Happy Birthday AOL Journals

Milo and I started out on our morning walk a little early this morning.  We arose early to the smell of a skunk wafting through the open bedroom window.  That has never happened before. Whewwwwweeeeeee! 

We raised the flag and honored our troops.  We will have a new name on our list next month.  My wife's boss is in the Army reserve and has been called up for duty in Iraq.  She is a major.  As Milo and I made our turn at the fork, we had a pleasant surprise.  The school bus came around the corner.  Bob is making his "dry runs" before school starts on Thursday.  We chatted for a few minutes, talked about our summer and then proceeded with our journey.

I started my journal almost a year ago, on September 8, 2005.  My intention was three fold.  First, I love to write.  Second, I have a very close friend and neighbor, Chris......PhD, who teaches ancient philosophy.  He left the University of Colorado and took on a position at Oxford University in England.  The journal has made it easy for he and his family to keep up with their friends in Sunshine. Third, I wanted to keep a record of my MIL's fight with cancer.  We lost her smile on July 29th.

To celebrate AOL Journal's anniversary, I went shopping for something to wear at the ball.  I found the following at Jos. A Banks.

 

I hope the brunette in the Lime Green Prom Dress will save me a dance!

Some of my best stories were written early and have few, if any comments.  A few of them were:

The Dog Hole

A Walk in the Park

Mouse Story

Not Bothering a Sole

I have also tried to introduce some of the characters in our neighborhood, such as our unofficial mayor, Chris, in the story about the mountain lion.

I have met some wonderful people.  We have all smiled, laughed and cried together.

Happy Birthday,

David, Milo, Malcom and all of the neighbors in Sunshine, Colorado

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Weekend notes

 

Colorado mountain thistle

It was a beautiful clear morning as Milo and I started down the driveway for our morning walk.  Yesterdays rain storm left the air cool and humid.  With the temperature of 55 degrees, I decided to wear a jacket.  Milo bounced as usual and chased a few elusive bunny rabbits.

The class reunion was a lot of fun.  It was nice seeing friends like Ken and his wife Sally, Wayne and his wife Gay, Lee and Lori, Russel, Rick, John, Terry, Carol, Linda and on and on........  A great group of people! (and yes, they have all influenced my life)  We took a tour of Cheyenne East High School.  The old building is much the same, the additions are amazing!  It's nice to see that Cheyenne and the state of Wyoming are not afraid to invest in their future.

Audie's(MIL) service (celebration of life) was very nice.  Harry's (FIL) brother, Ken, gave the service.  Ken is an ordained minister, living in Alaska.  We filled the Gold Hill Inn.

Over in the back corner I saw a handsome gentleman with short gray hair and a gray, neatly trimmed beard.  A surprise guest showed up to pay his respects.  Tom, our world traveling friend was on his way from Rochester, NY to Honolulu, and then to Saipan(in the north Pacific).  He had heard the news of Audie's passing and made plans for a stop here in Colorado.  After the service we moved back to our house and continued with our social interaction.  Many of our relatives knew that Tom and Dennis (BIL) had traveled up the headwaters the Amazon and were looking for some stories.

Tom paints a very vivid story of the South American jungle; their interaction with the natives and the dangers of traveling.  One night he awoke to natures call.  It was pitch black, with only the light of the fire to illuminate the camp.  Tom climbed out his netted hammock and made his way into the dark jungle.  There was no path to follow, just the lush undergrowth, the sounds of the thousands of insects filling the air.  Finding a place to squat, he proceededwith his business.  Just as he was finishing he heard a large twig snap behind him.  Fearing he was about to become breakfast for some large animal, he stood up and started to run.  As he reached down with one hand to pull up his pants, he felt something large and soft nestled in between the legs.  For fear of being eaten, he continued running toward the light of the camp fire some 20 yards away.  Although there was no restraint, he knew some animal had it's paw in his pants and could pull him to his death any moment.  As he got closer to the light of the fire, he could finally look down at the large soft item in his pants........much to his surprise, it was a roll of toilet paper.  With stories like that, it is little wonder we all look forward to Tom's visits.

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Sneaking out of the house

This last week, I have been waking up before anybody in the house for an early morning rendezvous with my 28 year old girlfriend.  She lives about a half a mile away. I would climb out of bed around 5:30 in the morning, skip the shower and drive over to see her.  She would see me drive up and trot over to where I parked.  She is so full of love and affection.  She often nudges me from behind, sniffing my pocket for a scent of the delicious red apple I carry for her.

 

Chili and I have known each other for about 10 years.  When her owner leaves for vacation, I get to take care of her.  I give her oats, meds and fresh feed.  I sometimes hide the apple under the alfalfa.  She remembers that I like to hide her treat and knows right where to look.  Although she is getting old, she is still spunky and full of love.  It has been a fun week.

The Perseid Meteor Shower, an annual celestial event, returns to the night sky this coming week.  The moonlight will somewhat interfere with the view.

This chart shows how the Perseids might appear to a person looking northeast at 11PM local time in mid-August. The meteors will appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, from which they get their name.

I have my 40th class reunion this weekend.  I am looking forward to seeing my cousins and a few close friends.  It's funny but, I really don't put much into class reunions.  There are about 300 people that I haven't seen or talked to in 40 years.  It's a group of people that had no influence on my life.  Those few that I have remained close to will be there, and that is worth the trip to Cheyenne.  It is only 2 hours away.  That will give me plenty of time to return home for Audie's Life Celebration on Sunday.

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Sunday Morning Brunch

Wain and Hildegard were nice enough to invite a group of neighbors over for a Sunday morning Brunch.  They have a beautiful house, high on a hill, overlooking much of the community of Sunshine.  I joined them around 10:30 this morning.  The fair was delightful, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, potatoes, corn on the cop, etc and, of course, Mimosas (champagne and orange juice) and Bloody Mary's.  We filled their outdoor patio for the weather was great.  It was warm and overcast.

I made the mistake of sitting next to Chris, our mayor.  I have talked about Chris in several other posts.  He is quite a character and always has a story.  The problem is that you never know if he is telling the truth or "pulling your leg".  Today he was telling us how he acquired the bald spot on the top of his head. 

This is the abbreviated version, it took him 20 minutes to tell us the story. 

Evidently he was dating a woman several years ago who was quite an adventures person.  When he met her, she was dating two men, both very good friends of each other.  One day they were spelunking.  The man she liked the best got his rope tangled and was in trouble.  His buddy tried to go to his rescue and got his rope tangled.  The favored man lost control and fell to his death.  She ended up marrying the surviving friend.

While river rafting, she and her husband met a gentleman who was white water canoeing.  Tired of canoeing, he asked the husband if he would like to switch places and he agreed.  To keep the story short, I will summarize by telling you, the husband lost his life several miles down stream in some very bad rapids. 

She married a third man and while mountain climbing, he fell to his death.  That is three lovers, all killed in some kind of accident.  Now Chris started to date the woman.  His father warned him, but his raging hormons overcame any advise given to him.  One night, they had a romantic dinner and decided to retire to her house for a continued romantic encounter.  While laying on the bed and undressing, she mentioned that they may want to continue their encounter under the bed.  She mentioned that she had made a few enemies and with her bedroom being downstairs, in a basement apartment, some jealous ex-boyfriend, might take a shot at them through the small window.  With his hormons raging, Chris agreed and climbed on the floor, under the bed with her.  It was while he was involved with his lovemaking, that the hair on the top of his head kept getting caught in the bed springs.  Hense, he lost all of the hair on the top of his head.

Once more, our Mayor kept us enthralled through the entire story.  How true it was, is anybodys guess.

David

A visit from an Angel

As Milo and I were walking this morning, I asked him is he believed in Angels.  He gave me that "got any food in your pocket?" look and wagged his tail.  I told him that I did.  We were visited by one today.  Deb from Frosty Thoughts paid us a visit.  She had both hands full of food.  I'm going to stay on her good side.....she is in real tight with the Lord.  I noticed in her post today that she asked the question about it being proper to take food to a family that has just lost a loved one.  I guess I'm in a good position to answer that question, at least from my view point.  The answer is yes!  I will admit that the first couple of days after Audie passed, everybody stopped by with with something....a snack tray, a dinner, lots of pies and cakes (and they were delicious).  At that time, nobody wanted to think about fixing meals.  Not to mention that all the close relatives that came up for a visit.  If it wasn't for our friends and neighbors, we would have been very hungry.  After a couple of days, the food was gone but the family still has to deal with all of the involved issues. Deb was nice enough to ask if she could bring us a meal.  I checked with my lovely wife Janice, and we decided today would be good.  Janice and my SIL, Suzie have been gone all day making arrangements for the service.  Deb is a real Angel, a God send!  I can't thank her enough.

It was nice meeting, in person, one of my J-land family members (she was the 1st to pimp my journal).  Each and everyone of you are among a great group of people.  I am so happy I started this little venture.  All of your comments have been greatly appreciated.  I have shared them with most of the family.  We are planning a "Celebration of Audie's Life" on Sunday, August 13 at the Gold Hill Inn.  It will begin at noon and go until 3PM.

Once more, thanks Deb, you are one of God's Angels on earth.

I would ask for your continued prayers for My FIL, Harry.  On July 4th, someone broke into their house in Arizona and trashed the place.  They were probably looking for guns or money.  I'm sure they were disappointed.  Having to deal with the loss of his wife and this is almost too much.  He left today to repair the damage do to the house. 

Smiles,

David

Our loss

We lost our beloved Audie, my mother-in-law last night.  She is now walking hand in hand with the Lord.  She was at home, surrounded by her family when she passed.  Thank you all for your prayers.

David

Just a brief note

 

How would you like to look out your window as see this in your yard?  It doesn't look like Ol' Sarge cared much about the bear climbing out of the pool.  My neighbor, Ruby sent this to me.

Things are pretty quiet in Sunshine.  Milo and I enjoyed our morning walk and only saw two cars.  We are ever vigilant.  We finish our out bound walk at Ruby's house and return by the same path.  You never know when the friendly neighborhood bear will show up.  It's a cool 81 degrees today.  A far cry different from the 100+ degrees down the hill in Boulder.  Sunshine is a great place to get away from the heat.  I have been sleeping outside on the deck for the last week or so. (No, I'm not in the dog house) I have noticed an increased activity in the number of "shooting stars".  Could we be approaching another meteor shower?  I'll bet so!  Our sky is so clear that even the big dipper gets lost in all the stars.  The Milky Way can easily be seen on any clear night.  Little wonder I have become a star watcher. 

LUNAR IMPACTS: There's a meteor shower on the Moon tonight. Like Earth, the Moon is inside the Delta Aquarid meteoroid stream. Unlike Earth, however, the Moon has no atmosphere to shield it. Meteors on the Moon hit the ground and explode. (continued below)

"Keeping an eye on the Moon." Photo credit: Jimmy Westlake. July 27, 2006.

Some of the impact flashes might be visible from the earth. When the sun goes down tonight, train your telescope on the crescent Moon.  Look left of the crescent where the lunar terrainis dark. Split-second flashes of light could signal Delta Aquarids hitting the ground.

 Well, I have rambled on enough for today.

May the Lord be with each and everyone of you out there in J-land.

Smiles,

David

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