Family and Friends Detroit Lake Campout 2012

We just got home after another great week away at Detroit Lake. This event is eagerly anticipated each year. This year we probably had around eighty participants from one year olds to over eighty year olds. The weather was fantastic, everyone stayed safe and good times were had by all.
Each year Ty and Jenene put together some kind of special event for the kids. This year they invited Captain Jack Sparrow

and his lovely and talented wench

to officiate a treasure hunt which taxed its participants to their limits.
In this image all of the participants are receiving their instructions from Captain Jack.

Here are a few of the challenges experienced by the contestants.

Did I mention food? This year we split the meals up and and had a great variety and no one had to do so much that they got worn out. We ate Mexican, Italian, and perhaps even American.

Now there are some smiles. I think that those are representative of the feelings that we all shared this week!

C'est La Vie (That's Life--En Anglais)

Wow! I think I just made it to a new milestone in my life and I'm having a bit of trouble getting used to it. Over the last few years, I've noticed my eye sight has become increasingly worse. Debbie finally convinced me to make an appointment at Costco with the the eye doctor. He discovered what I had been recently realizing. My vision had digressed to the point where a pair of prescription glasses would be a true benefit.

The lenses that we purchased are what is described as progressive and transitional. Apparently that means that they are multi-focal and they darken a bit when I'm out in the sun. The transitional part seems to be good so far. I'm actually ok with the idea of needing corrective lenses but I've discovered that getting used to wearing them all of the time is a little difficult. I don't know if it will always be this way or if my brain will at some point figure out how to compensate. Often, my surroundings including the ground are moving around. It's kind of like being under the influence of some kind of narcotic. Another thing that is difficult for now is that things that I know are perfect 90 degree right angles appear to be 15-20 degrees off. I cut a board the other day and the angle looked so off that I had to check the saw to see what angle I'd cut. I sure hope that my brain will at some point figure out how to compensate. The frames that I chose were from the Randy Jackson eyewear collection. Who in the world is Randy Jackson? I really asked that question. Yeah, now I know, he's one of the judges from American Idol. I guess I'm the only guy in America who's never watched the show! Sorry.

One of the frustrations that I'd been having was trying to see well enough to tie a fishing fly on my leader. Hopefully, that is a frustration that will never be realized again. I also purchased a pair of polarized progressives. I can hardly wait to try them out on the water.

A Weekend To Remember

This was a most remarkable week end! Though it wasn't the actual 80th anniversary of my father's birth, we had chosen to celebrate it this weekend in order that more of the people important to him would be able to attend. Here he is floating around with his charming bride.

I have three other siblings and of the three,it originally looked like only two of us were going to be able to get away for this event. Eventually, a third member of this four member group was going to be able to be there, at least for a short time. When I arrived, I was surprised to find that the fourth sibling was already there and was going to be able to complete the surviving members of the family group with which I grew up. I want to specifically thank Tanna, his wife, for allowing him to come and share this weekend with us.

Here he is teaching some of the younger members of the family to eat crawfish. Try to imagine how fortunate those kids are!!!

Since many miles and personal complications separate us most of the time, this complete reunion was a remarkable and forever memorable event.

We had four generations of family plus a number of friends together for a delightful weekend of celebration and catching up on each other's lives. I see some seemingly flagrant ommisions of pictures of important people who were here but unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of them. I am very sorry for not getting a picture of every attendee. Each person who was here was valued and I wish that I could have posted an image of them as well but alas, I am amazingly fallable and apparently, didn't get a picture of everyone. Oops!!

At one point, I was thinking of how fortunate we were to be able to have all of us there and be getting along. I know that many families do not have that luxury.

God has been and continues to be gracious.

Twenty Seven Already?

Tomorrow is the twenty seventh anniversary of our wedding. It is actually pretty amazing that God has been so gracious as to allow this relationship to weather all of the storms that typically can scuttle a marriage like ours. I love the lyrics the song "What God Has Joined Together" by Paul Overstreet.

Yeah! I know that I've posted these lyrics before but they still ring true!

With shaky knees and my old nervous grin We stood before the Lord and all our friends. Your daddy cried a teardrop as he gave his girl away. I promised to keep lovin' you until my dying day.

--chorus--

And what God has joined together let no one come between Or try to put asunder lovers building their dreams. The light that shines forever is now burning in our hearts. What God has joined together, let no one ever part.

Well that was several years ago today. And we walked some rocky roads along the way. But the Lord has helped us make it through the crazy ups and downs And when we took the wrong road he turned us both around.

When the evening of our lives on earth is near, And our eyes grow weak and words are hard to hear; Well, I pray the Lord is tender when he comes to call us home, And he lets us go together so we'll never be alone.

--chorus-

What God has joined together, let no one come between; Or try to put asunder lovers building their dreams. The light that shines forever is now burning in our hearts. What God has joined together let no one ever part.

What God has joined together let no one ever part...

I couldn't find Paul singing it on Youtube but this guy does an adequate job. At least you get a feeling for what the song should sound like.

I took tomorrow off to be with my bride! I wonder what will come of that?

Fifty Shades of Green

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned. It has been 5 1/2 months since my last post. It's not like I've been in a coma or anything. It's just that I'm not like the Pioneer Woman who can make mowing the lawn sound interesting.

In spite of the title, and the fact that this is a dirty post, you'll find that you will will not need to cleanse your mind after reading it. The dirt, after all is just the kind of earth in which one might plant their roses.

Anyway, my first wife Debbie, ok, she's my only wife, has been going crazy for a number of months or years about some arbor vitae that we had lining our driveway. She finally convinced me to take action. She wanted to buy a chain saw and reduce them to stumps. I was a little hesitant to spend that money as I already had a saw that I had bought in a garage sale a few years ago or maybe ten. The tricky part was that in all of the years that I'd owned this saw, I had never actually had it running. :( Well, I spent a few minutes with it and Oh My Goodness! You got it! I got it started and sawed down all of the arbor vitae along the driveway. As it turns out, the saw does have issues but the arbor vitae are gone and there was suddenly room for a new era of plants and yard decore. She had a vision which included an arbor, roses, hydrangeas, various other flora, statuary and digging, a lot of digging! By the end of the day, I thought that I had dug my own grave. Fortunately for me, I have been taking my pills and I survived the physical labor. Let me share a few images of the finished or at least, nearly finished project.

This image is what the driveway looked like before the project began.

These images show the yard as it looks today!

As much as I hate working in the yard, I believe that there is a marked improvement. Who would have thought?

Cowboy Life Wisdom

I know that it's been said that friends don't let friends listen to country music. Whether or not that's funny certainly depends upon who's reading it. Though I don't listen to a lot of country, I have been listening to it a bit more than usual for a couple of weeks.

The links that I've provided on this particular post go to Youtube videos and I'm hoping that you'll not only take a look at each of the videos but come back and read the rest of the post. Better yet, just read through the post and then come back and watch the videos. (If you have little kids, make sure you watch the Rodney Atkins song.)

I don't know that the post is particularly life changing but the thoughts are important to me and I hope you'll share them with me this time at least. I appreciate you all and thanks for taking a few moments to reflect with me.
Here it is the last day of the year. Wow! That's almost hard to believe. The passing of time is a remarkable phenomenom. A life seems like a long time. A year does too and even a month. Strangely enough though, a month is just a collection of a few days which is another collection of a few hours. We are often pretty cavelier with seconds, minutes, and hours but in what seems like no time at all a complete year of our life is over. It might be a good idea to start to take some account of the time God has granted us. Just sayin'.

For instance there is a song by a group called Alabama. I think it's called "I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why). Tell me if these lyrics don't ring a little true.

I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why.

Thankfully, God has been gracious and given health to me and the people close to me. However, a prudent person might want to take the opportunity of a new year and evaluate the way that they live their life.

I love the lyrics to Tim McGraw's song Live Like You Were Dying .

"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."

Perhaps it's a bit late for me but anyone reading these words with young moldable minds might want to take note of Rodney Atkin's song "Watching You" .

He said, "I’ve been watching you, dad ain’t that cool?
I’m your buckaroo, I want to be like you.
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are.
We like fixin’ things and holding momma’s hand
Yeah, we’re just alike, hey, ain’t we dad?
I want to do everything you do; so I’ve been watching you"

With tears in my eyes I wrapped him in a hug.
Said, “My little bear is growin’ up.”
And he said, “But when I’m big I’ll still know what to do.”

I have to say, those are some pretty powerful words.

Another song along those lines is Love Without End, Amen from George Strait.

And he said, "Let me tell you a secret about a father's love,
A secret that my daddy said was just between us."
He said, "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then.
It's a love without end, amen, it's a love without end, amen."

You know it is the end of a year and the start of a new one but every moment is a good time to re-evaluate one's life. I hope that you'll take the time to take a look at your life and perhaps make a few valuable changes going forward.

Monticello Antique Marketplace Old Fashioned Christmas Show 2011

Wow! As always the days immediately preceding the show are grueling. However, I think that once again, the rewards will be worth the effort. Tomorrow is the show opening so if you're interested, you'll want to be around at 8:00am. That is when the doors will be opening.

I've had an opportunity to look through the various displays created by the different vendors and I am confident that those who find themselves here tomorrow will not be disappointed. Let me just tease you with some images from our space at the show.

Now it's time to hibernate for a while.