We Hold These Truths...

...to be self-evident...That all men are created equal...that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights...that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Happy Independence Day, y'all...the 240th anniversary of the greatest nation on earth.  We are blessed to live here and I give thanks to God in heaven for that great privilege.

ready for the big day

#5 son and wife stayed with us for part of this weekend...big fun...

Benjamin and Brooke

Do we know how to party or what?  Every night we got to hear and see "fireworks in the round", as people all around us set them off from early evening til early morning.

Karen did the honors for the July 4th meal...traditional dogs and burgers with some chicken thrown in for good measure...add some potato salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, several desserts, and we were good to go.

At night we relaxed by the pool and soaked up the ambiance of the backyard.

All in all an good weekend spent being thankful for our freedoms and enjoying family time.

Did have one minor mystery...got up on July 4th and something had savaged the pond...Mr. Frog was in the water and half the plants were tossed out...I drew up a suspects list with this guy right at the top:

evil looking critter...

Poor Mr. Frog now has only one good eye:

Later, mcm fans...

Reflections...

Benjamin in Afghanistan

...on Freedom.

I like that picture...my soldier son trying to get some rest in the desert but still fully armed, ready to do his duty when called.

For a stark contrast, here's some of what I got to enjoy in the cool of the morning today:

We live in the city, but it's been a quiet, peaceful morning...birds chirping, squirrels scampering around the deck for peanuts, a beautiful view of lush greenery and vibrant flowers.

At first blush these two environments - armed conflict in a foreign desert vs peaceful beauty at home - appear to be radically different, disconnected realities.

But they are related in one vitally important way:  the first makes the second possible.

Without the sacrifice of our service men and women through the ages, those of us at home would never be able to enjoy the fruits of freedom.

Freedom is a God given right, but it must be defended by our soldiers.

President Reagan said it best:

<Memorial Day>

So on this Memorial Day we pause to remember and to give thanks for the brave men and women who gave their lives for our freedoms.

A heartfelt Thank You to service men and women everywhere.

God bless you.

The Glory Of Young Men...

...is their strength...Proverbs 20:29

That's Benjamin, #5 son, practicing his Olympic lifts for cross fit.  That was 185 pounds on the bar for that Olympic style snatch.

Benjamin is my son who always surprised me...he weighed 260 as a sophomore in high school, and after the football season that year decided he wanted to lose weight.  By next fall he weighed 180.

Then he decided he would act in a school play...and tried his hand at stand up comedy in the school coffee shop...sang in a quartet where he saved a faltering routine in a talent show with a mellow rendition of sitting on the dock of a bay...decided to get into boxing, and boxed in an amateur bout in a casino in Traverse City...then announced he was joining the military during wartime...became a certified cross fit trainer, and is now attending Bible College on the GI Bill while he manages two gyms in Ohio.

He def keeps me guessing on what's next, but I know whatever he puts his mind to will become a fait accompli since he first commits his plans to the Lord and leans on Him for guidance.

Oh, the second part of that verse is "the beauty of old men is the gray head."  See?  I'm beautiful after all.

This is Mother's Day weekend...hope everyone did the right thing and honored their mother.

Karen's not my mom, but she is a mom, and a very good one...bought her roses for Mother's Day:

Our tree out front is blossoming now...it's gorgeous...too bad it only lasts for a few days:

that's Kitty photo bombing my picture of the tree...

Got a couple of radios back from Chase Electronics in Lowell...one of them is a 1949 Philco that's not just a radio...it also plays 78 rpm records...here it is playing Les Paul's "Dry My Tears"

Think I'm going to put a small - and I do mean small - goldfish pond in our backyard.  We had a pretty big one years ago, but I got tired of the constant maintenance of filters, pumps, waterfalls, etc.

This one's going to be a 50 gallon pre-formed pond and all it will have is one pump with a filter and a uv light for algae control...that's it...well, besides a few pond plants and some 50 cent goldfish you can buy at Meijer.

Drove Mr. T today...hopefully will tomorrow, too.

Later mcm fans...

post script:

we now have a small pond almost complete in the backyard:

still need a uv light, a few pond plants, then a half dozen goldfish and we'll be good to go.

now...later, mcm fans...

Cool 1920's radio...

A single bulb radio that uses batteries, not AC power.  It's fun tuning it, bc it doesn't have the traditional AM band...it's a combination of the "volume" knob on the front...the bulb glows brighter as you up the voltage from the battery and the volume increases...and the two knobs on either side.  It's s discovery process to find stations.

Doesn't drive a speaker so you use headsets to listen to it.  It was fun learning about this old radio.

The weather has continued to be crappy...the older I get the less I understand about why I still live in this state...a move is definitely in my future.

I need to live in a traditional small town with some back / dirt roads where I can comfortably drive Mr. T.

Would like to be able to take him 2 or 3 miles into an old fashioned main street town...stop at the grocery store for milk, bread, eggs, then drive back home.  Have people wave as you motor by instead of giving you the finger bc you're not going fast enough to suit them.

Do those towns still exist?  I mean other than in 1956.

I kinda think Indiana might have some of those...I've driven through that state a couple of times and have come to believe their state motto - "wander Indiana" - is really a state law bc actual highways seem few and far between...everything seems like a two lane back road.  Could be wrong...

Saw this saying the other day: Life is better down that old, dirt road...

In keeping with the country motif, seems like everywhere Karen and I have gone shopping for several years, they're selling statues, posters, metal sculptures of roosters...we've kidded about how eventually it was inevitable; we'd have to finally give in to the inescapable Madison Avenue advertising monster and buy one.

That finally happened:

 Meet Rory Calhoun, our new rooster...

On a more serious note, my oldest grandson Marcellus had his senior recital this past week...did an excellent job as always:

He really is very talented...it was a fun evening listening to him strut his stuff.

To hear some of his recital, go here:

Marcellus-recital

Congrats, Marcellus!  Job well done.

Later, mcm fans...

If You Seek A Pleasant Peninsula...

...you're out of luck, buddy...this is Michigan on April 10th, and it's cold and snowy.  Still trying to remember why I live in this state.

Watched a pretty good flick this weekend... 

Well acted, fast paced, interesting movie...recommended...especially liked Laurence Mason as Earl, Matthew McConaughey's driver...not a big part, but well done and a great screen presence.

Picked up that Philco console radio yesterday from Bob Chase in Lowell...

Bob did a great job of getting it back in shape and working again.

 
Is it really possible we've blown through another weekend?  Back into the salt mines tomorrow...

Later, mcm fans...

Happy Resurrection Day...

...He is risen...and for that we give thanks to God in heaven.

A couple of hopeful signs of early spring:

This is a conflicted weekend for me, because after a long battle with cancer, my older brother Ken died on Friday evening.

That's Ken within the last year, showing the effects of his fight.  He was a life long LSU fan, thus the T shirt and truck decal.

Above, Ken's preparing to go out and get the mail...during the winter where he lived in Maine, getting the mail could be an adventure...note the boots and farewell salute, just in case.

These are his five sons and stepdaughter.

Note the son on the far right...that's how Ken looked in his youth...the second one from the left looks a lot like Ken, too.

I won't pretend we were close...that's a long story not worth repeating...but we were family, and he was my last living family member...Mom, Dad, Phil and Ken are all gone now, leaving li'l ol' me.  Strange feeling.

Ecclesiastes says "the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning," so I will pause and reflect on the things of eternity this weekend.

As I do I will keep in mind the amazing truth Jesus conquered death when he rose to life again.  From defeat and despair on crucifixion Friday arose life and hope on Resurrection Sunday.  We press on.


There is no coherent segue from the significant to the mundane, so I won't attempt one here.

Later, mcm fans...

Funny Thing...

...about this pic...when Karen posted it on her Facebook page, no one commented on it at all.  She got lots of likes, but not one person said anything like, "So that's why they call it Facebook?" or "Who's the guy with the book in front of his face?"

A few years ago I saw a phone I liked for sale on Etsy, so I bought it.  It was from the 1980's I believe...shaped like a piano, and you dialed by pressing the numbered keys...and the keys each played a musical note...seemed kinda fun at the time, but I decided I'd rather have it be a light than a phone...so I contacted Rodger Thomas of BenclifDesigns on Etsy about my project.  This is what he came up with:

I love the design...cool, unique phone turned light...a delightful objet d'art.

This is Super Bowl Sunday, but I don't have a dog in that hunt, so I'm not watching it.  I know; for that sin I could probably be stripped of my citizenship in the United States of Entertainment.  Scandalous.

Found a 1956 Thunderbird I need to buy:

How cool is that?  All I need is $25k...I'm currently checking for loose change in the sofa and emptying my piggy bank.

Later, mcm fans...