Hot air balloons at the First Fruits Farm ...

This past Memorial Day weekend was a pretty special one as there was a big shindig at the First Fruits Farm.  Hot air balloons, some military displays (helicopters and sky divers), and two USO-type shows. As I mentioned, the event took place at a place called The First Fruits Farm, and if you do not know the story behind this farm and its owners (Jason and Tay Brown), it is a good story.  Jason grew up in Henderson, NC which is not far from where we live.  He played football for the University of North Carolina and was taken in the fourth round of the NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens as a center and signed a $37.5 million dollar contract making him the highest paid center in the league. He signed subsequent free agent contracts but then gave it all up to become a farmer back in his native NC. He owns a 1,000 acre farm and raises a variety of crops, most of which he gives away to food banks and needy people.  He did this because God told him to do it. Read his story at Jason Brown and First Fruits Farm.

So, back to the weekend's activities. 

There were lots of food trucks, craftsmen, antique tractors and power equipment, live entertainment, military attractions, and rides around the farm grounds.  This is one big farm.

 

These are just a sampling of the balloons there that weekend.  They had rides and a "glow" in the evenings.  I liked the one of "Joe Cool" and the Bald Eagle. The Jester balloon was really unique. One of the Army sky divers had a wing that was sponsored by the Wreaths Across America program while the other paratrooper had the various service flags hanging below him on the jump.

And then there was the live entertainment.  As I said, there were two USO-type shows.  They were both pretty good, but the one I was able to get a picture with was the group of ladies called the "Bombshells." Don't know why they would have been named that. Hmmmm........

Ok. Ok. They were just taking pity on an old Soldier.  At least none of them asked me if I was in WWII.

There were fireworks at night and lots of good food throughout the day. We really enjoyed the day and were glad to get to know the story behind Jason Brown and the farm. It was a very nice Memorial Day celebration, and it was especially good to see so many people out to celebrate and remember our Veterans who paid a heavy price for us.

“And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” (Lee Greenwood)

Hooah

Carolina Beach -- what a fun place ...

Last week, Pam and I went to the Carolina Beach for three days.These kinds of trips are fun and since we had been there before, we knew where things were and weren't wasting time looking for shops or food places that either weren't open on certain days or weren't any good anyhow. We did eat at Freddies again this time and had a wonderful meal.  After that we drove down to the Ft. Fisher point to watch the boats (big ones) come in for the night.

This trip was a little different because we really only had two whole days to be there.  So we spent one of them on the beach.  It was hotter than a match that day so we/I spent much more time under the beach umbrella or actually sitting in a chair out in the ocean.  

The second whole day, however, was spent exploring a town called Southport.  It is a really cool oceanfront town, very quaint and best accessed by the ferry that runs from Ft. Fisher.  It takes about 1/2 hour to get from one side of the Cape Fear to the other. 

 

 

Cars were packed pretty tightly on the ferry.  I was not able to open my door without dinging the car next to me, so I rode all the way over sitting in the Jeep listening to the radio, hoping the ride back would be better.

 

Once we got over to the other side, we did some shopping, went to the maritime museum and the welcome center and then went on our way.  On that day, they were having an open air market which was set in a park, under a couple of acres of live oaks.  It was really a picture of old southern living.

After a bit of shopping, we walked down by the water front and sat at a open air bar where they filmed a movie called Safe Haven. It was really nice there, sunny, breezy and we got to talk with some other people there - just chillin' out.

While we were there, we saw a shrimp boat that sure looked like the one used in Forrest Gump.  It was really pretty cool.

I think this little town might be a great place for a couple of days.  We saw some condos that could be daily rents and they were right on the pier area.  I'm sure they are pretty expensive though.  We'll see.  It might happen for some special occasion.

So it was getting close to time to head back to the ferry landing and get in line to get on the ship.  Pam generally wants to squeeze every possible second out of these visits, so getting her to head back to the ferry pier a bit early was a task.  However, when we got there, she was glad we did because there was already a line of cars waiting to load, and this was the next to last ferry trip of the night. I think there is a way to drive around the area and eventually get back to the beach, but after looking at the map, I knew that wouldn't be a great option and would have really eaten up time and gas (you remember gas - $4.99.9 on this island !!).  Anyway, it was another pleasant ride on the ferry.

Had to hold on to your hats while on the water.

So, that wraps up another short visit to the beach.  As I have said before, we really enjoy these trips and living where we do, we are perfectly situated  -- 3-4 hours to any beach on the Atlantic, and 3-4 hours to the mountains in the western part of the state. Nice !!

"The sea cures all ailments of man." (Plato)

Hooah

Article highlights Soldier issues ...

There was an interesting article in my most recent issue of Army Times entitled "23 Things Veterans May Carry For Life." The author, Sarah Sicard, may or may not have intended this article as anything more than a "fun things in the service" kind of thing, but she got me on a lot of these points.

The list of 23 things is prefaced with a short lead-in paragraph that says in most Veteran's closets one is likely to find an old uniform or two (guilty), some dirty caps (guilty), a stack of medical, training, and discharge records (guilty - they always told us to never lose any of these), and some old ribbons and/or medals (guilty). It seems she got me on all of these and I know several of my Vet friends who would also fit this bill (right Dave and Dave!).

So, what about the list of 23? Well, I am certainly guilty of the following on the list:

    #2 (bad knees)

    #3 (the misguided idea that ibuprofen and fresh socks will cure anything) (I would add that 

          rubbing a little dirt on it will fix it).

    #4 (Tinnitis)

    #5 (The ability to sleep anywhere) (I would add - at any time).

    #7 (Old combat boots)

    #9 (Issues with authority figures) (Not so much now though).

    #10 (back pain)

    #12 (a woobie that has seen better days)

    #20 (sleep apnea)

    #23 (a deeply stained coffee mug that I tell everyone is just now "seasoned").

Any Vets checking this post out will undoubtedly agree with these and have a few of their own to add to the list. Some of my additions would be:

    - a strong urge to eat at all times of the day (not much, but more like "grazing") (this goes with #5 above because in the service you never knew when you would get time to do this again).

    - a lot of Vets I know have a strange habit of blowing their nose in the shower (I don't know why, we just do it).

    - becoming irate upon seeing cigarette butts on the ground.

    - the breakfast of champions is really a Snickers bar and a diet Coke.

    - orange Gatoraide is best !

    - telling and retelling stories from service days (never arond non-service people, but always with service buds or "those who were there.")

    - and finally, a deep sense of pride for our service (a pride that lots of people will never understand).

So, thanks Sarah for this article.  It brought back some good, old memories.  It also sent me back to the closet to check on those old uniforms!!

Real heroes don't wear capes, they wear dog tags.

Hooah

Take me out to the ball game ...

A couple of weeks ago, about 56 members of our church got together and went to a minor league baseball game -- the Carolina Mudcats. The Mudcats is a Low-A team that is a part of the Milwaukee Brewers system.  They play a pretty good level of ball, and it's always fun to go watch them.  The people there run a pretty nice operation and the stadium is clean and easy to get to.

So, our Men's group at the church organized this outing and opened it up to family members so we could get more participation. It was a beautiful afternoon, but all week the weather guys were predicting rain and thunderstorms for that day.  All the tickets had been paid for and everyone was looking forward to it, so I said a little prayer on Monday that the weather would be good. After that, I never even looked at the "rain date" plans because it was in God's hands now!  It started out at 90% chance of rain on the Monday before and each day saw a reduction in that percentage until game day when it was 0%!! Our seats were in the shade and there was a slight breeze -- what a day!!

This game was also a replica Mudcat game shirt giveaway game and the first 1,500 people through the gates would get one of these shirts. I cautioned our people to get there early if they wanted one.

But that wasn't the biggest draw for our people.  I had made arrangements for one of our guys, Adam Neill, to throw out the first pitch.  Adam had pitched in college as a relief specialist so this seemed like a no-brainer. We all had such a fun time with this, throwing challenges his way about what kind of pitch he should throw, and that he had better not air mail it.

 

       Adam was the third person to throw out a pitch.

Adam and I are standing at the edge of the field and he is showing the pitch he is going to throw.  I said he should just throw a fastball (or as close to a fastball as he could muster) but he said his curve was his money pitch.  He ended up throwing a "12 to 6 curve" (as one of the Cincinnati Reds former pitchers calls it).  It is called that because as the ball curves, it also dives for the ground. It is 60' 6'' from the pitcher's mound to home plate.  Most "12 to 6 curves" only travel 55-60 feet before they hit the ground, with the batter swinging over the top of it.  Works real good in a game, but looks real bad as a first pitch.

Oh well, we had a great time and got quite a few church members together for an afternoon.  And as our Pastor, Eric, says -- it's all about building relationships.

Just a little side bar ...

While I was getting ready to write this post, I came across this funny little thing.  And then, as I watched the Red's manager (David Bell) get thrown out of the Reds-Giants game today for complaining about the umpire calling pitches that were 5"-6" off the plate strikes,  I saw the wisdom of this story.   

           

"Life is a lot like a baseball game ... when you think a fastball is coming, you gotta be ready to hit the curve." (Jaja Q)

Hooah

A little more on our road trip ...

I just wanted to wrap up this road trip post with a couple of pictures of the people we visited (when we actually remembered to take a picture ...... ugh!).

 

 It was good to be able to spend an afternoon with Mary. 

                                    Logan certainly had grown up (taller) since our last visit.

                                                    Linda and Luke still look the same. 

                                    Pam was able to visit her childhood friends, Susan and Liddy

We were also able to visit Lee (Pam's brother) and I didn't think to take a picture of Dave and Dreama while we were at dinner (Dave was my old Command Sergeant Major). 

It's good to be able to visit these old friends and family. So, while I may not have a physical picture from this visit, I have pictures of all of them in my mind, and there they don't have wrinkles, warts, bifocals or gray hair.

In the end you always go back to the people who were there in the beginning. (Unknown)

Hooah

Road Trip ....

Well, Pam and I have returned from our annual Ohio Road Trip (actually we've done this twice).  What a whirlwind week.  Each of these trips has been planned out by the day and I put together a spread sheet showing all the people we would visit, which towns we would be visiting, where I was going to play golf and with whom, where Pam was going to visit and maybe have lunch with a friend or two, in which hotels we would be staying and when we would have to check-out.  I also got to play euchre with Tom, Bill, and Dennis at the Sidney Veteran's Center.  I/we really look forward to that.  We played for about 3 hours and nobody lost a dime.  Either we're getting better at this game or we just didn't keep very good track of points. Regardless, it was quite an adventure.

Before we left, all the crap hit the fan with inflation and gas prices going through the roof, so I wanted to see what this trip was actually costing. Here are the breakdowns:

* 1,652 miles round trip.

* Total cost of gas: $462.11.

* Driving my 2019 Jeep -- great for packing all the "stuff" we needed or might need for this trip.

* Gas mileage: Overall average: 24.5 mpg. (High of 27.1 mpg, low of 20.4 mpg).

* Average gallon per mile cost: $0.28/mile

* Hotels: $501.37 (We used my military and AAA discounts where we could and all of our Hilton Honors Points to keep the costs down).         

* Ohio roads are not nearly as nice as NC roads, so somewhere I picked up a little shimmy when I hit one of their potholes.  That cost me $49.00 to get the tires rebalanced once we got home.

So, what is the bottom line from all of this? Well, first -- we proved we weren't too old to do another of these trips. Aside from that, we got to see some really great people back in Ohio.  Wannie is always fun to visit and she even entertained us with her piano skills (she's really good!!). Chris and Karen, Ken and Pat and Becky and Eric are really long time church friends from Troy and it is always good to catch up with them. Warren, our WWII friend, was turning 96 and he looked great.  My sister, Linda and her husband (Luke) had recovered from their trip to visit us and we had a good time at her grandson's HS graduation party. I had a great time playing golf with my Anna buddies and with Dave. I always have fun with these guys and I played pretty much my average game -- bogey golf. While I was playing golf on Thursday, Pam had a really good visit with Mary and all of the Lima gang.  Friday night, we had a Cassano's pizza night with our old neighbors from McCartyville Road (Jim and Amanda) and I really wanted to thank the 3 boys for delaying their Friday night plans for going out with their friends to stay home for a couple of hours and have dinner and visit with us. Pam got to meet up with her line dancing friends and spend an afternoon dancing and having fun. We then got to spend time with Pam's brother, Lee, and the three of us went to lunch at Tom's Ice Cream Bowl in Zanesville.  That afternoon Pam was able to visit with her friends Liddy and Susan while I drove around Zanesville to see how it had changed in the last year. Later that evening we caught up with my old Command Sergeant-Major (Dave) and his wife (Dreama) for dinner.  I really enjoy that because there are usually stories to be told that I might not have heard before, some of which might even be true !!!

What do you think -- sound like a pretty eventful trip? I think it was. Now you know why I put together a spreadsheet -- to keep it orderly. 

So, other than all the windshield time (which is really pretty boring for Pam), it was a pretty rewarding trip. In fact, we might be making another one in October as one of Jim and Amanda's boys is planning a wedding some time that month.

I don't know if you could go to a travel agent and ask for a trip to include all these kinds of things for only $0.28 per mile (or $127 per day, depending on how you want to look at it). So, given that, I don't think the next trip will be any problem.

There is no such thing as a bad road trip, only inappropriate clothing and not enough shoes.

Hooah

A bird in the hand ...

I'm sure you have heard that old saying.  Well, how many have actually had a bird in the hand. 

The grandkids were on "track out" recently and we were all looking for something to do for an afternoon with them.  Outside of North Carolina, there probably aren't many people who have heard of the Sylvan Heights Bird Sanctuary, but it is quite a place.  Such a collection of birds I have not seen in my lifetime .

So it was Pam and me, D,D,Q,H,and V, along with Randy and Margaret, and what an afternoon.  

There were large areas for the birds to be in -- not in little cages such as you might see in other places. One particular attraction was a really large area where people could walk around with the birds, where the visitors could buy special popsicle sticks coated with peanut butter and bird seed.  The birds would fly down and eat the seed and sit on your fingers, shoulders, head, and even your shoes.

This was a pretty good afternoon with the family. We learned a lot -- especially that little yellow birds really love to try to eat the little button on the top of your ball cap. 

When I went in that area, I had a white ball cap on.  When I came out, I had a white ball cap on that had a big yellow-greenish mess on it.  At least I had a hat on!!

A bird doesn't sing because he has an answer, he sings because he has a song

Source: https://quotepark.com/quotes/857047-joan-walsh-anglund-a-bird-doesnt-sing-because-he-has-an-answer-he-s/

"A bird doesn't sing because he has an answer, he sings because he has a song."(Joan Walsh Anglund)

Hooah

Boy did this bring back memories ...

A little over a month ago, a group of men from our church decided we needed to camp out and share time and fellowship together.  I don't have any statistics on which I can base this guess, but I think a number of churches are suffering from a lack of action and leadership from the men of the church. Again, I don't have any sound basis to say this, but when I hear men from churches here and from back in Ohio talking about this, and ministers lamenting a lack of action and leadership in their church, I have to think there might be something going on.  You know, where there is smoke there is fire.

I don't think our desire was to just go out and camp overnight some place.  We had done a couple of outings for an afternoon or an evening leading up to this  and we were looking for the "what's next" thing. That's when a few of us who were sitting around after a study night came up with the theme -- "Cast and Blast."

The thing that would make this different was that we were going to involve more men in the leadership roles and we were going to take them away from their beds for a night.  We were going to cook our meals, maybe catch our dinner from the lake, we were going to do some things none of us/them had ever done before and we were going to ask them to bring their sons or grandsons too.

This resulted in about 40 men and boys spending a Friday afternoon, evening and all day Saturday out in a nature setting, camping out.

So, let me show you some of the things we did:

A couple of the young boys knew they had to set up a tent if they wanted to be in out of the cold, and it really got a bit cold that night.

Jonathan really couldn't wait to try out his smoker. We had chickens and fixins for dinner Friday, bacon and eggs for breakfast, and burgers for lunch.

There was also a good bit of "supervising" and telling stories while waiting for the dinners.

Put some Army uniforms on these guys and they would have taken a page out of some of my field training.

The kids really enjoyed the knife and axe throwing taught that day. This picture is not staged -- he really hit it dead center.

Here are some more pictures of the meals we had, starting with breakfast on Saturday.

Of course, no Southern camp-out would be complete without some shootin' .  We shot a lot of clay birds and there were several of the men and almost all of the boys who had not shot a shotgun before, especially at a flying clay bird.  If you haven't tried this, it really is fun and when you get the hang of it, it gives you something to brag about (because it's not easy).

But before any shootin' could take place, we had to have a playin' of the pipes, like the old Scotish Warriors did before they went to war. Nobody going to war, but it might have sounded like it at times. We were shootin' so much, a beaver that lived in the lake came over to see what all the racket was.

 

All in all, it was a really good time. We thanked John for the use of his property and managed to keep all the cars and trucks out of the wheat field. We must have hit on something because a number of these men have stepped up recently and taken on leadership roles. They also had fun with their kids and grand kids and kinda gave some meat to the words of Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."  We spent time training them to respect nature, trained them how to use and respect firearms, and talked to them around the fire on Friday night about goodness and Godliness.

What a good time.  What a great investment in these men and youngsters. I think our church benefited greatly those two days.

So, what's next?  Well, we have a baseball outing for families coming up on June 5 at the Carolina Mudcats and we tentatively have a golf scramble scheduled  for September.  Looking forward to these events.

Oh yeah, if you are wondering, I did play revellie in the morning at 0600.  Just couldn't help myself!!

“A great many people, and more all the time, live their entire lives without ever once sleeping out under the stars.” (Alan Kesselheim)

HOOAH