I always new Abby, our boxer, was smart. She is certainly the smartest dog I have ever known. It started innocuously enough, little things like her greeting you at the door and walking a few feet at a time toward the doggy snacks, twisting and shaking her head and pointing at the pantry with her head. She certainly had the Pavlov’s Dog thing down regarding snacks. It wasn’t long until she associated certain individuals with being more generous about snacks than her own family. For example, Grandma, who usually brought her own doggy snacks in her pocket. Abby would see that red car pull up and greet Grandma and start nudging the purse of the pockets for her snack. Then came Julie, who also figured out where the doggy snacks were and helped to spoil Abby even more. What the heck, it’s ok, she’s the smartest dog that ever lived.
Well, now that Abby is getting old we have had to deal with some geriatric health problems including urinary incontinence. There were just too many accidents piling up on our carpeting on a daily basis. Out comes the bucket, carpet cleaner, towels, vacumn, etc. Thus, we started to confine her to the downstairs bathroom during the day. We put up the folding picnic table in front of the door and a kitchen chair buttressed up against it so she couldn’t push it out. Abby’s sad eyes about killed me when I put her in there, she looked at me with that look that says: “What, you kiddin’ me pops? I’m not a dog, don’t you remember? You always said that Dad. You always told the kids that you aren’t feeding the ‘dog’, you’re feeding Abby, one of the family. And what? You puttin’ me in the bathroom? Whaz up with that Dude?” Well, the first day with this system she persisted in banging up against the folding picnic table so that she could get just enough room between it and the wall and squeeze out. Come home, Abby sleeping on the sofa and more piddle on the floor. Sheesh.
Applied the TWO chair method, same result, she must have pushed against that table for hours, but she squeezed out. She had her bed in there and plenty of water, she could even take a shower if she wanted to for crying out loud, it wasn’t like being outside in a kennel. She could have piddled on the floor all she wanted in there. I only used the picnic table so that she could have a view of the Lake and have a little extra air rather than close the door completely. Anyway, I had to bite the bullet and close the pocket door to the bathroom, latch it, and go to work. I left with her barking, scratching and then came a strange grunting, chewing sound, but I didn’t think anything of it.
Came home, yep, Abby on the sofa, looking at me with those eyes that seemed to say” “Hah, that’s all you got Pops?” She grabbed the stopper block on the door with her teeth and pulled it up at an angle so the wheels in the track popped out above and then banged on the door long enough to release the latch. OK, now I’m not stupid, I know enough to know when I’ve been defeated by superior basic animal intelligence. But I just couldn’t bring myself to put her in her crate because I know dogs really resist piddling in their bed and I didn’t want her in pain. Thus, I took her out to the garage.
The first day she chewed up some insulation I had just cut and placed the mess right in front of the door for me so that I would get a clear message that she was not very happy with me. Keep in mind this insulation was about 20 feet from the door, but she mangled it and dragged it in front of the door for me to see clearly. OK, time for a talk. I explained to her that being in the garage is a good thing, she has tons of room out here. Her bed is on top of two inch foam insulation and she has a heater. I showed her the drain in the floor for piddling in and her HUGE water bowl to drink from and gave her a doggy snack and she smiled at me.
Came home tonight to find Abby very content, I think she actually likes it out here in the garage. I let her out and played with her a bit and gave her a doggy snack in the house. I went back out to the garage to inspect the situation. The insulation was intact, untouched. I went over to the floor drain and there was the piddle, not pee anywhere else, just at the floor drain where I asked her to pee. Now you may think this was coincidence. However, I swear that dog understands English. Come on, this garage is like 30 by 30 feet big, she could have peed in a hundred places, but no, right at the drain where I told her to pee.
Abby is a gentle dog and travels for hours in a car without complaint, she likes her butt rubbed, she likes to lay at your feet. She’ll bark at strangers and protect you. She can tell when it’s time to go to the vet verses the river for fishing. She can tell days in advance when a trip is coming up, watching the luggage come out. It’s almost as if she knows if she’s going or not. In short, Abby is my beloved pet. I’ve determined that rather than “put her down” as I have been advised given her incontinence, Cushing’s Disease, Liver Disease, advanced Osteoarthritis, etc.---I will instead utilize the best that modern doggy medicine can offer and she and I will advance into the sunset for awhile together.
Many have said she’s outlived her usefulness, well, so have I in many ways already. I’ve procreated, I did research, wrote some songs, worked at my job helping people for many years. But the reality is I’m never going to be famous or change the world. If any of that will come it will do so thru my children. Reminds me of a Star Trek episode where the Enterprise goes into a time warp and ends up with an Air Force Pilot from the 1970’s. This is a difficult situation for the crew, because it would be very difficult, possible lethal to ship and crew to get him back. Thus, Spock does some research and finds out “all” he ever did was become a Pilot in the Air-Force and didn’t have any “major” accomplishments. Thus, they opted to just keep him and take him out of his life---until, another screen came up and they saw that his son became very influential in time-warp travel---and his son hadn’t been born yet. Thus, they returned him back to Earth at great peril, but succeeded and they preserved the continuum.
What measure of a man is time-warp travel? A number one song? What measure of dog is winning best of show? All is just a brief hiccup in the continuum of time. What is eternal? The love that dog Abby has given to me, her loyalty, the joy and funny moments she gave me. What will my children remember when I am gone? The big fish I caught? My job? Probably a bit, but most importantly they will remember how much I loved them, how I cared for them and cleaned up after them and helped their mother make HUGE sacrifices in her life for their own betterment. So go ahead Abby, piddle on the floor if you must, I won’t remember that. But, I’ll remember how you came and greeted me after a hard day, and always stayed with me, and loved me, my most wonderful, loyal loving friend, Abby.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The Lady Of The Lake
Wow, so much to say today----at random:
1. Bluegrass music on from the satellite dish on the front of the garage, pretty cool out here---sending e-mails over cyber space from the very tip of Lake Michigan in my little sleepy seaport village.
2. Made you salmon fishing guys coming up next week a little living room out here in the Big Garage with the sat tv, internet, easy chairs and couches. Monday the heating guys come to put in the geothermal heat pump in the main house and move the propane furnace out here for you. Gas company already brought the tank and laid the line to the garage and attached the regulator.
3. Mason finished up today---waterproofed the block . Incredible job, fortunately you'll see this very professional footer/block job. I asked him what it would take to lay the block for closing in my alcove on the east end of the Big Garage---I was planning to do it myself, mixing mortar in the wheelbarrow---doing it over several days, putting in the bolts, etc. I have done some incredible masonry work as my outdoor kitchen in Ohio will attest---but I'm tired tonight---so, he said "I dunno, maybe ____ bucks"---DONE I said---and now I have the block laid to close in the alcove too.
4. Wow, bluegrass music is great.
5. I pulled up from work today to see my contractor lighting up a smoke and saying it was "QUITTEN "time. It was then I saw the block laid in the alcove and half joists all laid for both additions and half the floors done and the block insulated with 2" foam on the inside. I inspected the work and thought Wow, this guy is good. It's a family affair--his son, daughter, himself and a hired guy---doing the work at an amazing rate of efficiency---man I'm glad I picked Rich. I guess you can't go wrong with a guy named Rich. I will keep trying to get him to quit smoking!!!
6. Tomorrow they'll finish the floors. Then they start the walls for the dining room/kitchen, working in from the south and once all framed up to the old house, they start tearing off roof. I think you salmon fishing guys will be heading out right about then, so I expect to have a fully functional kitchen still and the laundry room and bunk room available.
7. He's canteleving (sp?) out the floors a foot Eddy---so the downstairs will be bigger---and putting in a vaulted ceiling in Jeffy's room so he can have a loft and a skylight.
8. MOST IMPORTANTLY---I went up to gravel on the river today and the water is high, bringing water and oxygen to more gravel than ever on the river. I wanted to pick some blueberries too, but they are fading....However, I have never seen so many fishing spots below the campground---lots of beautiful gravel with water over it. No fish yet on the gravel---but that's good---because I am sure they are coming soon---we are
catching at the mouth and out trolling. Thus, the fish are staged and should be coming up anyday. Thus, make sure you are rigged for big salmon fishies on the stream, and have a lighter rod for catching the egg sucking rainbows below. We'll have some incredible hours on the gravel. I have smoked salmon ready for you guys to eat (from Jeffy's 16 pounder).
9. I have our brook trout fishing picked out finally. Going to take you into the Seney National Forest to a stream that has a beautiful big pool in the wood fairly accessible that my brook trout fishing nurse told me about today. She told me that she and her hubby fish this pool often and never see anybody else. She told me her husband didn't want to tell me about it---but she told him what a great guy I am etc. and thus they are sharing it with us. We'll fish that, the Fox and the Indian River in one day---they are all on my driving line.
10. Sarah is off to an incredible start in New York City. She has a voice teacher that the acting coach directed them too and had her first lesson. He has coached Brittney Spears, Christina Aguilara and worked with Mel Gibson on movies. Sorry, I barely know those people and can't spell their names, but I know they had a lot of success. He thinks Sarah really has it. Her acting coach is also bringing in some music people to hear her tomorrow and she has her first audition for a paid job already. We have an apartment (I think) in Manhatten that I'll be commuting too---won't that be a contrast??? From the beautiful Cedar Forest of the U.P. to the subway of New York!!!
Two agents already talked to Jomay about signing her. I can't believe how fast this is happening. Looks like I'll have to go to New York City a lot over the next couple years. Jomay really getting a lesson in the subways, finding an apartment, etc. What a woman. This is all so surreal---Sarah came out an artist---I often think of the day I was cutting wood in my shop and she was playing on the floor, I think she was four years old--she was taking the scrap pieces of wood and forming animal shapes with
them---I kept her patterns and glued them to a wood backing and still have them---she's just always had an eye for art. If she couldn't draw it or sing it, she dressed herself up with a variety of scarves and ornaments. What can I say about a kid who can dance, sing, draw, play viola, piano, guitar, harp and act beyond belief. You should see her acting clips---I wouldn't call it acting it, she's just being it.
11. OK, enough dribble. Eddy, get here--Sunday we have to pull the boat out and put in the new GPS/Fish finder and trolling rod mounts and get out on the Lake. Monday I think we'll hit the brook trout pool to scope it out---but it's not really a PLAN---I know you don't like to PLAN on a fishing trip---anyway I always wait for the Big Lake to tell me what to do. If she lays down for me, I caress her with my boat and troll for fish. If she whips up a fit I walk away from her and just observe her fitfull moment and let her vent. She really vented yesterday---waves came up so high they hit the transom of the boat on the shore docker---but she's tied down nicely and isn't going anywhere tonight it seems. Also, nice thing about being here---if she's mad and kicking up waves, I just go to the little water up the road and fish for pike. I let her dictate my life I guess, but let's face it, men are used to women being a great part of our lives.
Blessings, from the Naubinway Nook, no better place to be,
Jeff
Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com.
1. Bluegrass music on from the satellite dish on the front of the garage, pretty cool out here---sending e-mails over cyber space from the very tip of Lake Michigan in my little sleepy seaport village.
2. Made you salmon fishing guys coming up next week a little living room out here in the Big Garage with the sat tv, internet, easy chairs and couches. Monday the heating guys come to put in the geothermal heat pump in the main house and move the propane furnace out here for you. Gas company already brought the tank and laid the line to the garage and attached the regulator.
3. Mason finished up today---waterproofed the block . Incredible job, fortunately you'll see this very professional footer/block job. I asked him what it would take to lay the block for closing in my alcove on the east end of the Big Garage---I was planning to do it myself, mixing mortar in the wheelbarrow---doing it over several days, putting in the bolts, etc. I have done some incredible masonry work as my outdoor kitchen in Ohio will attest---but I'm tired tonight---so, he said "I dunno, maybe ____ bucks"---DONE I said---and now I have the block laid to close in the alcove too.
4. Wow, bluegrass music is great.
5. I pulled up from work today to see my contractor lighting up a smoke and saying it was "QUITTEN "time. It was then I saw the block laid in the alcove and half joists all laid for both additions and half the floors done and the block insulated with 2" foam on the inside. I inspected the work and thought Wow, this guy is good. It's a family affair--his son, daughter, himself and a hired guy---doing the work at an amazing rate of efficiency---man I'm glad I picked Rich. I guess you can't go wrong with a guy named Rich. I will keep trying to get him to quit smoking!!!
6. Tomorrow they'll finish the floors. Then they start the walls for the dining room/kitchen, working in from the south and once all framed up to the old house, they start tearing off roof. I think you salmon fishing guys will be heading out right about then, so I expect to have a fully functional kitchen still and the laundry room and bunk room available.
7. He's canteleving (sp?) out the floors a foot Eddy---so the downstairs will be bigger---and putting in a vaulted ceiling in Jeffy's room so he can have a loft and a skylight.
8. MOST IMPORTANTLY---I went up to gravel on the river today and the water is high, bringing water and oxygen to more gravel than ever on the river. I wanted to pick some blueberries too, but they are fading....However, I have never seen so many fishing spots below the campground---lots of beautiful gravel with water over it. No fish yet on the gravel---but that's good---because I am sure they are coming soon---we are
catching at the mouth and out trolling. Thus, the fish are staged and should be coming up anyday. Thus, make sure you are rigged for big salmon fishies on the stream, and have a lighter rod for catching the egg sucking rainbows below. We'll have some incredible hours on the gravel. I have smoked salmon ready for you guys to eat (from Jeffy's 16 pounder).
9. I have our brook trout fishing picked out finally. Going to take you into the Seney National Forest to a stream that has a beautiful big pool in the wood fairly accessible that my brook trout fishing nurse told me about today. She told me that she and her hubby fish this pool often and never see anybody else. She told me her husband didn't want to tell me about it---but she told him what a great guy I am etc. and thus they are sharing it with us. We'll fish that, the Fox and the Indian River in one day---they are all on my driving line.
10. Sarah is off to an incredible start in New York City. She has a voice teacher that the acting coach directed them too and had her first lesson. He has coached Brittney Spears, Christina Aguilara and worked with Mel Gibson on movies. Sorry, I barely know those people and can't spell their names, but I know they had a lot of success. He thinks Sarah really has it. Her acting coach is also bringing in some music people to hear her tomorrow and she has her first audition for a paid job already. We have an apartment (I think) in Manhatten that I'll be commuting too---won't that be a contrast??? From the beautiful Cedar Forest of the U.P. to the subway of New York!!!
Two agents already talked to Jomay about signing her. I can't believe how fast this is happening. Looks like I'll have to go to New York City a lot over the next couple years. Jomay really getting a lesson in the subways, finding an apartment, etc. What a woman. This is all so surreal---Sarah came out an artist---I often think of the day I was cutting wood in my shop and she was playing on the floor, I think she was four years old--she was taking the scrap pieces of wood and forming animal shapes with
them---I kept her patterns and glued them to a wood backing and still have them---she's just always had an eye for art. If she couldn't draw it or sing it, she dressed herself up with a variety of scarves and ornaments. What can I say about a kid who can dance, sing, draw, play viola, piano, guitar, harp and act beyond belief. You should see her acting clips---I wouldn't call it acting it, she's just being it.
11. OK, enough dribble. Eddy, get here--Sunday we have to pull the boat out and put in the new GPS/Fish finder and trolling rod mounts and get out on the Lake. Monday I think we'll hit the brook trout pool to scope it out---but it's not really a PLAN---I know you don't like to PLAN on a fishing trip---anyway I always wait for the Big Lake to tell me what to do. If she lays down for me, I caress her with my boat and troll for fish. If she whips up a fit I walk away from her and just observe her fitfull moment and let her vent. She really vented yesterday---waves came up so high they hit the transom of the boat on the shore docker---but she's tied down nicely and isn't going anywhere tonight it seems. Also, nice thing about being here---if she's mad and kicking up waves, I just go to the little water up the road and fish for pike. I let her dictate my life I guess, but let's face it, men are used to women being a great part of our lives.
Blessings, from the Naubinway Nook, no better place to be,
Jeff
Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com.
Moving College Students
Howdy,
Just finished unbelieveable few days--but now all is well with a crimson sky and the beautiful blue of Lake Michigan in the corner of my eye. Thursday got to Findlay and packed until 3 a.m. Got up Friday and then packed the U-Haul with Lorhel's stuff for her new apartment at college and did chores around the house and headed to Cincinatti. Got to Cinci about 6 p.m. with a U-Haul full of furniture, tables, mattresses, etc. and parked on an incline hill, with THREEEEEEE flights of stairs to Lorhel's room, TWOOOO flights to the kitchen, ONE to the entry and NOOOOOO friends to help us as promised. Not to mention it was STINKIN HOTTTT. So, I'm sitting there in the U-Haul dripping wet with sweat, looking at the full truck and notice that accross the street are 4 college boys on the porch drinkin Pepsi, seriously, not beer. Now, I'm lookin at the three flights of stairs to my left, and the 4 college boys to the right. Next, I look in my wallet and see I have FOUR twenty dollar bills, yep, Uh, Huh:"Hey Guys, you want to make a quick 20 bucks???" I didn't even finish the sentence and they were at the truck. Man, could I move like that when I was 20? Truck was unloaded in less than a half hour and all I did was point and say take this, take that, here, this one takes two. I was rather pleased with myself of course. Lorhel's apartment is very cool---old solid wood floors, split level, lots of character.Well, the night was just begining, trip to Wal Mart and back $184 poorer with toilet paper holders, toilet cleaners, trash cans, etc. The caulk in Lorhel's bath tub along the tub edge was disgusting---so, I dug it all out, dried it with a blow drier, and laid down beads of new caulk. Yes Ed, I put chlorine bleach mixture in first. Put up her bed, pictures on the wall, etc. Back to the hotel. Next morning back to shopping for Lorhel, then back to Findlay. Got back to Findlay around 4 p.m. just in time to meet the two guys from "E-Movers"---a service U-Haul has for local help. They loaded the freezer, leather couch, chairs, multiple boxes cabinets and tools and even removed and replaced doors as necessary to facilitate moving. Second best $164 I ever spent. They even moved the old couches up from the basement to replace the leather ones that are now here at the Nook. Still, up until 1 a.m. packing more small boxes and tools. All the while I'm thinking, how in the heck am I going to unload this stuff? The Marine I know in Naubinway will be working, where am I going to find a few good men on a work day? How will I unload this stuff????Sunday morn get underway about 1100---stop at Cabelas to get a new fish finder and trolling rig, then Lowes in West Branch for extruded foam for insulating the crawl space. Get back to the Nook about 2100 and Jeffy's already in bed. Up until 0300 unloading what I could, small boxes, etc. Dead beat tired.Monday morn I am awaked by voices walking around the house, two men, masons here to pour the concrete for the footers for the additions. I walk outside, how ya doin? Good, can't start yet though, boss ain't here, delayed. Oh, really? Say, would you mind helping me move a couple things? Yeah, short order made of leather couch, freezer, 4 drawer Oak File Cabinet---and they wouldn't even let me help---I'd try to grab something and they would say, no, let me get that, OH YEAH!!!! They wouldn't take a dime, so I gave them each 20 bucks under the guise of buying them lunch, probably the best 40 bucks I ever spent. Then, to the storage unit to unload some small stuff, drop off the U-Haul. Back to the Nook and into the moldy nasty crawl space under Jeffy's room. I haul out rotted timbers, old lead pipes and SIX 45 gallon contractor garbage babs of nasty old insulation. I cut away the insulation from the heating duct work, glue extruded 2 inch foam to the block walls and lay down a new vapor barrier and duct tape it to the extruded foam now glued to the walls. I put fiberglass insulation along the outer joists and voila, the crawl under Jeffy's room is clean, dry, heated and insulated.Then I haul all the waste back to the dump pile and right now I am so sore I can barely type. Good news is, they were able to dig the big rocks out away from the dining room addition area, dig out the soft dirt, and fill it all with pea gravel and then lay the forms for the foundation. Then, the cement truck came and they took a front end loader to the cement truck, filled the bucket, and made multiple trips to the forms. So, now, the forms are laid and they start the block tomorrow. Decided on a vaulted ceiling for Jeff's room with a skylight and will build him a loft for guests too---will be an awesome room. My contractor is going to cantelevier the floor out and add a foot all the way round his room, and the laundry room. Wow, haven't been this tired since I was a college student and stayed up all night with Ed, Phil, Kevin and the FRAT. The Geothermal heat pump is sitting in the small garage awaiting installation this week. The gas company brought a brand new tank out to the big garage today---and I have the sub-panel sitting there to install. Thus, it looks like my salmon fishing guests will be rather toasty out there. In addition, I have couches and easy chairs out there that were replaced by the Findlay furniture inside the Nook. You should have seen this place about noon. I had the gas company truck lifting the tank with the crane, the cement truck on the road pumping cement, the guy with the front end loader going back and forth---the contractor barking orders, all the grunts with shovels and block, the U-Haul being further unloaded and to boot---I managed to find time to go to Jeffy's school in Engadine to take him his football cleats he forgot---and to the post office. I was almost as multi-tasked and brilliant as Ed today, well, a close second at least.Fishing is awesome right now, they are catching COHOS like crazy at the mouth. Holding off on fishing though until Monday when Eddy gets here, then I'm fishing like mad!!!See you soon!Jeff
Just finished unbelieveable few days--but now all is well with a crimson sky and the beautiful blue of Lake Michigan in the corner of my eye. Thursday got to Findlay and packed until 3 a.m. Got up Friday and then packed the U-Haul with Lorhel's stuff for her new apartment at college and did chores around the house and headed to Cincinatti. Got to Cinci about 6 p.m. with a U-Haul full of furniture, tables, mattresses, etc. and parked on an incline hill, with THREEEEEEE flights of stairs to Lorhel's room, TWOOOO flights to the kitchen, ONE to the entry and NOOOOOO friends to help us as promised. Not to mention it was STINKIN HOTTTT. So, I'm sitting there in the U-Haul dripping wet with sweat, looking at the full truck and notice that accross the street are 4 college boys on the porch drinkin Pepsi, seriously, not beer. Now, I'm lookin at the three flights of stairs to my left, and the 4 college boys to the right. Next, I look in my wallet and see I have FOUR twenty dollar bills, yep, Uh, Huh:"Hey Guys, you want to make a quick 20 bucks???" I didn't even finish the sentence and they were at the truck. Man, could I move like that when I was 20? Truck was unloaded in less than a half hour and all I did was point and say take this, take that, here, this one takes two. I was rather pleased with myself of course. Lorhel's apartment is very cool---old solid wood floors, split level, lots of character.Well, the night was just begining, trip to Wal Mart and back $184 poorer with toilet paper holders, toilet cleaners, trash cans, etc. The caulk in Lorhel's bath tub along the tub edge was disgusting---so, I dug it all out, dried it with a blow drier, and laid down beads of new caulk. Yes Ed, I put chlorine bleach mixture in first. Put up her bed, pictures on the wall, etc. Back to the hotel. Next morning back to shopping for Lorhel, then back to Findlay. Got back to Findlay around 4 p.m. just in time to meet the two guys from "E-Movers"---a service U-Haul has for local help. They loaded the freezer, leather couch, chairs, multiple boxes cabinets and tools and even removed and replaced doors as necessary to facilitate moving. Second best $164 I ever spent. They even moved the old couches up from the basement to replace the leather ones that are now here at the Nook. Still, up until 1 a.m. packing more small boxes and tools. All the while I'm thinking, how in the heck am I going to unload this stuff? The Marine I know in Naubinway will be working, where am I going to find a few good men on a work day? How will I unload this stuff????Sunday morn get underway about 1100---stop at Cabelas to get a new fish finder and trolling rig, then Lowes in West Branch for extruded foam for insulating the crawl space. Get back to the Nook about 2100 and Jeffy's already in bed. Up until 0300 unloading what I could, small boxes, etc. Dead beat tired.Monday morn I am awaked by voices walking around the house, two men, masons here to pour the concrete for the footers for the additions. I walk outside, how ya doin? Good, can't start yet though, boss ain't here, delayed. Oh, really? Say, would you mind helping me move a couple things? Yeah, short order made of leather couch, freezer, 4 drawer Oak File Cabinet---and they wouldn't even let me help---I'd try to grab something and they would say, no, let me get that, OH YEAH!!!! They wouldn't take a dime, so I gave them each 20 bucks under the guise of buying them lunch, probably the best 40 bucks I ever spent. Then, to the storage unit to unload some small stuff, drop off the U-Haul. Back to the Nook and into the moldy nasty crawl space under Jeffy's room. I haul out rotted timbers, old lead pipes and SIX 45 gallon contractor garbage babs of nasty old insulation. I cut away the insulation from the heating duct work, glue extruded 2 inch foam to the block walls and lay down a new vapor barrier and duct tape it to the extruded foam now glued to the walls. I put fiberglass insulation along the outer joists and voila, the crawl under Jeffy's room is clean, dry, heated and insulated.Then I haul all the waste back to the dump pile and right now I am so sore I can barely type. Good news is, they were able to dig the big rocks out away from the dining room addition area, dig out the soft dirt, and fill it all with pea gravel and then lay the forms for the foundation. Then, the cement truck came and they took a front end loader to the cement truck, filled the bucket, and made multiple trips to the forms. So, now, the forms are laid and they start the block tomorrow. Decided on a vaulted ceiling for Jeff's room with a skylight and will build him a loft for guests too---will be an awesome room. My contractor is going to cantelevier the floor out and add a foot all the way round his room, and the laundry room. Wow, haven't been this tired since I was a college student and stayed up all night with Ed, Phil, Kevin and the FRAT. The Geothermal heat pump is sitting in the small garage awaiting installation this week. The gas company brought a brand new tank out to the big garage today---and I have the sub-panel sitting there to install. Thus, it looks like my salmon fishing guests will be rather toasty out there. In addition, I have couches and easy chairs out there that were replaced by the Findlay furniture inside the Nook. You should have seen this place about noon. I had the gas company truck lifting the tank with the crane, the cement truck on the road pumping cement, the guy with the front end loader going back and forth---the contractor barking orders, all the grunts with shovels and block, the U-Haul being further unloaded and to boot---I managed to find time to go to Jeffy's school in Engadine to take him his football cleats he forgot---and to the post office. I was almost as multi-tasked and brilliant as Ed today, well, a close second at least.Fishing is awesome right now, they are catching COHOS like crazy at the mouth. Holding off on fishing though until Monday when Eddy gets here, then I'm fishing like mad!!!See you soon!Jeff
Saturday, September 6, 2008
First Touchdown
In case you are on some remote Island in the South Pacific without electricity, you probably know this is FOOTBALL SEASON. Here in the U.P. the order of life is God, Family, Football and Fishing (Hunting.) We watched with
anxiety and trepidation as our son Jeff sauntered out onto the gridiron for the first time a few weeks ago to practice football with boys, coaches, he had never met. As is typical of Jeffy, he accommodated, he adapted, he made friends and found his way to his favorite position, Wide Reciever. He practiced hard and I bought him his new pair of wide receiver gloves. He caught a few passes in practice and scrimidges. He was noted to be particularly good at catching the short pass and breaking thru the hole to the end zone. He has, as the coaches say, “soft hands”. Thus, we breathed a sigh of relief and went into the daily grind of our new life here---work, pick up football players, make sure they have 14,000 calorie dinners waiting for them when they get home. Life goes on.
Finally, first game day game. All the parents were very anxious because we were going to play, for our FIRST game, the number one team that won the championship last year. Yikes, would my kid get hurt? How bad is the spread in the score going to be? These boys haven’t played together very long, they are a new young team. Tonight, the first play came. We got the ball first, the entire stadium in Cedarville, Michigan was silent---it was amazing, with hundreds of people there, you could hear the quarterbacks every word: #23, 47, hutt, hutt!” Then came the snap, with the 8 minutes of the quarter on the clock. I watched number 82 (my son Jeffy) break right and evade his defensive end and then pull left at a few yards past the line of scrimidge. Robert, our Q-B saw that he was open and punched his usually very accurate pass into Jeffy’s arms. Then, there was a sea of orange and black players chasing my son in green and gold. I thought for sure he was going down---but no, he evaded the first tackle, jumped up, ran back over the scrimidge line and then broke left 20 yards into the end zone---TOUCHDOWN JEFFY BOMBER!!!! His sister looked at the clock---7:46, she said, “wow, that only took 14 seconds”.
Yes the entire event took about 14 seconds. In 14 seconds my son, in a new town, with a new coach and friends, playing a new team, one the FIRST PLAY, in 14 seconds, scored the first touchdown. Do you feel the BEAM??? Are you catching a few rays of the BEAMING FATHER right now???? Can you believe this, my son, new to the town, the team, the school, etc., going out for his FIRST game pass and catching it and getting the first points on the board!!!! WOOWWWOWWWWW!!!!!
Well, it went on and on, he caught more passes, he was awesome. AND, the final score, Engadine 30, Rudyard ZERO!!!! Yes, our defense was awesome too. I never played football, I never did half the things that my beautiful daughters and incredible son have done. Frankly, I’m humbled by them. Patients and friends and family have told me many times that I am smart, talented, a great person. I tell you that is blessing to hear such things---but the fact is, I don’t hold a candle up to my children. They were blessed with the nominal good brains I have, but mostly their mothers. Jeffy also got his grandfather’s athletic prowess---certainly not mine. I can get the kayak in the water---but I have never achieved a touchdown. Tonight my son achieved THE FIRST TOUCH DOWN on the field and with his new friends, the crowd, his family, etc. watching!!! He was very happy. However, he doesn’t know that his greatest touchdown is right here in his father’s heart tonight. He has no idea that with millions of people in the world, and billions of stars in the universe, nothing shines brighter than me right now. I am lit up, glowing in the amazing feats of my children, thier
many great and FIRST TOUCHDOWNS!!!!
anxiety and trepidation as our son Jeff sauntered out onto the gridiron for the first time a few weeks ago to practice football with boys, coaches, he had never met. As is typical of Jeffy, he accommodated, he adapted, he made friends and found his way to his favorite position, Wide Reciever. He practiced hard and I bought him his new pair of wide receiver gloves. He caught a few passes in practice and scrimidges. He was noted to be particularly good at catching the short pass and breaking thru the hole to the end zone. He has, as the coaches say, “soft hands”. Thus, we breathed a sigh of relief and went into the daily grind of our new life here---work, pick up football players, make sure they have 14,000 calorie dinners waiting for them when they get home. Life goes on.
Finally, first game day game. All the parents were very anxious because we were going to play, for our FIRST game, the number one team that won the championship last year. Yikes, would my kid get hurt? How bad is the spread in the score going to be? These boys haven’t played together very long, they are a new young team. Tonight, the first play came. We got the ball first, the entire stadium in Cedarville, Michigan was silent---it was amazing, with hundreds of people there, you could hear the quarterbacks every word: #23, 47, hutt, hutt!” Then came the snap, with the 8 minutes of the quarter on the clock. I watched number 82 (my son Jeffy) break right and evade his defensive end and then pull left at a few yards past the line of scrimidge. Robert, our Q-B saw that he was open and punched his usually very accurate pass into Jeffy’s arms. Then, there was a sea of orange and black players chasing my son in green and gold. I thought for sure he was going down---but no, he evaded the first tackle, jumped up, ran back over the scrimidge line and then broke left 20 yards into the end zone---TOUCHDOWN JEFFY BOMBER!!!! His sister looked at the clock---7:46, she said, “wow, that only took 14 seconds”.
Yes the entire event took about 14 seconds. In 14 seconds my son, in a new town, with a new coach and friends, playing a new team, one the FIRST PLAY, in 14 seconds, scored the first touchdown. Do you feel the BEAM??? Are you catching a few rays of the BEAMING FATHER right now???? Can you believe this, my son, new to the town, the team, the school, etc., going out for his FIRST game pass and catching it and getting the first points on the board!!!! WOOWWWOWWWWW!!!!!
Well, it went on and on, he caught more passes, he was awesome. AND, the final score, Engadine 30, Rudyard ZERO!!!! Yes, our defense was awesome too. I never played football, I never did half the things that my beautiful daughters and incredible son have done. Frankly, I’m humbled by them. Patients and friends and family have told me many times that I am smart, talented, a great person. I tell you that is blessing to hear such things---but the fact is, I don’t hold a candle up to my children. They were blessed with the nominal good brains I have, but mostly their mothers. Jeffy also got his grandfather’s athletic prowess---certainly not mine. I can get the kayak in the water---but I have never achieved a touchdown. Tonight my son achieved THE FIRST TOUCH DOWN on the field and with his new friends, the crowd, his family, etc. watching!!! He was very happy. However, he doesn’t know that his greatest touchdown is right here in his father’s heart tonight. He has no idea that with millions of people in the world, and billions of stars in the universe, nothing shines brighter than me right now. I am lit up, glowing in the amazing feats of my children, thier
many great and FIRST TOUCHDOWNS!!!!
Monday, September 1, 2008
First Salmon
It was an afterthought really, we hadn’t even intended to take the boat out, yet go fishing. it had been a lazy day, Jeffy just playing x-box and me lumbering around the complex. We did play some guitar together---working on new chords and church music as Jeffy is going to start playing guitar for the praise team at church soon. In any case, the Great Lake laid down its wind and it was warm and sunny and I asked Jeffy if he wanted to take a quick boat ride. “Sure”, he said in his usual verbose, teenage boy fashion (actually, sometimes he’ll talk like crazy but when he’s x-boxing it’s one word answers). “We gonna fish Dad?” Oh, “I don’t know I said”, I was just planning on a quick ride, but “ok, we can take the rods”. Thus it was the U.S.S. Minnow was outfitted for the quick boat ride, with fishing gear just in case.
We opened her up and Jeffy took control and we zipped around the Naubinway Light and headed out towards Lansing Shoals and then zipped back towards the river mouth. We saw an unusual sight in front of the river, not one but TWO boats trolling for fish. Now, understand, seeing ANY boat at all in MY Bay is unusual, yet to have two at once. We kind of figured then something must be happening in the fishing department. So, he throttled down and out came the rods. I rigged up two Cabela’s gold fishing rods with trolling spoons. One was on a lead core line and the other just spider wire. We were in depths of 12 to 30 feet of water and really didn’t need the dipsy divers. I also put two smaller rods out, one with a hot in tot and one with a Swedish pimple. This way we could pick up a variety of fish, salmon or trout with the spoons and bass or pike with the others. The trolling began with about 2 hours of daylight left with the sun in the western sky, just gorgeous.
I called my friend Dan on the cell phone, but he wasn’t available. I wanted to gloat a bit about being out on the water, it didn’t matter that we hadn’t caught anything. I checked the lines and re-adjusted depths and went back to the cell phone as Jeffer steered a southwest course at 2.6 miles per hour with the very quiet 4 stroke Mercury. I told him to choose the direction, go where it feels best I told him, so he did. Back to the cell phone, I’ll try to reach Ed. Shoot, nobody home, voice mail. So I started to leave a voice mail when the rod next to Jeffer on the starboard side started to SCREAM and jerk. I grabbed the rod and set the hook and Jeffer took over. I had forgotton about the cell phone as in my haste I just threw it into the tray near the throttle. Now, to say I was excited was an understatement as we both watched a very silver fish of at least 15 pounds jump into the air about 100 feet from the boat as Jeffy did all he could to hang on for dear life. I’m screaming at him to keep the rod tip up, keep pressure on and a tight line, but don’t horse him. Ok, that’s fine, let her run when she wants and take out line. I’m doing all this while I am trying to reel in the other 3 lines and lines and lures are getting tangled and there’s a birds nest of line all over the boat and Jeffy isn’t making much headway on the fish. So, I achieved a reasonable amount of order and grabbed the rod and showed him how to pull back and crank down. Always the quick learned and bright boy he is, he figured that out quickly and soon had the fish near the boat after SIX very long, line screaming runs and multiple jumps.
I was so incredibly excited because nobody ever caught a salmon on this boat, a legacy inherited from one of my all time fishing buddies, my father-in-law Lyle. In addition, the new Cabela’s gold reels and trolling rods had never caught fish. Finally, I was with my son, fishing out in front of my house, watching him catch the biggest fish of his life. In addition, this was all entirely a BONUS, we hadn’t even planned to go fishing! He brought the fish near the boat but it took out some more line and I couldn’t net it. One more attempt and soon Jeff’s 31 inch Lake Michigan Salmon was in the boat. Lots of high fives and back slaps later, she was in the live well, completely filling it with head and tail pressing against both ends of it.
Back at the ranch it was a Chinese fire drill. We didn’t have the fish cleaning table out, no lights or water to it, no ice to ice the fish down, etc. Consequently there was a flurry of activity and out came the table, halogen lights, hose, power, electric fillet knives and before you knew it there were beautiful pink, thick, salmon fillets in the refrigerator. I didn’t think much of it when the phone rang and I heard Jeffy talking. “How did you know I caught a fish?” He asked the caller. “Oh, WOW, really?” “Who is that Jeff?” I asked. “It’s Uncle Ed, he said that he checked his voice mail and heard the entire audio of the catch, you had left the cell phone on!!!!” Eddy heard the whole thing, pulling in lines, hearing the rods screaming and the fish netted. He thought at first we were staging it, making it up until he heard the lines screaming. He said that would be pretty hard to recreate that. Oh yes, indeed.
Anyway, I am always overwhelmed, humbled and thankful for the miracles of life that occur in between the aches, pains, tragedies and turmoil of it. This, was total serendipity. We weren’t even going to go, was it coincidence that the fish hit while I was on the cell with Eddy? Was it rather fate that such conditions and variables would merge together into a few glorious moments with my son, both my Dad’s watching from above, and Uncle Ed hearing it all a thousand miles away? Yes, it was meant to be. My son was rather excited and proud and thankful as any thirteen-year old boy could be. However, I think I was even more excited than he, it was like my First Salmon. When you experience such an event with your own son, it’s even better than when you caught your big fish with your Dad. Spending time with my son is always an adventure, you never know what will happen. So much of it is a first, every day a “First Salmon.”
We opened her up and Jeffy took control and we zipped around the Naubinway Light and headed out towards Lansing Shoals and then zipped back towards the river mouth. We saw an unusual sight in front of the river, not one but TWO boats trolling for fish. Now, understand, seeing ANY boat at all in MY Bay is unusual, yet to have two at once. We kind of figured then something must be happening in the fishing department. So, he throttled down and out came the rods. I rigged up two Cabela’s gold fishing rods with trolling spoons. One was on a lead core line and the other just spider wire. We were in depths of 12 to 30 feet of water and really didn’t need the dipsy divers. I also put two smaller rods out, one with a hot in tot and one with a Swedish pimple. This way we could pick up a variety of fish, salmon or trout with the spoons and bass or pike with the others. The trolling began with about 2 hours of daylight left with the sun in the western sky, just gorgeous.
I called my friend Dan on the cell phone, but he wasn’t available. I wanted to gloat a bit about being out on the water, it didn’t matter that we hadn’t caught anything. I checked the lines and re-adjusted depths and went back to the cell phone as Jeffer steered a southwest course at 2.6 miles per hour with the very quiet 4 stroke Mercury. I told him to choose the direction, go where it feels best I told him, so he did. Back to the cell phone, I’ll try to reach Ed. Shoot, nobody home, voice mail. So I started to leave a voice mail when the rod next to Jeffer on the starboard side started to SCREAM and jerk. I grabbed the rod and set the hook and Jeffer took over. I had forgotton about the cell phone as in my haste I just threw it into the tray near the throttle. Now, to say I was excited was an understatement as we both watched a very silver fish of at least 15 pounds jump into the air about 100 feet from the boat as Jeffy did all he could to hang on for dear life. I’m screaming at him to keep the rod tip up, keep pressure on and a tight line, but don’t horse him. Ok, that’s fine, let her run when she wants and take out line. I’m doing all this while I am trying to reel in the other 3 lines and lines and lures are getting tangled and there’s a birds nest of line all over the boat and Jeffy isn’t making much headway on the fish. So, I achieved a reasonable amount of order and grabbed the rod and showed him how to pull back and crank down. Always the quick learned and bright boy he is, he figured that out quickly and soon had the fish near the boat after SIX very long, line screaming runs and multiple jumps.
I was so incredibly excited because nobody ever caught a salmon on this boat, a legacy inherited from one of my all time fishing buddies, my father-in-law Lyle. In addition, the new Cabela’s gold reels and trolling rods had never caught fish. Finally, I was with my son, fishing out in front of my house, watching him catch the biggest fish of his life. In addition, this was all entirely a BONUS, we hadn’t even planned to go fishing! He brought the fish near the boat but it took out some more line and I couldn’t net it. One more attempt and soon Jeff’s 31 inch Lake Michigan Salmon was in the boat. Lots of high fives and back slaps later, she was in the live well, completely filling it with head and tail pressing against both ends of it.
Back at the ranch it was a Chinese fire drill. We didn’t have the fish cleaning table out, no lights or water to it, no ice to ice the fish down, etc. Consequently there was a flurry of activity and out came the table, halogen lights, hose, power, electric fillet knives and before you knew it there were beautiful pink, thick, salmon fillets in the refrigerator. I didn’t think much of it when the phone rang and I heard Jeffy talking. “How did you know I caught a fish?” He asked the caller. “Oh, WOW, really?” “Who is that Jeff?” I asked. “It’s Uncle Ed, he said that he checked his voice mail and heard the entire audio of the catch, you had left the cell phone on!!!!” Eddy heard the whole thing, pulling in lines, hearing the rods screaming and the fish netted. He thought at first we were staging it, making it up until he heard the lines screaming. He said that would be pretty hard to recreate that. Oh yes, indeed.
Anyway, I am always overwhelmed, humbled and thankful for the miracles of life that occur in between the aches, pains, tragedies and turmoil of it. This, was total serendipity. We weren’t even going to go, was it coincidence that the fish hit while I was on the cell with Eddy? Was it rather fate that such conditions and variables would merge together into a few glorious moments with my son, both my Dad’s watching from above, and Uncle Ed hearing it all a thousand miles away? Yes, it was meant to be. My son was rather excited and proud and thankful as any thirteen-year old boy could be. However, I think I was even more excited than he, it was like my First Salmon. When you experience such an event with your own son, it’s even better than when you caught your big fish with your Dad. Spending time with my son is always an adventure, you never know what will happen. So much of it is a first, every day a “First Salmon.”
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