What a surprise at the pond...

This past week threw a couple of breaks in the weather my way, so I was able to get in some work around the yard.  I particularly wanted to get the first pass with the riding mower done as the grass was already up to my ankles.  I normally mow it at 3.5" - 4" because if I don't, I have an acre and a half of clumps of grass.  Sometimes in the early spring, I even have to cut it twice -- one direction the first time and another direction when I get finished with the first pass.  Takes some time, but at least I get a handle on it early.

I also spent some time with some of the basics -- picking up sticks in the yard, burning them, walking around the pond, working a bit on some of the cattails and pond scum.  Following that, with the sticks in the fire pit burning away, I thought it would be a good idea to "field test" some of the essentials of summer relaxation here by the "waterfront cottage."

So I hauled out the hammock that hangs out by the pond.  I mean, you have to test everything to make sure it is operational and ready for action (so to speak).  Guess what -- it was working fine, so I decided to extend the test drive, maybe even with my eyes closed (just in case I missed something the first time around). 

I was right in the middle of this last test when all of a sudden I heard a huge splash.  It was the kind of splash you would hear if someone were jumping off the dock in the middle of July.  I opened my eyes to see what was the matter and saw a huge hawk just taking off from the surface of the water with a small bass in its talons.  The hawk had just snagged dinner and was taking off .  It looked like a scene from some advertisement for a Rocky Mountain fishing trip or vacation.  Kinda reminded me of the old Hamm's Beer Commercials (am I dating myself?). Anyhow, as the bird flew away, it looked back almost like it was saying "thanks" or "I'll be back sometime."

It was just one of those moments you had to be there to really know what was going on and it was over in just a couple of minutes.  But it was really cool and I was glad to have been able to see it.  I'll try to remember this point when I get out the pole later this spring --

There are two types of fisherman - those who fish for sport and those who fish for fish.  (Author Unknown)

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A blast from the past...

Last night we had the opportunity to go see the production of The Jersey Boys in Fort Wayne, IN.  This was a Christmas gift from Doug and Danika.  The show was staged at the Embassy Theater, in the downtown area, a place we had never been before and which was quite a nice place.  I really like these old, restored theaters, because they remind me of the Aw Faw Palace once owned by Saddam Hussein.  It was very ornate, very colorful with huge columns along the walls and beautiful ceilings and chandeliers.  The city of Fort Wayne has quite a gem in this, and it is as nice as any I have seen anywhere around the country.

The story of Frankie Valli  and the Four Seasons was good, and knocked around some cobwebs for memories that I had of the things that took place in the 60s and 70s.  I recalled some of the things depicted in the show, and learned some new things -- especially the money issues and the road romances.  Didn't know much about that.  the guys playing the Four Seasons were good in their roles and put forth a very convincing show.

What a great Christmas present. We certainly appreciated it and thank Doug and Danika very much for it.

How's this for a "Selfie" in front of the Embassy Theater?

Oh, yeah, one more thing.  There sure were a lot of people there our age.  As as the guys sang and danced, I looked around and saw lots of people lip syncing and tapping their feet to the music.  I would bet that probably 90% of those in attendance grew up listening to Frankie Valli's music (that's "Valli with an I" as he said in the show), both with and after the Four Seasons, knew all the words to the songs, and probably drove the kinds of cars depicted in the performance.  Even the ones that got "all the way to 8 miles to the gallon."

This was billed as a nostalgic trip down memory lane, and it was. It brought back memories of high school dances, football, and Northside Beach.  It revived memories of cruising up and down Maple Avenue and doing crazy things that might get us arrested today.  Yes, it was nostalgic, I don't deny it and am not ashamed to admit that I missed some of those days and am glad to have lived through them.

Nostalgia -- the lump in your throat, the tear in your eye and the tug at your heart -- doesn't happen when all your memories are bad or dark.  They reflect the happy, carefree, perhaps a bit dangerous times of youth.  And as I have said before, without those nostalgic memories to keep you warm, your winter years can be pretty cold.

Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days. (Doug Larson)

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Don't ever give 'em the real reason...

Because you just might show them that you can be a klutz!! 

Yep, That's right -- I had a chance to earn the "Klutz Hall of Fame Award" this past Friday.  I was out trimming some boxwood bushes that had kinda grown out of control around the bedroom windows, and was holding back a branch, attempting to trim one lower down, next to the side of the house.  Well, that was a good idea, but it didn't quite work out.  As I reached down to sever that limb, it was another limb piece that almost got severed.  The blade from the battery operated hedge trimmer hit a branch and I got a "kick back."  I sliced a little segment of my thumb back -- nothing that couldn't be fixed, but just dumb.

I called for my wife to get me some paper towels and I then applied some basic U.S. Army first aid elements -- pressure and elevation. Our next adventure for the night was the emergency room at our local hospital.  For some reason, I happened to pick the same night as a large number of locals who needed some sort of attention.  I was always under the assumption that blood, flowing blood, took precedence in an emergency room.  However, I found out that those rules have changed in the past few years -- hmmmmmmmmmm.  They were all very nice people, but the line-up of things from bug bites received while fishing at the local river to a sprained ankle to a fellow who had the flu have now trumped a bleeder.  After the "triage" was done, we sat in the waiting area (well, actually we walked up and down the hall so as to stay as far away as possible  from the flu guy with the bucket perched under his chin).  This was a full hour.  In the meantime, the rather large collection of paper towels wrapped around my thumb area was getting rather red and soggy.  I remembered from Army training that hand, face and foot wounds are usually heavy bleeders and generally look worse than they really are, so I wasn't getting too worried.

OK.  Now it's down to the emergency room treatment area, where I sat for about another half an hour until they decided I needed to have it x-rayed to make sure I didn't nip a bone or have any foreign matter in there. This went OK until they wanted me to take the paper towels off my hand to get their pictures.  I bled all over the x-ray plates, the table I had to put my hand on, and the floor.  They said everything was OK, and cleaned up the mess.  At this point, the paper towels were completely useless, and they gave me a couple of wet wash clothes.  These worked fine.

Shortly after this, a nurse practitioner came in, took a couple of looks the thumb, and laid out a plan to get it all sewn up and on its way to recovery.  She did a nice job, even with the numbing needle and the stitching.  Only needed five of them.  She said it is better to use fewer than more because it somehow makes it heal faster or better.

Once I got everything cleaned up, I saw that the cut ran down my thumb behind my thumbnail.  Kinda like filleting it.  Not very bad at all, just a bleeder.  Check this out.

All in all, I received very good treatment in the hospital.  It was just a busy night.  My little adventure took just over three hours.  I kinda think this might be the way things are going to be from now on with the present state of insurance.  One thing I did like about that nurse practitioner was she said I should be able to play golf Tuesday in my league.  She wouldn't guarantee any quality of my swing, couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't "feel it" later, and wouldn't write me a note for (sympathy) strokes from my opponents.  But from the looks of her sewing, I think it will be fine. I'm gonna play anyway, so we'll see.

Earlier that day, I spent a couple of hours working with the chain saw, cutting up tree limbs and such.  Given the choice between the two, if I was going to get whacked by something, I would pick the hedge trimmer over the chain saw every time.  I also learned some valuable lessons -- wear my gloves when doing this work, and don't try to cut areas that you cannot see.  Safety rules!

Better a thousand times careful than once sliced. 

Hooah

A REALLY good time in NY...

As you may have seen in an earlier entry, we have a new grand daughter.  Miss Vivian Macy Bennett.

So, here it is, April and we are still kinda wrapped up in a Christmas eve kind of feeling.  Expectations are high as we made our way to Brooklyn to meet her and spend time with the family.  The boys were on spring break so we headed there to give the parents a hand during this week.  It sure was fun getting to meet Miss Vivian.  And even though I know better, I think she took a shine to me.

Of course, I had to share her with "Booma" (what Heath calls Pam). Vivian was a very contented baby and very easy to hold. 

We were there pretty much the whole week, so we got to do quite a bit with the boys.  After spending one of the mornings at the park, we went out to lunch at the local Subway.  Quinn likes their Flatizzas while Heath is pretty much sold on a ham sub on white bread.  It rained a good bit of the day so we didn't get to do much outdoors.

On one of the days, we took the boys to the bowling alley at Ft. Hamilton.  This is not a very big place, but has quite a bit of historical significance in its past. We'll save that for another day.  Today's challenge was to find out if the boys could throw/roll a bowling ball down the alley with sufficient force and speed to knock over any pins.  They accepted the challenge and proved their worth.  Quinn had one strike and two spares in his game.  He was using a ball that was rather light so he was able to bowl in the traditional manner.  Heath, on the other hand, needed considerable help.  I would carry the ball over to this green thing that resembled a dragon's tail.  One would place the ball on the top of it and the "bowler" would proceed to push it from its perch onto the alley and toward the pins.  Heath did quite well for a two-year old.

 We also got to go to the library one afternoon.  Each of the boys picked out a book -- I read one to Heath and Qujinn read his own.  He also picked out a soccer book for his daddy, who is quite into soccer.  And even though Quinn is quite capable of reading his own books, Booma and I (a.k.a. Grandpa) were still given the opportunity to read them a story before bed each night.  I know they will grow out of this, but I hope it isn't any time right away.

Before we got away from there, we were able to get a "family picture."  Each of the boys has his own "picture tolerance" and we just about maxed it on both of them.  Vivian didn't seem to care that much -- at least for now.  She was just satisfied with lying there being her adorable self.

“I’m glad we had the times together just to laugh and sing a song, seems like we just got started and then before you know it, the times we had together were gone.” (Dr. Seus)

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Wow, what a weekend...

Pam and I were in NY visiting our son and daughter-in-law and our three grandkids last week, and when we left there we decided to swing by Washington DC to see a couple of things.  According to Doris, that sweat-talking voice in my dashboard (a.k.a. the GPS), it was only a 4 1/2 our drive.  Of course, that was based on a normal weekend -- this one just happened to be the opening weekend for the Cherry Blossom Festival.  Oh well, we were already this far East, besides, how bad can the traffic get this early in the morning.

I think the other 300,000 or so people from NY and NJ who decided to visit DC this weekend also had the same thing in mind.  I can't recall ever being in 4 lanes of stop and go traffic for 6 hours.  Yep, the trip turned into a six-hour endurance test.  Oh well, it was a great day and we never really stopped and sat anywhere. One nice thing is you don't pay by the hour on the NJ turnpike -- just by the mile.

I have seen the Cherry Blossoms before.  During my last assignment in the military, I was technically assigned to the Pentagon, so I was there for two years of that.  Fortunately, almost all of my relatives were able to come over for one of them and share my apartment and see this display.  So, having said that, we didn't spend every second down by the tidal basin.  I wanted to get some general pictures for a slide show I plan to do at our Vets to DC pre-trip dinner.  Below are some pictures from that day.

There were a couple of things that struck me as interesting -- it was remarkable how we could sit in one area for 15-30 minutes and not hear any English being spoken.  I first noticed this when I was stationed here a while ago and would come over to the Mall area to watch people and visit the Memorials.  In a way, it is neat how people who speak other languages (and presumably come from other countries to visit DC) can come here and see this city, these memorials to our heroes, and the winners of our freedoms.  I wonder how many English speaking people visit their capital cities.  Just a thought.

Oh, and one other thing that struck me as interesting.  There had to be close to a half-million people there that weekend, and then there was this one horse-mounted policeman.

Oh yeah, one last thing.  And I don't know why I thought this was interesting.  I don't think it was out of place in DC -- just odd and really funny.  There are lots of people who think that this horse_ _ _ _  is all that really comes out of DC anyway.  You can judge for yourself.

As a former teacher and one who studies history, I always look for a "take-away" when I go somewhere.  Visiting DC, I find myself surrounded by competing points, all worthy "take-aways" in their own right.  And when I spend any time at all in the shadows of these Memorials, I feel humbled, tiny in the scope of their magnitude.  Microscopic in the magnitude of the stories and deeds of those honored here.  I always feel uplifted when I leave here, and play over and over in my mind pictures of these places and the stories they tell.  Having said that, I was reminded of this passage from Psalms 2:10-13:

When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you.
To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,
From those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the way of darkness.

Hooah

A very nice tribute...

This past week, Pam and I had the opportunity to visit Washington DC.  We have been meaning to do this in order to see the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial.  This is the Memorial which just opened this past fall.  We are planning to add this to our Vets to DC trips and I wanted to see it first to see if it would be an easy fit, if there was a place for buses to park, etc. I believe in doing first-hand recon when possible -- it saves time and helps to eliminate confusion when we get there.

Here are some pictures of the Memorial.  Remember, this was early spring so the trees that are planted there, primarily to hide the buildings on the far side of the grounds, are not in bud yet.

The placement of this is advertised as being placed in such a position that the Capitol can be seen from the flame and the flagpole.  The idea was that people who visit the Memorial can look up to our "leaders" on the Hill and wonder.  It also enables those who occupy the Hill to see it, to remember and always know that they are the ones who send Soldiers to wars and they are responsible for them when they return.  It is remarkable how subtle but soothing this place is.

This will be a good addition to our trip.  I am looking forward to having our Vets and their Caregivers/Travel Companions see it.

They died hard, all those savage warriors -- like wounded wolves at bay...And I loved them. (Douglas MacArthur)

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Forgive my impatience...

When it comes to the back side of an Ohio winter, I guess I'm like almost everyone else -- I want it to be over already. Not wanting to be judged as a cry baby or whiner, I just want sunshine, warmer temperatures and green fairways and soft greens.  I don't think that is too much to ask.  But then I see the problems people are having in the Western US with water rationing and cutbacks, I guess my "problems" seem really insignificant.  I guess I might seem a bit selfish comparing my "wants" with their "needs."  So forgive me.

Having thought about that for a while, I decided to take a walk around the yard tonight, just to get a better sense of appreciation for what I have been given.  I started out by the pond.  It seems that it is open and ready for business again.  As I walked out on the dock, a school of bass gathered around, kinda like they were saying "Thanks for doing what you could to keep us alive this winter."  Then again, it could have been their memory of me feeding them last year that brought them up to see what was going on.  Their greeting was rewarded as I just happened to have a bucket of fish food with me.  As I threw it out on the water, they swarmed around, devouring the food, churning up the water like a boiling cauldron.  Good top see you guys again.  Glad you made it.

Then I took a short ride in the truck and came upon this sunset.  The picture doesn't do it justice.

The sky was the lightest blue and the sun was ablaze.  A couple of minutes after taking this picture, it was gone.  It's almost like it was there for me for that couple of seconds and then off to make someone else take notice of God's beauty.  Again, forgive me for fussing about the end of winter taking so long.

One thing the Army taught me -- when you look one way and see something, you had better turn around and look the other way because there might be something you need to see there.  In those cases, it might have been the bad guys, but in this case, it was a full moon rising and there was a jet's contrail stretching across the sky, dividing the moon in half.  This, too, only lasted for a few minutes and it was moved on.

It was good that I had some time tonight to just look around.  In a lot of cases, time is all a lot of people my age have, and they fail to use it wisely. Instead of complaining about lingering cold days and rain, we should be glad to have the water and learn to appreciate the changes of seasons.  Each nice day is a gift.  We haven't earned it, we don't really deserve it.  It is a gift.  Enjoy it.   That's my goal for this year -- enjoy every day, taking nothing for granted.

I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright. (Henry David Thoreau)

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