than there were of us and we kind of wanted to be left alone.
Roger never was one to hold anything back and soon yelled at them. One of them then left his boat and jumped on ours. Roger promptly threw him in the water.
I was extremely proud of him for that. Like I said, I was a runt, and way smaller than any of the other boys who were themselves actually older than David.
One thing led to another and soon David and the guy that Roger tossed were soon on the shore acting like they were fighting. Luckily, neither could fight and all of this episode was done after an adult broke them up.
We saw no more from those rascals the rest of our time there.

Another memory that comes to mind was our last golf game together. It was actually our first and last golf game.
Roger, Justin, Clay and myself all loaded up and headed to Lockhart State Park for a challenging round of golf. I was a brand new player and boy was this day comical.
Justin, actually being good at golf, smoked the rest of us. Roger, Clay and I finished in a 3 way tie for last.
It was hotter than fire, but we had a blast. Lots of laughs. Maybe a few four letter words thrown in for sure, but I'm not one to let one of those slip. :)

Mo Ranch was a hoot, that is up until the time we all got salmonella. Mo Ranch is a camp located outside of Hunt, Texas in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. We were there to scout out a location for a possible 50th wedding anniversary for our parents.
The Guadalupe River flows right through Mo Ranch and it is crystal clear and pretty cold there because the camp is pretty close to it's headwaters.
There is a slide that goes out into the river and you sit on a little board that floats out a bit into the river before you eventually sink. The faster you are, generally the further you go out into the water before you sink.
Roger, being somewhat heavy, was going faster and getting further out into the river than anyone else.
He had more fun than any of the 10 year olds riding the slides and it was so much fun watching him that day
Salmonella gave that trip a black eye, but we really had a great time before we all got sick.

Bowling? Once, Roger's family less Justin, and part of my family met in Comfort, Texas. We all went to an old school bowling alley where people still set the pins.
Needless to say, we had a great time.
Later that same trip, the boys which included Roger, Clay, Tyler and myself went up to Enchanted Rock. Clay and Tyler ran all the way to the top. We poor older fellas walked up huffing and puffing the entire way.
Great times.

A lot of my favorite memories of Roger too place during our adult years.
Sharing a room with him for 15 or 16 years had it's share of memories. Some of them too embarrasing to write.
I have already thought of several more memories but this thing could go on for pages. I think I might make it a regular feature on my blog.


I owe my brother many things and writing about him is the least I can do. But, the one thing I am most grateful for is marrying Gayla.
Gayla is good people and one of my favorites on the planet. Roger's union with Gayla brought about a couple of my other favorites, Justin and Clay.
I cannot be thankful enough for those boys. They are the salt of the earth.

Here's hoping that Gayla, Justin, Clay and the rest know that we love them and especially on this day.

It was the best of times

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Many of us had to read A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens back in school. For me, the opening line was the highlight of the book and it went down sharply from there. But, that's just me. I'm sure many loved reading this book in high school English class.

California Girl and I went to Manhatten in 2004. Truth be known, it was all her idea and she took me kicking and screaming.

As soon as I got off the plane and got in a New York City cab, I was in love. Yes sir, New York was my kind of town. I had more fun in Manhatten than just about anywhere else I have been except maybe the mountains. I wanted to explore as much of it as possible. I wanted to eat as much of the food as possible. I wanted to live there.

It was an incredible eye opening experience for me.

But, there was one small problem. I would never be happy in the town I was living in again. I had to be big time and conquer new worlds.

It nearly killed me.

But, it was the best of times and I refuse to accept the worst of times anymore. I got to see one of the greatest cities in the world and then I got to move to another pretty nice place at least for a while.

My setbacks are temporary and I am determined to get through all of this with a smile on my face and a song in my heart.

So, TAKE THAT BAD GUYS!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing says Freebird like the ocean

One of my favorite things in nature is a rocky, craggy seashore kind of like the one pictured here.

I love walking along the rocks especially as the tide is going out looking for whatever the sea has left behind. Starfish, seahorses, shells and all sorts of things are often floating among the rocks.

Unfortunately, there is sometimes trash left behind as well.

There's something about the ocean that arouses my curiosity. It's deep and mysterious, and almost unending. There's no telling what is lurking in the deep, blue water.

I love listening to the waves crash into the shore, seeing the white splash and feeling the mist.

I also love watching the ships come and go. Anything from a small, private boat, to a yacht or a shrimping boat, I love to watch them struggle against the ocean.

I grew up not too far from the sea. Granted, it was South Padre Island and there were no rocky, craggy shores. But, there were sandy beaches and those were fine, too.

In my childhood, there was almost nothing on South Padre other than campgrounds. Now, it looks like Miami Beach or some other beach resort.

We had many a campout on the beach.

One of my favorite beach campouts was with my Sunday School class. All the boys went with our teacher and the poor man tried sleeping in the back of his station wagon.

The boys and myself stayed up the entire night. That was my first experience staying up all night long.

We did pretty much everything we could think of that and got yelled at a couple of times by our teacher for moving his car or making too much noise. It was a blast.

The only constant was the unending waves crashing onto the beach.

I did go to sleep in the car on the way home and slept most of the morning at home. But, it was well worth it.

There were other great camping memories, but I don't have all night. :)

Another fond recollection of South Padre was the time in 2005 that my California Girl and I stayed at the Radisson. It was in December and there was a rare cold front. The night air was cool, but we left the sliding door open all night and slept to the sound of the waves.

Of course, my Cali Girl doesn't like Texas and thinks Texas beaches are subpar. But, we made do.

We luckily ran across a school, or pod, of dolphins and the Cali Girl just went wild watching them.

Very good seafood, too, on the island and I love seafood.

There's just something about the sea that makes me feel free.

Finally, it has happened

Even before the movie Pay it Forward came out I made up my mind to do good deeds for other people.
It was a goal of mine to give somebody some help with something at least once every day. In that way, I could make some sort of a difference in this world.
A good deed can be anything from jump starting somebodies car, to taking out their trash or any other number of things.
One day a man was struggling to load plywood in his truck with a heavy wind in his face and he looked shocked when I came up and just started helping him out.
I don't think he even bothered with a thank you. But, that doesn't really matter because I am going to go ahead and do the right thing.

However, having said that, there still lurks in the back of my mind that I had always thought that by doing this not only would I be helping others first hand but would help create an attitude of kindness in people that would spread into other's lives and I'd see an affect.
Not so much.
I can't tell you how many times I have been in a parking lot of a place like Lowe's and to be struggling with heavy things only to see healthy people walk by without a single thought of anything but themselves.
Again, I am telling myself that it doesn't matter and I will continue with my mission.

But, finally, after so many years, the unthinkable has happened.

The other night, I was having to install a water heater. Easy enough project, but it was getting late and I was in a hurry to finish so I could go home.
I had a water heater on a dolly in one hand and a bunch of tools to get the job done quickly and efficiently. Well, I went over a curb and the water heater which was still in the box from the factory fell over.
I went ahead and left it in the parking lot and took my tools to the old water heater space. When I looked again, there was a man that I had never seen before picking up the water heater. I wasn't sure at first what he was up to, if maybe he might be trying to steal it or whatever. He was no thief, but was instead helping me and said that I had my hands full when I dropped it.
I thanked him more than a few times and now I am more dedicated to my mission than ever. There are still good people out there.

Today, as you are going about your life, please look for opportunities to help somebody out. You never know what kind of difference you might make in somebodies life.

Fandango

Ha! Anyone that has known me a long time that might be reading here should have known that it was just a matter of time before I wrote something about one of my all time favorite movies. This is definitely one of my favorites and I've seen it many times. Perhaps I am a little unhealthy mentally?
I believe that anyone that has no 'ties' to this movie could believe it's very average or forgettable but to me this movie is huge.

Fandango is basically about 5 college roomies, the groovers, that take off on one last adventure before they are forced to move on with their lives.

But, let me tell you what it means to me.

Most of my life I have been absolutely obsessed with Viet-freaking-nam.
As early as elementary school I can remember coming inside the house in the evening and the world news would be on. Nightly, they had a death count or report on what was going on in Vietnam. I never said anything to anyone but deep in my heart I just knew that I would wind up in Nam. Junior High kept those feelings going as anti-war marches made the news almost nightly.
Fortunately, by the time I was in high school, Vietnam was winding down and obviously I never had to go.
By that time, I had developed an interest in why this war happened. Why we were there and the meaning behind all of this.
That interest remains to this day. I have probably seen every Vietnam movie, read books on it and learned as much about it as I could and it still remains a mystery in a lot of ways.

Fandango is set in 1971 and the students are attending the University of Texas. The war was going strong and a couple of the main characters had been drafted into the military.
One of the biggest issues of the day was to serve or not to serve. Lots of young men ran off to Canada so they didn't have to fight.
3 out of the 5 in the movie were involved with the war. One was going for sure and proud of it, it was his future. Another character was indecisive and the third was definitely going to slip off to Mexico during the movie.
Most of the movie was about their conflict with one another over this issue. But, one big event drew them all closer together and changed their outlook. If you haven't seen the movie, you'll just have to watch to see what I am talking about.

Make no mistake about it, Vietnam was a poor man's war. It wasn't like World War II where the entire nation was behind the war. It was more like an Iraqi conflict where there was a lot of argument over why we were even there.
The poor kids, whether white skinned, or black, or any other race, fought this war. The rich kids got out of it, the fortunate sons as sung by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
I was a poor kid, so I would probably have been drafted if things hadn't changed. I'm pretty sure I could not have run off to Canada because I would have feared that more than getting shot at by the North Vietnamese.
Some of the men that I have met through the years that went to Vietnam were treated like garbage when returning home. Some people spit on them, some called them baby killers and other such names and generally made them feel like second class citizens.
It was a far cry from WWII treatment of veterans.

The symbolism in this movie is unreal and the manner in which they behaved was done so well it reminded me of when I was back in those days. I was younger than these guys, but we behaved in much the same way.

When I watch a movie like this, I think if I had been born just a few years earlier I would have been in Nam.
And, because of that, I also consider myself a fortunate son.

Things I've learned from dogs

Well, I basically learned one major thing. Love. Maybe I should have titled this, the thing I learned from dogs.

A dog is just going to love you no matter what, a true picture of unconditional love. No matter what kind of day you have had, you can count on your dog loving you. No matter how other people treat you, your dog is going to love you.

You can call your dog names or even mistreat them in other ways and the dog keeps coming back with love. Not that I have ever mistreated a dog.

Not only that, but a dog just wants to spend time with you. Quality time is what they like to call it now, but a dog is just happy being around you.

They love a good scratching. Hey, I love a good scratching. They love to be pampered and so do I.

A dog will beg for food, pretty much in line with what I would do. A dog, no matter what size, is probably going to be protective of their people.

A dog is always going to smile when he or she sees you. You can count on that.

A dog is also going to lick your face if they can.

Other than licking your face, I want to treat people as if I were a dog.

I've got that sitting thing down pretty well, and I can shake with the best of them. Rolling over isn't the easiest trick I can do, but I can give it a good shot for the right treat.

But, seriously, if you want to treat people the way they want to be treated probably need to look no further than a dog.

The Fall

I love the Fall.

I think it's easily my favorite time of the year for a number of reasons.
One reason I love the Fall is due to my great love of football and particularly college football. But other than great gridiron action, Fall also brings around cooler weather. It means the end of another long, hot summer and is a gateway to the holidays.
The leaves changing colors from green to various shades of reds and yellows is always incredible. Even here in less than beautiful West Texas we have some Fall color. It won't exactly make you think of New England, but there is some beauty here. You just kind of have to drive around and look for it sometimes.
The problem is there are so many mesquite, pecan and live oak trees and they just don't cooperate with my agenda. There are just enough red oaks, ornamental pears and other trees that give us just a taste of the beautiful Fall colors that others get to witness yearly.
People here that were thoughtful enough to plant some of the right trees in their yards years ago have my deepest gratitude. Unfortunately, there are a lot of yards that are completely barren of trees.
I've personally planted more than 25 trees in this town and I plan on planting more before I leave. Hopefully, somebody in the future will be grateful for my contributions.

Fall also means Halloween.

Halloween means candy. Hard to get enough candy, but I give it a shot every year.
Actually, I have kind of lost my taste for candy lately.

After Halloween one of the better holidays is soon to follow.

But, another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Nothing but leftovers remain and some more memories.

Of our kids, only Tyler came bringing with him his buddy, Jeromy, but they have already left. We also had Amy over to watch the Texas game and were fortunate to have her over the previous night as well. The girls are way off and it feels a little funny being just the two of us now in the holidays. I do count my blessings that I have my California Girl.

Of all the Thanksgivings, this has been one of the stranger ones. I believe it's because of the changes going on in our lives right now. Too many changes at the same time has made this a strange season in our lives. But, just as the seasons change and the sun comes up tomorrow, life goes on.

Tomorrow, I plan on going out and taking a few pictures of the leaves and enjoying the season while it lasts. That's one thing I probably didn't do enough of when our kids were little. Your children can be kind of like leaves.

In the spring, like the leaves, the children come as babies. In the summer they mature and become teens. In the Fall, they become adults. In the winter of your life, they leave making you wish you had known them better and longer.

Tara, Aspen and Tyler, I wish I had known you better and longer.

Tell Me All Your Thoughts On God

This is a very confusing song by Dishwalla, but one that really makes me think.
So, tell me, what are your thoughts on God? This is possibly the most controversial and discussed subject since the world began. Even people with similar thoughts can't really agree.

I'll tell you some of my thoughts. Sorry Amy.


Protector.

I haven't been beaten up since the 7th grade. Probably could have been, but either nothing happened, or we got broken up pretty quickly, or I clocked the guy.
Not to bring street fighting into the discussion, but in a way I look at God as my gang leader. That is if I was actually in a gang, God would be the main man.
When things get hard, he comes in and takes control and saves the rest of the gang.

So, what happens when that doesn't happen?
You get the snot beaten out of you and left decimated. That's pretty much where I am now. It wasn't a street fight, it was life, but where was that protection when I needed it?
Where do I go from here? I survived life's mauling, but could have used that protection and begged for it. Maybe since I am still alive and kicking, I actually was protected and have learned and grown from it.
Could be.
I learned a lot more from getting whipped in the 7th grade than I did from whipping others later and I was determined to not let that happen again.
Maybe that's where faith comes in. Your protector sometimes lets you fight and when the enemy is about to kill you, then he steps in and breaks it up.

Creator

OK, this one is pretty hard to get around.

Evolution? Big Bang Theory?
Neither of those theories make any sense. There has to be a better explanation and after years of thinking on it, God is the only explanation that makes sense. But, even that has some holes in it for some. Dinosaurs? Age of the planet?
I offer no explanation and, hey, I asked for your thoughts on God and don't give me any lip on my own.
Somebody offer up a better explanation of how I, and the rest of you, got here and I am all ears.

Provider.

I have never lacked and on this Thanksgiving Day I am very grateful for that.


Heaven or Hell.

If they exist, and I believe they do, I sure as hell don't want to go to Hell.
Texas is hot enough. Sheesh, can't imagine spending my eternity in someplace hotter than Texas.


In the song by Dishwalla, the singer is asking many questions like children often do.
Before life hits, children are innocent and full of questions.
That's what I long for. A time when I had nothing but hope, and I was innocent and full of questions. In my weak interpretation, the singer wants to know God and wants to know why we are here. He wants to know if he is far away. Typical kid things.

So, this song makes me think of being a little kid.
It makes me think of throwing rocks, watching birds fly, insects crawling, and locusts making their noises in trees. Just looking at the world in awe and wondering how in the world all this happened.
In my heart, I am still a child looking for reason behind all of this.

How did all of this happen?

The Appalachian Trail

Always, it has been a dream of mine to hike this trail from top to bottom. Or, bottom to top, all 2175 approximate miles of it.

Maybe not always have I dreamed of it, but since I have been an adult.

I'm not getting any younger and circumstances seem to hinder me from fulfilling this dream.

Wonder what the record for the oldest hiker is?

However, if I wait and set the record when I am 90 years old, I am not sure my feet will hold up.

I suppose I inherited my desire to travel from my parents. When I was a child, my parents loaded up us kids and the Coleman trailer and we headed out. East one year, west the next, and then back east again. We probably saw about 40 to 45 of the states that way and I have seen some of the rest since then.

I still haven't been to Oregon, Hawaii and Alaska but I'm eager to go. I believe my parents finally made it to all of them.

I do marvel at us surviving those trips, two adults and four kids cramped in a car for two weeks on end, but I have a lot of fond memories of them as well.

Funny thing about our family is we liked to repeat things. First year we went East, we stayed at some places where we really had a great time. When we went back the year after next, we just had to stay at some of the same places again.

They were never as good the next time and we were always disappointed. Guess you just can't go back.

One of my favorite memories was the very first mountain I ever saw in my life. It was in Tennessee and was just a foothill, but it started a life time of fascination with mountains. I thought it was the most incredible sight I had ever seen.

Soon after, we visited Lookout Mountain, Tennessee where you could supposedly see 7 states at the same time. It was a tourist trap, but I loved it anyway.

Also, in Tennessee, there were springs everywhere and just coming out of the side of a mountain.

At about the same time, I saw my very first black bear along the side of the road begging for food from travelers.

We drove from Texas to Florida and then up to Maine. Absolutely loved the Appalachian Mountains and most of everything else we saw.

The following year, I saw the Rockies.

I was in love and it's a wonder I never moved there. Thinking back on it, kind of ticks me off that I didn't make a huge move like that. I'm a weenie.

Lots of incredible memories. Some bad moments as well, but I tend to remember the better times on the road.

Kind of makes me think of my brother Roger, too, which makes me a little sad. But, I am sure he enjoyed himself, too.

Aw, back to the Appalachian Trail. I know good and well I am never going to make it. But, I've sure enjoyed dreaming about it.

Trail food would get old anyway.

More on travel later, but as Thanksgiving approaches my thoughts go to things I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my family and the good times we experienced. Wish Roger was here, but think of all the wonderful Thanksgiving holidays when he was.

Happy Thanksgiving.

The Road Less Traveled

Cool poem by a poet that I like very much, Robert Frost. Actually the title is the Road Not Taken, but has been called The Road Less Traveled by some.

The road less traveled works better for me.

As I've already blogged, I think of myself as a free bird. I like traveling.

Flying is fine but you can't see anything along the way. The final destination is not the only thrill of seeing the world.

Most people take the interstate and that's fine. No stops along the way unless you absolutely want to stop is certainly appealling if you are trying to get somewhere quickly.

Myself, I like to take the road less traveled.

Some of my favorite vacation memories are driving cross country and looking at a map and just taking off on a lessor known highway.

There is almost nothing between Texas and California on the interstate highways. But, there are hundreds, if not thousands of beautiful sights along the way on the back roads.

The White Mountains of Arizona are breathtaking but not accessible from interstate highways.

I'll still take interstates because of time restraints, but given the choice, I'll take the road less traveled every time.

Conquistador

A conquistador was a Spanish soldier back in the 1500s when they came to the New World. The word itself means conqueror and that is exactly what they did.

I don't plan on getting into treatment of native peoples or anything else, just that they conquered what is now Mexico and South America.

I was about a 5th grader when Boyd Baker moved to my town. Until I moved away at the end of my 7th grade year, we were pretty inseparable.

Boyd had an older sister named Francis that was the talk of the town. She was several years older than us and every high school boy wanted to date her, probably including my oldest brother. She was on a completely different level than the trashy boys from down the street so my brother had zero chance.

Now, she was pretty incredible looking from my memory, but she treated me like a was the south end of a north bound horse.

One insult I remember vividly was just being in their house hanging out with my friend and she came in, and upon seeing me said, "I thought I smelled something."

Ouch.

I'll never forget the day she came in all excited because she had bought a new record. It was an album of Procol Harum with their new hit song 'Conquistador'.

The year was about 1971 or 1972, but it's still one of my favorite songs to this day.

Every song of this time period has been accused of being a metaphor of this or that. Conquistador is no different.

Supposedly, this was an anti-war song with the war in Vietnam still going strong. Vietnam was the subject of the day and possibly the fear of every young man in this country back then. I had no doubt that I would end up there and I will blog about that some day. But, fortunately for me, it ended before I came of age.

I'm not really sure what purpose the writer of this song had in mind. Maybe he was a history buff and just thought he might plug the words into a really catchy tune.

I don't know and I am not convinced it had a larger meaning.

Conquistadors were usually looking for fame and fortune. They were looking to conquer new places. Some of them were successful and some died in the process.

Some returned to Spain as a hero.

Folks probably haven't changed all that much.

People today are still looking for fame, fortune and conquering new places. Some are successful, but a lot more fail.

Still we continue trying to conquer new worlds.

Just remember as you are going out there to conquer new worlds to be nice to the little boy down the street. He may grow up and write a blog about you. :)

Shawshank

Wow! What can one say about this flick?
The words at the top of the picture pretty much sum it up for me. "Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free."

I didn't sleep for over a year, at least not without help.
Fear tends to keep you up nights. You see, I was a prisoner and I wasn't even behind bars.

Pardon my grammar, but I ain't afraid anymore and I sleep like a baby these days.

Hope has returned and along with hope comes freedom.

This awesome movie is full of incredible lines.

One of the best is 'get busy living, or get busy dying.'
Pretty much sums up life, that is if you want to actually have a life. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and get out there and do something.

Or, how about 'hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies'.
It's hard to improve on that. Hope can never die in us. We just can't let it.

Another line that I like is 'that's the beauty of music. They can't take that away from you'.
Music, like hope, is in your heart. You can choose to have a song in your heart just as you can choose to have hope and be free.
No matter how tough things get, they can't take those things away from you unless you let them.

Shawshank Redemption has been voted one of the top movies of all time. Yet, it only broke even at the movie theatres. Not sure what that says about movie goers.

If I ever need something for a quick fix for my attitude, Shawshank's not a bad way to go. Just pop it in the DVD player and here comes a shot of hope.

Shawshank can't take away your fear. That you have to do on your own.
Another line from the movie was made by the main character's best friend, Red, and he said 'hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane'.
Yes, but only if that man is a prisoner of fear. It wasn't until later that Red was able to get busy living and put aside the dying.

Famous Amos

I've never really known whether she liked the nickname I have for her. Maybe she told me one way or another and I didn't bother listening. But, as long as I have known her and known about her imaginary sister, I have called Amy Ashorn 'Famous Amos'.

A few things about the Famous one.

Since she was a little girl and not quite so famous she became part of my family and still is to this day.
My family is spread out throughout the planet, but Amy remains a part.

She went with us on family vacations and has seen me blow a gasket, or two, and still loves me. Once, I really blew a gasket and was ready to beat a guy to a bloody pulp, but that didn't scare off Amy. She still remains a family member.

Famous Amos is not my only nickname for her.

For a while, when she was much younger, I called her Julia. Something about the way she looked reminded me of Julia Roberts. Yes, the Julia Roberts of Pretty Woman fame.
I also called her Crazy Carport Head briefly because of an ugly accident she once had where her head hit our carport while she was riding in the back of a pick-up driven by our daughter. You could hear the bang when she hit her head from a long way off and blood was flowing everywhere. That is one hard headed young lady because there was no permanent damage.

There may be a nickname I've forgotten about by now and I have slept a bunch since then.

She still has an imaginary sister.

All kidding aside, I am very proud of Amy. She came from a very humble background and I hope she is not bothered by my words, yet managed to graduate from UT quite easily and is doing something that will make a difference in the community.
How many of us do things that make a difference?
She's been through some tough times and managed to hang on and come out all right.
She always has a kind of word for me whether I deserve it or not.

She is also one of the brightest people I know.

Did I mention she has an imaginary sister?
I'm not sure how long she can continue with that act but it's been going on a while.

So, Amy, if you happen to read this I am glad you are part of my family and I am so glad you are in my life and I love you very much just as my own.

Hook em!

Midnight Train to Georgia

Thanks to Face book, I reconnected to an old friend in the last couple of days and he said my blogs were melancholy. So, this will be the last of this type for a while, hopefully.

I just have to get this off my chest.

As I was working my little life away today, I heard Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight and the Pips and that brought up a lot of feelings for me.

I've always loved this song and I like Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and all those first ladies of soul.

The guy in the song had big dreams and went to Los Angeles to fulfill them. But, he didn't. After failing, he bought a train ticket and headed back home where he understood life.

This sounded familiar to me. Except my dreams were in Austin and my train was a GMC Yukon and my Georgia was Abilene, Texas. I didn't leave at midnight.

I tried. I failed. Then, I bailed out for a life I understood.

But, hey, don't feel sorry for me. I am actually enjoying myself for the most part. We miss Austin, but a move was necessary and the work is for myself.

We have a little more control over our destiny here than we did down in Austin and the owner's touch to the business was much needed.

I enjoy what I do with the business. There are plenty of other things I am enjoying such as no traffic, short drives between jobs, and the quiet of a smaller town.

Still, it's hard to fight back feelings of failure at times. I was so very close to making it to another level only to have everything ripped away. My dreams were in my grasp. I had plans on what to do next and my next level of goals and dreams were starting to form.

But, I lost and I got beaten down.

Back here in Abilene, I am regrouping and reshaping another dream.

I'm just not sure what that might exactly be yet.

But, I've always been a dreamer and that can't change.

Here are the words from the immortal Gladys:

L.A. proved too much for the man,

So he's leavin' the life he's come to know,

He said he's goin' back to find

Ooh, what's left of his world,

The world he left behindNot so long ago.

He's leaving,On that midnight train to Georgia,

And he's goin' backTo a simpler place and time.

And I'll be with himOn that midnight train to Georgia,

I'd rather live in his worldThan live without him in mine.

He kept dreamin'That someday he'd be a star.

But he sure found out the hard way

That dreams don't always come true.

So he pawned all his hopesand he even sold his old car

Bought a one way ticketTo the life he once knew,

Oh yes he did,He said he wouldBe leavin

On that midnight train to Georgia,

And he's goin' backTo a simpler place and time.

And I'll be with himOn that midnight train to Georgia,

I'd rather live in his worldThan live without him in mine.

Go, gonna board, gonna board,

Gonna board the midnight train.Gotta go, gonna boardGonna board

Gonna board the midnight train

Reflections of My Life II

As I blogged earlier, I love this song from the 60s. Although this song is not about going home, several lines in the song say 'take me back to my own home.'

Makes me think about home.

Now, where exactly is that?

My family spent some of my early years in the Rio Grande Valley. I never liked it down there all that much for a lot of reasons, but I have a lot of fond memories as well of those times.
We later moved to Central Texas.
I've also lived on the Gulf Coast, Irving, Abilene, Austin and now back to Abilene, but where exactly is my home?
If I were visiting another part of the world and somebody asked me where I was from, I would say Austin, Texas. But, even Austin does not feel like home. last weekend we were there and I felt like a visitor.

They say all kinds of things about the home, 'like home is where the heart is. Or, home is where you lay your hat'.
Robert Frost said, "Home is the place where, when you have to go there,They have to take you in."
Some other interesting quotes about home include:
Home is a shelter from storms - all sorts of storms. ~William J. Bennett
Where thou art - that - is Home. ~Emily Dickinson

Home is a great thing and you don't have to be a homeless person to appreciate it. But, is where you live your home?
By my last count, I have moved seventeen times, so would I consider any of those dwellings my home?
Maybe I will move seventeen more times in my life and I am ok with that.
Do I really have to have a dwelling that I call home? Do I need a city to call home? Or, a region, or a state?

I'm not sure.

It's always been a fantasy of mine to be mega wealthy and own several homes in completely different parts of the world. I would spend equal time at each of them.
So, I don't consider myself tied to any one area or place.

This all goes back to my first blogs where I declared a yearning to be a free bird.

If a physical address or city is home for you, then I am happy for you.
But, I guess I can say that home for me is being with my California Girl no matter where we are or what we are doing.

Big Fish and Tyler Taylor

Strange flick.

I like movies and a lot of them hold special meanings for me.

Big Fish is a movie that happens to mean a lot to me. I watched it when it first came out in about 2003 and felt kind of odd afterwards.

The movie is about a man and his dad, their strained relationship and the end of the dad's life. The dad has all kinds of stories and tells them often. The son resents his dad because of the stories.

He thought the dad was full of baloney all those years but followed up and found the stories to be truthful. The people he talked about in his stories were real.

It changed dramatically how he felt about his father.

I wasn't sure why I felt odd about the movie the first time I watched it. My own dad had passed away not all that long before this movie and because of that I felt a little weird about the ending of Big Fish.

But, my dad was not a story teller. I knew basically nothing about him and still have a lot of questions.

I watched it again recently and got a different message.

Unlike my dad, I am a bit of a story teller. I wasn't at all until my son was born and I had to learn to tell stories just to get him to go to sleep at night.

I didn't remember any fairy tales, so I just made up my own and I would like to think that they were good.

I'm not sure what my son is going through right now. I hope he doesn't resent me for telling him a bunch of stories like the son in the movie. But, I would like to be close to him at this time and we are really not.

I hope he would not feel resentment or anything else negative if he were to read this.

My father and I were never close and I don't want the same thing with my own son. Yet, there is little I can do now to change things. Unfortunately, you can't go back in time and sometimes I'd really like to.

I look at my nephew's Justin and Clay and I feel they were close with their dad. I long for that with my own son.

So, in the end, it's not whether I can tell a story or not. When all is said and done, this movie to me is about my own relationship with my son and how I long for more.

It'd be kind of cool if Tyler were to read this and give me a call.

But, life isn't that simple sometimes. Both sides have to want it and I don't want it to be like the movie and that to be on my deathbed.

Jake Locker, pro rassling and Santa Claus

So, what do Jack Locker, pro rassling and Santa Claus have in common?

None of them are real.

Oh sure, there really is a Jake Locker and he is the QB at the University of Washington. I started watching him a little last year and thought he had the potential to be really good. I wanted Jake Locker to be good.

First of all, he's got a really cool name.

I always wanted to be a Jake. I think it's one of the best first names for a guy out there and probably have thought so since the classic John Wayne movie came out way back when, Big Jake.

Secondly, he's got a set a wheels on him that not a lot of QBs can match.

He's also got a pretty strong arm.

But something's not right and he's not the real deal that I wanted to believe in. Washington has had a horrible season and the Qb is at least partly responsible for that.

I was not going to use football a lot in my blogging but I love the game and couldn't resist at least one blog involving college ball.

Rassling, now, that is a hoot. Maybe not so much anymore, but back in the day it sure was fun to watch.

Classic good guy versus bad guy.

Fake as a rubber snake.

I remember as a young fellow wanting so much for rassling to be real. Ulitmate warriors fighting for supremacy inside the ring night after night.

Always knew it was fake but hoped it was real.

Not much needs be said about Santa, but what little kid doesn't want there to be a Santa? Who can remember being crushed when they found out the truth? That we had been sold a bill of goods. Hoodwinked.

I can.

Some things are obviously not real. But, in life, sometimes it's really hard to tell what is real. Sometimes, it's hard to tell what to believe in.

Confusing times for me because at this time I am no longer sure what is real and what to believe in.

I believe in God. Just not so sure about some of his fan club. Not sure why he allows some of his folks to suffer sometimes. Doesn't feel like he cares about us sometimes.

I could go on and on about that and might never have an answer. But, as for people, how does one determine who is for real and who is not. Or, who is out to rip you off? Who is out to take advantage of you when you have nothing but good things in your heart?

Are they going to be there for you when times get hard?

For me, they weren't.

But, that just makes me determined to find out who's the real deal.

Sorry that Jake Locker, Rasslers and Santa didn't work out.

Maybe next time.

Sometimes

Sometimes you just don't have it.

Tonight is one of those times for me.

Tomorrow is another day

Kiko

One of our two cats is missing. Just happened suddenly on Monday night. It's now Wednesday and still no sign of him.
We put fliers out tonight and hopefully he will show up. I know cats can disappear from time to time and sometimes show up unexpectedly.

I have hope.

Not much else happening around here.

Tara and Adelaide have returned to Australia.
Jeff and Aspen, plus the pups have moved to South Carolina and seem happy.
All is quiet here.

It's about to get quieter because the most annoying neighbors in the world are moving. They are actually pretty nice folks, but they live above us and don't believe in walking in the apartment. They stomp, they jump, and they run and it's always loud no matter which means they choose to move around the unit.
They also have surround sound and seem to be really proud of it. I do have mixed feelings because we will miss the rental income and the apartment will be a mess to clean up and we have plenty of those right now.
Still, I will enjoy the peace and quiet.


In my dreams of peace and quiet, I sit here hoping Mr Kiko returns soon.

Blue sky

Middle daughter and husband just climbed in the truck and took off for South Carolina.

Damn, for lack of a better word and please forgive me Mom, but this house feels empty without them and the dogs.

Not sure how people can lose a loved one and stay in the same house. It's hard right now.

Bright side is the adventure that lies in wait for them and I am happy for them and that.

Another thing is the sky above us. Not sure when I have seen such a blue sky recently. The north winds came through leaving the sky a color that reminds me of a deep blue lake.

I have seen a few scenic lakes in my day and right now that sky makes my heart ache to see the blueness of the deep, deep water.

Loading up the car and heading out, will write more later

reflections of my life

I heard a song recently on a TV show called Reflections of My Life by Marmalade. It was recorded in 1969 originally and to be perfectly honest I don't remember the song at the time.
But, hey, I was 10 years old.

In the few weeks that this song has been reintroduced to me it has become one of my favorite songs for a couple of reasons.
The first reason is that it's just a beautiful song.

But, the timing is probably more important to me right now.
To me, the singer is saying that the world is a bad place but it's better than the other choice, death.

Why that's important to me is obvious if you know me but I am going to write about it anyway.

The world can be a hard place to live at times and choosing to get beyond all that and make the best of things is exactly what I am choosing.
In spite of chaos or pain, you just have to look at the good things in your life as well.
Start thinking about what's good and you'll come up with a number of good to great things.

Here are a few of mine that are worth living for:

My California girl
My children
Adelaide
Duke and Ella
Kiki and Lucy
Great food
Beverages
Good music
Dreams
Travel

I could go on and on.

Life is very much worth living and make the best of it.

And, yes, I will get to reflections of my own life soon.

The fortune cookie

My fortune cookie said to look forward to great fortune and a new lease on life.
Kind of crazy because I don't really put much stock in fortune cookies but that's exactly what I've been saying lately.

So, I am looking forward to great fortune and I do actually have a new lease on life already.

Long day, short night to blog.

BTW, Bruce Lee is an all time favorite. He was larger than life.

More later.

Back to Stralia

Our oldest daughter, Tara, and our only grandchild, Adelaide, are getting on a plane and heading back to Australia tomorrow.

We're going to miss them a lot, but it was great to have them here for a short time.

It's been fun to watch Adelaide grow and learn during the short time she has been back here. She loves for you to say words or phrases and she loves to repeat them. If she can't say it, she just laughs which is funny in itself.

From this, however, I am taught another lesson from a child.

We should never tire of learning. Understanding things is the key to mastering them.

If we were around another person that didn't speak English and asked them to say words and repeated them we would know more than just one language which is somewhat embarrasing.
If we had the same desire to learn as a child, or asked as many questions, is there any limit to what we can accomplish?
If we had the same work ethic as a Tiger Woods could we not be a lot better at golf than what we are?
If we had the same type of desire to cure cancer?......

My Momma told me there is no limit to what I could do. For some reason I did not believe her at the time.
Now, I do.

Is it too late?


Anyway, back to Stralia. Going to be sad, but at the same time I am glad they have the courage to see the world.

I look forward to the day we can see Stralia.