WHERE WE ARE ALL HEADING.....

The children sitting on the couch all live here with my wife and me. Ashton is closest to the door, then Zara, and then Bitty Boy aka Tigger aka Ben. They are three of the few that make me want to keep living. Right now, our nation is headed toward some horrible times. We have an out of control pandemic hitting us, we have despots in congress wanting to subvert our nation and turn us into a socialist nation (like Venezuela), and we have masses of idiots burning and looting. I fear that before the election in November, this nation will be involved in what has been referred to as a civil war. 

We live on a farm, we have livestock and gardens, chickens and ducks, dogs and a metal stock tank with fish in it. There are five adults and five children living in two homes. 

I worry. I worry as to whether or not our nation will survive. I worry as to what future my grand children face. I hope I will live long enough to insure they have a future. I have faith that The Lord will protect them, they are innocent. However, I also believe we are now living chapter six of Revelations in the Bible. NUFF SAID!

A BIT OF REFLECTION!

I AM SITTING AT MY DESK, IN MY OFFICE, REFLECTING ON RECENT EVENTS. EVENTS BOTH IN MY PERSONAL LIFE, AND WORLD EVENTS.

2019 WAS A YEAR THAT SEEMED TO GO ON FOREVER.  WHEN 2020 BEGAN I HAD HOPE THAT IT WOULD BE A GREAT NEW YEAR.....THEN....COVID-19 RAISED IT'S UGLY HEAD AND WE ALL ENDED UP WITH OUR WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. HOPEFULLY THERE WILL BE SOME SEMBLENCE OF NORMAL SOON, YET, I DOUBT IT.  

The love of my life....

THE WOMAN BEHIND ME OWNS ME, SHE OWNS MY HEART! THE PHOTOGRAPH IS OVER A DECADE OLD, BUT IT STILL IS APPROPRIATE. SHE AND I JUST GOT OVER A MONTHS LONG COUGH. I LOVE HER MORE THAN LIFE, MORE THAN BREATHING, AND I THANK GOD EACH AND EVERY DAY FOR HER!!!

WASH YOUR HANDS PEOPLE, CONSTANTLY!!!!

DO NOT SHAKE HANDS! IF YOU DO, DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE! 

STAY HOME AND DO NOT SOCIALIZE!

USE HAND SANITIZER AND DISINFECTANT SPRAY!

2019 WAS, 2020 IS!!!

I MADE IT TO 2020. I HAD MY DOUBTS. 2019 SAW THE LOSS OF SOME OF MY FRIENDS. I LOST MICHEAL SMOTHERMAN, ONE OF MY CLOSE FRIENDS. MY HEALTH HAS NOT BEEN GOOD, I REALLY THOUGHT I WOULD NOT MAKE IT THIS FAR. I AM GETTING OVER PNEUMONIA, THE RESULT OF THE FLU, THE RESULT OF HAVING FIVE OF OUR GRAND KIDS LIVING WITH US. 

2019 MY WIFE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH STAGE FOUR APPENDIX CANCER. SHE WAS ON CHEMO THERAPY, BUT, WE DECIDED TO POSTPONE THE CHEMO UNTIL WARMER WEATHER. 

2019 WE BOTH STARTED DOING MORE TOGETHER. IT WAS ABOUT TIME. 


2020 WILL ROCK!!!

IT BE SUMMER.....

THE ABOVE PHOTOGRAPH IS MY GRANDSON ASHTON. DURING THE WANING DAYS AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, EVERY DAY HE WOULD ASK HIS NANNA, GRANDMOTHER, MY WIFE, "IS IT SUMMER YET?" SHE WOULD SAY NO, IT IS NOT SUMMER YET. WELL, ON THAT FATEFUL DAY WHEN SCHOOL WAS OVER UNTIL AUTUMN, HE ASKED THE QUESTION AGAIN, AND SHE ANSWERED, "YES, IT IS NOW SUMMER." HIS NEXT QUESTION WAS, "WE GO SWIMMING?"

WELL, THE POOL IS FILLING AND SHOULD BE READY TOMORROW FOR PAW PAW AND THE GRAND BABIES TO DIVE IN AND FREEZE TO DEATH. LATER MAH TATERS!!!!!

Valentine's Day

The above photograph is of the love of my life, Linda. We have been married 43 years this coming March 24. We have had our ups and downs, hard times and good times. In this photograph she is sitting in a rocking chair at the home of Paula and Steve Hardin. I cannot imagine life without her.

My constant companion...

I have been warned a few times that I should not let everyone know that I am always armed. My point of view is that if someone intends to harm me or mine, they have been warned. Make no mistake about it, if you came at me angrily with bodily harm apparent, I will kill you dead as a hammer. I am old, crippled, but still dangerous. NUFF SAID!!!

She still owns me.

Zara Rose owns her Paw Paw...meaning Me! Here she is in a costume made by her mother, and her father. Her Mom made the clothing and her daddy mad the Viking shield. Zara the Shield Maiden. I love this kid more than she can fathom. She no longer gives me hugs because she is a big girl now. She is in Pre-K. LOL

Time flies.....

This is my grand daughter Zara Rose. She owns me. She is now old enough that she is going to pre-school. I have many grand children, they all own me. Just my sharing for the day.

I DO NOT LIKE BEING OLD....AT ALL!!!!

For the moment I am clean shaven. I post on here infrequently, that is due to my not having time to do anything anymore. The attached photograph of me is from earlier this year. It makes me look scraggly. I have had aches and pains all my adult years because of what I did to earn a living for my family. Now that I am a seasoned citizen the aches and pains are much worse. I am about to leave my office and go to church. Before I go, I just want you to know....YES, I WANT SOME CHEESE WITH MY WHINE!!! snork*

Fork control....

I think we are all in trouble. England is now placing knife collection boxes in all the major cities in an effort to ban murders by knife. Above, I have posted a photo of the next move by the liberal left here in America. Enjoy eating utensils whilst you are able. SNORK

I AM TIRED......

I am tired. Today we are working on the swimming pool enclosure and my old van. My van is old, I am old. I told my wife this morning that if I knew I would hurt like this when old, I would have taken better care of myself when I was younger. She asked me if nobody had told me I would hurt when I was older? Nobody told me I would hurt like this later in life. Most of my aches and pains are due to my stupidity when I was young. However, much of this is due to what I was doing to provide for my family at the time.

My grandfather, Virgil Lance, used to moan much of the time due to his shoulders hurting. He was a barber by trade and if anyone thinks that is an easy job, you have another think coming.  I have worked at too many different jobs during my life to mention them here. As I sit at my desk in my office, I mostly wish that I could just sit in my chair and go to sleep while leaning back. Maybe......

Rainy Days and Mondays.....

It is Monday, and I am sitting here reflecting back on events. One such was when my grand daughter Zara Rose was born, and the subsequent impact she has had on my life. Here is a photo of her sitting on the lap of Renee Baxter at our church. Renee is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She and her husband John are absolutely STERLING people. I think Renee is teaching Zara how to draw to an inside straight!

If you cannot be fast, BE ACCURATE!!!

Many times, I forget that I am actually a writer. How is this possible? I could fain old age and forgetfulness, but, the real reason is that I have so much going on in my life that I cannot remember all the other things going on. I also live in constant pain. I have won several writing awards in past years. I forgot about this completely. I should dig it out of the files and hang it in the dining room with some other memorabilia.

A TROUBLED TEAM...OR... A TROUBLESOME TEAM!!!!

MY GRANDSON ASHTON AND MY GRAND DAUGHTER ZARA!!! SHE ABSOLUTELY ADORES HER COUSIN, AND HE ABSOLUTELY ADORES HIS LAPTOP COMPUTER. WHEN SHE COMES TO NANNA AND PAW PAW'S HOUSE, SHE FOLLOWS ASH EVERYWHERE!!!

Getting old ain't for the weak.....

The above photo is of me and it is recent. I never thought I would live this long. I have done many things in my life which could only be called STUPID! I am paying for my past errant behavior by being in a constant state of pain. However, the sheer joy I experience by being in contact with my grand children seems to be what God has placed in my path to help me forget how bad I hurt all the time. 

An incomprehensible problem!!!

My buddy Jerry Pletcher and I discussed adding storm shelters to his various properties this afternoon. I suggested that he could use some shipping containers he already had and modify them to be used in case of tornadoes. All he would have to do is put them into a low area, add some heavy rip rap over them, shoot some gunnite aka concrete into the rip rap, cover with dirt.... You get the idea. Jerry has a lot of different properties, all open to the public. Last year, when Fun Valley Campground was opened, the very day it opened, we had tornadoes that night. I have this big mountain between our house and the direction most tornadoes travel from. However, I will be figuring on putting in our own shelter.

My Grandson's Imagination!!!

My grandson Ashton has a vivid imagination. I know that almost all children do, but he comes up with some of the most off the wall ideas. There are basically two routs to get home from his school. We can go thru town and across the railroad tracks, or we can go thru the country and across the railroad tracks. He has a place on the country route that he calls Ashton's swamp. I asked him if it had dinosaurs in it, he told me that it does have dinosaurs and that we needed to be careful driving thru Ashton's swamp. After you finish Ashton's swamp, you then are in Aurora's forest, and then Cheyenne's town. I could not live right now without my grand children. I have nineteen grand children and two great grand children. I am truly blessed.

We are in another drought!!!!

The above photo is from a few years ago. It is of Turner Falls during a flood stage at the falls. Right now, more water goes down the drain of our kitchen sink than runs over those falls. We desperately need some rain. I do not like it when the falls are in flood stage, and I do not like it when they are not doing anything but a trickle. Will Rogers once said, if a person does not like the weather in Oklahoma, just hang around for a few days and it will change.