9-22-2008

I have been working on my boat recently.  It is not a very big boat (14 ft.), but, is of sufficient size to get me out to a good fishing place and back.  I bought it from a good friend (thanks Dick), who gave me a really good deal.  He and his wife are selling their home on the water and moving close to their daughter in North Carolina.   Anyway, I decided to make some changes to it and those changes are underway.  Fall is almost here, so the prime  fishing time, for me, is past.  Thusly, I can take my time with the changes and  enjoy the project.  You know, like, getting close to the boat, so it won’t leave me stranded in the middle of the bay or something.

Last May I bought a used lawn vacuum from a listing in our local paper’s classified section.  I planned on using it during the fall to collect all the leaves that accumulate in our backyard.  I pulled it out of our shed the other day, planning on putting it through it paces to see how well it picks up the leaves, pine staw, etc, but the darn thing would not crank.  The flywheel was stuck.  Nothing left to do but take it apart and locate the problem.  An hour or so later the problem was resolved and I was happily sucking up our leaves and pine straw for disposal.  Strange, I don’t remember studing yard equipment repair in college.  As a side note, many years ago I worked with a fellow (Frank Fullman) who, when asked how he knew something, always replied, “I studied it in collage (ko-lage)”.  Of course, Frank never attended college, but I have been guilty of using that line very often, ie:  I studied yard in kolage, or I studied boats in kolage, anyway, you get the idea.  It always brings a smile to Jerilyn’s face.  I guess that is why I do it.

I recently read an article in Newsweek (Sep 15, 2008) titled:  Why The War on Cancer Has Fallen Short, by Sharon Begley.  If you are at all interested in this subject you will find out a lot in her article.  President Nixon declared war on cancer in 1971 and very little progress has been made in finding a cure, or preventing it.  The mortality rate from cancer has only dropped 7% since 1971.  This is truly a must read if you are someone you love is fighting this dreadful disease.  The article can be found here:  http://www.newsweek.com/id/157548/page/1

We have been busily preparing for some repair work in our home.  We have cracks in the drywall on our ceilings and walls due to our house settling.  We had about 30 anchors install several years ago and, it seems, the settling has stopped.  A contractor is scheduled to be here Wednesday (9/24) to start the work.  After he finishes a fellow will start painting the ceilings.  Almost all the walls have wallpaper on them, so we haven’t decided what to do about those yet.  We may remove the wallpaper and paint them.   The Decider, no not George Bush, hasn’t decided yet.  Anyway, turmoil will prevail in our little hut for quite awhile.  Jerilyn dislikes any type of disruption, so this is taking quite a toll on her.   I am comfortable with a mess, so I’m not bothered too much.  I think that bothers her also.  At my age I try to keep frettin’ to a minimum.

I recently thatched the yard, with Jerilyn’s help, and put out grass seed with starter fertlizer.   We had a fair amount of slow rain afterward and I assumed the grass seed was well on it’s way to popping up.  Naw!  Here it is two weeks later and the results have been very disappointing.   The seed I put on the lawn between my neighbor and I, who has a sprinkler system, is doing mavelously well.  I reseeded some of the bare places yesterday and made a promise to do a better job of wattering.  I always try to to keep my promises.  

September 16, 2008

Well, it has been quite a while since my last missive (August 4th) and a lot has happened during that time.  With so much to tell, it’s hard to decide where to begin, but, here goes.

   I recently took our truck to the dealer and had some work done to it.  The Automatic Braking System (ABS) wasn’t working and neither was the cruise control.  I paid for the part back in May and it finally came in during the month of August.  This month I took our Riviera to the dealer because the ABS light was on.   It also started missing a beat or two when under pressure, so I instructed them to determine the reason for that and fix it too.  .  I dropped the car off and returned home, awaiting a call letting me know what the damage would be.  In a few hours the service lady calls, I answer the phone and she pleasantly says, “Mr Hale, this is Candice at Suttle Motors.  Are you sitting down?”   It was right then I decided I should be, and so, I answered in the affirmative.  “Well”, says she, “you need a lot done to your car.  Do you want the bottom line of the details?”  Trying to avoid the “bottom line” as long as possible, I say meekly, “give me the details, please”.   By the time she got thru the “details” I was amazed that I was able to drive the car to their shop.  I eventually gave the ok to do the work and the car is home now, purring down the road, whenever needed, running like a new car off the showroom floor.   Oh, that bottom line thingy came to $4500.   There goes my kids inheritance.

   Have you ever wondered if you knew how much time you had left, if you would continue to use it as you do now.   I doubt that I would.  I stand in line at restaurants, wait at auto repair places, wait for my PC to perform tasks that seem to take forever and watch meanliness TV shows & movies waiting for them to get better.    If my doctor said I had 6 months to live, how would I change?   I think my prayers would be longer and not so rushed as they are now.   I would insist that my children & grandchildren let me be a bigger part of their lives and I would include my close relatives & friends in more of my activities.   I would spend less time on daily chores and more time doing the things I enjoy.   I would cherish all the time I spend with Jerilyn.   The sad part is, we very seldom have any idea how much longer we will live, and so, without that motivation, we will plug along, doing the same things, not noticing the water draining slowly out of the tub.   "Man's loneliness is but his fear of life." ..Eugene O’Neill

   Jerilyn and I have a trip planned to Branson, MO, next month.   Needless to say, we have not informed her mother of this yet, because if we do, the trip will surely have to be cancelled.  We have been to Branson before and enjoyed it so much we decided to do it again.  The trip will be via a bus cruise with our good friends Don & Louise.  We will leave on October 11th and return on October 19th.   My favorite show there is Mickey Gilley, but I am also looking forward to seeing the Pam & Mel Tillis show.  I think we will attend 8-9 shows in all. 

   Our yard has been thatched, fertilized & reseeded and we are patiently waiting for little green things to emerge from the ground.  Our next door neighbor has installed a sprinkler system for his yard and we are green (pun intended) with envy.   There I am, standing in the middle of our yard with a water hose in my hand and I hear the hissing start.    I turn toward the noise and there are all these little gadgets spraying water all over his yard.   Ahhh, the differences between the have’s and the have not’s.   

   My project to use my camcorder to record  people telling their life story is progressing quite well.  So far, as you know, I have done my brother Jerry and my aunt Helen.   It took about 30 minutes for each of them to work their way thru their history.   I have about 30 questions for the interview.   Sooner or later, I will bump into a person that will talk for an hour about themselves.   If none do, then I will interview myself.   I know I can talk about myself for an hour.    Since Gladys just turned ninety, I wanted her to be the first, but, she turned me down.  Said she wasn’t interested in passing the details of her life on to anyone.   My goal is to get everyone close to me to set down and do the interview.    

   I constantly change my prayer list, taking people off as they get better, or transition to the other side, and putting people on that need help.  I am a firm believer that praying helps.  We may not always get the answer we want, but we always get an answer.   I remember, as a young lad, asking my dad for something and his first answer was always “No”.   Many times, I was able to persuade him to say “Yes”.  So, I learned at an early age not to give up when you wanted something.  Now, The Lord normally does not answer immediately, but I believe if I ask him over and over, using the experience I had as a youngster, I can convince him to heal the people in my life that are sick, or in need.  At least, I like to think I can.         

8-28-2008

The last WOW was May 28th and a lot has happened in my life since then. My uncle Claude passed away and a good friend, Lois, passed away also. They both will be greatly missed by family & friends. Uncle Claude was an important part of my life during the ages 6-18, so he occupied a special place in my heart. Lois became part of my life when she came to live with her daughter who has been my close friend for 16 years. I seem to be at a point in my life when everytime I turn around somone meaninful in my life passes over to the other side. Of course, I know that sooner or later, my turn rolls around. I need to be prepared for the transition and pray that the end comes quickly. Jerilyn’s mother, Gladys, turns 90 this month. That a goal to shoot for.

My son, Rusty, has made his move from Tennessee to Virginia. I helped him with that move back in mid-June. It is good to have both of my children close.

I recently visited my brother, Jerry, who lives about a hour away. I took my trusty camcorder, and with his permission, I recorded his life on film as told by him. I prepared 32 questions to ask him and it took about 35 minutes to get it all recorded. I have copied it to a DVD, which I will give to him on my next visit. He will leave it to his children when his time comes to leave this earth. His wife, Patty, wants me to do the same for her on my next visit. While back home at Oakwood, VA, to attend Uncle Claude’s funeral, I did the same for Aunt Helen. The only difference was that her son, Harold, interviewed her. He also asked her some questions about her life that he wanted to know about. I will be transferring that to DVD shortly and sending a copy to him. There are so many people in my life that I would like to do that with. My regret is that I did not do this many years ago.

I had four pilings driven into the water down by our pier several weeks ago. I plan on installing two hoist that will allow me to lift my boat out of the water, thus preventing barnacles from accumulating. If I leave it in the water for two weeks then I have a lot of work to do to remove them. Once I have my hoist in place, cleaning the bottom of that boat will be a thing of the past. I’m at the point in my life where I am constantly trying to make things easier.

Our recent vacation included spending a week in California with our good friends John & Phyllis. What a wonderful experience. They spent an entire week giving us a tour of their state, from Palm Springs to San Francisco. Our base was at their home in Thousand Oak. We visited their children, Craig & wife Leslie (& their children), Tim & son Kyle, and my childhood friend, Brenda and her husband Vyron. How many of us are willing to take an entire week and devote it to making someone happy? That, in my opinion, is a true friend. Somehow, it makes my effort to be a good friend seems very inadequate.

After leaving California, we traveled by air to Hawaii, where we visited four of their eight islands (Hawaii, Maui, Oahu & Kauai). The four we did not visit are: Niihau, Lanai, Molokai & Kahoolawe. The weather was the same every day we spent there, and as far as I can tell, never changes very much. I kept forgetting that Hawaii was part of America. Their culture was so different and the mainland was so far away. I enjoyed the visit, but was happy to be back home. Hawaiians only have 12 letters in their alphabet and the struggle to pronounce the names of their cities, street names and shopping centers left me exhausted. I acquired way too much knowledge about volcanoes, lava and Hawaiian’s that died many years ago. Seems like on every bus tour, the driver was required to tell us about Hawaii’s history. By the 5th tour it was beginning to get a tad old. As we boarded the plane to depart our 50th state, I promised myself that I would forget most of what I was told when we landed in Virginia. Guess what? I was able to keep that promise.

5-28-2008

I have very little talent when it comes to carpentry, I am modestly successful with mechanical things, very good with electronic things and quite good with computer things. I am, however, terrible at remembering names. My friends are constantly saying to me, “you remember ol’ so & so, don’t you?” In fact I probably do not. I am inclined to think it is something that comes with age, that forgetting thing, because my younger friends seem to remember everything. I have one older friend that remembers everything, but he is the exception not the rule. I guess the point I am making here is, if you think I remember someone we both knew way back when, I probably don’t. Believe me, I do feel badly when my memory fails, but it’s just the way it is and I move on. It only becomes serious if I fail to remember my name :)

Jerilyn oldest grandson, Chris will be having his high school graduation cermonies on June 14th. We are all excited for him and his big event. He will be attending the University of Tennesse in Knoxville this September and I know he is very excited about it. I also know that his mom and dad, as well as his brother Brandon, will miss him. But, life moves on, nothing is as permanent as we like to think it is, and people that are in our daily lives move away and things change. I remember well the day my two children moved away from home and I also remember the tears I shed. I guess my parents did the same when I left, or, maybe that had a big celebration. I prefer to think they shed a few tears. I’m gonna have to ask my brother the next time we visit.

Jerilyn and I attended a reunion with some of my former co-workers on Tuesday night. It was a delight to see them all. I have come to the conclusion that one of life’s pure joys is the connections we have with others. I enjoy family reunions, class reunions, meeting old friends and reminiscing about days gone by. Old friends are the connection to your past and, I believe, the past is what makes us what we are today. What a joy it is for someone in your past to walk into your life one day and set off a cascade of memories.

I recently bought a small boat from a friend of mine. He and his lovely wife are moving into a nearby retirement community. We wish them both well. I have already been fishing on his boat. My son and I went out on Memorial Day and caught 40-45 croakers. Only a few were keepers, but we threw them all back in. Jerilyn gave me strick orders “Don’t bring back any, I don’t want my kitchen stinking with the odor of fish.” Our next door neighbor, Mary Beth, said next time, bring the keepers to her. So be it.

The new boat has to have a lift, so we have contacted a fellow that will drive 4 pilings down by the pier. That will enable us to place a lift at each end of the boat and hoist it out of the water, thus preventing barnacles from attaching to the bottom. This will happen within a couple of weeks, or so says the contractor. I have my doubts, but am willing to wait and see. My experience is that contractors never keep their scheduled dates.

Summer is upon us and most days I am busy outside, puttering around the yard, and trying to find creative things to do. Lately, the creative thing has been pushed aside and more mundane things have taken over. Our truck is in the garage with an Automatic Braking System (ABS) problem. My lawn tractor is still not running like it should and the Riviera wants to make squealy sounds from one of it’s pulleys. Sometime, I feel life is a series of problems, interrupted by occasional bouts of happines. In mid-June, I will be accompanying my son to Tennessee and helping him move all his belonging back to Virginia. I’m sure there are mixed feeling on his part about leaving his family. I am very happy having him closer to me, but his children in TN will miss him terribly.

5-18-08

The author Michael Pollan offered an elegant seven-word mantra in his best-selling book “In Defense of Food” that provides clarity amid the bounty of choices on supermarket shelves: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”. How easy that sounds. Although, I’m still on my ELOO (Extra Light Olive Oil) diet, I am still plagued by the amount of food available to eat. Jerilyn and I eat out once a week and, it seems, the restaurants are always eager to heap food on our plates in an effort to see that we return. The worst places are the buffets where we are responsible for returning several times and overeating. One thing I know for sure, if I ever cease to fight my own “Battle of The Bulge”, I will quickly baloon to an inconceivable weight and multiple health problems will appear. Like you, I have a weight number that causes immediate panic if I exceed it. I may not win every individual battle, but I will win this war!

Last week, Jerilyn got stung by a bee (Wasp) on her finger and it caused her a lot of pain. She spied it on the floor and took a paper napkin and caught it, squeezing it several time until she thought it was dead. Nope! When she opened the napkin and picked the darn thing up by its wing it stung her and she yelled at the top of her lungs. Goodbye Wasp! When she finished with it that time it was definitely dead. Looking at me inquiringly, she said “What can on do to stop the pain?” Desperately trying to remember when I graduated from medical school, I suggested placing her finger in vinegar. That seemed to help some. A friend told us that taping a penny on it for 15 minutes helps and someone else said that rubbing a banana peel on it would help also. The next day she pulled the stinger out and then things started improving. Her finger is fine now, but it will be a long time before she fools around with bees again.

I went fishing with my son last Sunday. That boy truly loves to fish. Without a boat, we were relegated to fishing off a pier. We were there 3-4 hours without a bite. The wind was gusting up to 30 mph, so we pretty much knew the fish would not bite. It was, however, a good time for father & son bonding. It always works out that way when we fish together. What a fun time!

Jerilyn has been working with United Airlines, setting up our trip to California in July. She was trying to work it in with our trip to Hawaii. We wanted to leave home a week early (July 16) and fly to San Francisco, which is part of the Hawaii trip, and then fly up to LA to visit family and friends. After that, we would rejoin the tour group and continue on to Hawaii. Also included in the problem was that we were attempting to use a flight credit issued to us last year when we cancelled our CA trip. Over a period of two days she was on the phone with United constantly. Every time they talked the rate would change depending on who she was talking to. Finally, at the end of the second day, she yells into the phone “I cannot believe anything you people tell me! Does anyone there know what’s going on?” That is so unlike Jerilyn. She is always sweet and pleasant. At the end of the day, they e-mailed us the tickets and I have printed them out. Unless we have a catastrophe we will be in CA on July 16th. This will be my first visit to that fair state and I’m certainly looking forward to it. I plan on taking many pics.

Saturday night we took Gladys out to dinner at Olive Garden (her favorite place). It has been more than six months since she has been out to eat with us. Health problems have kept her, either in Health Care, or her apartment. It was a good time for all. But, without fail, she looks over at me when our food arrives and says “Now, eat slow because I am taking my time.” As Jerilyn know, I absolutely despise anyone telling me how to eat my meal. As the anger boils inside, I calmly say to her “Gladys, I solemnly promise that if I finish before you do I will not leave you here.” Somehow, I think she knows how much that aggravates me and she cannot resist pushing that blinking red button. Once we got past that little annoyance, we enjoyed our meal and had a delightful conversation. She will be 90 this August. What a wonderful blessing!

Well, I finally finished the park bench for Jerilyn. The base of the bench is made of six by six (6”x6”) lumber and the bench setting on top of it is from a buckboard wagon Jerilyn’s Great-Grandpa Moger used back in the early 1900’s. I applied several coats of Thompson Waterseal to it before bolting it to the base. The base is salt treated and should last for many years. I poured some dry cement into each hole for the legs with the thought that it would eventually harden and hold them firmly in place. Jerilyn still has some work to do. She plans on making it a rock garden, so another trip to the Rock Place is in store for us. Anyway, my part is done and Jerilyn is a happy camper. Needless to say, when she’s happy, I’m happy!

My latest project involved putting a tomato plant in a bucket and hanging it upside down from a tree limb in our back yard . I found the info I needed online and with a printout of the instructions firmly clutched in my little hands I proceeded to follow them step by step. First I obtained a 5 gallon paint bucket, with top, from Kathy (Jerilyn’s daughter-inlaw), washed it with soap and water and placed the top firmly in place. I then drilled two holes in the bucket handle for a small rope. Taking a sharp knife, I cut a 2.5” diameter hole in each end, removed the top, placed a coffee filter over the hole in the bottom and filled the bucket with dirt (Jerilyn normally has a good stock of flower dirt from our local self-help store). Next I placed a coffee filter over the top of the dirt where the lid hole would be and then placed the lid firmly on the bucket. I then turned the bucket upside down, cut a slit in the coffee filter and worked out a place for the roots of the tomato plant, placed the plant roots inside the bucket and packed the dirt in firmly around it. The coffee filters inside the holes keep the dirt in place. Next, I throw a small nylon rope around a tree limb and attach it to the two holes in the bucket handle, hoist it to the desired height, tie it firmly and soak it thoroughly with fertilized water (Ortho liquid Fertilizer). That’s where the instructions stopped. I decided I wanted it to water itself for several days without my intervention, so I took a quart bottle, punched a small hole in its lid and base, plugged the hole in the base with a small screw (so I could regulate the drip), propped the bottle in the base and, with a few tweaks, I was done. So far, a bottle of water has lasted 1½ days. My new tweak should result in 4-5 days. I expect tomatoes as big as watermelons. I will keep you posted.

5-08-2008

This past Saturday was a lot of fun. Jerilyn & I went, along with our friend Louise, to a community yard sale. We probably went to 15 locations and perused their goods. I bought a laser printer, exactly like the one I have, except newer. It is setting in the old one’s place right now. I paid $400 for the old one and $20 for the one that took it’s place. All three of us had a good time and Louise and I bought a lot more than Jerilyn. She (Jerilyn) analyse’s things before she buys, whereas, Louise and I threw caution to the wind and just bought. I probably spent $30. It is hard to have that much fun on $30. I’ll bet it will be a long time before Jerilyn invites me on another “yard sale” adventure.

Recently, I went over to pick up our trailer from Kathy (Jerilyn’s daughter-inlaw) and bring it back home. We had delivered a load of mulch to her and she emptyed the trailer and it was ready for me to pick up. It was a sunny, Sunday afternoon, and Brandon (the youngest granson) was out playing ball with his friend. Chris (who graduates this June) was out in the yard lazily enjoying his day. All of a sudden, I flash back to when I was his age (50 years ago) and I recalled how wonderful those days were. Graduation was only several weeks away and after 12 years of school it was a welcomed change. College was not an option, as was the case for most coal miner children, and a tour in the military was a distinct possibility since I did not want to become a miner. In my opinion, you will never feel better physically than when you are 18. I cannot recall worrying about much and everything that was going to happen in my life was going to be new and exciting (or so I thought). It was clear to me that my parents expected me to become self-sufficient at 18 and that included finding a place to live. They both loved me dearly, but it was time for me to move on and move on I did. Chris’ life is getting ready to change dramatically, leaving his friends and family behind as he strikes out for college, acquiring new friends and new challenges. A great life awaits him and I know he will do well.

I went out Sunday morning and had breakfast with my daughter (Debby) and Mary, at a local restaurant. The food was good and the conversation was excellent. It is so wonderful to break bread with people that mean so much to your life. After breakfast was over, we sat and talked awhile, then got into our cars and went our separate ways, me with a warm, comfortable feeling deep inside. It doesn’t get much better than that. It seems the longer someone has been a part of your life the more you love them. Well, these two have been a part of my life for a long time. Enough said.

At the yard sale last Saturday, I picked up a book on our presidents (thru Dubya). I am currently on our 12th president (Zachary Taylor). Since watching all 7 episodes of John Adams on HBO I have suddenly, become interested in learning about our presidents. Virginia (8) & Ohio (7) are leading with the most. Of our 43 presidents, I have lived under 11 and I remember 10 (starting with Truman). I cannot recall any of them being inspiring and, maybe, that is asking too much from them. Maybe, Obama can be inspiring, I don’t think Hillary or McCain can be. Should the ability to inspire be a prerequisite for the presidency? It would be nice to have such a president, but that may be asking for too much.

Well, our trip to California has been cancelled. Seems, the airline (United) has refused to do what they promised when we were forced to reschedule last October. Rather than pay twice for our tickets we have decided to work California into our schedule when we visit Hawaii in July. A little history on California, courtesy of my book on presidents: President Polk attempted to buy this state from Mexico in 1847 but they were unwilling to sell. Polk knew the Mexican government was weak and could not hope to win a war. Even so, the war turned out to be longer and bloodier than expected. Mexico was forced to surrender and the peace treaty with them forced an agreement (1848) for them to sell what is now all of California, Nevada and part of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. I guess when we, as a nation, want something we take it. Anyway, with the cancellation of our trip to CA we are now considering a trip to TN to visit my family there. With all the travel planned I was wondering how I was going to work in a visit with my grandchildren (and great grandchildren). Now, I have a perfect opportunity to do so and do not have to wait until fall arrives. How wonderful it is to look into their face and see a reflection of those I love so dearly.

I have been working on a bench down next to the waterfront for Jerilyn. She has cut out a space in our backyard for a flower garden that will include the bench, some rocks and some flowers. I have almost finished the bench part and when the garden is complete I will include a pic of it in a future edition of this missive.

05-01-2008

There are times when you have to give up. The hose reel is history. After taking it apart for 8 times it was time to call it quits. To insure I would not change my mind, I took my Sabre Saw and sliced it into two pieces. The trash man comes this Thursday and it will be at the curb waiting. I do not give up easily, but it was time to put it to rest. My theory about life’s problems is if you struggle with them long enough you can usually come up with an answer. Needless to say, that did not happen in this instance. Oh well, life goes on.

I watched a movie the other night (Into The Wild) about a young college grad that decided to spend his life in the wild with very little human contact. His theory was that complete happiness could only be achieved by being close to nature. He and his sister were very unhappy with their parents and this seemed to be the driving force in their life. Hence, his need to get away. There are two point to make here: 1. Joy in life, in my humble opinion, is best when shared (spouse, relative,friend). 2. At some point in your adult life the impact your parents had on you will diminish and you have to take responsibility for your happiness, or lack thereof. I’m thinking the statue of limitations is 10 years. After that, no whinning about how bad you were treated as a youngster. I know, there are plenty of mental health people out there that will disagree, but that’s my opinion and I’m stickin’ to it!

Jerilyn was looking out the window the other day and saw a mole moving along his underground tunnel. She screamed for me to come quickly, we each gathered a pitchfork from the garage and headed outside to eliminate this very destructive vermin. Sure nuff, after 15-20 jabs with our weapons, it appeared on Jerilyn’s pitchfork with one tine thru his mid-section. The celebration that ensued would rival that of the Redskins winning the Superbowl (or me winning a piece of super-duper computer software on ebay). These little fellows can plow up a yard in a couple of days and the traps on the market are practically useless. We have tried mole poison, broken glass placed in their tunnels and just about anything else that been suggested. A good mole trap could easily net someone a cool $million. With this in mind, I have given it a lot of thought and I think I have figured out a design for a mole trap that will work. Now, the next trick is to build this thing.

We spent part of Sunday morning spreading mulch under some of the trees in our yard. It had been setting in the back of the truck since last Friday and with rain in the forecast, we decided it needed to be spread before it arrived. Fortunately we finished before the rain came, showered, and went over to pick up her mother so she could spend the remainder of the day with us. I took her home around 7pm and upon my return, Jerilyn had a pippin hot dinner waiting for me. We ate in front of the TV while watching 60 Minutes (on tape). 30 years ago this day would have been so boring. Now, to me, it was a great day! I refuse to think about what a great day will entail 20 years from now.

Jerilyn and I went out to dinner with 5 friends on Saturday night. It’s amazing how much good conversation can happen when friends eat together. Everyone has a story to tell and each of us contributed mightily to each other’s entertainment. The food was very good, but the fellowship was better. After eating we went to a live show and arrived home around midnight. We spend most of our time during the week doing chores, so getting out with friends on the weekend is a welcomed change.

Yesterday, we ran the Noland Trail and left there for the place that sells rocks. Landscaping with rocks is a favorite pastime for Jerilyn. After turning many rocks in various positions, she finally settled on three. One was probably 150 lbs and the other two considerably less. We got them home safely in the back of the truck and, with some assistance from 3 contractors next door, have them safely ensconced in their appropriate spots. Today, we go back to the rock place for a really big one (600 lbs), bring it home and get it off loaded (without help this time) and then head off for another load of mulch. This woman is working me to death!