Mowin'

Spent most of the day yesterday on the lawn mower and it sure smelled like mowed grass out there this morning. To me that isn't a bad smell. In the spring when the wild onions are growing there is also a side smell of garlic that makes me want to go eat a grilled steak. Throw in the fact that the sun was out and it was 70 and all in all it wasn't a bad day. I was sitting there watching TV yesterday evening when Barb said they are predicting snow in both Twin Falls and Elko, NV. I guess we really shouldn't complain about cool weather.

My secondary job over the weekend is to not watch one minute of the Royal Wedding coverage. Hell, we fought a war to throw those people out of our lives and watching a bunch of horse faced royals dress like it is 1940 ought to be illegal. Yes, I know Princess Diana is dead, and no, I don't care if Prince Charles and Camilla ever get to rule. Watching rich people tie up the traffic and our TV's is more than I can bear. or Bare or whatever the hell I can't do.

I have a great big lawn mower that works like a champ most of the time. When I finally did put a new motor on it, I noticed that it had an electric starter. The bad news is that I haven't hooked it up. Every time I pull the starter rope on it, I pull a small muscle in my back under my shoulder blade. One of these times I am going to put a battery on it and a hook it up so I can use the electric start. Old doesn't always equate to smart.

Oh well, better get started on my projects for today. That damned outside faucet isn't going to fix its self.

MUD

Grumpy

No, not her she is one of the nicest people I've ever met.

I guess I will have to change my name to grumpy from Mud today. The first three things I read in the paper just pissed me off and it didn't improve much as I scanned the headlines on MSN. Is Donald Trump the best the Republican party can do to beat the pants off Obama in 2012? Is there no sanity in the people out there that they can't see that overspending and not even trying to live within a budget is killing us as a Nation? I guess not or I would have been a lot happier this morning.

In the unit I was in, in Ottawa, KS, one of the battalion commanders told me about his attempt to placate visiting inspectors. He always left one small glaring thing wrong right by the front door of the tent and the inspectors would always jump on that and leave the real things the hell alone. Dumb old me would focus on doing the most important things right and it mattered not what anyone not directly in my chain of command thought. It finally came to a head when an old riffed major who was appointed the Sergeant major of the Field Artillery Group came in one day and started poking his nose int the business of one of the busiest young chart operators. He started with telling him about the way to do thing, that had all changed. I had to grab that old fart up and remove him from the area. I told him that when he took the time to read the up to date Field Manuals and was current he was welcome to come back and watch but keep his mouth shut. He was pissed, but he was wrong. Pretty east to take him down when his boss showed up the next day to see just how we were doing things. I started with the Field Manual and the old Colonel just went away.

I guess I am a lot like that about life. I am a lot more focused on things working right over pretty. Barb is in charge of pretty and I do mechanical and function. The good news is that she was a tightwad and managed to build up our finances to the point where we can do pretty much as we want now. Dave Ramsey said live like no one else so you can then live like no one else. Barb and I had that conversation yesterday. I told her that all my life I asked myself what did I want to be when I grew up and how did I want to live. Ta Da! I guess it is too late to worry and just start living. I sure love that lady.

MUD

Naps 'n Such

In the Military, they told us to never pass up a chance to sleep, eat or go to the bathroom. You never know when a shortage of those things will appear. Normally a short nap in the afternoon is just the thing to get me back on the right foot. Yesterday I passed the nap threshold and paid for it in a shortened night's sleep. The good news is that it will all adjust out and I will manage to catch up on whatever it is I need to do.

One person I talked to during the "Farm to You" experience was a mid 30's young lady that said she could not imagine not working. I shared with her that retirement gives you a chance to spread out your projects and stay just as busy as you desire. Monday, I worked on the porch out in the garage, yesterday I volunteered at the Farm to You and today I have a trip to Lawrence in mind and when I get home a short project working on a water faucet. (or a nap which ever comes first) She lives on rural property and admitted that she has a lot of projects going on and manages to stay busy. I guess that it does take some amount of something to do to stay feeling that everything is worthwhile.

In one of our discussions, the subject of where do children get their knowledge came up. I know that I got a lot of information out of books, but there was also a lot of listening to adults talk that went on. I wonder just how much real interaction is going on today with the kids. I see a lot of texting, tweeting and Facebooking but I don't see kids with adults getting to hear about the ways to live their lives. A lot of that needs to be blamed on the proliferation of ways to communicate electronically and some need to be based on the fact that adults don't want to be bothered with the chatter of kids.

Oh well, at least while it is cloudy, we aren't getting the deluge of rain that is just a couple of states south and east of here. I do feel the need for sunshine but that will happen in good time.

MUD

Farm To You

The County Extension Office here in Shawnee County is a place where K-State-ers abound. When someone suggested there needs to be a way to educate kids about Farms, the whole world that wears purple turns out. There are 4-H kids, FFA kids, Master Gardeners and local farmers turn out and tie a common slice of Pizza to what is grown on the farm. CiCi's Pizza provides a piece of cheese pizza for all the kids. They also turn out a few slices for each volunteer. I think a good time was had by all. I estimate about 900 kids got too see beef and milk cows, pigs, Garden products, Egg production, weather and water management. I got to see all the little kids I could stand for one day. I also had the chance to meet three of the County Commissioners. I put the bug in their ear that if we as a world want to continue to have it all, we need to stress volunteerism. If the County Extension Office can find 40 volunteers, our governments need to do a better job of spending less and doing more.

My job today was to manage and fill the water cans that filled those little cups. It took most of at least 10 gallons of water each time for four rotations of kids. It was a great time but I feel a nap sneaking up on me. My feet are the worst part of it. I spent most of the time from 8 AM to 2 PM on my feet. Oh well, nothing that a Naproxin Sodium can't cure.

Better run, my fingers are getting tired.

MUD, the Water Boy - Not to be confused with Gunga Din

I gained 5 lbs this AM

Barbara watches Martha Stewart at 9 AM and immediately following that, Martha Stewart Bakes is on. Immediately following that there is a cooking show and today she cooked shrimp in a coconut ginger sauce with baby green beans. I am absolutely sure that I gained five lbs just watching such great cooking. It sure has my juices flowing to create something with the smoky chicken breasts or steak. The smoky marinade taste of the meat will be a good base for about anything I throw at it.

I'm sure that I could throw something together from left overs for a lunch and need to create a new dish for supper. There is still a good portion of couscous with vegetables in there. If the celery is any good, perhaps a chicken salad for sandwiches is in order.

I got up this morning with all good intentions of working on the carport roof at the rental house. It is cool, rainy and just sucked the enthusiasm right out of me. Oh well, I guess I can find something to do after I satiate my appetite.

OH Well, Can't Dance and it's too wet to Plow.

MUD

Positive Thoughts

I have been a little negative this past week here in my blog so I thought I might tell of some of the positive things in my life:

• A couple of years back, we bought a Manufactured home near us to fix up for Dave and his wife, Barb. We took out a home improvement loan and this past month, Barb paid off the final note. That returned us to the list of debt free. It also puts Dave in a home that is paid off. Bonus!


• We have finally worked ourselves into a place in our lives that we feel free to travel when and where we so desire. Yes, the 10 day rule still applies to me. After about a week and a half I begin to get out of sorts and start missing the naps on my couch. My underwear count is about 14 and socks about 12 pair so it not a shortage of linen. I am pretty sure that there is enough warm and cold weather stuff in the closet for more than 2 weeks either way. It just has to be the disruption of my regular scheduled naps. Or, all the excitement of travel. Yep, travel overload... has to be.


• In the spring and summer, my love of smoked meats overpowers me and I feel the need to get out and fire up the grill. The supply of hickory here is pretty much self sustaining and a good hickory smoke fire just makes everything so tasty. Today's lunch will be steak and chicken cooked yesterday and re-heated. With some good old Garlic Mashed Potatoes, it will be a great dinner. Barb will see to some green vegetables and rolls. Good stuff. I think that smoked meats are better the second day after the flavor of the hickory has had a chance to infuse all the meat not just the outside.


• Both of us seem to be having a pretty good run of health. There have been a couple of minor things the Dermatologist has removed but so far we have gotten to them before they got to me.


• In the spring, Kansas (at least here in the northeastern part) turns green and it won't be long before the garden starts providing us with a harvest of good things to eat. To whet our appetites, the Asparagus starts sticking up new stalks and I love them. Barb like to get out and walk around the place and she likes to discover new edible things so it works out well. New asparagus stalks go well in about everything. We use them in omelets and yesterday I made some couscous that was dynamite with the addition of some smoked chicken and asparagus.


• About the time I start to feel too old to be fun, Kyler and Austen come over with Dave and Barb Jr. Those two guys have a way to bring out the best in me and to liven up the place. Today they will get their Easter baskets with sports clothes and sweets. Their laughter and glee will make it fun for the short time they are here. It also gives me a good chance to sharpen up my cooking skills and they seem to like most of what I like.


• I don't claim to have a photographic memory by any stretch, but yesterday I found one of the renter's checks we had misplaced. It got thrown out with all the junk mail in the mailbox when we got home. The good news was that I hadn't hauled that trash can out to the court on Friday as it didn't have much in it. I got to make a better system to keep that from happening.

See, in spite of the overload of negative things here lately, a lot of positive things are happening. To add to all of that, Barb and the dog both seem to like me.

MUD

Lies We Tell Ourselves

In the past, many people retold the lie that there is enough for everyone in our monetary system that deficits do not matter. Our Politicians head this list and both sides of the aisle are to blame. If you can borrow any excess to our revenues, there was truth in the fact that you could cut taxes and balance the budget. This is expecially true if you don't report the amount of the interest you pay each year. In the 1970's, England's socialist Government finally awoke to the fact that the British Pound Sterling was no longer the world's reserve currency and spent several decades battling back the wolves at their door. Either the United States starts getting our house in order or we too will have our hands full. The start of this is the fact that OPEC is starting to worry that the price of Oil needs to be priced in another currency. I guess when a country owes as much as its annual budget and goes on borrowing there is room to worry.

I think we live in a Las Vegas world. The bright lights, loud music and the glitz has us fooled into a false sense or reality. On the Strip, I sat outside when the Barbs and Dave went into the M&M shop. In the 20 minutes I sat out there, a bunch of homeless people staggered by and no one seemed to notice. A policeman rode by on a Segway adding a 1984 feel to it and it was topped by a Mexican woman sweeping up the cigarette butts. Most of the homeless were wearing rags and two had obviously just gone to the bathroom in their pants. Even my family was lured into the M&M shop and spent way too many dollars on personalized M&M's worth a few cents.

One big lie told in wars from Korea to Vietnam was that we needed to battle whatever forces were at work of soon they would be at our door. I just read a national Guard commander's comments as his unit returned from Africa and guess what? The message is that we need to be involved there or soon it will be at out door. My only question is when will the Chinese and the Japanese want their front door back. How about some of the oil rich countries start paying for the problems in the Muslim countries. Are they paying the other side to cause the instability and making us look like the devil when we rush in to play marshal every time there is a gun fight?

I am firmly convinced that conspiracy theories are a ball, but just because you are paranoid doesn't mean someone is not out to get you.

MUD

Weather Yo-Yo

It started out today overcast and 55 and is predicted to get to 70. Tomorrow will struggle to get to 55. Oh well, at least we got some much needed moisture overnight.

I have some jobs to start but am afraid to get the patch on my nose really dirty. The dermatologist froze a place off and it blistered up and the blister broke. I am doing my best to keep it clean and covered but it is so near my glasses that I don't wear them unless I am blogging. It is so hard to not just reach up and scratch my nose not thinking about what is the real reason. I think that is the real purpose of a band aid. Oh well.

Today is my brother Rick's birthday. He was my mother's 30th birthday present. Her birthday would have been tomorrow. I have no idea how many times I answered the question 4/23/22 for her at the Doctor's office. Happy birthday brother... Mom is in heaven where every day is her birthday.

Tomorrow we will have Austen and Kyler over for our Easter treat. I am not sure what all we will do but I hope it includes a bike ride at the lake. If it is only 50, it probably won't but you can never tell.

Write if you get work.

MUD

Breakfast Photo

In my earlier blog, I mentioned that we had fresh asparagus, ham, cheese and eggs we could fix for breakfast. By the time I finished blogging, Barb had them all made with a side of sliced orange and apple. My addition was a piece of toast. Yes, it tasted as good as the picture.

MUD

Asparagus

If I have done or said anything to hurt your feelings, please fill out the following form and mail it in here at Rabbit Run Farms.

Every year, Mother Nature starts giving us little green stalks of Asparagus from our yard. This always reminds me of the bounty we get from the ground and I have barb to thank for lots of good eats. I sometimes laugh that I am the head laborer and work for the Master Gardner but the work is always worth the bounty we get from the garden.

I also share her joy in the pretty side of growing. She plants and grows a lot of native wild flowers and grasses. Yes, once or twice a year I get a water bill that makes me wince but what else is worth our money life the water that helps her gardens grow.

Another thing worth the money is any of the money and time we spend with Barb Jr's nephews. Austen and Kyler are such a joy to have over. Their smiles and endless enthusiasm just a hoot. Those two can so more by accident that Barb and I do all week on purpose. Who else would pile up branches to make a fort in our front yard? Sticks have to be somewhere.

Better go get cleaned up. Might be able to find somewhere fun to go today. I am pretty sure I could make some asparagus with ham and eggs to eat. Probably will have supper out with the kids.

MUD

Memories

Now that I am older, I find that I can remember things I did as a boy but have trouble remembering all the cute sayings I hear on Dave Ramsey. During the course of his show I always hear one or two things I would love to share but by the time I get home and sit down at the computer I can't remember them as well as I would like. here are just a couple from today:

• The end state of a dream and a goal may be the same place, but generally a goal infers a plan to get you to that end state. Winning the lottery might fix some short term problems but won't fix the problem that led you to buy Lottery Tickets in the first place.



• The inference today was that winning a judgment or the lottery won't keep you out of financial problems, it will only delay getting to the root of the problem. Getting out of debt and staying that way is an end goal for us all.

Is anyone else as positive as I am that Donald Trump has convinced himself that he is Presidential material? Anyone that would stoop to have a fight with Rosie O'Donnell doesn't get the big picture. In my humble opinion, it is the congress that is the problem not the President. To get elected, they tell so many lies they don't have a firm handle on what is the ground truth is. To me, the ground truth is that everyone must share in the cost of Government. None of this 45% of the people pay no taxes. Everyone should pay a percentage of their check as a tax and close the loop holes. The Federal Government should not be able to spend more than they take in except in time of war. A balanced budget does not mean that we are able to pay the interest on the national Debt, it means that we are reducing that debt each year. I think Government should help people get an education and not give them things that keeps them tied to the Government. We can't buy everyone a house, buy their food and pay their medical bills. Some one has to be making a living and paying the bills.

Oh well, made a trip to the Dermatologist today. He froze some, cut some and I will hear more in a week or so when the biopsy is complete. I am now slathering SPF 30 when I go out on sunny days.

MUD

WHY HBO?

I loved the series Deadwood and watched every episode in spite of the over use of the shortened word for Fornication. I think they over used it for dramatic effect and narrowed the audience because of it. The dirt, muddy streets and rough conditions were accurate but the language was a lot too rough. The fact that the bar in the series was a whorehouse, was accurate but even there were a few too many scenes of sex.

Now we have Thrones on HBO. It was a porno movie stretched around a book. There were naked people in every scene and the murder of a 10 year old at the end of the first episode. I won't watch it again and refuse to let people say that HBO is bringing us great entertainment. It was trash and they should be ashamed.

I think that HBO will continue to push the line until there is a reaction they don't want. I am fully for free speech but there is a limit to what should be broadcast into our homes.

MUD

Just a few new topics

• Yesterday I listened carefully as a College Professor talked about the explosion of information on the Internet. He was excited about the prospects of the new future. I have a couple of warnings about the proliferation of facts and truth on the Internet. First, we have all witness the fact that you can find many pages written about even the most trivial of things. I am convinced that when expanded beyond a reasonable point, information becomes data that must be searched through to use. I am thoroughly convinced that people believe that if it is written it is fact. The base truth is being re-written as we speak in such volume that truth, facts will both just be the noise level of data and no one will be able to stand up and be factual. Did you know that Wikipedia is being re-written without any real control?


• A few years back we were told that the Ozone layer had a hole in it because of all the fluorocarbons and we must stop immediately using Freon and hair spray. Have you read anything about the hole in the Ozone? No, because it still is there and only man made facts tied the hole to the man made products. Lets see, there was the Nuclear winter, the Ozone hole, Global Warming and now the rush to have all incandescent bulbs replaced by Compact Fluorescent. I think we are getting kicked in the teeth by people that are making things up faster than they can be verified.


• Right now we are ending the 2010 Tax season and I think our congress should be ashamed of its self. There are so many loopholes in the law that no one really knows what the true tax rate is. If you are rich, have a big house and lots of kids you may pay little or if you are poor you might have to pay at the top of your bracket without deductions. I think everyone should pay some. make more, pay more. End the loop holes and then be responsible with our money from the Federal level. If I can be debt free, so can the Government.


• I may throw up if I hear one more speech about people in entitlement programs that will lose their free lunch with the current budget cuts. If an agency can't cut their spending by 10 % I won't feel sorry. The truth of the matter is that the current cuts are less than 1%. Do you know that a balanced budget in the minds eye of congress doesn't include any payment on the Federal debt, only the interest. Perhaps they need to have a lesson from my wife Barb instead of Visa.


• I am a proud graduate of our Military system and can it be cut? Damn right it can. For starters, we need a Land Force, and Air Force and a Naval Force. In the reserves, I would give the Air Guard to the Air Reserves and the Army Reserves to the National Guard. Yep, no Marines or Coast Guard. If the Army doesn't need fighter planes, can someone explain why the Marines Do? As i see it, the only gray area is the Aircraft Carriers. I would have some of the fighter guys learn to land on ships and all the air guys would wear the Air force uniform.

Nuff Said - Mud Out.

Pride

In most families, there are selected individuals that have done things that have done great things that make their family members proud. I am of the opinion that being happy for someone else's accomplishments is a good thing and there have been a lot of good things in our family. This weekend one of my nieces was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa organization for her 3.5+ GPA in a Junior College. It is the same award as the Phi Beta Kappa at a 4 year college. Amanda is one bright, pretty and smart young lady that has done herself proud. At least she has made us proud as have many of the young members of our family. I would be afraid to start listing the accomplishments of all the other young people for fear that I might miss one. We have college graduates, professionals and a national Rowing team member in the family and I for one love to see them all grow as proud members of society. MUD

Warm Green days

We are looking forward to the warm, green and sunny days here in the heartland. It gets better each day and soon we will find little reason to stay inside. Next Saturday we will be given free access to the Dump and places to get rid of old computers, tires and junk that has piled up. I plan on taking full advantage of all of it. Have a great day out there. MUD

Cold in the Heartland

The weather has been cold for us for about two weeks. While were were gone, things here in the Heartland were nice. We get home and it turns cold. To add to the cold wind, the sun is hidden by a cloud cover. Very little warm will penetrate that. Oh well, I will dress warm and survive. Barb is out showing kids about the different grasses in Kansas. She bought a bunch of seeds and will let the kids take home a map of Kansas with different seeds glued on the map. Hopefully some of them will plant the seeds and see the grasses when they mature. Barb is on the youth education committee of the Master Gardner's and takes that position pretty seriously. Did I mention the highways on our trip? In years past, New Mexico had a lot of truck traffic on I-40 and little maintenance. This trip their roads were the best and the Arizona Highways were the poorest. I won't try to talk about Highway 54 here in Kansas as the truck traffic has it rutted and until someone realizes that a 2 lane road needs to be a 4 lane it won't improve. Oh well, I will try to stay warm today and go over to help Barb a little. At least I'll buy her lunch. MUD

Just a few thoughts

An old retired Military guy goes to the most beautiful place on God's green earth and what's the first thing he takes a picture of? The US flag flying high and mighty. We might have a separation of church and State but I will always have a union of flag and Mother Nature high on my list of things I am proud of. A simple hillside captures more beauty than the Las vegas strip to me. Put that hillside against the red rocks of Zion and a blue sky and let me be there with a smile on my face.

At the north end of the park is the Temple of Cinawava. It was a spectacular place when we were hear last fall. I had no idea that in wet weather a waterfall cascaded down to the Virgin River valley. What was simply pretty last year was so spectacular this spring that I almost couldn't imagine anything prettier.

The people at the Lodge said it has never snowed in April in the 19 years they have been there. Well, guess what? It was way too snowy to see the scenery so we trudged back to Vegas.

This was the wild life with us. Mighty nice people to travel with. I found the sweatshirt in Albuquerque for $7.00. Best $7.00 I ever spent and Dave stayed warm and colorful.

I have a Seiko Kinetic watch and after three days in the car and not moving enough, it stopped. I have to wind it up if I sit still too long. Must be a moral to that story.

MUD

What a Trip

Our first night in Vegas, we stayed in the Rio. What a great hotel at a low price. You have to walk a long way from the parking garage to the front desk and then to the room but after a couple days in the car we needed to walk. Our trip to Zion was a bad day in Utah. There was a 15 to 25 MPH wind, clouds and cold weather, It was really simply too cold to be out and walking far. We did get to the temple of Sinawava and there were some waterfalls that were not there in the fall and the place was special. We went back to the Hotel and warmed up and rested. On Friday morning, it was snowing. The hotel people said in the 19 years they have been in Springdale, it had never snowed in April. We went back to Vegas and stayed at the Imperial Palace. There is no place I have stayed in all my visits in Vegas that was more dirty and run down. They put us right outside the Pool and there was music thumping so any idea of an afternoon nap was out of the question. Barb got them to move us the next day and we were just across the way from the garage and every time a noisy car drove through the building at least three different car alarms went off. DO NOT EVER STAY AT THE IMPERIAL PALACE. On Sunday Morning we had breakfast with our daughter-in-laws parents and had a wonderful breakfast. We left there and drove to Victorville to visit Barb's sister. Shirley is a wonderful sister with a beautiful house and a fine host. We had a nice visit and a couple of great meals. We are back in Vegas and I think it is Monday. In the morning I will drop off the kids at the airport and head home. I think we will drive up I-15 to I-70 and home through Denver. Can't wait until we get to spend the night in our own home. Have a great week. MUD

On the Road Again

Our plan today is to drive by and perhaps in to Santa Fe, NM. I have always wanted to visit there and just never took the time to do so. We drove all day yesterday in a 30 to 40 MPH headwind. I am hopeng that it settles down to less than 10 MPH. In the panhandle of Oklahoma, it will start the day at 28 and be 83 by evening. In Topeka, a 20 degree difference is pretty large. Better run. MUD

Agenda

Back in the day that I had a real job, I tried to keep a "To Do" list. Now that we have retired, that has devolved to an agenda. Barb will ask, "What's on your agenda today?" I think that a lot of times she is fishing to see if I have any purpose on the day and sometimes I think she is going to share with me some task she wants me to do. Sometimes it's both. Today is probably going to be spent organizing for the trip and packing. There is no end of things we want/need to take. Between the computers and the cameras, there is nearly a trunk full of stuff. One of these days (when Pigs Fly) I will figure out what's right and wrong in this world. Just when I think that Barb and I couldn't agree on sunshine she tells me about an article in the paper we agree on. I am convinced that there is a lot of government that is imposed on us to protect our rights. Well, no, to protect other people's rights and ours get trampled in the process. Political Correctness be damned, it if isn't illegal, don't impose your opinion on me to keep someone else's nose unbent. For the record, I think the Westborough Baptist Church is a bunch of jerks but don't think that for a minute I want any of their rights damaged to keep me from seeing their signs. Freedom of assembly, freedom of free speech and freedom of religion could all be trampled to shut them the hell up. The law of unintended consequences could lead us all to a Government that not only thinks they are right, they have the might to back it up. Slippery slope stuff. The other day, Barb pointed out that a squirrel was as high up in the tree as he could get eating the new leaves as they emerge. Things here are just starting to go green and soon the leaves will be out in full swing. This morning it was almost 65 degrees with a strong southerly wind. Notice I didn't say breeze. Anything over 10 MPH is a wind bucko. Tomorrow will be cooler that it started out this morning. They are predicting wind, rain and the possibility of hail. Oh well... In today's paper there is a kid with a 51 Ford Custom Coupe he is trying to fix up before he gets married this spring. He said he has owned 11 or 12 cars so far (he is 25). He probably won't own too many more. The family hot rod will be traded in on a 4 door sedan and then a minivan and he will be reduced to driving a beater to work. Most of my adult life I have had a Guard Check once a month to soften the budget blows put on with marriage. Barb got the paycheck to keep us roofed and fed and I got to play with the Guard Check. Most of the time it was used to buy our first wash machine and dryer but later on the 57 Chevy project did keep it damaged. It was nice to have a slush fund to eat out now and then and to finance trips and vacations. Barb always managed to use our paychecks for good reason and we have lived pretty well. Oh well, better run. I'll probably be on and off the net for a week or so. You can always reach me here in the comments or at dennbarbpetty@gmail.com. MUD

Cribbage

On the boat to Vietnam, one of the guys taught me to play cribbage. I picked up a computer card game DVD and have started to play the cribbage game included there. I have about an 80% win rate so far. I haven't noticed many playing errors from the opponents, only some major card differences. I think I saw one time where the other player put a card in the crib that could have made them points. Even then, I probably did that a time or two. Oh well, keeps me off the street. Got out yesterday and helped Barb plant potatoes. She pushes them into the soil about half way and covers them up with straw. They may get a coat of dirt on top of the straw when we get back. Last year the Yukon Golds were the only one's that did anything. I love creamed peas and new potatoes. It was almost 50 this morning so there is a good chance that it might get to 70 today. I know that Barb is ready for some sunny and warm weather. I told Dave that I want to feel a trickle of sweat run down my neck just once in the next week or so. Oh well, write if you get work. MUD

Miracle

There is this strange glow in the east and here by the window it is getting too bright to read without my sunglasses. I think in the deep recesses of my memory there is a faint glimmer of remembrances of the sun. Yep, danged if it isn't sunlight not an April Fools joke.

• Blogger has been messin' with the format of my blog and the only way I can keep it any sense of format is to use the little bullets at the beginning of each paragraph. There is simply no other reason to use them but oh well.


• This morning one of the cutest girls I met in High School sent me a request to be my friend on Facebook. She was pretty and had the voice of an angel. I think she even ran fro Miss Wichita once. On a trip to Texas with the Choir, her daddy bought her college outfit at Neiman Markes (No, I can't remember the right spelling and spellchecker dooesn't have a clue). It was painfully aware that I couldn't compete in her league. Oh well, I have done right well and am as happy as a clam.


• If there is a little warm out side today, I have a lot of things to finish and a few new ones to start.

Better get cracking.

MUD