Friday May 4.2012,
 Woods Hole

 So Here I am on the porch of a chestnut cabin, Temp is perfect, food will be served soon. Hikers are chatting grass is green, the sun is shining...

 Yet yesterday 20 minutes of spring hail destroyed much of this years garden.

 Today it is warm a tranquil, but will the cupboard be bare this fall?

Lydia Renee...

Lydia Renee my youngest child turned 21 today. (01/10/12)

Few times do you know the moment you give your heart to someone

She was a few weeks old when she grasped my heart by my finger.

She has had my heart ever since. 

There is a silient distance between us now that I do not understand.

The years are rushing by and my friends say give her time.

The years pass like picket fence post lllllllllllllll

I did not understand why she grasped my hand

I do not understand why she let it go

I only know she still has my heart

and she no longer wants it

Wood, a metaphor

 When walking in the forest I ponder wood

The master woodworkers have the ability to see the beauty others do not. 

With sharp tools and eyes  the potential is made real.

Wood all ways has another act to play. 

It can be reclaimed from a scrap pile, refinished, remade, transformed 

into some thing greater than it was
before. 

 Working with wood gives me hope that tomorrow will be better than yesterday. 

That while the past can not be forgotten it can be transformed into something beautiful.

At last when all that is left is to burn it.

Wood  can bring people together around a warming fire. 

Yet wood is not done,

It still has another act left to play. 

It's ashes can balance garden soil 

and thereby feed people that never saw its glory days.

Sometimes I ponder such things,

Some place to write

Those that know me, tell me I am a writer that can not spell.
How cruel yet on target.
I need a place to express Ideas that are not really Facebook material.  Now that I am reading daily the need to comment is greater than ever. Wither anyone besides me reads them is not as important as the writing of them.

 So for my POD of friends and Family the Blog is back up and running with a new mission.
A place to throw my stuff against the wall and see what sticks

Sometimes you just have to Face the Cold!

Today was bitter cold, but yesterday it was "you could died out there cold". Yes dear reader that is the deferance between 0 degrees and minus 15 with a -45 degree wind chill.

 Yesterday my daughters car would not star, so I took her to out  the college. (LCCC did you really need to keep open yesterday?) On the way home the radiator in my truck burst,,,,ugh. Daughters husband pick her up from class.

This morning the car still would not start, so time to face the music. Dad to the rescue, 5 gallons of fresh gas a bottle of Red Heet, and 30 minutes worth of jumper cable time the Volvo was back on the road. Alex, you were a big help, now get set of jumper cables and keep them in the car!

 After getting Lindsay car running I knew that my truck had to get fix today. No matter what the weatherman promised for tomorrow it could not wait another 24 hours. $135 worth of parts, Cartharts, gloves, hat in place  face the bitter cold and replace the radiator. In the driveway exposed to cold and wind.

  Lucky, the Sun was shining and the wind was gentle. The radiator was out with in 30 minutes, only to find out that the parts store sold me the wrong radiator. UGH back to the store, exchange the part for the right one. Everything goes back to gather fine. I had been very careful not to spill the antifreeze, not a drop on the ground till I started filling the new radiator up then disaster!! I lost my grip on the jug of antifreeze and liquid went everywhere!! What a mess, trust me dear reader you do not want to have clean up half a gallon of spilled antifreeze when the temperature is below zero! Everything did get clean up and the truck runs just fine now.

 Now here is the punchline, Last week I bought oil and filter for truck. It is due for an oil change and the temps last week where in the 50s!! yes sunny and 50 degrees. So did your wise blogger do his oil change on a nice false spring day? No he wait till it is -5 degrees and is covered in antifreeze to do the oil change!

 Sometimes it is not smart to procrastinate, no matter how warm your Carharts are.  

Time drags when you are hurt,,,

 Well dear readers the month of January has flown by. In my last post I told of how my leg had been hurt by walking into a trailer tongue. I had started back to the gym believe everything was healing fine. It was not fine at all! 9 days latter the leg swelled up overnight turning black and blue around the ankle and red hot along the calf! Not mind you, what any diabetic ever wants to see. A trip to the ER, with xrays and ultra sound exams found no clots! My life no longer in danger the Doc  said that the redness and heat on my calf was early cellulitis, Antibiotics were order  with the warning that this could develop into skin ulcers that would require 3 to months of wound care. The drugs where taken and I staid off the leg.  Just got the all clear from My doc today! Thanks Susie Ruxton for the clean bill of health. Now the Podiatrist Thursday to get the knees and feet cleared.

  While my leg has been healing the contractor has been rehabilitating my house. It has been slow going, this would be a good time to... or while we are at we should... for a couple more hours labor... are expensive and  time consuming word from a contractor. Though I must say everything that has been done is work that really needed to be done. It is going to a great house that I might never live in.  Hard to believe how hard normal  family wear and tear can be on a house over a dozen years! Some sheet rock, texture, title and paint and this old house is ready for another decade.  While my marriage did not survive here, this old house did shelter my family threw many a cold Wyoming winters. Tonight the temp is  -15 with a wind chill of -35,  I am typing this wear shorts and a t-shirt. Not to bad .(any body need to rent a house in Cheyenne Wy for a year?)

 I will post more about the Stroll in the Woods a little later,,,
Bye for now

So this is Christmas.

So this is Christmas..
 Bought gift cards and Christmas card for the extended family, it felt good to be able to Uncle Gary. The Post office has lost the package I sent to my sister in N.C. Hopefully the dog sled bring it to her house will make it this week. UGH.


Spent Christmas afternoon with my good friend Dan and his extended family. Food was good and the sprites were bright. ( no booze ). Then later in the afternoon drove to Fort Collins and had Christmas diner with my daughter Lindsay and her husband Alex and my ex wife Judi. It was a nice visit, food was good and the conversation light. Lydia is in Maine visiting her sisters there. I hope that the winter weather does not interfere with her travels.

  While I am not a believer, Christmas does invoke a feeling of hope. That in this time of great darkness and cold that the promise of rebirth, hope of a better world could feel real. If we could stop and reflect on the wonder of life and offer a gift of help to each other what a wonderful world this would be.

The thur-hike,

Well the last week was very productive! Start work on turning the house in to a rental, two bathrooms gutted. Strange how time moves both slowly and rapidly at the same time!! Two more weeks and this house should be ready for rent.

The gym work was going great, started the twice daily work out Monday then. I banged my leg into a tailer tongue Tuesday. Just think baseball bat to the shin. Looked like a softball had been shoved under my skin. Limped till Friday and made to the gym Friday morning and Saturday night. Getting hurt is not part of the plan! I  will be back in the Gym Monday morning, to much work to do.