Personal

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My dad would have turned 107 years old today if he were still alive.  He was born On March 16, 1912 in Quilin MO.  He married my mom in 1935 when she was 14 years old and he was 23. They were married 55 years when he died in 1990 at the age of 78. 

 This is my favorite picture of him.  I took it at their farm sometime after he retired after having a heart attack in 1973.  He’s standing on a small bridge that we built over a culvert to gain access to their property. 

The old red barn is the only thing left on that property these days and it’s in pretty bad shape. It hasn’t had any maintenance in about 40 years. But it has outlasted all the other buildings.  Here’s some drone footage I took of the barn and the property a few years back.

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Friends to the end

I have a life-long friend who died last night.  He had a couple of strokes and had been in a nursing home since mid-October. Last Friday he was taken to the hospital with pneumonia and an infection and it appeared his organs were shutting down. At the hospital, he was put on hospice care and was sedated.  On Tuesday evening he was taken back to the nursing home where he died about ten minutes after arriving.

His name is Mickey. He turned 73 in January. He’ll never see 74.

I feel the need to tell some stories about my friendship with Mickey.  We did a lot of stuff we weren’t supposed to do as teenagers and I probably won’t write about some of them here. You know… the statute of limitations stuff and all.

Read moreFriends to the end

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Our New Foster Child

My granddaughter sent me a link to a place that was holding a pet adoption event today. I went to see what dogs were available for adoption and ended up bringing one home as a foster dog.  Sort of a trial adoption to see if we are a good match for each other.  We have 2 or 3 weeks to decide if we want to complete the adoption.  He’s a Dachshund mix and is very friendly and definitely a lap dog who loves attention. He and Gus got along really well, sniffing butts and apparently approving of each other. He weighs 19 pounds and the vet thinks he’s about three and a half years old.  He’s partially housetrained and already knows how to use the doggy door.     
Click on images to enlarge.
He was called Buck at the shelter but he doesn’t know that name, so we get the fun of picking his forever name if he becomes a member of our family. I kind of like Doc (for Dachshund) or Jack, or Eddie.  Any suggestions?
 
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Washington DC from the air…

I flew into Reagan Washington National Airport and changed planes for the second leg of my flight to Providence Rhode Island. Taking off from the airport gave me this cool view. Above are the Washington Monument and the National Mall lined by the Smithsonian National Museum with the United States Capitol Building at the far end. The White House is just off of the Ellipse on the left side of the image. You can’t see the Lincoln Memorial or the Reflecting Pool.   Click to enlarge.
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