Trip To Northlandia

Trip To Northlandia - Part 2

Here are some various other shots of my trip, in no order or importance.

We met Phil and Jeannie at Pagano's Pizza one night.

The old homestead is looking a little rough these days. There yard is cluttered, the back porch is without screening, and when I was there a deer was gutted and hanging from the old tree we all used to climb. Note the severed head at the crook of the limb. I know we only rent things while here on earth but the sight of our house was pretty jarring. Even the tree is looking its age and rather tired.

We didn't hunt growing up. Don't recall any particular reason for not doing it and we weren't anti-hunting. It was just something we didn't do. I went pheasant hunting once in Iowa during college and enjoyed it, but as a rule we just weren't around it and isn't that something you pick up from your Dad? When we lived there, and my folks built it, it always looked neat as a pin; the screens were always on the porch with plastic during the winter.

Good old frozen crystallized snow. Its hard to say what I miss most but the weather and seasons are right up there.

The beautiful Miss Ashley, Mark's daughter. I love everything about her - she is her own person.

The Country Club was burning leaves the day after the big party. I thought how much the smell is a childhood memory, but the adult reality is its a health concern.

Nobody likes their picture taken, I understand all that. I'm the same way. But some things must be recorded for posterity, dammit. Besides, the blog is always hungry, and if you are around me, then you become fodder or grist, if you will, for the mill. Persevere, it will all be over soon.

I had a chance to see my BFE buddies at Gimpy's while back. Tim, Christopher, Rick and Diane stopped by. Also of particular note was seeing Lisa and John Junk from my MDH days. Great chatting with them at Gimpy's. Were we really there for 6 hours?

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Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless. Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001. It was one of those things that can generate crime: two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job. Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things. Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold. But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find. His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead. He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds. He will be paralyzed for life. None of this is pleasant. Reading the facts of the murder and attempted murder are most unpleasant

Summer Swim

It's Monday and the start of another work week. Except for me. I have the week off because the parents of my daycare charges are taking the week off, too. This is one of those wordless posts I love on Mondays so I can put my laziness in full view of loyal readers. These pics need no words. Why muddy the waters? They were taken at the pool at Sinkhole Estates aka Death Valley. The nice thing about this pool is it is heated in winter. If one must find positives in one's situation, I suppose that is one. But, please, no more.

Florida Air Museum - Part 3

Welcome back to a pretty neat tour of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland Florida. There's a lot to see and a couple of the old Geezer Gold Wing guys are already sitting down instead of walking around looking at the exhibits. That's John who is wore out and making a call to his wife. In all honesty, John was pretty well bushed before the ride. He told me his daughter's family was down from one of the Carolina's with the grand kids and he must have played with them too much. He's about to take off on his own and head for home, but he's going to miss a couple of neat things out on Hangar A. But, before we walk over there, we have lots yet to see here. If you saw The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, you'll remember that he went up in a plane during the filming of one of his movies to prove a point about flying. He crashed trying to execute a roll and this is a picture of the plane he crashed. Note the propeller

Existing In BFE

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